link - RHP, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, 29 – I consider Iwakuma, by some measures, to be the second best MLB pitching prospect currently active in NPB. Tall and stringy at 6’3, 170 lbs, Iwakuma is a fairly standard fastball/slider/forkball righty. He can reach 95-95 mph with his fastball, but mostly works around 90-91. None of his three main pitches strike me as outstanding, but he commands them all well and can be dominant when he’s keeping the ball down in the zone. The fun fact about Iwakuma is that early in his career, he used a “two stage” delivery, in which he brought his front leg up, then back down without touching the dirt, the up again before finishing his delivery. You can check it out in this 2002 clip of Iwakuma facing Ichiro in an MLB-NPB All-Star game. Two stage deliveries were banned in NPB a couple years ago, so he and others, notably Ken Takahashi and Daisuke Miura, had to rework their mechanics. This and other factors caused Iwakuma to spend a few years in the wilderness, which I chronicled at my main haunt after last year’s WBC. Iwakuma is signed through next season, and assuming his remains in good health, will be eligible to move cross-Pacific after next season.
link - All of that said, it seems to me like an aimless approach to trade prospects away in order to give fans a reason to come, and one that won’t net this organization success over the long term. Of course there is no way to know if Davis will grow from his rookie campaign and there is really no way to know what Mejia is at this point either, and one can certainly make the argument the Mets could trade now while their value is reasonably high. But if they aren’t projected to be what the Mets are ultimately seeking anyway, they won’t be able to net what they consider to be fair value in return no matter what. On the flip side, most of the Mets fan base is very smart, and very intuitive, and if they haphazardly trade prospects for big names who don’t fit into some kind of mold to turn this ship around, the fans won’t come based on that alone
link - Santana’s velocity has been in decline, and now he faces shoulder surgery that ESPN is reporting could keep him out for up to two years. This is a tough surgery with a long and arduous rehab program. It won’t be easy for Santana and there are no guarantees on the back end. That said, the Mets will likely come to regret the $77 million balance on the contract, but they knew going in that was a strong possibility for the final two years, OK, now it could be three. The Mets overpaid because both the Red Sox and Yankees backed out, but the circumstances of the times must be realized. The Mets, having lost in 2006 and collapsed in 2007, were in dire need of starting pitching.
link - By WAR, Davis is the 11th best first baseman in the league this season, right now. A lot of that is due to his defense per UZR, a stat known to fluctuate pretty wildly from year to year, but to the eye Davis has undoubtedly been pretty sharp at first base. But even by offense-only stats like OPS, Davis falls right near the middle of the pack of Major League first basemen, though a bit on the short side. Of course, he’s doing it while playing half his games in Citi Field, while only 23 years old, and with only half a season above A-ball under his belt. Davis may never be the best hitting first baseman in the Majors, but it is far too early to say he’ll never be among the best hitting first basemen in the Majors, nor that his defense won’t be enough to mitigate the difference between him and the top-tier offensive players at the position
link - City prosecutors have charged ESPN personality and sports columnist Jay Mariotti with seven misdemeanors in connection with an incident last month in which he allegedly grabbed and shoved his live-in girlfriend, officials said Monday. Mariotti, known for his unsparing commentary of athletes on ESPN's "Around the Horn," faces seven counts in all in connection with the domestic disturbance call last month at the couple's condominium near the Venice-Santa Monica border, said Frank Mateljian, spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney's office.
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