Team Characteristics: Torre’s team tendencies are obviously influenced by his lengthy tenure with the Yankees. As a result the Tendencies Database notes he presided over tremendous veteran offenses and pitching staffs. His hitters’ best attribute has been drawing walks. Torre has used pitchers on consecutive days quite a bit. The 2003 Yankees had the greatest walk differential in baseball history at +309 (684 taken, 375 given out). No other team is within 50 of that.
Joe Torre won more games as Yankee manager than Casey Stengel (though that is because baseball’s regular season is longer than during Stengel’s time), and achieved a higher winning percentage with the franchise than Miller Huggins. Despite his achievements, Torre became the target of increasing criticism toward the end of his reign. In some ways he was the victim of his own success. After winning four titles in his first five years, there was nowhere to go but down. Also, some said Torre was the right man for the young team of the mid-to-late 1990s, but stayed on too long.
On Groundhog Day, the Mets did something that, knowing what they know now, they probably wouldn't do again -- they signed Perez. They bestowed a three-year, $36 million contract on a pitcher whose performance in 2008 was, at best, uneven. Days later, an omen developed. Fernando Martinez, at the time the primary prospect in the organization, strained a muscle in his right elbow while playing in the Caribbean World Series. His injury was the first of many to beset the Mets in an eight-month sequence that began with Spring Training. Before the month was over, problems with Santana's elbow (surgery was necessary in August) and Redding's shoulders surfaced, the club signed Livan Hernandez and speculated about the possible effects of the Madoff scandal on the finances. On the field, Manuel awarded the left-field assignment to Murphy, had his hitters involved in a new drill that emphasized opposite-field hitting and made public his notion of Reyes batting third. (The change happened in Spring Training games only.) And in Queens, the demolition of Shea Stadium was completed. - MLB
By contrast, Mets general manager Omar Minaya last week preached the virtue of patience. "We still have time to go on this, and I do feel comfortable that when we get to Opening Day, we're going to have a good team on the field and we're going to be a team that will compete for our division and compete for the pennant." The good news for the Mets and their fans is that the players they need are still available. As Minaya said, there's still time to go. But time may not be the Mets' friend. - fanhouse
Chapman has been compared to phenom Stephen Strasburg, last year’s #1 overall pick by the Nationals. That’s a heck of a comparison if you were to ask me, and it could mean the Mets would get themselves a potential ace left-handed starter to replace Johan Santana at the end of his contract. Until then, Chapman could become a viable number two starter that would certainly fill the Mets needs and for a lot less than they would have had to pay Roy Halladay or John Lackey for just one year.
“Aroldis is special,” said one scout who has monitored and watched Chapman. “He doesn’t have the command and control of Strasburg, but he could end up being another Randy Johnson. When Randy was drafted, some people said he’d never get it together and be any good. Aroldis is one of those great talents that comes around and you hope he eventually grows up enough to master it.” - metsmerizedonline
That's not to say high-payroll teams should never leverage their financial advantage to sign the best relievers. Spending on a closer is perfectly acceptable when: A. the rest of the roster is well constructed, so the marginal value of win is greater at each position, and B. he's actually worth the money (or close). Paying Francisco Rodriguez $17.5MM in 2012 is unequivocally insane for a team in the Mets position. Last year there were equally good risk/reward signings, such as Trevor Hoffman or Bob Howry, and even some like Jason Isringhausen, who ultimately didn't work out. It's a lesson in common sense learned too late for Omar Minaya, but maybe not for the Mets. The good news is that we'll have three of these four players in the 2010 bullpen, joining Bobby Parnell, Sean Green, and two more players, who might include cult-hero Brian Socks - amazinavenue.
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