“Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It’s staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in.” Casey Stengel
Here’s what you missed on Saturday, August 1, 2009:
- Draft & Follow 8-1-09 by GravediggerHebner
- This Day In Mets Infamy Rusty 8-1-09 by rustyjr
- Gameday Weather 8-1-09 by prismo
- TRDMB – What Minaya “Really†meant to say. by Mr North Jersey
- Injury Update: Beltran at Citi Taking BP and A Bold Idea by trs86
- Game Thread: Mets (49-53) vs Diamondbacks (45-58) by dirtysanchez
- Post Game: Angel Rids Citi Of Snakes by GravediggerHebner
Here’s what you missed on Sunday, August 2, 2009:
- Gameday Weather 8-2-09 by prismo
- EXTRA!! EXTRA!! TRDMB Front Page Vol. 12 by Mr North Jersey
- UPDATE: Sheffield Back Cancel Canceled, Figgy Monday Uh… One Too Many by trs86
- Draft & Follow 8-2-09 by GravediggerHebner
- Man Up Awards for Saturday Night by dirtysanchez
- Weather Update – When will the rain end?. by prismo
- Game Thread: Mets (50-53) vs Diamondbacks (45-59)-(3:35pm) by dirtysanchez
- This Day In Mets Infamy With Rusty 8-2-09 by rustyjr
- 2009 Mets Motivational Model Puzzle Piece by dirtysanchez
- Post Game: Garland Turns Met Bats To Tinsel by GravediggerHebner
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45 comments
metsfan4decades
8/3/2009-7:59am at 7:59 am (UTC -4)
Interesting read over on Mike Silva’s blog over on NY Baseball Digest on a replacement for the player development position. He suggests Wally Backman and goes on to give his reasons why, based on past interviews and conversations with Wally and past accomplishments.
I was especially impressed with his comments concerning strength and conditioning programs, fundamentals, and overall development both on and off the field.
Here’s a quote:
“Lifting weights is fine, but it won’t help you with situational hitting and knowing how to lay down a bunt.â€
Interesting reading. Maybe the Mets ought to give Wally a call…
prismo
8/3/2009-8:01am at 8:01 am (UTC -4)
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=13466
prismo
8/3/2009-8:03am at 8:03 am (UTC -4)
Sounds like a passionate guy with a positive attitude. Probably too good for the Mets.
metsfan4decades
8/3/2009-8:34am at 8:34 am (UTC -4)
LOL.
I know Backman has had his problems off the field, both as a player and after he retired, but Silva makes a good point. The Mets should spend some energy concentrating on their minor leagues all the way around because maybe if we get better at building from the ground up, we can sustain a winning ML club for years to come.
prismo
8/3/2009-9:00am at 9:00 am (UTC -4)
Yep, exactly. They need a guy who’s going to focus on 3 things:
1. Scouting and drafting the right players in the MLB draft
2. Scouting and drafting as many talented international players as possible
3. Developing drafted players, without challenging them to a fight while his nipples are exposed
I’m not sure Bernazard was good at any of these things. The Mets have a pretty terrible draft history, they don’t sign enough touted international players as they should with the money the team brings in, and we all know about his shirtless “challenge” fiasco.
udontmesswthejohan
8/3/2009-9:38am at 9:38 am (UTC -4)
Like many of you, I was a big Wally Backman fan growing up and loved the way he played the game. It’s also obvious from reading this post, as well as some other articles int he past, that the guy has a tremendous devotion and passion for the game. All of these things are great. But…
After firing Bernazard (who totally deserved it) for taking off his shirt and threatening to fight minor leaguers, can we be convinced that a similar situation might not arise under Wally? I mean, everyone deserves a second chance, and with time, I think he will get his, but from all that I’ve read over the past couple of years, I think he still has a way to go before a MLB team will give him that shot. I recall a story I read when he was first hired by the Independant League team where he totally blew a gasket after a bad call, supposedly went up to the announcers booth and berated a college intern announcer. Something along those lines. If it’s not all right for Bernazard to act like a nut job, then it shouldn’t be all right for Wally to do the same. Now Wally may or may not have outgrown that stuff, but are you willing to take that chance after what just happened?
udontmesswthejohan
8/3/2009-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2007/06/28/minor-league-spotlight-the-wally-backman-experiment-is-not-goin/
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2007-08-10-4254589997_x.htm
trs86
8/3/2009-9:53am at 9:53 am (UTC -4)
I wanna clean the entire staff this offseason except for Omar who gets until next ASB. However, I am done with putting former Mets into positions they don’t deserve. Such as uh… Hojo. Backman is another lose cannon and for sure what we don’t need while searching for someone to bring respect and professionalism back to the Mets.
prismo
8/3/2009-9:57am at 9:57 am (UTC -4)
Your opinion means nothing! You don’t even like Bobby V!
trs86
8/3/2009-10:00am at 10:00 am (UTC -4)
Well actually I think Bobby V is fine. Just not what we need an not a god. LOL.
prismo
8/3/2009-10:07am at 10:07 am (UTC -4)
Yes he is a god, and I have a huge man-crush on him.
2nd in AL Manager of the Year voting, 1986
Led the Chiba Lotta Marines to a second place finish in the Japanese Pacific League in 1995
Led the Mets to 97 wins in 1999 and into the NL Championship Series
Led the Mets to 94 wins in 2000 and into the World Series
Led the Chiba Lotta Marines to a Pacific League pennant in 2004…their first in over 20 years. Then they won the Japan Series. Then they won the Asia Series.
GOD.
prismo
8/3/2009-10:07am at 10:07 am (UTC -4)
Sorry, Chiba’s first pennant in 30 years
trs86
8/3/2009-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
He must be a good hitter.
prismo
8/3/2009-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
You’re jealous.
trs86
8/3/2009-10:30am at 10:30 am (UTC -4)
Of a guy who got fired by the Mets and could not find a MLB job and then wore out his welcome in a place they DID view him as a God. Yup, you got me. LOL.
prismo
8/3/2009-10:46am at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
He didn’t wear out his welcome there. Did you see how much the fans wanted him to stay? It was the evil executive who wanted him gone, check this out:
“In the long-running debate on convergence, the last 20 years have seen Japan slide every closer to the West and its executives-and-shareholders-first dogma. However, nuclear plants, railroads, hospitals, and other providers of public goods cannot be allowed to sacrifice quality to efficiency and profit. Yamazaki’s indictment could serve as a cautionary tale for other executives whose arsenal of management strategies consists solely of the unimpeded exercise of authority.
This may be why, despite enthusiastic fan support, Japanese executives seem keen to get rid of Bobby Valentine, the American manager of the Lotte Chiba Marines professional baseball team. Valentine has shown that he can achieve stellar results without abusing his player-employees. But because his methods – never using anger or humiliation, teaching players how to study the causes of their errors rather than punishing them for mistakes, employing abundant public praise to raise players’ self-esteem – are alien to the majority of Japanese baseball managers and business executives, his widely known example threatens to undermine their authority. Workers gush about how they would love to have a boss like Bobby to validate and encourage them. His example enables a comparative perspective from which workers can question the quality of the authority that they labor under. That is precisely the sort of foreign influence the Nippon Keidanren-led business community in Japan would like to banish. ”
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/KG15Dh01.html
trs86
8/3/2009-11:01am at 11:01 am (UTC -4)
Whatever, to each his own. He will most likely get an interview here when our spot comes up. We can argue it then when it matters. I just think he’s an average manager and you don’t. Nothing big.
prismo
8/3/2009-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
I may have been exaggerating a bit for fun.
I do think he’s an above average manager, but he’s not the greatest ever by any means. He may be the best available though.
trs86
8/3/2009-11:20am at 11:20 am (UTC -4)
Depends on if you want experienced. I for one am still on Joey Cora myself.
GravediggerHebner
8/3/2009-10:59am at 10:59 am (UTC -4)
I like the clean house idea, but I don’t like the giving Omar til next ASB idea. The team would be hamstrung trying to find a GM mid season. Either fire him in the house cleaning, or give him all of 2010.
trs86
8/3/2009-11:02am at 11:02 am (UTC -4)
I was thinking that you have an idea who you are replacing him with already. That way if we are tanking in the middle of the year next year then you can start the firesale and rebuilding mode at the deadline.
GravediggerHebner
8/3/2009-11:09am at 11:09 am (UTC -4)
Then you’re probably going with an unproven commodity (which is fine, just noting it) because most of the proven commodities will be employed elsewhere at that point in time IMO.
If you want to have a greater litter to pick from, you probably have to make the hire in the off season.
trs86
8/3/2009-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
I am just not sure that matters with GM. It’s not like any of the ones in baseball that are good are going to leave for the Mets this off-season. What about Davey Johnson would he be good at it? LOL.
GravediggerHebner
8/3/2009-11:28am at 11:28 am (UTC -4)
Perhaps, I have an open mind to the idea of Davey as GM without knowing his qualifications. I no longer have an open mind to him as manager however. The WBC debacle made me very cold to the idea of him as field manager.
As far as good GMs leaving for the Mets this off season, I have no idea, I just know if their contracts are up they’re up at the end of the year, not in the middle of it.
trs86
8/3/2009-11:33am at 11:33 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, unless it’s an assistant and most teams would allow their guy to speak with a team to have a chance to move up. Honestly I could not tell you but about 2-3 good GM’s in baseball anyway and most of them were not GM’s before they got their current jobs.
As for Davey, I don’t give to much credit to the debacle that was the WBC in general. There were so many things he had to manage. He could not manage that team like he wanted to and you know that.
GravediggerHebner
8/3/2009-3:12pm at 3:12 pm (UTC -4)
Sorry I had to step away for a few hours, but to follow up on that…
Yes I understand and agree that many good GMs were 1st time GMs, I just think it’s asking a lot of anyone to “jump in” to a new organization in the middle of a season. So if we’re writing off 2010 then I’m OK with hiring a GM midstream, if we’re not writing it off…
And as far as Davey, I will hope he had not saved well and had kids in college and had to take a paying gig because otherwise I would hope a man of his integrity would rather turn the job down than take it in such a compromised way.
JoeR
8/3/2009-9:56am at 9:56 am (UTC -4)
Pelfrey stinks. Just figured i would mention that….he continues to pitch like a number 4/5 starter when he is our 2. Maybe its not Pelf’s fault, maybe its Omar and Manuel rushing this guy AFTER ONE GOOD HALF OF PITCHING LAST YEAR TO NUMBER 2 STATUS!!!!
With that said I still place most of the blame on Pelfrey. This guy pitched effectively in college, has very good stuff, shows glimpses, but in the end he cant put it together. In fact his college coach has said he has digressed. I am not ready to give up on Pelf yet but imo next year is do or die for him. If by next years trading deadline this guy hasnt found a way to be consistent he should be shipped out or our number 5 starter. By next year at this time Pelf will have more than the number of starts experts say it takes for a major league pitcher to put it together.
trs86
8/3/2009-10:07am at 10:07 am (UTC -4)
Actually if you look at Pelfrey’s 1st and 2nd half’s last year as just stats he was not bad in the first half either. Under 4.00 ERA if I remember. And can we give the guy more time? I mentioned this last night but check on some other famous #2 types after 60 starts. Hell Halladay in his 2nd full year had an ERA over 10. Dan Haren’s 2nd full year he had an ERA over 4.00 as did CC Sabathia. Derek Lowe’s 2nd and 3rd year of starting were terrible. The list goes on and on. Pelfrey has been around for a while in our minds but fact is he has only got right now 2 full years of starting under his belt, something around 66 starts. If at the end of next year he is still a puzzle piece then I will agree with you.
stickguy
8/3/2009-10:54am at 10:54 am (UTC -4)
common TRS, you have to stop using logic and common sense. It is just going to confuse people!
I do agree about Pelfrey. he is doing OK for his age and experience level. and he does have the stuff, and has shown the abillity, to be very very good. Just hopefully he gets the opportunity to do it for the Mets (home of the 2 month and out fan base).
trs86
8/3/2009-10:58am at 10:58 am (UTC -4)
I can almost bet that Pelfrey is as safe as anyone not named Wright, Santana, Krod. Too cheap not to be safe.
JoeR
8/3/2009-10:01am at 10:01 am (UTC -4)
Lets go Mets!! We need a split for the mental health of this team. They have been playing fairly well but losing 3 of 4 to the pathetic D’backs is not a very good sign.
Whats the deal with Delgado, Wagner, and Putz. Of course our luck is that they didnt play enough this year to have any high value during the trade deadline. Are we picking up their options?? probably not in Wagner’s and Delgado’s case. So we get nothing for these Type A free agents?? Not arbitration?? IDK
trs86
8/3/2009-10:09am at 10:09 am (UTC -4)
Last I looked Wagner and Delgado would be type A’s I think. Problem with all of our pending FA is that you would be taking a large risk offering anyone arbitration. Honestly if we are completely out of it at the end of August I trade as many as I can. Something like Wagner for Pena would most likely work for both sides as both sides would obtain that player’s option.
stickguy
8/3/2009-10:56am at 10:56 am (UTC -4)
need to get them back and playing though. Wagner should be, but unlikely that Putz or Delgado IMO make it back in time. Who is going to trade for 1 of them if they come back on 8/29 (or at least offer enough to make it worth the PR hit).
trs86
8/3/2009-10:59am at 10:59 am (UTC -4)
I think both will make it back with about 5-8 games to spare. However, we can pay their salary. It’s lost anyway. Thus teams would be able to make a gamble of at least a 2nd tier prospect.
steveo
8/3/2009-11:39am at 11:39 am (UTC -4)
That was last year this year we are more of laughing stock last year we were in 2nd place at the end, this year we will be in 4th with a lot of pieces to add to get to even be considered a contender
trs86
8/3/2009-11:41am at 11:41 am (UTC -4)
Eh, what about when we stunk even more than that a few years ago? Omar goes out and gets Beltran, Pedro and Wagner? All because they thought they would be a great team? Or could it be uh… cash?
steveo
8/3/2009-10:31am at 10:31 am (UTC -4)
We need to cut ties with delgadpo, putz, waqner, schnieder, maine, sheffield and who ever else I’m missing from the soon to be departed list.Bobby V aint comming back to ny with omar running this team. Sorry guys it just aint happining.The omar show has to come to an end. Pelfrey is going to have to traded if he can get his value up he is just not a # 2or #3 who are we kidding guys the met spin machine touted this guy way to high.The big problem now is even if we want to sign a real #2 starter who’s is going to want to come and play for omar and his diasterous organinization the team is scared bad right now and unless omar is gone the scars are going to get bigger.
trs86
8/3/2009-10:33am at 10:33 am (UTC -4)
How do we know he is at least not going to be a #3. Again, think about how many pitchers struggle their 2nd full year. Again, if we are saying this at the end of next year then I will agree. And LOL about being scared. Players 99% of the time go to the team that offers the most money.
steveo
8/3/2009-10:58am at 10:58 am (UTC -4)
Do you think that there is any starter that wil be a free agent who the mets are going to blow out ouf the water with money I don’t so then its going to be who will have a better chance of winning that’s where a free agent pitcher say john lackey choose to pass on the mets
trs86
8/3/2009-11:04am at 11:04 am (UTC -4)
So you think that Lowe would not have chosen the Mets if they offered more than the Braves stupid offer?
If Omar decides we need another SP then he can get him with money. Otherwise why would anyone sign with anyone besides the WS champs?
steveo
8/3/2009-11:41am at 11:41 am (UTC -4)
My reply wound up a few comments up to this
steveo
8/3/2009-10:49am at 10:49 am (UTC -4)
I think that what we saw yesterday is what his future is and what I mean is garland a soid guy who slots in as a # 4 on a contender just never consistant with signs of brilliance that’s pelfrey just 5 years older
stickguy
8/3/2009-10:57am at 10:57 am (UTC -4)
expect Plefrey has way better stuff than Garland ever did.
trs86
8/3/2009-11:05am at 11:05 am (UTC -4)
Garland is a good innings eater but he never had good stuff.
steveo
8/3/2009-11:01am at 11:01 am (UTC -4)
Agreed but the mind is an important thing there and right now and possibly for the near future the mind aint there (the mind is a terrible thing to waste)