Daily Archives: January 27, 2010
In a post to his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin provides notes on Pat Misch, Fernando Nieve and Bobby Parnell from manager Jerry Manuel’s talk with reporters today at mini camp.
Rubin said he asked Manuel if Daniel Murphy could be a Joe McEwing-type utility player some day, with a better bat, ‘but Manuel suggested Mark DeRosa may be a better comparison.’
That is an excellent comparison, actually… very interesting.
In mid-January, I was able to talk with Murphy about his defense, off season workouts, his expectations for 2010, and his time at second base.
Here is an excerpt, in which we talk about his time in left field, adjusting to first base and his thoughts on Manuel:
Matthew Cerrone: How did you deal with people criticizing your play in left field, which, let’s be honest, did not go very well.?
Daniel Murphy: Well, you know, you try to work through it. I was out there every day taking pop ups early, working the wall and just trying to be more consistent. I mean, you can’t fault the fans for wanting to see somebody succeed out there, and I think that’s what they wanted. They wanted to see somebody have some success, especially me, and then there was probably a two-to-three week stretch where I just got exposed a little bit out there. So, the organization decided that it would be better off for our ball club if they could try to find somewhere else for me. Anytime Jerry makes a move, he’s got his team’s best interest in mind and that’s the way you have to take it, it wasn’t a personal attack on me…
Matthew Cerrone: What do you like about Jerry Manuel?
Daniel Murphy: I think that he is able to keep the lines of communication open, especially with me, a young guy with a fairly new position. He has kept the lines of communication open and it was always very positive. You know, saying, “You’re my guy, Murph, you’ve got to work through this.” Even when I got to first base, he was the same way, he was always so positive and so reassuring and for someone who is in their first year in the big leagues, you can’t ask for anything more than that. You know, the skipper coming and telling you, “You’re my guy.”
Matthew Cerrone: I remember him telling reporters that once you moved to first base you looked relieved, as if a weight was lifted from your shoulders. Did you feel that way?
Daniel Murphy: I’d say I was a little bit more comfortable. I just had more time in the dirt, since I came up as a third baseman. Yes, it was a switch to first base, but I just think that any relief, that it looked I had, was just me being more comfortable on the dirt. I’d been on the dirt my entire baseball career, since I was five years old… However, I personally believe, if called upon, I can play the outfield and I can help this team win by going out there and playing. If I got to Spring Training and someone said, “Why don’t you go take pop ups?”, then I will go out there and take some pop ups, because it’s just more ways for me to help this team win.
Thank you to SMG Transcription for transcribing this interview.
According to New York Post, former Mets manager Davey Johnson is saddened by the current state of the Mets, he said:
“I don’t like to see them on hard times… Losing 90-some games, I thought we changed all that… It’s getting time to put it all together… I’d like to see them do much better.”
To read more about the B.A.T dinner, as well as Ed Kranepool’s opinion on Carlos Beltran, and his thoughts on Citi Field, read Brian Costello’s report, here.
…hmm, i wonder if the fans and some former Mets should get together and hold an intervention…
In a post to his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin talks with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein about his approach to dealing with the Mets last summer, in an effort to acquire LHP Billy Wagner, for whom Boston ended up getting two compensatory draft picks when he signed this off season with the Braves.
In the deal, the Mets acquired 26–year-old 1B Chris Carter, who is in St. Lucie this week for the team’s mini camp.
In a mini-camp report for Mack’s Mets, Mack Ade writes of his time watching and talking with Carter, who, he says, ‘really, really wants to make it with the Mets.’
According to Rubin, “Carter does have a minor-league option remaining, so there’s also a pretty good chance he’s with Triple-A Buffalo.”
In regards to Carter’s swing, Ade writes, “I haven’t seen a minor leaguer with a sweeter power swing since Ryan Zimmerman came to Savannah.”
The blog Sox Prospects wrote the following about Carter last summer:
“Extremely intelligent, Carter is a real student of hitting, and has demonstrated success with the bat at every level. Excellent power with the potential for more. Hits for average and consistently gets on base at a very good clip. Hits lefties and righties well. Below average speed. In the field, Carter has spent much of his career at 1B but was moved to the outfield in 2008. He has always been known as a poor fielder, and still doesn’t look particularly comfortable at any position. He has focused on his glove and footwork and has improved slightly, but still not enough.”
…like many people have already pointed out, he reads like a copy of Daniel Murphy…
Carter hit .294 with 25 doubles, 16 HR and 61 RBI in 116 games in Triple-A last season.
The Sox acquired Carter from the D-Backs in 2007, during a trade involving Wily Mo Pena, and a three-way deal with the Nationals.
Johan Santana threw 25 pain-free pitches yesterday from the mound in Tradition Field, and told reporters he is happy and feeling good.
To read more about Santana’s day in St. Lucie, and his plans for the rest of the Soring, read Adam Rubin’s report in the Daily News.
Speaking of the starting rotation…
Joel Sherman of the New York Post continues to say the Mets have a Polyanna streak, writing, “They get caught without very good Plan Bs because they become so entranced in believing Plan A is foolproof,” such as betting five players coming back from injury, plus a person who seems to be fighting demons on the mound, will come together to create a good starting rotation.
In an effort to solve that problem, Mets GM Omar Minaya says, “We’re kind of looking at some of the guys on the free-agent market,” according to Ken Davidoff in Newsday.
…well, so long as you’re ‘kind of looking,’ which i suppose is better than not looking at all, right…
In a post to Amazin Avenue, Sam Page debates who is better: Nelson Figueroa or Fernando Nieve?
According to NPB Tracker, the Mets are still pursuing free-agent Japanese LHP Hisanori Takahashi.
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says it’s unlikely anything will happen between the Rays and free-agent 2B Orlando Hudson, as they’re content using Ben Zobrist, Reid Brignac orSean Rodriguez at second base.
Original Post at 8:06 am:
John Morosi of FoxSports.com believes the Rays, Nationals and a mystery team are interested in Hudson.
Morosi speculates that the mystery team is the Twins, and says the Rockies will only look to sign Hudson if they can get him at a bargain price.
Last week, Ladson of MLB.com said the the Nationals are only willing to give Hudson a one-year deal, worth around $3.25 million for the season.
…the Mets clearly have some money to spend, seeing as they chose not to sign John Lackey, Bengie Molina and Joel Pineiro, and so, it seems to me, the best way to improve the team would be to acquire hudson, who will upgrade the team’s defense up the middle… because, again, i just don’t see how Luis Castillo fits in with the grad plan of pitching, speed and defense…
That said, the Mets are not mentioned in Morosi’s report about Hudson.
In a must-read report for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal says, “Little will change for the Mets until they change the way they operate – from ownership on down.”
According to Rosenthal, “Multiple agents and rival executives say the Mets do not function like most clubs,” saying they never set a budget, “forcing the team to run down its priority list one move at a time,” which Rosenthal describes as a ‘paint-by-numbers approach.’
In addition, Rosenthal feels Minaya is no longer the aggressive, confident GM he was when he signed Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez, instead, ‘he’s a glorified puppet for Jeff Wilpon.’
For example, Rosenthal believes Joel Pineiro identified the Mets as his top choice, but, “He got tired of waiting for the Mets to sort through their other pursuits, tired of waiting for them to raise their initial offer,” and so, though the Mets were willing to increase their offer, Pineiro would wait no longer and instead signed a similar two-year, $16 million deal with the Angels.
Similarly, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney had the following to say yesterday about the Mets, during his appearance on the Michael Kay show, which airs weekdays at 3 pm on 1050 ESPN Radio:
“The one thing they’ve been doing this off season is: the Front Office has never been given a hard budget by Ownership. In other words, if you’re a Front Office member and you’re trying to come up with a strategy, it’s a very difficult thing to do because you don’t know how much you can spend on a particular player, you don’t know how much you should spend on pitching on outfield, etc. And so, it seems almost like it’s an audible each time one of these situations arises.
“Let’s put it this way, three weeks ago Joel Pineiro wanted to sign with the Mets. But, those negotiations didn’t develop quickly enough, and in the end they came up a dollar short and a couple days later they go and make this deal for Gary Matthews Jr., which has people around baseball scratching their heads saying, ‘Why would you take a player, who was probably going to get released in Spring Training, and take a serviceable middle reliever and commit $2.5 million the next two years when you could have just taken that money and finished the Molina deal, finished the Pineiro deal.’ It’s seemingly been a lot of confusion, and I know that’s been felt by other teams when dealing with the Mets, and with some of the agents.
Olney says people around baseball, who he talks to, are constantly comparing these current Mets to the 1980s Yankees. In fact, much like had been the case with George Steinbrenner 25 years ago, he says, Wilpon has been the front man on several free-agent negotiations this off season.
In addition, Olney explained, ‘The scary thing is, if you’re a Mets fan, is that the Yankees had to go through a dramatic down-cycle and a time of failure before George was finally convinced to step back and basically step away from baseball operations, only then Gene Michael, Bob Watson and Brian Cashman stepped in, and now the Yankees are run more efficiently; and you wonder how long it takes the Mets to get to that point.”
In the end, Rosenthal says, though Minaya looms as the obvious fall guy, he is only part of the problem, as, “The Mets need to start over – completely over.”
By the way, to listen to 1050 ESPN Radio, go here; and to follow Rosenthal on Twitter, go here.
Updated at 7:50 am:
… i understand what rosenthal and olney are saying, but, the thing is, this is not to say any one person should be more or less involved than he or she is… it’s about decisions, and streamlining the process… i mean, if wilpon is a bright baseball guy, why shouldn’t he be involved… however, if he isn’t, then he shouldn’t be… to me, that’s how this should all shake out… let the smartest people run things, and have the rest step aside, no matter who they are…
… that said, what jumps out at me is: rosenthal and olney work for rival media outlets, yet they’re both essentially saying the same thing, citing the same example with pineiro, they both use the word ‘efficient,’ when referring to the Yankees, and they paint a similar dynamic in the team’s front office, which leads me to believe they are taking their queue from the same source… which then makes me wonder: who is the source, and why are revealing this information… because, that, more than bad decisions, can be just as damaging…
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