10/3/20

ballnine - SAVING BABE’S PLACE

 


By Kevin Kernan, September 26, 2020

Babe Ruth saved baseball.

Now baseball, and its fans, need to save the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore.

This is more of a shrine, a baseball Holy Place than a museum. If you have never been, go, soon, especially now, the 100th anniversary of Babe becoming a Yankee.

You will not only find amazing pieces like Babe Ruth’s rosary or his hymnal from when he was 12 years old (we will tell you later how those treasures found a home) and of course plenty of baseball memorabilia. The museum is run by people who truly love what they do and love to tell the story of Babe Ruth, which, remains baseball’s greatest story ever told.

In an age where history is being trampled upon and thrown to the wolves, the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum has hit hard times because of Covid. A recent report published by the American Alliance of Museums surveyed directors of 760 museums and one-third of the museums were not confident of their museum’s survival over the next 16 months without additional financial relief.

Michael Gibbons is director emeritus and historian of the Ruth museum and truly a Ruth scholar.

He has given much of his life to the museum and to Babe’s legacy.

No one understands Babe’s place and his place in history better than Gibbons.

“We think that the mission of the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum is essential to the core foundation of American sports,’’ Gibbons told BallNine. “In my way of thinking Babe Ruth remains the ultimate icon, representing the significance of American sports not only on the American culture, but on the world’s culture.

“For us, our primary source of income is through the gate,’’ Gibbons said. “On a good day now, we are drawing 20 to 40 people.’’

That is not going to cut it.

Yankee fans didn’t go to Baltimore this year like they did for so many years. No fans in major league parks. Baltimore has been in serious trouble for years due to political and safety reasons. Crowds that once poured into the city for the Orioles, the Inner Harbor and iconic spots like Little Italy are not there anymore.

As a result, wonderful museums, like the B&O Railroad Museum, are hurting as much as the restaurants. And that is a shame. Staffs have been cut. Pay has been slashed. Those who are still working at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum are working on partial wages to try to get through the difficult days.

“We are doing our best to continue our mission,’’ Gibbons promised. “We need to keep the legacy of Babe Ruth alive and do our best to get back to some sense of normalcy. I would hope that baseball fans would want to get involved in a noble cause.’’

For More about Babe Ruth and this great Museum, Click Here.

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Mike's Mets - Playoff Cash Shouldn't Disincentive Greatness

  

By  October 02, 2020

I checked out some of the postseason contests this week, but I didn't watch any full games. I'd watch for a couple of innings and then I'll turn on something different. It's hard for me to really get into it, it's just a reminder of how low the bar was set for qualifying this season and how, once again, the Mets failed to clear it. Here's hoping that this almost yearly ritual is coming to an end with the departure of the Wilpons.

I understand how badly MLB coveted postseason dollars this year, but the 16 team playoffs seems pretty silly to me. There was a time when only a single team from each league advanced as the postseason consisted of only the World Series. Then in 1969, just in time for the Miracle Mets, each League split into two divisions, creating 2 extra postseason participants. Baseball split each League into 3 divisions and added a Wildcard team in 1995 after the strike. In 2012 the second Wildcard team was added.

With every one of these changes, the postseason became a little more of a crapshoot. When there was only the World Series, you really had to earn your way into a chance for a title. You had to win more than anyone else in your League to even play in October. Each successive expansion of the playoffs lowered the bar to qualify which, in turn, made it more likely that a team that didn't even approach excellence during the regular season might catch fire in October and steal a title. When more than half of the teams have that chance, you're eventually going to see a team that finished below .500 do it.

Now, there's no guarantee that we'll see an expanded postseason again. As Ken Rosenthal reports in The Athletic, there is no agreement beyond this season, and the current rancor between MLB and the Players Association makes an agreement problematic. Still, with all of that sweet playoff moolah sitting out there, ready to be taken, it's probable that an agreement gets hashed out. Things were pretty ugly between the two sides this year, but they still reached an agreement on the expanded playoffs we're watching now.

According to Rosenthal, Rob Manfred would prefer to see 14 teams make the postseason, which would at least mean that a tick more than half wouldn't. I assume that 14 teams would include the first and second place team in each division and one Wildcard from each league. Rosenthal points out that having more playoff disincentives teams from improving in an effort just to make the playoffs. From the union's perspective this would lead to teams being comfortable with spending less money, thereby hurting the earning opportunities for potential free agents. Personally, I think it hurts the game, too, when teams settle for being "good enough" to make the playoffs, rather than trying to be elite.

I worry that if all teams are shooting for is home field advantage in best of three playoff rounds, they won't put the effort and cold hard cash into trying to make the marginal improvements that separate a high 80s win club from a 95+ win version. To me, that's what separates a pretty good team from an elite team. When you're playing in one of those best of three playoff series, a pretty bad team can have a couple of really good games and knock a 100-win juggernaut right out of the playoffs.

As awful as the Mets were this season, if they had pulled it together and swept the Nationals instead of being swept, they would have made the playoffs, this despite their glaring weakness in the rotation, bullpen and overall defense. The lesson that a lot of teams would take from that would be, why bother trying to be great?

Continue reading by clicking here.

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Reese Kaplan -- The More Things Change...



Friday was my final day working on the same account as its program manager for 13 years.  Monday I take over a new client that is in trouble and I need to somehow wave my magic wand or recite a proper incantation to render them instantly viable and productive.  Well, I always said I'd rather be stressed than bored.

 

During the final visit to the office I had the opportunity to make my way around the building and I swear without my prompting the topic of conversation quickly turned to baseball and what's ahead for 2021.  Most folks felt that the 2020 exercise of pro ball was at best a distraction and couldn't really be booked as indicative of much of anything.  I'd have to say I tended to agree with that assessment.  

 



The follow up topic was what would baseball be like next year.  From where we were standing on the 16th floor of the building we had a nice view of the El Paso Chihuahuas home stadium which has been dead silent for all of this year.  The San Diego Padres AAA franchise was dormant in this bizarre rendition of a pro season and no one knows what will happen when February and traditional Spring Training sessions are slated to begin.  

 

Although no one here is really a Padres fan, they have embraced their hometown affiliated franchise and looked forward to gatherings with family and friends at Southwest University Park where the Chihuahuas play.  Having that experience removed from the community was not so much a gut punch as it was that empty feeling in your stomach like when the roller coaster takes an unexpectedly steep decline.  

 

That conversation then usually turned to football where the feelings were rather parallel to the opinions about baseball.  Between players sitting out the season, injuries and now the Titans on the sidelines, it's hard to get your energy and enthusiasm rocking and rolling to empty stadiums with a few cardboard cutouts representing the fans who cannot be there.  Now, being a NJ Jets fans, I can't say that this season is really any different than any other as they are playing pretty much like everyone expected and the traditional Sunday (or this week Thursday) humiliation feels very familiar.  

 

I didn't get the opportunity to delve into the Steve Cohen acquisition topic as the New York Mets are as unfamiliar to the locals as honest politicians.  They didn't know from Wilpon woes, Cohen chicanery, the now-you-see-him/now-you-don't Carlos Beltran, or the disappearances of Yoenis Cespedes, Marcus Stroman and the assortment of wannabe pitchers that the Mets sent out to the hill both to start and relieve games.  I didn't want to bring it up either.

 

Well, with high profile people coming down with COVID-19, there are obviously greater issues at hand than who wins the playoffs, World Series or Superbowl.  It's a strange 2020 and doesn't appear to be getting anywhere closer to normal in the foreseeable future.  Let's go Mets, whomever they are, whomever they hire and whomever they show to the door.  

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John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 10/3/2020


Good Morning. RIP Baseball Legend Bob Gibson. Mets end COVID salary cuts and Andres Gimenez is named top Statcast Rookie Infield defender.


Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, and This Day in Mets History.


Mets Links:


John Harper SNY.TV: Sources evaluate Luis Rojas' first season as Mets manager. Rojas managed to make a very favorable impression on several evaluators both within and outside of the Mets’ organization. One scout said: “In the dugout it was clear he knows how to run a game. You don’t have to agree with every move he made. The bottom line is I can’t blame him for Rick Porcello or Michael Wacha, or the pitching problems in general. I blame the front office for the Mets’ record.”


Scott Soshnick Sportico: Mets end COVID-related salary cuts as Steve Cohen nears purchase. The Mets on June 1 instituted pay cuts of 5-30%, with higher-paid employees taking a bigger hit. The salary cuts affected full-time employees. It isn’t known if the salary boost is retroactive.


Last Word on Sports: Brodie Van Wagenen: An Amazing Error. “No one should blame Van Wagenen for the mess he created. He was never qualified to do the job. Blame the owners who he sold on his ability to get the job done.”


Faith and Fear in Flushing has the 2019 Mets for All Seasons in the Power Broker: Pete Alonso.


MLB.com: 5 key questions for Mets this offseason. I think Anthony DiComo’s #1 Question said it all: 1. How quickly will Steve Cohen take control?


MLB.com: Top rookie Statcast performers of 2020. Best defensive infielder: Andres Gimenez -- 5 OAA.


Reflections on Baseball: Putting Names On The Exposed And Disposables For 2021. “As you further peruse the Mets active roster, you come across players like Brad Brach, Miguel Castro, Ariel Jurado, Franklyn Kilome, Erasmo Ramirez, Thomas Szapucki, Robinson Chirinos, Patrick Mazeika, Ali Sánchez, Ryan Cordell, and Guillermo Heredia – and you have to do a double check wondering if this is the best the Mets can do concerning the overall depth of their team.”


Mike Phillips The Sports Daily: New York Mets 2020 Season in Review: Bullpen.


Mike’s Mets: Playoff Cash Shouldn't Disincentive Greatness.


Empire Sports Media: David Peterson is now expected to be a fixture in the rotation for years to come.


Metsmerized Online: Brandon Nimmo: Not a Fourth Outfielder. “Offensively, it almost feels obligatory to start by noting Nimmo’s most obvious skill, getting on base. Since the start of 2018, Nimmo’s .397 on-base percentage ranks fourth among all qualified National League hitters. The three guys ahead of him? 2018 MVP Christian Yelich, Nationals’ wunderkind Juan Soto, and 2020 MVP favorite Freddie Freeman.”


Amazing Avenue: 2020 Mets takeaways: The catchers. Catching is the team’s biggest issue heading into 2021.


Rising Apple: Signing Jackie Bradley Jr. can fill the void in center field.


Rising Apple: Mets backup catcher options for the 2021 season already with the organization.


Rising Apple: Desi Relaford and his one season in the Big Apple hitting .302.


Gus Livaditis Mets360: Fast-tracking the Mets’ rebuild with their 2021 roster.  Gus does an amazingly creative job to re-work the Mets roster for 2021.  Will you agree with everything he does?  Mets fans agree?  Worth the read even if you disagree with some of the suggested moves.




MLB Links:





MLB.com: To NLDS: Hungry Sixto leads Miami's shutout. Marlins 2 Cubs 0 (Box Score).









MLB.com: SD uses record 9 pitchers in shutout clinch. Padres 4 Cardinals 0 (Box Score).


The ALDS gets under way Monday Astros Vs. A’s at 4:07 (Preview); Yankees Vs. Rays at 8:07 (Preview).


AP News: Bob Gibson, fierce Hall of Fame ace for Cards, dies at 84.





MLB.com: Bob Costas reflects on Bob Gibson.


MLB.com: Flaherty, Molina, Shildt remember Gibson.



 

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

Died on this date:

Transactions:
New York Mets released Hal Reniff on October 3, 1967.

New York Mets released Manny Hernandez on October 3, 1989.


National Pastime.com:

2004

At the site of the franchise's first National League game in 1969, the Expos, who are scheduled to move to Washington, D.C. next season, play their last game in their 36-year history, losing to the Mets at Shea Stadium, 8-1. Their finale, which turns out to be the rubber match of the franchise series with New York, gives the Amazin's a 299-298 advantage in the 597 contests played since 1969.

2008

Jerry Manuel, who replaced Willie Randolph in June, inks a two-year deal to manage the Mets. The likable 54 year-old skipper, who compiled a 55-38 record in his interim role, built a three-and-a-half game division lead over Philadelphia in September, but like his predecessor, could not stop the team from collapsing at the end of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baseball Reference:


2019: The Mets fire manager Mickey Callaway after two rocky seasons at the helm which were more akin to a soap opera than the workings of a contending team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 


Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.

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10/2/20

Mets360 - Fast-tracking the Mets’ rebuild with their 2021 roster

 


By Gus Livaditis, October 2, 2020

When Andrew Friedman took over the Dodgers in 2013, he was told to win immediately and win in the future. He was given a blank checkbook to build up all areas, so he built up the scouting, the analytics department, the coaching staffs and of course the roster. He traded for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett, and everyone laughed at him for taking the contracts. Eight straight division titles later, any one still laughing? He used those guys as temporary bandaids, while building up his system for the long haul. That is our goal also.

First thing I tell Sandy Alderson is to hire Billy Owens to stock talent into the minor leagues. Second, call Tom House and see what it will take to get him on our coaching staff to build up our pitchers to their full potential. Then, I tell Alderson to call Ron Darling, Pedro Martinez, Phil Regan and Al Leiter and tell them we would like them to be guest coaches in the spring. Another thing the Dodgers do well is they bring their stars back to work with the present players and instill in them the Dodgers mystic.

Now the fast track rebuild. When evaluating the roster, we see the deepest position on the major league roster is first base with two very good players (Smith and Alonso) and two good players (Davis and Cano). There is no center fielder, no MLB catcher if we do not pick-up either Chirinos’ option or Ramos’ option, several second base candidates, two young shortstops of different strengths, a shortage of starting pitchers and a plethora of underperforming relievers. Our decision makers have decided to reward Davis’ hard work and give him more time to continue his improvement at third base as he started off very impressively but fell off defensively. Also, it was decided that due to Thomas Szapucki’s advanced age but relatively little professional pitching experience, he would be in the MLB bullpen to be brought along slower than a starter, but to not use up his years of control in the minors while getting his MLB experience and knowledge.

Free Agent signings:
James McCann: $7 per year for two years
George Springer: $19 per year for four years
Brad Hand: $9 per year for three years
Tommy Hunter: $2.5 per year for two years
Chris Owings: $2.5 per year for three years
Robbie Ray: $12.5 per year for three years
Michael Brantley: $15 per year for two years (if the DH is passed for 2021)

Continue reading by clicking here. 


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ballnine - SHORT SEASON, LONGER LESSONS

 


By 


As MLB’s 60-game emergency schedule ends, here is a long view on baseball life in the short run.

Central truths have been learned from this sprint schedule. This shortened season showed the difference between solid organizations and weak organizations even with a 16-team playoff cushion.

When Rob Manfred announced the 60-game season, I was one of the few writers who said they would definitely complete the season. It was clear to me that Manfred, for all his faults, was determined to get this season to the finish line so baseball could collect post-season TV money. And that is exactly what happened.

This game never changes: Follow the money.

Having said that, the team that showed us the most creativity, the most depth, the most consistency without having the kind of across the board talent as other teams and not having the same financial resources was the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tampa Bay took everything that was thrown its way.

That includes a small army of pitchers on the injured list, and they not only survived a tough schedule but flourished, proving once again that a development-based organization – with a strong manager that wisely uses analytics – is a model for all franchises.

Frauds fall by the wayside under these conditions.

The Rays Way is the best way.

Their players are flexible.

They adjust to the system and play fundamentally sound baseball. The sum of the parts make up the team.


“What we are seeing so much of this year,’’ one scout told BallNIne, “is guys who have skills but don’t have the fundamentals of the game down yet. That is why there are so many upside-down games. How many double-digit games where nobody can stop the bleeding?’’

The Rays know how to stop the bleeding.

During the playoffs last year at Minute Maid Park before Game 5 of the Division Series between the Rays and Astros, I was speaking with one of the Rays’ owners and he assured me that even if the Red Sox raided his front office – which is like an annual occurrence with teams getting their next head of Baseball Ops from the Rays (ie: the Dodgers) – and took Chaim Bloom, that would be fine because “we can replace those guys.’’

HE WASN’T BEING ARROGANT. HE WAS BEING HONEST.

Rays owners have discovered what so many other teams can’t figure out. It’s not the analytics that create success. It’s the scouting and development side of the organization that breeds continued success. Numbers are merely a tool. If the system works, they can find people to be in charge of the system. That is what makes the Rays so successful.

For more about how the Rays do it year and year, click here.




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Reese Kaplan -- Growing a Team From the Ground Up


During the Wilpon years there was an undeniable envy felt by the Wilpons (and many Mets fans) for the manner in which the crosstown rivals in the Bronx operated their ballclub vs. what the Mets did with their own.  Anytime an ex-Yankee became available the Wilpons would salivate and often overpay for someone past his prime or simply not that good (which is why the Yankees bid farewell to that person in the first place).



 

Yesterday it was announced that the first area where Steve Cohen wants to improve is in the area of analytics.  When I read this announcement I understood that a person who has made billions in the market lives and dies by the value of his data.  You'd think the Mets would have used the same approach in building their own farm system and major league team.  Imagine the reaction to hear that with 2019's hiring of a top notch analyst and Cohen's premature hiring of Sandy Alderson as team President that the Mets are now right on par with the best in the game, right?

 

Wrong!

 

The Yankees employ 20 people in their analytics department to evaluate and rate the players not just in their own system but throughout the entire world in the quest of new talent to help them towards the goal of postseason baseball.  The Mets must look like that, too, huh?

 

Ummm...no.  The Mets with last year's analytics hot-shot hire expanded their department of data-savvy experts to a whopping total of 3.  Read that again -- Yankees have 20 working on this endeavor and the Wilpons were happy to recently increase from 2 to 3.  How many times have the Mets been in the postseason?  Don't look it up...it's depressing.

 

So the fact Cohen wants to apply the same principles to improving the performance of his baseball portfolio that he uses in investments should be a very good thing.  Right away, however, people are already questioning if spending money in this area means there will be little money spent on a shopping spree of free agents and high-salaried players in trades since there are just so many chips in the bag.  Many people want the Mets to spend their way to instant respectability and already fear that Cohen is not going to be the solution they were hoping had finally arrived.

 



While I certainly wouldn't object to seeing guys like J.T. Realmuto, Trevor Bauer and George Springer in orange and blue at Citifield, the fact is that quick (and expensive) fixes seldom work as planned.  Who here remembers cheering loudly when the Mets obtained Bobby Bonilla or Jason Bay or Oliver Perez or even Rick Porcello?  There's no guarantee that a big name addition is going to be an instant game changer.  Some take time to adjust (like Robinson Cano and Carlos Beltran, both of whom underperformed in their first years playing for the Mets).  Some are simply not as good as you hoped they would be, like Todd Frazier.  

 

So if the goal is to build a long term success not just like the Yankees, but like the Rays and the Astros who simply find good player after good player, I can live with that.  I don't need any more James Loney types in the starting lineup to think they went after a "name" player.  I'd rather see how the Dom Smith, Jeff McNeil and Edwin Diaz caliber players grow as Mets while they cost relatively little and the team benefits from their production.  (Yes, I did advocate positively about Diaz!)  

 

The long term solution of improving analytics should correspondingly lead to greater draft choices, better trades and (hopefully) more broad international signings.  That formula has worked for many other clubs and to me a long term prospect of success is preferable to a one-year spending spree on over-30 talent whose down side to their career hampers your payroll for years to come.  

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