Comments on: News: New Lineup Tonight

By: Midtown

Midtown — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:32:07 +0000

So true. The Milledge/Gomez/Mulvey/Humber/Guerra trades really defined this team as a win-now team. We could have just as easily held onto all our chips, been barely competitive this year, but exponentially improved as the years went by through homegrown talent and key free agent signings (Perez? Sabathia? Texeira).

I’m glad we have Santana too, but unfortunately if things don’t pan out like we want them to this year, there will be a lot of questions and blame being thrown around in the offseason.

By: wesdp1988

wesdp1988 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:31:51 +0000

weird…. similar thoughts, i like your thinking

By: guierllNO MOta

guierllNO MOta — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:31:40 +0000

bigchart…absolutely….castillo is batting .290 right now, at least, if Reyes got on base more than me….

seriously a real #2 hitter has bad stats with no one on base, they are the kinda guys who sneak hits in to places unguarded and move runners from 1st to 3rd…

BTW….is Brian Schneider already the best catcher in Mets history?????? He is so much better than Lo Duca I dont even care about LMillz being gone now…WOW, so far this trade looks amazing for Omar.

By: nrmax88

nrmax88 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:30:46 +0000

Good post. Agreed. Church is more polished and better right now in situational spots, which is what you need to win in september and in the playoffs. Milledge will be good at somepoint, but Church helps more now. Adding Schneider on there i a huge bonus too. Obviously its a nice deal for the Nats also, because they get a potential building block type player for two guys who would have long since moved on by the time the Nats are competing. Milledge is also a ton more valuable in CF then a corner OF spot. If we had a CF opening instead of a RF opening, one out of Millegde and Gomex would have gone in the Johan deal, the other would be in center. Not a bad trade. Church is also a really good outfielder, which Milledge was not. David Wright has been really the only weak link on our ball club defensively so far.

By: wesdp1988

wesdp1988 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:30:40 +0000

i absolutely love this move! Luis Castillo is our 2nd base version of Rey Ordonez. I feel hes great with the glove but cant do anything anymore with his bat. It’s not a successful combination when your game revolves around putting the ball in play and relying on speed when you literally have to limp to first. Hes still got a great glove and moves well laterally even though he’s not what he used to be.
He’s not really the type of guy i would like to have hitting in front of Wright, that’s why I love this move. Now Church is going to see some better pitches and increase in his power numbers.

It’s great to see some initiative taken by Willie this early in the season. Hopefully we can keep this lineup steady for awhile to create some similarities each day for when the players come to play. Keep this lineup the same and throw Alou behind Delgado, and I really see this lineup rolling again. GREAT MOVE, TWO THUMBS UP TO WILLIE!

By: jws366

jws366 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:30:04 +0000

I find that funny because I’ve been to 4/6 home games so far this year (im leaving soon to go tonight) and it seems like everytime beltran strikes out (often in clutch situations) that little screen down the line looks something like “76 mph Curveball.”

Here are some fun stats since that fatal K in the NLCS (which i theorize has been the fall of beltran mentally).

In 2007:

With 2 outs, Beltran’s average was .214!
With 0 or 1 outs, it was .314!

With 2 outs and RISP, average was .224
Late and Close, average was .175.

*Late & Close are PA in the 7th or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck.

By: guierllNO MOta

guierllNO MOta — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:29:07 +0000

if this lineup with Chruch batting 2nd works out, when alou comes back you wont have 2 leftys batting 6-7-8, or wont be forced to bat Delgado 5th…

Also, Duaner, take your time, you dont need to be a Hero on Day 1 no matter how many morons boo you or think you should be able to bounce back from your multiple injuries like the snap of a finger….just please bounce back quick enough so we will no longer have to see Jorge Sosa’s flat slider grooved in with the game on the line.

By: DjDeF

DjDeF — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:23:34 +0000

If this line-up works you do not want to have Pagan to be the guy because when Alou comes back it messes with the batting order again.

By: bigchart333

bigchart333 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:19:35 +0000

what difference does it make, you know willie will go with “his guys/vets” and just move castillo back to 2 at the first 2 hit game

im indifferent on the move…castillo is NOT a .190 hitter, no MLB player is..eventually, he’ll get on track. And he’d be more effective if Reyes was actually getting on base, and/or stealing. One of his bunts or slap grounders would essentially put reyes to 3rd or 2nd (depending on the steal).
Church has been effetive down in the order, so why mess with a good thing?

The good side though, is that if church can continue his hittin and gettin on base, it gives wright and beltran more RBI opps, not to mention an early lead if again, reyes can actually get on base.
And, since castillo rarely strikes out, if he can get on base before the pithcer, we dont have to have the pitcher swing, a bunt can put an above average runner on 2nd with the top of the order coming up.

Let’s see what happens…

By: CaseStreet

CaseStreet — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:17:55 +0000

I wrote earlier how Pagan has replaced what Milledge could do this year.

I do disagree that the team is win now. The core is young (Wright, Reyes, and Beltran). I think we could have just as easily kept Milledge and Gomez to flank Beltran and then played F-Mart at 1st this season in AA/AAA to replace Delgado next year.

The money saved could have found us good pitchers off the FA market next year. We’d have a young and exciting team similar to the D-backs and Brewers, and they’d probably fare just as well as this years team.

All that said, I’m glad we have Santana and I hope he brings us a WS ring.