IGT 4/5/06 - Young Mr. Bannister Debuts vs. The Nationals

[Guest cooby]

I guess now that I think of it, if I had a tv in my kitchen, and it carried the Mets, I would watch there too.

[metirish]

So yesterday I get home to catch the end of M&MD, Russo is jawing about how Wagner had better not blow any games while I guess using the song, he'll have a field day today, and for all the talk about Hernandez looking lost at the plate how about Beltran, at least we know Anderson is playing foir his defence...cut him some slack.

[Elster88]

I like Anderson's defense. I only rip into him to snub the peeps who just [u:dd1e18518a]knew[/u:dd1e18518a] that Omar and Willie were retarded for not playing him over Kaz.

I also like that he has two last names.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wagner didn't use the song. He used his arm and the pitches he had in it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

From Mary Noble's game notes: "We may not see him (Julio) [in a game] for a while," one Met said. "They want to get him fixed."

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Ouch. Give up a few runs and you get neutered. Sheesh!

[MFS62]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Ouch. Give up a few runs and you get neutered. Sheesh!

Many Mets fans would gladly donate a rusty can opener for the task.

Later

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

GEE WHIZ it was horrible, awful, Mike, that that that that that Wagner guy comes in with Mariano's tune playing and gives up that home run. I mean, come on, you can't do that. You simply can't do that. That is a thing that, I don;t know how to say this, you simply can't do. Gee Whiz if you're going to march in there with Enter Sandman, for crying out loud, you got to get a save. Got to. Not fair to Mariano if you don.t Must get a save. Have to. I don't understand how you walk in to that song and then you blow the save. You can't do that. You simply cannot do that. Can't do that, that's all there is to it. No way. Gee Whiz.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The broader thesis is that they worry that he didn't get enough spring, didn't get enough Peterson:

]NEW YORK -- Ideally, defeats don't linger or fester in the minds of the relief pitchers responsible for them. More than their teammates, relievers need to forget. And the best way to accomplish amnesia is to pitch again -- soon. That may not be achieved easily by Jorge Julio, who emerged from his first appearance with the Mets sporting a 27.00 ERA, a loss and a reminder of how it was for him in the American League. The former Orioles closer surrendered a home run to Jose Guillen in the 10th inning Wednesday, and he then allowed three more runs -- albeit unearned -- that essentially closed out the Mets' 9-5 loss. Chances are Julio won't be summoned in a tight situation Thursday when the Mets and Nationals play the final game of their three-game series. "We may not see him [in a game] for a while," one Met said. "They want to get him fixed." Suddenly, the time Julio lost to the World Baseball Classic during Spring Training is an issue. The time not spent with pitching coach Rick Peterson in Port St. Lucie has become lamentable. Uncertainty about Julio played a role in the club's decision to assign Aaron Heilman to the bullpen. And the home run didn't help matters. Julio has been undone by home runs in the last three seasons. He has pitched 202 innings in relief -- which is a good amount for a starter in one season -- since the beginning of the 2003 season, and he has surrendered 36 home runs -- a lot for 200-plus innings. Braden Looper had trouble with the long ball in his time with the Mets, but he surrendered merely 16 home runs over 223 1/3 innings in his two seasons with the Mets and his last one with the Marlins. Julio's rate of one home run per 21.7 at-bats in the three-plus seasons is one of the 10 highest ratios among Major League pitchers who have thrown at least 200 innings over that period.

Noble, despite Gotham Baseball's contention that he's in bed with the boss, is well on record as disliking the Benson/Julio trade.

[metirish]

Bret that's exactly how Russo will sound today, good stuff.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

The Benson/Julio trade was just awful. I have little hope that Julio will ever be a positive contributor. (And I was saying that well before last night's game, so I'm not being reactionary here.)

There are only two ways this trade will turn out well:

1. They spend the money saved on Benson on somebody good. (But we'll never know this for a certainty. We can't really follow the money.)

2. John Maine becomes a productive big league pitcher for the Mets.

If Julio keeps on sucking, the Mets have to cut bait. It's okay with me if they do it in a CYA mode. (Amplify a minor ailment into an injury, send him to Norfolk for rehab. Then you either cut him loose from AAA or bring him back in September for mop-up duty after the rosters expand.)

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Heath Bell! (clap! clap!)
Heath Bell! (clap! clap!)
Heath Bell! (clap! clap!)

[metirish]

Do we have anyone following the Benson/Julio trade?....

[Elster88]

]That is a thing that, I don;t know how to say this, you simply can't do.

LOL

[Guest Edgy DC]

Strange tthings happen. We'll see.

The thing is that in Noble's mailbag, angry peeps write him all the time about trades they don't like (pretty much all of them, save for Delgado, this offseason). Noble will try and explain the Mets thinking (based on his sources and observation) as well as his opinion. The former is enlighening, even when he doesn't particularly support a move --- such as learning that the Mets were looking for a guy who could slot in in right field or at first base when they got Nady, because they were expecting to land a big batsman for one of those two positions.

The Julio trade, he had trouble even sketching out the Mets position.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Rockin' Doc has the Benson-Julio/Maine trade.

Others remain available, including gorgeous pre-Minaya trades that are still active.

[metsmarathon]

Bret Sabermetric wrote: GEE WHIZ it was horrible, awful, Mike, that that that that that Wagner guy comes in with Mariano's tune playing and gives up that home run. I mean, come on, you can't do that. You simply can't do that. That is a thing that, I don;t know how to say this, you simply can't do. Gee Whiz if you're going to march in there with Enter Sandman, for crying out loud, you got to get a save. Got to. Not fair to Mariano if you don.t Must get a save. Have to. I don't understand how you walk in to that song and then you blow the save. You can't do that. You simply cannot do that. Can't do that, that's all there is to it. No way. Gee Whiz.

you left out "That's a bad job outta Wagner"

[Elster88]

I hope you are all not figuring out how awful the Benson-Julio deal was just now???

Even if Maine becomes a good pitcher down the road, we need Benson NOW!!!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

They didn't parlay that activity into the big Victor Diaz + ?? = Stud Starter trade I was sure they'd make.

Yeah, dumb dumb dumb.

[Guest Rotblatt]

I was kind of "meh" on Benson, but we shoulda coulda gotten more than Julio for him.

I'm way down on Julio, although I DO think he's got some upside.

I would much rather have seen Bell in that spot. He may have given up a run, but I don't think he would have imploded like Julio did.

Some peeps who got lost in the meltdown yesterday--Jose Reyes, with 2 great at bats culminating in a single and a walk, and skipper Willie Randolph. Yes, he probably should have pinch hit for Hernandez and have yanked Julio sooner and maybe he shoulda double-switched Wagner (Wagner in for LoDuca; Castro in for Julio), BUT he also left Bannister in there to finish the 6th (good call) and used Sanchez & Heilman appropriately.

Bradford sucks royally against lefties, so Willie's only real options from the pen for the 10th were pretty much between Julio & Oliver.

Given that choice, I think you HAVE to go to Julio. If there's a runner on base after Vidro, maybe you go to Bradford to try to get Guillen to ground into a double play, then bring Oliver in there to face Johnson if Bradford fails.

Then, of course, you're stuck with Oliver until the game's over.

Tough calls in the 10th. Our bullpen at the moment is 3-deep, followed by a decent ROOGY and a replacement-level long man. That ain't bad, but it got hella exposed last night.

Of course, if our vaunted offense did its job, we wouldn't have to worry about these close games as much.

I'm interested in what Willie does in the future. I expect him to pinch hit for Hernandez when it's close & late until Hernandez starts hitting. I expect Julio won't see a close game until he's had a few solid outings under his belt. But will Willie double switch Wagner in there in one-run games? Will he have a shorter hook with relievers NOT named Sanchez, Heilman or Wagner?

[Elster88]

]Jose Reyes, with 2 great at bats culminating in a single and a walk,

If you're thinking of the walk in the ninth, it wasn't that great an at-bat, IMHO. Swung at a ball in the dirt, then let 4 pitches go for balls.

[DocTee]

]I'm interested in what Willie does in the future. I expect him to pinch hit for Hernandez when it's close & late until Hernandez starts hitting.

I'd prefer to see Hernandez stay on the bench in favor of a more accomplished hitter (Jeff Keppinger, anyone??), and then enter games late as a defensive replacement.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Do you think Jose Valentin is on the depth chart at second?

He seems pretty redundant to me.

[metirish]

I'm amazed that people are so willing to dump Hernandez so quickly, Rick Down will earn your money with this kid, he looks an awful lot like Reyes at the plate when he first came up, anyway one of Willies strengths as a manager is that he sticks with his guys.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

DocTee wrote: I'd prefer to see Hernandez stay on the bench in favor of a more accomplished hitter (Jeff Keppinger, anyone??), and then enter games late as a defensive replacement.

I like that idea too. But I'm willing to wait a little while to see if Hernandez can get his bat started. He was productive last year at AAA. He ought to get a chance to see how much of that he can replicate in the big leagues.

[Frayed Knot]

"I'm amazed that people are so willing to dump Hernandez so quickly,"

As opposed to Julio? He's at least had some ML success in his career. Andy-Handy has barely had any in the minors.


"Rick Down will earn your money with this kid, he looks an awful lot like Reyes at the plate when he first came up,"

Obviously they're both quick, skinny-ish Latins w/good hands, but I don't see any similarities at the plate. Certainly their track records leading up to this point aren't even close.



"anyway one of Willies strengths as a manager is that he sticks with his guys."

That's either good or bad depending on your opinion of who he's sticking with.

[Theoldmole]

If you draw a walk to load the bases in the 9th, especially if you're the leadoff guy, it's a good at-bat. Less good if you're the cleanup guy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Closers also spitting up last night --- Flash Gordon (in a tie game) and Jonathan Papelbon (Keith Foulke's replacement for Boston).

[metirish]

]As opposed to Julio? He's at least had some ML success in his career. Andy-Handy has barely had any in the minors.

I never mentioned Julio.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Why, oh why, did nobody mention this?

Queensryche singer appreciates babeball Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate gave a different kind of performance last night (Wednesday, April 5th). While in New York City promoting the band's new album Operation: Mindcrime II, which came out Tuesday (April 4th), he went to Shea Stadium to do the national anthem before the hometown Mets took on the visiting Washington Nationals. Tate played baseball as a kid, and he told usthat he still enjoys the game, even if it's not his main sport these days: "I'm really a sailor. I have a, a vintage yacht, and spend a lot of money, and time, and energy restoring it, and racing it around the Seattle area. That's kind of my, my main sport. But I like baseball, and I like the history of baseball, you know? The game has been with us, you know, for so long, and so many great players have come through, and it's changed a little, but not so much. You know, it's still basically the same game, and I, I like that aspect of it." The band will play a week's worth of shows in Europe in June. Their North American tour gets underway in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on August 25th.