Good
morning.
The Mets
clinched a playoff spot last night.
I’ve never
typed that sentence before on Mack’s Mets. As you can see on the right column,
my first posts went up on this version of this site in 2008. I did start
writing an earlier version, called Mack’s Mets Notes, but lost the material
when I attempted to convert it to a Go Daddy Site. I then wrote for the Flushing
University site, which has since closed, and eventually returned here to my own
site.
I don’t
frankly remember how much I wrote about past playoff games because I concentrated
100% on the Mets minor league players. Guys like David
Wright were still making the conversion.
Toby
Hyde and I
compared notes one day and agreed that we both started our version of our minor
league Mets blog in 2005, one year prior to the infamous 2006 playoff games
I have no
paper trail on 2006, but I sure remember the season and the players… Carlos Beltran’s 41 home runs… Carlos Delgado’s 38… the beginning of the decline of Cliff Floyd as age took over… the dreams of someday
having both Lastings Milledge and F-Mart in the
future outfield… and what we felt was going to be the future of Mets pitching,
25-year old John Maine, 24-year old Oliver Perez, and 22-year old Mike
Pelfrey.
Mack’s Mets
has had 18,108 posts, 32,559 comments, and 3,811,908 unique page views since
the site began, not one involving a Mets playoff game.
This is a
joyous time here at MM’s. It’s sort of like if the Pope came to New York and…
err… done that.
Just ‘stuff ‘
being written late last night:
Mike Vorkunov
on Matt Harvey -
Joe D
with pictures from the victory party
Zack Braziller
on David Wright
Mike Puma
on Juan Uribe
Mike Vorkunov on Matt Williams -
The future does not look good for
Nationals manager Matt Williams.
He can't even get the dreaded
stamp of support from his general manager anymore. Mike Rizzo, the Nationals
GM, had been unwaveringly positive about Williams' job prospects this season.
Even as Washington has floundered as the biggest disappointment in baseball and
looks like it will be the runner-up to the Mets in the division.
Well, not anymore. Speaking
during a weekly radio appearance on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, Rizzo offered
this doozy about Williams' future.
Mack – Regardless
of how lethargic the Mets have played lately, the Nats are a mess, even to the
point that their starting ace, Max Scherzer,
refused to give the ball to Williams when he came to the mound and ordered him
back to the dugout.
It’s hard to
imagine Williams surviving this.
Comment From
Jack - Put your GM hat on…best guess where Cespedes, Greinke, and Price all end
up?
Eno Sarris: Toronto
gets a pitcher, Dodgers get a pitcher… Mets overpay.
Mack
– I have no problem with this. As I’ve said a number of times. It’s not my
money and Cespedes has been the glue that has created the playoff team called
the New York Mets.
Let’s
get this done early so the 2016 team can be built around the big guy.
Bill asked –
Among all NL SSs with over 400
PA, Ruben Tejada now leads the league in OBP, is
5th in BA and 5th in OPS. More remarkably, his 22 2Bs ranks 5th, and all those
with more have AT LEAST 140 MORE AB. He trails Desmond by 4 2Bs for 2nd place,
though Desmond has OVER 200 MORE AB. In the field, he's made 5 Es all year. So
when will he get respect?
Mack – Gee, what
makes me think this one is directed to Kaplan, not me.
I love what Flores
has done with his bat this season, but I think his numbers are maxed out. He
also plays infield like a duck.
As I’ve always
said, I’ll take a Golden Glove shortstop- everything that hits .230. Defense is
so important down the middle of the field
Fangraphs ranked the minor league systems statically...
Fangraphs ranked the minor league systems statically...
| HIT | PIT | ALL #1 | ALL #2 | ALL #3 | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | Tampa Bay | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 11 | Houston | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 | Texas | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | 13 | Cleveland | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | 9 | Boston | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 | 8 | New York Yankees | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | 10 | Colorado | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 15 | 4 | LA Dodgers | 13 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| 4 | 18 | Philadelphia | 6 | 13 | 11 | 9 |
| 14 | 6 | Atlanta | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| 19 | 3 | Milwaukee | 15 | 7 | 10 | 11 |
| 5 | 24 | Chicago Cubs | 8 | 14 | 15 | 12 |
| 16 | 7 | Kansas City | 16 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 11 | 17 | Minnesota | 11 | 15 | 14 | 14 |
| 21 | 5 | Cincinnati | 17 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 8 | 27 | Pittsburgh | 10 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 12 | 26 | New York Mets | 14 | 17 | 18 | 17 |
| 13 | 22 | Oakland | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
| 24 | 14 | St. Louis | 23 | 19 | 20 | 19 |
| 18 | 20 | Toronto | 19 | 21 | 22 | 20 |
| 26 | 12 | Washington | 24 | 20 | 19 | 21 |
| 17 | 21 | Arizona | 20 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
| 22 | 19 | Seattle | 21 | 23 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | 16 | Detroit | 25 | 24 | 23 | 24 |
| 20 | 29 | San Diego | 22 | 26 | 26 | 25 |
| 27 | 15 | Chicago White Sox | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 |
| 28 | 23 | LA Angels | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| 23 | 30 | Baltimore | 27 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| 30 | 25 | San Francisco | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| 29 | 28 | Miami | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Mets probably will overpay for Cespedes, but I believe the days of 10yr ridiculous contracts may now be few and far between. Too many team regrets out there with those........
ReplyDeleteSo overpaying for a current super star into maybe age 36 is not crazy.
With the one bad news coming out last night regarding Uribe, does anyone have thoughts on who now gets into playoff roster who was probably gonna be out prior to his injury?
ReplyDeleteSNY guys were talking Kirk being a possibility. Im also assuming EY Jr was already gonna be in before it.
possibly Kirk?
ReplyDeleteZERO. MY FAVORITE # THIS YEAR.
ReplyDeleteCongrats for hanging in there, Mack, thru thick and thin. Good things often come to those who wait.
Hard to picture that the Mets have only the 26th best minor league pitching rank now. Unerstandable slippage after all the trades, promos, and injuries, but I would have figured around a 20 rank, just as a guy reaction. And...
We'd have higher than a 12 rank offensively if Nimmo had not been so disappointing in 2016.
I would prefer a 25 man without Kirk or EY.
Lastly, I was wrong on Ruben. I like to be wrong by thinking a guy can't do as well as he just has. Way to go, Ruben. I do not think Wilmer has plateaued at all. He will be 24 most of next year and has hit .300 for the better part of 3 months. I bet if he played 150 games next year, he produces 80-100 RBIs.
Congratulations Mack on your longevity and now we can all exhale a bit having finally wrapped this up. It's especially nice to see the Nats crash and burn after the beatings they put on us the last few years and hopefully we have heard the last of "inning's limits" at least till next season. As far as YC how can we not sign him? We've waited along time to get were we are and he definitely was the one who put us over the top. Major kudo's to the front office for their deadline deals but it does show you just now much luck plays a part here......if Gomez passes his physical we're would be right now? Anyway LETS GO METS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat was the "doozy about Williams' future"?
ReplyDeleteTejada has done this well because he hasn't been the every day shortstop. His performance declines when he plays for extended lengths.
He is a very good backup or platoon player.
Wow - I expected today to be a big comment day
ReplyDeleteNever understood whole "it's not my money" position regarding free agents. Sure it's not your or my money, but big contracts, risky contracts, do affect the team dramatically down the line. Seems like an easy cop out, and the traditional route of the Yankees. If we signed cespedes to a 7 year deal and he becomes Jason bay after 2, no its not your money, but it's your team that's going to be hamstrung for 5 years.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair.
DeleteThe Darn Yankees have done pretty well with their approach.
Heck even this year when they were supposed to feel the effects of their big spending and aging players......they are going to the playoffs.
And...
They have a couple young cheap players that have made strong impacts.
Congrats to you, Mack for getting to the promised land. Congrats to all of us, and to this team. 2015 Eastern Division Champs. Nine years in the desert is long enough.
ReplyDeleteRuben has been terrific this year. I remember following his DSL stats thinking, who is this kid SS with the nearly .500 OBP, who doesn't strike out at 16 or 17 years old? Can we see him stateside? In the years since he made The Show, my opinion of him has been all over the place, as he's gone from very promising to very disappointing to now, a more than solid ML SS. That said, I am actually good with an IF that features both he and Flores getting time at SS and elsewhere. I don't think for a minute that Flores' bat has maxed out. He's 23, has just 835 career AB's, and over the last 200 of them he's hit very well. He's no gold glover, and his range is limited, but he's making the plays, has really good hands and a strong arm. I don't have to squint too much to see .290 with 20+ HR and 80 RBI. Who wouldn't want that getting 400-500 AB's at SS and all around the IF? I think he'd actually be terrific defensively at 1B if they wanted to give him some games over there as well. Also, for as good as Tejada's been, I'd love to only use him for 3-400 AB's, unless injury or someone's poor performance forces him onto the field every day. Gimme more of the same IF next season, with as much of DW as his health allows, Duda at 1B for 140 games, and any combination of Murph (If by some chance he's back) Herrera, Flores and Tejada. I think Flores improves, and I believe we can win with that.
Now, let's get home field.
Good game plan, Adam Smith.
ReplyDeleteI still like Murph at 1B, I love his attitude, trade Duda for big value, sign Cespedes, bring up Herrera to play 2B, plenty of ABs for Ruben as a back up if he will not be too expensive in 2016, with Cecchini to replace him in 2017.
I'd not mind Duda being re-signed too but payroll will start to strain, and I just like Murphy's attitude and the fact that he has struck out 90 less times than Duda. Now if Duda could show the aggressiveness he's shown this week (not talking about results, just aggressiveness, as I believe if he is aggressive early in counts, he could be great and strike out a lot less), then I want him to stay and the rest will have to sort itself out for 2016.
I mean, wouldn't it be cool to have an aggressive Duda and Cespedes both hit 45 homers next year?
I also looked at dodgers. Neutralize Grienke and Kershaw and we could easily win the next series. We're just a better team. We have a 100 win team as constructed, and had it been the team all year, we would have won at least 100. NO TEAM IS BETTER.
ReplyDeleteMack,
ReplyDelete3 million hits? Wow, what a run! As is human nature, I'll be most of them were bemoaning one thing or another (I know most of mine were).
It's been fun for me, so thanks or your efforts. Yesterday was fun and rewarding to see a nice celebration for a group that has earned it, and for players that have not had the experience prior. It's not the World Series, but it's the first title in any way for nine years, so celebration is merited.
I wish you at least another nine years here, ones with more joy and fun in Metsville.
I've said it before and I'll say it again WE HAVE TO SIGN YC! Our window is 3/4 more years and we're already going to be w/o Murph but with Herrera and a full season of Conforto and Travis we should be fine. I'm not a big Duda fan because he's cold much longer than his hot streaks and way to many K's. Give him next year while Smith progresses probably doing Bingo/Vegas then we have another year of arb so his trade value should be strong. Mack do you agree that we should sign YC even if it's a 7 year so we can best compete with the window we will have till 18' or 19' or put another way: What are multiple playoff berths worth?
ReplyDelete