Klaw Chat –
Jeff
(Astoria) - With the promotions of Wheeler, D'Arnaud and Flores, the Mets farm
system seems barren. I've been in an argument with my father-in-law about how
the Astros and Cubs are going to lap the Mets in their rebuilding effort due to
a stunning lack of impact position players. Am I correct in thinking this? That
absent some sudden reversal in finances, the Mets will need to be extremely
lucky to compete over the next half-decade? I am far from sold on their last 3
first round choices and dismayed at the refusal to be aggressive in the
international market.
Klaw
- Dom Smith's going to be very, very good - but
I agree with your overall point that their system needs more impact bats. The
Astros and Cubs are already ahead of the Mets, although I don't know that that
specifically impacts them as they're not in the same division.
Sandy Alderson –
“I
know the perception. It’s sad that a level of loyalty to a fan base is measured
in dollar signs. We’re gonna spend more money this year than we’ve spent in
recent years. Last year we only spent about $5 million on free agents. So, this
is going to be a new day. We have it to spend, but we have to spend it wisely.
We just got back from GM meetings, we made some progress there with some
conversations.”
Mack – Was it necessary for him to even go
on ESPN and say this? Are we supposed to be excited that they are going to
spend more than they did last year on Marcum and Lyon? I know how hard it is to
wait this process out, but it would be a lot easier if Alderson would just stay
away from the microphone and just let me watch the news coverage on the Toronto
mayor. Now THAT’S good television.
Daniel Murphy –
Players
like Byrd and Daniel Murphy are good hitters, but operate in a mode that is far
from Aldersonian. Byrd is an aggressive
swinger, unwilling or unable to draw many walks (his walk rate last year was a
lowly 5.4 percent), and more than willing to encourage teammates to follow his
own ideas while they worked pregame in the batting cage. That is one of the
reasons the Mets did not pursue a reunion with the outfielder, who signed a
two-year, $16 million deal with Philadelphia on Tuesday.
The
Mets are open trading Murphy for similar reasons. Murphy has earned the respect of the front
office by working to turn himself into a passable second baseman, but he is
another aggressive hitter, whose style does not fit what the general manager,
hitting coach, and organizational instructors teach. This is one of the reasons that the team
might be ready to move him.
Mack – I’m not sure this is fair. Do the
Mets really expect players like Nelson Cruz or Shin-Soo Choo should change their entire approach to the game just
because a team that hasn’t won 80 game or more in the past five years (three
under Alderson). Murphy was asked to work his ass off and learn how to
defensively play second base while, at the same time, keep his batting average
up. He’s done that. Trade him if you can get a bigger return for the team, but
don’t trade him because he doesn’t approach the game the same as the Mets
batting coach. That’s just nuts.
Juan Lagares
Lagares,
24, his just .242 for the Mets in 2013, but he was a revelation in center,
posting 26 Defensive Runs Saved. DRS is an advanced metric that is the primary
defensive component in the all-encompassing Wins Above Replacement stat.
Lagares is batting .400 (26-for-65) with three extra-base hits (all doubles)
and four stolen bases. He’s struck out nine times but hasn’t drawn a walk while
playing for Aguilas Cibaenas of the Dominican Winter League.
Mack – This is nothing but good news. Trust
me… if he hits .400, I really don’t care if he ever walks. These are lofty
numbers and all us would be thrilled if he could hit, oh, let’s say .275-.280
while playing centerfield for the Mets. We know the kind of defense we are
going to get and we also now know that most third base coaches are not going to
send their runners home against him. Those are saved runs that never hit the
stat sheets. I can’t believe how much I missed on this guy.
Observation –
It always amazes
me how long it takes to rebuild the fan base in a web site when you change web
addresses. You can build in as many paths that can be clicked on, but some
don’t follow, most immediately stop leaving comments, and, in my case, even some of my
writers haven’t resigned back up. I’m sure they’ll get around to it, but I hang
on things like this. Mack’s Mets has never been one of those sites that the
mass follows; however, we were really enjoying an outburst in the past month
when it came to comments. I especially was enjoying participating in it.
Hopefully, we’ll have a good ‘War Room’ tomorrow, though I still have no idea
what to ask as a question.
13 comments:
Signed back up last night, Mack.
Law does nothing to defend the farm ssystem. Sure, we could use more impact bats, but I don't think we are as bereft as is implied. After all, wasn't the farm system rated in the top 10 recently?
I don't think the reason Murphy might be traded is because he won't follow the organization's philosophy. Actully, I think the FO likes Murph, but understands that he is a one dimensional player. He has managed to make himself into a respectable 2B, but his range is limited and he still makes mistakes there. Despite that, his trade value is very high now, and if they can get the type of return they want, he will be gone.
It is unfortunate that so many fans do base their loyalty on how much the team spends. I see on other sites calls to boycott the Mets, don't buy tickets or go to games simply because the Wilpons are cheap bastards. Rather that be patient and see what kind of team they can build with the resources they have, they immediately call for blood when there is little activity, even though there is little activity with almost all of the other teams too. There have been so many instances of teams being burned by signing long term expensive contracts, and yet these so called fans continue to scream for big ticket spending. I wish we would all give Sandy a chance to do his job, and judge the team on results rather than how much they are willing to shell out.
Rather then spend a $100mil on a leadoff hitter, can Lagares fill that role? I know he doesn't walk, but he has the speed for it.....plus, wouldn't his lack of walks also have possible negative effect hitting 8th?
About posting comments. It took a long time for me to find the tiny, tiny text in a mouse-sized type to get in to post this comment.
About the site format. I much prefer this format from the one where you have to jump to another page to finish an article, then jump back to the main page to continue through the other articles, where you have to jump to another page to....
About Murphy and Byrd not being the Alderson system style of hitters. Those two were the second- and third-best hitters on the club last year. In the meantime, no one is flourishing in the system. No one has settled down into it, and the team ranks way down on the league OBP list - the very thing they're supposedly targetting. Davis and Duda started out hitting quite well, but have languished once they were exposed to the system. The club has to look at what they're teaching and how they're teaching it.
Herb - Law prides himself on being a wise ass and it's very hard to figure out when he is being serious sometimes.
Ernest - I know Lagares covers the outfield well but I don't particularly remember him being that fast on the base. He doesn't walk and I don't think he steals much either. Not exactly what you would want from your leadoff hitter.
And BTW, 'leadoff' hitters are overrated. They only 'lead off' in the first inning.
RHerr - every side has it's ups and downs... thanks for finding mine.
Regarding recent comments about Murphy and Byrd, I just chalk it up to the fact that most Mets writers have nothing to do lately
Ernest - Lagares is not a prototypical leadoff hitter. His OBP isn't high enough due to his aggressiveness at the plate, and although he is fast afoot, it doesn't translate into SBs. Ideally, you want your leadoff guy to have an OBP of .350+ and to get himself into scoring position via the stolen base fairly often.
Interestingly, Eric Young Jr. is a career .261 with a .324 OBP when he is first in the batting order (which he has been in 240 of the 245 MLB games in which he has started) but he hits much higher leading off the game or batting first in an inning. Career wise, leading off a game he is .295/.363, and leading off an inning he is .288/.362. Last year with the Mets the splits were even more pronounced. Overall, batting leadoff in a game he was .254/.318, but leading off the game he was .303/.367 and leading off an inning he was .306/.380. For some reason he seems to lose something when he isn't first up. If he could harness the same energy in all his ABs he'd be an ideal leadoff hitter.
Mack - the leadoff hitter actually leads off more than just the first AB of the game. Because often the #8 hitter will be intentionally walked (or some other strategy will be employed) to get to the pitcher, who makes the final out of the inning, the leadoff hitter bats first in other innings frequently.
Mack,
Keep in mind that leadoff hitters also usually rack up the most ABs on the team over the course of the season. I want someone with a decent OBP if he's going to get to the plate the most.
It's not the total salary or budget that the loyalty is based on, it's the talent on the field and fans know talent costs money. For all the talk of following the Red Sox model, Boston had a $140M payroll. If they fan wants to not feel 'cheated', either invest in the team or lower prices. No one wants to be gauged to see shitty baseball.
Herb and Michael - True
Maybe the Mets can convince Bobby Bonilla to start earning his current/ongoing salary and take the field in 2014....I bet he could have a higher on base percentage then some of these other guys on the team... (sorry, couldn't help myself with this ongoing silly Mets fact)
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