Savannah Sand Gnats:
1B Jose Jimenez was released by the New York Mets.
Winter Leagues:
Venezuela
Josh Thole (C) - Our catcher of the future is tearing it up and currently batting .389 with a .484 on-base percentage and a 1.003 OPS in 54 at-bats.
Chris Carter (LF) - Our newest Met is batting .333 with a .901 OPS in 45 at-bats.
Lance Broadway (P) – Broadway has pitched in five games including three starts. He has a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched, striking out 12 and walking 8.
Note – Venezuela is an extreme hitters league and almost half of the hitters are batting over .300.
Dominican Republic
Fernando Tatis (LF) - Although he’s no longer officially a Met, Tatis is batting .360 with a .887 OPS in 25 at-bats.
Tobi Stoner (SP) – Stoner has won both of his starts and sports an impressive 1.64 ERA to go with his 2-0 record. In 11 innings pitched he has struck out 8 and walked 3.
Jordany Valdespin (2B) – Batting .357 in 14 at-bats with one homerun, and has committed 3 errors.
Note – Fernando Martinez is expected to play in the DR, but have yet to report for duty.
Arizona Fall League
Ike Davis (1B) – Through 10 games comprising 41 at-bats, Davis is batting .341 with 2 homeruns and 9 RBI. He has a 1.102 OPS, but has struck out 10 times or about 25% of his at-bats.
Ruben Tejada (SS) – Tejada is batting .333 with an OBP of .400 in 36 at-bats. He also has 3 stolen bases and has been perfect in the field.
Scott Moviel (RP) – In 4 appearances he has logged an impressive 0.00 ERA in 7 innings pitched with a 0.86 WHIP.
Jenrry Mejia (SP) – Mejia is 0-2 in 3 starts with a 10.50 ERA. In 6 innings pitched he has been torched for 7 runs on 10 hits and 7 walks.
Some Mets fan friends and I have been talking about this all week: what is this made up rivalry we have with the Phillies? Nobody said two words about this team until 3 seasons ago. It's not like Jimmy Rollins rolled into town and swept a 4 game series to end the season. Willie and the boys couldn't beat the Marlins and Nationals and somewhere off in America the Phillies played baseball. Remember your hatred of the 80 Phils? 83? 93? Of course not. I could see hating whoever fleeced us for Dykstra and McDowell but that's like hating the Rays. 2008 was the same thing, just with smaller numbers. How about winning some games those last few weeks? 2009? Our biggest rival was the training staff. II thought it was the Braves we hated. Nobody talks about the Braves these days. Maybe it is the Pirates. Didn't we hate them for a while? Anybody still hate Jim Leyland?
2010 Free Agent Preview: Matt Holliday
Posted on October 29th, 2009 11:18 PM by Knuckles
Name: Matt Holliday
Age: 29
Position: OF
Current Team: St. Louis Cardinals
Current Contract: 08:$9.5M, 09:$13M
Performance: Since being traded to St. Louis from the As in the middle of the 2009 season, Holliday has been a major component of the Cardinals offense. With St. Louis Holliday hit 359/419/604 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 13HRs, and 55RBI in just 63 games. Holliday is mostly known for his tremendous performance in Colorado from 2004-2008 before he was traded to the As. However, while with Oakland, Holliday struggled hitting 286/378/454 with 11HR and 54RBI in 93 games. Which Holliday will his new team be getting?
Outlook: Two years younger than the other premiere outfielder available, Jason Bay, Holliday is likely the #1 free agent available this off season. His contract is likely to impact that of Bay and possibly players like Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and even John Lackey. The big question is how to evaluate his difficult 93 games in the American League vs. the extremely productive 63 games in the National League. Hitting behind Albert Pujols certainly helps, but is the issue more of an AL vs. NL thing. Will AL teams be scared off by Holliday's AL stats? Either way, Holliday figures to get a multi-year contract averaging $18M to $20M per year.
Suitors: Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Braves, Angles, Red Sox, Yankees.
Prediction: Definitely an NL team, look for the Giants to make a surprise signing.
Posted on October 29th, 2009 11:18 PM by Knuckles
Name: Matt Holliday
Age: 29
Position: OF
Current Team: St. Louis Cardinals
Current Contract: 08:$9.5M, 09:$13M
Performance: Since being traded to St. Louis from the As in the middle of the 2009 season, Holliday has been a major component of the Cardinals offense. With St. Louis Holliday hit 359/419/604 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 13HRs, and 55RBI in just 63 games. Holliday is mostly known for his tremendous performance in Colorado from 2004-2008 before he was traded to the As. However, while with Oakland, Holliday struggled hitting 286/378/454 with 11HR and 54RBI in 93 games. Which Holliday will his new team be getting?
Outlook: Two years younger than the other premiere outfielder available, Jason Bay, Holliday is likely the #1 free agent available this off season. His contract is likely to impact that of Bay and possibly players like Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and even John Lackey. The big question is how to evaluate his difficult 93 games in the American League vs. the extremely productive 63 games in the National League. Hitting behind Albert Pujols certainly helps, but is the issue more of an AL vs. NL thing. Will AL teams be scared off by Holliday's AL stats? Either way, Holliday figures to get a multi-year contract averaging $18M to $20M per year.
Suitors: Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Braves, Angles, Red Sox, Yankees.
Prediction: Definitely an NL team, look for the Giants to make a surprise signing.
“I think in every aspect, the way you guys have used me and abused me…. I remember quotes in the paper, ‘Here comes the man that New York loves to hate.’ Man? None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me or rice and beans with me to understand what the man is about. You might say the player, the competitor, but the man? You guys have abused my name….”
“There was one time I remember when I was a free agent, there was talk that I might meet with Steinbrenner. One of your colleagues had me in the papers with horns and a tail, red horns and a tail. That’s a sign of the devil. I’m a Christian man. I don’t like those things. I take those things very serious. Those are the kind of things that the fans actually get used to seeing, and actually sometimes influence those people to believe that you are a bad person, that you are like an ogre….” Pedro Martinez
2010 Draft:
One event of the championships that draws a lot of attenion is the Bo Jackson Five-Tool Championship. Players show off their wares in different "tool" competitions: hitting for power, hitting for average, arm strength, fielding and running speed. Unfortunately, the hitting competitions were held with metal bats, something professional scouts are not interested in watching.
Chevez Clarke and Kaleb Cowart were two of the standouts from the tool competition. Specifically, Cowart was clocked with a 100-mph reading throwing from right field, clearly dominanting the "arm strength" tool competition. Clarke did not have anything stand out quite as significantly as Cowart, but throughout all five tools submitted arguably the top performance
I just finished reading Michael Shapiro’s very good baseball book, Bottom of the Ninth. This book focuses on the efforts of Branch Rickey, William Shea, and other would be baseball owners, and their efforts to get major league baseball (the owners) to allow major league expansion. A secondary, and probably unneeded storyline focuses on Yankee manager Casey Stengel’s final years with the Yankees. The book covers the time span from when the Dodgers and Giants moved west, until the owners agreed to expansion (1957-1961).
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