Considering Adam LaRoche
Early in the offseason, there was some mild buzz that the Mets might be interested in free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche. However, there’s been absolutely nothing to suggest he is on Omar Minaya’s radar since at least early December (possibly earlier) — most likely because he was looking for too much money over too many years.
But, things have changed for the lefty slugger.
LaRoche’s top suitor, the San Francisco Giants, grew tired of his contract demands and chose instead to sign Aubrey Huff to a one-year deal. Huff joins fellow free agent pickup Mark DeRosa and incumbents Pablo Sandoval and Juan Uribe to provide the Giants with four solid possibilities for the infield corners — and effectively eliminating the acquisition of LaRoche. And with that, the market for LaRoche has suddenly shrunken — considerably. Read more
Ron Swoboda on Outfield Play
Before Endy Chavez, “The Catch” in Mets history referred to the diving snare made by Ron Swoboda in the 1969 World Series.
I had the great pleasure of talking to Ron about that catch and how he turned himself — through hard work, pride, and dedication — into a Major League outfielder capable of making one of the most legendary catches in the history of New York baseball.
If you are an outfielder, a parent of an outfielder, or a baseball coach, you must listen to this podcast, because Ron provides plenty of tips and techniques on how to play the outfield — and he pulls no punches (there’s one part where he criticizes Shane Victorino!).
You can listen to the podcast through iTunes or at the OnBaseball.com site here:
Ron Swoboda on Outfield Play
Mets Game 64: Loss to Orioles
Orioles 5 Mets 4
Not even Frankie Rodriguez is immune to the failure disease permeating the New York Mets.
Given a one-run lead to hold, K-Rod allowed two hits, walked two batters, and allowed two runs to hand the victory to the Baltimore Orioles in the bottom of the ninth.
The tying run scored on a bases-loaded walk, and the winning run scampered home on an Aubrey Huff line drive single to right field.
K-Rod’s second blown save of the week wasted a brilliant outing by Livan Hernandez, who had thrown 7 solid innings of two-run ball.
Notes
I’ve decided to view Mets games in the same way I do college basketball — which is, don’t bother watching until the final minutes, when the game is ultimately decided.
Was it me, or was Carlos Beltran loafing on a ground ball to shortstop before Robert Andino threw the ball away, allowing Beltran to proceed to second base? I could swear he let up about halfway down the line. But, I nitpick. Beltran WAS running hard on his two stolen bases, after all.
David Wright went 0 for 4, snapping an 11-game hitting streak. He was taking some very big swings and producing a lot of cool breezes.
Alex Cora was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base out of the leadoff spot. His OBP is now .387. His career OBP in 11 years of MLB service is .315, which begs the question: is this a fluke, or is he simply a really, really late bloomer?
Aubrey Huff was 3-for-5 with a run and the game-winning RBI in his final audition for Omar Minaya. However, his glovework at 1B was less than mediocre.
Pedro Feliciano was brought in to face the lefties in the 8th. He got a groundout from Nick Markakis but Huff ripped a double off of him. Huff eventually scored with Sean Green on the mound.
Next Mets Game
The Mets come home to host the Tampa Bay No Longer Devilish Rays. Flamethrower Fernando Nieve faces Andy Sonnanstine in his Flushing hideaway on Friday. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.
Mets Game 63: Loss to Orioles
Orioles 6 Mets 4
The Mets were behind from the beginning, and never once took a lead.
Tim Redding allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in his 5 1/3 innings of work, but left the game with the score tied at four all. Bobby Parnell did a stellar job of keeping it that way and handing off the ball to Pedro Feliciano. However, Feliciano did not fare as well, giving up a single and a homerun to the first two hitters he faced (both lefties) in the seventh inning to give Baltimore a 6-4 lead.
Notes
The Orioles’ 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 8-for-11 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. Only slightly outdone were the Mets’ 5-6-7 hitters, who went 7-for-12 with 2 RBI and scored all four runs.
Matt Wieters hit his first Major League homerun off Redding in the second inning. Remember it, as it will be the answer to a trivia question some day. That kid is going to be a star.
During the third inning, the SNY crew questioned 3B coach Razor Shines on a variety of subjects. I found it a bit annoying that the camera shot was almost exclusively on Shines during the entire interview, rather than on the action on the field. While in this particular case we didn’t miss anything, that’s not the point. I turn on the TV to watch the game, not watch the third-base coach give an interview. Why can’t they have a split screen, or have a small shot of Shines in an inset on the screen? Same goes for the Kevin Burkhardt segments.
In the fourth inning, Ryan Church stepped on home plate as he successfully push bunted for a hit. Both Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen were sure to let us know that a batter “is out if he steps on home plate”. While that’s technically true, it wasn’t explained correctly. The rule is that a batter has to have both feet inside the batter’s box when he makes contact with the ball. It doesn’t matter whether or not his foot touches home plate — it matters that it was out of the batter’s box when his bat made contact with the ball. Shame on Keith and Gary, particularly since they threw out the question, “Do you think most players know that rule?” Hey guys, zip it up unless YOU know the rule.
For those interested, here is the rule from the Official MLB Rules:
6.06
A batter is out for illegal action when –
(a) He hits a ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter’s box.
As long as we’re criticizing the SNY crew today, it was pointed out that Carlos Beltran is swinging at a lot of first pitches lately, to which Keith added “and I like it”. For the record, Beltran’s batting average has dropped almost 20 points since June 4 — which could be considered “lately”.
Though, I suppose Beltran is being more aggressive because he’s hitting over .400 when he swings at the first pitch, and is also over .400 when down 0-1 — so, the numbers are on his side. Of course, it could be that he’s been very selective on those counts, and only swinging when he’s sure he can drive the ball. Also it should be noted his average is over .530 when the count is 1-0.
Danny Murphy finally busted out of his month-long slump with a soft three-hit day.
In addition, Razor Shines quickly identified Murphy as the team’s most instinctive baserunner. That’s a scary thought, considering some of the decisions Murph’s made on the bases in his short time in the bigs.
Next Mets Game
The final game of the series will be played in Baltimore on Thursday night at 7:05 PM. Livan Hernandez takes the mound against Jason Berken.
Mets Game 62: Win Over Orioles
Mets 6 Orioles 4
For once, the Mets did what they were supposed to do.
Mike Pelfrey pitched a solid game, the defense was sharp, and the offense stayed within itself and took advantage of their opponent’s miscues to come away with a legitimate, if unspectacular, victory. (And I mean no disrespect by saying “unspectacular” — this is the way this team needs to win going forward, by grinding it out.)
Pelfrey pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowed 2 runs, 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out two. The only scores off of him came on a Nick Markakis two-run homer.
The Mets collected eleven hits, but only one for extra bases, scoring four times in the fourth and twice in the sixth.
Bobby Parnell was brought in to finish out the game but he walked allowed singles to the first two batters he faced, creating a save situation for Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod made things interesting, walking two and allowing two runners to score (both charged to Parnell), but he eventually saved the day for the seventeenth time this season.
Notes
Alex Cora stroked three singles and scored a run in five trips to the plate.
Brian Schneider belted the only extra-base hit, a double that neither drove in a run nor led to one. He did, however, drive in his sixth run of the season with a single in the fourth frame.
K-Rod threw 25 pitches, but it felt like twice that many.
Next Mets Game
Mets and Orioles go live at 7:05 PM on Wednesday night. Tim Redding faces Koji Uehara (pronounced WAY-a-hah-rah).
Quick Preview: Mets vs. Orioles
The Mets travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles for a three-game series of interleague action.
Game One: Mike Pelfrey (4-2, 4.68 ERA) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (4-6, 5.52 ERA)
Guthrie is more or less the Baltimore ace, and it wasn’t so long ago that he was a highly coveted young hurler expected to evolve into a front-of-the-rotation starter. Something happened on the way to that projected success, as Guthrie is now 30 years old and going backwards. He’s a crafty righty who has to hit his spots and get ground balls to win, and can be susceptible to losing focus.
Pelfrey is coming off a strong start against the Phillies, and has shown flashes of both greatness and horridness this season. The Orioles lineup tends to be aggressive and will tee off on Pelf if he doesn’t mix in his curveball and change speeds.
Game Two: Tim Redding (0-2, 6.18 ERA) vs. Koji Uehara (2-4, 4.37 ERA)
Uehara is a Japanese import that the Mets considered briefly in the offseason as a reliever; the Orioles were one of the few MLB teams who felt he could be a big-league starter, and thus far he’s been surprisingly effective. Not great, but effective, especially considering the competition in the AL East. Like Guthrie, he relies on pinpoint accuracy (only 12 walks in 10 starts) to succeed, spotting a fastball, a changeup, and a “shuuto” (which is essentially what Americans call a “sinker” or a “down and in” — a two-seam fastball that rides in and down on RH hitters). His penchant for the gopher ball in Japan has yet to follow him to the USA — again, surprising considering the sluggers he’s faced.
Redding has been good enough for us to think he’s the answer at the back end of the rotation, and bad enough for us to believe his career is over. What he’ll do on Thursday is anyone’s guess.
Game Three: Livan Hernandez (5-1, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jason Berken (1-3, 7.32 ERA)
Berken is a smaller guy with so-so stuff and a lot of heart — along the lines of a Jason Marquis or a Jason Vargas (what is it with the little attitude-filled Jasons?). In four starts this year he’s pitched one gem, been rocked twice, and had one decent outing. Like the other two Baltimore starters, he pitches to contact and won’t walk many hitters.
Livan is coming off a difficult start against the Yankees, but has otherwise been about as solid as you can expect from a back-end starter. He should have fun with the aggressive swingers in the Oriole lineup.
Final Thoughts
The Orioles are 27-36, 11 games behind the leaders and in last place in the AL East, with very little chance of making a wild card run. That said, this series may be more of a showcase for the Mets’ brass, as veteran hitters such as Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff, Luke Scott, and Ty Wigginton will be made available for trade.
My biggest concern from the Mets’ point of view is the fact that few of the Mets hitters have faced these three starters.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this series will be the chance to see phenom centerfielder Adam Jones and catcher Matt Wieters in action.
Peavy to Cubs?
The latest rumor has Jake Peavy going to the Cubs in a three-team deal that would also include the Baltimore Orioles.
According to Jeff Zrebiec and Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles would send young pitcher Garrett Olson to San Diego and receive Cubs centerfielder Felix Pie as part of the deal. Strange, since the O’s already seem set for many years with Nick Markakis patrolling center, and they have Adam Jones, a natural centerfielder, playing in right. If nothing else, that outfield would have tremendous range.
How would such a trade affect the Mets? Let’s look at the Cubs potential starting rotation with Peavy:
1. Carlos Zambrano
2. Jake Peavy
3. Rich Harden
4. Ryan Dempster
5. Ted Lilly
Dempster and Lilly both won 17 games last year, and they’d be at the BACK END. Not to mention the surplus arms of Rich Hill, Jason Marquis, and Sean Marshall, who might or might not be part of the trade.
The Cubs 1-2-3 punch of Zambrano, Peavy, and Harden would be the strongest in all of MLB, and would stand up to best of all-time if Harden remained healthy. The NL Central would be locked up, and it would be next to impossible to beat them in a short series (i.e., playoffs).
So why does this matter to the Mets? Because the Mets have Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and then three question marks comprising their starting rotation. We hope John Maine will return healthy, and we hope he’ll get back to the track that made him a 15-game winner in 2007. However, there’s no guarantee Maine will be healthy, and he took a step back in 2008 — which may or may not have had to do with the injury.
Enough beating around the bush — here’s my point. If the Cubs have three lights-out aces at the top of their rotation, that makes 3 lights-out aces the “standard requirement” for a postseason team. Which means if the Mets want to play “meaningful games deep into October”, they better re-think their position on C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and maybe Ben Sheets. We saw what the Astros did to playoff teams with a top three of Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Andy Pettitte — if the Cubs can somehow land Peavy, they’d similarly rip through the competition like a chainsaw through warm butter.
George Sherrill Available
Add Baltimore lefthander George Sherrill to the list of “available” closers, according to Nick Cafardo of Boston.com / The Boston Globe.
Sherrill will be 32 years old when the 2009 season begins, and is coming off a 31-save year — his first as a full-time closer. However, his ERA was an unsightly 4.73 and his WHIP zoomed to 1.50 (it had been 0.98 in 2007, when he was used as a LOOGY). Sherrill’s ERA and WHIP are a good indicator of what will happen if someone decides to use Joe Beimel in an expanded role next year.
Sherrill’s 58 strikeouts in 53 innings were impressive, but his walk total — 33 — was not. Again I bring up good ol’ Braden Looper — though Looper didn’t walk nearly as many batters. There’s a good chance Sherrill will benefit from leaving the AL (B)East.
Also of note in that article: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel would love to reunite with Manny Ramirez. Great, so if the Phils don’t get Matt Holliday, Manny could be an option. Perish the thought.
Finally, Cafardo had a quick interview with Shea Hillenbrand, who is attempting a comeback. Hmm … righthanded hitter who can play all the corners. Maybe if he changes his first name to “Citi”.
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