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Mike Nichols

amLinks: Valent, Thole, Privilege, 70s, Malo
By Mike Nichols - Apr 28, 2009 10:35 am

Over at Jimmy Scott’s High and Tight, former Mets outfield Eric Valent writes about is transition from player to his current job, a Phillies scout.

Will Sommer of Mets Fan Forever has a lengthy Q&A with Mets catching prospect, Josh Thole, who’s batting .362 in 11 games this season.

Meanwhile, Greg from Faith and Fear in Flushing recaps his night watching the Mets from the ‘privileged’ Caesars Club.

…i too had the privilege of sitting in these seats for one of the exhibition games, and yes, they are terrific seats, but i got the feeling you wouldn’t be amongst “regular” fans in this area once the season started…however, i highly recommend sitting out in the right field reserved area…i sat in the front row of section 102 and it had an old yankee stadium bleacher feel…

Jacob Kanarek of Flushing9.com continues his series on 1970’s Mets.

Finally, over at Inside Pitch, Lacey Severins profiles the Mets Triple-A utility man, Jonathan Malo, who made an impression on Jerry Manuel this spring.

59 Responses to “amLinks: Valent, Thole, Privilege, 70s, Malo”

  1. therealsince86 says:

    Starting a conversation from a previous post.

    IF we were to move Murphy to 1B next year as there are NO quality 1B FA look at the possible LF if Fmart is not ready

    Crawford (has a 10 million option, steep for the Rays)
    Damon
    Holliday
    Ankiel
    Abreu
    Dye (12 million option)
    Vlad
    Kearns
    Nady
    Maggs, (15 million option)
    Winn
    Huff
    Andruw

    Much better than the 1B crop in which maybe lead by Delgado.

    • Dirtysanchez says:

      agreed. Maybe vlad on a 2 year deal? Its gotta be someone that we can sign for a short term because i got a feeling fmart is not going to stay in the minors for much longer.

    • GravediggerHebner says:

      While keenly aware that it’s a small sample, given the early returns on how Citi plays, Crawford would seem the ideal acquisition from both an offensive and defensive standpoint.

      • Dirtysanchez says:

        imo crawford is not a bad player by any means but he is more of a long time sign…unless they plan on letting go church or church accepts a bench role, i dont see that kind of move happening. Fmart imo will be here full time next year and he is either going to take up LF(lord knows we need a defense upgrade there) or RF. It all depends on what omar wants to do with murph and church really…We would lose 2 draft picks im sure with crawford as oppposed to none with just giving the job to fmart..and hes is cheaper

        • GravediggerHebner says:

          I agree with everything you just stated. I should have elaborated to say that in my Crawford scenario either Church or FMart would be trade bait to improve the starting rotation, because IMO this team will have the best chance to win a lot of games in this park with strong pitching, strong defense all across the OF, and gap hitters. Church fits that bill, I don’t know enough about FMart to say, but I believe one or the other would be necessary to part with to improve the pitching.

          • Dirtysanchez says:

            its going to be an ok crop for pitching in the offseason this year. They can pick up a few guys for both the starting rotation and bullpen. I think its a good opp for omar to improve the Starting rotation and there are a few good catchers that may be available as well…

          • GravediggerHebner says:

            That’s fair. I think ultimately you are correct because I think most teams that are smart enough to recognize that they have a talented starting pitcher are also smart enough to keep them, therefore the FA route for starting pitchers will probably be the way to go.

            Then if one is going to sign a stop gap OF to hold the fort down for FMart, someone like Kearns or Winn from that list seems more likely to me, as they seem more likely to accept a 1 year deal. If FMart needs more time than that, we’re in trouble.

    • kistics says:

      not sure if delgado will be let go. if he hits 30 hr 100 rbis, he’ll be back

      • Dirtysanchez says:

        if he hit 500 its not about him being let go..its about if he wants to continue to play…

        • kistics says:

          I think he’ll continue to play, if not for the Mets, for an AL team as a DH. He can certainly hit 25 + HRs next year.

  2. Joe R says:

    Does anyone else want to throw up when we see Ibanez hitting game winning homeruns for the Phils?? Just amazing we didnt sign a guy who is known for his work ethic, his team play, and oh his consistent Rbi numbers!! Ahh…it really pains me. And please dont give the argument that his homeruns wouldnt be homeruns in Citi Field. He dosent play at Citi. Maybe he would be hitting gappers here. Who knows a mute point I know but just so frustrating that Omar did nothing to improve our offense the last 2 years when we all knew and know we needed and need one more bat!!

    • Ceetar says:

      Didn’t need it. Our offense is and was fine. We need some better plans at the plate sometimes, and they need to run more, go first to third more, stop thinking about home runs more, because you can win without home runs.

      The Phillies excel by playing and beating up on crappy teams. And really, they’ve done it well. Charlie Manuel set it up a lot last year so Hamels wouldn’t pitch against the tough Mets and risk a loss, so he could guarentee a win against someone else. And it worked. The Nats bullpen blew one more lead than the Phillies did, thanks in part to two walks.

    • Dirtysanchez says:

      its not like omar didnt try….he WANTED to play for the phills….

    • sabermetrician says:

      I had the same thought when I watched that last night. Omar makes some strange moves.

      Signing Perez to 3/$36
      Letting Flores go Rule V
      Trading Bell and Ring (for Ben Johnson)
      Bringing Alou back
      Bringing El Duque back
      Getting Schneider when we had Flores
      Trading for Shawn Green
      The Castillo deal
      Signing Garcia
      Not signing better players this offseason (they went relatively cheap)

      There were some good though:
      Acquiring Santana
      Acquiring Beltran
      Acquiring Wagner
      Acquiring Ollie (the first time)
      Acquiring Maine
      Acquiring Delgado
      Signing Wright and Reyes to good extensions
      Acquiring Lo Duca (for that one good year)
      Acquiring Putz
      Acquiring Stokes

      Most of his good is done with $$$, not brilliance.

      • NYMETSFAN718 says:

        Santana trade
        Putz trade
        Delgado trade
        Maine trade
        Ollie (first time) trade

        Hows that using $$$

      • stickguy says:

        Flores was gone before Schnieder came on board.

        • Dirtysanchez says:

          lol i was about to post this thanks stick

        • sabermetrician says:

          Sorry, the typing didn’t come across. What I meant by HAD, was that we had him on our team previously and didn’t work to keep him.

      • GravediggerHebner says:

        IMO 5 of the 10 things you list were done with acumen, not money. If one chooses to pare your list to strictly acquisitions, then 5 of 9 were not money based. I don’t see how “most” were done with money.

        Regardless, I appreciate the fact that you even dared to include any “good” moves. Most of his detractors see none.

        • sabermetrician says:

          The thing that you fail to see, many of his trades were made because he could spend the money. Could the Royals make those trades?

          Delgado? No
          Lo Duca? No
          Santana? No
          Perez? Yes
          Maine? Yes

          • therealsince86 says:

            Why are you comparing the Mets to the Royals. Lets use the Braves and Phillies.
            Could the Braves
            Delgado? Yes
            Lo Duca? Yes
            Santana? Maybe, they were prepared to get Peavy.
            Perez? Yes
            Maine? Yes
            Phillies
            Delgado? Yes
            Lo Duca? Yes
            Santana? Yes
            Perez? Yes
            Maine? Yes

          • sabermetrician says:

            I used the Royals as an example, because of a small market team. You do realize that Philadelphia and Atlanta are not small markets, right?

          • sabermetrician says:

            And there is absolutely no way the Braves would be able to give Santana the contract he has.

          • therealsince86 says:

            I disagree again. They were after Peavy AND brought in Vasquez. You don’ think that Peavy and Vasquez’s contracts add up to Santana?

          • therealsince86 says:

            Also, is Omar in more competition with the large market teams or the small market teams. Who the hell cares what the Royals can do? Did the Yankee’s, Redsox, Braves, Phillies, Angels or anyother large market team get any of those players? Did they try?

      • BIGpelfcyyoung says:

        what GM in MLB has a good track record? cashman’s has been awful, Sabean hasn’t been too great either, Dombrowski has been bad… Terry Ryan has probably done the best job but they haven’t won anything either.

        • sabermetrician says:

          That’s not a fair assessment. Billy Beane has been phenomenal with his resources. Epstein has been terrific. Terry Ryan was great before he stepped down. Pat Gillick was great. Ricciardi has done a fine job with his resources/division. Sure, no one is flawless (Epstein has nearly been), but Omar has to be held to a higher standard because of his resources, just as Cashman and Epstein must be.

          • GravediggerHebner says:

            So is your ultimate point that only small market GMs can be considered to have acumen? If so, I know you realize we are in a big market, so now what? Move the Mets to Oklahoma City?

          • sabermetrician says:

            Did I not repeatedly mention Epstein as successful? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Omar is the worst GM in baseball, far from it. But he’s not the shrewd businessman some on here try to make him out to be.

          • BIGpelfcyyoung says:

            I agree Epstein has been great but Billy Beane has been ok. what have the As done? they had a nice run at the beginning of this decade but couldn’t get out of the 1st round. Ricciardi has been ok at best, the BJ Ryan contract is killing them, giving vernon wells that huge contract is a mess, not trading burnett last season was a bad move.

    • brock kingman says:

      I totally agree….he would have been PERFECT for us…but the whiners on here said, oh, he bats lefty, oh, he cannot field, blah blah blah.

      Ibanez also DID want to come here, by pretty much all accounts.

      I am no Omar-basher, but he blew this one.

      • Dirtysanchez says:

        because he couldnt club him in the head and force him to sign a met contract mafia style….why cant met fans just accept that maybe ibanez and lowe really just didnt want to play here?

        • NYMETSFAN718 says:

          Maybe, just maybe they were using NY for leverage, i mean Ibanez got a good deal considering this offseason OF market.

        • Joe R says:

          This might be true with Lowe but I didnt hear anything about Omar trying to get him or hear anything about Ibanez not wanting to play here. I think and I could be wrong but the Murphy infatuation might have contributed to this lol I know Murphy really solidified his play in spring training but I think they had an idea they would go that route or with someone else alrady in the organization. What a shame I mean he already won 2 games for them alone!! I know its only 2 games not counting the fact we have a whole year to play…but whats 2 games for the Mets!! lol

          • NYMETSFAN718 says:

            Joe, according to this site during the offseason, the Mets were linked to Ibanez a number of times.

          • Dirtysanchez says:

            look back at some of matts posts during the trade deadline last year and the offseason…omar wanted ibanez bad but at the end of the day, he choose to play for philly

          • Joe R says:

            Ok I believe you guys. Good for Omar then! Too bad is all I can say I guess. Would have liked him and his consistency.

      • NYMETSFAN718 says:

        I’d like to see his home/road spilts further down the road this year, its too early to call.

      • BIGpelfcyyoung says:

        it’s easy to be a monday morning QB but I can’t fault Omar for not giving a 37 yr old a 3 year deal. let’s see how well Ibanez is doing in 2011 making $12M per season.

        • Joe R says:

          I agree you have to plan for the future but so far we have said lets see what Lowe is doing in 3 years….lets see what Ibanez is doing in 2 years! What about this year! Somethimes it only takes one guy to change a team and give a team a boost to get over the top. Hey Im just saying and not Monday morning QBing. I get the Lowe signing or lack there of but the 2 guys I wanted badly was Hudson and Ibanez. Yes we would have had to eat Castillos money and yes Castillo is playing well but the energy and team play both Ibanez and Hudson would have giving us might have changed the makeup of this team a little bit. Just saying

    • therealsince86 says:

      We tried but the Phillies went after him with more money and years. Look at what he got compared to Burrell and Abreu.

      • There's Always '10 says:

        Ibanez was bound to have a good year (good start at least) in that stadium. It’s a band box. We’ve known that for years. He’s not your typical power hitter, but he may hit 30 (something he’s only done once in his career). At Citi Field he may hit 20.

  3. brock kingman says:

    Thanks TRS….gotta like Holliday if he hits this year away from Coors.

    Other than that, Crawford would be interesting paired with Jose……

  4. mets 08 says:

    Josh Thole great man.

    • wnymetsfan says:

      And he can rake. If he can show any ability to play catcher I can see him at Citi Field next year. The way Buffalo is playing he might not be long for AA.

  5. janss36 says:

    I loved the Caesar’s Club seating as well… I would imagine alot of non exclusive peeps will be sitting there because on the resale market, you can get Caesar’s Club seating for about $25.

  6. janss36 says:

    BTW, I love the triples, doubles, extra-base-hit game at Citi field… I think it’s much more exciting…

    • Dirtysanchez says:

      the OF is huge in citi…they should be aiming for the gaps like murphy did last night.

      • There's Always '10 says:

        Exactly what Wright needs to start doing. Phillies are going to have a tough time scoring runs here. They rely on the long ball too much.

  7. There's Always '10 says:

    “former Mets outfield Eric Valent writes about is transition from player to his current job, a Phillies scout”

    a clip from the article: “once i became gay, i decided it was time for me to contact the phillies.”

  8. kistics says:

    stick,
    you can email me kistics at yahoo if you have questions on my tickets.

  9. steve333 says:

    C Tholes
    1B Evans
    2B Murphy
    SS Reyes
    3B Wright
    LF Holliday
    CF Beltran
    RF Church

    Thats what I’d like to see next year.

    • wnymetsfan says:

      The way Tholes is playing I can see him getting a shot. It depends on whether he can be a servicable catcher defensively