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

[Guest Edgy DC]

To be fair, just because we tracked Mienkiewicz vs. Delgado, it doesn't mean anybody seriously thought Doug had much of a chance of winning outside of an injury to Delgado. I just thought it would be interesting to see how much of Delgado he could replace for the money.

Not much, as it turns out. Now the game is, if anybody wants to track it, if and when Ian Bladergroen eventually accomplishes more for the Sox than the modest output between injuries that Mientkiewicz had for the Mets.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Duan - "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."

First let me clarify that I don't think Seaver was equating aggressiveness with a willingness to plunk batters. I'm sorry if my initial post inferred that in any way.

Your point regarding first pitch strikes and getting ahead of hitters is a good one. Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz have exhibited that priciple throughout their careers.

Maddux has throughout his career pitched to both corners of he plate. However, Glavine essentially made a career in Atlanta out of throwing fastballs and change ups down and away. He threw pitches further and further off the plate if the umpires would give him the call. He seldom threw inside for strikes. His style was to pitch away, further away, and even further still away.

The arrival of the Questec system really hurt Glavine (IMO) and he had to make adjustments to actually pitching in the strike zone. To his credit, he has adapted and now does throw inside and features his breaking ball far more prominantly than he did prior to 2004.

Glavaine has had a great career and I sure as hell hope he makes it to 300 career wins, but he is not the first pitcher that springs to my mind when discussing aggressive pitchers. I still think of power pitchers that come in and challenge hitters as aggressive.

Of course, Seaver has forgotten more about pitching in the past week or so than I have ever known, so I guess I shouldn't question his choices when citing aggressive pitchers. I just thought it peculiar the contrast of who he perceived as such and who I as a fan saw in that light.

[seawolf17]

Two interesting bits from Sports Weekly:

** Diamondbacks 1B Tony Clark has a clause in his contract that helps pay tribute to firefighters and police officers in Arizona. It allows firemen and cops to receive a complimentary ticket for each ticket they purchase.

** Brad Lidge, Astros: His demotion [from the closer role] didn't last long, especially after an injury to 2B Chris Burke led the Astros to bring veteran Joe McEwing up from Triple-A. The significance? McEwing showed Lidge how he was tipping his pitches, something the Astros suspected based on opposing hitters' reactions but had not been able to pinpoint. Lidge pitched three perfect innings before going back to his old role and saving the May 19 game against Texas.

[Willets Point]

That's why they call him Super Joe.

[Guest Edgy DC]

How 'bout McEwing sitting on that information until he got a callup?

[soupcan]

Edgy DC wrote: How 'bout McEwing sitting on that information until he got a callup?

Yeah, right? Wassup wit dat?

[nymr83]

obviously mcewing, unlike peterson, actually CAN fix pitchers in ten minutes.

[DocTee]

]obviously mcewing, unlike peterson, actually CAN fix pitchers in ten minutes.

Too funny.


Jays sign Fonzie to miinor-league deal.

[Guest SI Metman]

Former Binghamton Met Bob Keppel gets the call with KC to pitch relief in the Bronx this weekend.

Keppel threw a no-no for the B-Mets back in '04.

[metirish]

Edgardo Alfonzo has signed with Toronto.

[MFS62]

Ex-Met Ty Walker has become an effective closer for Tampa Bay.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=400104

Later

[MFS62]

Fonzie's contract was purchased by the Blue Jays from their minor league team. He's back in the bigs.

Later

[metirish]

Not had enough of Kazmir yet?

The trade that will never be forgotten

[Guest Edgy DC]

We should have two threads maybe --- one for retired exies and one for active ones.

For what it's worth, that's as much aknowledgement from a Wilpon as I've heard about the trade being a mistake.

[metirish]

Yeah that jumped out at me too,and Duke is as honest as ever.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Of course, it's safer to acknowledge it as a mistake now that he needn't fear that such an acknowledgment would be counterproductive in perhaps undercutting Zambrano. The allegedly emotionally fragile Zambrano.

[Guest sharpie]

Doc Gooden not having a good time in jail.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-gooden-jail&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

For posterity's sake:

]"People always like to say, 'What if?' " said Jeff Wilpon, the Mets' senior executive vice president. "But the positive that's come out of this is what we learned from our mistake. We have moved on."

]"We had too many cooks in the kitchen," said Jim Duquette, then the Mets' general manager, now the vice president for baseball operations of the Baltimore Orioles. "In that situation, if someone disagrees, he might not speak up. The loudest voices are the ones that get heard. It does become sort of like a mob mentality."

]The Mets were six games out of a playoff spot on July 30, 2004, neither a contender nor an also-ran. Considering all the injuries they had overcome, they were giddy to be shopping one day before the trading deadline. At 5:15 p.m., Duquette called Chuck LaMar, then the Devil Rays' general manager, and said, "Do we have a deal?" Although many fans still direct their anger at the Mets, the Mets direct their anger at the Devil Rays. The Mets knew at the time of the trade that Zambrano had tendinitis in his right elbow, but they understood he was being treated with a basic anti-inflammatory. When Zambrano joined the Mets in Atlanta on July 31, they learned that he had been taking more severe medication. The first red flag was raised. "It's clear when Zambrano arrived, his elbow was hurting a lot more than what the doctors in Tampa told us," Duquette said. "It was obvious that they had not given us all the information." Duquette said he asked the commissioner's office if there were grounds to file a grievance against the Devil Rays. Wilpon said he asked the commissioner's office if the Mets had any recourse. They were told that the problem had to be resolved between the teams. The Mets could blame the Devil Rays for not supplying more comprehensive medical reports, but then they would also have to blame their own doctors for accepting limited reports. "Everything was revealed at the time," LaMar said. "There was nothing to the injury factor with us or that anything was withheld. The Mets know that."

]If Kazmir were with the Mets, he would probably have been promoted to the big leagues by now, right into a race. Of course, that assumes the Mets would be in the race without the lessons of the trade. It assumes they still would have outbid the competition for Mart�nez and Beltr�n, and outmaneuvered the competition for Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca. "The Mets have completely changed their process," Duquette said. "It's much more efficient now." Minaya makes decisions with his two lieutenants and Wilpon signs off on the financial terms. So far, the group's only mistake was trading starter Kris Benson to Baltimore for reliever Jorge Julio, although the Mets seemed most intent on getting rid of Benson's controversial wife, Anna. Benson was the other starter acquired by the Mets on July 30, 2004, in a much more favorable deal. The franchise may never fully recover from that date. It has become part of Mets' lore, right along with 1986 and 1969. When Kazmir is asked about New York's preoccupation with him, he tries not to touch it. "It's something I would like to stay away from," he said. "I really don't want to get caught up in it." On that point � and only that point � the Mets and their former phenom remain united.

[Elster88]

Tyler Yates was called up by the Braves a couple of days ago.

On May 30th, he gave up 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in an inning and a third.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Holy crap! Mauro Gozzo!

[metirish]

Jae Seo has been moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen, Odalis Perez will take his spot in the rotation.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060603&content_id=1485917&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Guest Edgy DC]

Craig Brazell, flying on the charter.

Prentice Redman, Senator, payin' back the Mets.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Tommy John pays a visit to Shawn Estes

And Kevin is lot less Appier these days...

[Guest Edgy DC]

We had a real Brigadoon roation in 2002, didn't we? Leiter and Trachsel are long-timers, but D'Amico, Estes, and Astacio showed up, landed good nicknames, pitched 30 games, and were gone.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Which is something of a non-seq. I bring it up because Ape led the team in starts in 2001, then disappeared, so...

[Guest GYC]

Davey Johnson signs as a consultant to the Nationals.
http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060607&content_id=1493895&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was

]Bowden reunited with Johnson GM, manager helped win two division titles in Cincinnati By Bill Ladson / MLB.com WASHINGTON -- Davey Johnson, best known for managing the Mets to a World Series title in 1986, was hired by the Nationals as a consultant to general manager Jim Bowden on Wednesday. Bowden and Johnson will work together for the first time since the 1995 season, when both were with the Reds. Bowden was the GM and Johnson managed the club at the time. Together, they won two division titles in 1994 and '95. Johnson posted 1,148 wins as a big-league manager from 1984-2000, a total that ranks 38th all-time. He notched an overall .564 winning percentage (1,148-888) as a manager with the Mets, Reds, Orioles and Dodgers. Johnson most recently served as the bench coach for Team USA at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March. Last November, he managed Team USA to a perfect 5-0 record in the CONCEBE North American Regional Olympic Qualifying Tournament to advance to this August's COPABE Olympic America's Tournament in Havana, Cuba. Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[Elster88]

Wigginton returning to career norms.

2006: .269 AVG, .303 OBP, .493 SLG, .796 OPS
Career: .263 AVG, .321 OBP, .438 SLG, .759 OPS


Shocking.

[MFS62]

Bob Keppel had another good start for KC last night.:
IP H R ER BB K HR Season ERA
B. Keppel 8.0 7 1 1 2 2 0 2.11

He's emerging as the ace of the KC staff. (insert joke here)

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Except that he didn't get the win.
* Carries a shutout for 8 innings
* allows the first batter in the 9th to reach
* leaves with a 2-0 lead
* yadda, yadda, yadda ... Royals lose 4-2

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

He floats through the air with the greatest of ease
That daring young man on the flying trapeze
In Gunze underwear and big wristbands like these
Mr. Sparkle was the coolest of the Met Japanese