Yesterday, Mets superstar shortstop Jose Reyes (thankfully uninjured) was involved in a car accident while crossing the RFK Bridge on the way to his doctor’s appointment. At this point, the plight of the Mets is becoming sadistically comical. This team cannot catch a break, however, they continue to remain within striking distance of the Phillies, who are also slumping.
So, just how bad are things for the Mets right now? The following is just a sample set of all things wrong with the boys from Queens and why statistically speaking they should be in last place right now.
1. Fernando Tatis was the clean-up hitter yesterday. Yikes.
2. Three of the four best players on the team (which happen to be three of the best players in the entire National League) are now on the DL after Carlos Beltran’s injury.
3. As a whole, the team has hit 44 home runs. Albert Pujols has hit 26. To clarify for those non-sports fans, Albert Pujols is one baseball player, while the New York Mets are an entire baseball team.
4. If Derek Jeter were on the Mets, he would be leading the team in home runs.
5. Even the best pitcher in the world, Johan Santana, is slumping. His ERA in the month of June is a hefty 7.33 and has given up seven home runs in that stretch. Perhaps the most telling statistic is that Santana had 42 and 44 strike outs in May and June respectively. With one more start left in June, he only has 11 K’s. God help us all if he’s hurt.
6. Pitcher, Oliver Perez, is leading the team in batting average at .429. Okay, I just threw that one in there for fun.
Clearly, considering the preceding facts and all of the uncontrollable mishaps the Mets have suffered, they must be at least 8 or 9 games back in the NL East, right? Wrong. As it stands on June 23, they are only 1.5 games back. So how have they done it? The hell if I or any other baseball fan knows, but somehow they’ve hung in this thing. To be fair, there have been a few bright spots for the Mets. Catcher Omir Santos filled in brilliantly for an injured Brian Schneider and Gary Sheffield has produced more than anyone could have expected him to. Despite one of the most glaring errors in the history of sports, Luis Castillo has actually had a pretty good year this far. And, until slumping recently, the revamped Mets bullpen had been the best in the league after last year’s sub-sub par performance. So, where do the Mets go from here? It’s quite simple, and Mr. Minaya (Mets GM), feel free to print this out and take it to your next meeting.
1. GET HEALTHY.
Really, Jerry Manual is off the hot seat. How can a manager be expected to perform week in and week out with the type of line up he’s putting on the field these days? First Delgado, then Reyes and now Carlos Beltran are all on the DL. Imagine taking three players of this caliber off of any other Major League squad. Take Jeter, Teixeira and Rodriguez away from the Yankees right now, and replace them with Ramiro Pena, Angel Berroa and Shelly Duncan. You think the Yankee suck now? Imagine them with that trio. Take away Pedroia, Youkilis and Bay from the Red Sox. No way they would be anywhere close to first place. My personal theory, which can be saved for another blog post, is that the Mets training staff and team doctor’s are to blamed for the star-studded Disabled List. For now though, Mets fans just need to pray that Reyes and Beltran hurry back and anything you get from Delgado for the rest of the season will be a bonus.
2. GET SOME POWER.
Go ahead and blame over-sized Citi Field for the Mets power woes this season, but David Wright has one home run on the road. “But Scott,” you’ll say, “David Wright changed his batting stance because he knew it would be hard to hit home runs at Citi Field. This has translated to away games as well.” I don’t care that David Wright has the best batting average in the league, and Mets fans shouldn’t either. This game is about SCORING RUNS. 39 RBI’s at this point of the season out of Wright isn’t good enough. The Mets need a power hitter, preferably in a corner-outfield spot. When Sheffield plays, he can hit the ball out, but he can’t play everyday. The Mets need to sign… I can’t believe I’m saying this… Adam Dunn. There are a million reasons not sign Dunn, the main one being that adding him to that outfield defensively would be like adding Scottie Smalls to the Bad News Bears (before Scottie ever met Benny the Jet Rodriguez). It would not be pretty. But, they need a strong force in the middle of the line up. Dunn may strike out every other time up, but if he gets a hold of one, Citi Field won’t be able to contain him. He hits the ball further than anyone else in the league. I know this will anger some Mets fans, but if the Washington Nationals will only accept Fernando Martinez in a trade offer, then the Mets should do it. I get a bad feeling about Fernando Martinez and besides, the Mets already have too many players named “Fernando” and/or “Martinez.”
3. GO WATCH A LITTLE LEAGUE GAME
Take notes on how to run the bases and catch fly balls. The Mets are so fundamentally flawed it’s incredible. They get thrown out on the bases way too often. Fire Razor Shines (Mets third base coach) and hire me for a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. I can’t do any worse.
4. DO NOT TRADE FOR A STARTING PITCHER.
Starting pitching is not the Mets problem. Santana will definitely turn it around and the rest of the staff really is not that bad. Big Pelf and John Maine are not the best number two and three starters in the league, but they’re adequate. Livan Hernandez has been an unexpected success and hopefully Nieve can continue his early achievements.
Again, it is an absolute wonder that the Mets are as well off as they are right now. When a successful team doesn’t play good fundamental baseball (i.e. the Yankees) then you can pin their success on power hitting. When a successful team doesn’t hit for power (i.e. the Angels) then they are usually good base-runners and fielders. The Mets are neither. They have had clutch hitting (at times) and a fairly solid bullpen. This has gotten them by for 68 games, but it won’t get the job done for the full schedule. At some point, the Phillies will get break from their slump and start to run away with it. The Mets will have to keep pace because the Wild Card probably will not come out of the East this year.
Clearly, the most obvious and inexpensive option for the Mets at this point is they must remember to eat their Wheaties every morning. This will not only give them some much needed power hitting, but also help to keep them off the DL.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
So this is what it feels like to be the underdog
I became a Yankee fan in 1992. Go ahead and call me a front-runner if you want, but I was six years old at the time. Since then, the boys in pinstripes have controlled 7 pm to 10 pm on most summer nights. The Yankees went through an incredible run in the late 1990’s and have fallen off a bit since, but until now, I was never afraid of any team. Even when the Red Sox came back and beat the Yankees after being down 3-0 in the American League Championship Series in 2004, I told myself it was a fluke. Since then, the Red Sox have taken the reigns from the Yankees as the team to beat in the AL and even more so, have pounded my beloved Yankees. I hate to say it, but I now fear our bitter rivals to the north. Unfortunately, it’s clear that the Yankees and Joe Girardi do too.
Before this week’s series started, the Yankees had lost all five games they played against the Red Sox. “That’s okay,” I told myself, “The Yankees were awful in the beginning of the season.” Coming into this series, the Yankees were playing their best baseball. Starting pitching and clutch hitting (the two most important ingredients to victory) were clicking together and it was producing victories for the Yanks. For some reason, though, something psychologically happens when the Yankees see navy and red in the opposing dugout.
Game one of the series is a throw away game. Wang is awful right now and the whole world knew the Red Sox were going to turn his pitches (the few that got over the plate at least) into Green Monster pellets. “No problem,” Yankee Universe told themselves, “we got AJ pitching next. He KILLS the Red Sox.” Wrong. He couldn’t find the plate either. He got beat up and the Yankees comeback attempt fell short. We HAD to salvage one game. With ace CC Sabathia on the mound, we were definitely going to win a game and tie the division race. CC pitched a gem into the seventh, gave up a few hits, and then the Yankees glaring hole, the bullpen, blew it. Zero out of eight. We have lost eight games this year to the Red Sox, nine in a row going back to last year. This is beyond concerning. Beyond frustrating. Yankee fans, it’s time to panic.
Think of this series as a microcosm of what’s going to happen in the playoffs to the Yankees if changes are not made. Yes, it’s true that our starting pitching will be set up better for the playoffs, but logic dictates that CC and AJ will be the one and three starters in a playoff series. The Red Sox just beat them both with a unwavering, smug confidence as if they just took the Yankees younger sister to “Make-out Point,” had their way with her and there was nothing the Yankees could do about it. So, how do we fix the Yankees? On paper tangibly, it’s easy:
1. Give Wang one more chance. If he screws it up, put him in the bullpen and have Hughes take his spot.
2. Xavier Nady is coming back soon (hopefully) and the more I watch Nick Swisher play, the more I realize that he’s not as good as the first quarter of the season has indicated. He makes dumb decisions running the bases and he’s an average fielder at best. There are contenders out there though who could use his powerful bat in the line up. Trade him for a good reliever. “But Scott,” you’ll say, “he’s such a good guy to have in the clubhouse! He’s so happy-go-lucky and funny!” The whole notion of having a good “clubhouse” is one of the most overrated concepts in sports. Pies in the face and kangaroo courts are great, but they DO NOT translate to victories. Ask Reggie Jackson and the 1978 Yankees about their clubhouse. They all hated each other, but still won. While we’re talking trades, let’s trade Jose Molina while we’re at it. Francisco Cerveli has proven himself to be a more than adequate back up catcher and Kevin Cash is third in line. Molina has done a great job for us, but at this point he means more to the Yankees as a valuable trading chip.
3. Tell AJ Burnett to remove his head from his sphincter and trust his “stuff.” Rumor has it, he has some of the best stuff in the league. Seems to me he left his stuff in Toronto.
4. Put more organizational pressure on Joe Girardi to win the big games. If George Steinbrenner were still running the show, he would come out and say Girardi’s job is in jeopardy after losing eight games to the Red Sox.
5. Fire Brian Cashman and make me the General Manager of the Yankees.
The Yankees do not play the Red Sox again until August, so we will have these eight losses sticking in our craw for the next couple months. Minus the eight games we’ve lost to the Red Sox, the Yankees have been the better team this year. The Yankees have to come out and beat the teams they are supposed to beat, specifically the Blue Jays and the Rays, and worry about the Red Sox when the time comes. If the Yankees get crushed by them for the rest of the season, there is no reason to think they can win a playoff series against them.
Side Note to Red Sox fans – Yes, you’ve beaten the Yankees every game, so I have nothing on you. But, PLEASE stop embarrassing yourselves by giving standing ovations to David Ortiz every time he hits the ball out of the infield. This is Major League Baseball. David Ortiz is not the “special” kid on a recreational little league team who is a little smaller and less developed than the other boys. He has a multi-million dollar contract to hit home runs and get RBI’s. Curtain calls for homers that barely wrap around Pesky’s Pole in right field at Fenway and wouldn’t make it out of any other Major League stadium are unwarranted. Let Big Papi go gracefully into the Boston sunset and appreciate him for the illustrious World Series hero he was to you in the past. Don’t patronize him while he ambles clumsily toward the end of an otherwise extremely successful career.
Before this week’s series started, the Yankees had lost all five games they played against the Red Sox. “That’s okay,” I told myself, “The Yankees were awful in the beginning of the season.” Coming into this series, the Yankees were playing their best baseball. Starting pitching and clutch hitting (the two most important ingredients to victory) were clicking together and it was producing victories for the Yanks. For some reason, though, something psychologically happens when the Yankees see navy and red in the opposing dugout.
Game one of the series is a throw away game. Wang is awful right now and the whole world knew the Red Sox were going to turn his pitches (the few that got over the plate at least) into Green Monster pellets. “No problem,” Yankee Universe told themselves, “we got AJ pitching next. He KILLS the Red Sox.” Wrong. He couldn’t find the plate either. He got beat up and the Yankees comeback attempt fell short. We HAD to salvage one game. With ace CC Sabathia on the mound, we were definitely going to win a game and tie the division race. CC pitched a gem into the seventh, gave up a few hits, and then the Yankees glaring hole, the bullpen, blew it. Zero out of eight. We have lost eight games this year to the Red Sox, nine in a row going back to last year. This is beyond concerning. Beyond frustrating. Yankee fans, it’s time to panic.
Think of this series as a microcosm of what’s going to happen in the playoffs to the Yankees if changes are not made. Yes, it’s true that our starting pitching will be set up better for the playoffs, but logic dictates that CC and AJ will be the one and three starters in a playoff series. The Red Sox just beat them both with a unwavering, smug confidence as if they just took the Yankees younger sister to “Make-out Point,” had their way with her and there was nothing the Yankees could do about it. So, how do we fix the Yankees? On paper tangibly, it’s easy:
1. Give Wang one more chance. If he screws it up, put him in the bullpen and have Hughes take his spot.
2. Xavier Nady is coming back soon (hopefully) and the more I watch Nick Swisher play, the more I realize that he’s not as good as the first quarter of the season has indicated. He makes dumb decisions running the bases and he’s an average fielder at best. There are contenders out there though who could use his powerful bat in the line up. Trade him for a good reliever. “But Scott,” you’ll say, “he’s such a good guy to have in the clubhouse! He’s so happy-go-lucky and funny!” The whole notion of having a good “clubhouse” is one of the most overrated concepts in sports. Pies in the face and kangaroo courts are great, but they DO NOT translate to victories. Ask Reggie Jackson and the 1978 Yankees about their clubhouse. They all hated each other, but still won. While we’re talking trades, let’s trade Jose Molina while we’re at it. Francisco Cerveli has proven himself to be a more than adequate back up catcher and Kevin Cash is third in line. Molina has done a great job for us, but at this point he means more to the Yankees as a valuable trading chip.
3. Tell AJ Burnett to remove his head from his sphincter and trust his “stuff.” Rumor has it, he has some of the best stuff in the league. Seems to me he left his stuff in Toronto.
4. Put more organizational pressure on Joe Girardi to win the big games. If George Steinbrenner were still running the show, he would come out and say Girardi’s job is in jeopardy after losing eight games to the Red Sox.
5. Fire Brian Cashman and make me the General Manager of the Yankees.
The Yankees do not play the Red Sox again until August, so we will have these eight losses sticking in our craw for the next couple months. Minus the eight games we’ve lost to the Red Sox, the Yankees have been the better team this year. The Yankees have to come out and beat the teams they are supposed to beat, specifically the Blue Jays and the Rays, and worry about the Red Sox when the time comes. If the Yankees get crushed by them for the rest of the season, there is no reason to think they can win a playoff series against them.
Side Note to Red Sox fans – Yes, you’ve beaten the Yankees every game, so I have nothing on you. But, PLEASE stop embarrassing yourselves by giving standing ovations to David Ortiz every time he hits the ball out of the infield. This is Major League Baseball. David Ortiz is not the “special” kid on a recreational little league team who is a little smaller and less developed than the other boys. He has a multi-million dollar contract to hit home runs and get RBI’s. Curtain calls for homers that barely wrap around Pesky’s Pole in right field at Fenway and wouldn’t make it out of any other Major League stadium are unwarranted. Let Big Papi go gracefully into the Boston sunset and appreciate him for the illustrious World Series hero he was to you in the past. Don’t patronize him while he ambles clumsily toward the end of an otherwise extremely successful career.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Yankee Stadium Conspiracy Theory
Who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory?
Ever since the first homestand, baseball fans have been complaining that the new Yankee Stadium is yielding far too many home runs. Baseball purists are calling up WFAN 660, the local sports talk radio station, and saying that the new Yankee Stadium is a silo and that this takes away from the strategy of the game. So far this year, after hitting four home runs tonight to beat the Rays 5-3 (all of the runs being scored on dingers) the Yankees have hit 88 home runs, with an astounding 53 of them coming at home. Next to the Texas Rangers, who also play at a homer happy ball park, the Yankees have the second most in the league. Particularly in the steroid era, people say this is what is wrong with baseball. Too many home runs, not enough "small ball."
Strangely enough, before the season started, no one predicted that there would be an abnormal amount of home runs hit at the new stadium. The dimensions are the same as the old ball park, and it was literally built across the block, so why would things be different? Experts say the reason for the power streak is because of wind currents. If the ball is lifted in the air, particularly to right (which is very important to my theory) there is a very good chance it is going to carry over the wall. Yankee management says they had no idea this would happen. It's just a fluke. Or at least that is what they would lead you to believe.
Going back to the 1920's and Murderer's Row, the Yankees have has historically had line ups built around power. Ruth, Mantle, Maris, Jackson, and now A-Rod and Teixeira. A-Rod was signed to a long term contract before the plans for the new stadium were set into motion. So, the Yankees knew they would most likely have Alex Rodriguez for the remainder of his career right in the middle of the line up. Additionally, moreso than anyone else in the league, A-Rod is EXTREMELY strong when going the other way. He hits a lot of home runs that way. Let's go next level with the rest of their line up.
1. Derek Jeter (R) - Not too powerful, but most of his homers go to right.
2. Johnny Damon (L) Has some pop, particularly when pulling it down the line.
3. Mark Teixeira (L) Quintissential pull power hitter.
4. A-Rod (R) Enough said.
5. Jorge Posada (S) Still good for 25-30 homers a year.
6. Hideki Matsui (L) also still good for 25-30.
7. Nick Swisher (S) Power hitter more than an average hitter
8. Robinson Cano (L) Young lefty who is getting stronger.
9. Melky Cabrera (S) Also a young guy with some pop.
THIS IS A POWER LINE UP. And most of their power is geared toward right field. This is where the conspiracy comes into play. The people running the Yankees are not stupid. They know what they have on their team. But they also know that if they simply made it 300 feet down the line in right, then they would get a lot of ridicule from the league and from fans. So, instead, I think the team paid engineers and physicists to study the wind currents in the Bronx to find out exactly how to arrange the stadium to get the most from their power. It's not an accident! They paid hundreds of millions of dollars to build this stadium. They knew exactly what they were doing. (The blind spots notwithstanding.)
It makes so much sense. The key to professional sports is trying to find every advantage possible to defeat your opponent. Particularly in baseball, this brings the structure of the ball parks into play. Teams can build their teams around the ball park. If you have a big park that doesn't give up a lot of home runs (Citi Field) then you should focus on getting quality pitching and fast outfielders. If you have a Green Monster in left field (Fenway) then your general manager should acquire right handed power. For years to come, the Yankees are going go after power hitters. Now, perhaps you don't like the brand of baseball. Maybe you like National League style baseball. Manufacturing runs. That's fine, but if you are a Yankee fan, do not criticize the Yankees for their stadium. Realize that what the Yankees have done is brilliant and that for decades you are going to see your fair share of incredible mammoth shots by some of the game's best power hitters.
Ever since the first homestand, baseball fans have been complaining that the new Yankee Stadium is yielding far too many home runs. Baseball purists are calling up WFAN 660, the local sports talk radio station, and saying that the new Yankee Stadium is a silo and that this takes away from the strategy of the game. So far this year, after hitting four home runs tonight to beat the Rays 5-3 (all of the runs being scored on dingers) the Yankees have hit 88 home runs, with an astounding 53 of them coming at home. Next to the Texas Rangers, who also play at a homer happy ball park, the Yankees have the second most in the league. Particularly in the steroid era, people say this is what is wrong with baseball. Too many home runs, not enough "small ball."
Strangely enough, before the season started, no one predicted that there would be an abnormal amount of home runs hit at the new stadium. The dimensions are the same as the old ball park, and it was literally built across the block, so why would things be different? Experts say the reason for the power streak is because of wind currents. If the ball is lifted in the air, particularly to right (which is very important to my theory) there is a very good chance it is going to carry over the wall. Yankee management says they had no idea this would happen. It's just a fluke. Or at least that is what they would lead you to believe.
Going back to the 1920's and Murderer's Row, the Yankees have has historically had line ups built around power. Ruth, Mantle, Maris, Jackson, and now A-Rod and Teixeira. A-Rod was signed to a long term contract before the plans for the new stadium were set into motion. So, the Yankees knew they would most likely have Alex Rodriguez for the remainder of his career right in the middle of the line up. Additionally, moreso than anyone else in the league, A-Rod is EXTREMELY strong when going the other way. He hits a lot of home runs that way. Let's go next level with the rest of their line up.
1. Derek Jeter (R) - Not too powerful, but most of his homers go to right.
2. Johnny Damon (L) Has some pop, particularly when pulling it down the line.
3. Mark Teixeira (L) Quintissential pull power hitter.
4. A-Rod (R) Enough said.
5. Jorge Posada (S) Still good for 25-30 homers a year.
6. Hideki Matsui (L) also still good for 25-30.
7. Nick Swisher (S) Power hitter more than an average hitter
8. Robinson Cano (L) Young lefty who is getting stronger.
9. Melky Cabrera (S) Also a young guy with some pop.
THIS IS A POWER LINE UP. And most of their power is geared toward right field. This is where the conspiracy comes into play. The people running the Yankees are not stupid. They know what they have on their team. But they also know that if they simply made it 300 feet down the line in right, then they would get a lot of ridicule from the league and from fans. So, instead, I think the team paid engineers and physicists to study the wind currents in the Bronx to find out exactly how to arrange the stadium to get the most from their power. It's not an accident! They paid hundreds of millions of dollars to build this stadium. They knew exactly what they were doing. (The blind spots notwithstanding.)
It makes so much sense. The key to professional sports is trying to find every advantage possible to defeat your opponent. Particularly in baseball, this brings the structure of the ball parks into play. Teams can build their teams around the ball park. If you have a big park that doesn't give up a lot of home runs (Citi Field) then you should focus on getting quality pitching and fast outfielders. If you have a Green Monster in left field (Fenway) then your general manager should acquire right handed power. For years to come, the Yankees are going go after power hitters. Now, perhaps you don't like the brand of baseball. Maybe you like National League style baseball. Manufacturing runs. That's fine, but if you are a Yankee fan, do not criticize the Yankees for their stadium. Realize that what the Yankees have done is brilliant and that for decades you are going to see your fair share of incredible mammoth shots by some of the game's best power hitters.
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