First of all, Mark sent me this. In addition to being hilarious, it's also topical: Frankie blew a 2-run save opportunity and the Mets would go on to get hammered 12-7, courtesy of a DeRosa HBP with the bases loaded and then a Pujols grand slam. Both those guys are on my fantasy team, so I mark that as a win for Marcus.*
Angels 4, Chicago 5
I really disagree with Vlad Guerrero being in the lineup at all tonight, and even more so batting 4th. Vlad, in particular, has always been a rhythm hitter, and generally needs some at-bats to start hitting again after injury. Bringing him directly back to the majors and batting him cleanup against a hot time like the White Sox is monumentally stupid. Granted, he had a decent night, going 1-3 with a walk, but his AB's looked pretty horrible, even for Vlad. Rehab assignments exist for a reason.
I'm also flummoxed by John Lackey's pitching. Two of Chicago's runs came from Gordon Beckham, a rookie who is okay, I guess, but certainly not good enough to be responsible for half of the runs on your linescore. He gave up two solo homers, one to Beckham and another to Carlos "So Overrated" Quentin. Quentin, by the way, is batting .227, so he's probably not even overrated at this point. He's just bad. (Yeah, small sample size, only 50 games this season. Big whoop. His OPS two years ago was .647.) Lackey managed to mix in 7 strikeouts with his 113 pitches.
Players who should've been in the lineup today: Howie Kendrick/Sean Rodriguez and Mike Napoli. Jeff Mathis does not provide the defensive skill necessary to make up for his limp noodle bat.
Texas is still playing, down 2-0 in the 4th. Rooting for Oakland is a strange feeling, but I'd really like to see the Angels in the playoffs.
*Different girlfriends, different NL East associations. There was a time I owned a Mets hat, but I've learned to appreciate the Phillies, mostly for defeating the Dodgers last season. Plus, Philly's much nicer than Queens.
Showing posts with label mets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mets. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Winter Meetings
I hate the term "hot stove league" for many reasons, none more relevant than ESPN's incessant use of the term.
The winter meetings are ongoing on Las Vegas. The Yankees have signed CC Sabathia and seem close to a deal with AJ Burnett, while the Mets took Frankie and former Seattle closer JJ Putz to their new bullpen in Citi Field. As expected, the action has picked up with CC off the market.
Mark Teixeira has received some rather large offers from the Nationals and Orioles, stupidly high offers which are going to screw up what might have been a reasonable winter. Baseball needs a pay scale...the country is in a recession and the Yankees are paying Sabathia an average of $110,000 for every inning he pitches. It's dimwitted, and stupid owners are endorsing these ridiculous salaries. You'd think the players union would take exception to certain players making so much more than others who provide similar performance, but unions haven't been about protecting the average worker/player for half a century now.
I think Teixeira is now debating a couple factors:
1.) Is it worth playing for a crappy team for more money?
2.) Is it worth playing for a crappy team which is more geographically desirable?
3.) Is it worth playing for a good team for less money?
I honestly don't think Mark Teixeira gives a shit about the quality of the team he's on. Players who care more about winning than dollars don't sign Scott Boras as their agent. I think Tex will take the largest contract, period, be it from the Red Sox or the Nationals. Texas fans called him "Captain Douchebag" for a reason, and I think it will become immediately obvious that Mark cares more about making big money than winning championships. And frankly, that's fine with me. I just wish he wouldn't lie about his intentions.
The Mets will have an improved bullpen, but I still don't understand the Putz signing. Putz has had two good season among several mediocre ones, and a truly bad, injury-shortened season last year. Why they decided he was a good investment at this point is beyond me, but hey, it's the Mets. Francisco will enjoy his time in Queens, right up until the point he blows a save against the Phillies and gets skewered by pissed Long Islanders. On the bright side, he'll be facing NL hitters. Good luck, Frankie.
The Angels are likely looking at Manny Ramirez and Adam Dunn as options right now. I wouldn't be opposed to giving Manny a large 2-year contract (2/$60M) with a heavily qualified third year option, probably based on performance metrics. I don't have a problem with Manny's bat or even his fielding (which, admittedly, sucks), but I do have a problem with his late-season shutdown shenanigans with Boston. I think Scioscia/Hunter will keep him in line, but I don't want him on a roster for three years if he's going to turn into post-2007 Red Sox Manny when he feels like napping instead of playing.
Adam Dunn is a nice option. Everybody's afraid of strikeouts, but his OBP still would've led the 2008 Angels sans-Teixeira. He hits for a lot of power and walks, two things nobody not named Mark Teixeira has done in an Angels uniform since Tim Salmon retired. He's a bad fielder also and would fit well into the DH or 1B slots, depending on how adept Kendry Morales has gotten at playing the outfield.
Either way, I'm disappointed-but not surprised-at this winter so far. Every year the Angels promise a difference-maker, an impact bat to protect the near-retirement Vlad Guerrero, and every year, money is instead wasted on mediocre (Hunter) to poor (Gary Matthews) hitters.
The winter meetings are ongoing on Las Vegas. The Yankees have signed CC Sabathia and seem close to a deal with AJ Burnett, while the Mets took Frankie and former Seattle closer JJ Putz to their new bullpen in Citi Field. As expected, the action has picked up with CC off the market.
Mark Teixeira has received some rather large offers from the Nationals and Orioles, stupidly high offers which are going to screw up what might have been a reasonable winter. Baseball needs a pay scale...the country is in a recession and the Yankees are paying Sabathia an average of $110,000 for every inning he pitches. It's dimwitted, and stupid owners are endorsing these ridiculous salaries. You'd think the players union would take exception to certain players making so much more than others who provide similar performance, but unions haven't been about protecting the average worker/player for half a century now.
I think Teixeira is now debating a couple factors:
1.) Is it worth playing for a crappy team for more money?
2.) Is it worth playing for a crappy team which is more geographically desirable?
3.) Is it worth playing for a good team for less money?
I honestly don't think Mark Teixeira gives a shit about the quality of the team he's on. Players who care more about winning than dollars don't sign Scott Boras as their agent. I think Tex will take the largest contract, period, be it from the Red Sox or the Nationals. Texas fans called him "Captain Douchebag" for a reason, and I think it will become immediately obvious that Mark cares more about making big money than winning championships. And frankly, that's fine with me. I just wish he wouldn't lie about his intentions.
The Mets will have an improved bullpen, but I still don't understand the Putz signing. Putz has had two good season among several mediocre ones, and a truly bad, injury-shortened season last year. Why they decided he was a good investment at this point is beyond me, but hey, it's the Mets. Francisco will enjoy his time in Queens, right up until the point he blows a save against the Phillies and gets skewered by pissed Long Islanders. On the bright side, he'll be facing NL hitters. Good luck, Frankie.
The Angels are likely looking at Manny Ramirez and Adam Dunn as options right now. I wouldn't be opposed to giving Manny a large 2-year contract (2/$60M) with a heavily qualified third year option, probably based on performance metrics. I don't have a problem with Manny's bat or even his fielding (which, admittedly, sucks), but I do have a problem with his late-season shutdown shenanigans with Boston. I think Scioscia/Hunter will keep him in line, but I don't want him on a roster for three years if he's going to turn into post-2007 Red Sox Manny when he feels like napping instead of playing.
Adam Dunn is a nice option. Everybody's afraid of strikeouts, but his OBP still would've led the 2008 Angels sans-Teixeira. He hits for a lot of power and walks, two things nobody not named Mark Teixeira has done in an Angels uniform since Tim Salmon retired. He's a bad fielder also and would fit well into the DH or 1B slots, depending on how adept Kendry Morales has gotten at playing the outfield.
Either way, I'm disappointed-but not surprised-at this winter so far. Every year the Angels promise a difference-maker, an impact bat to protect the near-retirement Vlad Guerrero, and every year, money is instead wasted on mediocre (Hunter) to poor (Gary Matthews) hitters.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Disappointment
Lakers 92, Celtics 131
I had a pretty lengthy recap all set to go here, but I've decided against it. I was going to explain why the Lakers lost and why they should have won two of the previous games this series. I was going to have a serious chat about Gasol being a power forward and not a center, and describe the fallacies of jump shooting. I was going to yell at Phil Jackson for his idea of perimeter defense. I was also going to complain, at quite some length, about the Lakers' free throw shooting.
But I'm not doing any of that.
Celtics fans, enjoy the championship, because it's the last you're going to see in a while. The real impact players on your team, the Big Three, are old. The team as a whole slumped hard through the first two rounds of the playoffs, and without home court advantage would have lost to the lowly Hawks. While the whole league grows younger, one Rondo and one Powe does not offset the effects of time on Garnett's jump shooting. That was his first good game in the Finals.
Meanwhile, the Lakers next year are young. Very young. Bynum. Gasol. Ariza. Hell, we forget that Kobe's not yet 30. Lamar's not yet 30. The Lakers of 2009-2011 should be perennial Finals contenders, and I suspect we'll see a couple parades down Figueroa because, well, look what they did this year without their starting center. Without Ariza the whole year. In an incredibly strong Western Conference.
During Chicago's MJ dynasty years, they had to lose to the Pistons before winning it all.
Today's Celtics are yesteryears Pistons.
Angels 6, Mets 1
John Lackey is really good, and so is Johann Santana. But, for some reason, Santana's never been the same ace against the Angels as he is against seemingly everyone else. It also helps that the Angels have seen him plenty of times thanks to his time with the Twins, while the Mets have never faced Lackey. Interestingly, Santana's Twins teammate Torii Hunter went 2-2 with a pair of doubles and a walk against his former staff ace.
Either way, the Angels have now scored 6 runs on consecutive nights for the first time in, like, forever, and should have had more but for an unusual play in the eighth. Jeff Mathis hit the ball directly at Mets shortstop Easley, who got bowled over by Gary Matthews breaking for third. The ball rolled into center field with everyone safe. For some reason, the umpires decided that GMJ had interfered with the fielder, which he hadn't, and that Mathis had earned a hit on the play, which he hadn't. It pulled Kendrick back from home to third and took the 7th run off the board, but it is what it is.
Scot Shields is good. He threw 1.1 hitless innings to close out an excellent game by Lackey.
Angels and Mets face off again tonight at 7:05 PST.
I had a pretty lengthy recap all set to go here, but I've decided against it. I was going to explain why the Lakers lost and why they should have won two of the previous games this series. I was going to have a serious chat about Gasol being a power forward and not a center, and describe the fallacies of jump shooting. I was going to yell at Phil Jackson for his idea of perimeter defense. I was also going to complain, at quite some length, about the Lakers' free throw shooting.
But I'm not doing any of that.
Celtics fans, enjoy the championship, because it's the last you're going to see in a while. The real impact players on your team, the Big Three, are old. The team as a whole slumped hard through the first two rounds of the playoffs, and without home court advantage would have lost to the lowly Hawks. While the whole league grows younger, one Rondo and one Powe does not offset the effects of time on Garnett's jump shooting. That was his first good game in the Finals.
Meanwhile, the Lakers next year are young. Very young. Bynum. Gasol. Ariza. Hell, we forget that Kobe's not yet 30. Lamar's not yet 30. The Lakers of 2009-2011 should be perennial Finals contenders, and I suspect we'll see a couple parades down Figueroa because, well, look what they did this year without their starting center. Without Ariza the whole year. In an incredibly strong Western Conference.
During Chicago's MJ dynasty years, they had to lose to the Pistons before winning it all.
Today's Celtics are yesteryears Pistons.
Angels 6, Mets 1
John Lackey is really good, and so is Johann Santana. But, for some reason, Santana's never been the same ace against the Angels as he is against seemingly everyone else. It also helps that the Angels have seen him plenty of times thanks to his time with the Twins, while the Mets have never faced Lackey. Interestingly, Santana's Twins teammate Torii Hunter went 2-2 with a pair of doubles and a walk against his former staff ace.
Either way, the Angels have now scored 6 runs on consecutive nights for the first time in, like, forever, and should have had more but for an unusual play in the eighth. Jeff Mathis hit the ball directly at Mets shortstop Easley, who got bowled over by Gary Matthews breaking for third. The ball rolled into center field with everyone safe. For some reason, the umpires decided that GMJ had interfered with the fielder, which he hadn't, and that Mathis had earned a hit on the play, which he hadn't. It pulled Kendrick back from home to third and took the 7th run off the board, but it is what it is.
Scot Shields is good. He threw 1.1 hitless innings to close out an excellent game by Lackey.
Angels and Mets face off again tonight at 7:05 PST.
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