Monthly Archives: May 2005
In economics, ‘sunk costs’ are expenses that have already been incurred and which cannot technically be recovered. For instance, when you buy a ticket to a Mets game, the price of the ticket is a sunk cost, because even if you decide not to go to the game, you will have spent the money and will not be getting it back…
As my friend James Marshall, Director of Standard and Poor’s, explained to me, the prevailing wisdom amongst economists is that no business should take into account sunk costs when making decisions that affect the company. When a business does consider the sunk cost, it is known as ‘loss aversion.’ Right now, Kaz Matsui is a loss aversion…
With or without Matsui starting at second base, the Mets will be paying him. Why am I going through this boring exercise? Because the New York Mets are a business, and to use the argument, which says, “well, they made an investment in Matsui, so they have to keep playing him,” is simply bad business…
I understand the realities: 1) Matsui is useless on the bench, 2) if the Mets have any interest in trading him, he has to start, and 3) Willie Randolph still isn’t sold on Matsui’s lack of skills…
Meanwhile, while stat-heads dislike Cairo for his lack of on base percentage or power numbers, and some think he’s only on the team because of his past affiliation with Willie Randolph, to his credit, Cairo may be the most fundamentally sound player on the team. It’s hard to argue that Cairo should be playing over Matsui from any other point of view than to say the Mets are just a better ‘team’ when he is in there. They function better on defense, the lineup clicks more fluidly and Randolph can sacrifice and hit-n-run more when he Cairo’s in the game…
Nobody has given Matsui the benefit of the doubt more than I. However, the experiment has failed. He is not going to be the player he was in Japan. Few are, in fact. Can he be a decent hitter? Yes. Will he come up with an occasional big hit? Of course. But, day in and day out, the Mets are better with Cairo – and maybe even Chris Woodward – at second base…
Many fans have called for the Mets to promote Jeff Keppinger from Binghamton to start in place of Matsui and Cairo. In 116 at-bats last season while playing for the Mets, Keppinger hit .284 with three home runs. He looked very solid. And is looking even more solid at Binghamton this season, where he’s hitting .339 with more walks than strikeouts and sound defense. Minor league experts and various scouts all seem to feel he’ll do nothing but produce singles and walks…
In other words, Keppinger is a guy the Mets will bring up only if the season is lost. For now, though, it’s very much up for grabs, and experimenting with a vital position, such as second base, is not an option.
And the same can be said for Matsui…
If you recall, I wasn’t a huge fan of bringing in Willie Randolph. I didn’t criticize the acquisition too much, at the time, because I realize that we, as fans, and even media, can’t truly know how a manager will impact and connect with a team until he is physically in the clubhouse. I was scared, though. Scared of bringing in a mindset that I associated with the Yankees. It felt very defeatist, to me. However, the losers mentality of the Mets over the last few seasons hadn’t been working, either, so I was willing to quietly accept Randolph’s signing as a necessary reaction to losing and give him his due. And, so far, he’s impressed me…
Randolph has looked like exactly what he is, a manager learning on the job. For all his small-ball sensibilities, his American League roots are so deep, I’m impressed he even remembers what a bunt is. He’s adjusted just fine, though, making only an occasional blunder when double switching, or managing the bullpen or organizing the lineup. All of this, however, is a byproduct of what may very well be his greatest strength and weakness: confidence…
Randolph is confident to the point that he can motivate his players, but confident to a fault in denying the reality that Mike Piazza is no longer the RBI guy he once was, that Dae-Sung Koo cannot pitch to righties, that David Wright should hit higher in the order, regardless of his age, and that Miguel Cairo is the best second baseman on the team. Randolph paid attention to Joe Torre, almost too much. Torre had a boat-load of fundamentally sound players – guys who when in a funk could make due with sound baseball skills until their games spun around. Randolph’s Mets are not as basic. Yes, in certain situations it is wise to stick with the plan, as it shows a sense of security and faith. However, when the failure is literally failure, he’s going to be forced to adjust…
From reading his quotes, it sounds like Randolph is not as stubborn as I fear. He seems to believe that the first half of the season is a time to gauge his team’s temperature, while the second half will be the time to use what he has learned and push towards the playoffs with the best team possible. This works when you manage the Yankees in the American League East during the late-90′s, of course, when only two teams contended for a pennant. In the National League East, however, every game matters, even those in April and May. There is little time for assessment, just action…
I’m willing to cut him some slack, though. Because, in addition to being only a third of the way through the season, he is also only a sixteenth of the way through his agreed upon tenor with the Mets. If he needs to be patient, observe and take notes to ensure a better future for this club, I can handle that. I’m just not sure the rest of the fanbase is that patient…
I’m a simple fan. I don’t ask for much. In fact, I don’t necessarily ask for a championship. All I ask from the teams that I root for are strong effort and consistent entertainment. Whatever comes from that equation, so be it…
This season, the Mets have been both entertaining and have given a ton of effort. Are they in first? No. Could they have a better record? Sure. Do I care? Yes. But, in the end, I’m eager to tune in and watch every night, I’m rarely angry with the team’s actions, I’m hopeful for the future and, because of their strong play, I’m motivated to keep writing this blog…
That being said, there is still plenty to break down, and I will do so for the rest of the day with random posts about the team’s bench, infield, outfield, management, pitching, acquisition options and whatever else pops into mind…
Enjoy…
…logging on to the Internet for the first time since saturday morning, i’m shocked at how many e-mails i receieved asking me to write about my views on the state of the mets…
…so i will…
…right now, i’m about to go for a walk, then take a shower and eat breakfast…
…the remainder of my day will be spent blogging my thoughts on this team, as well as what i feel they can and should do with roughly two-thirds of the season remaining…
…stay tuned…
…and check in often…
Mets LHP Tom Glavine and Marlins LHP Al Leiter have donated money and sports memorabilia for an eBay auction to be held today, which aims to help save Ali, an Iraqi boy with congenital cyanotic heart disease, whom U.S. troops found in March during a combat patrol…
SSG Chuck Cutler, who found Ali outside of Baghdad, started a grass-roots campaign at OperationAC.com to help raise funds for the boy’s surgery. So far, an airline has donated two tickets to fly Ali and his father to the U.S. and has secured a cardiologist in Florida who’ll do the operation for free…
To watch a clip of Leiter and Glavine talk about the auction during Friday night’s Mets On Deck, click here…
Our friend and fellow Mets fan, Joe McDonald of NY Sports Day, attended last night’s Yankees game with a Yankees hat on his head, thanks to a bet he lost to his friend during the Subway Series…
Joe details his shameful, yet painfully funny story at NYSportsDay.com…
…i’m surrounded by yankees fan…so i can understand the desire to boast about the mets early season success…but, joe, come on, man…you should’ve known better…
Carlos Beltran told reporters on Sunday that he hopes to play in tonight’s series opener against Arizona… “I’m gonna wait and see how he feels,” Beltran’s manager, Willie Randolph, added. “I’ll talk to him on Tuesday, and hopefully he’ll be ready to go.”… …as tom seaver said during saturday’s game, if we waited for players to play when they are only 100 percent, they would play about 20 games a year… …this has gone on long enough…get in the game, man…
Since last Monday night, when Doug Mientkiewicz lamented to reporters about how poorly he has played this season, the first baseman has gone 6-for-16 with a homer…
…i love when the mets have an off-day, because it allows the team’s beat writers some time to pen personal profiles and editorials, as opposed to the standard post-game wrap…
…of note today…
Peter Abraham of the Journal News writes a great story on Mets bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr…
Dave Lennon of Newsday takes the time to profile the Mets bench…
Steve Popper of the Bergen Record does his best to excite Mets fans, even more than they already are, about the future of David Wright…
Don Burke of the Star-Ledger talks up Miguel Cairo…
Lastly, Adam Rubin of the Daily News reviews the season that was and will be…
…great work, as usual, guys…
Veteran LHP Mike Matthews was rocked for seven runs in 1.1 innings while giving up four hits and four walks as Norfolk lost 12-2 to the Pawtucket Red Sox…
Mike Jacobs was 4-for-4 with four RBI, while RHP Matt Lindstrom allowed two runs over four innings, helping the Binghamton Mets defeat the Trenton Thunder by a score of 11 to 5…
Philip Humber tossed 5.2 innings and allowed just two runs, while Kevin Rios singled home Alhaji Turay in the bottom of the ninth giving the St. Lucie Mets a 4–3 win over the Clearwater Thrashers…
Gaby Hernandez allowed just one run in 5.2 innings allowing five hits and one walk while striking out six en route to a 12 to 5 win for the Hagerstown Suns over the Lakewood Blue Claws…
For more information on the day’s Mets minor league action, check out FlushingsFuture.com’s Minor League Notebook…
