IGT 4/29 @ COL: Nothing from Nothing

[Piggiestomatoes]

Fucking, ugh!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

This team absolutely kills me sometimes.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Winning run to second now. Another turd from Closer Perd.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

HolyhellstayawayfromhimDabidryeeeeeeee... good.

[Edgy MD]

I'm giving Davis beer points for catching that popup.

[TransMonk]

How many times do we have to win this game?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

First and third with no outs!!!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Yea! Ike! That has to feel good for him.

[TransMonk]

You're all clear, Ramon. Now let's [not] blow this thing and go to Houston!.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Rockies fans seem to have that disease where they do the wave during critical game moments and cheer every fly ball to the outfield as if it's going out.

[Edgy MD]

TransMonk wrote: How many times do we have to win this game?

One is cool.

[TransMonk]

Edgy DC wrote: TransMonk wrote: How many times do we have to win this game? One is cool.

It took three...but we get credit for one, which I'll gladly take now.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I think I need to tap the Rockies after that last flyball.

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I think I need to tap the Rockies after that last flyball.

go with Breckenridge, not that crappy yellow fizz the ballpark's named for.

Also, I lobby we give Ramirez the win, not the save.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

TransMonk wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: Santana gets robbed AGAIN. I wonder if he hates his teammates. If I played on the Mets, I'd stay away from him until he gets a win.

Eh, I don't care about Santana's stats. But I was pissed off from the first inning today. I mean, you knew that was going to hurt.

Still, always nice to win in extras on the road, seems as though the Mets haven't done that in 4 years or so.

[Gwreck]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Still, always nice to win in extras on the road, seems as though the Mets haven't done that in 4 years or so.

Would you believe the Mets were actually 4-1 in extra-inning games on the road last year? (A much crappier 3-5 at home).

[Fman99]

Not on at my house. Just as well, I was napping, bringing in furniture that I had brought up from my parents' house, playing outside with the kids and grocery shopping.

[Edgy MD]

David Wright was on base five times yesterday, in the middle of every rally, and he was playing with a broken finger. He's making a move right now to carry this team like few guys in the history of the franchise have. Even as they gave back the game in two consecutive innings, the team didn't grow demoralized. I'd be surprised if Alderson isn't obsessing right now over how to lock Wright up.

[Ceetar]

well, he didn't obsess over locking Reyes up, who practically got a hit in every two games he played it seemed like.

Wright is now, literally, more likely to get on base than not and yet he's NOT going to win player of the month honors in the National League.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, I think Kemp pretty much has Player of the Month honors lined up for April.
In fact, his April has been so far ahead of everyone else that I think if he has a good game today then he locks up the award for May too!

[Edgy MD]

Ceetar wrote: well, he didn't obsess over locking Reyes up, who practically got a hit in every two games he played it seemed like.

The situation was different at many, many levels.

[TransMonk]

Ceetar wrote: well, he didn't obsess over locking Reyes up, who practically got a hit in every two games he played it seemed like.

Production that leads to wins trumps production that doesn't, though. The Marlins might be seeing that side of the coin right now.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Ceetar wrote: well, he didn't obsess over locking Reyes up, who practically got a hit in every two games he played it seemed like. The situation was different at many, many levels.

Every situation is different. But the plan to keep good players on your team should not really change that much.

Ceetar wrote: well, he didn't obsess over locking Reyes up, who practically got a hit in every two games he played it seemed like. Production that leads to wins trumps production that doesn't, though. The Marlins might be seeing that side of the coin right now.

Think it's a little deeper than that. Different players, different roles. If Reyes' crazy year didn't lead to as many wins last year, it's at least partly Wright's fault.


I could see Alderson, both last year and this one, wondering if maybe he should've spent more time extending his amazin' player in the offseason. buying low instead of high so to speak.

[Edgy MD]

It was different on many many levels.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: It was different on many many levels.

again, not really. Alderson's job is to have good players on the Mets, not on the Marlins.

[TransMonk]

Ceetar wrote: I could see Alderson, both last year and this one, wondering if maybe he should've spent more time extending his amazin' player in the offseason. buying low instead of high so to speak.

Was either "decision" really Sandy's to make? You've got to have money to make offers.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: It was different on many many levels. again, not really. Alderson's job is to have good players on the Mets, not on the Marlins.

That's really oversimplifying things. If what you say is true, then why the hell didn't he sign Pujols and Fielder too?

[Edgy MD]

For all we know, Alderson was obsessing over re-signing Reyes. But yes, it was very very different. Let me name twenty levels off the top of my head in which it was very very different.

1. Reyes was never that good before. Wright has oft been this good.
   
   
   
2. Reyes is a player who derives a large percentage of his value from his legs, yet he has frequently hurt his legs.
   
   
   
3. Reyes is a player who derives a large percentage of his value from his legs, and therefore is a greater risk as he grows older.
   
   
   
4. Alderson started his job with one year left of control over Reyes, but three years left of control over Wright, therefore allowing him to be more intentional, rather than reactionary, over the Wright situation.
   
   
   
5. Reyes, while seemingly like a sweetheart, has demonstrated a penchant for self-centeredness and disengagement when he's unhappy.
   
   
   
6. Reyes spent the majority of the second half hurt season.
   
   
   
7. While Reyes was hurt, his potential replacement performed very well. (.360 OBP!) We have no such data to be so optimistic about Zack Lutz or any potential replacement for Wright.
   
   
   
8. His potential replacement was only 21 and as cheap as a used muffler.
   
   
   
9. Reyes made clear by his second half last year that he was protecting his health by playing a diminished level of aggression to protect his marketability.
   
   
   
10. Wright, by contrast, is playing with a broken pinky --- a re-injury of which could undermine the his option.
    
    
    
11. Alderson operated the team last year with no real picture of the organization's financial outlook in the coming seasons, making it very hard to responsibly assess the viability of a long-term contract for Reyes.
    
    
    
12. A piece of the team was on the market last year, putting great pressure on the management of the team to demonstrate controlled costs.
    
    
    
13. David Wright has pants made of sugar.
    
    
    
14. A bat in the middle of your lineup is more valuable than a leadoff hitter, in general.
    
    
    
15. A declining shortstop is a more fearsome thing than a declining thirdbaseman, in general.
    
    
    
16. The focus in public last year was on the limits of the team's ability to make moves based on the Wilpons' situation. With the lawsuit behind him and the team playing well, Alderson now will be judged for himself, rather than as the Wilpons' fall guy.
    
    
    
17. Wright's productivity now reinforces his ability to sell himself as the MVP candidate he was 2005-2008. Reyes was never such a good player and it was easy to see his excellence last year as a particularly good year by a good player rather than a maintainable level by a Hall-of-Fame candidate.
    
    
    
18. Alderson knows the value of on-base percentage. Wright's career OBP is .382, .081 above his batting average. This year, it's a league-leading .506, .109 above his batting average. Reyes had a career OBP of .340, .050 above his batting average. Last year, it was .384, .047 above his batting average.
    
    
    
19. Reyes and his agent rejected Sandy Alderson's overtures to negotiate at mid-season, really allowing him to psychologically plan for a post-Reyes future. That's not where he's at.
    
    
    
20. Alderson knows that Wright will only look better with more reachable walls.
    
    
    
21. The lights are on at CitiField right now. Folks are enjoying a good run after a season of gloom. Alderson knows that losing Wright would compound the disappointment of losing Reyes, and solidify all the conspiracy theories of management bad faith that were proliferated last season. Signing Wright would dispel ever last one of them. Alderson would be crowned prince --- savior of a franchise.

Oops, I reached 21. Overshot my target. Cross out whichever one you don't like.

It's very very different.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: It was different on many many levels. again, not really. Alderson's job is to have good players on the Mets, not on the Marlins. That's really oversimplifying things. If what you say is true, then why the hell didn't he sign Pujols and Fielder too?

I would've supported signing Pujols. That would've been bold though, but I think Pujols is one of the few players that actually would've driven attendance to the point of paying for himself at least for the first couple of years.


But I guess if people are under the pretense that this is a pretend 'rebuilding' year of trial and error with prospects, then that doesn't make sense.

[Edgy MD]

Under a pretense? I think we're chasing a red herring in a new direction here.