Adam Rubin Chat

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Not what Jackson Todd wanted to hear?[/quote:7vxtamv6]

Eh. I think I'd be satisfied with an all-scrub team if I could at least be convinced they wouldn't commit the same fuckups over and over again.

[metirish]

Yeah it's not like this is a fun bunch to watch , for me they are not anyway....

[Benjamin Grimm]

Me neither. More and more, I'm just neglecting to tune in.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Rico, calling for blood.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Omar's three-year extension doesn't even begin until after this season.[/quote:1mm88z6s]

Good grief.

[metirish]

Lennon has always been adamant that Minaya was going nowhere , I keep telling myself that Minaya has a good bat in the works but as Lennon said there several times the few good chips they have they want to hold onto....Flores ect.


So what's left out there....Huff?....he doesn't make me hard that's for sure.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe they should get Megan Fox then.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

[Comment From Joel Oldblood] Argenis Reyes? Leading off? Playing shortstop? Is Jerry even trying? 11:53 Total hunch on his part. There was no statistical evidence to support that decision -- none. And he got burned by it.

[metirish]

WOW.....

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

[Comment From Joel Oldblood] Argenis Reyes? Leading off? Playing shortstop? Is Jerry even trying? 11:53 Total hunch on his part. There was no statistical evidence to support that decision -- none. And he got burned by it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Thatr was me in the role of Bud Harrelsdaughter, cribbing the dat from Gwreckx-n-Effect.

Tim Kerfuffle, also, and Lennon had nothing to give me but speculation.

He's probably right, but I'm going to stay on the Peña thing until I get some solid answers. Get used to it.

[metirish]

Were you also crazy eddie?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Nyet.

[Fman99]

Me neither. More and more, I'm just neglecting to tune in.[/quote:1hktxmgn]

I can't bring myself to not watch. I stayed tuned in till the last pitch, yesterday and all weekend prior.

What does that say about me? I don't even know anymore.

[nymr83]

i turned it off at 10-3 and was watching star trek on sci fi until my computer showed me that it was 10-6 with hoffman coming in and 2 on.
i'm getting to the point where there are other things i'd rather watch. if tonight werent Santana i'd probably watch Deadliest Catch instead

[metirish]

Adam to chat today at 11:30

Meanwhile his article from today makes for grim reading if you are to believe the scouts he talks to

Mets' glass half empty despite size of Phillies' NL East lead

BY Adam Rubin DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER In case it might have faded from consciousness, the Phillies overcame a seven-game deficit with 17 to play in 2007. So can Mets fans feel better knowing there's hope? After all, they completed the weekend only trailing Philadelphia by four games with 81 to play. In reality, the Mets are reeling as they enter Tuesday night's game against Los Angeles, which kicks off a six-game home stand before the All-Star break. Continued struggles could doom the Mets by the All-Star break if the Phillies stay hot after the weekend sweep broke them out of a 3-12 funk. Suddenly, Jerry Manuel's goal for the Mets to tread water and stay above .500, which was viewed as an underwhelming ambition by the fan base a few weeks ago, may even be unachievable. A team official reiterated Monday that there are no foreseeable quick fixes via trade, and that the reinforcements should, in fact, be the eventual returns of Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, as well as of J.J. Putz and Billy Wagner to bolster the bullpen. No staff changes are expected soon, either. The remaining top-tier players, David Wright and Johan Santana, appear to be buckling under the weight of carrying the team. Wright, who has started all but one game this season, is 1-for-20 with eight strikeouts since convincing Manuel not to rest him in Milwaukee last Wednesday with the Mets at risk of getting swept. Santana, despite limiting the Phillies to a pair of solo homers in seven innings Sunday, may be gassed as well. His second pitch, which Jimmy Rollins pulled over the left-field wall, registered only 89 mph. Santana didn't make too a big deal about missing location later, on a homer by Chase Utley that accounted for the 2-0 score. After all, he noted in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, what much does it matter if the team didn't score? "What Rollins had done in the first inning was sufficient for them to win the game," Santana told the newspaper. Why no reinforcements? GM Omar Minaya has cited these primary reasons: Not enough sellers with so many teams in contention, and hence the price tag is too high. And what happens when the Mets' injured players return? The unspoken addendum is that scouts assigned to the Mets say there's little they find attractive. Aside from four core prospects - pitchers Brad Holt and Jenrry Mejia, shortstop Wilmer Flores and outfielder Fernando Martinez - scouts have found little enticing. Mejia is currently on the minor-league DL, too. The second-tier prospect group is highlighted by lefthander Jon Niese, who actually has turned things around at Triple-A Buffalo and was named International League Pitcher of the Week, as well as first baseman Ike Davis. One scout who recently watched the Mets' high-A St. Lucie team told the Daily News: "I cannot, in good conscience, write up anybody here. There's not a single major-league arm on the pitching staff." The scout went on to say that Reese Havens, the first-round pick from the University of South Carolina last year, has too long a swing and is out of position at shortstop. "I talked to three other scouting supervisors. They all told me they had him in the third or fourth round last year," the scout said. Triple-A Buffalo's roster was scathingly ridiculed in one NL scout's report to his GM. The scout mentioned Niagara Falls and a nearby casino as what salvaged his trip. One NL team official did compare the Mets to the Phillies - the Phillies of early this decade, that is. Then, Philadelphia forfeited high draft picks for debatable signings such as Rheal Cormier, Jose Mesa and David Bell. Philadelphia exacerbated the loss of draft picks by dealing prospects for marginal relievers. The Mets' first pick this season was 72nd overall because of free-agent signings, although sacrificing their first-round pick did land them Francisco Rodriguez. "The Mets are in the same exact spot," the official said. "It reminds me so much. They have nothing in their system." STRAINING TO RETURN: Angel Pagan, on the DL with a right groin strain, was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with St. Lucie Monday night. With Martinez's right knee ailing, Pagan could soon replace the rookie on the roster.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Santana feels free to speak more candidly to the Venezuelan press, doesn't he?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Evrey year it's the same. The Mets have nothing in their system, besides the guys that we know they have.

Can somebody tell me which debateable signings the Mets forfeited their high picks on? Francisco Rodriguez?

Moises Alou, I guess.

[metirish]

Evrey year it's the same. The Mets have nothing in their system, besides the guys that we know they have.[/quote:q5oaxpi4]

You're in quite the mood this morning......you are right though , I don't think I have ever read about how the Mets system is stocked with future big league players.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's a story that writes itself.

Did they lose any picks for Schoeneweiss?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Evrey year it's the same. The Mets have nothing in their system, besides the guys that we know they have.[/quote:1tmx1ky0]

You're in quite the mood this morning......you are right though , I don't think I have ever read about how the Mets system is stocked with future big league players.[/quote:1tmx1ky0]

That's because we sign a lot of free agents -- losing picks in the process -- and have done well enough in recent years so that we're among the last teams making picks.

If we don't sign free agents, people howl all offseason.

[Guest Edgy DC]

And that's why it writes itself.

Either you're the pussies who wouldn't sign Derek Lowe, or the morons who gave up a pick (plus that unseemly bonus!) and gave the Dodgers two picks for Derek Freakin' Lowe.

Nobody loves you when you're down and out.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I wonder how many farm systems are just brimming with hot prospects.

And how many of the current stars in the game were considered top prospects when they were in Single A or Double A?

[metirish]

Nobody loves you when you're down and out.[/quote:2pc9gw2o]


There's a good C&W song in that right there.

[Frayed Knot]

The NYM system was rated about average (17th in fact) by Baseball America prior to this season. Not that that stops an awful lot of people from "knowing" that it's the worst system in baseball (not specifically talking about those in Rubin's article). The subject of minor league prospects is definitely one area that supports the saying about how a little bit of knowledge is frequently worse than none at all.

Now of course that kind of rating is subject to interpretation and different sources can and will have varying opinions. Plus "average" doesn't always mean the same thing. Two teams might be side by side in such a ranking but have completely different systems. One might have fewer but higher ceiling-ed and closer-to-ready prospects while the other has more plentiful stock but ones who are more questionable about their future and further from being ready.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Unnamed scouts give the best quotes.

[Frayed Knot]

It's a story that writes itself.

Did they lose any picks for Schoeneweiss?[/quote:3tr6ds2v]

No. Stanton yes - although now we're going back a ways - but not for Schoeneweis. I think the team that lost Schoeneweis (I forget even who that was at this point) might have gained a supplemental pick for it but that didn't come at the expense of a Mets' pick.

Other than that they've lost picks for Wagner, Alou & Rodriguez in recent years, and gained one (plus a supplemental) for Glavine.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The NYM system was rated about average (17th in fact) by Baseball America prior to this season. Not that that stops an awful lot of people from "knowing" that it's the worst system in baseball (not specifically talking about those in Rubin's article). The subject of minor league prospects is definitely one area that supports the saying about how a little bit of knowledge is frequently worse than none at all.

Now of course that kind of rating is subject to interpretation and different sources can and will have varying opinions. Plus "average" doesn't always mean the same thing. Two teams might be side by side in such a ranking but have completely different systems. One might have fewer but higher ceiling-ed and closer-to-ready prospects while the other has more plentiful stock but ones who are more questionable about their future and further from being ready.[/quote:31dukaud]

Spot on.

The ML-ready guys are the ones being asked for in trade, and the few guys the Mets have at those levels-- F-Bomb and Parnell (and, if you're squinting, Niese)-- are apparently off the table.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's a story that writes itself.

Did they lose any picks for Schoeneweiss?[/quote:2gig2joj]

No. Stanton yes - although now we're going back a ways - but not for Schoeneweis. I think the team that lost Schoeneweis (I forget even who that was at this point) might have gained a supplemental pick for it but that didn't come at the expense of a Mets' pick.

Other than that they've lost picks for Wagner, Alou & Rodriguez in recent years, and gained one (plus a supplemental) for Glavine.[/quote:2gig2joj]

So, Alou is the heartbreaker.

A Lowe-supporter can also say that by signing him and letting Ollie walk, they'd have gotten a sandwich pick (if Ollie got signed away) --- one of the subtle ways in which the system unintentionally rewards a team for not sticking with its own players.

But Moises Alou hardly makes a pattern of forfeiting high draft choices for mercurial supporting players.

[metirish]

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