Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Other Writers


A couple of really nice pieces were posted on the internet about Mets players yesterday. In case you missed them, here's the information.

At Sports Illustrated's site, Tom Verducci writes a moving piece called "The Lost Slugger" about first baseman Carlos Delgado. Here's a snip:

Delgado has maintained a very reasoned position on what happened in the best years of his career. He doesn't want a do-over on the MVP award he didn't win. He is a happy man, content with his family, his decisions and his career. If he retired today, he would rank among the top 30 hitters all time in home runs, slugging, at-bats per home run and intentional walks. But he has plenty of baseball left in him. Last year, while turning 36, he played in 159 games, smashed 38 homers and racked up 310 total bases, his most since 2003. How much longer will he play?

"For sure, this year and another year," he said. "Then after that, I'll see where I am at. Then figure out what you want to do and take it from there."

He would like 1,700 RBIs, which would move him into the top 25. Already, he stands 50th on the RBI list. Already, he has Hall of Fame numbers.

"It would be a great honor," he said of enshrinement. "It would be flattering. It would be great recognition. But I catch myself if I start to think about it, because I can't control it and it's so far down the road. You start forcing yourself into doing this and that, instead of just going out and playing. At the end, somebody is going to decide anyway. I have no say. You just play the game, finish up strong, go home and hope five years later some people say, 'Hey, this guy has pretty good numbers.'"


At the New York Post, Joel Sherman penned an article called "Santana Overwhelming, Yet Somehow Under Radar" about Mets ace Johan Santana. Here's the money quote:


With his throwing complete, Santana spent 10 minutes talking with the teammate Warthen calls Santana's "special project." Santana was trying to impart to fellow lefty Oliver Perez how vital it is to concentrate on delivering fastballs with exactitude to the inner half. Santana, who turns 30 in two weeks, has that elder statesman quality, the gravitas and temperament to talk reasonably and be heard.

"A great teammate," Warthen said.

The conversation done, Santana headed toward the back fields for some hitting drills. Perhaps the best pitcher on the planet walked unhurried and in plain sight, and hardly anyone noticed. The stealth superstar.
Nice tributes to a pair of quality individuals.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Suiting Up

.
I thought it might be fun to take a look around the major leagues and see what men who have a history with the Mets will be in uniform on the coaching staffs of other organizations in 2009. I was able to identify no less than twenty-four such individuals. They are (in alphabetical order):

Manny Acta, manager, Nationals
Rick Anderson, pitching coach, Twins
Bob Apodaca, pitching coach, Rockies
Don Baylor, hitting coach, Rockies
Bruce Bochy, manager, Giants
Tim Bogar, first base coach, Red Sox
Larry Bowa, third base coach, Dodgers
Ron Gardenhire, manager, Twins
John Gibbons, bench coach, Royals
Steve Henderson, hitting coach, Rays
Clint Hurdle, manager, Rockies
Juan Lopez, bullpen coach, Reds
Mike Maddux, pitching coach, Rangers
Dave Magadan, hitting coach, Red Sox
Bob McClure, pitching coach, Royals
Roger McDowell, pitching coach, Braves
Orlando Mercado, bullpen coach, Angels
Jose Oquendo, third base coach, Cardinals
Sam Perlozzo, third base coach, Phillies
Gary Pettis, first base coach, Rangers
Willie Randolph, bench coach, Brewers
Luis Rivera, first base coach, Indians
Juan Samuel, third base coach, Orioles
Joe Torre, manager, Dodgers

The champions at employing ex-Mets are the Colorado Rockies, who have three ex-Mets in positions of prominence: their manager, pitching coach, and hitting coach.

Izzy a Ray

.
Former Generation K hopeful Jason Isringhausen has signed a minor-league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, after a decade as one of baseball's most consistent closers with the Athletics and the Cardinals. He suffered through his worst season in a 2008 campaign that was marred by stints on the disabled list.

For those of you too young to remember Generation K, that was the nickname given to three young pitchers in the Mets' farm system who were supposed to lead them out of the doldrums back to pennant contention: Izzy, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher. Mainly because of injuries, that never happened. Here are the career totals with the Mets for each of the Generation K pitchers for W-L and ERA:

Izzy: ..18-21 4.67
Wilson: .5-12 5.38
Pulse: ..5-.9 4.63

Jason Isringhausen was the most successful of the three, both in terms of overall career and in impact on the Mets. When Jason first arrived in the majors, he immediately rang up a 9-2 record and a 2.81 ERA as a starter. But he struggled for the next three years before being traded to Oakland and finding his niche in the bullpen.

In other ex-Mets news, Kris Benson has signed a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers. Kris is 34 years old now, and hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2006. But if any team is likely to offer him a few more major-league innings, it's the traditionally pitching-starved Rangers.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Practically Inevitable

.
Tom Glavine has re-signed with the Braves--another one-year contract. Did anyone out there really think he was going to sign with the Nationals?

I am not one of the Tom Glavine haters. He gave the Mets the best he had to offer for five years, and if it wasn't always very good, whose is? He pitched a couple of memorable clunkers, most notably his last start for the Mets--no need to go into that one too deeply. And if he wasn't "devastated" at the loss, preferring to save such a term for a greater disaster than a baseball game … well, he was right. It might not have been particularly politic for him to have made that admission so quickly, given the intensity of the moment and the fans' disappointment … but he was right.

In Tom's defense, he didn't always lose. In his five years with the Mets, he averaged more than 200 innings a year, with an ERA less than 4.00. Who wouldn't want that now? His last two years with the Mets, he went 15-7 and 13-8. He recorded his 300th career victory for New York. And if he wants to finish his career with Atlanta, where he has spent seventeen(!) seasons, more power to him. It's home to him.

While history will remember Tom as a stalwart member of the Hated Braves, he's still a Met to me. He always behaved with dignity and class, and he won more games for the Mets in the decade of the 2000s than anyone except Al Leiter and one other pitcher.

***TRIVIA QUIZ ALERT***

Who is the pitcher who won more games for the Mets this decade than anyone else? There will be an actual prize awarded, worth possibly 25 cents, to the first person to email me with the correct answer.
.
***TRIVIA ANSWER***
.
Congratulations go out to Jay from Elmira, who correctly identified Steve Trachsel as the winningest Met pitcher of the 2000s. Didn't see that one coming, did you?

The All-Time NY Mets: 1970s Shortstop

.
When we took a look at the third basemen of the sixties a little over a month ago, we noted that the player who spent the most time at the position in the expansion year of 1962 (Felix Mantilla) played only one year with the club, and although there were several successors who posted similar seasons, no one was really any better than the first-year starter.

When we studied the shortstops of the sixties just last week, we observed a similar phenomenon. The player who spent the most time at the position in the expansion year of 1962 (Elio Chacon) played only one year with the club, and although there were several successors who posted similar seasons, no one was really any better than the first-year starter.

When we looked at the third basemen of the seventies, the man who stood out above all the competition was the incumbent from 1969 (Wayne Garrett), whose longevity and relative competence enabled him to stare down a troop of really mediocre challengers.

Now we're examining the shortstops of the seventies. Will the pattern continue to hold? That is, will the incumbent (Bud Harrelson), who was far and away the most durable Met shortstop of the decade, pile up enough raw counting stats to turn away his eventual successors? Here's a clue: Yes.

First let's turn to the invaluable Baseball-Reference.com to determine our field of competitors. Buddy Harrelson, of course, was the starter from 1970-74 and again in 1976-77. Mike Phillips saw most of the action in 1975, Tim Foli in 1978, and Frank Taveras in 1979.

Let's commence by disposing of Mike Phillips, which is sort of a sad thing, because he really wasn't a bad little player, at least as far as the hitting prowess of Mets shortstops is concerned. But Mike was a utility man through and through; 1975 was the only season in his 11-year career that saw him garner as many as 300 at-bats, and the sole reason for that abundance of plate appearances in '75 was that Harrelson missed virtually the whole year with injuries. Phillips did have kind of a knack for stroking triples--he led the club in three-baggers in both '75 and '76, and was tied for sixth on the club in triples for the entire decade, despite a total of only 731 at-bats with the Mets.

Likewise let's dismiss Tim Foli from the proceedings. Tim was sort of like the David Eckstein of the '70s--scrappy and pesky, well-respected, but not a particularly good player according to the more advanced metrics. Foli's season as the Mets' starter was virtually indistinguishable from his career line, at least as far as his percentage stats are concerned: his 1978 numbers were a .283 OBP, .320 slugging, and a .257 batting average, which bundled into an OPS+ of 72.

In early 1979, Foli was traded along with a minor-leaguer for fellow shortstop Frank Taveras, who was regarded as a more accomplished offensive shortstop than the Mets had fielded in years, mostly by virtue of his lofty stolen base totals with the Pirates--he had led the league in 1977 with 70. Frank continued to steal bases, swiping 42 with the Mets in '79, though he was also caught 19 times, barely reaching the break-even point of value for his efforts. His hitting stats were also empty--no walks, no power. In fact, in over 4,000 career at-bats, Frank managed only two home runs.

I mentioned last week that, until Jose Reyes arrived, the Mets never had a shortstop that could hit a lick. As a demonstration of that assertion, I printed a table of OPS+ and Batting Runs numbers for each year's starter. Just for fun, let's do it again for the seventies.

1970: Harrelson: 79 –13.0
1971: Harrelson: 79 –14.1
1972: Harrelson: 68 –15.2
1973: Harrelson: 86 .–5.3
1974: Harrelson: 80 .–4.5
1975: Phillips: .77 –12.6
1976: Harrelson: 91 .–0.9
1977: Harrelson: 34 –24.8
1978: Foli: .....72 –16.1
1979: Taveras: ..78 –20.9


Once again, no starting shortstop for the Mets posted a Batting Runs figure even as high as zero! At the risk of beating a dead horse, here are the "triple crown" stats for Mets shortstops of the '70s: best season total in batting average, .263; best season total in RBI, 42; best season total in home runs … one. For the decade of the seventies, Mets starting shortstops totaled eight home runs. For the decade.

Back to the chart. We see Bud Harrelson posting the best season OPS+ of any starter for the decade, with his 91 in 1976; he also had the second-best and the third-best seasons, and the fourth-best and fifth-best. Harrelson also had the best season in Batting Runs with –0.9 in 1976 (sigh), and also the second-best and third-best totals.

According to more traditional measures, Buddy was also the man. Twice in the seventies he was named to the NL All-Star team, and three different years saw him receiving votes for the National League MVP award. One remarkable season saw him draw 95 walks (which would stand as the club record for nearly fifteen years), and his stolen-base rate dramatically improved in the '70s (91 steals against only 27 times caught).

If it seems like faint praise to name Bud Harrelson the shortstop of the decade, that's not intended. He was a warrior for the Mets for a long, long time. He stole a bunch of bases, took a lot of walks, and by all accounts was a splendid defensive shortstop. If he wasn't Jose Reyes … well, neither was anyone else for the first forty years of Met history. Bud Harrelson, worthy hero--you are the Mets' All-Time Shortstop of the Seventies.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Monday Meanderings

Just a couple of quick hits: The Hated Phillies have signed onetime Met infielder Miguel Cairo to a minor-league deal and invited him to Spring Training. Miguel was essentially the Mets' starting second baseman in 2005, posting a paltry OPS+ of 64 in 100 games. Last year he played for the Mariners--if he appears with the Phillies, it will be Cairo's eighth different big-league team, including two separate stints each with the Cardinals, the Cubs, and the Yankees.

2000 star pitcher and noted aficionado of education Mike Hampton was sent home from the Astros' training camp after an irregular heartbeat was discovered. This setback is not thought to be serious. Mike was once one of the National League's brightest stars ... until he signed that free-agent mega-contract with the Colorado Rockies in 2001. Since then, it's been a bumpy road for Mike, including missing the entire 2006-07 seasons with injuries. As much as I wished for his failure as a member of the Hated Braves, I hope this new problem is indeed nothing to be concerned about.

And finally, old friend Jason Phillips is still out there plugging away. The only action Jason saw in 2008 was in the minors for Richmond, but he has just signed a new minor-league contract with Seattle, where there's an outside chance for him to see a few more big-league at-bats. Jason was the starting first baseman for most of 2003, having a surprisingly good year with the bat, and the starting catcher in 2004. In March 2005, the Mets traded him to the Dodgers for Kaz Ishii--betcha didn't remember that! His most recent big-league action was as a bench player for the 2006-07 Blue Jays.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Livan in the Mix


In what must be regarded as some kind of cruel practical joke, the Mets have signed Livan Hernandez as additional competition for the fifth starter's position, currently being contended for by Freddy Garcia, Tim Redding, and Jon Niese.

Livan's older half-brother Orlando Hernandez pitched for the Mets both brilliantly and sporadically for the last several seasons, and it was widely reported that the two longed for a major-league reunion. Now, El Duque is gone, all possibility of a New York reunion vanished forever, and Livan is welcomed aboard.

But the joke isn't only on the Brothers Hernandez--it's on the Mets fans, too. Livan's ERA+ for the last six seasons in order reads like this: 141, 126, 102, 91, 95, 69--a dizzying downward spiral. If Livan ever pitches for the Mets at all, it seems that he is destined to become another bleak footnote to recent Met history, along with James Baldwin, Jose Lima and Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence and Dave Williams.

Hope I'm wrong.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Will Work for Food

.
Moises Alou, Gary Bennett, Ambiorix Burgos, Paul Byrd, Miguel Cairo, Damion Easley, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, Jason Isringhausen, Paul Lo Duca, Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jay Payton, Ricardo Rincon, Kenny Rogers, and Matt Wise.

That's the list of players who have history with the Mets and are still out of work for 2009, as complete as I can figure it. Some of them will undoubtedly be forced into retirement; some will get minor-league deals and last-minute Spring Training invites. Ambiorix Burgos, of course, is a story unto himself, and will probably never play baseball in America again.

Anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to say goodbye to most of these guys, whose disappearances from the big leagues will come without press conferences, with no formal declarations of retirement. You were all Mets heroes for a moment or two (just one, in Gary Bennett's case).

***UPDATE***

Just a few moments after I made this post, I read on MetsBlog where Ramon Martinez is coming back to the Mets as a non-roster invitee for Spring Training. Ramon was actually fairly impressive for the Mets in a handful of September starts last year, and he is younger than Jose Valentin!

The All-Time NY Mets: 1960s Shortstop

.
Ah, back to the beginning again. We'll begin our inspection of the New York Mets' all-time shortstops with a look at the players Baseball-Reference.com identified as the Mets' starters for each year of the '60s, take a brief perusal of each man's days with New York, and conclude by naming the Shortstop of the '60s. I think you'll be surprised.

The starters were Elio Chacon (1962), Al Moran (1963), Roy McMillan (1964-65), Eddie Bressoud (1966), and Bud Harrelson (1967-69). Let me interject here that, until the arrival of Jose Reyes, the Mets have never had a shortstop that could hit a lick. For this week's exercise, we will lean heavily on the linear weights statistic now known as Batting Runs, which measures a player's offensive contributions and can return either a positive or a negative number. You have to be a pretty poor hitter to post a negative number; in no season of the '60s did a Mets starting shortstop tally a figure higher than -6.1!

Remember that, for the purposes of this exercise, I have not factored in defensive contributions, which I am too dimwitted and/or lazy to calculate. What we're naming here is effectively the least offensive offensive shortstop of the '60s. (A subtle play on words; I hope you understand.)

And we begin.

The Mets' first-ever Opening Day shortstop was eventual Third Baseman of the Decade Felix Mantilla, but the man who became the primary starter at the position was little Elio Chacon. He inaugurated the Mets' history at short with a robust total of two home runs and a .236 batting average, which was a harbinger of seasons to come. But he also drew bases on balls at a somewhat astonishing rate: 76 walks in only 118 games. Elio also led the '62 club with a dozen stolen bases. After that season, he never appeared in the big leagues again.

For 1963, the man who spent the most time at short was Al Moran, who had come over from the Red Sox in the Felix Mantilla trade. In 119 games, he slugged a total of one home run, complementing that display of power with his .193 batting average. He led the team in an offensive category, too--seven times caught stealing--but in his defense, he was successful three times. After 22 more at-bats in 1964, he also never appeared in the big leagues again.

For the next two years, the middle of the infield was anchored by former All-Star Roy McMillan, a man who had received Most Valuable Player votes in five different seasons and would later go on to be a coach and manager with the Mets. He smacked one home run in each season that he played with New York, with a cumulative batting average of .226. One thing you could say about the man--he knew how to lay down a bunt; in both 1964 and 1965, he led the Mets in sacrifices. After his '66 season, he never appeared in the big leagues again.

For 1966, the Mets decided to try their luck with a hitting shortstop, importing Eddie Bressoud from the Red Sox. Eddie had recently had two seasons where he stroked at least 40 doubles, and a third where he had reached 20 home runs--Herculean totals for a shortstop of the '60s. Bressoud was near the end of the line, though. He did hit ten home runs for the '66 Mets; in contrast, the starters for the rest of the decade totaled six home runs in seven years! He also led the squad with five triples and 47 walks. But his on-base percentage, despite that team-leading walk total, was only .304, a number that would make notoriously impatient Jose Reyes blush with shame. After 67 ineffectual at-bats with the Cardinals in '67, he never appeared in the big leagues again. Still, those ten home runs must make him a leading candidate for the decade honors.

In 1967, the Mets finally turned the shortstop position over to spindly Bud Harrelson, who had been waiting in the wings for several years. Buddy, like Roy McMillan, later went on to serve the Mets as a coach and a manager. He was the starting shortstop for three years in the '60s--more than anyone else--plus he was a key player on the 1969 World Champions. Surely he must be the shortstop of the decade. But wait--in those three seasons, Buddy hit only one home run, and batted a cumulative .242. Not fair, you say--Harrelson's game was about speed. Well, from 1967-69, he did total 17 stolen bases ... and was caught 21 times. And I've already mentioned that this exercise does not include defense; otherwise Buddy may well have been the Mets' shortstop of the '60s.

The following table shows each year's starting shortstop followed by their OPS+ and their Batting Runs figure. Remember, an OPS+ of 100 indicates an average offensive player.

1962: Chacon: ...81 .-6.1
1963: Moran: ....47 -22.3
1964: McMillan: .42 -29.1
1965: McMillan: .64 -24.6
1966: Bressoud: .87 .-6.5
1967: Harrelson: 81 -12.4
1968: Harrelson: 59 -20.7
1969: Harrelson: 82 .-8.6

The calculations used by the NY Mets Hall of Records combine a variety of factors: traditional counting stats, longevity, and value relative to the rest of the team, balanced by the linear weights calculation of Batting Runs. Unfortunately, when a hugely negative component (like Batting Runs for the Mets' shortstops of the '60s) is factored in, longevity can actually prove to be a detriment!

So ... Al Moran--no longer part of the discussion. Roy McMillan and Bud Harrelson--though worthy defenders and multi-year contributors, ruled out by means of their anemic stickery. Ed Bressoud--almost, but not quite. Narrowly nosing him out for the honor in question, I present to you the Mets' All-Time Shortstop of the 1960s: Mr. Elio Chacon.

I'm not saying that Elio was the answer to the Mets' prayers here ... but replacing him in 1963 with Al Moran was not exactly what the doctor had ordered.

Next week, the shortstops of the 1970s, where perhaps Bud Harrelson will make a better showing.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Thursday Morning Nuggets


Frank Viola, the Mets' last twenty-game winner (nearly twenty years ago!), is going to work with the Cleveland Indians' pitchers this Spring Training, helping pitching coach Carl Willis. Frankie was a one-time teammate of Indians manager Eric Wedge.

In 2½ seasons with the Mets, Viola went 38-32 with a 3.31 ERA, and the mark of 249.2 innings he pitched in 1990 hasn't been seriously challenged since. He originally came to New York in late '89 for five other pitchers, two of whom went on to have long-term big-league success: Kevin Tapani and Rick Aguilera.

Following up on yesterday's Robbie Alomar story, a statement from his own website, www.robertoalomar.com:

"This is a very private, personal matter and I greatly appreciate all the support I have received in the past few days from my family, friends and colleagues in baseball. I am in very good health and I ask that you respect my privacy during this time."

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Wednesday Morning Quick Hits

.
40-year-old Jose Valentin is back, according to multiple sources, getting $800,000 if he makes the big-league squad. For me, this is kind of a head-scratcher. He was a surprisingly wonderful player three years ago, not very good two years ago, and couldn't play at all last year, because of creaking old age. I appreciate the idea that he's a good teammate and a valuable clubhouse presence, but why didn't they make him the first-base coach then (apologies to Razor Shines)? With Luis Castillo and Alex Cora nearly guaranteed to have roster spots, I just don't see any room for old 'Stache.

In other very sad news, the New York Post is reporting that one-time second baseman Roberto Alomar has been afflicted with AIDS. No commentary here; just sorrow for Robbie and his family--two of whom are current Met coaches.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Mr. Beisbol


Edgardo Alfonzo was one of the best all-around players to ever don the orange and blue, but a bad back and a steep decline led to his becoming persona non grata in the big leagues a couple of years ago. Since then he has repeatedly attempted to resurrect his career, spending time in the minors and Mexico, even playing in the independent leagues. Now he is going to Japan--Fonzie recently agreed to terms with the Yomiuri Giants for $380,000. A far cry from his glory days with the Mets … but just a smidge more than I will make this year from watching baseball on TV.

Miilwaukee Looper

.
Mets fans have had a love-hate relationship with their team's relief pitchers for nearly as long as I can recall. I remember back when I first started paying attention to such things, Jerry DiPoto and Doug Henry would frequently get booed while trotting in from the bullpen, long before they had done anything at all for good or for ill. What was that about? Check the numbers, Met fans; they weren't that bad.

It's easy to remember the past couple of seasons, when Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis routinely received the same treatment. These men would come out from Shea's bullpen to do battle for our side against a common enemy, and instead of being cheered on and encouraged to do well, they were heaped with scorn and abuse before they threw their first pitch. It almost made me ashamed to be a Mets fan. When did our expectations get so twisted that we would only be pleased with perfection? To be a Met fan has historically meant a willingness to cheer for the underdog, an ability to love those who lose, those who fail. When did we morph into those ugliest of sports patrons … Yankee fans?

It hasn't only been our marginal bullpen contributors who have received this scorn. John Franco, the all-time franchise leader in saves, got booed by his hometown fans. Armando Benitez, the most dominant closer in team history, was booed with something like religious zeal. Even Billy Wagner heard the rumblings of discontent more than once the past couple of years--Billy, whose worst ERA with the Mets was 2.63.

All this is to say that Braden Looper seems to be on the verge of signing a contract with the Brewers. I can hear the boos starting already, the mocking, the catcalls. Check the numbers, Met fans. He wasn't that bad.

In other ex-Mets bullpen news, 2006 stalwart Chad Bradford, now with Tampa Bay, has had surgery on his right elbow and is expected to miss the first half of the season. See the picture below in case you wonder why his elbow needed surgery.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Ayala to the Twins


2008's season-ending closer-by-default Luis Ayala has agreed to a 2009 contract with the Minnesota Twins. Up until last year, Luis had been quite a good relief pitcher. Last year, though, he was bad, which explains in part why the Mets were able to trade for him, for what seemed at the time to be the bargain-basement price of deposed middle infielder Anderson Hernandez. Luis was immediately installed as the closer (though no formal proclamation was ever issued), and, to his credit, saved nine games in eleven chances. But he faltered at last, as did the whole 2008 bullpen, and ended up with a Mets ERA of 5.50. I thought he would be back this year in his more-familiar role of a setup man, but then there was that whole "addition by subtraction" thing, and the Mets never showed any interest in re-signing him that I heard about.

In other ex-Mets news, former emergency catcher Mike DiFelice officially ended his playing career, accepting the reins as manager of the Mets' rookie-league Kingsport franchise. Good move! And welcome back, Mike.

Friday, February 6, 2009

The All-Time NY Mets Third Baseman

.
So now, after five weeks of taking glances at every player that Baseball-Reference.com identified as having been the primary starting third baseman for a season of the Mets' history, we are tasked with naming the Mets' all-time greatest third sacker. (Frankly, the reason I started with third base instead of some other position is that the answer is so obvious; nothing that could conceivably happen in 2009 can affect the outcome.)

First off, let's recap the five decade winners. The numbers following their names represent total games played with the Mets (not just at third base), home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, batting average, and OPS+, in that order. For OPS+, I used a weighted average based on at-bats with the Mets. I don't know if that's absolutely precise, but for purposes of this discussion, it suffices.

1960s: Felix Mantilla: ..141- 11-.330-.399-.275- 95
1970s:
Wayne Garrett: ...883- 55-.348-.343-.237- 95
1980s:
Howard Johnson: .1154-192-.341-.459-.251-124
1990s:
Edgardo Alfonzo: 1086-120-.367-.445-.292-112
2000s:
David Wright: ....703-130-.389-.533-.309-139

No question. The All-Time Third Baseman for the first five decades of the history of the New York Mets is (insert drumroll) ... David Wright.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that--even though third base was once legendarily known as the Mets' weakest position--in the last three decades it has been manned by some very, very good players.

But David Wright is the star that outshines them all. And, barring injury, he stands to be the third baseman of the next decade too ... and is on a pace that may well net him the honor of being the best position player the Mets have ever produced--any position, any decade, by any measure.

Everybody Wins


Ah, the Good Old Days when the Mets never went to arbitration with anybody. Could it be that those halcyon days are ours once again?
.
Lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano has agreed to a 2009 contract, leaving a grand total of zero arbitration cases before the Metsies. Everybody wins! The player gets more than the team originally offered, the team pays less than the player asked for, and they don't need to go through the potentially-damaging scenario of actually pleading their cases before the arbitrator.
.
Actual transcript of an arbitration hearing*:
Agent: "My player is great."

Team: "No, he really kind of stinks."

Player: "I don't stink!"

Arbitrator: "Sure you do."

Agent: "Oh, yeah? Well, you stink!"
.
* Note: Not an actual transcript of an arbitration hearing.
.
Feliciano signed for a little more than $1.6 million, including a couple of small incentive bonuses. The last three seasons his ERA has gone from 2.09 to 3.09 to 4.05--a trend that hopefully will not continue. He led the club with 86 appearances in relief last year, setting the Mets' all-time record in the process.

Friday Morning Tidbits

.
The Mets have signed veteran right-hander Elmer Dessens to a minor-league contract. Don't panic, Met fans! They didn't sign him to be the Opening Day starter--if he throws a pitch for the Mets at all, I'll be a little bit surprised. Buffalo needs pitchers, too; for that matter, so does Binghamton. I don't think Elmer will wind up on the B-Mets--I just wanted to write "Binghamton" for the first time on this blog. The Binghamton Mets are, I'm pretty sure, the closest professional baseball team to my home in Corning. How did I get here? Oh, yes ... Elmer Dessens. I'm not sure I have anything more to say about him, except that he's 38 years old, and he had three pretty good seasons for Cincinnati a long time ago.

And here's an ex-Mets transaction I missed (hat tip to Hot Foot): David Newhan has signed a minor-league deal with the Houston Astros. I thought David was going to be a pretty good utility man for New York a couple of years ago; he had a very strong training camp. Regular season came ... not so much.

Speaking of Spring Training ... it's only a week away, boys and girls!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Uncle Cliffy to the Friars


Veteran outfielder Cliff Floyd continued his end-of-career, across-the-USA farewell tour by signing a deal with the San Diego Padres for reportedly less than a million dollars. A good deal for the Pads, I think, and good for Cliff, too, if he desires to keep on playing.

In another mini-transaction involving an ex-Met this week, Brian Bannister avoided arbitration by signing with the Royals, receiving quite a tidy bag of loot for his 9-16, 5.76 season--more than $1.7 million.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Mr. Wigginton Goes to Baltimore


Ty Wigginton is heading to the Baltimore Orioles, where he will apparently take over Kevin Millar's roster spot and duties. He should be about as good as Millar, too, who I always thought was overrated, and seems to be solidly in the decline phase of his career as well.

It's a mixed bag for Ty, who was the Mets' last starter at third base before the ascension of David Wright. He goes to a place where he should see significant playing time, but also be able to enjoy a real comfortable view of the basement in the AL East.

Some Mets fans wanted Wiggy back this winter, and I admit the idea would have pleased me, too. But this is clearly a better opportunity for Ty, who's not ready to succumb to the splinters of benchdom quite yet.

Monday, February 2, 2009

At Last We Can Exhale


The Mets and Oliver Perez are on the verge of completing a three-year, $36 million contract, thus probably finalizing the initial 2009 starting rotation.

At last we can exhale. Which is a good thing, because if Ollie pitches in 2009 like he did in 2008, we will be holding our breath plenty this season.

There's a lot to like about this deal, though. The dollar value isn't outrageous, at least according to baseball economics. And now we have Perez sewn up for his age-27, -28, and -29 seasons, which are often the most productive years of a player's career. Ollie doesn't seem to be the faintest bit intimidated by toiling in New York, either--it remains to be seen if the same holds true for, say, Tim Redding, whose only start for the Yankees proved to be an unqualified disaster.

Some memorably wild flamethrowers have historically developed better control when they were around Ollie's present age, among them Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, and Sandy Koufax. Now, I'm definitely not saying Ollie is in that class. For one thing, he's never pitched as many as 200 innings in a season, and those other three were all notable workhorses. But if Oliver Perez can become a poor man's Koufax (like Rick Reed was a poor man's Greg Maddux), you know what? That's not too bad for twelve million per. Again, I'm not sayin' he's going to ... but no one has ever denied the raw talent is there.

Some bloggers have bemoaned the idea that our rotation is basically the same one as last year's second-place staff, but that's not totally true. The bottom end of the rotation looks noticeably stronger than last year's. If Freddy Garcia can make any kind of a significant comeback, there really isn't any bottom end. It's Johan Santana at the top, and then Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, John Maine, Garcia, and Redding in any order you like, with the number six starter filling the long man's role in the bullpen or waiting behind the curtain in Buffalo.

So welcome home, Ollie. It's good to have you back. I just wish you hadn't kept us waiting so long.

Godspeed, Jeff Kent


Surly and uncooperative. Possibly prone to prevarication. Less than a perfect teammate. These are all charges that were leveled against Jeff Kent during his career, and some of them were not without evidentiary merit. Still, I loved him. He was my favorite Met player from 1992-96, and I followed his subsequent career with somewhat more interest than other ex-Mets who had been similarly traded away.

Jeff came to New York midway through his rookie season, which had begun in the American League with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was (along with outfielder Ryan Thompson) the haul we got for star pitcher David Cone when it became apparent that a trade must be consummated. And, as Mets trades go, this was actually one of the better ones--much better than when we traded Kent away in 1996, along with shortstop Jose Vizcaino, for Carlos Baerga in decline and the last gasp of Alvaro Espinoza. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It has been widely assumed that Jeff Kent only "became" Jeff Kent (the potential Hall-of-Famer) after he had been traded away from the Mets--this is only partially true. While the best was certainly yet to come, Jeff was not exactly a packet of olive loaf while he was in New York.

According to the measures used at the NY Mets Hall of Records, Jeff was the third-best hitter on the team in his first full season (behind Bobby Bonilla and Eddie Murray) while fielding a much more demanding position. The next year he was even more important, ranking only behind Bonilla, and leading the club in hits, doubles, triples, RBI, and batting average. In 1995 he was once again the third-highest ranked batsman, trailing only Bonilla and Rico Brogna.

In fact, if it had not been for the players' strike that wiped out the end of the 1994 season and lasted into the beginning of '95, it is very likely that Kent would have had three consecutive seasons with more than 20 home runs as a second baseman--something that no other Met second sacker has ever accomplished.

Some of the Met fans of that era booed him anyway. (Should we be surprised?) They saw him as a sulking, angry young man who was only concerned with himself. What I saw was someone who hated to fail, who hated to lose. Granted, my vantage point was not the locker room or even the stands at Shea--it was only through my TV screen that I saw every moment I witnessed of Jeff Kent's Met career. (I remember one time when Jeff pushed away a TV camera that was trying to catch him close up returning to the dugout, and I was thrilled. What passion! What fire! Undoubtedly the camera man had another opinion.)

In any case, he was gone midway through 1996 in the trade mentioned above, then traded (again with Jose Vizcaino) to the Giants following the season. The rest, as they say, was history.

Five years from now, Jeff Kent will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, and while he won't be elected on the first ballot, it won't take him nearly as long as Jim Rice. Brilliant writers like Rob Neyer and Joe Posnanski have already eloquently stated his case for Cooperstown, so I won't cover that ground again.

But when I visit the Coop again someday in ten or twelve years, I'll be certain to search for Jeff's plaque, and even though he'll probably be wearing a cap with a bronze "SF" engraved upon it, I'll know that he was really one of ours. Jeff Kent was a Met.