Thoughts on Recapping the Off-season

First, I must say this is one of the more disappointing off-seasons in recent memory. There was absolutely nothing extremely surprising that happened. Normally at least one team makes a big splash that shakes up how everyone approaches the coming year. Hasn't happened. No one really has made dramatic improvements, most teams did nothing much or just enough to stay at the same level they were last year.

As signings start to dwindle down and the trade market slows as well, and the arbitration period coming to a close, it's time to recap a little of how this postseason has went. All these rankings are tentative to chagne based on what happens in the rest of the off-season.

Offseason Winners:
1.) Yankees
2.) Red Sox
3.) Mariners

The Yankees stayed on the same talent level, and got younger. No super risky changes, kept the core of the team intact. Now, if they were only smart enough to trade Joba in a deal for Halladay...The Red Sox made little improvements all over the field, but they might be winners if only because they didn't lose as much as they could've. Lackey definitely boosts the rotation, giving them at least one reliable arm behind Lester and Beckett, but the only hitter in that lineup that scares any team is Victor Martinez....Seattle takes the third spot for locking up Felix, acquiring Cliff Lee for Phillipe Aumonte, and adequately replacing Adrian Beltre with Chone Figgins.

Offseason Losers:
1.) Phillies
2.) Cubs
3.) Dodgers

The Phillies are the big losers for A.) replacing Pedro Feliz with Polanco, B.) replacing Lee with Halladay at the cost of the rest of their farm, and C.) using money they could've used on Cliff Lee to pay Joe Blanton. The Cubs for failing to improve, paying too much for a LOOGY who isn't much of a LOOGY and everything involved with Milton Bradley. The Dodgers are big losers as they did nothing, and their payroll has dropped $40 million in the last 2 years.

Wildcard: Mets

The Mets missed on on Piniero and Molina, which some would say is a good thing, and still have money to spend. If they can grab John Smoltz for the back of the rotation, and could also sign Ben Sheets, and pick up Rod Barajas or Yorvit Torrealba for half the cost of Molina, who's at best slightly better than those two. Basically, the Mets have options, and some money to spend, and if they find a taker for Luis Castillo, who has some value,they could also grab Orlando Hudson. If everything else falls into place for them, they could easily vault to number one on the winners list with additions of at least one of those two catchers, one of those two catchers (or Erik Bedard?) and another arm, preferably for the bullpen to replace Brian Stokes. Highly possible and feasable situation

Best off-season acquisition: Curtis Granderson. Now Yankee fans can finally stop pretending Melky Cabrera is good.

Worst off-season acquisition: Joel Piniero. He was bad in the AL West before, what makes this time any different? Except that the Angels' park isn't as good for pitchers as Safeco.

Most puzzling off-season acquisition: Bengie Molina. This is actually a retention, but he was a type B free agent, and they have both Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey, the best catching prospect remaining after Wieters was called up last summer.

Biggest catastrophe avoided: Atlanta Braves potentially having the most expensive bullpen in history.

Best Free agent still available: John Smoltz. He should land somewhere and give someone some solid innings. Sheets is a little less dependable in that area.

Smartest move: The Yankees making Johnny Damon wait. It's clear everyone thinks his power resurgence is all from Yankee Stadium. He came into the off-season looking for 3 years/$30 million even though he's in his mid-thirties. Scott Boras dropped the ball on this one. Looks like he'll head back to the Yankees next year for Bobby Abreu money last year.

Thoughts on Jason Bay to the Mets

The Mets nabbed their prime Leftfield target this offseason, Jason Bay, for what seems like a reasonable price (around $16 million a year for four years, plus a vesting option for a fifth year).

Positives in this deal: Mets needed a power hitting outfielder, Jason Bay is a .520 career slugger. The Mets didn't overpay really, and Jason Bay's played in a big market so New York shouldn't phase him. He's averaged 154 games played over the last 5 seasons, and the Mets badly needed a player who would stay healthy.

Negatives: Mets didn't have much competition, so did they really need to include this 5th year vesting option that supposedly vests easily? Did they bid against themselves again? He's already 31, so he will be 35 or 36 when this deal ends. He's a poor fielder, and the outfield in Citifield's huge. Matt Holliday would have cost around $10 million more, and would probably be a better value.

Final Thought: Hard to argue against an outfielder with a .900 career OPS. And the Mets with a plus defender in Rightfield (Francoeur and/or Fernando Martinez) and the best centerfielder in the game should be able to overcome his shortcomings in left. And maybe some of his homers in Citifield turn back into doubles, but worse things have happened.

Thoughts on Charlie Manuel

Watching Game 2 of the Phillies vs. Rockies I was shock. The Phillies don't have a bad bullpen other than the closer mess. But after Cole Hamels predictably didn't pitch very well at all, he decided to use the predicted Game 3 and Game 4 starters J.A. Happ and Joe Blanton out of the bullpen. Needless to say, I, among others watching, were befuddled.

Now Pedro Martinez will be starting Game 3, a game they're now very likely to lose, as a pitcher really needs a solid fastball to be a decent pitcher in Colorado, and Pedro just doesn't have that anymore. Jason Hammel's a much worse pitcher in Colorado than he is anywhere else, so at least the Phillies have that going for them. This now means Cliff Lee has to pitch Game 4, leaving any of Happ, Blanton, or Hamels open for Game 5. Even though Happ only pitched 4 pitches, the way Manuel used him leaves one to think he's going to be used as a LOOGY out of the bullpen, and not the rotation.

And congrats to the Dodgers for proving me dead wrong by beating the Cardinals in both games started by Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter (a little help by Matt Holliday didn't hurt).

Thoughts on the Mets Hospital Bill

Ok, I've been caught as a lazy blogger once again. Time to write one.

I normally try and avoid talking about the Mets, to avoid bias, but when Johan AND Oliver Perez hit the DL, it's time to address the issues.

First, the Mets have around $105 million on the DL right now. If you want to count up how much payroll has been on the DL all season, that's around $120-$125 million.

I can't imagine in the history of the MLB has a team had 8 of the 9 members of the opening day lineup spend time on the DL for a significant length of time. A lot of analysts have cited the Mets struggles as not having the organizational depth to survive these injuries. But a realist would argue that only a select few organizations have the depth to field a competitive team, let alone a good one, if they sustained these types of injuries.

Second, beyond the catastrophe, is the consideration of how much this is a fluke, and if anything's wrong with the Met's training/medical staff, as Ken Rosenthal has recently suggested. The Mets need to address that situation immediately, to see if it's a problem, or not anything.

Thirdly, if I were the Mets I'd be working harder at developing and drafting high end talent, that's major league ready, or close to it so they can fill in if needed. They have developed some depth in the lower ranks, but it's all far from major league ready. When the Mets reached down for help this season, all they had that wasn't aging veterans were Niese (who got hurt) and Fernando Martinez (also hurt!)

Thoughts on being a lazy blogger

Between vacation and a lull in interesting baseball news, I haven't blogged in basically two weeks. So this might be a rather long blog.


First up is the 5 spot in the Phillies rotation. Signing Pedro was a dumb move for the Phillies. At best, the difference between him and Jamie Moyer is a wash. And all they did was anger a clubhouse leader, cause a controversy where there didn't need to be one, and insert a pitcher who can potentially maybe have a sub-5 ERA. It's not as if they added Doug Davis, or Aaron Haraang.

Now considering the luck of the Phillies, and the lack of luck by the Mets, Pedro regains his form and proves to be a middle of the rotation starter the Mets so desperately needed. I mean, they added an above average outfielder to replace there, well, nearly identical outfielder, and he turns into Jason Bay. They got J.C. Romero for basically nothing. They got Cliff Lee without giving up one of their 4 best young guys.

And as far as Moyer's reaction is concerned, I'm quite divided on it. On one hand, he should of just shut up and not been a distraction, like he said he didn't want to be. On the other hand, he has something along the lines of 25 years of MLB service time, and has sort of earned the right to say what he wants. I'm completely split-brained on this, and can't make up my mind. Personally, if I was in his situation I would of pitched a fit, but that's me.


Moving on to the Rick Porcello vs. Kevin Youkilis fight. First of all, I'm dumbfounded as to whether Porcello hit him on purpose or accident. The extensive conversation between Jim Leyland and Terry Francona after the fight would indicate that it was most likely on accident. On the other hand, the way the ball was thrown, it looked as if he was trying to nail him. However, he already threw a pitch high and tight clearly intending to hit Youkilis.

Regardless of intent, everything to that point went down as it should've. They hit the Tigers key hitters, they should be throwing back at the Sox.

But Youkilis is a fool for charging the mound. Are you kidding me? Take your lumps like everyone else. And then throwing your helmet? Maybe Porcello looked scared as he moved away from you, but throwing a helmet is just as cowardly, and those things are hard, and can actually hurt a player (crack a kneecap?). Odds are Porcello just didn't want to fight, at risk of suspension. Because the way he threw Youkilis to the ground, (and the fact that he's 6'5") indicates that he knew he could take Youkilis. And if he was throwing at him intentionally, kudos for already proving to be a good teammate at age 19.


Alex Rios got traded about a week ago. Simple salary dump. I don't know this for sure, but J.P. Ricciardi may be an idiot. He failed to get max value for Roy Halladay, he gave a big contract to Vernon Wells, who's since tanked, and Rios, who's done mostly the same. He also gave a big contract to B.J. Ryan, who basically has spent the last 2 years injured, as well as A.J. Burnett, who proved to be just above average, and also spent decent time on the DL. Ricciardi seems to have an eye for young talent (the young starting rotation, Travis Snider, Aaron Hill, etc.), especially young pitching, but lacks an eye for players who can stay healthy.


The Yankees officially transformed themselves into the version of themselves that lost to the D-backs in the World Series a few years back. Only Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Pettite, and Rivera, etc are all around five years older. This team seems built to win in the regular season, but not for the postseason. Seriously, they have the third worst collection of talent in their own division, and yet they have the best record in baseball. Their catcher sucks behind the dish, Cano's average, and they got very little in the outfield. And their rotation is ok, and the bullpen is average too. Seriously, when teams like the Yankees win it drives me crazy. The Dodgers should win, they are as deep as anyone in the lineup, can play defense, and also have four solid starters. The Yankees are mostly average, and win anyways. Proves to show that I don't understand everything about the game I guess.

Thoughts on the Trade Deadline

The trade deadline's past, and now it's time to examine the impact.

First off, all that hubub of a slow deadline because of the economy proved for naught, it might have actually forced a few deals that might have otherwise not happened (Jake Peavy? Word is that the Padres had to move some salary, and Peavy was the only significant money with value).

Second, it felt as if everyone undersold their biggest assets. The biggest crimes were that Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee were both stolen from the Indians for not much at all. Unless you're one of those people who think that the 4th through 7th ranked prospects of the Phillies are all going to be All Stars. (If you believe the hype of some of these analysts, the Phillies have 7 guys who would be the best, or at worst, 2nd best, prospects in any teams minor league systems). Boston has similar hype, as Bucholz, Masteron, Bowden, and Hagadone are all called future aces by various analysts. Really? Victor Martinez is consistently one of the best catchers in baseball, and he got sold for $.75 on the dollar.

Thirdly, all the bad contracts that had any value (Washburn, Rolen, etc) also moved, so those type of guys aren't moving in August (although some bad contract will undoubtedly move). So this idea that Brian Cashman and a few others mentioned of the month as not actually a trade deadline may prove false also.

Thoughts on young players not getting a fair shot

Nothing bugs me more than to see MLB talent sitting in the minors, or sitting on the bench in the majors while some washed up veteran takes away at-bats they deserve.

The worst culprit of this is the Angels. I don't know whether this is an issue with Mike Scioscia or the front office telling him to keep playing the veterans, but over the last five years, they've wasted what's consistently one of the best crops of young players in the MLB. Brandon Wood has been ready for about 2 years for the MLB spotlight, but they insist on manning Macair Izturis and Erick Aybar at short, and Figgins at third. Really? Figgins is a good, not great player, that Wood would easily outproduce, and by now it's very apparent that the other two are nothing but light hitting defenders.

The Rockies were horrible too. But that's been covered in the blog about how bad Clint Hurdle was as manager.

Why is Emil Brown taking away 2 AB's from Fernando Martinez? That's ridiculous.

Travis Snider was hitting great in April, but couldn't get consistent playing time because the Blue Jays insisted on playing Jose Bautista. Jose Bautista.

Why is Alcides Escobar spending time down in the minors while the Brew Crew give Craig Counsell AB's at seecond?

I will never understand why teams leave their best players in the minors. Give the young guy a shot, the old guy already has proved he can't play.