Wallace Matthers continues to be a goofball.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Wally thinks we should spend $10 million on a broken down, formerly juiced MFY.

The whole column will make you hurl, but this graph might be the most classic:

"Plus, it would be a tremendous PR coup for the Mets, who frankly have
looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their
castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) but now have the opportunity
to return the favor."

You can argue about those players being "castoffs, especially Nady. And I fail to see how the Mets have looked like jerks.

[MFS62]

="metsguyinmichigan":2yp7ku6e]Wally thinks we should spend $10 million on a broken down, formerly juiced MFY. .[/quote:2yp7ku6e] Which one? You gotta' be more specific. Later

metsguyinmichigan Jan 15 2009 12:07 PM Re: Wallace Matthers continues to be a goofball. Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 15 2009 12:24 PM

="MFS62":4yhwbzip] ="metsguyinmichigan":4yhwbzip]Wally thinks we should spend $10 million on a broken down, formerly juiced MFY. .[/quote:4yhwbzip] Which one? You gotta' be more specific. Later[/quote:4yhwbzip] Good point! Badass. Yeah, he means Pettitte. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:12 PM I stopped reading after the analogy that opened paragraph four. ="Wallace Matthews":1y3ppig5]There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009.[/quote:1y3ppig5] Whoah, hey. Family paper, here, Wally. Fman99 Jan 15 2009 12:13 PM I am guessing it's Pettitte. And, uh, no. Why do newspaper hacks always suggest that the Mets act in the interest of keeping up with the MFY's? Give me one reason why I should give a damn about that. metirish Jan 15 2009 12:14 PM So Andy won't go back to the MFY's becasue they only offered him ten million and Wally wants the Mets to give him more than that I assume. No thanks. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:15 PM It'll sell papers. Period. That's it. G-Fafif Jan 15 2009 12:16 PM ]looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) Somebody wanna get Matthews a calendar? Three of his four "past few years" examples joined the MFYs in 1996, 1995 and 1995, respectively. And yeah, Nady's right up there in the Met pantheon. Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance? batmagadanleadoff Jan 15 2009 12:20 PM The last effin Yankee we took in cost us post-season play, twice. Let Willie Randolph destroy some other team's offense. metsguyinmichigan Jan 15 2009 12:27 PM Here's the whole thing. Read at your own risk. Pettitte would be perfect fit for Mets' rotation Wallace Matthews January 15, 2009 The Yankees can find nearly a half-billion dollars to pay three players who, as brilliant as they've performed elsewhere, have yet to do a thing for this franchise. And yet they can't scrape up a nickel more than $10 million for Andy Pettitte, who played an instrumental role in bringing them four world championships? What disloyalty! What ingratitude! What heartlessness! And what a break for the Mets. That is, if they are smart enough to recognize it. There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009. After blowing their bankroll on Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, the Bankees now claim that $10 million - a pretty damn good paycheck for anyone these days but still, a $6-million pay cut for Pettitte from last season - is as high as they are willing to go for a pitcher who won some of the most important postseason games in their recent history. Fair enough. Times are tough, all good things come to an end, you can lead a horse to water, yada, yada, yada. But for whatever reason, the Yankees - either scared off by his poor second half, emboldened by their relatively painless jettisoning of Bernie Williams a couple of years ago or warming up for their inevitable discarding of Jeter and Mariano Rivera a couple of years hence - have decided that unless Pettitte wants to work for the Yankee equivalent of clubhouse-boy wages, he no longer fits into their plans. That is fine. Their point is a fair one, as is Pettitte's. And like Billy Martin in a long-ago beer commercial, I feel very strongly both ways. Pettitte has just as much right to be insulted over the Yankees' contract offer as the Yankees have the right to insult him. But I feel even stronger that while Pettitte's tenure in the Bronx may be over, his time in New York need not be. Last time I checked, the Mets were still shopping for a starting pitcher, and one glance at their roster reminds you of how badly they need one. Johan Santana, check. Mike Pelfrey, check, with reservations. Can he repeat his 2008 season? John Maine, check, with further reservations. Will his arm, dead as Casey Stengel for the last two months of 2008, rebound in 2009? Tim Redding? OK as a No. 5, considering the next important start he makes in front of a large, demanding crowd will be his first. That still leaves the Mets an arm short, and with only one lefthander in the rotation. Having lost out on Derek Lowe to the Braves, they could chase Oliver Perez for four years and something like $50 million. Detractors say no, you never know what you're getting with Perez, but I say hogwash. You know precisely what you're getting with Perez. Agita. You're better off riding the Coney Island Cyclone continuously from now until 2013. Cheaper and more fun. There's also Ben Sheets, only he's another righty, besides being expensive and injury prone, or Randy Wolf, who's a lefty but never has pitched in a postseason game, something which I assume is in the Mets' plans for next year. And, oh yeah, Pedro Martinez. Gulp! It doesn't appear to me that any of those guys is a better fit for the Mets' rotation than Pettitte. Unlike Perez, you absolutely know what you're getting: 30 to 35 starts a year, 200-plus innings, a minimum 14 wins. If you make it to October, you have a starter guaranteed not to rattle under pressure, and almost always guaranteed to put you in a position to win. (Pettitte went 13-8 in the postseason for the Yankees, who never lost an ALCS game he started. But because they haven't been to the ALCS in quite a while, it's possible they forgot that stat.) Plus, it would be a tremendous PR coup for the Mets, who frankly have looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) but now have the opportunity to return the favor. And best of all, Pettitte doesn't cost you all that much, in money or years. One year at $12 million to $14 million, maybe with an option, probably gets it done, and that's perfect. No long-term entanglements with a head case like Perez, or a hospital case like Sheets. No five-innings-and-out, at best, like you'd get from Pedro. What you get is a low-maintenance, no-drama professional who's here for one reason only: To help you win now, this year, not promise you things down the road that he will likely never deliver. The Yankees can't find a few more bucks in their otherwise limitless vault for a guy like that? Fine. Maybe the Mets can. And should. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:30 PM Why does a team particularly care if there is only one lefthander in their rotation? Wait a minute don't answer that. I'm talking to Matthews for some reason. Benjamin Grimm Jan 15 2009 12:44 PM I've never been concerned with that. smg58 Jan 15 2009 01:18 PM Neither have I. I agree with Matthews' assessment of Ollie, though. I'd be interested in Pettitte for at most half of what Matthews is suggesting. He's capable of bouncing back, but last season just wasn't that good. Still, at this point I'd be looking for the right bargain at starting pitcher, and instead focus on getting Castillo out of town and Orlando Hudson in. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 01:24 PM Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita. Nymr83 Jan 15 2009 01:39 PM indeed. Pettite is 10 year's older than Perez and arguably not as good, let the Yankees keep him. Rockin' Doc Jan 15 2009 04:58 PM G-Fafif - "Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance?" Don't forget Miguel freakin' Cairo. As batmag pointed out, the Mets also made the mistake of taking on Willie "I'm a Winner" Randolph. OlerudOwned Jan 15 2009 06:00 PM Calling Nady a rescued castoff is more than a little unfair to X. RealityChuck Jan 16 2009 09:09 AM Agreed. The Mets would have loved to have kept Nady. But they liked Perez a lot, and thought they needed immediate bullpen help after Sanchez's injury. Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 09:31 AM And they did. It may look like they got little in bringing Robo back, but he did fine. It was just that the greater immediate success of the subsequent Guillermo Mota acquisition left Robo marginalized. attgig Jan 16 2009 10:43 AM ="Edgy DC":12wtotpe]Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita.[/quote:12wtotpe] so, Olie was just average, and Pettite was just under average going by ERA+ I don't like either option here... Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 10:58 AM A starting pitcher with a league average ERA is not an average pitcher, because (1) relief ERAs tend to be lower than starting ERAS and (2) the better and best pitchers pitchers pitch disproportionately more innings than the worser and worst. attgig Jan 16 2009 12:42 PM sheets on the otherhand: last year at age 29: 13-9, 3.09 ERA, 139 ERA+, 198.3 IP Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 12:54 PM But he's a righty! Benjamin Grimm Jan 16 2009 12:58 PM And his name is kind of like a sentence.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

="MFS62":4yhwbzip] ="metsguyinmichigan":4yhwbzip]Wally thinks we should spend $10 million on a broken down, formerly juiced MFY. .[/quote:4yhwbzip] Which one? You gotta' be more specific. Later[/quote:4yhwbzip] Good point! Badass. Yeah, he means Pettitte. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:12 PM I stopped reading after the analogy that opened paragraph four. ="Wallace Matthews":1y3ppig5]There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009.[/quote:1y3ppig5] Whoah, hey. Family paper, here, Wally. Fman99 Jan 15 2009 12:13 PM I am guessing it's Pettitte. And, uh, no. Why do newspaper hacks always suggest that the Mets act in the interest of keeping up with the MFY's? Give me one reason why I should give a damn about that. metirish Jan 15 2009 12:14 PM So Andy won't go back to the MFY's becasue they only offered him ten million and Wally wants the Mets to give him more than that I assume. No thanks. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:15 PM It'll sell papers. Period. That's it. G-Fafif Jan 15 2009 12:16 PM ]looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) Somebody wanna get Matthews a calendar? Three of his four "past few years" examples joined the MFYs in 1996, 1995 and 1995, respectively. And yeah, Nady's right up there in the Met pantheon. Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance? batmagadanleadoff Jan 15 2009 12:20 PM The last effin Yankee we took in cost us post-season play, twice. Let Willie Randolph destroy some other team's offense. metsguyinmichigan Jan 15 2009 12:27 PM Here's the whole thing. Read at your own risk. Pettitte would be perfect fit for Mets' rotation Wallace Matthews January 15, 2009 The Yankees can find nearly a half-billion dollars to pay three players who, as brilliant as they've performed elsewhere, have yet to do a thing for this franchise. And yet they can't scrape up a nickel more than $10 million for Andy Pettitte, who played an instrumental role in bringing them four world championships? What disloyalty! What ingratitude! What heartlessness! And what a break for the Mets. That is, if they are smart enough to recognize it. There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009. After blowing their bankroll on Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, the Bankees now claim that $10 million - a pretty damn good paycheck for anyone these days but still, a $6-million pay cut for Pettitte from last season - is as high as they are willing to go for a pitcher who won some of the most important postseason games in their recent history. Fair enough. Times are tough, all good things come to an end, you can lead a horse to water, yada, yada, yada. But for whatever reason, the Yankees - either scared off by his poor second half, emboldened by their relatively painless jettisoning of Bernie Williams a couple of years ago or warming up for their inevitable discarding of Jeter and Mariano Rivera a couple of years hence - have decided that unless Pettitte wants to work for the Yankee equivalent of clubhouse-boy wages, he no longer fits into their plans. That is fine. Their point is a fair one, as is Pettitte's. And like Billy Martin in a long-ago beer commercial, I feel very strongly both ways. Pettitte has just as much right to be insulted over the Yankees' contract offer as the Yankees have the right to insult him. But I feel even stronger that while Pettitte's tenure in the Bronx may be over, his time in New York need not be. Last time I checked, the Mets were still shopping for a starting pitcher, and one glance at their roster reminds you of how badly they need one. Johan Santana, check. Mike Pelfrey, check, with reservations. Can he repeat his 2008 season? John Maine, check, with further reservations. Will his arm, dead as Casey Stengel for the last two months of 2008, rebound in 2009? Tim Redding? OK as a No. 5, considering the next important start he makes in front of a large, demanding crowd will be his first. That still leaves the Mets an arm short, and with only one lefthander in the rotation. Having lost out on Derek Lowe to the Braves, they could chase Oliver Perez for four years and something like $50 million. Detractors say no, you never know what you're getting with Perez, but I say hogwash. You know precisely what you're getting with Perez. Agita. You're better off riding the Coney Island Cyclone continuously from now until 2013. Cheaper and more fun. There's also Ben Sheets, only he's another righty, besides being expensive and injury prone, or Randy Wolf, who's a lefty but never has pitched in a postseason game, something which I assume is in the Mets' plans for next year. And, oh yeah, Pedro Martinez. Gulp! It doesn't appear to me that any of those guys is a better fit for the Mets' rotation than Pettitte. Unlike Perez, you absolutely know what you're getting: 30 to 35 starts a year, 200-plus innings, a minimum 14 wins. If you make it to October, you have a starter guaranteed not to rattle under pressure, and almost always guaranteed to put you in a position to win. (Pettitte went 13-8 in the postseason for the Yankees, who never lost an ALCS game he started. But because they haven't been to the ALCS in quite a while, it's possible they forgot that stat.) Plus, it would be a tremendous PR coup for the Mets, who frankly have looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) but now have the opportunity to return the favor. And best of all, Pettitte doesn't cost you all that much, in money or years. One year at $12 million to $14 million, maybe with an option, probably gets it done, and that's perfect. No long-term entanglements with a head case like Perez, or a hospital case like Sheets. No five-innings-and-out, at best, like you'd get from Pedro. What you get is a low-maintenance, no-drama professional who's here for one reason only: To help you win now, this year, not promise you things down the road that he will likely never deliver. The Yankees can't find a few more bucks in their otherwise limitless vault for a guy like that? Fine. Maybe the Mets can. And should. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:30 PM Why does a team particularly care if there is only one lefthander in their rotation? Wait a minute don't answer that. I'm talking to Matthews for some reason. Benjamin Grimm Jan 15 2009 12:44 PM I've never been concerned with that. smg58 Jan 15 2009 01:18 PM Neither have I. I agree with Matthews' assessment of Ollie, though. I'd be interested in Pettitte for at most half of what Matthews is suggesting. He's capable of bouncing back, but last season just wasn't that good. Still, at this point I'd be looking for the right bargain at starting pitcher, and instead focus on getting Castillo out of town and Orlando Hudson in. Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 01:24 PM Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita. Nymr83 Jan 15 2009 01:39 PM indeed. Pettite is 10 year's older than Perez and arguably not as good, let the Yankees keep him. Rockin' Doc Jan 15 2009 04:58 PM G-Fafif - "Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance?" Don't forget Miguel freakin' Cairo. As batmag pointed out, the Mets also made the mistake of taking on Willie "I'm a Winner" Randolph. OlerudOwned Jan 15 2009 06:00 PM Calling Nady a rescued castoff is more than a little unfair to X. RealityChuck Jan 16 2009 09:09 AM Agreed. The Mets would have loved to have kept Nady. But they liked Perez a lot, and thought they needed immediate bullpen help after Sanchez's injury. Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 09:31 AM And they did. It may look like they got little in bringing Robo back, but he did fine. It was just that the greater immediate success of the subsequent Guillermo Mota acquisition left Robo marginalized. attgig Jan 16 2009 10:43 AM ="Edgy DC":12wtotpe]Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita.[/quote:12wtotpe] so, Olie was just average, and Pettite was just under average going by ERA+ I don't like either option here... Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 10:58 AM A starting pitcher with a league average ERA is not an average pitcher, because (1) relief ERAs tend to be lower than starting ERAS and (2) the better and best pitchers pitchers pitch disproportionately more innings than the worser and worst. attgig Jan 16 2009 12:42 PM sheets on the otherhand: last year at age 29: 13-9, 3.09 ERA, 139 ERA+, 198.3 IP Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 12:54 PM But he's a righty! Benjamin Grimm Jan 16 2009 12:58 PM And his name is kind of like a sentence.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I stopped reading after the analogy that opened paragraph four.

="Wallace Matthews":1y3ppig5]There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009.[/quote:1y3ppig5] Whoah, hey. Family paper, here, Wally.

Fman99 Jan 15 2009 12:13 PM

I am guessing it's Pettitte. And, uh, no. Why do newspaper hacks always suggest that the Mets act in the interest of keeping up with the MFY's? Give me one reason why I should give a damn about that.

metirish Jan 15 2009 12:14 PM

So Andy won't go back to the MFY's becasue they only offered him ten million and Wally wants the Mets to give him more than that I assume. No thanks.

Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:15 PM

It'll sell papers. Period. That's it.

G-Fafif Jan 15 2009 12:16 PM

]looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) Somebody wanna get Matthews a calendar? Three of his four "past few years" examples joined the MFYs in 1996, 1995 and 1995, respectively. And yeah, Nady's right up there in the Met pantheon. Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance?

batmagadanleadoff Jan 15 2009 12:20 PM

The last effin Yankee we took in cost us post-season play, twice. Let Willie Randolph destroy some other team's offense.

metsguyinmichigan Jan 15 2009 12:27 PM

Here's the whole thing. Read at your own risk. Pettitte would be perfect fit for Mets' rotation Wallace Matthews January 15, 2009 The Yankees can find nearly a half-billion dollars to pay three players who, as brilliant as they've performed elsewhere, have yet to do a thing for this franchise. And yet they can't scrape up a nickel more than $10 million for Andy Pettitte, who played an instrumental role in bringing them four world championships? What disloyalty! What ingratitude! What heartlessness! And what a break for the Mets. That is, if they are smart enough to recognize it. There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009. After blowing their bankroll on Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, the Bankees now claim that $10 million - a pretty damn good paycheck for anyone these days but still, a $6-million pay cut for Pettitte from last season - is as high as they are willing to go for a pitcher who won some of the most important postseason games in their recent history. Fair enough. Times are tough, all good things come to an end, you can lead a horse to water, yada, yada, yada. But for whatever reason, the Yankees - either scared off by his poor second half, emboldened by their relatively painless jettisoning of Bernie Williams a couple of years ago or warming up for their inevitable discarding of Jeter and Mariano Rivera a couple of years hence - have decided that unless Pettitte wants to work for the Yankee equivalent of clubhouse-boy wages, he no longer fits into their plans. That is fine. Their point is a fair one, as is Pettitte's. And like Billy Martin in a long-ago beer commercial, I feel very strongly both ways. Pettitte has just as much right to be insulted over the Yankees' contract offer as the Yankees have the right to insult him. But I feel even stronger that while Pettitte's tenure in the Bronx may be over, his time in New York need not be. Last time I checked, the Mets were still shopping for a starting pitcher, and one glance at their roster reminds you of how badly they need one. Johan Santana, check. Mike Pelfrey, check, with reservations. Can he repeat his 2008 season? John Maine, check, with further reservations. Will his arm, dead as Casey Stengel for the last two months of 2008, rebound in 2009? Tim Redding? OK as a No. 5, considering the next important start he makes in front of a large, demanding crowd will be his first. That still leaves the Mets an arm short, and with only one lefthander in the rotation. Having lost out on Derek Lowe to the Braves, they could chase Oliver Perez for four years and something like $50 million. Detractors say no, you never know what you're getting with Perez, but I say hogwash. You know precisely what you're getting with Perez. Agita. You're better off riding the Coney Island Cyclone continuously from now until 2013. Cheaper and more fun. There's also Ben Sheets, only he's another righty, besides being expensive and injury prone, or Randy Wolf, who's a lefty but never has pitched in a postseason game, something which I assume is in the Mets' plans for next year. And, oh yeah, Pedro Martinez. Gulp! It doesn't appear to me that any of those guys is a better fit for the Mets' rotation than Pettitte. Unlike Perez, you absolutely know what you're getting: 30 to 35 starts a year, 200-plus innings, a minimum 14 wins. If you make it to October, you have a starter guaranteed not to rattle under pressure, and almost always guaranteed to put you in a position to win. (Pettitte went 13-8 in the postseason for the Yankees, who never lost an ALCS game he started. But because they haven't been to the ALCS in quite a while, it's possible they forgot that stat.) Plus, it would be a tremendous PR coup for the Mets, who frankly have looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) but now have the opportunity to return the favor. And best of all, Pettitte doesn't cost you all that much, in money or years. One year at $12 million to $14 million, maybe with an option, probably gets it done, and that's perfect. No long-term entanglements with a head case like Perez, or a hospital case like Sheets. No five-innings-and-out, at best, like you'd get from Pedro. What you get is a low-maintenance, no-drama professional who's here for one reason only: To help you win now, this year, not promise you things down the road that he will likely never deliver. The Yankees can't find a few more bucks in their otherwise limitless vault for a guy like that? Fine. Maybe the Mets can. And should.

Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 12:30 PM

Why does a team particularly care if there is only one lefthander in their rotation? Wait a minute don't answer that. I'm talking to Matthews for some reason.

Benjamin Grimm Jan 15 2009 12:44 PM

I've never been concerned with that.

smg58 Jan 15 2009 01:18 PM

Neither have I. I agree with Matthews' assessment of Ollie, though. I'd be interested in Pettitte for at most half of what Matthews is suggesting. He's capable of bouncing back, but last season just wasn't that good. Still, at this point I'd be looking for the right bargain at starting pitcher, and instead focus on getting Castillo out of town and Orlando Hudson in.

Edgy DC Jan 15 2009 01:24 PM

Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita.

Nymr83 Jan 15 2009 01:39 PM

indeed. Pettite is 10 year's older than Perez and arguably not as good, let the Yankees keep him.

Rockin' Doc Jan 15 2009 04:58 PM

G-Fafif - "Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance?" Don't forget Miguel freakin' Cairo. As batmag pointed out, the Mets also made the mistake of taking on Willie "I'm a Winner" Randolph.

OlerudOwned Jan 15 2009 06:00 PM

Calling Nady a rescued castoff is more than a little unfair to X.

RealityChuck Jan 16 2009 09:09 AM

Agreed. The Mets would have loved to have kept Nady. But they liked Perez a lot, and thought they needed immediate bullpen help after Sanchez's injury.

Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 09:31 AM

And they did. It may look like they got little in bringing Robo back, but he did fine. It was just that the greater immediate success of the subsequent Guillermo Mota acquisition left Robo marginalized.

attgig Jan 16 2009 10:43 AM

="Edgy DC":12wtotpe]Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita.[/quote:12wtotpe] so, Olie was just average, and Pettite was just under average going by ERA+ I don't like either option here... Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 10:58 AM A starting pitcher with a league average ERA is not an average pitcher, because (1) relief ERAs tend to be lower than starting ERAS and (2) the better and best pitchers pitchers pitch disproportionately more innings than the worser and worst. attgig Jan 16 2009 12:42 PM sheets on the otherhand: last year at age 29: 13-9, 3.09 ERA, 139 ERA+, 198.3 IP Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 12:54 PM But he's a righty! Benjamin Grimm Jan 16 2009 12:58 PM And his name is kind of like a sentence.

[Fman99]

I am guessing it's Pettitte.

And, uh, no.

Why do newspaper hacks always suggest that the Mets act in the interest of keeping up with the MFY's? Give me one reason why I should give a damn about that.

[metirish]

So Andy won't go back to the MFY's becasue they only offered him ten million and Wally wants the Mets to give him more than that I assume.

No thanks.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It'll sell papers.

Period. That's it.

[G-Fafif]

]looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady)

Somebody wanna get Matthews a calendar? Three of his four "past few years" examples joined the MFYs in 1996, 1995 and 1995, respectively. And yeah, Nady's right up there in the Met pantheon.

Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance?

[batmagadanleadoff]

The last effin Yankee we took in cost us post-season play, twice. Let Willie Randolph destroy some other team's offense.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Here's the whole thing. Read at your own risk.

Pettitte would be perfect fit for Mets' rotation

Wallace Matthews

January 15, 2009

The Yankees can find nearly a half-billion dollars to pay three players
who, as brilliant as they've performed elsewhere, have yet to do a thing
for this franchise. And yet they can't scrape up a nickel more than $10
million for Andy Pettitte, who played an instrumental role in bringing
them four world championships?

What disloyalty! What ingratitude! What heartlessness!

And what a break for the Mets. That is, if they are smart enough to
recognize it.

There now seems to be a better chance that CC Sabathia will squeeze into
Derek Jeter's pants than the Yankees will re-sign Pettitte for 2009.
After blowing their bankroll on Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark
Teixeira, the Bankees now claim that $10 million - a pretty damn good
paycheck for anyone these days but still, a $6-million pay cut for
Pettitte from last season - is as high as they are willing to go for a
pitcher who won some of the most important postseason games in their
recent history.

Fair enough. Times are tough, all good things come to an end, you can
lead a horse to water, yada, yada, yada.

But for whatever reason, the Yankees - either scared off by his poor
second half, emboldened by their relatively painless jettisoning of
Bernie Williams a couple of years ago or warming up for their inevitable
discarding of Jeter and Mariano Rivera a couple of years hence - have
decided that unless Pettitte wants to work for the Yankee equivalent of
clubhouse-boy wages, he no longer fits into their plans.

That is fine. Their point is a fair one, as is Pettitte's. And like
Billy Martin in a long-ago beer commercial, I feel very strongly both
ways. Pettitte has just as much right to be insulted over the Yankees'
contract offer as the Yankees have the right to insult him. But I feel
even stronger that while Pettitte's tenure in the Bronx may be over, his
time in New York need not be.

Last time I checked, the Mets were still shopping for a starting
pitcher, and one glance at their roster reminds you of how badly they
need one.

Johan Santana, check. Mike Pelfrey, check, with reservations. Can he
repeat his 2008 season? John Maine, check, with further reservations.
Will his arm, dead as Casey Stengel for the last two months of 2008,
rebound in 2009? Tim Redding? OK as a No. 5, considering the next
important start he makes in front of a large, demanding crowd will be
his first.

That still leaves the Mets an arm short, and with only one lefthander in
the rotation.

Having lost out on Derek Lowe to the Braves, they could chase Oliver
Perez for four years and something like $50 million. Detractors say no,
you never know what you're getting with Perez, but I say hogwash. You
know precisely what you're getting with Perez. Agita. You're better off
riding the Coney Island Cyclone continuously from now until 2013.
Cheaper and more fun.

There's also Ben Sheets, only he's another righty, besides being
expensive and injury prone, or Randy Wolf, who's a lefty but never has
pitched in a postseason game, something which I assume is in the Mets'
plans for next year. And, oh yeah, Pedro Martinez. Gulp!

It doesn't appear to me that any of those guys is a better fit for the
Mets' rotation than Pettitte. Unlike Perez, you absolutely know what
you're getting: 30 to 35 starts a year, 200-plus innings, a minimum 14
wins. If you make it to October, you have a starter guaranteed not to
rattle under pressure, and almost always guaranteed to put you in a
position to win.

(Pettitte went 13-8 in the postseason for the Yankees, who never lost an
ALCS game he started. But because they haven't been to the ALCS in quite a while, it's possible they forgot that stat.)

Plus, it would be a tremendous PR coup for the Mets, who frankly have
looked like jerks the past few years watching the Yankees rescue their
castoffs (Gooden, Strawberry, Cone, Nady) but now have the opportunity
to return the favor.

And best of all, Pettitte doesn't cost you all that much, in money or
years. One year at $12 million to $14 million, maybe with an option,
probably gets it done, and that's perfect. No long-term entanglements
with a head case like Perez, or a hospital case like Sheets. No
five-innings-and-out, at best, like you'd get from Pedro.

What you get is a low-maintenance, no-drama professional who's here for
one reason only: To help you win now, this year, not promise you things
down the road that he will likely never deliver.

The Yankees can't find a few more bucks in their otherwise limitless
vault for a guy like that? Fine.

Maybe the Mets can. And should.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Why does a team particularly care if there is only one lefthander in their rotation?

Wait a minute don't answer that. I'm talking to Matthews for some reason.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I've never been concerned with that.

[smg58]

Neither have I.

I agree with Matthews' assessment of Ollie, though.

I'd be interested in Pettitte for at most half of what Matthews is suggesting. He's capable of bouncing back, but last season just wasn't that good. Still, at this point I'd be looking for the right bargain at starting pitcher, and instead focus on getting Castillo out of town and Orlando Hudson in.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP.

Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP.

Kiss my agita.

[nymr83]

indeed.
Pettite is 10 year's older than Perez and arguably not as good, let the Yankees keep him.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

G-Fafif - "Shoot, we took in ex-MFYs Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. Haven't we done enough to give hoodlums a second chance?"

Don't forget Miguel freakin' Cairo. As batmag pointed out, the Mets also made the mistake of taking on Willie "I'm a Winner" Randolph.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Calling Nady a rescued castoff is more than a little unfair to X.

[RealityChuck]

Agreed. The Mets would have loved to have kept Nady. But they liked Perez a lot, and thought they needed immediate bullpen help after Sanchez's injury.

[Guest Edgy DC]

And they did.

It may look like they got little in bringing Robo back, but he did fine. It was just that the greater immediate success of the subsequent Guillermo Mota acquisition left Robo marginalized.

[Guest attgig]

="Edgy DC":12wtotpe]Oliver Perez, last year at 26: 10-7, 4.22 ERA, 100 ERA+, 194.0 IP. Andy Pettitte, last year at 36: 14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+, 204.0 IP. Kiss my agita.[/quote:12wtotpe] so, Olie was just average, and Pettite was just under average going by ERA+ I don't like either option here...

Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 10:58 AM

A starting pitcher with a league average ERA is not an average pitcher, because (1) relief ERAs tend to be lower than starting ERAS and (2) the better and best pitchers pitchers pitch disproportionately more innings than the worser and worst.

attgig Jan 16 2009 12:42 PM

sheets on the otherhand: last year at age 29: 13-9, 3.09 ERA, 139 ERA+, 198.3 IP

Edgy DC Jan 16 2009 12:54 PM

But he's a righty!

Benjamin Grimm Jan 16 2009 12:58 PM

And his name is kind of like a sentence.

[Guest Edgy DC]

A starting pitcher with a league average ERA is not an average pitcher, because (1) relief ERAs tend to be lower than starting ERAS and (2) the better and best pitchers pitchers pitch disproportionately more innings than the worser and worst.

[Guest attgig]

sheets on the otherhand:
last year at age 29: 13-9, 3.09 ERA, 139 ERA+, 198.3 IP

[Guest Edgy DC]

But he's a righty!

[Benjamin Grimm]

And his name is kind of like a sentence.