12/31/09

More Joel, Duke, UZR, Mark Zuckerman... and Anderson Hernandez


Joel Piniero:

The Mets are better off just letting Pineiro sign elsewhere, and turning their attention toward the trade market. Cubs ace, Carlos Zambrano, is said to be on the block. The Reds are also said to be shopping both Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang. Either of those three starters are more passable as a number two starter than Pineiro. If the Mets fail to pull off a trade, they can focus on Jon Garland, or they can take a risk on Ben Sheets or Eric Bedard. It remains to be seen how Minaya intends to improve the starting rotation, but lets hope he doesn’t fall into the same mistake as last year and give a multi-year contract to a pitcher with a career full of up and downs. Pineiro was 15-12 with a 3.49 ERA in 2009, and has a record of 87-79 with an ERA of 4.39 for his career.  -  link


Zach Duke:

That leaves a trade, and a starting pitcher I believe needs a change of scenery. That hurler is Pirates lefty Zach Duke, whom I feels is worth the Mets going after. Who could the Mets trade? The Pirates are in need of a first baseman. Could Dan Murphy or prospect Ike Davis be packaged with a pitcher like Niese and a lower-level prospect like pitcher Jeurys Familia, a righty who was 10-6, 2.69 with Class A Savannah of the Florida State League. If the Mets don’t want to part with Davis, Murphy, Niese, and Familia should certainly get the job done. The Pirates like low-cost players and prospects back in trades. As we also know, the club has no issue unloading veterans. So let’s take a look at Duke, who burst onto the scene in 2005, going 8-2, 1.81 in 14 starts. The 26-year-old native of Clinton, Texas, seemed to be on his way to becoming the anchor of a young staff searching for such an individual.  -  Silva


UZR-Jason:


What the UZR disciples won’t tell you about Jason Bay, is that despite logging over 1,270 innings in one of the most difficult left fields in baseball, Fenway Park, Bay committed no errors in 2009 and had a fielding percentage of 1.000%. Mets left fielders committed seven errors in 2009.

What the UZR disciples wont tell you about Jason Bay is that his range (2.29 vs 2.12) and range factor per game (2.17 vs 1.80), were both far better than the average of all left fielders.

What UZR disciples won’t tell you about Jason Bay is that last season he had a career high 15 assists to lead both the American and National Leagues, and that seven of those were runners he threw out at home plate and third base. Those 15 assists were more than Carl Crawford and Matt Holliday combined! - link 


Mark Zuckerman:

This is the blog post I hoped never to have to write.

Alas, what has been speculated for the last month is now official: The Washington Times is eliminating its sports section, and I (along with about two dozen other colleagues from this department) and countless others from elsewhere in the company have been laid off. Our final print sports section (featuring some commemorative articles and photos) will run in Friday's paper. Happy New Year, indeed.

This development did not come totally out of the blue. We've been on pins and needles since late-November, when we were all informed at least 40 percent of the company would be laid off in the coming months as the Times sought to "refashion" itself as a specialized news operation, focusing primarily on politics and investigative reporting. It was immediately clear sports would not be part of the new-look newspaper, at least not in any kind of substantial form.- washingtontimes 


Anderson Hernandez:

He’s not putting up any .360 average this year. In the Dominican League he has come back to his norm with a .259 average. The Mets would be better served if he remains as a utility player instead of filling a starting role at either short or second as he did last year.  -  mwob

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