Rico Brogna, Good Fit (and other ex-Met updates)

[Guest Edgy DC]

Roberto Hernandez has almost nothing in common with Mel Rojas.

They're both righthanded relievers with Afro-Latin heritage. It pretty much ends there.

[Guest seawolf17]

My point was that when it became clear that he was going to break camp and come north, I thought he was going to be a train wreck. He's blown me away so far; but we saw a bit of what I expected when Willie overused him a few weeks ago. If Willie keeps him fresh, and he can be successful, then wonderful. I'm not expecting that to happen, though, so if they can deal him for some value, I'd say do it.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Oh, absolutely. Hernandez has been phenomenal for us this season, but he's old old old. If we can get a decent prospect for him, I think we should totally do it. I'd much rather move him than Loopy, honestly, but people may be gun-shy, given his track record. They may view it as "Hernandez is only good for Peterson" and not be willing to take a chance on him . . .

[Guest Edgy DC]

Now come on. You're saying that he's like Mel Rojas because if you narrow down his performance thus far to isolated slots, he's been really bad? What comparison can't be made that way? If there was anything to that, Hernandez wouldn't be Mel Rojas II, he'd be Mel Rojas XXII.

Roberto Hernandez was a forty-plus-year-old non-roster invitee New York-native who has cost the team nothing, and given the team everything they could have hoped for. He's also likely the hardest thrower in the Met pen.

Mel Rojas was a very very different animal. He didn't earn a spot out of camp. He was acquired in by the Mets in a deal with a Cub team hoping to shed some salary in a very interesting trade that mostly otherwise swung the Mets way. But, as much as Wendell and McRae worked out for the Mets (compared to Mark Clark working out for the Cubs but Lance Johnson and Manny Alexander not) it probably was too much to take on.

He was an expensive albatross and it took them re-acquiring Bobby Bonilla to shed his contract themselves.

In a sense they're still paying for Rojas. He has since become a mythical bogeyman to invoke and scare easily frightened Met fans away from unrelated players. Roberto Hernandez? No way.

Smart teams find more Roberto Hernandezes than dumb teams. Dumb teams get stuck with more Mel Rojases than smart teams. Basically, Roberto Hernandez vs Mel Rojas is evidence item one why you shouldn't commit long-term to supporting relief pitchers.

[Guest seawolf17]

Edgy DC wrote: In a sense they're still paying for Rojas. He has since become a mythical bogeyman to invoke and scare easily frightened Met fans away from unrelated players. Roberto Hernandez? No way. Smart teams find more Roberto Hernandezes than dumb teams. Dumb teams get stuck with more Mel Rojases than smart teams. Basically, Roberto Hernandez vs Mel Rojas is evidence item one why you shouldn't commit long-term to supporting relief pitchers.

Fair enough. And maybe I'm awfulizing a bit. And I'm not sayng he hasn't been waaaaay better than I thought he'd be. I'm just saying that he has trade value; maybe I said it in a manner that was a bit too extreme.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Sure he has. Rojas had none, except to take on even more of an albatross in Bobby Bonilla. Eek, Bonilla.

Just for fun, let's review the Rojas line.

Takashi Kashiwada, Mel Rojas II
Ricardo Jordan, Mel Rojas III
Barry Manuel, Mel Rojas IV
Toby Borland, Mel Rojas V
Ricky Trlicek, Mel Rojas VI
Jeff Tam, Mel Rojas VII
Brad Clontz, Mel Rojas VIII
Bobby M. Jones, Mel Rojas IX
Allen Watson, Mel Rojas X
Billy Taylor, Mel Rojas XI
Dan Murray, Mel Rojas XII
Dennis Springer, Mel Rojas XIII
Erick Cammack, Mel Rojas XIV
Jim Mann, Mel Rojas XV
Dicky Gonzalez, Mel Rojas XVI
Donne Freakin� Wall, Mel Rojas XVII
Tom Martin, Mel Rojas XVIII
Brian Rose, Mel Rojas XIX
Mark Corey, Mel Rojas XX
Satoru Komiyama, Mel Rojas XXI
Kane Davis, Mel Rojas XXII
Pat Strange, Mel Rojas XXIII
Pedro Feliciano, Mel Rojas XXIV
Pete Walker, Mel Rojas XXV
Jaime Cerda, Mel Rojas XVI
Edwin Almonte, Mel Rojas XVII
Jason Anderson, Mel Rojas XVIII

[Guest seawolf17]

Most of those are a stretch; I use the Rojas analogy only because he was a pitcher who had several successful years as a closer before becoming a pariah. The list should be more like:

Billy Taylor, Mel Rojas II (saved 100 games with an ERA+ in the 120s before blowing up as a Met)

and that's it. I tried to add Wall, but (a) he was a good, if not solid, middle reliever for three years in San Diego, and (b) honestly wasn't that bad.

And Bert isn't there yet; perhaps he never will be.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Most of those are a huge stretch.

[Guest MFS62]

Jim Mann came back more often than a boomerang.
He was sent away several times, but was then re-signed to minor league contracts for no apparent reason.

He reportedly had the kind of stuff that made scouts drool and got GM's fired. His name is a paean to "tools" -based scouting and his name will forever be mentioned when we think of the Oscar Henriquez Memorial Roster Spot.

EDIT: I would quibble a bit (quibbles and bits?) that Dickie Gonzalez doesn't really belong on that list because unlike the others he was predominantly a starter.

Later

[Guest sharpie]

Cerda was fine in '02, in '03 he was bad. Rojas never had a good stretch for the Mets. Free Jaime from the Rojas List!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Neither does Allen Watson.

My point really is that none of those guys belong there, but all of them belong there more Roberto Hernandez. Rojas was a unique and special individual. Nobody, not even Rich Rodriguez, has really filled his shoes.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Lou Gorman blows the hell out of his own horn.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Tearjerker about Johnny O in the Globe today.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2005/06/24/growing_family/

[Guest MFS62]

Rotblatt wrote: Tearjerker about Johnny O in the Globe today. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2005/06/24/growing_family/

I have a good friend who works with John's dad at the U of Washington Medical Center. She had told me that the family knew from pre-natal tests that the the health of the baby, and possibly even the mother, would be in question upon delivery. As a result, John needed to be near family and friends (and his dad's hospital) during that time.

This was going on at the same time John became a free agent from the Mets. At the time, he signed with the M's and said it was for "family reasons" and didn't go into detail. Since then, there have been ocasional posts on various Mets websites saying either that he "Took the money and ran" or' The Mets should have offered him more to keep him here." There is no amount of money that would have made him do that.

I knew about the situation from my friend, and promised not to reveal it. But I felt bad reading those posts. I believe that I have alluded to it here.

Maybe everyone will understand now that this has become public.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think all except the willful reactionarys got the idea.

Though, when I was vistiting congress for the contraction hearing, Anthony "The Wiener Man" Wiener opened his comments and questions by essaying on his longtime baseball (Mets) fandom and stating, "I still don't understand what happened with John Olerud."

"Let it go, Tony!" I shouted from the gallery.

[Guest MFS62]

Its better than when I had to present to HCFA (the Health Care Financing Administration) and a member of the panel to whom I was presenting said. "I see you're from New York. Well, I'm a Cubs fan."

Later

[Guest Rotblatt]

Yeah, it definitely casts some light on his departure. I had thought that management didn't do enough to keep him here, and it's now clear that nothing would have been enough.

He's a great guy who was fabolous for us and a player I really enjoyed rooting for. Someone I couldn't help but root for a little even with the MFY, as a matter of fact. Thankfully, that conflict of interest is now past, and I can root for him with abandon . . .

Best wishes, John, and good luck.

[Guest PatchyFogg]

]He wasn't sure if his career was over until the Yankees contacted him about a week later. He didn't want to leave his hometown, but he had little choice.

Sometimes human interest stories go a little too far, like here. He was still gettting paid the remaining millions on his deal and was free to be at home in Seattle 24/7. Why pack up the accoutrements and head East?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Did the Yankees pick up his Seattle contract, or let him clear waivers and sign him to another deal? I don't recall.

Because I think if they picked up his Seattle deal, he would be forced to report or forfeit his salary.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

As I recall it, they let him clear first. Nobody wanted that deal.

I hate to say it, but it was great when he was too injured to help the MFYs avoid their ultimate humiliation last ALCS. You know if he was in there, he gets at least one big hit in 4 games.

[Guest Edgy DC]

So the Yankee trainers apparently missed a diagnosis on both Heredia and Olerud.

Bad year. I'm not saying the Met staff can be shown to be be superior, certainly not in 2004, where their inablitiy to rehabilitate their injured players hurt the team at many levels. But bad year.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Huber with his first major league hit--a pinch hit one-run double for KC.

Congratulations, Justin!

[Guest seawolf17]

The St. Louis Cardinals activated outfielder Roger Cedeno from the 15-day disabled list Friday night, and then designated him for assignment. Cedeno was batting .158 in 57 at-bats with eight RBIs, five of them as a pinch hitter. He had been on the DL since June 6 with a strained hamstring.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm sure you'll see the film at eleven, especially if you tune in to your CBS affilliate, but apparently ex-Met Kenny Rogers, who'd been having a fine year at 40 years old, went completely bonkers and started shoving cameramen around for gettting in his face, cursing and smashing, gnashing teeth and all.

Supposedly, KTVT in Dallas has it all. Somebody ended up going to the hospital.

[Guest metirish]

Just saw it on MSG, Rogers went nuts, cameraman ended up in hospital in "a lot of pain", Rodgers was sent home and the Cops were called..

[Guest metirish]

Looks like Stanton has pitched his last game for the MFY..from the NYT today..

]Quantrill and Stanton shook hands and exchanged hugs with teammates and club personnel after Wednesday night's rainout at Camden Yards. Quantrill would not comment after leaving the clubhouse, and Stanton said, "You can read between the lines."

[Guest MFS62]

Is the guy named Kelly playing centerfield for one of the west coast teams the same guy the Mets had at Norfolk last year? IIRC he was an ex-Pac10 football player.

Later

[Guest seawolf17]

He's a Red... Kenny Kelly, and yes, he was a Met farmhand for a bit. I do remember that he was a FB player, but I don't remember the position or the school (Miami?).

[Guest MFS62]

Click, the light went on.
Thanks.
Yes, I think I remember reading that he was a quarterback for Miami U.
He didn't play baseball until late in his HS stay, and he had great skills, but not refined yet.

Later

[Guest Rotblatt]

I think he was a kicker.