All-Purpose 2006 Where Have You Gone... Former Mets Thread

[Guest cooby]

Piazza must have been waiting for me to drop him from my fantasy team to heat up

[Guest Edgy DC]

Had four hits the day before.

[Guest cooby]

I noticed that. I picked up the Phillies hot new phenom pitcher the other night, that should make him immediately suck. I did that for the Mets, I'm such a gamer

[nymr83]

"SB: G Maddux (1, 2nd base off C Young/M Piazza)"

wow.

[metirish]

From Heyman today....

] Edgardo Alfonzo has requested a trade from Anaheim after accepting the deal there under the belief he'd be in the third-base mix. "It hasn't really worked out the way we hoped," agent Peter Greenberg said. "We think the Mets would be the perfect spot." We'd love to see Alfonzo back at Shea. But although there was talk of a Kaz Matsui-for-Alfonzo swap, Alfonzo's trade value has diminished as he's struggled adjusting to a limited role.

[nymr83]

can fonzie still play 2B? (and would the fans even care if he couldn't?)

[metirish]

If he can or not I would like to see him back in a Met uniform.....

[MFS62]

Yosmerio Petit pitched a scoreless inning (his major league debut?) yesterday, giving up one hit and fanning two.

Later

[Guest Rotblatt]

The Yankees unveiled their newest, deadliest weapon from AAA against the A's yesterday:

Scott Erickson.

Genius!

Here's what BP has to say about him:

]May 15, 2006 Prospectus Today He's Baaaaaaack by Joe Sheehan So yesterday afternoon, instead of my usual routine of flipping through a number of ballgames, I had settled on the Yankees/A�s tilt. I liked the pitching matchup, with one of my favorite young pitchers, Dan Haren, going up against someone who�s been on everyone�s mind lately in Randy Johnson. I was watching the game while packing for a short trip, walking in and out of the living room while catching snippets of Haren�s excellent command and what was, for Johnson, a pretty good day after the first inning. Sometime between socks and sport coats, I wandered into a nightmare. I actually thought that the Yankees had scraped the bottom of the barrel two years ago with Tanyon Sturtze, only to find that they could dig even deeper by calling upon Aaron Small. That both pickups worked out reasonably well didn�t make the memory of seeing them on staff any less jarring. But at about 12:15 PDT yesterday, I saw something that made me realize there may be no end to the abyss. Scott Erickson was on the mound. I hadn�t realized that Scott Erickson was still being paid money to pitch. Then again, I said much the same thing a year ago when he landed in the Dodgers� Opening Day rotation, and the year before that when he showed up on both the Mets� and Rangers� staffs. In fact, Erickson is approaching records for continued employment in the face of extreme incompetence. Since 1999, when Erickson closed out his fourth consecutive 200-inning season for the Orioles and was worth five wins according to Clay Davenport�s system, the right-hander has missed two complete seasons to injury, and those two are his best work in that span. When available to pitch, he�s posted a 6.35 ERA across 335 2/3 innings. His low seasonal ERA is 5.55. In the four seasons in which he�s pitched, he�s struck out 139 men and walked 161, with Stuff scores ranging from a high of -11 to a low of -33. Erickson�s most recent performances are his worst. In 2004, he got hammered in brief stints with the Mets and Rangers--who actually traded for the guy at the deadline--to the tune of six starts, 27 innings, 38 hits, 20 walks and nine strikeouts, for an ERA of 6.67. Last year, a flood of injuries landed him in the Dodgers� rotation, an experiment that lasted eight starts. Before being sent to Las Vegas in August, he ran up a 6.02 ERA with a ridiculous 15/25 K/BB in 55 1/3 innings. Now, I�m sympathetic to the idea that one bad year doesn�t mean you�re done. (I�d have a different job now if that were the case.) I�m even on board with the notion that there are things scouts can tell us about players that the numbers don�t. But what kind of complete and utter ignorance of a track record is necessary to look at a 6.67 ERA and 24/45 K/BB over 82 1/3 innings the last two years and say, �nah, let�s see what�s he�s got.� It�s not like he�s even pitched well in the minors the past few years. His Triple-A line in 2004 and 2005 was 17 starts with an ERA of 6.12 and a K/BB of 67/42. That�s at Triple-A. The minor leagues. The next-best thousand guys. Erickson couldn�t even get them out with any consistency. For Columbus this year, Erickson had a 4.24 ERA in a dozen relief appearances, with 11 walks and 11 strikeouts in 17 innings. He�s now pitching for a contending team with a $200-odd million payroll. What do you think it�s like for a guy like Heath Bell, who has pitched well in Triple-A for a while now, and intermittently well at the major-league level, to get sent down whenever he has consecutive bad appearances while watching Scott Erickson making three hundred grand again on nothing but wishes? Erickson isn�t one of the 340 best pitchers in the world right now; I could make a strong case that he�s not a legitimate Triple-A pitcher, either. But he�s got a job. Erickson was actually effective yesterday, retiring five of the seven batters he faced and walking the other two. On the other hand, he threw just 17 strikes in 32 pitches. A�s batters swung at 15 of his offerings and missed just one. There was nothing in the outing to indicate that he�s much different from the guy who couldn�t keep a job in 2005 or 2004. He�s 38 years old and hasn�t been valuable to a baseball team since he was 31; I don�t expect that to change over the next few weeks. I should make it clear that I have no problem with Erickson trying to continue his career. Jobs playing baseball are among the best in the world, and I know that if I had the ability to hold one--or if I could somehow convince people I did--I�d keep a death grip on it until the entire industry turned its back on me. Erickson, Rickey Henderson, Julio Franco�I think they should play as long as someone will give them a uniform. I don�t think it�s up to someone else to tell a person they shouldn�t do what they love. No, the criticism here is for the Yankee front office, which put itself into a situation where taking a look at Scott Erickson was a viable option. This organization has been completely unable to generate the kind of low-cost, high-value arms that you see populating bullpens in places like Anaheim, Minnesota, or St. Louis. That they turned to Erickson while once again ignoring Colter Bean (0.77 ERA, 30 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings) highlights an organizational blind spot, both in development and in choosing guys for major-league roles. Because of this, the Yankees now have a bullpen that belies their status as one of the game�s premier franchises. Mariano Rivera fits, and Kyle Farnsworth is a legitimate late-inning reliever. But there�s Small, and Erickson, and an awful lot of hope that a 29-year-old with a career ERA of 4.69, Scott Proctor, is for real, and Ron Villone, who hasn�t had an ERA below 4.00 since 1997. The corner outfield spots are getting all the attention, but the Yankees are just as vulnerable in the sixth and seventh innings as they�ve been the last few years, only now they are much less likely to win the 8-7 and 9-8 games at the plate. Put in all together, and it�s a dangerous time in the Bronx.

[Frayed Knot]

"That they turned to Erickson while once again ignoring Colter Bean (0.77 ERA, 30 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings) highlights an organizational blind spot, both in development and in choosing guys for major-league roles"

But ... they're so smart!

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

Why do you say so? I'm surprised you feel that way.

[Willets Point]

Could be Exhibit B for "The Yankees do some of the same dumb things the Mets do."

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

I haven't seen Exhibit A for that argument yet, but that's bound to exhaust several alphabets.

[Willets Point]

Oh sorry, I guess exhibit lettering starts over from the beginning when it's an opposing argument.

[DocTee]

]Since 1999, when Erickson closed out his fourth consecutive 200-inning season for the Orioles and was worth five wins according to Clay Davenport�s system, the right-hander has missed two complete seasons to injury, and those two are his best work in that span.

Classic line.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Todd Self has signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Oriloles are announcing today that they've signed Melvin Mora to a three-year extension at $24 million, with an option for a fourth year with a $1 million buyout.

That's a guaranteed $25 million --- or a $5 million trust for each quint.

[MFS62]

Danny Graves has been sent to Buffalo (by the Reds?).

Later

[metirish]

Last I saw of him he was pitching for the Indians.

[MFS62]

That's it, the Indians.
I saw it this morning and forgot to note what team he was with. I must have been confused by the red unis.

Later

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Rico Brogna was on the SNY pre-game show this evening, and he'll be on the post-game show. He seems like a good fit.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Tom Seaver gave a brief interview to Mike and Mike In the Morning on ESPN radio this morning. I was a little surprised by his answer when asked what active pitchers he really enjoyed watching work.

"Jason Schmidt. I really like watching him pitch. I like to watch guys that are aggressive. I like to see guys work both sides of the plate and pitch inside. I really like to watch Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. He's not pitching right now, but I always liked to watch Roger Clemens"*

It appears that most of the pitchers Seaver cited this morning do not exemplify the attributes of pitching inside and being aggressive. Roger Clemens has definitely been willing to do so throughout his career. I guess Jason Schmidt may fit that role as well, but Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine? Wouldn't Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and Curt Schilling better exemplify aggressive pitchers that are willing to pitch inside.

*Going from memory so this is not an exact quote, but pretty close.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Piazza with his 5th home run tonight. He's now batting .263 AVG / .348 OBP / .475 SLG / .823 OPS in 99 AB.

Not bad for an old guy!

[Gwreck]

Fonzie was released by the LA Angels.

[Gwreck]

Alex Escobar, playing centerfield for the Nationals.

[MFS62]

Justin Huber was sent down to AAA by KC.
If he can't stick with that squad, how good can he really be?

EDIT: And the Yanks have just brought up ex-Met prospect Terrence Long.

Later

[Guest Rotblatt]

="MFS62"]Justin Huber was sent down to AAA by KC. If he can't stick with that squad, how good can he really be?

I think the real question is, if Kansas City can't find more than 10 at bats over 3 weeks for a first baseman lighting up AAA to the tune of .935 OPS while their regular firstbaseman sits at a .683 OPS, just how inept are they?

I mean, seriously, Mientkiewicz has been god-awful for them, and they have Huber just tearing it up at AAA. 10 at bats over three weeks is a fucking joke.

They deserve to be in last place, and probably to break the Mets' 1962 record.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Rotblatt - "I mean, seriously, Mientkiewicz has been god-awful for them..."

Mientkiewicz's suckitude isn't very surprising after what we witnessed last year. It is hard to imagine that there were some last year that argued that his defense made up of the difference between the hitting of he and Delgado. That entire discussion looks even more ridiculous now that we have gotten to see each of them first hand in Mets uniforms. There is no comparison between the two. The biggest advantage Mientkiewicz had over Delgado was that he was dramatically cheaper. I'm glad that Delgado is now with the Mets and Mientkiewicz is with the floundering Royals.

[duan]

Rockin' Doc wrote: Tom Seaver gave a brief interview to Mike and Mike In the Morning on ESPN radio this morning. I was a little surprised by his answer when asked what active pitchers he really enjoyed watching work. "Jason Schmidt. I really like watching him pitch. I like to watch guys that are aggressive. I like to see guys work both sides of the plate and pitch inside. I really like to watch Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. He's not pitching right now, but I always liked to watch Roger Clemens"* It appears that most of the pitchers Seaver cited this morning do not exemplify the attributes of pitching inside and being aggressive. Roger Clemens has definitely been willing to do so throughout his career. I guess Jason Schmidt may fit that role as well, but Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine? Wouldn't Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and Curt Schilling better exemplify aggressive pitchers that are willing to pitch inside. *Going from memory so this is not an exact quote, but pretty close.

I could be wrong, but was there not a whole Leo Mazzone thing about "First Pitch Strike" which might explain the Maddux & Glavine 'agressive' thing; especially when you combine it with 'working both sides of the plate' which they definitely do.

He may mean being agressive in chasing the out, rather then in pursuing the hitters head.

[stevejrogers]

Terrance Long tonight will join the All-Time Played for both the Mets and Yankees list