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June 16, 2006
Upcoming Series: Baltimore Orioles Pitchers
An eight game winning streak. Seventy-eight runs scored over nine games. Only thirty-nine runs allowed. Two complete games, one a shutout. Nineteen games over .500, and a nine and a half game lead over the Phillies. It may not have been the best road trip the Mets have ever played, but at twenty-one years of age it’s the best one I’ve ever seen. And now, the 42-23 New York Mets return to New York and Shea Stadium to take on the 30-38 Baltimore Orioles. The O’s have been struggling mightily recently. They’ve lost three in a row and seven of their last ten. And what’s worse — or better if you’re a Mets fan — they’re 11-21 outside of Oriole Park this season. The Orioles offense has been average, their pitching has been atrocious, and their defense has been sloppy. And now, they come into Shea to run into a Mets team that’s 19-11at home. Good fun all around. In the first game of the series, Alay Soler (2-1, 3.33) looks to continue his recent run of success against lefthander Erik Bedard (5-6, 5.69). In Saturday evening’s game, the NL Strikeout Leader Pedro Martinez (6-2, 2.94) takes on our old friend Kris Benson (7-5, 4.63). And, in the finale, Tom Glavine (9-2, 3.31) looks to bounce back from two bad starts against fellow lefty Adam Loewen (0-1, 7.84). Game 1: Erik BedardWhat’s the Story? Bedard shot through the Baltimore Orioles organization, putting up terrific numbers in the minors and striking out a ton of guys. But, due to inconsistency and injuries, he’s been unable to repeat his dominant minor league performance at the big league level. The installation of Leo Mazzone as pitching coach was supposed to help both those problems — but so far, that hasn’t been the case. Though his command has been decent this year, he’s been hit very hard in the majority of his starts and this has typically resulted in quite a lot of runs being scored off of him (fifty runs off of ninety-three hits in seventy-four innings). Bedard sports a low-90’s fastball, a decent slurvy-curveball, and a pretty lousy changeup. Last Year: The Mets have never faced Bedard. What to Expect: Bedard’s stuff is good, and he can definitely be dominant at times, but it just doesn’t happen all that often. The biggest knock on Bedard is the fact that he’s very stubborn, and not willing to concede something isn’t working for him. His changeup was a solid pitch last season, but it’s been hit hard all season long — though, instead of throwing it less, or throwing it in different spots, he’s kept the same gameplan and he keeps getting walloped. The rest of his repertoire is solid — his fastball is a nice pitch, and he throws it a lot, as most groundball pitchers will do. His curveball is another solid, big-league pitch, and he’s not afraid to throw it when he’s behind in the count. If he gets in trouble, he tends to overthrow his fastball. Hitters should look for him to predominantly pitch away — though he will come in against righthanders occasionally. Game 2: Kris BensonWhat’s the Story? We all know Kris well, though since he left some misconceptions started popping up in the New York media and permeated throughout the fandom. First of all, Benson was, and remains, an average starting pitcher. When your ERA is at or around the league ERA consistently, that pretty much means you’re not any better or any worse than the typical starting pitcher. So, eight-plus million a year is probably overpaying it a bit. Secondly, Benson doesn’t consistently provide seven innings a game. Pitching into the seventh doesn’t qualify as seven innings — in fact, Benson didn’t pitch seven innings at all last season. Not once. And, finally, Benson isn’t “turning it around” any time soon. He’s thirty-one years old. If you don’t think Victor Zambrano will turn it around because he’s thirty-one, you can’t expect Benson to do so either. His stuff is average, he tires easily, he’s never pitched an entire season of thirty-five starts, and he is what he’s been since Tommy John and will always continue to be that. And his wife — really ain’t that hot anymore. Last Year: Benson pitched for the Mets last season. Though Carlos Delgado is hitting .500/.571/1.500 with four homeruns in twelve at-bats against him lifetime. What to Expect: Benson is another pitcher that Leo was supposed to mold into a reliable veteran of a young Oriole pitching staff. Well, Benson’s pitching like a veteran, though he hasn’t been quite reliable. Kris has pitched a handful of terrific games and a handful of horrendous games — sound familiar? He has taken to the Leo Mazzone approach to pitching, which is fairly similar to the Rick Peterson approach to pitching, which is fairly similar to everybody’s approach to pitching — pound the bottom half of the strike zone with strikes. He’s throwing his slider a lot more often this season, which has been a very effective pitch for him — as it’s kept hitters, especially righties, from sitting on his pedestrian fastball. Lefties get a healthy dose of fastballs and changeups — another pitch that’s working out better for him this year than last. As usual, he rarely throws his curve, and when he does it’s just to keep the hitter honest. Game 3: Adam LoewenWhat’s the Story? Coming into the season, Loewen was the Orioles’ second overall top prospect according to Baseball America — and was their number one overall in 2004. Though his minor league career before coming into this season was okay, he was really piecing it together in AA this season before getting the call-up to the bigs — where he’s been promptly trounced in every start. He’s allowed at least a run in his two relief appearances, and has allowed at least four runs so far in all three of his starts. His command, something he’s struggled with in the minors, has been pretty awful as well. And, to top it all off, his first four starts of his career will be against Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, Roy Halladay and Tom Glavine. Awesome times! Loewen features a low-to-mid 90’s fastball, a nice 12-to-6 curveball, and an average changeup. He’ll also throw the occasional slider. Last Year: This is the first season of Loewen’s career. What to Expect: It’s a twenty-two year old lefthander with command issues that the Mets have never seen before — so there may be problems. Loewen actually drew comparisons to the man he’ll be facing on Sunday, Tom Glavine, when he was drafted in 2002. Glavine got knocked around in his first season as well, so hopefully the comparison keeps up. Loewen’s had problems controlling, well, every pitch he’s thrown so far this season. Throughout his minor league career he’s been a mostly fastball/curveball pitcher, so both these pitches make up the majority of his gameplan. His changeup is thrown about ten percent of the time, and just to keep hitters from waiting on the other two pitches. When he gets in trouble — which is fairly often — he’ll over rely on the fastball. Though they should beware the hook, waiting on the fastball won’t get you into nearly as much trouble as it usually would. He’s also apparently a very good hitting pitcher, so Glavine ought to be careful about that, too. Overall:This is a tough series to predict. The Orioles are throwing what appears to be, at first glance, some really lousy pitchers. Upon closer inspection, though, they’re facing two young pitchers for whom many predicted success… and Kris Benson. I’ve never liked Benson, not before the trade and certainly not after, and have often made it my goal in life to try and convert others to my way of thinking. So it would only make sense that he’d beat the Mets in the only time they’ll see him over the next two seasons. And the other two are young, lefthanded pitchers, that the Mets have never seen before — and are getting a shot at facing a pitcher every two or three innings. That being said, the Mets haven’t given me any reason to doubt them this season, so I’ll tentatively predict a 2-1 series against the O’s. Predicted Record: 37-28 73 Responses to “Upcoming Series: Baltimore Orioles Pitchers”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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We should take this series too. Baltimore is not a good team and we’re on all cylinders right now.
On another subject with Ervin Santan on the block you think we could trade Nady and some other players for him?
Which games do they win and lose?
A few things could get in the way of the sweep that should otherwise be likely: letdown; pitcher’s park; the Benson factor.
After 3 series on the road vs. good teams, including a divisional rival, the old letdown game is almost guaranteed. Have to think 2-1 rather than 3-0.
After 7 games in bandboxes, with very predictable results, the boys are back in the unfriendly confines. Jacking 0-2 pitches into the air won’t work here.
They may try to punish Benson. Plus, with Pedro facing him, that means the Mets won’t be aware they’re allowed to score more than 1 run.
In seriousness, though, this is a series the Mets should bring out the steamroller for. If they can keep some semblance of momentum, they really should sweep.
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For more analysis, jokes, frivolity and incredibly self-indulgent goofiness, click on my name and look for the latest Mets post. You Von’t Ree-gret It.
D’oh, totally forgot to add that part! I’m going to say they take the Bedard and Loewen starts.
Mike, for the reason you say we might not sweep i say we have an advantage.
1) We are on fire and i think this team can stay that way. Willie has done a fantastic job keeping the team humble. He also bring a mentality going into a series not thinking 3-0 or 2-1, but just winning one game at a time.
2) Shea should continue our run because most of the runs given up (i think) have been on homers
3) Don’t forget Benson sucks.
I think we can sweep this series, thought 2-1 would be fine too.
First, nice write-up as usual, Andrew. You might want to add Glavine and Loewen to your opening paragraph. As for other stuff:
Boo on you, Andrew, and anyone else who tries to jinx Pedro’s start. Hasn’t Pedro had enough N/D? C’mon, he’s due for a string of victories. I don’t think there’s going to be a let-down game. The last one we saw was on the road, in Florida, when everyone except Pedro looked lifeless. We’re going to be at home after going 9-1 on the road. Everyone’s going to be loose and happy, but Willie won’t let the boys rest on their laurels. He knows there’s a lot more baseball still to play. I too think we can sweep this series.
Thanks for the heads up, the O’s didn’t announce Loewen was going for sure ’til late last night, and I must have forgot to edit.
When Pedro came to the Mets, all my buddies in Boston told me about Pedro’s June swoons where he struggles to stay consistent for a stretch of games. We didn’t see it last season, but I think we’re in the middle of that right now. I’m not worried, but I also don’t think he’ll pitch great tomorrow. He’ll be fine come September and beyond, though.
Yikes
as far as the trading block goes, i’d expect to see nadi’s name out there considering millege is too good to let go with still a lot of potential. gettign rid of millege would be a huge mistake and nadi is a good prospect for other teams in need of a semi-utility player. in my personal oppinion, the mets need not worry about depth at any position. the only problem willie would have if, knock on wood, someone got hurt would be which player to send in. valentin and woodward have the infield covered and millege, chavez can fill in anywhere in the outfield with both their arm and quickness to the ball. don’t worry mets fans, we still have a lot to look forward to this season.
basically, right now we’re the new england patriots of baseball. our bench can produce just as much as our starters if necessary.
I live in VA, so my annual trip to Shea is something I look forward to. I picked Saturday’s game at random months ago, and went ahead and got some very nice home plates. So I get Pedro vs. Anna.
Since I think the Mets have lost the last 6 games I have attended at Shea, I sure hope to see a win. Quick tangent: I am not complete horrible luck, I attended the Mets 16-2 drubbing of the Yankees a few years ago in the Bronx, when our lovable Mo Vaughn hit a line drive that the second baseman jumped for, yet still hit the right-center field fence. One of the purely hardest hit balls I have ever seen in person.
In any event, the Orioles are pretty terrible. The starting pitching has absolutely abandoned them this year. I am worried a bit about Loewen. He is a good prospect, and I want to say he was the guy who pitched a gem for Canada against the US’s stacked lineup in the World Baseball Classic.
I am always hesitant to predict sweeps. So I will say the Mets take 2 of 3, with a sort of letdown game, as mentioned above. But it would not surprise me at all to see the Mets sweep.
I know it’s expecting a lot, but I think the Mets have to go in this series to sweep. Our pitchers are way better than theirs, the Orioles suck right now & there is no reason not to increase out lead even more with a sitting duck team at home. Let’s save the losses for teams that are actually good.
Mike - good to see I’m not the only one who quotes the previous leader of teh free world when discussing the Mets
I’m not sure how to handle the way the team is playing right now. Am I supposed to be all giddy and excited, running around, taunting my Yankee fan coworkers? Be resevred and quiet, not wanting too offend the baseball gods? A little of both? Usually approach a season cautiously optimistic, hoping for a good season, reason to still watch them on Sundays in August (one of my favorite summer activities - lame of me). This is a little overwhelming.
The article forgets to mention one thing about the O’s: they are CURRENTLY an average hitting team, and often go on rampages after losing a few too many. When they’re on (and If you were facing pedro and tommy, you’d get up for it), they have one of the best line ups in baseball.
I hope we keep the same lineup as we have before during the streak. that means playing Milledge and Chavez in the outfield. They give our outfield so much better range and defensive play. On the bases a bobble with either is an error, and once on base they can do some damage. If Chavez keeps this up, I hope we trade Cliff Floyd for a quality starter. Hey how about we trade Floyd and Maine or Bannister for Zito?
agreed
Andrew, for us old farts (42) what we have witnessed these past 10 games is kinda how 1986 was. they started hot and never slowed down until Mike Scott got them in the NLCS. As much fun as the past couple weeks has been imagine the same feeling from April - October. I am looking forward to that again. I believe (pun intended) that barring major injuries to multiple players this team SHOULD now run away and hide. They have shown a player or two can be filled in for in the short term.
Facing two lefties leaves me a little concerned. Woodie ought to get at least one start & no need to rush Floyd in for tonights game vs. a southpaw.
Bats will inevitably cool down, this series could be all about Mets pitching. Do 3 quality starts wind up meaning 3 wins?
Sorry - meant to add this to last post. Team splits vs. LHP & RHP
vs. LHP 257/336/395
vs. RHP 269/336/466
For context 2005 against all pitching: 258/322/416
Bedard has only given up six first-inning runs in his last five games.
It’s nice, rather than wondering how they’ll fare against the opposition, to instead wonder how many runs they’ll plate before their first three outs.
re: Brian
I can’t help it. The baseball gods can kiss my butt. I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
For all of you wondering about Cliff Floyd and Xavier Nady..
Expect Nady to be scouted and looked at more than Floyd. Most of the teams around the league, including the Oakland A’s (where Zito currently resides), are looking for a younger player with potential as a long term fix than an older, experienced player such as Floyd with only a few years left. Floyd is also going into his contract year. As a GM, i would want struggle to keep a player i just aquired after only 1 year.
Nady also offers more flexability in the outfield and on the basepaths. I’d like to see him mature in New York, but even if he doesn’t stay with us for much longer, he’ll still develop into a quality corner outfielder.
Bottom line: Look for Nady to be traded and Floyd to retire with the Mets after a 1 or 2 year deal at the end of this season.
Corrections to my previous statement.
“As a GM i wouldn’t want to struggle to kep a player i aquired after just 1 year”
Side Notes:
-Floyd’s contract year is unrestricted.
-Nadi will be used in a deal for a starting pitcher. most likely a starting prospect from AAA and a utility outfielder.
I don’t think Cornelius will be in NY next year. He still thinks of himself as a starter and will end up signing with KC or Pittsburgh…
Also, if the Mets trade Nady, they lose their third outfielder for next year (assuming Floyd doesn’t resign). Who would they get to replace him? There is no one in the system ready to play in the Majors yet and I think Carlos Lee is the only viable free agent option (please correct me if I’m wrong on this, I’m too lazy to see who is in their walk year).
I could see a scenerio where they trade Nady, sign Floyd to start for two more years while they wait for Fernando Martinez…but what do they do if Floyd starts off as poorly as he did this year or gets hurt as he is apt to do?
Interesting questions about next year’s outfield…
err.. “Nady”
Agreed. as for if Floyd gets hurt or starts off poorly, you still have Millege, Beltran, Chavez.
Also, Fernando Martinez will be ready by the time Floyd leaves NY or retires. I don’t see Floyyd going anywhere unless the Mets low-ball him when trying to resign him (which they will try and resign him).
I think most people underestimate or don’t realize the great coaching staff we have in the Tides. Middle infeilders and Outfielders are especially prone to see dramatic improvements from just a couple seasons playing in Norfolk.
Chavez is having a surprisingly great year, but would you trust him for an extended period of time next year? I think he is a fourth outfielder and the Mets need to have a better third starting OF next year than Cliff.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Floyd and think he is a huge part of the seemingly great team chemistry, but keeping him after this year is a mistake.
Isn’t it great that the only thing to discuss is next year’s OF!!!
Lets Go Mets!
Could be a tricky series with the 2 rook pitchers, though hard to pick against the Mets right now with the way they’re slugging and with Pedro and Glavine going. They’re just a different team offensively than they were 2 weeks ago.
I can see Nady getting traded; Milledge has looked good and Nady should have decent trade value. I’d like to see Milledge a little more before dumping Nady, though. I am curious how Milledge will hit once the scouts have seen him and pitchers start to develop a plan to deal with him. I could see him going through a cold phase as pitchers focus more with him and learn his weaknesses.
If Nady is traded then I think there’s a decent chance Floyd will be resigned and Milledge will patrol right next year. If Nady is not traded, I don’t see them resigning Floyd, unless Floyd is willing to do a deal at a bargain price (a possibility I suppose, since Floyd likes playing for the Mets). In the latter case, I think Nady gets shifted to left, Milledge winds up in right and they let Floyd walk for draft picks.
As much as some of us, including myself, don’t like it.. I can see Floyd signing a 1-year extention with your Metropolitans. Floyd is going to be talked about a lot especially as the trade dealine approaches. Carlos Lee is the most obviously scouted player by both the Mets’ ownership and fans if a deal for Floyd. What people arn’t seeing as clearly is the other side of town. The Yankees are showing interest in our 33 year old Cliff. It sure will be interesting to see what happens.
Chavez, i agree, is a 4th outfielder. however, i am confident that he can step up to the plate (no pun intended) if necessary. chavez is a great defensive corner outfielder with the speed to get to the ball and an arm to keep runners in check.
Our outfield can hit, field, and throw.. with or without Floyd.
If our talented outfield (full of potential) is the only thing we’re worryign about for next season, expect at least 1-2 more consecutive competitive seasons.
Frankly, she never was that hot to begin with. A set of DD only gets you so far in life. She is a classic butherface.
Before anyone else posts about the Mets outfield next year, please take a look at our AAA Tides outfield. progression of the past coupel years is more than impressive and most of that has to do with the coachign staff. the Mets organization is deep in outfielders. our only fear should be starting pitching.
it’s been a while since i saw any organization with this kind of depth.
Side note: Soriano very likey to be aquired during off-season
Yeah, but he is going to want to play 2nd base. And the cost is going to be real high.
Frankly, he may go by July 31, if the Nat’s new owners decide to blow it up and start from scratch. They can get more then, as a number of teams will be in the hunt for him.
Oh absolutely. Soriano will play 2nd where ever he goes. his versatility makes his price tag go up further though. if he’s still availible after in the offseason, look for our lovable Wilpon to do some serious homework on the puzzle piece that could complete a stellar Mets infield.
Sori and Lee are going to cost mega bucks. The Mets are going to chase Zito and he’s going to cost about $14 or $15 million per. I doubt they are going to add $30 million.
If Nady is dealt, I’m not against a Floyd/Diaz platoon with Milledge in right. If Floyd goes down, Diaz is not the worst thing that can happen. That is if they keep Diaz and Diaz should only be dealt if it makes sense. At this point, I cannot see him bringing that much back so he should be kept.
I am certainly curious to see what Nady’s value is right now.
Since Nady has expierience at first, and Mulder in a contract year, anyone think we can package Nady and some minor leaguers for Mulder. Maybe Nady, Bell, Maclane??
Nevermind about Mudlder, I didn’t realize how bad he was pitching this year. I was going based on how well he pitched against us, not his poor 5.32 era or 1.47 whip
This was a quote by Minaya about Milledge:
I don’t recall Reyes or Wright acting the way Milledge has. I think he should be sent down when Nady comes back. Give him a taste of riding the bus again.
Just say NO to soriaNO. He’s brutal defensively, and he’ll want to play 2nd. It’s almost never worthwhile to sacrifice defense up the middle for a bat — think of how the defense has helped the team in the last week and how Philly’s D sank them in the last series. For a solution at 2nd, the Mets should look for a good-to-great glove with a decent bat; doesn’t have to hit 30 HRs. Beltran, Delgado and Wright will supply the HRs. We don’t want to lead the league in E4s.
What’s more, Soriano’s a primadonna and a malcontent. He has “Clubhouse Cancer” written all over him. He’s one of the last guys I’d want around a young Lastings Milledge. One of the best things about watching the Mets is their chemistry. I can’t recall a team which so clearly enjoyed playing together. Soriano would just spoil it.
Floyd probably returns if Nady is traded but unless he helps them get a true front line starter I would be surprised to see him dealt.
Otherwise Cliff has to agree to become an 80 game a year player who is part of a 3-man corner OF rotation who also spells Delgado at first. Will be very interesting to see if he were interested in staying with the Mets enough to accept part time status. I hope so because I have a soft spot for Cliffy & would hate to see him miss a chance to be around for the Shea playoff atmosphere.
Will Cliff fetch much more than Burnitz did? We got 2 fringe prospects (Joselo Diaz & Kole Stahorn) plus a stick without a postion (Vic Diaz) in that deal.
Agree completey about the need for D at 2b but I live in DC and everyone from the front-office to his teammates say he is a terrific teammate. He has put the position switch behind him without rancor & GM Jim Bowden has admitted he was as much as fault as Sori for the way it was handled. Really sounds like the “clubhouse cancer” stuff is a bum rap.
Milledge isn’t up wuth the big club to “learn” diddly. He’s up to help them win.
And Omar’s full of it if he wants us to think otherwise. The real question we need to ask (as does Omar) is, “Are the Mets more likely to win now, and in October, with Milledge up in Queens?”
If the answer is yes, as I think it must be, then keep him up. There’s no reason they can’t send Marrero to Norfolk, platoon Floyd & Nady in left, and let Milledge and Chavez share time in right, spell Beltran every 10 games or so, come in on D for Flady (Noyd?) in right, etc.
Milledge in Norfolk makes no sense This Year. This ain’t no re-building year, folks. This is a Win Now Season.
Here it is for the last time so I’m going to say it slow and hopefully not offend anyone.
Look @ team needs before making trade scenerios. Oakland doesn’t need or probably want Nady. They have Kotsay under contract with a no trade clause, Bradley is still eligable for arbitration (his service time is currently 4.169 according to mlb4u & they also traded Eithier for him which tells me they plan on keeping Bradley for a long time), Swisher is not going anywhere, they expect dan johnson to come through his struggles, and even though his power has disappeared, Daric Barton is still an obp monster down in AAA and projects to be in Oakland next season. So that knocks out the three starting outfielders, firstbase and DH for the next season. Each player is either, already better than Nady or is projected to be better than Nady. Plus oakland has Payton on the bench and Thomas on and off the DL, throw in Kielty, and they dont need another of/1b/dh candidate.
Finally, Billy Beane has never shown anything indicating he’ll trade a star during the season.
I’d like to see a bid for Zito and possibly aquiring Adam Kennedy or Mark Loretta to fill the 2nd base position. good gloves, decent batting averages. we don’t need power hitters, just guys that can put the ball in play. Aquiring Zito and then a second baseman going into free-agency might just fit snuggly into Mr. Wilpon’s Wallet.
the Oakland A’s comment i made before was to be used as a reference and nothing more. sorry to anyone who took it more than just a name of a team. i’m just trying to say that zito won’t come by the mets easily.
also a reminder to everyone reading these posts:
For once, us New York fans have to be happy and content with our Mets line up, bullpen and bench. making any moves before the trade dealine or durign the off season can pretty much only strengthen this ball club which still has a lot of unfulfilled potential.
He cant be optioned out and he also provides a safety net for the team. We lose either Castro or Loduca, who have had trouble staying healthy, we have a guy who we can plug in and play. We lose him and a catcher gets hurt, Sandy Martinez and Mike Defilece are the fill ins. In my mind, Milledge gets sent down until Nady is traded. The Mets got an idea that Lastings can play in the majors which made Nady expendable. By platooning Nady and floyd, you’ll deny Chavez of any playing time other than being a late inning replacement.
SOme may say, we need Nady next season. No we don’t. There is going to be some free agents who are better than nady that will want to sign with a team that is loose, winning and having fun. We need another starter and Nady is our chip. He isn’t a chip thats going to bring the big names that people think he’s worth, even being packaged with other players for those big name guys. He is going to bring us a solid number 3 guy. I personally like a guy in Washington by the name of Tony Armas. A Nady-Armas straight up deal could happen. Nady goes over there and starts right away in there outfield (probably in center) and will move over to right or left when either guillen or soriano are traded or leave via free agency.
I think what Minaya is saying about Reyes and Wright having similar problems as LM is intentional BS which is intended to soothe the situation, and I agree with Minaya’s approach. Over the next few years, the Mets will have a delicate balancing act with Lastings since he seems to have a bit of an ego and you could have some tension if people start comparing him unfavorably to Wright and Reyes. You don’t want him to become resentful and jealous of Wright and Reyes. That’s not to say that he shouldn’t be held to account, but dealing with him will require some sensitivity and that’s what I think Minaya was exhibiting.
If they need the roster space and Milledge is, tactically speaking, the right guy to send down, then he should be sent down, but I don’t think LM should be sent down for his lapses of judgment in the last 2 days. You want to be fair with him, not arbitrary. The guy’s played great and he forgets how many outs there are one game and misses the team bus the next morning. Stuff like that happens to other players, but the problem here seems worse because the two occurrences happened within 18 hours of one another. Willie explained to him what’s expected. Now you watch and see if he corrects the conduct. If he screws up again, by all means send him down. Then he’ll feel like he was warned and blew it, rather than feeling like he made some honest mistakes for which he was publicly humilated by the organization. You can make the situation worse by acting too harshly and making LM think that people in the organization believe he’s a bad guy. If LM doesn’t think Willie and Omar like him and believe in him then LM won’t listen to Willie and Omar.
I say 2 out of 3 for the Series and I fear the Benson game because I have said losing him is no big deal. Can someone repost the Anna link I can’t seem to get it to work?
Chris-
Why can’t Marrero be optioned to Norfolk? How’s that work?
Marrero down isn’t my goal. Milledge up is. Believe me, if I thought there was a chance of moving Nady now for an arm — even a 4 or 5 starter — I’d do so. I didn’t like Nady or Floyd in the OF before the season, and I still don’t.
Because of service time, Marrero would need to be designated for assignment, passed through waivers than accept an assignment.
I see Milledge going down until Nady is traded and I think he’ll be traded sooner than later. Milledge will be starting 5 games a week soon.
Basically a player has three option years after which he must pass through waivers to be sent down + he must agree to accept the assignment. If he declines to go he becomes a free agent.
Marrero has been in the bigs since 1997 - his option years expiried long ago. Mets could roll the dice on him and risk losing him - not sure there is that much demand for him - but it would be a gamble.
I think sending lastings down is the right thing for both him and the team. Pretty sure that when he first came up they told him it was temporary and that he would be going back down. So he has no reason to feel “punished” + while he has shown flashes of brilliance he is not on a Mike Jacobs like hot streak. He is hitting .255 w/ a couple of walks. Nothing wrong with that but it seems reasonable to believe another stint in AAA could help his development.
If we are going to trade Nady he is going to have to play everyday. LM makes the most sense to go down and should be sent down.
“He cant be optioned out and he also provides a safety net for the team. We lose either Castro or Loduca, who have had trouble staying healthy, we have a guy who we can plug in and play”
It sounds really nice saying the guy ‘gives us flexibility’ and ‘gives us options’. Only one thing - there is absolutely no reason to keep a 3rd string catcher on this roster. None.
Based on the past couple of days, is anyone starting to think maybe David Wright wasn’t so wrong when he made the comments about Lastings’ hi-fiving the fans?
Look, I like the kid, but he’s got to learn that he is a rookie. For him to say “I don’t need a lot of prep time” shows me that this kid needs to wake up a bit. Cripes, I don’t care if you are the second coming of WIllie Mays, you do not show up late, and you certainly don’t make a comment like that. Even if he was hitting 500 with 6 hr’s and 25 rbi’s I would be po’d by this.
He is a rookie, he has proven NOTHING to date in the majors. I remember growing up being told by my grandfather “kids should be seen, not heard” Well, Milo needs to learn a variant, “Rookies should be seen and not heard.” That comment is absurd coming from this guy. I know he is talented, and yeah he is young, but he seems to be buying into his press clippings. Someone, I don’t care who, Floyd, Franco, Randolph, the freaking clubhouse attendant, needs to talk to this kid seriously. Failing that, I hope his dad hops in the RV and gives him a stern talking to.
I just worry that this kid is going to get saddled with a bad reputation, among the fans, the league and his teammates. Like Greg Jeffries. Or even Soriano, who is percieved as a clubhouse cancer by everyone except those he plays with.
He is too good to have his talents to be overshadowed by stuff like this. Or worse, to have his talent suffer.
None? How about it will allow Willie to use Castro or LoDuca as a Pinch Hitter late in the game depending on who starts behind the plate for us.
It also saves Delgado or Darren Oliver from ever having to go near catching equipment.
A Case for Keeping Nady
So far all our DL injuries have been to players who are flawed (Zambrano, Anderson Hernandez) or not yet established (Bannister, Maine). We have not lost any of our core starters to the DL.
Nady gives us fairly proven production that could cover an injury to Delgado and in an emergency possibly even for Wright. Didn’t he come up as a 3Ber? espn shows only 3 games at 3B in the bigs.
And of course, should Floyd go down, his presence allows us to let Lastings Chavez patrol LF.
We’ve proven we can survive Floyd going down without Nady around but is anyone comfortable with Julio Franco as starting 1B for 21 days? Or Chris Woodward at 3B for that long?
Hopefully everyone stays healthy all season but unless Nady can fetch (in a package) a front end starter he might offer more to the clue than first meets the eye.
Actually, there is. A couple of weeks ago, in an extra inning game, Castro was used as a PH. Later, The Undertaker took a foul tip hard. Who would have replaced him? This team has played a few extra inning games this year, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that they could play more. Both Paul and Ramon provide potency off the bench that cannot be used as frequently w/o the risk of losing them as a replacement later in the game. The bench becomes that much shorter.
Plus, Paul is known for 2nd half slow downs. He is going to have to rest a bit more to keep fresh. Castro is going to catch more as a result. If one of them goes down, the thought of Mike DeFilice as the catcher makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth.
Until a few years ago, a lot of teams carried 3 catchers. I do not know why this changed, but there is nothing wrong with it.
In any event, Milledge should only be here if he is going to play every day. He is not going to progress sitting on the bench. Nady needs to play too, if only to enhance his trade value (which frankly I do not think is all that high in any event.)
Chris & CP-
Thanks. Got it. I’ve always been lazy when it comes to the procedural rules regarding transactions. My fault and I should get myself up to speak before I start pontificated about stuff I know little about.
So, that being said . . . let’s move Xxxxxxxxxxxavier and get Lastings some PT.
Ed-
I agree, and had a long e-mail with some friends about that this morning. I don’t think Millegde has Strawberry-type personal probelms, but his britches are gettin a bit too tight, if you follow. Willie’s the best option, but maybe Floyd is too: someone needs to really sit down and talk to him. Not based on morality or any archaic notions of what “being a ballplayer means,” but that it’s a TEAM game, and he’s just one of 25. He’s not ready for prime time yet. Maybe he can be a Reggie-type Lightning Rod some day, but that day ain’t here yet.
Play loose, play with flair, get excited. But keep your damn mouth shut! No one’s paying him to talk.
And for goodness sake, arrive on time. Especially the day after dogging it on the bases! What chutzpah. I love it. I hate it. Ohhhhhh boy.
I think you have a great point but the challenge is how do you get him to learn that?
I’ve got two stepsons one is 18 the other 22 and they couldn’t be more different. Sometimes you’ve got to scream at them, sometimes you’ve got to whisper but . . . sometimes no matter what you say or how you say it, it goes in one ear and out the other . . .
In the end maturity is not something you can teach - it develops. Some get it in their teens, others their twenties some never . . . problem is you don’t know when it will develop until it already has.
Lastings is a really interesting case coming on the heels of us an extremely mature young talent like Wright and another eager pupil in Reyes.
Will the Mets figure out how to help Lastings wind up more like Edgardo Alfonzo than Rey Ordonez? Sure hope so.
EASY SWEEP! LETS GO METS!!! theres no reason the Mets shouldnt just demolish the crappy Orioles 3 games strate.
Excellent point. He needs a mentor. Cliff can do it while he is here. Maybe HoJo can do it in Norfolk. Maybe his dad can talk to him.
I just don’t know. Look, if I was a kid with all the talent in the world, and everyone was telling me that, yeah, I would begin to believe the clippings too. But at the same time, I would hope someone would make me see the light. I have been lucky to work for bosses who have done that.
About 10 years ago I stated a job at a large bank. I was good at what I did, which allowed me to finish my work quickly and early, and then I could chat with friends in the office. Well, I started to get a rep for the chatting, people not realizing I did it cause I was done already with my work, they thought I was slacking off. I was getting a bad reputation. My boss sat me down, told me what was going on, and told me to change the perception. What did I do? I did my work the same as always, but cut down on the chatting and other stuff. The rep disappeared after a while. I did quite well there, though I did leave a couple of years ago.
My hope is that someone can get through to Lastings the same way.
If Lastings were absolutely tearing it up I would probably roll the dice on getting Marrero through waivers but there is one other benefit to a 3rd catcher.
I love loDuca but his arm is a real liability. Having a 3rd catcher allows us to put the much stronger arm of Castro in to shut down the opponents running game in the 9th inning of a one run game. There are probably more opportunities to make that play than there are to use Castro as a ph.
“Actually, there is. A couple of weeks ago, in an extra inning game, Castro was used as a PH. Later, The Undertaker took a foul tip hard. Who would have replaced him?”
Yes, we should let Marrero have a roster spot for just such an occurrence
” also saves Delgado or Darren Oliver from ever having to go near catching equipment”
Delgado, right …… wasn’t Glavine ahead of him on the depth-chart?
Either way, do you want either of them back there?
Delgado has actually stated he will not catch. I don’t blame him.
Eric - Not sure if you really agree or are being sarcastic.
Look, Marrero is not very good, but this team has the luxury of carrying the third catcher. If something changes where they need an extra pitcher of outfielder, then designate him for assignment. Until then, leave him there. The worst thing would be to not have him, and then be stuck in a late game without a catcher. Omar would get shredded in the press and the blogs. Not that he would care, but many fans would be upset.
Darren Oliver was actually the emergency catcher from what I’ve read…but he was actually pitching in that game. so who knows what would’ve happened.
The 25th man on the roster can be on there just for an occurrence, its not that big a deal. He can also play the OF, so its not like he has no skills.
he can do more than Matsui can.
On Soriano being a “great guy.” I’m sorry, but any major league ballplayer who refuses to take the field because he’s not playing his preferred position has a serious attitude problem. I can’t recall a similar incident involving another ballplayer where the guy refused to leave the dugout. He only became cooperative once he realized that the Nats had him over a barrel — they sucked so they could muddle along without him and they would be entitled to withhold his salary and extend the term of his contract while he refused to play. No doubt his agent quickly explained to him that his chances of being traded were highest if he behaved himself and produced. And you can’t trust what the Nats say about him; they have every reason to talk him up — they want to trade him.
Consider how the Yankees dumped him unceremoniously. His struggles in the post-season were a factor (”true” Yankees don’t slump under pressure), but I don’t think for a moment that was the only reason. He clearly was not well thought of in the organization. I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole if I were a GM, not even if he hits 40 HRs.
Wally - I agree, his refusal to play the outfield was wrong. But he is now doing it, and is saying all the right things.
Even in Texas, his teammates liked him.
He may not be the best teammate, but he is far from a cancer.I still do not want him on the Mets.
Now Gary Sheffield, that is a cancer. The man threw balls away to get traded, and bitches at every stop in his career.
“Unceremoniously dumped?” He was traded for the best player in major league baseball. It’s not like they dumped his salary for a couple of minor leaguers or something. Soriano is not my kind of player and I think he would cost too much to bring to the Mets, but with the hole we’ve had at 2B I think you have to at least consider it. The guy can hit. He’s no Mazeroski with the glove but 40 HR is 40 HR.
The Times had a greatt line about this at the end of their article, discussing that while it is normal to arrive later for a day game if you aren’t startting
No Andrew, in fact Benson DID pitch seven innings several times last season. 11 times to be exact. That includes 2 games that he pitched 8 innings. And he pitched 6 innings 12 other times. He went at least 6 innings in 23 of his 28 starts.
Yes, some misconceptions have popped up, and you are contributing to them.
Look, Benson’s not going to win a Cy Young. He’s no ace and the Mets were paying too him too much. But not let’s make up bad stats about the guy to prove how bad he was.
Sorry, I apparently do not know how to use the quote function.
Andrew wrote: …” in fact, Benson didn’t pitch seven innings at all last season. Not once.”
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No Andrew, in fact Benson DID pitch seven innings several times last season. 11 times to be exact. That includes 2 games that he pitched 8 innings. And he pitched 6 innings 12 other times. He went at least 6 innings in 23 of his 28 starts.
Andrew wrote: …”since he left some misconceptions started popping up in the New York media and permeated throughout the fandom …”
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Yes, some misconceptions have popped up, and you are contributing to them.
Look, Benson’s not going to win a Cy Young. He’s no ace and the Mets were paying too him too much. But not let’s make up bad stats about the guy to prove how bad he was.
Good catch DC I thought that seemed off base though I’m sure Andrew probably just glanced at the wrong data base rather than make up stats to prove a point. An honest mistake no doubt.
btw to get the quote in a box effect, copy the piece you want in the box, click on the “blockquote” button then paste down the copied piece then click on the “blockquote” button again. Then hit return to continue typing out of the “box”
Here is a thought for you all….
IIRC, the Mets have had three 11 game win streaks in their (not-so) illustrious history. The second came in April of 1986. The first came in 1969. The third in 1990.
Notice anything about the first two seasons? A sweep of the O’s will give us a 11 game winning streak. Just a thought.