I LOVE OUR STARTERS, BUT...by Tom Brennan
Met fan since 1962, which likely means I tend to over-focus on the value of our players and prospects, or I might have ditched being a Mets fan through some of the lean years (like the 1979-81 seasons, when they averaged a putrid 64 homers per year).
As a fan, I love our guys, fragile though they may be (deGrom surgery, Harvey surgery, Mats surgery, Wheeler surgery, Wright, Duda, Walker back-to-back-to-back, you get the point).
But sometimes honesty sneaks in, and when you're looking at the best starter on the planet, you need to look past our quality injured elite arms and pay homage to:
CLAYTON KERSHAW
How can one not admire, in this age of capped pitch counts and innings restrictions, an elite guy who can start a playoff game on October 7th, start again 4 days later, then come back on one day's rest to save a clinching game on the 13th, and come back just 3 days later to toss a 7 inning scoreless gem in a 1-0 win?A guy who hurt his back this year, but still managed to go 12-4, 1.69 with 172 K's and just 11 walks in 149 innings? How sick is that 16:1 strikeout to walk ratio?
A guy who is 126-60 in his career with nearly 2000 strikeouts at age 28? The Sandy Koufax of our ERA.
Heck, he even got the unstoppable Daniel Murphy (remember him?) to pop up in the 9th inning of that clinching game against the Nats. Which makes him better than Koufax, in my estimation LOL!
WRITER ALERT: Folks, I probably will write sporadically during this off-season, so I'll "see you" when I see you. In the meantime, you have something you'd like to write about, contact Macks Mets and let us know.
Four months until pitchers and catchers. Keep Cespedes.
Would You Like To Get In Touch With Your Inner Ernest Hemingway And Write For Mack's Mets?
ReplyDeleteWe are always looking to add new writers to our site.
Please email me at: macksmets@gmail.com to discuss.
hey Thomas...
ReplyDeleteI had hoped you would respond to an idea that has been bounced around (i wrote it on your GM post)...
But it really has evolved...
1. Sign Cespedes... 2. trade for Andrew McCutchen 3 trade Duda, Granderson, and Bruce...
The OF would be Cespedes - LF, Legares – CF, McCutchen - RF…(with Nimmo as the 4th OF)
INF 3B Wright (mainly because our hands are Tied), SS- Cabrera , 2B Reyes /Flores / TJ Rivera, 1B Conforto (for 1 Year until one of the 1b prospects are ready)
With the trades of Duda (7 mil), Granderson (15 Mil), and Bruce (13 Mil) and our own farm system we should have enough to acquire McCutchen (13 mil i believe and has a 2 year deal)… I believe we would have enough to trade for a Catcher if the FO does not want to roll the dice with Darnaud…
That do you think…
Eddie, I think the ideas are great. Would LOVE to get McCutchen, but what do we give up that they'd want? What team would take Grandy?
DeleteEddie, I think the ideas are great. Would LOVE to get McCutchen, but what do we give up that they'd want? What team would take Grandy?
Delete@Eddie -- tomorrow I have a column which echoes the thought of Andrew McCutchen. It's not going to take big salary guys going to Pittsburgh to make it happen. It's going to take people like Dom Smith, Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini and Seth Lugo to make it happen. It's going to hurt.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated to anything today, but I was just wondering: who went missing first, Jimmy Hoffa or Zach Wheeler?
ReplyDeleteActually I think all of them could be traded and pretty easily...
ReplyDeleteNow that may not be Major league ready prospects but grandy and bruce both hit 30 hrs...not many did...
and Duda did come back to finish the season...
So all could produce High A prospects (guys who are 2-3 years away...)
I would hope we could get Live arms who could replace the Big five some day... Think the Marcos Molina potential type guys... But if we could trade 3 and get back 6 prospects I would...
And can you believe Mccutchens ,Cespedes and legares helps us from being so Lefty the past few years...
Kidding aside about Wheeler and Hoffa, considering that Messr. deGrom and Viall recently had Ulnar nerve relocation surgery, I hope we don't find out in the spring that Zach needs that too, because if he needs it, do it now.
ReplyDeleteZach did not come back in late 2016 due to nerve irritation, right?
Reese...
ReplyDeleteI am glad I was a head of the curve...But none of those guys hurt... Dom is thought to be 1B of the future...but not so painful if we convert Conforto to 1B or is alonzo (who more and more I am hitching my wagon) is able to pick up the slack...
Rosario over cecchini (although i am really thinking of him as the 2b solution) Lugo we have that covered... and Nimmo if he turns into a star God less you....
If those are the names then bring Mccutchens to NY...
Bruce I could see in a trade for good prospects, Eddie, but Grandy is old and could regress - and the team would already be paying him $16MM for 2017. If I were another team, I'm not sure I'd want Grandy, at that price, for any sort of true prospects.
ReplyDeleteThomas so you dont believe a team like Toronto, if they lose Batista, and Edwin wouldn't be interested in Grandy who can play the OF and DH and hit 30 HR? Or say the Angels? Or Baltimore?(who may lose trumbo)
ReplyDeleteAnd grandy isnt a long term contract... What did Brian cashman say... there is no bad 1 year deal...
Oh and we could always kick in some cash... Not our style but say in Grandys case... we pick up 4 million they get 12 mil but we get a prospect we like? Sandy may do that...
ReplyDeleteEddie, you may be onto something...and Baltimore could add some homers for dear old Grandy, so they might have interest. Good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteCareer wise I would take Kershaw over Koufax. Koufax only had 5 good years. Maybe good isn't the right word. Incredible years but there were only 5. Kershaw has already surpassed him. However if I need to win one game and I can choose from Koufax at his best or Kershaw at his best I'm going with Koufax. No doubt.
ReplyDeleteGrandy has no Prospect value over the Winter...you'd get a B prospect and Salary relief, if anything.
ReplyDeleteDuda....Grandy...Bruce... probably all could be part of a bigger package, or a Salary Dump Trade---you're not getting Propect Haul over the winter for these guys. All are 1 year away from Free agency, and each has "blemishes".
Richard, I agree on Koufax for one game over Kershaw.
ReplyDeleteHe pitched so many more innings than Kershaw due to the 4 day rotation, complete game mentality of the day, if he were pitching in this day and age, he'd have probably had 10 great years, not 5.
In his last 5 years, there 3 with 311 to 336 innings in the regular season, and 102 complete games in those 5 years. Mind-boggling #'s today. Not to mention his 57 playoff innings with an 0.95 ERA.
Eraff, can,t disagree with you on poor prospect haul for those 3. Bruce might garner the most, but his average the past 3 years is around .230 - .235, he is flawed.
ReplyDelete