smg58

Kudos to Joe Saunders for allowing me to appreciate that Kenny Rogers is not the only pitcher who can refuse to throw strikes with the season on the line. The way that Jered Weaver pitched the eighth the other night, how do you justify not having him start the eighth inning yesterday? Three home runs in six games, half of which were at Yankee Stadium? The Mets could have done that. The Phillies might not beat the Yankees, but at least they won't play like deer in the headlights.

How many spots do they currently have available on the 40? Before getting into trades and free agents, I'd like to see Adam Bostick put on the 40, because he's a prime Rule V candidate otherwise.

This happened at the deadline in 2002. Cruz had a career year in 2001 (.857 OPS) but had gone back to being the sub-.250 BA, sub-.800 OPS hitter he had otherwise been (and would mostly otherwise be) his whole career. The Mets either were just about to trade, or just had traded, Jay Payton for a two-month rental pitcher, so there was an opening in center (which wouldn't actually be filled for more than a full season). But this was a similar situation to the Kazmir deal two years later, where the Mets were clearly falling behind and desperate to salvage an unsalvageable season. Cruz was hardly a difference maker, and certainly wouldn't have been had he come. The only difference was that more people were aware of Kazmir at the time of the trade. On the other hand, Ricciardi was too proud to take an A-ball prospect for a guy he didn't think highly enough of to offer arbitration to in the offseason and therefore got nothing for. That's just bizarre, even if the prospect in question doesn't turn out to be David Wright.

From a recent chat room involving Keith Law, ESPN.com analyst and former assistant to Jays' GM JP Ricciardi: Eddie (Milwaukee) What was Steve Phillips thinking? Almost trading a 19 year old David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr.? Ridiculous. Klaw I've been asked about that trade rumor for three years but never answered while Ricciardi was still GM. The offer was made, though; I was there when the call came in. It was the first time I'd heard of Wright, since I wasn't with Toronto in 2001 nor had I followed the draft when Wright was in it. JP's reaction was, "I'm not trading a major league player for some guy in the Sally League." And that was pretty much that. We had a chance to trade Cruz after that for Rafael Soriano, but JP refused to do it unless Seattle included Clint Nageotte, who, at the time, was a pretty hot prospect. It's weird; I can't remember some things that happened last week but I remember those conversations (over seven years ago now) like they just took place. And this was 2002, a last-place season for the Mets. So which GM was the bigger idiot?

I give the Angels credit for surviving to this point in spite of themselves. I'm still puzzled by bringing in Oliver to pitch to Teixeira after not bringing him in to face Damon. He appeared to have sufficient time to warm up, and if he was having trouble warming up that ought to have been a huge red flag. Bringing in Weaver in relief was brilliant. Replacing him with Fuentes after he threw a fantastic eighth was less so. That was a good time to throw the book out the window. Scioscia should seriously consider using Lackey as a closer the next two games. If the Mets think the money they're paying Frankie would be better spent elsewhere, I'd bet the Angels would take him back (and he'd waive his NTC without a major hassle).

I'd have kept him around. It seems odd that after the pen troubles of 07 and 08, the Mets would sour on a guy for NOT being a specialist.

Three more like that, guys. Now if only the Dodgers could get out of the f***ing first inning without falling behind...

As questionable as the Mets baserunning has been at times this year, they did nothing worse than what Abreu just did. Why do I bother?

In case anybody was wondering, Darren Oliver has gotten paid roughly $3M less over the past three years than Scot Schoeneweis has.

4-3 Halos after 7. At least Izturis got a go-ahead SF, but again Napoli gets pinch-hit for. Did Napoli run over Scioscia's dog?

Where did everybody go?

Some random thoughts: With runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, Scioscia pinch hits for Napoli with Gary Matthews Jr. In what universe is Matthews a better hitter than Napoli? I was OK with the call on Aybar. It's one thing when a player moves over the bag to catch the ball and throw to first, it's another thing when the player catches the ball with both feet firmly planted off of the bag. Fuentes made a terrible pitch on 0-2 to A-Rod, but that's a catchable fly ball in absolutely every other park. I was actually impressed with Izturis' ability to turn two on the shovel throw. But on the last play he was spun around, on a wet surface with a wet ball, and turning one wouldn't have been fatal. Normally I like aggressive play from infielders, but to quote a famous philosopher, "A man's got to know his limitations."

Scutaro is also type A, which ought to discourage somebody looking for a utility guy (Hairston is Type B, by contrast). While Fangraphs had Scutaro's fielding regressing back to average after a big spike last year, his +/- from The Fielding Bible remained quite high. Assuming the truth lies somewhere in the middle, he's become a pretty solid fielder, if not in the same category as Jack Wilson (who didn't hit well enough to even qualify as Type .

What does taxi squad mean?

Lackey is very good when healthy. His low IP total the last two seasons concerns me though, especially if he's likely to get more than Lowe got. I'm interested, but I'd like to see how the market develops.

He actually doesn't have a whole lot left to prove in the minors, and he has more AAA experience than several players the Mets have given roster spots to in the recent past. I think he's earned the right to compete for at least a starting platoon job in right field (i.e., Francoeur has not earned the right to block Martinez if Martinez outperforms him in the spring). But the Mets should go get a quality left fielder.

K-Rod C-

Even without the walks, his second half was much better than his first. Given the fact that he was in AA as recently as July 08 and never saw AAA, that's actually encouraging. He's shown plenty of patience in the past, so I'd wager that with work he'd get that part of his game back. But like I've said before, I think Murphy's best chance for a future as an everyday player will come at his natural position, third base. Which, for better or worse, means some place other than here.

Let's go Twins! Let's go Twins!

Francoeur reminds me a bit of Rich Hidalgo. When he swings the bat well you wonder how he's not one of the league's star players, then you look at his overall numbers and wonder how it can possibly be the same person. My guess is if we keep him around long enough we'll find out. Plus, even his numbers with the Mets (an .836 OPS for a corner outfielder with a mediocre glove) are nothing to get excited about. I'd sell while I can.

Omir Santos C Daniel Murphy C- Luis Castillo# C Alex Cora* C David Wright C Gary Sheffield B Carlos Beltran# B+ Jeff Francoeur B- Fernando Tatis B- Angel Pagan# B+ Brian Schneider* F Jeremy Reed* D Jose Reyes# INC Cory Sullivan* C- Anderson Hernandez# C- Carlos Delgado* INC Fernando Martinez* D Wilson Valdez C Nick Evans INC Josh Thole* B Ramon Martinez INC Angel Berroa INC Argenis Reyes# INC Emil Brown INC Andy Green INC Robinson Cancel INC Mike Pelfrey C- Johan Santana* B+ Tim Redding D John Maine C Nelson Figueroa B Oliver Perez* F Patrick Misch* B Bobby Parnell B- Fernando Nieve B Jonathon Niese* B Ken Takahashi* B- Sean Green C- Brian Stokes B- Pedro Feliciano* A- Tobi Stoner INC Lance Broadway INC J.J. Putz D Elmer Dessens INC

1. Offer Murphy, Pagan, Maine, Wil Flores, and Brad Holt to the Jays for Halladay and Lyle Overbay. 2. Offer Matt Holliday 5 years and $80M. 3. Sell Francoeur and Castillo while we can, and try to get a starter and a reliever in return. (Maybe to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez and Sergio Romo.) 4. Offer K-Rod back to the Angels for Macier Izturis. 5. Offer Ollie to the White Sox for Scott Linebrink. 6. Take a flier on Ryan Garko. He's a likely non-tender, and his natural position is catcher. If it doesn't work out we still have Thole. 7. Grab Matt Murton, Ryan Freel, and Esteban German on the cheap. Murton can replace Francoeur, while Freel and German compete for spot #25. Maybe also another lefty bat to compete with Chris Carter for a spot. 8. If Niese is healthy, offer Pelfrey to the Indians for Chris Perez. Internally: Give Niese and F-Mart the chance to show what they've got. Give Davis and Thole another year. Find a young manager who thinks outside the box and who knows about sabermetrics without worshiping them. Let Figueroa, Misch, Stoner, Nieve (if healthy) and the guy we claimed on waivers last week (forgot his name) compete for the fifth rotation spot. Don't spend money on bad veterans.

Congrats to the Hub City 9!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/09/elias-rankings-update-4.html Tatis is actually just on the good side of type B status. I say play him every day. (PS Schneider is as well, and if THAT doesn't tell you the system needs to be reworked...)