SB Nation User Blog: anonymous

Peter Gammons on the Mets' offseason plans

anonymous — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:47:25 -0000

Peter Gammons on the Mets' offseason plans

Beltran is "quixotic"? Or just Gammons reaching new heights of prolixity?

During the 8th inning of today's final Shea game. Dan Warthen's reaction (second from right) says...

anonymous — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:57:37 -0000

During the 8th inning of today's final Shea game. Dan Warthen's reaction (second from right) says it all. (Via ESPN.)

Image FanShot

anonymous — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:03:22 -0000

Delgado, who hit two home runs on Wednesday to bring his season total to 30, has said recently that...

anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:39:29 -0000

Delgado, who hit two home runs on Wednesday to bring his season total to 30, has said recently that veterans can learn something about hitting by watching Murphy.

"He’s got a great approach," Delgado said. "You see him taking pitches, taking changeups, staying behind the ball, going to the opposite field."

Times: Rookies Murphy and Evans Complement Mets, and Each Other

Mussina? Hall of Fame? Seriously?

anonymous — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:51:44 -0000

I just read this piece by Jonah Keri on ESPN.com claiming that if Mike Mussina wins 20 games this year, then he's a no-doubt Hall of Famer. Help me come to terms with this and work through my feelings of doubt and revulsion.

To me Mussina seems like the very definition of good-but-not-great. He's a guy who by virtue of reliability and durability (yes, even consistency) has racked up a decent career in most of the counting stats, and by the luck of having played for some amazingly good Yankee teams will have an excellent career W-L record. Fine. But he's never been the best pitcher in his league, and only for one or two seasons has he been in the top 5, really.

Keri's argument for Mussina rests on his W-L record -- and we all know how accurate those are as indicators of a pitcher's talent -- along with a citation of the Gray Ink, HOF Monitor, and HOF Standards tests as though those were deep statistical insights, rather than toys created to predict irrational HOF voters. Is there a real solid argument that Mussina belongs in the Hall? Is Keri right in predicting that he's going to go there on the strength of his W-L record and the Yankee reality-distortion field? Say it ain't so.

Don't bother fixing the bullpen

anonymous — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:05:17 -0000

The Mets' bullpen looks bad right now, no doubt. But relief pitching is always massively overvalued in mid-season trades, and the Mets have no business making unfavorable deals for the "last piece" since there are so many pieces they need. Furthermore, the bullpen struggles are only so prominent and disastrous-seeming because the team's hitting has been so lackluster, with a starting lineup consisting of 50% great hitters and 50% sub-replacement-level players who should be sitting on the bench -- in New Orleans.

So here is my prescription for "fixing" (to the extent possible mid-season, which isn't much) the whole-team problems that only look right now like bullpen problems:

1. Sign Barry Bonds. Until Church returns, platoon Dan Murphy and Nick Evans.

2. Trade the bench players (Tatis, who should have real value now, Easley, Chavez, A. Reyes, etc.) and the bullpen underperformers (Schoeneweis, Sanchez) for other teams' bullpen spare parts. This means going after other problem pitchers, bad contracts, or just pitchers having off years who have worn out their welcome. Take the new spare parts and throw them out there instead of the old spare parts. Try to get younger when possible, adding 26-year-olds who are getting shelled right now but might improve, rather than 36-year-olds who just ought to hang up their spikes.

My core thought here is that it'll be easier for this team to add runs scored than runs prevented at this late date. The real problem is too big to be fixed in mid-season, so fix it during the offseason. For now, add Bonds, take a gamble on a relief arm here or there if possible, and just live with having a bad bullpen until 2009.

Post: Niese Unlikely to Pitch Saturday

anonymous — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:34:30 -0000

Post: Niese Unlikely to Pitch Saturday

Disappointing news for the play-the-kids crowd:

A team source said yesterday that GM Omar Minaya and interim manager Jerry Manuel would prefer to avoid a situation where Niese is called up for just one start and then returned to Triple-A New Orleans. That would leave the Mets to choose between right-handers Claudio Vargas and Brian Stokes for Saturday, with Nelson Figueroa as a long-shot possibility.

Mets hire Krivsky

anonymous — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:15:49 -0000

Wayne Krivsky, who GMed the Reds until earlier this year, has been hired as a "special assistant" to Omar Minaya, presumably to work on scouting and player development stuff. While Krivsky ran the Reds, he made one deal that a lot of people complained about (dealing Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, and prospect Ryan Wagner to the Nationals essentially for bullpen help), but on balance his record there looks pretty decent, including some pretty good trades. If he's being groomed as Omar's (or Bernazard's) replacement, we could probably do a lot worse.

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anonymous — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:46:42 -0000

Throughout this bizarre ordeal, Minaya has come across as a marionette, a front office executive...

anonymous — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:23:06 -0000

Throughout this bizarre ordeal, Minaya has come across as a marionette, a front office executive who doesn’t have the autonomy that was discussed before the season....What’s worse is that the organization, in its indecisiveness, seemed to be taking the blood lust of fans into consideration.

After Months of Wavering, Resolution: William C. Rhoden