Daily Archives: February 2, 2010
To hear Mets 1B prospect Ike Davis being interviewed at MLB’s Career Development Program, check out this video at MLB.com.
According to this chart from Amazin Avenue, the Mets spent more time in first place than any other team in the NL East, since 2006.
Anthony DeRosa of Hot Foot is asking fans to submit ideas for a new Mets Manifesto, such as, “Start a Fan Committee to oversee decisions and allow the people who keep the team in business to have a voice in the process.”
…i thought that was actually one of the big criticisms, in that the team pays TOO MUCH attention to public opinion, basing decisions on what is only popular, not what is necessary…
In a post to his blog for Newsday, David Lennon asks, “Who’s to Blame for J.J. Putz?”
Marty Noble of MLB.com answers questions from Mets fans about Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, David Wright’s power, payroll, the Royals pitching staff, and how this year’s team compares to 1999.
In a post to his blog for New York Magazine, Will Leitch is hoping Reyes returns healthy.
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Today at 2:30 pm, on the MLB Network, Puerto Rico will take on Fernando Martinez and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean World Series.
…thanks to JR for the heads up…
Martinez is batting .191 with one extra base hit in 14 games for Escogido during the regular season, but is batting .387 in the post season.
By the way, Tobi Stoner was 4–2 with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts for Escogido.
Bobby Valentine took questions from fans at the Japan Society last Thursday.
“It’s not as though you don’t go back to the girl that dumped you, but it takes a little while,” Valentine said, when asked about ever managing the Mets again, according to Shrine Castle. “It takes a little convincing.”
In October last year, I wrote:
“The problem is, though Ownership and Omar Minaya like him very much, I think Valentine may be too much for this administration. I sense the team feels his personality and his presence, and his vision, and the stamp with which he’d put on the organization, are more than they are ready to take on right now… which is a shame. From what I can gather, the Mets see Valentine as more of a short-term solution, a Billy Martin-type band-aide, who can come in to change the climate, but who is not someone a franchise can build a sustainable program around.”
In a MetsBlog poll last summer, 97 percent of fans said they still have a positive view of Valentine.
In a post to his blog for ESPN.com, Buster Olney explains why Oliver Perez could be the key to the Mets rotation in 2010, saying, “His success or failure could be a barometer for how the team fares in 2010.”
…well, i think that was the whole reason why the Mets needed to get a bonafide No. 2 starting pitcher this off season… or, at the very least, one additional known performer… this way, that guy, plus Johan Santana, would mean just one of perez, Mike Pelfrey or John Maine could be considered the linchpin of the rotation, and so long as at least one of those three stepped up the rotation would be passable… now, it’s santana, and three or four gigantic question marks, meaning you could say perez will be barometer, like olney says, but you can just as easily say the same for pelfrey and maine…
…i am oddly confident in pelfrey… i just feel like he’s ready to push up in to that next level of performance, as last year was his second full season, he has 80 or so starts, and this is usually the time things start to click for pitchers his age and with his experience…
In mid-January, I was able to talk with Pelfrey about a variety of issues.
Here is an excerpt, in which we talk about defense, command and 2010:
Matthew Cerrone: It’s pretty clear, though I am sure you will not admit to this, but, if the team’s defense was better last season, I think with the type of game that you play, you would have had better results last season. Do you look at it that way? Or, is it all just about executing pitches?
Mike Pelfrey: Honestly, you just take the ball and you worry about executing pitches… There are times when you’re on the mound and you make a pitch and a guy hits it, and you think someone should have made that play, but he didn’t. But, what are you going to do? Are you going to sit there and pout, or are you going to worry about making the next pitch? You have to change and worry about the next pitch. Defense is obviously important to me, because I don’t strike out a lot of top guys. I want the hitter to put the ball in play, and I want to use my sinker, and get guys out that way. I don’t sit there and think I need to strike guys out. I think if I did that I would throw so many more pitches because I would try to be almost too perfect… I want to keep the ball down. It’s something that I struggled with last year. My location wasn’t as great as it could have been.
Matt Cerrone: Why does that it happen? Why do you have really good location command one season, or one inning, and then all of a sudden, boom, it’s gone?
Mike Pelfrey: It’s not the right mindset to have, but sometimes I went out there and tried to be too perfect or do more than I was capable of. I think things weigh on you. You can go out there and you think, ‘I have to be perfect today.’ I can’t give up very many runs if I want to win this game, which is ultimately what you want to do. You want the team to win. So, you try to go out there and be perfect and do way too much more than you’re capable of. Anybody that plays the game, when you try to do that, it’s doesn’t work out. 99 percent of the time that you fail it’s because you’re just over trying. I think when that happens, you need to back off. When you back off and just let your ability take over and you’re prepared, it works out.
Matt Cerrone: Of course, but, that’s probably easier said than done, right?
Mike Pelfrey: It is… Man, I had an awful year.
Matt Cerrone: OK, but, you really didn’t. I mean, statistically, if you look at it, you’ll see you really were a victim of the defense behind you… not to disrespect the players behind you, but, let me put it this way, the outs were there, you just didn’t get them. It’s interesting how it can work that way. Obviously in review, you’re thinking you had a rough season. I see that. So, why do you feel that you did? How do you judge your season, and what do you think you need to improve on?
Mike Pelfrey: I can’t control what goes on behind me. So, my thing is: I want to go out there and I want to throw over 200 innings… I want to have an ERA under 4.00, you know, closer to 3.00, and I did none of those things last year. I didn’t reach any of my goals… So, at the end of the year, you look at that and you say, ‘I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that.’ I set my goals, my expectations, they’re very high, and I didn’t reach any of those, so, to me, I had a bad year. And so, I went back and I analyzed the first part of the seasons, you know, you go home in the off season, and it’s hard to stomach, it was such a bad year, and you start to ask questions: What do I need to do to improve? How can I improve? I went through that process. In looking at it, I think I tried to do too much. I tried to do more than I was capable of and I got myself into trouble. I need to slow the game down and worry about one pitch at a time and not worrying about anything else that goes on.
Matthew Cerrone: How much does your catcher help with that?
Mike Pelfrey: A lot… I think the biggest thing would be when the catcher suggests something, and you trust him… you know, there is no second thought on anything. The guy puts the sign down, and that’s exactly what I was thinking. That’s what I want. I like to have that connection.
Thank you to SMG Transcription for transcribing this interview.
Ken Gurnick of MLB.com says the Dodgers watched free-agent RHP Chien-Ming Wang and determined he is at least three months away from pitching in a game.
Last week, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com said the Mets have been monitoring the progress of Wang, who has had at least three or four teams show interest in him.
Wang made just nine starts and 12 appearances last year for the Yankees, going 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA in 42 innings pitched, before having season-ending shoulder surgery in July.
Yesterday, the Reds acquired infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named later from the A’s for OF Wily Tavares and infielder Adam Rosales, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
Later, the Reds signed free-agent SS-2B Orlando Cabrera to a one-year, $3 million deal.
Tavares will earn $4 million in 2010, while Miles will earn $2.7 million.
…i have had several Mets fans e-mail me wondering if this opens the door for a deal that could send Angel Pagan, a pitcher and Luis Castillo to the Reds, who need a center fielder, in return for either Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang, and Brandon Phillips…
…i have no idea if the Mets and Reds are still talking… but, from what i can tell, the Reds are looking forward to starting Drew Stubbs in center field, and also see him as their leadoff hitter… there is also buzz suggesting they’ll try to sign free-agent OF Jonny Gomes as insurance… it doesn’t seem like pagan fits in, though i suppose he could start in left field, unless the Reds are also committed to Wladimir Balentien… i don’t know, i am just not sure how the above moves signal a potential deal with the Mets… if anything, it suggests otherwise, in that the Reds were able to go out and fill their remaining needs while not increasing payroll…
…i would love to be wrong, though…
Buster Olney of ESPN.com says free-agent C Yorvit Torrelaba hoped to discuss a contract with the Mets, “but to this point, the Mets have indicated they don’t have any money available to make something happen.”
…that is peculiar, since just a few days ago they had simultaneous offers out to Joel Pineiro and Bengie Molina, which would have totaled around $13 million next season… which would suggest they were comfortable parting with all of that cash, since it’s possible players might have accepted… so, it would stand to reason that that money would still be available, unless the team has it appropriated for something yet to come… or, they have the money, and just don’t want to spend it on torrealba… or, they’re suddenly out of money, like olney says…
Additionally, John Morosi of FoxSports.com says it looks like the Twins or Mariners will end up signing free-agent LHP Jarrod Washburn.
According to Morosi, “A source doubts the Mets have a real chance at Washburn.”
…i know no one who doesn’t think washburn will sign some place in the mid– to north-west, as he would like to remain close to his family in Wisconsin…
The Rockies are no longer pursuing free-agent second basemen Orlando Hudson and Felipe Lopez, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.
Yesterday, Bill Ladson of MLB.com said the Indians and another AL team – not the Twins – are all interested in Hudson, ‘who wants to sign with the Nationals, real bad,’ but not for a discount.
Lastly, the Dodgers and free-agent OF Reed Johnson agreed to a one-year deal, according Dylan Hernandez from the Los Angeles Times.
In a report for the New York Post, Kevin Kernan writes:
“For two hours yesterday, I watched Jose Reyes, testing his surgically repaired right leg time and again during the strenuous workout. There were 90-foot dashes; explosive 10-yard sprints, on which Reyes would grab a tennis ball on one bounce; ground balls hit to his left and right; high choppers where he had to fly across the diamond; weight-lifting; dynamic stretching; core exercises and hitting. Test after test, and each time Reyes came through with a huge smile.”
…there is no question he looks strong…
“I’ll be ready in 2010,” Reyes told Kernan. “Be there, it’s going to be a show.”
…i am really looking forward to seeing jose on field… i recently talked with people who know him well, and they say last season was very difficult for him, but it helped focus jose, and it got him realizing who he is and what he’s about… they say he wants to do more media, so people can know more about him, he wants to return to being the exciting, high-energy player from 2006, and he is very focused and serious about helping this team win a World Series… i hope they’re right… i look forward to the show…
“I’m happy because I’m able to do what I do, running without any problem, without pain,” Reyes told SNY after the workout in Garden City. “Before I got the surgery, I always had some pain there, but now I’m free to run, so that’s made me feel very happy… When spring training is finished, I’m going to be even better.”
To read more quotes from Reyes, as well as from Paul LoDuca, who is working out at the same facility this off season, read Kernan’s report, here.
To see video of Reyes during the workout, check out this video and interview on SNY.TV.
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