any good old men out there?
Maybe you saw the movie, No Country for Old Men.
We need to start watching a Mets variant of it, called No Money For Old Men.
Think of all the crippled and downgraded-skills guys that the Mets pay (or recently paid) big $$ to that fell apart:
Yoenis Cespedes - A/K/A La Absencia; La Pretensia
Todd Frazier - A/K/A .200 Todd
Anthony Swarzak - give him some credit - he almost made it thru first series of 2018 before missing months.
Robbin-us Cano - there was a reason he wasn't running hard.
Jed Lowrie - MIA 48 games and counting
Jeurys Familia - 3 years at $10 MM per - looking like a great investment a quarter of the way thru the first year, ain't it?
Jeurys Familia - 3 years at $10 MM per - looking like a great investment a quarter of the way thru the first year, ain't it?
Jay Bruce - his career has pulled into the shift - hitting .192 this year for the Ms
Jose Reyes - $2 million last year for a .189 hitter
David Wright - hurts to even think about it
(Add your own favorite names here - I know there are more)
The Mets somehow got the idea (perhaps from success with age-defying Bartolo Colon) that long (or just big) contracts to older guys makes sense.
Most of the time, it...just...does not.
Oh, those contracts are gems, all right...for the players who signed them, that is.
My advice? DON'T.
Older guys just break down or fade with age.
Very few seem not to.
SO - DON'T DO IT. PERIOD.
NO MONEY FOR OLD MEN.
Well, not "NO money for old men" - "No BIG money for old men."
When you don't (presumably) pay them that much, a Carlos Gomez, a Rajai Davis, a Adeiny Hechavarria, a Rene Rivera - they're nice pieces to have quick access to.
When you don't (presumably) pay them that much, a Carlos Gomez, a Rajai Davis, a Adeiny Hechavarria, a Rene Rivera - they're nice pieces to have quick access to.
Speaking of Rivera, before I go...he has hit .406 in his last 10 games in AAA.
Meanwhile, Tomas Nido, who believes so much in non-violence he hates to hit ANYTHING, is 5 for 29 as a Met this year, and .179 career.
His idea of working the pitcher is 0 walks and 11 Ks. He has a career MLB OBP of .202.
To me, old man Rene Rivera is looking PRETTY GOOD right now for that back up Mets catcher's role.
And Tomas Nido looks like he needs more AAA seasoning.
And Tomas Nido looks like he needs more AAA seasoning.
8 comments:
A few thoughts -
1. The current Mets team has enough talent to get to the World Series this year... iF... everyone would have stayed healthy.
2. The problem is not the age of the starters. It's the lack of output from those that replaced them when our starters hit the IL.
3. I don't agree about 'AAA seasoning'. Like so many before him, he is proving he, not the amount of seasoning he uses, doesn't have the chops to make it in the majors.
4. I don't want any more oldies being called up. I want newies. And our newies are in Binghamton. The future of this team will someday be placed in their hands... why not give them some OJT now.
And 5. Can David Peterson and Anthony Kay really do worse than Font and Vargas?
Don't trust position players over 30.
Mack: The answer to #5 is yes, but they can also do a lot better and you won't know which one it is until you try it. Because neither Font nor Vargas seems to be able to pitch over four or five innings, you also don't have a lot to lose. Last year they brought up a bunch of minor league talent and almost no one delivered (of course, Drew Smith, who came closest, was the first to go down this year -- we're still talking about the Mets). This year, a couple of those guys -- Gagnon and Bashlor, whose development of what appears to be a pretty good change-up appears to have helped him a lot, are actually looking like they belong in the bigs. Gagnon's 0.50 ERA at Syracuse was an indication that maybe he'd turned a corner, too. He's definitely pitching with a lot of confidence at the moment, and I wouldn't mind seeing him start in place of Font or Vargas, if and when the staff ever reaches a point where he's not urgently needed in the pen. It almost happened, but, of course, injuries intervened.
Oh wow Tom, that list...
Fraizer, Swarzak, Cano, & Bruce (Granderson also comes to mind) all should have been HELL NO... They were on other teams, and none were at the top of thier game when we signed them. Look at Beltran when he was a Yankke or Cardinal... He was Old and still playing at a high level... SOmetimes its not age but what level are they playing and pay accordingly... "Do not go the extra year"
About the extra year ... Familia, Lowrie... Both I believe not horrible investments in acquring them... Familia as set up man on the free agent market is the going rate but the extra 3rd year should not have been given... Lowrie had a great year last year... Bringing him to be a 3B, SS, 2B, 1B sort of a all over the field guy at the production he gave last year was a good risk... But the Mets luck too over that one... i wont crush the Mets on that move...
Reyes at the prices he signed was no big deal... we just chose to play him when we should not have, or even cut bait sooner...
Wright was not a old man when we signed him ... we just should not have signed him because he was going to be old when we were going to be good...
Mets just need to learn to shop for quality... Machado bad guy good Baseball player... and 26 that guys we sign
Cano 36 Um you stop there... you dont sign a guy 36 under any circumstances much less trade for him and give up the most talented player you had in your system since Wright...
Mack, the Mets NEVER stay healthy - few, however, break their ankle falling into an A-Hole.
I am ready for Kay now and Peterson by the All Star Break. Font could go to the pen if Kay came up.
I agree with you on Nido - I think "AAA seasoning" would show if he is really a .180 major league hitter or a .220 hitter. At .220, you could live with him as a # 2, given his defense. But he really should get a full season of AAA at bats to improve - if he can. I'd prefer Mazeika here, but he needs to hit well for a longer stretch. He was playing poorly in Arctic weather, great in warmer weather. Keep up the "great" - get here - he is a better hitter than Nido - fans less - walks more - lefty hitter.
Jack Flynn - Mets should only trust players a week at a time!
Dave, I thought Gagnon pitched well in the PCL last year - lots of Ks, and an ERA that for Vegas was not that bad. I was hopeful for him this year. 5-1 lifetime?? So far, so good.
Eddie C - how ya be?? Wanted to respond before but got busy.
I agree with most of what you have there. I was OK with Familia coming back, but I hate longer contracts - I would have preferred they give him 1 year, $13 MM, or 2 years 22 MM, rather than 3/$30 MM, because it seems so much can go wrong in 3 years. Who do they sign for 3 or 4 years that you wish they wouldn't have? Guys get hurt, this, that...2 years would have been plenty. And by year 3, Familia will be 32 - that is getting old.
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