Elster88

Matsui's career OPS is up to .701, .657 on the year. ____________________________ This post had the designation 152) Anthony Young

Rotblatt wrote: ]And, Seo was basically a two-pitch pitcher in ST. I'm also assuming the experts (Peterson and the coaching staff, and Minaya in making the Ishii deal) saw something they didn't like. Okay, but sometime in between Norfolk starting (the second week of April, IIRC?) and his first MLB start on April 23, Seo figured it out (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 K). He was brilliant in his next two starts, then demoted in favor of Ishii & Zambrano, DESPITE all that I laid out before, which is clearly a bad call, even without the benefit of hindsight.. I'll agree with that. This is what I was saying, yell at them for keeping Ishii and Zambrano in the rotation in favor of Seo for too long. Though IIRC he had one great start and one mediocre start in that first short stint. Rotblatt wrote: ]In any event, as I've said before, leaving Ishii in the rotation as long as they did is what to yell at management for, not starting him in the rotation out of the gate. No, what I'm yelling at management for was the decision to trade for Ishii in the first place when we had Seo, who--even with his crappy 2004 & poor ST--was pretty clearly just as good (or bad, if you like). Well, if you knew that, you knew more than me. I thought Ishii could be good. He has shown flashes of brilliance before, I always thought his career started going downhill after he took that line drive off the noggin in his first year with LA. Rotblatt wrote: ]Again, we are far afield from my original point which was simply this: There is no need to pencil Seo's name into the 2006 rotation just yet. I agree with that, so long as no one's name (except Petey's) is penciled in either. Me too.

Nymr83 wrote: omar and willie work for WILPON and WILPON made the kazmir deal. fred's son has all the power around here. Ah, the voice of reason. Blame it on the owner's son, because we know for sure the Wilpons made that move, not the GM, etc.

I think it would've been cool if you got the call, Cooby. ____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

Pedro's second complete game shutout in five year. He had one last year too. I hope he can pitch this way next year. ____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

KC wrote: How cool would it be to sit next to Ralph Kiner on a four hour plane ride if you could bend his ear and get him to talk baseball? If I could get him to clear his throat, pretty cool. ____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

Rotblatt wrote: I should add that behind Ishii's ERA+ those two years were typically awful peripherals. Rotblatt I agree with everything you said. I'm just pointing out that starting Seo in the rotation was not nearly as clear cut in ST as it is now. ____________________________ This post had the designation 152) Anthony Young

]]Quote: I'm assuming the experts (Peterson and the coaching staff, and Minaya in making the Ishii deal) saw something they didn't like . they saw who they traded kazmir for and who they traded phillips for and gave those 2 guys spots. Well here we go again. Since they traded Kazmir and traded a backup catcher for a starter (when our backup catcher has obviously performed adequately in his absence) then every time they make a decision it should automatically be assumed incorrect, regardless of the actual evidence at hand. How did Peterson's pitching staff do again this year? DID OMAR OR WILLIE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE KAZMIR DEAL? Goddammit I'm banging my head against the wall here.

I see everything you are saying, Rotblatt. But basically, all you are saying is that Seo, Zambrano, and Ishii were all about equally bad based on statistics going into 2005. And, Seo was basically a two-pitch pitcher in ST. I'm also assuming the experts (Peterson and the coaching staff, and Minaya in making the Ishii deal) saw something they didn't like. So the choice to start him in spring training was not all that bad based on the evidence everyone had, regardless that it looks foolish now with 20/20 hindsight And I imagine most people, if arguing against Ishii or Zambrano being a starter out of ST, would have chosen Heilman over Seo. In any event, as I've said before, leaving Ishii in the rotation as long as they did is what to yell at management for, not starting him in the rotation out of the gate. Again, we are far afield from my original point which was simply this: There is no need to pencil Seo's name into the 2006 rotation just yet. ____________________________ This post had the designation 152) Anthony Young

Edgy DC wrote: I don't argue for a trade of Floyd, but merely not entering the season (or the off-season) with expectations penciled in of a repeat performance from Floyd. Me too. I actually expect a good deal less from him, considering that a large portion of his stats came from a disproportiantely smaller part of the season. ____________________________ This post had the designation 152) Anthony Young

I realize. Now, I'll repeat MYself. It's hard to argue that he DIDN'T belong in AAA in 2004, seeing as how he pitched to a 4.90 ERA over 21 starts, this year's performance nonwithstanding. Whatever he has this year, he didn't have last year. ____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

]Guys who played the previous year uncharacteristically healthy. Sadly, this probably includes Floyd. I'd advocate a trade. (Diaz in left, Cameron in right.) Hopefully this doesn't include Reyes. ____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

He got 21 starts last year. I'd say he had ample chance to prove himself despite not getting the start out of spring training. And considering the stats I posted, it seems like putting him in AAA to start 2004 was the right decision since, regardless of this year's performance, he apparently didn't have it last year. ____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

Castro?

SI Metman wrote: uh, hell yes. This was the man who put together a team that won 4 out of 5 championships. Me too.

]"I'm walking down First Avenue with my wife, holding hands," says Orel Hershiser after Game 3. "And this guy comes up to me with this real heavy New York accent and he yells, 'C'MON BULLDOG, GO GET 'EM!' And I say, 'I can't. There's no game tonight.' So he stops and thinks for a second and he goes, 'OKAY, THEN GO HOME AND REST!' That same guy probably would've tried to kill Orel in '88. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

]Mets assistant GM Omar Minaya grabbed a bottle of Cooks champagne (with the $3.95 sticker still attached) and playfully sprayed a throng of reporters trying to huddle outside the line of fire. Everyone (well, almost everyone) smiles. A second later, manager Bobby Valentine saunters past and smirks, "That wasn't good clothing, was it?" I love Bobby V. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

Nymr83 wrote: ]Hey, this is how it works. There's a reason they have spring training. If Seo has a shitty spring, it's his own fault if it puts his 2006 rotation spot in jeopardy. You should have better stats in spring training than in the regular season, not the other way around. I'm sure management will take his 2005 performance into account when evaluating him for '06 out of spring training. i HATE this kind of reasoning and it is one of the huge problems with baseball today. 20 innings of spring training should not be allowed to dispprove a sample size 5-10x greater from the previous season! this same bullshit cost Seo a rightly deserved spot before. Actually, the two situations aren't even remotely the same. Have you actually looked at Seo's 2004 numbers? Let me enlighten you. 5-10, 4.90 ERA, 117 IP, 133 H, 50 BB, 54 K. Obiously, 05 spring training was not the only thing that relegated him to Norfolk in April. So what you call bullshit (which is actually sound, logical reasoning) is NOT what cost Seo a spot in April. Neither is his '05 spring training numbers. If you'll read the entire post which you quoted, you'll notice that I mentioned that of course his 2005 performance should and will be taken into account. And if Seo gets lit up all of next spring, Heilman is pitching lights out, and the other four pitchers have the spots locked up, I'm sure you'll be clamoring for Heilman to get Seo's "rightly deserved spot." Which, oddly enough, is exactly what I'm advocating, (Willie, too): Don't secure any positions on the 2006 roster in 2005.

What up, Scrapple. _____________________________ This post had the designation 154) Tommy Davis

Maybe he'll take it as incentive to get in better shape this offseason. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

That's what I like about this forum. People tell themselves to pipe down instead of others. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

Yeah, I need to pipe down. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

Probably Glavine too, when you take his contract size into account. Which tells us that 3-4 of the spots are locked up, which means what Willie said make even MORE sense. If four of the spots are locked up, it's a battle between Seo and Heilman. I am getting way too worked up over this article, too. I should dose myself with my own recommendations. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

This article has done exactly what the boneheaded writer wanted to do, it gets some fans is a frenzy, even while stating the obvious: Willie says he wants to see how a guy looks in 2006 before making decisions about that year. How does this not make sense? For God's sake Seo might not even be on the team next year. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco

smg58 wrote: So Seo can again pitch well when it counts but find himself in Norfolk in April. Great. Minaya needs to deal his excess of pitchers this offseason so that he has a solid lineup and, at most, two starters competing for spot #5. And I don't see why, at this point, Seo has to be one of the two competing. Hey, this is how it works. There's a reason they have spring training. If Seo has a shitty spring, it's his own fault if it puts his 2006 rotation spot in jeopardy. You should have better stats in spring training than in the regular season, not the other way around. I'm sure management will take his 2005 performance into account when evaluating him for '06 out of spring training. Seo's problem to me was a lack of concentration when he got pissed off, which to me is evidenced by a better major league record than AAA record, and bad spring training performances. _____________________________ This post had the designation 153) Matt Franco