2009 Analysis: Darren O’Day
Hey! Darren O’Day wasn’t on the team by Game 162 — in fact he was gone before the end of April. So what the heck is he doing as part of the 2009 analysis?
It’s a sore spot, that’s why — and O’Day’s brief tenure as a New York Met is a symbol of the organization’s shortsighted, knee-jerk “strategies” of building and maintaining the 25-man roster.
What this post should have been was a congratulatory note to Omar Minaya and his scouting staff for having the boldness and acuity to pluck Darren O’Day in the Rule 5 Draft. The acquisition could have been a soothing bright spot amidst a dark year of disappointment. But even when the Mets did something right, they found a way to undo it.
O’Day earned a bullpen spot on the strength of a sparkling Read more
2009 Analysis: Ken Takahashi
Ken Takahashi is the lefthanded version of Elmer Dessens: a well-traveled, international man of intrigue, with ordinary stuff, who won’t embarrass himself — but won’t have much of an impact on a championship club, either.
The Mets were in dire need of another lefthander for the Jerry Manuel Matchup Strategy of late innings management, but it turned out that the 40-year-old Japanese southpaw pitched better against righties (.156 batting average against) than vs. lefties (.302). That put a major wrench into Manuel’s plans, and made it difficult for the push-button manager to figure out how to use Takahashi.
In some ways, Takahashi resembles Darren Oliver — another lefthanded starter turned reliever who pitched better against righthanded hitters. In 2009, Takahashi’s role was stopgap — pitching for the big league club mainly by default — no other options were available. Will he be with the Mets come spring training in 2010? Not likely, but you never know with this organization.
Carlos Beltran to the Disabled List
Just got word that Carlos Beltran’s MRI did not look good, and he’s headed to the DL.
Fernando Martinez reportedly is on the way back up to take his place on the roster.
In addition, Wilson Valdez has been DFA’d and Ken Takahashi demoted to AAA Buffalo. Taking their places will be lefthanded pitcher Pat Misch and and RHP Elmer Dessens.
Adding Misch and Dessens to the bullpen makes sense, since Dessens has been pitching well as a middle reliever in AAA (as loyal MT reader/commenter Micalpalyn has noted on several occasions), and Misch can’t be any worse than Takahashi as a LOOGY. Misch was used as a starter and reliever by the San Francisco Giants prior to being released by that club, and is one of those crafty lefties (meaning, don’t expect him to overpower anyone with a 95+ MPH heater) who relies on pinpoint control. Dessens is a longtime MLB veteran swingman who survives on guile and luck. Both arms are a welcome addition to the bullpen, whose main three men are about to pass out from overuse.
Now what about F-Mart? Does he become the Mets’ starting centerfielder? Or does he play RF while Ryan Church shifts to center? Church has played 114 MLB games in centerfield. Otherwise, it’s Jeremy Reed’s time to shine.
Housecleaning in Buffalo
Some strange goings on in Buffalo with the AAA Bisons. Read more
Jon Switzer Promoted
The Mets have promoted LHP Jon Switzer from Buffalo (hat tip to MetsBlog).
If you remember, Switzer was the guy that Read more
Perez Placed On DL
Omar Minaya announced that Oliver Perez would be placed on the disabled list with “tendinitis in the knee”. (Ha), and that Jonathan Niese would take his place on the 25-man roster.
He also announced that Niese would start on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates instead of Ken Takahashi. Thank goodness someone in the organization realized starting Takahashi was a bad idea.
Interestingly, Minaya had a giddy, gleeful look on his face when he approached the microphone to address the press. Was he pleased with himself for putting one over on the late-shift administrative assistant processing DL requests over at the MLB offices?
Oliver Perez in the Bullpen
So it’s official: Oliver Perez will be “working out his issues” in the bullpen.
40-year-old rookie Ken Takahashi will take Perez’s spot in the starting rotation, at least for this Friday evening’s game.
Though Takahashi was a starter in Japan last year, he was conditioned as a short reliever in spring training this year and pitched 11 innings through 6 games in AAA this year. I imagine he can throw 50, maybe 60 pitches. He did throw 55 pitches in a game with Buffalo earlier this season. Under perfect circumstances, that could get him through the fifth inning.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel says he will use Oliver Perez in both long-relief / mopup situations and in critical points of a close game. He cited Jon Garland (as a 21-year-old in 2001) and James Baldwin (1998) as previous examples of struggling starters he had sent to the bullpen in the past to work things out.
There was no official word on whether Nelson Figueroa, Dillon Gee, Jonathan Niese, Brandon Knight, or Pedro Martinez were considered.
I refuse to pass judgment or state an opinion on any of this information. The Mets obviously know what they’re doing.
Mets Desperate for a LOOGY
Over the winter, the Mets succeeded in overhauling their bullpen. Whether the change of faces will make a difference remains to be seen, but nearly every reliever on the team this time last year has been replaced.
Every one, that is, except for Pedro Feliciano, the Mets’ lone lefty.
Once piece missing from the overhaul, though, was the acquisition of a second lefty, or Lefthanded One Out Guy (LOOGY), to help out Feliciano. An extra lefty is especially necessary in the NL East, where the Braves and Phillies both send up dangerous lefthanded hitters.
Thus far, the Mets have auditioned Jon Switzer, Ron Villone, Casey Fossum, Valerio De Los Santos, Heriberto Rueles, and Tom Martin. Today they begin the tryout of 40-year-old Japanese hurler Ken Takahashi — presumably as a test for the upcoming weekend series against the lefty-heavy Phils. The Mets are desperate to find a somewhat reliable lefthanded option to team with their incumbent LOOGY.
But there’s a small problem: Pedro Feliciano is a shaky option himself.
Over his career, Feliciano has done a good job of retiring the Phillies’ top LH hitters — Ryan Howard has a .190 AVG against him and Chase Utley has hit .174. Feliciano has also done fairly well against switch-hitters Shane Victorino (.071) and Jimmy Rollins (.278). But, the rest of the current Phillies who have faced him before are hitting .500.
That’s not a huge deal, though, since there are a lot of “1-for-2s” there. A larger sample size may change those numbers drastically for the better.
What IS a huge deal is that the 2008 Phillies team hit .370 (10-for-33) against Feliciano, with a 1.040 OPS. Also alarming is the fact that in 2008, the first batter facing Feliciano hit .311 with a .400 OBP. That’s not good news for someone who often comes into a game with runners on base.
Unfortunately, things don’t get better for Feliciano when he starts an inning. Leadoff hitters were 13-for-33 (.333) with a .395 OBP and a .959 OPS.
Thus far this year, Feliciano is doing pretty well, with 10 Ks in 7 innings, and holding opposing batters to a .222 batting average (lefties: .176, righties: .300). He had a similarly strong start last year, posting a 0.97 ERA and 9 Ks in 9 IP in April. After that, though, his performance was inconsistent.
So while some believe the Mets need a secondary lefty for the bullpen, the reality may be that they need a primary lefty.
Link Roundup
Anthony Rieber of Newsday alerts Carlos Beltran to the fact that his dad’s senior softball league does not allow sliding, but the National League does.
Andrew Vazzano of TheRopolitans regurgitates a quick Q&A on Ken Takahashi he did with BaseballDigest.com’s Japanese specialist Patrick Newman. Guess what? Takahashi was NOT particularly strong against LH hitters. Swell.
Wallace Matthews tells the tale of the two players known as Ryan Church.
Former Mets batboy Matt Tracy indicts Omar Minaya for the Mets’ struggles this year. He also exposes Jerry Manuel’s ignorance of opposing players, and still doesn’t see the logic of firing Willie Randolph (join the club).
Mets Sign Ken Takahashi
Finally, the Mets have found a LOOGY to help Pedro Feliciano shoulder the load — they’ve signed the recently released Ken Takahashi.
OK, in reality, there’s little if any chance of Takahashi going north. Most likely, he joins what may be an all-lefty bullpen in Buffalo, hanging in the bullpen with the likes of Casey Fossum, Adam Bostick, Jon Switzer, and Heriberto Ruelas.
On the one hand, if he does eventually get promoted to the big club, he could have a stint of success, based on the fact that no one has seen him before. In a LOOGY role, that stint could be spread out for a couple months. On the other hand, Takahashi is my age, meaning he’s too damn old to be an MLB rookie (though I’d love to put him on my Sunday league roster).
For a full analysis on Takahashi, including a video, see NPBTracker.
In related LOOGY news, the Dodgers signed Will Ohman on a minor league contract (for about a million less than the Mets guaranteed Tim Redding) and the Rangers released Jimmy Gobble.
Despite Ohman’s success against lefties over the past few seasons, the Mets were never interested.
Though Gobble has now been released twice this spring, neither of his previous employers face Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez 19 times a year. I still believe this turkey is worth bringing aboard … certainly he’ll be more useful than Fernando Nieve or Elmer Dessens.
Speaking of … Dessens and Nieve are still in camp, while Nelson Figueroa is not? Where’s the logic in that? Figgy was one of the most impressive pitchers during the WBC, facing some of the best hitters in the world in a tournament that was taken very seriously by everyone other than the USA.
Put another way: Figgy fared better than Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt in March, yet was given a ticket to triple-A so that room could be made for Elmer Friggin Dessens. Go figure.
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