2009 Analysis: Cory Sullivan
Back in January, the Mets made a series of blockbuster moves to sate the hunger of disgruntled fans. First they picked up lights-out LOOGY Casey Fossum, then they brought back Argenis Reyes, before capping the excitement with the signing of Cory Sullivan.
At the time, the Mets were unaware that Jeremy Reed was part of the trade with Seattle — they were so excited and busy patting each other on the back after hoodwinking the Mariners into handing over J.J. Putz that Reed was an afterthought. Further, the person who inked Sullivan had not yet received the telegram from the department of the organization that drafted Carl Loadenthal in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft (perhaps the message was sent by Pony Express, which tends to be slower in the snowy winter months).
We assume these things because Sullivan, Reed, and Loadenthal are all essentially the same player: Read more
2009 Analysis: Gary Sheffield
Entering the 2009 season, the Mets were one slugger short of a championship lineup. They didn’t bother acquiring one during the winter because Daniel Murphy was going to hit like Wade Boggs and the Fernando Tatis – Ryan Church in right field was going to be the best seen in Flushing since the days of Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky.
But when Gary Sheffield was released outright by the Detroit Tigers, the Mets snapped him up — much to the chagrin of nearly every fan, blogger, radio personality, journalist, and pundit within earshot of Citi Field (note I said “nearly“).
After all, Gary Sheffield was a loafing, selfish, evil, degenerate senior citizen who was going to cause a major disruption in the delicate Mets’ clubhouse and poison the minds of the precocious young ballplayers. There were also fears that he would steal everyone’s wallets, molest the players’ wives, put a cap in David Wright’s head, eat the Wilpons’ babies, and otherwise completely disgrace the Mets’ brand image — all while confined to a body cast and wheelchair resulting from his first attempt to walk up the dugout steps and onto the field.
As it turned out, Sheffield was Read more
2009 Analysis: Jeremy Reed
When the Mets sent 7 players to Seattle and Cleveland last December in a three-team deal centered around J.J. Putz, Jeremy Reed was an afterthought. As it turned out, Reed had more of an impact on the Mets than the closer-turned-setup man.
Though, that wasn’t a difficult feat, considering that Read more
2009 Analysis: Angel Pagan
Flashy leadoff man or flash in the pan?
That is the $64,000 question when it comes to Angel Pagan.
At times, Angel Pagan displayed a marvelous skill set, lashing line drives to all fields, running the bases like a madman, and covering outfield ground with the ease and finesse of a veteran Gold Glover. At other times, he looked overmatched at the plate, confused in the field, and a bonehead on the bases.
No one questions Pagan’s raw talent — he has good speed, a strong arm, and a fast bat. What comes into question is everything above Angel’s neck. At age 28, and after 10 years and 900 games as a pro, one has to wonder if he’ll ever “figure it out”. Read more
2009 Analysis: Fernando Martinez
Ever since signing out of the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old in 2005, fans anxiously awaited the debut of young man touted as the next Mets superstar.
Thud.
That was the sound of “F-Mart” falling flat in his first shot at the big leagues.
However, it doesn’t mean Fernando will be a bust — quite the contrary. His 2009 MLB debut taught us quite a bit about his skill set, and suggested that he does have a future in the big leagues. The main question is, when will that future begin? Read more
2009 Analysis: Jeff Francoeur
When Jeff Francoeur was acquired from the Braves in return for Ryan Church, the immediate reaction was mixed. On the one hand, the Mets were getting a 25-year-old, high-energy outfielder who regressed for two and a half years after being considered a cornerstone player and future All-Star. On the other hand, they were giving up a right fielder who — as the statheads will confirm — was a better all-around player at the time of the trade. In other words, the Mets were giving away a known, steady quantity in return for a possible flash-in-the-pan — and at that, one that might be sitting on a cold stove.
It was a moderate-risk, high-reward gamble on Read more
2009 Analysis: Carlos Beltran
How do you evaluate a half-season of performance that was riddled with nagging injuries?
Carlos Beltran played in 81 ballgames — exactly one-half of a 162-game season. A good number of those games where played on an injured knee, so there’s some reason to believe that his numbers could have been even better.
Those numbers were pretty impressive by the way. He posted a .325 AVG, 22 doubles, 10 HR, 48 RBI, 11 SB, 47 BB, and 43 K, with a .415 OBP and .915 OPS. Had he been healthy, Beltran likely would have been among the top 10 NL hitters in most offensive categories and won another Gold Glove. But it was not to be.
Instead, the day Beltran was placed on the disabled list Read more
2009 Analysis: David Wright
Photo of David Wright by MetsToday reader Gary Sparber
Think about it: who else hits .307, leads their team in SLG, OBP, RBI, runs, hits, doubles, walks, SB, and total bases, but is judged to have a “bad” year?
But it’s true — for David Wright, 2009 was a bad year. Why? Because he put only ten balls over the fence, and we expect him to deposit three times as many beyond the dimensions of the playing field.
Yes, his fielding was way below the Gold Glove standard he set in 2008 — though, many would argue that he was undeserving of that fielding award. His RBI total was only 72, a major dropoff from the 124 RBI in 2008. But, that lower total is partially due to the fact there were 75 less runners on base (433) when he came to the plate (508 in 2008). Then again, there were an almost identical number of runners on in 2007 (428), yet he drove in 107 runs that year.
That’s an intriguing stat to me — “others batted in percentage“, or “OBI%”. As it’s described, it tells you the percentage of runners a batter drives in. So Wright’s OBI% in 2009 was 14.32 — a full 3.5 points below his previous years’ totals of 17.91 and 17.99. Does that mean he was less clutch this past year?
Hard to say. Part of the reason for the drop in OBI was his concurrent drop in homeruns — it’s hard to drive in runners from first with a single (19 of his 39 doubles and 2 of his 3 triples came with the bases empty). Had he hit his usual 30+ homers, that’s an extra 20 RBI right there, putting his RBI total at 92, and there’s a good chance at least half of those would’ve been with at least one runner on — meaning, he likely would have reached that milestone 100 RBI figure.
But that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? Why did David Wright fail to hit the ball over the fence more than a dozen times?
The answer isn’t as simple as a glitch in his swing, though that’s part of it. More likely, it’s a combination of Read more
2009 Analysis: Wilson Valdez
When the backup (Ramon Martinez) to the backup (Alex Cora) went down, the Mets found themselves hunting the scrap yards for a fill-in at shortstop who had Major League skills. They found Wilson Valdez and, all things considered, could’ve done a lot worse. In fact, they DID do a lot worse — Angel Berroa was on the roster for about a week.
The 31-year-old Valdez displayed excellent defensive skills — including a rifle for an arm — but not much with the bat. He was fundamentally sound in the field and on the basepaths, and gave good effort. Though he played almost exclusively at shortstop for the Mets, he’s equally adept on either side of the second base bag, and can handle both third base and the outfield in a pinch. Whether he’ll ever Read more
2009 Analysis: Fernando Tatis
It was a wonderful story in 2008 when Fernando Tatis came back from the baseball dead, found his way back to the big leagues, was a key cog for the Mets in the second half of the season, and earned money to build a church in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris.
The Mets front office was obviously drunk with the feel-good story when they re-signed Tatis to a one-year, $1.7M contract for 2009 — a mere drop in the bucket for the NL’s highest payroll, but nonetheless an extreme price to pay for a 30-something utilityman with average all-around skills. As with most of their signings, the Mets were bidding against themselves, as Tatis was re-upped before he had a chance to file for free agency. Read more
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