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The Philadelphia offense came alive this weekend, Washington laid down once again for their rivals, and the Phillies scored 33 runs on their way to a 4 game sweep of the Nationals.
Raul Ibanez was the hitting star of the weekend, picking up 9 hits and smacking 3 HRs. Philadelphia’s pitching was far from dominant, but their offense combined with Washington’s poor play enabled them to stay in every game.
…You really have to wonder how much more time Mike Rizzo, Stan Kasten, and the rest of the Washington front office will give Manny Acta. I understand he has inferior players, but these guys just seem lost at times.
The Nationals will remain in Washington and try to turn their fortunes around against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ross Detwiler, their No. 1 pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, will make his first Major League start on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Phillies will take Monday off before heading to Cincinnati.
Clayton Kershaw tossed 7 innings of no-hit ball, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pounded recently recalled John Koronka to knock off the Marlins, 12-5, on Sunday and win the series against Florida, 2 games to 1.
After the game, the obviously unimpressed Marlins designated the left-handed Koronka for assignment.
Florida’s lone bright spot this weekend came from Andrew Miller. In his first start back from the disabled list, Miller allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits over 5 innings despite having some problems with his control.
The Marlins will welcome the Diamondbacks into Land Shark Stadium for 4 games beginning on Monday.
In Atlanta, the Braves and Diamondbacks split the first two games of their series before being washed away in the finale.
On Friday, Javier Vazquez struck out 10 in 7 innings and Jordan Schafer scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th to give Atlanta a 4-3 walk-off victory.
Saturday was an entirely different story. Arizona’s Max Scherzer completely shut down the Braves offense, and the Diamondbacks pummeled the Atlanta bullpen for 9 runs en route to a 12-0 blowout.
Next up for Atlanta…the Colorado Rockies.
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Washington at Pittsburgh… that’s compelling TV…lol
Yeah too bad I get it in my market.
As for Acta, They could bring Billy Martin
back from the dead and that team would still
be awful. Its not that that have no talent BUT
that they have no BASEBALL players.
Or very few anyway.
Guys.. I dont know if this is true or not… but I just heard in a dominican sport show that pedro martinez is close to singing with the cubs pending a physical… didnt expect that at all.
I feel bad for Ryan Zimmerman… sort of. Signing a contract extension with that joke of a franchise is a horrible move. C’mon, Ryan, do you really value the money more than getting away from there and getting with a team that might compete within another decade?
Heres hoping Pedro does well,just not
against us. Likely wont help the cursed cubbies anyway, bad, bad offseason for
them. Bad group they’ve put together.
And I was laughed at for picking the Reds
there before the season.
let’s go out and get victor martinez when the tribe officially falls out of contention. would he cost us f-mart?
Never feel bad for a guy making millions
to play a game. Its his fault. He signed the
contract.
Yeah, but how many of Ibanez’ 9 hits and 3hrs were against lefties?
Sigh…
number 15, i’d do that in a n.y. min..
The Nats are not good.
Great, the Phils go from one bandbox to another. Meanwhile the Braves, get to beat up on the Rockies, while the Mets have to face the Dodgers.
At least Cinci is better than the Nats, and has some quality SP. ANd bats.
Look for some high scoring games out there!
The Nats have scored 182 runs, that’s sixth in the league. They have some hitters, the pitching is horrible, but is improving. Jordan Zimmerman should fill out into a decent 2 or 3. Then with the top pick in the draft if they are able to sign Strasburg, they’ll have a bonafide ace. You couple that with a good corp of hitters and they could be a decent ball club next year. As for this year, a long ways to go, but I still think they can catch the fish and finish fourth.
Not bad? Cincy may have man for man
the best rotation in the NL.
I love this, we’re in first in the middle of one of the hardest parts of our schedule. I think we’re doing very well (granted we stunk it up in April when we had a cupcake schedule).
@It’s OUR Turn,
You gotta cheer for Pittsburgh here. Washington has more attractive trade pieces. Let’s get them out of the race.
Sorry Sabes, they’re awful!
As usual you can throw around any stats you
wish But actually seeing them day to day–
they’re bad. Not many Baseball players
there. As bad a situation hitting team as
you’d ever want to see and a Mgr who
makes Willie and Jerry look like Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin. They’re a bad, bad
baseball team man.
what about garrett atkins? he could be a good option for 1B or even LF, the rockies are going nowhere.
The Mets seem to play better against tougher competition. We’re 3-1 on this road trip; if we go 3-3 the rest of the way, we’d be 6-4 on this trip. I’d take that right now.
dominicanboy08,
if we’re going to try to do this without delgado, i think we need another lefty bat.
fongulalou-
They aren’t that bad. I watch them a lot. (I live in DC). They play good fundamentals. Poor pitching, which is why they lose, but next year they could really be something (I don’t think they’ll win the division, but they’ll be competitive).
V-Mart is def interesting. His $7M 2010 club option is pretty nice too.
Would that stop Omar from going after Bengie next year?
From an MLB scout on Atkins:
“It would be nice if this guy showed some,
any fire” “You dont play this game with NO–
fire”-”Atkins can hit”–”defensively,its agood thing he can hit”
Sounds like,just what we need!
Hopefully Case!
Bengie won’t be coming here anyway, he’ll stay in San Fran, both sides want it.
There’s Always ‘10,
if its a good bat, it doesnt matter, see how well ibanez is hitting in the lefty heavy phillies line-up. also we will need a righty 1B/LF becuase f-mart and thole are lefties and they will be part of this team in the near future.
Bruce Boisclair says:
May 18th, 2009 at 11:58 am
The Mets seem to play better against tougher competition. We’re 3-1 on this road trip; if we go 3-3 the rest of the way, we’d be 6-4 on this trip. I’d take that right now.
Absolutely Bruce. And if we best 6-4, we’re in great shape.
True, except the Phillies aren’t going away.
Reyes
Murph
Beltran
Wright
V-Mart
Molina
Church
Castillo
P
I like it alot
I don’t feel bad for Zimmerman. He got his extension after two not so good seasons.
Thats a bad fielding and fairly slow team
you’ve put together there Case.
Having watched Bengie Molina this weekend, I sure don’t want him. I know he threw well last season but at his age and in his shape things fall apart quickly.
Plus, the guy has a .310 OBP. That’s not very helpful.
I don’t see us getting Vmart right now as he has such a cheap option.
I would try and get Huff, he would fit perfectly as a 1B/slightLF and middle of the order bat. No contract for next year and on a crappy team.
CaseStreet -
What are you proposing that we could get Victor for? I would think Murphy might have to go to get him.
Second Fong’s assessment.
VMart is probably a DH at this point.
Wanny, could he look better batting 8th than Castro, Schnieder or Santos?
I rather trade for cliff lee than v-mart. we cant have reeding and livan in the same rotation.
.310 is .310. Even those guys are not hat bad. I know he hits for average and has some pop… but he is a double play machine who will never clear the pitcher with a .310.
And if he can’t play defense anymore like his name suggests he should… then absolutely no thanks.
HELLO!, Molina will be 36 years old next
season. Thats 36 for a Catcher. HELLO!
Have some of you learned nothing.?
Dominican, I don’t see them at this point trading for a SP with Redding, Livan and Perez. And remember they can’t keep Perez on the DL forever.
Fong, with a capable backup that’s not a big deal as long as it’s a 1 year option. We don’t really have a lot of options.
Wanny, I think you are missing the RBI and HR potential and JUST using OBP. You have to look at those power numbers as well. There is no way that we are not a better team with him instead of Schnieder or Castro.
Also, I would think that most scouts would say that the pitchers caused those SB more than Molina did. Ask Ragwhateveriii.
agreed real
If they can snag huff from the O’s that woudl be great. With the team they got, Murph would fit in nicely over there as a DH….
And then you can watch 40 year old outfielders steal 3B on his fat arse all season.
understood BUT you’re assuming it would
be one year. Thanks but no thanks.
We’ll see what developes and look for someone younger and cheaper.
Any thoughts on what it would take to get Huff?
Fong…have you seen molina this year. A one year deal or two would be a much needed improvement over schnider and castro..we will have santos as back up…Plus omar has been after him for a while…im sure as a FA he will go hard after him.
fongulalou, both V-Mart and Bengie have pretty good defensive stats, and considering it’s 1B and C, I’m not expecting speed there anyway. Do you?
I’d love to see Huff acquired as long as it’s before the subway series, that was classic his exaggerated fist pump (twice) after he took Joba deep.
Wanny, Zimmerman missed significant portions of last year with injury. The two seasons before that he hit at least 20HR with 90+RBI, 40+ doubles, and OBP over .330. Those aren’t exactly poor years. He’s very underrated in my opinion.
If I were in his position I would look for a way to get onto a contender and win something. He’s gonna millions wherever he goes.
fong, the Phillies may indeed not go away, but here is what else can be said about them: They win when they play a team with worse pitching than their own. They are 7-2 vs. the Nats, 13-14 against everyone else.
Sabes Indians want no part of Murphy.
A large part of their problem has been
players w/o positions. They’d be asking
for Pitching. Hello Niese and/or Holt.
Dark? Zimmerman?
therealsince86,
why not? if the indians keep losing, they could trade him within next month.
santana
lee
pelfrey
maine
ollie
redding to the pen’, livan can be traded or DFA
pitching wins games…
hello, the V-Mart suggestion was for 1B. Duh
I’d be hesitant on Molina. At that age, you just don’t know how fast the dropoff is going to occur for a catcher. That being said, he’d be a definite improvement at the position in the very near term. I don’t think I’d do it.
Dom, because we are not going to give up the top prospects to get him.
While I agree, that does not really matter. With no Delgado, they need offense right now. Who knows what will happen by the trade deadline with pitching. I would not be surprised to see them get a lower level offensive guy now and then pitching later if needed.
Not “MAY” Heb, They’re NOT going away.
THAT they’ve proven already the past few seasons.They haven’t pitched at all yet
and Rollins has given them nothing so
far AND a couple days ago Victorino was
in the middle of a huge slump YET they
beat the teams they’re supposed to.
Plus, unlike us they play every inning of every game.
I would think that Murphy and Gee would get Huff? Would you guys do it?
udontmesswiththejohan ,
finished six feet this weekend. wow.
If Castro played every day (I know, a big if) he would have the same power numbers. And Molina this season is hitting for far more power than his career norms suggest, It will level off.
And like every 36 year old catcher, his breakdown will come soon. He sure looked broken down this weekend with Gary Sheffield stealing 3rd on him, the pitcher or whomever else.
And no matter hwo you slice it, .310 is an abysmal OBP for a starting position player.
therealsince86,
I agree with you that the mets probably wont trade for SP this soon..
what about mark derosa? he is a nice player and can play multiple positions.
i would real if that would get us huff
Like most Catchers over the past 150 yrs,
Molina is declining in his mid 30s&may be
the slowest man in the majors.
VMartinez is a nice hitter no doubt whos
a below average Catcher and 1Bman-
Also is no kid. This would mean Murphy
stays in the OF. All= not a good fielding
team. Especially in a new park which
calls out for athletic,good fielding players.
GravediggerHebner ,
Good post about the Phillies and playing teams with worse pitching than their own. 9 games vs. the Nats already. Wow.
Dark: I’m not saying that Zimmerman won’t be a good player but he was paid more for his potential than for his production. His .774 and .788 OPS the last two seasons would not ordinarily merit buying out a plyers free agent/arb years. And a .330 OBP is not impressive.
i like derosa dom…dont know why the mets didnt pick him up(thougth he was a FA)
We’ll see how long their hitting can continue to mask their other obvious deficiencies. Without reinforcement they will not be able to maintain for 162 games IMO.
Sabes, either you’re a closet Nats fan
or you’re watching something else.
b/c that is not a godd fundemental
team. Terrible,terrible situation hitting
team as well as an awful OF defense.
And again,Acta is in over his head.
Aubrey Huff is one season removed from a .778 OPS in Baltimore, a great place to hit.
I’d be careful what I gave up for him. And it’s not as if he is a good defensive player either.
Agree completely on DeRosa!
Wanny, this year is not an exception for Molina considering that he has lead the MLB in HR’s for a catcher the last 3 years.
I am not saying he is a hero. He is much better than what we got. And saying that Castro would be comparable is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say buddy. What does it matter what Castro could do if he played everyday? You are talking about a guy who has never played everyday, can’t play everday and has even admited that he does not want to play everyday.
The Nats defense during their trip to Shea was comical. Besides Elijah Dukes being a clown in CF, they threw the ball all over the field.
Mark DeRosa is an interesting idea. Fernando Tatis already plays his role, but if Fernando is going to be thrust into regular 1B duty, then perhaps DeRoasa would be a good acquisition.
Guys we won’t be able to get Derossa, cheap and under contract. They have no reason to move him.
fong, V-Mart was born 12/78 and has a good fielding % at 1B.
Not saying it would happen, but at his contract price it looks go to me, especially when looking at the other options.
So what if Murph is blocked at 1B. Let him play LF (he’s gotten better) or be a utility guy w/ F-Mart playing LF (plays good D)
I missed out on all the previous conversation, but I read on MLBTR that Victor Mart could be available. Can the Mets get him? What would it take?
I think it’ll take top tier prospect like FMart and a young semi-proven player like Murphy. Would you guys do VMart for FMart and Murphy (I didn’t look at a contract situation yet)
I think derosa is a better option than huff, he can play the OF when delgado comes back, he can also play 2B and 3B.
TRS:
Bengie Molina is slugging 548. His carrer SLG is .420. Last year he slugged .445 and the year before that .433.
So before calling ym comments dumb, please correct your assertion that Bengie’s power this season is not an aberration.
And Huff, Wanny has only had 1 year that his OPS+ fell below 100. It was 135 last year and 119 in this year. His career OPS+ 116. He would be cheap as this is his last year and he makes a decent amount of money. He has more experience at 1B than anyone currently on the team.
Again, you can’t tell me we would not be better off with him at 1B over Tatis or Murphy.
agreed real…unfortunatly dont think the indians would move him…especially if we are not going to give them a power bat in return which would defeat the purpose to the trade in the first place….
TRS: And further, Castro’s SLG for his career is .417, about the same as Bengie’s, which was my point for comparison that Bengie is really not all that better than Castro. I didnt suggest that Castro could or would play everyday — in fact, I said that would be a big IF.
I suggested that the fat 36 year old catcher you want who let everyone and their mother steal bases this weekend is no better than the slug we already have.
Wanny obviously his SLG is off the charts this year. However, saying that Castro would put up similar numbers to the catcher that has lead the MLB in HR and RBI the last 3 years is quite dumb.
TRS — You need stop twisting everything I say.
I didn’t say Huff wasn’t better than Murphy. I said I woul dbe careful what I gave up for him because he sucked two years ago and despite the amount of experience he has at 1B, he’s not very good at it.
DownNDirtyJohan, Read the earlier posts
Would I trade Fmart and Murphy for Vmart….. hmmm. No but I would trade Murphy and Niese for him.
therealsince86,
if the indians fall out of the race, why would they keep a veteran player that will be a FA at the end of the year?
That’s fine, TRS. You can think I’m dumb. But the numbers are what they are.
Bengie put up a lot of homers and RBIs because he played a lot mroe than Castro — not because he is signficantly better but because he is signficantly healthier (for the time being). Nonetheless, he is an outs machine. And outs machines are easy to find and don’t cost much and sometimes don’t let 40 year olds steal 3B.
“Obviously his SLG is off the charts.” I thought a moment ago you said this season was not an aberration?
So you are saying you would not take this from the Castro, Schnieder Santos group?
33 2B 16 HR 95 RBI
If the names Ken Rosenthal mentioned coming from the Red Sox in their try for VMart didn’t get him, it seems extremely unlikely that the Mets would have the minor leaguers to make it happen.
For those that wouldn’t want Bengie on a 1 or 2 year deal next year. Who would you suggest instead?
Dom, not sure if you are refering to Vmart or Derossa but
Vmart: 05:$0.5M, 06:$0.8M, 07:$3M, 08:$4.25M, 09:$5.7M, 10:$7M club option ($0.25M buyout)
Derossa maybe, I thought there was another year there. I expect them to resign him but they may still trade him first.
There’s more to it than that.
I don’t want the .298 OBP he had a couple of years ago either.
And do you think he woul drive in 90 runs batting seventh for the Mets, as opposed to 4th or fifth as he has in SF?
He’s like the hockkey player on the last place team he scores 30 goals simply because he gets the opportunity or David Lee who scores 19 points because someone has to be on the floor and touch the ball.
Case,obviously you missed my either post.
I’d take Victor Martinez in amin.for the right
price. He can play First but not even as well
as Delgado which puts him in the below
average group there. Still the guy can hit,
is loved by his teammates and has produced
in the clutch.So if and its unlikely but if Delgados injury becomes long term,yes
I’d like him on the Mets.
But not in combo w/Molina AND Murphy.
therealsince86,
sry, I am talking about Derosa
grave, rosenthal speculated on those names and don’t trade talks always start w/ top prospects but end up w/ less?
TRS — you are looking at Molina in a complete vacuum, ignoring his age, his fate, his likely decline, his atrcoious performance with runners this weekend, the fact that he’s a big fish in a small pond and an outs machine — simply relying on his modest home run power.
Dirty — The Mets would be fine with a solid defensive catcher, the kind which costs half of what Molina would cost to get on base 30% of the time and at the buffet at the table.
Wanny,you’ve had some real good posts today but you’re lost on David Lee.
No hes no a Superstar or even an AllStar
But hes not Scalabrine either.
You don’t rebound and score like he does
in the NBA by accident.
Case, Molina is the expired cream of an awful FA crop of catchers. So if we’re discussing strictly FA, he’s it IMO. But it’s sort of like picking the least rotten piece of fruit.
Ha,ha! Quoting Rosenthal.
Now THAT’s funny!
Fong — I was just using an example of a guy who gets inflated numbers by playing on a bad team. If he was on the Lakers or the Cavs, he would serve his role as a good rebounding force but wouldn’t be taking enough shots to score 16-18 a game.
Wanny, I almost hate arguing with you sometimes as much as I did Alex. You are very itelligent but sometimes are as bullheaded as anything I have ever seen.
There is no way that anyone in their right mind would want what we have over Molina. Considering he is the only power threat even in their lineup, how does he even get those numbers?
He is not a savior, but what was his SB percentages BEFORE we came in? Castro last year was at 22% and 10% the year before. This year he has done much better but that will change with time for sure.
Okay,Okay, I’ll take Molina for Castro!
We can throw in Scheider too!
Ok, Kettle.
Ok!, My Bad Wanny. Thought you were ripping
the kid whos really been one of the few bright
spots on an almost unwatchable Knick team.
“Almost” unwatchable? You have a higher tolerance for visual pain than I!
Wanny, LOL. I am just saying that considering what is available and if we can get him for 1 year 5/6 million and bring Thole up as his backup we would be much better off. Hell I don’t want him for 3 years or something.
Fong if we could have Molina hitting 7th this year instead of Santos I would be very happy.
Good one Wanny!–See ya’s later,gotta work.
Let’s go Mets!
fong,
“Rosenthal doesn’t mention them, but the Mets could be a nice fit for V-Mart if Carlos Delgado’s injury puts him out for several months.” -Tim Dierkes MLBTR.
Quoting Rosenthal may be funny, but not as funny as an argument about the merits of a suggestion he didn’t even make!
Then it’s settled, we’re trading for V-Mart and signing Bengie next year. Thole will back up Bengie.
Murph will platoon LF w/ F-Mart.
How do we get Halladay, though?
LOL Case. How about we just get one of those 2?
btw, the steals weren’t on Molina they were on the pitchers. Molina has a gun. I can’t believe you people sometimes.
There’s Always ‘10,
Ha, what did you think?
How about we send Thole and FMart for VMart? VMart is for legit. If Omar can get him, it’ll be a big boost in the line up.
Case — that was a lot of different pitchers being stolen upon and only one catcher. And third base is usually much easier on the catcher.
Sure, he has thrown well in the past — very well — but at some point age and girth catch up to all of us.
Also, Case, it is not solely about arm strength but is also about release time and getting ones fat arse off the ground.
Yeah, I didn’t like what I saw in Molina. He’ll be the next Piazza in terms of throwing out runners.
udontmesswiththejohan,
it was by far the best series finale i’ve ever seen for a show. i admit it – i cried. kind of hard not to during that final 5 minutes.
Case, I’ll settle for Holladay alone
Again, you guys keep talking like there are many options. Especially with the fact that our lineup will most likely have even less pop. He may only throw out 25% of his runners next year but that will still be better than Castro and he will put up better numbers than any other options.
trs, you are right that Molina will give us more offensive numbers, but does Omar want to trade increase in offense for less number of runners thrown out? Maybe or maybe not. I’m for Molina signing. But I don’t know if Omar will be.
DND, hard to get lower than Castro’s normal numbers. And there is no way we bring back Schnieder.
if we trade for VMart, he can be our catcher.. nevermind. his offense has more value at 1B.
I looked up Huff’s numbers and I like it. I think he’s underrated. I think he could be a good option at 1B too and cheaper than VMart.
@ There’s Always ‘10:
Haha – I won’t hold it against you. It’s a tear jerker that’s for sure. I’m going to try and start watching it a gain on repeats.
TRS, you are correct, there aren’t many options, and Molina is the best of a poor FA class. I think, if he would accept it, a 1 year contract as a bridge at the position would be fine. But I would prefer if the GM got more creative, and traded to fill the position, as opposed to signing a fat old C, especially considering the position and it’s rigors.
As per usual, Ted Burg is spot on.