SB Nation User Blog: hotspur

Philly fans: keepin' it classy since 1682

hotspur — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:14:29 -0000

Philly fans: keepin' it classy since 1682

I'm not really surprised by this...

More tinkering with the WAR data... I was too late for St. Patrick's Day. :(

hotspur — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:08:59 -0000

More tinkering with the WAR data...

I was too late for St. Patrick's Day. :(

Beyond the Boxscore has featured a couple of graphs similar to this comparing seasons ranked by...

hotspur — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:39:32 -0000

Beyond the Boxscore has featured a couple of graphs similar to this comparing seasons ranked by WAR. I thought I'd give it a try. (I used only catchers with a long Mets tenure and I think my cutoff was ~ 100 PA for excluding first and last seasons. It didn't make much of a difference)

WAR: Andruw vs. Voltron?

hotspur — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:37:15 -0000

WAR: Andruw vs. Voltron?

It ain't over yet...

What's the deal with Paul Byrd (SP-Cle)?

hotspur — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:43:13 -0000

The Metropolitans trading for Cleveland's Paul Byrd is the fifth of Dayn Perry's "Five trades that must happen."

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5811572

Is there any chance of this happening? Is this a good idea for the Mets? Who would the Mets have to give up?

I have no idea.

Some stats and stuff below...

Byrd started out on the Mets in 1995.

This year: 1.35 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 1.0 HR/9, 7 Wins, 6 Losses, 4.28 ERA.

GameLog

Gamescores: 39, 23, 65, 17, 52, 53, 43, 47, 61, 67, 42, 56, 64, 49, 76, 57, 17, 46, 41

He's gotten flogged a couple times.

5. SP Paul Byrd to the Mets
At the moment, the Mets are in an enviable position: they hold an insurmountable lead in the AL East, and Baseball Prospectus gives them a 99.1 percent chance of making the postseason. In other words, they're in.

The focus, then, should be doling out rest to taxed and injury-prone contributors such as Pedro Martinez, Paul Lo Duca, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes. That said, the back of the rotation could use some help, if, for no other reason, than to hedge against an injury to Martinez heading into the playoffs. Livan Hernandez's name is most often bandied about, but he's been woefully ineffective this season (5.80 ERA in 125.2 innings). A better option -- and perhaps one that would cost less in terms of young talent -- is Paul Byrd of the Indians. In 113.2 innings this year, Byrd has posted a 4.28 ERA (in a season in which the AL ERA is 4.55) and shown good control. Also, in his previous three seasons, Byrd has logged a sub-4.00 ERA.

He's of no value to Cleveland this year, and -- in the absence of marquee talents such as John Smoltz, Jason Schmidt and Barry Zito -- he's as good a starting pitcher as you'll find on the deadline market in 2006. As insurance policies go, Byrd is a great fit for the Mets.

Poll

Will Heilman throw a hissy fit if the Mets trade for starting pitching?

I don't care

10 votes

That guy has to shut the hell up already

3 votes

Definitely

2 votes

Possibly

3 votes

Unlikely

3 votes

21 votes | Poll has closed

Gardener Pedro?

hotspur — Tue, 09 May 2006 21:57:30 -0000

There's a pretty fluffy interview in today's NY Times on everybody's favorite ace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/sports/baseball/09pedro.html?pagewanted=all

Read more to find out he's got a hot wife, a real nice house, three dogs, and a Hummer. He also prepares on game days by gardening?

For those two hours, Martínez, the Mets star known for his intensity and cleverness on the mound and his quirkiness off it, is in the yard outside his six-bedroom Tudor revival home in Greenwich, Conn. He is planting. He is pruning. He is talking to his tulips. "What about you, beauty?" he will ask in language rarely, if ever, heard on a baseball field. "Aren't you going to grow up to be so pretty?"

Closer Alternatives

hotspur — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 04:43:45 -0000

Braden Looper. I don't think he's doing THAT bad, but I groan when he's brought in. He's blown 3 saves in 18 opportunities and lets too many guys on base.

I was looking around for good relief pitchers who aren't closers. I figure that although there might be a reason they aren't closers, they also might be easier to acquire. (All of these guys might be impossible to trade for, but some of them have expiring contracts.) What other prospects or possibilities are there for the Mets, or are we stuck with BL for 1.5 more years?

Cliff Politte
He did not do well as a closer two years ago, but is having a very good year. His contract expires at the end of this year.

Rudy Seanez
Gaudy SO numbers this year. Good against lefties and righties. Contract expires at the end of this year. Kinda old at 36.

Ryan Madson
The Phils don't know whether he's a starter or a setup man yet.

Jesse Crain

Matt Wise

Poll

Who will be the Mets' closer for 2nd Half 2005?

Roberto Hernandez

2 votes

The Lucky Fan sitting in Seat ...!

3 votes

"Mister" Dae-Sung Koo

0 votes

Anna Benson (the distraction factor)

3 votes

Danny Graves

0 votes

Braden Looper

14 votes

Juan Padilla

2 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed