"Skillman" and Heath Bell

I got some email in the inbox about yesterday’s “Skillman” post which discussed how the Mets got nothing for Heath Bell  who is now the Padres closer.


Yeah, I thought Heath Bell had some promise when we had him. But the entire ’05 bullpen was a disaster, and Bell may not have been the best of the bad lot. In any case, they were actually worse than last year (last year wasn’t a total disaster until Wagner went down), and not a single one of them was back for ’06 (though we did get Bert Hernandez back at the deadline, along with Ollie Perez, after Duaner went down). So all I can really say about Bell is that I’m glad he’s doing well where he is, and glad that he’s not in our division (;-). Not that the Pads as a whole will scare anybody this year anyway. 

And speaking of Bell, Royce Ring (the supposed hot prospect lefty reliever we got from the Chisox for Robby Alomar, but he did even worse for us in ’05) just pitched a scoreless inning-and-a-third against us today for the Cards. And yeah, they still have Pujols and Chris Duncan held out of the WBC, and both contributed mightily to slaughtering us. Oh well, it is only Spring Training, the guys who are in the WBC are getting to play (and they did get the 80-pitch opposite-field drill, which some of them might even still remember in April), and we get to figure out which of our new (and not-so-new) “small names,” is Nick put it, are worth keeping around. Still looks like Freddy Garcia will not be among them, though he claimed he felt better today.

And some about the Jon Matlack post – and yes I am a jerk for spelling his name wrong.

To be fair, Matlack (first name spelled ‘Jon,’ BTW) had had a lousy year in ’77 (7-15, 4.21, which was a much worse ERA then (especially in the NL) than it would be now), and really only had one good year with Texas: 15-13, 2.27 in ’78. After that he was .500 or below every year, ERA never below 3.5 (cf. his lifetime average of 3.18, though much of that is the difference between the DH and “pure” leagues), only one other year (’80) with more than 200 IP (pretty standard for a front-line starter in those days) or 100 SO. Milner had a couple of good years with the Pirates (and IIRC always seemed to kill us, and we were in the same division then and saw him 18 times a year), getting back to the WS with them in ’79, but not much after that. And don’t forget, we also got Ken Henderson and Tom Grieve in that trade (;-).


But no, it was far from the best trade the Mets ever made. But these being the Mets, far from the worst either. Remember, this was the regime of M. Donald Grant, who earlier that same year had traded Seaver. Not coincidentally, the previous year was the last time the Mets finished over .500 (or were anywhere near contending) until ’84.

I’ve been reaching out to some slightly older Mets fans to walk me through the transition from ’73 to ’77.  It’s a little before my time but I’m increasingly interested in how the Mets went from outdrawing the Yankees by a million fan to being the team I remember with five starters hitting .230 or less.

Comments and memories welcome at shannonshark at gmail dot com.

www.metspolice.com

Santana: Everyone Remain Calm

Memo to everyone.  Remain calm.
 
I know as a Mets fan it’s fun to hit the panic button.
 
I know the Mets can be mecurial (they will after all be moving there in 2023, I’ve seen the uniforms).
 
Elbows are scary.  
 
Here is what Santana himself says:
 
“You know what, we’re in this thing together and have to take care of everything.   I appreciate everything he [Warthen] is doing. He’s trying to protect me and the team. But as of right now my mindset is Opening Day.”

 

So the Mets want to protect the guy’s arm.  That’s a good thing.  See Ryan Church, concussion, 2008.

 

So Santana might not pitch until the 5th game.  Big deal.

 

Santana hasn’t given up on the opener.  Maybe he’ll only be able to pitch 6 innings since he’ll be a spring start short.   Maybe the Mets will be winning 22 to 1 after six and it won’t matter.

 

Turn off the radio and remain calm.

 

Put on YES.  The Yankees trail six-nothing in the 2nd in a Yankee Classic.  I wonder who wins.

 

 

Did Staying With The Mets Cost Rusty a Shot At 3,000 Hits?

Rusty Staub retired with 2716 hits.

What if Rusty had signed with an AL team?  Might he have found 300 more hits.

In 1980, Rusty had 102 hits in 340 at bats.  A nice even .300

Coming back to the Mets in 1981 (strike year) he only played 70 games.  51 hits.

The year that catches my eye is 1983.   Rusty was the Mets pinch hitter.  Only 115 ABs on 104 games.  What if Rusty had played in the AL that year as a DH.   He hit .296 as a Met, let’s say he hits .296 for someone else and gets 300 ABs.   That would create another 54 hits.

On to 1984.  .264 but only 72 at bats.   Should we give him 300 ABs again?   There’s another 60 hits for Rusty.

Now he’d be 41 years old with 2830 hits.

3000 probably wasn’t meant to be for Rusty but it’s fun to think about.

www.metspolice.com

I Wish Reyes Was A Yankee

No that's not me saying that about the Mets overrated shortstop* it was the always entertaining A-Rod.

A-Rod is God's gift to baseball bloggers. Instead of trying to make something out of Santanagate (and I'll do that later today don't worry) or handing in a random "John Stearns" article, A-Rod is the gift that keeps on giving.

First: the hip. A-Rod has a sore hip and is heading to Denver (?) to have it looked at. He "might" miss the WBC.

Might? At the first sign of injury he should be back at Steinbrenner Field sitting in the hot tub.

I don't know how you help a hip injury but someone on the radio suggested you might need a steroid injection. Wouldn't that be priceless?

A-Rod is so much fun that he can't even say something nice and not get in trouble. He should have said something like "Jose Reyes is a great player and it will be fun to play with him (in the WBC)."

Instead he said, "I wish he was leading off on our team, playing on our team (the Yankees)."

Oops. You see A-Rod if Reyes were on the Yankees he'd probably be the shortstop and drat Alex just dissed Jeter again. Jeter plays the public stoicism as well as DiMaggio did but we all know he thinks A-Fraud is a douche.

Now to OverReyes. People get very mad at me when I accuse Jose of being overrated. You can still be very good and overrated.

Most Mets fans think he's a Hall of Famer. I know what the fantasy is – he walks and steals two bases and scores on a sac fly. He apparently does this 4 times a game from what I hear up in the 500 seats (we have those now, learn the new nomenclature.).

Best shortstop in Mets history? Probably. Smart baseball player? Not yet and he has coasted on "he's young" for quite some time. He's good, he's just not one of the top players in all of baseball.

Yeah I'm "knocking" a guy with 200 hits last year (I am A-Rod like). Reyes may have better stats and better talent but I'm pretty sure Jimmy Rollins (he of the MVP and the ring) is a better player. The same way I know Mike Schmidt was the best third baseman of all time or that I know how good Dale Murphy was – the stats don't always tell the full story. The same way I know how good Keith Hernandez was.

Reyes is good but not irreplacable on this team. Santana is not replacable. You can find someone to play short if you have to.

I hope he goes out and wins an MVP. I hope Jerry can teach him to play station to station ball rather than see Jose try to boost his home run totals.

Reyes "hopped around in pain" after stealing third base yesterday (says Newsday) while playing for the not-Mets for a tune up game for a made up tournament.

I hope you're ok Jose. Go out there and prove me wrong.

Alex I hope you're OK too, it would have been a long February without you – and don't forget, if you hadn't asked the Mets for your own store and a 24+1 deal you could be at C-Field standing at SS next to second baseman Jose Reyes come opening day. Enjoy the Bronx, they love you.

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