Daily Archives: January 29, 2010
In his interview with SNY’s Mets Hot Stove last night, Omar Minaya was asked why he did not pursue a more-experienced, better-defensive first baseman, to at least platoon with Daniel Murphy.
Minaya said Murphy got much better playing first base as last year went on, pointing out that Murphy was essentially learning the position, on the job, as a rookie, in New York.
“You’ve got to give the kids a chance,” Minaya said.
Minaya said he did not acquire a veteran first-baseman, like an Adam LaRoche, because he believes in Murphy, but he also didn’t want to block top-prospect Ike Davis.
“I’m excited about Murphy, but I’m really excited to talk about Ike Davis,” he said.
“You’re talking defense, here’s a guy who in Spring Training we’re going to be talking about, I know he’s going to push our buttons… Not only does he have power, he’s an outstanding first baseman and he’s a young man, and he’s exciting. We love Ike Davis.”
…so, you’re saying you like Ike Davis… wow… ok, then…
Yesterday, in his list of the Top 100 Prospects in MLB, Keith Law of ESPN.com said Davis has ‘raw power,’ especially against right-handed pitchers, but, ‘he doesn’t hit left-handed pitching at all,’ concluding, “A full year in Double-A and Triple-A to work on pitch recognition and on improving his approach against left-handers is probably critical for his future as an everyday player, but he has a chance to be an above-average one if he can shed the platoon-player tag with more reps.”
According to Baseball Prospectus, PECOTA projects the NL East to end up as the following:
…well, that will be a problem… and what happens to the Marlins… yikes… i actually expect the division to be a lot closer than this, with the winner reaching around just 85 wins… yes, i think it’s gonna be THAT division…
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In his appearance on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove last night, Mets GM Omar Minaya was asked to explain his thinking regarding the following moves, or lacktherof, so far this off season, saying:
on Gary Matthews Jr.: “Well, you’re talking about a guy who signed a $50 million contract for five years, a guy who’s a switch hitter, a guy who can play all three outfield positions… I just thought, to get him for the amount that we got him, if you look around, it’s hard to find good defensive shortstops, catchers and center fielders… Is his defense in center field what it was a couple of years ago? No, but he’s got good enough defense, according to our scouts, and we feel he’ll be able to go get it in our ballpark.”
…i understand all that… i just don’t understand what he’s done to suggest he’ll be anything better than he’s been the last few years… i am not sure how he, who cost Brian Stokes, makes the team better than some other free-agent signing, while getting to keep stokes… but, we’ve been over all of this…
on Bengie Molina: “We tried our best to sign Molina. He’s a guy we targeted. But, at the end of the day, Bengie and his family are from the West Coast and he just felt, if he was going to come to New York there was a certain contract he needed to have to come to the East Coast… The bottom line is, he’s in a good spot in San Francisco, all of his family is there, and he felt, to come to the East Coast, he needed to be compensated a certain amount of dollars and years and we were not able to come to an agreement.”
…this was the correct approach, and give omar and co. credit for showing the proper restraint… i mean, i would not have given molina a dollar and a day, but i respect the Mets setting the terms and sticking to it… molina is good, but he’s not so good he would have been worth compromising for…
on Henry Blanco: “The reason we got out there so early with Henry Blanco was that we thought he was one of the best, not just in throwing people out, but in his leadership.”
…i still like the blanco signing… i just never thought he’d end up being the lead catcher… which is why i still expect the Mets to sign some other free-agent, like a Rod Barajas or Yorvit Torrealba…
To see video fo Minaya from last night’s Mets Hot Stove, watch this video on SNY.TV.
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Kevin Kernan of the New York Post talked with Mets batting coach Howard Johnson about what he did with David Wright to improve the third baseman’s swing for this coming season.
Johnson said he worked with Wright on being ready earlier, so he can hit the ball further out in front.
According to Kernan, “Wright allowed the baseball to travel in too deep toward him last season. That’s how he wound up with a career-high 140 strikeouts.”
To read quotes from Johnson, who talks in specific details about what Wright must continue to do through Spring Training to be successful, check out Kernan’s report, here.
According to stats and fans at Fangraphs, Wright is projected to hit around .300 this season, with around 20 HR, 40 doubles, roughly 20 stolen bases and 90 or so RBI.
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Last night on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove, host Kevin Burkhardt asked Mets GM Omar Minaya if he still has ‘full autonomy,’ as he proclaimed when he was hired back in 2004.
Minaya said, ‘Yes, I do.’ He acknowledged knowing there has been talk that he doesn’t, but he disagreed with those reports, saying:
“We have a good staff that works well together. The bottom line is, I have assistants who help make decisions around me, but it’s full autonomy and we feel good about working together… So, when I tell you I have full autonomy, I have full autonomy.”
…the thing is, i really could care less who is making the decisions… it’s the actual decisions i am most concerned with… if it takes 100 guys to put their heads together to do what’s right, so be it… yes, i agree that is unlikely to work… but, i think some fans and media get more bogged down in the decision-making process sometimes than they pay attention to the actual decisions…
In terms of spending on free agents, Minaya said he has had no limitations this off season from Ownership, saying, “We acquired the players we wanted,” including Jason Bay, and small pieces that are important for ‘building out the bench,’ such as Henry Blanco and Alex Cora.
“There are certain guys who were able to get certain dollars,” he explained, when trying to describe the talent on this year’s free-agent market. “You have to remember, this year, I think across the board, everybody felt that this was not the best free-agent class, but we focused on certain guys, and one of those guys was Jason Bay, who I’m very happy we were able to get him.”
…i’ll give him that… it wasn’t just the Mets who kept saying this was a weak free-agent class, and the next two off-seasons would likely be significantly better… what’s more, it sounded to me like, he didn’t end up signing Joel Pineiro or Bengie Molina because of budget restraints, so much as he just didn’t feel they were worth spending any more money on than they offered… in other words, they valued these guys where they valued them, and if these players chose to play some place else, so be it… and i think that is the right approach… the problem is, what was the back-up plan…
To see video fo Minaya from last night’s Mets Hot Stove, watch this video on SNY.TV.
In October, Mets GM Omar Minaya talked on WFAN about building a team around pitching, speed and defense, something he also emphasized when he was hired in 2004.
In his appearance last night on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove, host Kevin Burkhardt asked Minaya if he feels his team has improved in those areas this off season, to which he said Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur are better defensive players than last year’s Opening Day left fielder and right fielder, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Church.
He believes Gary Matthews Jr. and Angel Pagan will play a very good defensive center field.
Minaya also said Henry Blanco is a significant upgrade on defense behind the plate.
He also believes Daniel Murphy will be better in the field at first base than last season, as he continues to work, improve and learn the position.
In terms of pitching, Minaya said, though the Mets identified John Lackey as a ‘difference maker,’ the team’s current pitchers, i.e., John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez, when healthy, are just as good, if not better, than some of the other starting pitchers that are or were on the free-agent market.
Burkhardt then asked, “If you were a rival GM, would you be intimidated looking at the Mets staff?”
Minaya first touted Johan Santana, naturally, then said, “If we can get Mike Pelfrey to be the Mike Pelfrey of 2008, understanding that Mike Pelfrey has two full years in the major leagues, and he’s won 20 games in those two years, and there’s upside there.” He also said a healthy Oliver Perez has ‘beaten good teams.”
He believes that if Pelfrey, Maine, Perez and Santana are healthy, they will have a good pitching staff.
In addition, Minaya said, when talking about the pitching staff, it’s important to consider all 12 pitches, after which he praised Francisco Rodriguez and touted new additions Kelvim Escobar and Ryota Igarashi.
Burkhardt pointed out that Minaya listed a lot of what could be described as ‘question marks,’ to which he said, ‘Kevin, every team will enter the season with question marks.’
Burkhardt replied, with a curious tone, “As many as this?”
Minaya said, “When you look at other teams pitching staffs, some teams have some great guys, no question, but most teams are going to question marks, we’re going to have question marks coming off of last year. I think it’s fair to say we’d like to reduce the ifs, but if you looked at the free-agent market, a lot of those free agents are ifs… there are always a lot of question marks with pitching.”
To see video fo Minaya from last night’s Mets Hot Stove, watch this video on SNY.TV.
Last night on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove, host Kevin Burkhardt asked Mets GM Omar Minaya about his job status, and whether the team must get off to a fast start, to keep him and Jerry Manuel from being replaced, to which he said:
“I have a three year contract… Just because you have a three year contract does not mean you cannot be let go. I do know that we are coming off a bad year, and I do know that I am in New York, and New York demands winning. That being said, I’m not changing the way I’m doing my job… When I started in 2005, we were very fortunate to turn things around. Look, things were pretty bleak in 2004 and 2003… I am not going to change my way. I’m going to tell Jerry, ‘Go out and do your job the best way you can.’ We are going to try and win as many games as we can. The bottom line is we have to get into the playoffs and we are in a division with some very good teams… As far as getting off to a good start, I’m doing my job to the best of my ability and we are going to continue to improve this club. This team that you start out with on Opening Day, you are going to make moves along the way, and one thing we have done over the years is that we have made moves and will continue to make those moves to improve this team.”
… the problem is, if omar didn’t have the parts and pieces to make a deal this off season, how is that going to be any different in a few months…
…look, here’s the reality: i would love nothing more than to see these guys bounce back, redeem themselves and win a World Championship, and i hope he’s right… but, if he isn’t, he’s toast, i think that’s pretty clear, and i’m sure he knows that by now…
To see video fo Minaya from last night’s Mets Hot Stove, watch this video on SNY.TV.
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