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June 16, 2008
Make It Stop
Family business forced a baseball sabbatical, and I spent nearly a week sans Internet, radio and television coverage of the Mets. Not that I wanted to see my favorite team, though; rooting for the Mets these days is an unhealthy obsession. We are victims, who once given a pleasant dose of well-played and successful baseball keep coming back hoping to see it again, even though all present indications tell us to expect otherwise. There are some mice who can never learn not to keep pushing a button that causes them to be shocked painfully, because formerly that button always gave them food. But mice can be trained to be skeptical if given food and shocks alternatively. Mets fans are like this. But we’ll come back to that same button eventually, because it’s all we know. Perhaps it is more apt to compare ourselves with drug addicts, who, after all, have a choice in whether they continue to use what is ultimately harmful in a pathetic effort to recover that lost high. Such addicts often live in abusive relationships with their dealers, thinking that they deserve only the companionship of the manipulative, exploitative, lecherous and downright evil persons among us. No, that’s not right at all. It is like this commercial I just saw. A man stands in front of a long beer cooler, presumably in a gas station or liquor store, surveying his options. Another man appears. “Lotta choices, huh?” he asks. The first man agrees. “Tell me about it.” The other man: “Because you want a beer that’s not too heavy.” “Yea.” “But you don’t want to compromise on taste.” “No, I don’t.” “Just want that… perfect balance.” At this point the first man becomes aware of Budweiser beer in the cooler. How did he not notice it before? This whole section of cooler is full of Bud, maybe the whole store. (Like “Beer Heaven,” where the only beer available is Miller Lite, which the Alström Brothers of beeradvocate.com call “a sad excuse for beer.”) “Budweiser!” someone says. “Oh thanks, man. They should pay you for this.” The other man turns, and as he says “Just here to help,” we see that his shirt is emblazoned with the Budweiser logo. He works for the company. The end of the ad is typical of advertisers’ distance from the claims of the products they advertise and contempt for the people they aim to serve. But this ad is more thinly disguised than most. The barely concealed subtext is that you the consumer are an idiot and you will buy what we tell you to buy regardless of claims of “taste,” “refreshment,” and “balance.” Who are you kidding, looking around for something else? You’ll always drink the same old crap, because you don’t know any better.* In this analogy, the executive group led by Fred Wilpon and more directly by Omar Minaya are represented by the Budweiser company-man. “Taste” and “refreshment” are the language they give us to talk about their product. Thus, we are forever debating Carlos Beltran’s clutchness, David Wright’s leadership, or Jose Reyes’s ability to spark the team. These things are irrelevant and ultimately just distractions from the real problems with the club, which are structural. Because yes, Adam Rubin, Omar Minaya has “failed to recognize a seismic shift in the MLB landscape,” except it’s worse– it’s not seismic at all, it has been slowly changing for more than a decade. The change was in place in June 2002 when Minaya traded Lee Stevens, Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore to the Indians for Tim Drew and Bartolon Colon. And Minaya hasn’t changed. He’s still trying to acquire the same players who were good then, or those whom he thought were good. In 2002, Carlos Delgado hit .277/.406/.549 with 33 home runs. Luis Castillo hit .305/.364/.361 and stole 48 bases. Marlon Anderson, who was terrible then, just as he is terrible now, was the starting second baseman for the Phillies. Damion Easley had already headed down a long road of mediocrity, one made easier for him by the existence of GMs like Omar. Fernando Tatis had a miserable season for Minaya’s Expos. Things would get even worse for him before he headed back to the minors for what should have been the rest of his career. Yes, Willie Randolph is a bad manager. But his presence is merely a distraction from the real problem with these Mets, which starts at the top of an organization immune to change. So no, Ken Rosenthal, it is not important that Billy Wagner has poor numbers this year when entering the game with runners on base, nor should Randolph be criticized for bringing him in to such a situation. I’ll let Jack Flynn tell you why, but if you’re not in the reading mood why don’t you heed 21-year old rookie Jay Bruce, who when asked to explain his red-hot start, said simply, “sample size.” This is an organization that, in the face of a great movement of statistical analysis, roster optimization and commitment to young players, seems dedicated to going the other way. I don’t revel in pointing out daily the problem with the Mets’ bench, in dissing the Abraham Nunezes and Fernando Tatises of the world. But the Mets, whose payroll is one of the biggest in the game, have far too many spots on their roster filled with players who don’t belong in the major leagues. Their Triple-A team is a joke. Their Double-A team has a bunch of immovable first base types who probably will not be major league regulars, and a toolsy but probably overrated young outfielder who will most likely be traded before he makes a significant contribution to the team. Lower, there are hints and suggestions of prospects, but they only shine because they exist in a dark and empty system. How long will we keep pushing the button? Why do we voluntarily watch a lineup that regularly features five or six mediocre hitters, not counting the pitcher? Do the Mets realize that, with a little foresight and creativity, they could have avoided the problem? Did no one in the organization suggest that maybe– just maybe– the team needed more depth for Delgado and Moises Alou than a constant stream of crappy players? Willie Randolph is not to blame for this. When I and others sounded the trumpet for Valentino Pascucci, many laughed, mocking the notion that a 29-year old non-prospect is the “answer” the the Mets’ problems. Of course he’s not the answer. He’s a start. He’s a symbol for what the Mets should be doing to patch together a reasonable team. But instead, the team has gone backwards. And every time Billy Wagner blows a save, it will set the discourse back even further, because Billy Wagner is not the problem. Wright, Reyes and Beltran are not the problem. Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez and John Maine are not the problem. It’s everyone else. Here’s another image. The Mets are like a man who, seeing a magnificent castle in the distance, won’t look down to see that his feet are stuck and he is sinking further and further into the muck. If he were willing, he could take a few steps backward and find some solid ground. But because he is unable to divert from his path, he is getting further away from his goal, and even if he gets there he will be too dirty to enjoy it anyway. But that’s not how the Mets see it. They are making money. They will make even more money with their new stadium. They already have a business plan in place that involves both Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph through next year. To fire them would be to admit that their business plan is flawed, which it obviously isn’t, because they are making money. What is the fans’ problem, anyway? They are still buying our product, aren’t they? I guess they just like to complain. I see no end in sight. Even if Minaya and Randolph are both fired, I see no incentive for the team to find someone who would set up the team as something other than a pay-station for aging free agents. Who would have the guts to choose the unknown player over the known player when New York cries out for the name it knows? I could name 20 or 30 writers, bloggers, and baseball men of various sorts who would do much better than Omar Minaya as general manager. They will never get the job, though, because New Yorkers don’t know their names. But they do know Budweiser. Keep buying the same old crap, Mets fans. You don’t know any better. * Actually, Budweiser isn’t that bad. While I dislike the style, the beer is what it claims to be: a lighter beer that doesn’t taste horrible. You could do a lot worse, but you could do a lot better, too. John Peterson hates old players on principle. You can read his stylized ravings regularly at Blastings! Thrilledge. 10 Responses to “Make It Stop”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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(4.75 out of 5)
(4 out of 5)
All I know is I miss Lastings Milledge, I miss Ruben Gotay, I miss Heath Bell… I miss Flores even though I didn’t know much about him.
I miss the hell out of Carlos Gomez even though we got something good for him.
And I’m disgusted with Carlos Delgado, with Moises Alou, with Luis Castillo, with Orlando Hernandez, with Cliff Floyd and with Shawn Green, even now.
S’all I know.
Hey, it´s not so bad. Robinson Cancel did get his first MLB hit since 1999 yesterday, so he´s trending upwards…
Very well put, John. Though Minaya was doing this kind of thing before he came to NY. Though I admit that my interests and loyalties are more towards specific players may take precedence over the won-loss record of my team, Minaya has truly created a geriatric team with almost no hope for reinforcements from the minors. At least as long as Minaya is GM, I am rooting for the wrong team. I miss these guys too LFM. Willie may be gone in the next couple of weeks, and probably deserves it. But the person who deserves it more is Minaya. Fire him please Mr Wilpon before he signs Sammy Sosa to a multi-year contract.
John, you have jumped way overboard here. First, your non-stop pleas for Pascucci are just wrong. Wasn’t that Cancel that delivered a GW hit yesterday. I know “sample size” but maybe Cancel is here over Pascucci because he is a better hitter and a guy more likely to put the bat on the ball in a PH spot. Second there was an attempt to have a reliable back-up for Alou. We had Endy and Pagan, but unfortunately, Church and Pagan have gotten hurt and we have had to resort to Marlon and Easley and Tatis for now. How can you complain about Tatis? He’s delivered two huge hits and played a decent OF, despite some circus catches. He’s been serviceable.
Were you complaining about Easley when he hit .280 with 10 bombs last year or Marlon when he was hitting .330 in 70 ABs to finish the year. Marlon is a good back-up player as is Easley. Unfortunately, like many back-up players, they get exposed when there ab’s exceed a certain level. Also veterans are usually your back-up players because you don’t want young players riding the pine. Were there any alternatives?
No am I not happy about the talent level in the farm system. Yes, it is barren right now. I certainly hope there are no more trades made, which deplete what is left in teh farm. For now it appears none of the players we have given up besides Gomez are destined for stardom. Jacobs hits for power but most people supported the delgado trade. The heath bell trade has been beaten to death, so no need to go into that. Ruben Gotay is showing his value rotting on the pine in Atlanta. I doubt any phones are ringing in Atlanta trying to acquire him.
I do believe the handling of Willie’s status has been bungled and that lies solely on Omar and the wilpons. Is Willie staying or not, just answer the darn question? I have never been a huge willie fan, but to say he is a bad manager is another overborad statement.
At this point, I don’t think mid season changes are going to help. Putting in manuel for Willie is not the answer nor is firing the coaches. Maybe this thing needs to blown up in the offseason. I am open to discussion on GM candidates. Omar has certainly made his share of mistakes and should be held accountable for some bad FA signings, Castillo, Showenweis etc.
Ah but to hold up Easley or Marlon’s stats last year as a defense are as “lightning in a bottle” silly as anything Omar has done…
You can’t just keep building your team on the idea of cycling through guys on the downside until you find the one, at each position, who has a fluke year outside of his decline.
It don’t work that way.
Now, of course, I don’t see any there there with Pascucci either… being able to hit .300 in AAA at the age of 29 basically means that you can hit pitchers who are too one-dimensional to hang in the bigs.
You can hit the straight ball. Golf claps.
The only difference between hoping to get lightning in a bottle from that guy and trying to get lightning in a bottle from the Former All-Stars Hired Only To Draw Headlines Away From The Yankees is…
Pascucci’s bottle is a lot cheaper.
Pascucci is 29 years old and in 8 minor league seasons has hit .278/.391/.493.
Cancel is 32 years old and in 13 minor league seasons has hit .260/.319/.369.
The preference for guys like Cancel over a cheap hitter like Valentino is a joke.
LFM, what were the alternatives. Don’t players who have good years usually get rewarded with a contract while the players who don’t struggle to find work.
Bench players are a crap shoot period. Unfortunately, Easley, Marlon and Chavez are all having sub-par years. I don’t think anyone foresaw Anderson hitting .165. The guy is a proven pinch hitter who has flourished in that role for several years. Hopefully, he can regain some of that magic touch.
I really like the post. We do get too caught up in vague catch phrases such as “clutch”, “heart” and “leadership” in evaluating the mess at Willet’s Point. This seems stupid when considering that there are more defenite methods to evaluate player and team performance, but know one seems to notice. For this I don’t know if we are to blame or the writers. Do the writers write in these over simplfied terms because they feel we want to read it, or do they write it because they don’t know any better? I don’t know.
On the other hand things are not as one sided and as black and white as stat heads would like to think. For all of Minaya’s faults, we musnt forget John Maine for Jorge Julio, Xavier Nady, O.P., and Pagan. Additionally, only Mulvey is doing much of anything in the minors with a high K rate but an equally high era, while Humber and Delios are getting destroyed. Gomez is exciting but his OPS would be of little use this year, next year and possibly the year after.
Lastings numbers are not as good as Chruch’s sans head injuries and Schneider has a better VORP than any catcher that was available during last year’s off-season.
That said, there is Castillo, El Duque, and Alou.
I really hope that Wilpons lets Omar eat the Castillo contract and allows him to go after Orlando Hudson. That might be wishfull thinking, but I believe people call that “sunk cost”.
Yea, so far the players the Mets dealt for Santana have done very little. If Mulvey, Guerra and Humber flame out and don’t pitch in the big leagues, I will be pleasantly surprised.
Has any vetern player ever done anything good for you in your history? You ignore anything positive about any player on the team over age 30 and ignore everything even remotely negative about the players 27 and below.
Our bench as currently constituted is an issue. I think expecting issues with Church/Pagan/Endy was a bit much especially to have it all coincide with the much expected Alou missing time. Dismissing Anderson is just silly, he is one of the better PH in the game coming into this season and was certainly worth a spot on this bench. I would have prefered Gotay to Easley on the bench, but then again Gotay has done nothing of even remote interest in ATL and I never saw Gotay as a starting 2B.
I would like to see Castillo’s contract gone and some better depth on the bench, but I am missing the players that were available to fix the bench.
I can tell you this, I would much rather have Santana keeping this ship afloat in our rotation then Gomez keeping our OF afloat through our injuries. And I miss Gomez, I think he could have been a fantastic #2 guy for us, but Santana is more than worth it.