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In his latest mailbag for MLB.com, Marty Noble discusses questions about the Mets’ depth and injury issues.
He also addresses concerns about Carlos Delgado, writing:
“There are few alternatives [to Delgado] at the moment. Damion Easley is one, but he may be needed in the outfield and on the left side of the infield. The injury to Jose Valentin has created a problem. The clubhouse is quite impressed with the swing of Olmedo Saenz, but his defense would compromise the entire
infield. I’m sure the Mets are trying to import a right-handed-hitting player with some first-base experience.
I sense the Mets will give Delgado every opportunity. Their financial commitment to him can’t be discounted. He is owed $20 million — $16 million in salary and $4 million in buyout — at this point, and it’s not that he has become inept. He could match his production of last season, but it’s when that production comes that is the question. There are enough weak-sister pitching staffs in the league that an experienced hitter can produce numbers. And those games must be won. Whether Delgado can be the hitter to beat John Smoltz’s slider or Jake Peavy’s fastball in a critical instance is another question.”
…i was a strong delgado apologist all of last season, despite seeing him as an aging player on the decline who was battling numerous injuries and clearly wasn’t himself…
…but i also know him as a knowledgeable, elite hitter and looked for him to bounce back…
…while i don’t put too much stock into spring training numbers, i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t a little concerned…he’s an important part of the offense, even more so when alou is out of action…so, hopefully he finds his swing and gets some confidence back early in the year or it could be painful to watch as, unless they acquire someone, willie will almost be forced to stick with him regardless…
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…that will be a painful situation, chris, no doubt…as i have said before, my concern does not stem from a lack of faith in delgado’s ability to make the necessary adjustments to his swing…
…i worry because i fear he’ll always be in recovery from an injury, or ache or pain, and will never have the breathing room to get in to a productive rhythm…
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I really hope that Easley isn’t needed on the left side of the infield very much this year…
My suggestion for a pickup 1B is WES HELMS.
Righty bat; plays 1B & 3B, with a bit of OF. Career 265 hitter, coming off a down year. Turns 32 in May.
It’ll be hard (maybe impossible) to get him from Phila in a direct trade, but if they cut him, maybe the Mets can have a ready-to-go waiver/trade deal with a club who’s at the bottom of the heap? Or, one of the Philly papers said that SF might want him (in exchange for Steve Klein – LH reliever); so if that deal can be done, then maybe the Mets send Sosa (and $$) to SF for Helms.
If you plan to start the year with 4 starters & 7 relievers, until the #5 starter is needed in mid April, with Chavez playing LF, you have 6 bench spots: Castro (or backup C), Pagan, Easley, A-Hearn, Helms and Marlon if he’s healthy. Then, when you need Duque/Pelf to start, you can send A-Hearn down and rely on Easley to play 2B/SS. Or, if Gotay can play on Opening Day, he stays instead of A-Hearn, and you send Pagan back to AAA.
the answer is Nady. the pirates want to ditch his contract, he was good for us when he was here, he can play 1B and the corner OF spots and would be a RH power bat off the bench. i’d rather have him than thames.
If the Pirates were anxious to dump him they would have done it by now. Also, who would we be trading for him?
Where do you get that information from (that the Pirates want to dump his contract)?????
I read in mlbtraderumors.com several days ago that the Mets did indeed talk to the Pirates about Nady.
The Mets didn’t have anything that the Pirates wanted (most likely an offer of Show, Sosa, Kunz, Niese et al). And the Pirates may have felt they’d get more for Nady closer to the trade deadline.
Anyone know what the deal is with Craig Wilson? Is the guy hurt or something? Last I heard a few weeks ago the Reds released him. If healthy he might make a nice insurance policy since he’s a RH bat that can play 1B, RF and even C in a pinch.
he hit about .175 last year. pass.
Wilson is horrible. He strikes out at an Adam Dunn type rate and would be much worse than Delgado.
I mean, how about Mike Piazza? He’d be better than Jeff Conine was.
Seriously? You people are ridiculous.
What are the other options?
Craig Wilson? Can’t catch on with another team, and he’s a K machine. We’ve already got that from the left side of the plate.
Nady? Will probably cost more/higher-level pitching prospects than we can afford
Dunn? Will cost more than Nady
Green? Lefty, and doesn’t want to come back East.
Saenz? He’s just terrible
Clark? Not a bad option; he’s slightly less experienced at first than Piazza, but younger and more of a complete hitter at this point.
Piazza is a ship that has sailed! Are you the kind of guy that calls ex girlfriends all the time?
But Conine could play adequate defense. Piazza can’t. He’d make Todd Hundley look like Willie Mays.
Did you watch Conine last year? There’s a reason Shawn Green still played the majority of games that Delgado couldn’t at first.
It’s not a terrible idea, if we’re only talking about 40-60 games max in the field, and as a late-game bench bat. I doubt Piazza would be expensive, as he doesn’t have any other options, and would take a “hometown discount” to come back to Shea.
No way does Piazza come back to the Mets, coming off the bench and taking a “hometown discount.” Who’s to say that he just doesn’t want to play baseball anymore? How can you even remotely assume something like this…?
Great logic….Lets field an entire team of washed up guys that would be better than other washed up guys….sounds like a plan….
Do you watch the sport of baseball?
No, I just came to this site because I like the sound of the name. Metsblog. . .sounds nifty!
I”m afraid he has fallen into the Mo Vaughn… Roberto Alomar …Carlos Baerga mold.That is of a has been.
They always seem to wind up here.
Delgago has looked a lot better at the plate the past few games. I think the panic is rather premature…as long as the cut arm doesn’t keep him out longer than a few days.
To All Mets Fans.. i run a bar in Manahattan, BOUNCE Its located on 6th st and 2nd ave..Im throwing a Mets party for opening day, March 31st, it will be named the officiall mets bar for manhattan. there will be press, some special guests and mr met. Im offering to anyone wearing mets gear 1/2 appetizers,drafts and cocktails. the place is great with good food and 25 flat screen tvs. the stafff is amazing and will make every mets fan feel at home. I will be having specials all year and it will be the officiall mets bar. See you then
Do you serve Rheingold?
website?
I’ve been to Bounce several times and while I do think it’s a great place to go watch a game, everytime I’ve been there half the waitresses were wearing yankees gear and there usually seem to be more yankee fans than mets fans. One time I had to switch where I was sitting 3 times because they kept changing which TVs had the mets game on and eventually only one or two had it. Is this all going to change this year, because if so, that is great news.
Thanks.
And great cheap Indian food right around the corner!
I saw the HR and the rope down the RF line over the weekend. I still stand by the fact that if its up or in he cannot hit. it The HR was down and in which he’ll hit when hes 70 years old. He made a career off of down and in….the rope into the OF was low and outside and he went with it. It was a nice ‘piece of hitting’ (I hate that phrase)
I dont think he CANT hit. Of couse he can. Hes a mahhhhhyyybe HOF. The problem is that he cannot hit certain pitches. Hes is gonna get high fastball, after high fastball this season until he proves he can hit it. Can he? Thats the $64,000 question. IMO, the answer is no….and thats a MAJOR problem….
I meant LF line….
Or until he can prove he can lay off it. Most of those high fastballs he swings through are out of the strike zone and in his goatee. It would be nice if he would start taking some walks.
Yet another fair point….
You can almost SEE him saying….”NONONONO…….dont swing, Dont swing!…….”
Screw it!…. I can hit it…..
Folllowed by him looking like a corkscrew…..
LAY OFF THE HIGH STUFF!!!
good point. Even last year, when he was picking up production after coming back from an injury (AKA just before his next injury), his OBP started to creep up.
So if he just pulls a Bonds and watches the crap go by and take the BB, he will at least be on base a lot. And eventually he will get thrown more strikes, and if he is willing to go the other way too, he can be reasonably productive.
At his age, he has to control the strike zone and hit mistakes. Pretty much like most good hitters do!
Which is why I was very surprised to see him struggling while swinging at junk. He’s always been an astute player as evidenced by that notebook he keeps and the amount of walks he’s amassed in his previous years, and should have been able to just let those bad pitches go by. Hopefully he does that this year.
My friend always joked last year that the notebook had listings of pitchers and their pitches to him, all with a ” = swung and missed” next to them.
High Fastball=swung(missed by .5 seconds)
Off Speed=swung(missed by 2 inches)
not a bad analysis by Noble. for a change, I think I actually agree with him!
I see the need for a solid 1B/OF back up, but I still don’t see where it is coming from. So, to a large extent, the Mets are exposed hoping that Delgado can stay reasonably healthy. If he does, the porduction should be adequate.
LOL, agree. I often find Noble to be somewhat self-serving and simplistic with his mailbag columns, but he did a good job here especially with the Delgado analysis and the matter of when he gets those hits.
OTOH, I could have done without the explanation of the “.2″ innings.
D-E-L-G-A-D-O spells FINISHED.
Just looking at Delgado makes me mad. Too bad the Mets dont run like reality TV so we can vote him off.
I took Shawn Green’s spring training performance compared to his season performance, and learned a valuable lesson – spring training means nothing.
I hope. =]
I am not impressed by Delgado.
He crushes belt high mistake pitches over the plate. At this point that’s pretty much it. He doesn’t show the ability to foul off pitches to increase the odds of seeing a mistake pitch in a given AB. And his wheelhouse has been steadily decreasing the past few seasons.
From watching him everyday I am convinced that he is one of those hitters that puts up huge numbers on a bad team because you see a lot more fastballs with nobody on base in a game your team is losing 5-1.
$20million is a big number and that’s real money. But I think you have to strongly consider putting him on the bench or cutting him outright.
Unfortunately there aren’t many overly appealing options out there to replace him.
We don’t have a minor leagues filled with Billy Beane guys who will have 3-4 good ABs per game. It would be nice to add another big bat to the lineup, but really we need quality ABs.
We may need Omar to pull a rabbit out of his hat on this one since Delgado could be really bad this year. And if he starts out bad the Shea crowd will let him hear it which may not help his attitude much. He had not looked good at the plate in awhile. And pitchers, whether they keep a notebook or not, have figured out where to pitch him. If he is such a great hitter–as Pedro is a great pitcher–he has to adjust. He should be smart enough to figure out how to adjust to his declining skills, given how much of a student of the game he is. He maybe just needs to accept that he needs to do so. Remember Glavine fought the need to adjust for a long while before doing so and becoming more effective. It’s even harder for hitters to adjust, but if Carlos doesn’t were in for a lot of grief.
Is it bad for me to hope those of you Delgado-haters are wrong, just so I can see the reactionary posts (or lack thereof)?
He’s the starting first baseman for at least a couple of months (barring injury — ugh), deal with it until the games actually matter!
Santana can play 1st base after starts (when he doesn’t pitch a complete game) or on days he’s not pitching.
Last year:
BA: .286
OBP: .375
Slug: .714
This will also put him in contention for both the Cy Young and the MVP. There, problem solved. o_O
On how many ABs?
Please tell me you’re joking. PLEASE!
Also, he could pitch 7, play at first in the 8th, and come back to the mound if the game gets close in the 9th–thus getting both the win and the save!
Yea and risk an injury???
then we’d have no 1b and no Ace.
you probably dont follow baseball.
Unfortunately we have a problem at first base and theres really no one we can afford to trade to pickup a bat. Our lineup wont put up nearly as many runs as the past couple years but….our pitching staff has potential to be the best staff in baseball..I know its kinda bold but right now i feel like we mite have the best ace best 3 and best 4 in baseball and yeah i think the guy who said Santana could win MVP playing offense was obviously just making a joke
We gotta have a little faith in Carlos. Who else is gonna play 1st?
Relax,i hear omar is currently trying to talk former dodger 1st baseman greg brock to man the position!
and if he doesnt work out ….. ron kittle says he wants to make a comeback at 1st base!
hey what about david segui?
what ever happened to having faith in your team?
Delgado may be sluggish but you will all look very silly when he has an amazing season somewhere else, especially on a team that could stand in the way of a NLCS or a world series appearance.
Faith in our team?????????? Are you serious?
We’re Mets fan for God’s sakes. Our glass is half empty and leaking. It’s our unfortunate birthright.
haha,
Not all mets fans are like that… I’m living proof!
Yes I guess that’s true though.
For some mets fans,
the only thing absent from believing in a curse..
is a reason for the curse…
I’d rather Delgado have a middle of the road season FOR the mets, than Ending the Mets post-season while playing for the Dodgers.
Yep, we are Mets fans. We only have 3 All Stars at 3B, SS and CF, a top 5 closer and the best pitcher in baseball We MUST panic about SOMETHING. So let’s look at our 36 year old 1B who might only get us 20HRs this year. Boy, do we got problems. OH, THE HUMANITY.
Seriously, what is wrong with us?
Let’s see…where do we get a 1B that can hit about .260 with 30 doubles, 24HRs and 87RBI and is available to the Mets…hmmmm
Nick Johnson?
Good choice. Let’s check his stats. I know he missed 2007, but he’s a lifetime .272 not bad. Has played 599 games (about 4 full seasons) with 133 doubles, 76 HR and 297 RBI, which averages out to 33 doubles, 19 HR and 75 RBI if he is back in good shape. A definite maybe on Nick.
yes we do need someone for 1 st cause what I’ve seen from Carlo so far looks similar to last year and the decline continues. All these old suspect roid players( and yes, his size and strength from a few years ago is dramatically different ) have gone down hill quickly since the drugs have been policed the past couple of years. there are many players out there right now who are shells of their former self and we may have a few on our team too. I hope Beltran comes around cause he makes me wonder sometimes. Not as old and yet constantly braking down of late. Some want the pizza man back, I’ve been over that in my head too but I think he’s had it and would be better suited for a coach.
I’m sure these guys will hit some this year but will they be players or bench warmers. Time will tell cause Fred knows we paid plenty for those two.
Beltran was never built like that. If anything, he is bigger now.
I think he just has the sore legs of a guy that ran a lot and plays CF. Once they hit their 30s, the action takes a toll.
Might not be a bad idea to move him to a corner if they have a viable option for CF.
Thats a great point….if only we had lastings to play center
Don’t worry. Let Lastings learn the game in DC. After 5 years, if he is good, we can sign him as a FA. Why suffer thru his learning years?
You do realize that theres no way he’ll wanna sign with New York ever again
Money talks, bro. He’ll be back, if he is worth it.
Lets wait two weeks into the season before we all start flipping out. I am calling a hold to all this Delgado is done talk. We do need a right handed bat, but I don’t thing we should panic and get one off the scrap heap. Delgado remains an important keystone to this lineup, the mets better hope he has if figured out. But lets at least give him the chance before we write him off.