Once again it’s time to get your daily dose of TRDMB’s Mets in the Papers.
George Bretherton, “Is It Really Twice As Hard To Hit A Homer At Citi Field?”
Do the Mets need to alter the dimensions at Citi Field to help their hitters? Or should they chalk up the lack of home runs hit at home this season to the team’s adjustment to the new layout AND to a roster that had many of their best hitters on the disabled list for an extended period of time?
John Harper, “Mets Injuries, Front Office And On-Field Gaffes Defy Baseball Smarts in Lost 2009 Season”
Fred or Jeff Wilpon may not be comfortable in such a role, but one of them ought to walk into the middle of the clubhouse today and do some old Steinbrenner-type huffing and puffing. Significant personnel changes are needed, obviously, but a lot of these players will be back in 2009, and at the very least, Mets ownership should send them home with a message that, injuries notwithstanding, the same embarrassment won’t be tolerated again next season.
Bart Hubbuch, “Mets Slash Prices”
In light of their dismal 67-92 record, the team said it had no choice but to cut prices. Season tickets will be slashed by as much as 20 percent. Single-game seats probably won’t be reduced that much and in some cases will remain the same, Howard said. The price of the cheapest seat will stay at $11.
Steve Popper, “Minaya May Need To Get Crafty To Rebuild”
The meetings have already begun to plot the future, with coaches at the major and minor league level being judged. And now the plan will turn to just who will be on the field. With approximately $40 million coming off the payroll, the Mets will rebuild on the run – but just how much they will spend has been a closely guarded secret at every level of the organization.
Popper’s smart money picks are Joel Pineiro, Adam LaRoche, Jason Bay and either Bengie Molina or Ramon Hernandez.
Bob Raissman, “SNY’s Ron Darling Will Be TBS Analyst For Yankees In ALDS”
“I totally understand there (are) going to be some Yankee fans who are going to say: ‘What the heck is that SNY guy doing on there?’ I absolutely know that,” Darling, who will work with play-by-play mouth Chip Caray, said Thursday. “… But as far as I’m concerned it gives me a unique perspective, not only that I announce in the town, but I played postseason baseball in this town. That’s going to supersede anything I do (now) with the Mets.”
Adam Rubin, “Mets Cut Prices on 2010 Tickets”
Team officials announced Thursday that no ticket price will increase in 2010. On average, the cost of a ticket will decrease by more than 10%, with select seats seeing a 20% drop.
Joe Ward, “Moving Home Plate Could Help Mets”
If the Mets did move home plate out 10 feet, the park would probably yield home run totals similar to Shea’s, according to Rybarczyk’s calculations. The new distance to center field would be 398 feet instead of 408. It would be 12 feet shorter than at Shea, but with a wall that is twice as high. The dimensions down the lines would be reduced by about five feet each from the current distances, to about 330 feet in left and about 325 in right.
Let’s Go Mets !
59 comments
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-11:10am at 11:10 am (UTC -4)
1. Keep the dimensions as-is.
2. Kind of late to do some huffing and puffing. Just make sure everyone has a Winter program and start off ST w/ the fundies talk.
3. I like Popper’s plan. I wonder how much it’ll cost.
4. Ronnie callin the Yawkees game. Just don’t get used to it Ronnie! We need you.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-11:36am at 11:36 am (UTC -4)
Pineiro without Dave Duncan scares me. I hesitate to spend big money on a guy who has been around as long as Pineiro and suddenly has a season that has fluke written all over it (I’m not saying it is a fluke but I’m saying it sure looks like it could be based on his ample workload prior to this season).
Hate both of those overaged, overpaid and underperforming catchers.
Kingman 26
10/2/2009-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
Pineiro would be an absolute Ollie-style disaster.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:10pm at 12:10 pm (UTC -4)
Would or Could? LOL.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:07pm at 12:07 pm (UTC -4)
No longer interested in those catchers. Bay will be too expensive and could be disasterous here.
However, I am wishywashy on Piniero. I was for it before I was against it when I started to rethink it. Classic political answer.
I think he could blow up, I think he could do well in our park and it would be nice to see someone with control and a high GB ratio. I think he could be too expensive…. Then I read on MLBTR that he may only be looking for 2/18 or 3/24 and I am back to square one.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-12:49pm at 12:49 pm (UTC -4)
I’m not sure how important GB ratio is at Citifield.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-12:59pm at 12:59 pm (UTC -4)
Especially with Dan Murphy at 1B, cranky knees (who doesn’t like to cover bases) at 2B and god knows who at SS.
trs86
10/2/2009-1:31pm at 1:31 pm (UTC -4)
For sure it was amunition for all the Lowe lovers in the world.
trs86
10/2/2009-1:32pm at 1:32 pm (UTC -4)
That being said how many bad pitchers with excellent GB ratio’s do you know?
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-1:59pm at 1:59 pm (UTC -4)
Sean Green is 4th in MLB in G/F ratio. And if you go to http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/pitching/_/sort/groundToFlyRatio/type/expanded-2 you’ll find quite a few lousy pitchers on the list.
And in fairness to “Lowe lovers” it was anticipated before the season that the infield would include a healthy Jose Reyes and an experienced Carlos Delgado while the outfield would be comprised of Daniel Murphy in LF and Fernando Tatis (according to Jerry) in RF vs. lefties.
Clearly the defensive strength of the Mets was to be Wright and Reyes fielding groundballs.
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-11:40am at 11:40 am (UTC -4)
1. Agreed. Clearly the dimensions turned some home runs into triples, doubles or outs, and I know there is at least one website out there (hittracker.com?) dedicated to such things, but even so, would this exact Met team that has 67 wins have instead got say 69 or 70? Not enough of a difference to alter the park.
2. Agreed. It would be false and awkward. It’s not ‘the Wilpon Way.’ A one-day radical and fake personality change in ownership is not what the team needs.
3. Mostly agreed. Despite my understanding of the Mets system and it’s failings under Omar, I do believe in the potential of Ike Davis and I don’t see the Mets signing LaRoche (or any 1B) to a multiple year contract. I imagine they’ll go stopgap while waiting for Davis to move up. Given that, the money that they don’t spend on LaRoche can be used to upgrade from Pineiro to Lackey. While I respect and admire Dave Duncan’s miraculous work, I don’t like the chances most pitchers, Pineiro included, continuing their success away from Duncan.
4. Agreed. Ron’s a pro. I trust he’ll do a fine job, but I won’t be watching/listening. Nothing compels me to watch a Yankee game, not even a fine broadcaster.
darknova306
10/2/2009-11:56am at 11:56 am (UTC -4)
What if Duncan comes over WITH Pineiro? :p
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:06pm at 12:06 pm (UTC -4)
Then I am 100% behind the idea.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:10pm at 12:10 pm (UTC -4)
As I said in my Duncan post I would take his boy and start him somewhere as long as he came here to coach.
darknova306
10/2/2009-12:17pm at 12:17 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed.
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t even think that would be necessary. The Cardinals demoted and then traded his boy, and Dave kept right on coaching the Card pitchers.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:25pm at 12:25 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah but that is why he is considering leaving. He was VERY upset over the way his kid was treated.
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:31pm at 12:31 pm (UTC -4)
I was not aware of that.
As great as Dave is, I’m not sure his stellar work with the pitching staff would be good enough to overcome his son’s futility at the bat and in the field.
Chris is 2 years removed (drug testing?) from any power, we already have a powerless poor fielding LF/1B on hand, and at least the one we already have is at least theoretically still on the rise, Chris is 28 and in a 2 year decline.
His last 3 years OPS: .834, .711, .687.
Now if you meant Shelley…
trs86
10/2/2009-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
Good news for Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, who is still upset over his team’s treatment of his son Chris: Shelley Duncan, his older son, was named International League MVP.
Shelley, who turns 30 on Sept. 29, hit 30 homers and drove in 95 runs with a .916 OPS for the Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate, serving mainly as a right fielder and DH.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:36pm at 12:36 pm (UTC -4)
Hell I will take all 3 if it brings in Duncan.
I would imagine our staff would be the best in the NL with him somehow. I think he could do miracles for Ollie.
darknova306
10/2/2009-12:38pm at 12:38 pm (UTC -4)
And with Ollie, what we need IS a miracle…
trs86
10/2/2009-12:43pm at 12:43 pm (UTC -4)
Considering our staff’s two biggest problems (mental focus and control)are his strengths, there may not be a more important coach to bring in. He might even make Manuel look smart.
mrbill
10/2/2009-11:15am at 11:15 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, move home plate because THAT is the mets problem on offense… what a joke!
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-11:31am at 11:31 am (UTC -4)
Bob Nightengale tweeted this 2 hours ago:
#Rays Teams are scouting center fielder B.J. Upton, beliving that Tampa Bay will trade him this winter. Upton is arbitration elgible.
Who would you be more interested in, Crawford or Upton?
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-11:33am at 11:33 am (UTC -4)
Crawford without hesitation and regardless of cost.
Upton would fit in too well here — he has a reputation for being lazy and not caring a whole lot about baseball.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:11pm at 12:11 pm (UTC -4)
Hmm, I have not heard that about Upton.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-1:08pm at 1:08 pm (UTC -4)
Google “BJ Upton AND Attidude.”
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-1:17pm at 1:17 pm (UTC -4)
maybe attitude instead of “attidude.”
trs86
10/2/2009-1:26pm at 1:26 pm (UTC -4)
I read some of them and actually find a lot of them are the same things people say about Beltran. Who knows what is the case. If we believe what we read, Dunn is hating baseball while smaking 40 HR and racking up 100 BB.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-1:53pm at 1:53 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t recall Beltran being benched multiple times for lack of hustle.
trs86
10/2/2009-2:27pm at 2:27 pm (UTC -4)
I recall plenty of times where people whined saying he should be though. And I also recall a few of those for Reyes as well.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-2:32pm at 2:32 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t remember that about Beltran and that’s not the point here anyway.
But if you feel somehow that it justifies acquiring a guy who has been benched for not hustling, for whining when he was moved in the order and has been subject to other attacks on his attitude then by all means feel free to add him to the mix.
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-2:33pm at 2:33 pm (UTC -4)
Afterall, it’s okay to obtain a lazy player because some of the others are lazy too.
Just as it is okay for players to have quit on the team and fans because it has happened on other teams too.
trs86
10/2/2009-2:44pm at 2:44 pm (UTC -4)
Speaking of not the point. LOL. Got anymore cheapshots there Wanny? LOL.
So you don’t ever remember any uproar over various times that Beltran has been here that people have said that he does not hustle? Reyes? Wright last week?
I am not saying at all we should get Upton, his numbers are terrible. I am saying we should not believe everything we hear or read. How easily could Reyes, in fact he has been, have been benched for not hustling in the past. Wright was just benched last week following a game that he did not hustle. Does that mean that we should not look for Beltran’s, Reyes’s or Wrights? How about Adam Dunn’s?
wannybackstra
10/2/2009-2:50pm at 2:50 pm (UTC -4)
1. Upton has been benched MULTIPLE times for not hustling.
2. Wright not hustling does not justify someone else not hustling. All week you’ve been justifying players’ poor behavior “because he did it too.” This team has a culture problem. The idea should be to get players who will change it, not add to it.
Kingman 26
10/2/2009-11:35am at 11:35 am (UTC -4)
Crawford please!
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-11:37am at 11:37 am (UTC -4)
from a 9/20/09 fangraphs article:
Upton’s 2009 campaign has surely been a bitter pill to swallow for owners who expended a high draft pick on him. However, it’s not time to abandon ship. Despite the aggravating season, B.J. is just 25 years old and has already achieved a high degree of success in the big leagues. Given an off-season to mend his aching body, Upton could be a relative bargain in 2010. It would be a shame if such a talent continued to be held back by physical ailments.
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/whats-with-b-j-upton
trs86
10/2/2009-12:08pm at 12:08 pm (UTC -4)
I actually NOW think after doing a lot of reading and thinking it makes more sense for TB to give it one more try with this group and actually spend money for next year. Go get Halladay or another frontline pitcher and keep Crawford and Pena until at least next year where they can be dealt during the year or offered arbitration.
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-12:28pm at 12:28 pm (UTC -4)
Come on. Wright could hook up w/ his old pal from Norfolk. It’ll be beautiful.
trs86
10/2/2009-12:46pm at 12:46 pm (UTC -4)
Can we bring in Reynolds and Zimmerman too?
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:50pm at 12:50 pm (UTC -4)
Wright sure is rapidly falling down the list of noteworthy baseball players from the Norfolk area. I’m not sure whether the presence of other “Norfolkians” on the Mets would bring Wright back to previous heights or send him into a shame spiral.
darknova306
10/2/2009-2:18pm at 2:18 pm (UTC -4)
Well, if he comes into next season without fear of the inside pitch, and without his love of whiffing on the outside slider and splitter in the dirt 6 inches in front of the plate, then maybe he can turn it around.
Kingman 26
10/2/2009-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
Cerrone has a pretty interesting opinion piece on hiring Bobby V….
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-12:01pm at 12:01 pm (UTC -4)
Bring back Bobby Valentine, before he goes to another team.
Nice Slogan!
Good job by MC.
darknova306
10/2/2009-12:00pm at 12:00 pm (UTC -4)
Let me just throw this out there… I love Ron. It’ll be weird listening to him call a Yankees game, but he brings so much to the table as an analyst that I don’t care WHO he calls.
stickguy
10/2/2009-12:22pm at 12:22 pm (UTC -4)
you are missing the obvious solution.
never watch a Yankee game.
And if you need another reason to avoid them in this case, 2 words that should send a chill down your spine:
Chip Carey
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:24pm at 12:24 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed. Chip will always be “Cow Chip” Caray to me. Damned nepotism.
darknova306
10/2/2009-12:34pm at 12:34 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I know. I can’t stand Carey. But I love baseball, so I’ll watch even the Yankees.
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:48pm at 12:48 pm (UTC -4)
That’s fair. If your love of baseball is the overriding factor in your decision to watch you’ll get no argument from me.
I love baseball too, but I’m not ashamed to admit, apparently not as much as you do, because my love of it is overwhelmed by too many negative Yankee related factors for me to watch them.
For what it’s worth, should whatever series the Yankees are in evolve to a point where there is a game which would eliminate the Yankees from the post season, that is the game I will watch.
When/if it gets to a point where that payroll and that fan base can be held short of the goal so many of them proudly express their sense of entitlement to, that is when my interest is piqued.
darknova306
10/2/2009-12:53pm at 12:53 pm (UTC -4)
Fair points. No shame in that at all. I completely understand. Part of the fun for me is chilling with my friend at the bar we always watch games at and drink beer while rooting against the Yanks (he’s a Sox fan). Brings us pure joy.
GravediggerHebner
10/2/2009-12:59pm at 12:59 pm (UTC -4)
I understand that feeling. I’m a Met fan who lived in Boston for many years, other than 1986 (about which we kept our conversations to a minimum) Red Sox fans and I had much in common.
I recall being with a group of Sox fans in a Harvard Square bar during the mid 90′s Met futility and them razzing me about it to the point I got so frustrated I said “I’ve just got one thing to say to you guys – 1918!” That shut them up. I apologized the next day, I was drunk, that was out of line. Thankfully that’s over now.
darknova306
10/2/2009-2:14pm at 2:14 pm (UTC -4)
Yikes, a Mets fan in Boston in the late 80s. I’m sorry, Grave. They provoked you, so it was justified.
I’m fortunate to have always lived in sports neutral areas (Ithaca), areas that are sports melting pots (Albany: Mets/Yanks/Sox/etc), or where they only really care about hockey and football (Rochester).
metsfan4decades
10/2/2009-2:35pm at 2:35 pm (UTC -4)
I try and watch all post season games. I hate when the first round ones overlap on the two stations carrying them. What’s up with that????
I’ll watch the Yankees post season games. I love rooting against the Yankess, which is exactly what I’ll be doing. Same with the Philly games. And I’ll be appealing to the gods to please, please make sure both are eliminated in early rounds so the WS is NOT Yankees vs. Phils.
Ronnie calling Yanks post season games? Makes no never mind to me. He did a good job on the non Yanks post season games last year. At least there was one guy in those booths I was listening to who was professional and knew his stuff.
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-2:45pm at 2:45 pm (UTC -4)
from Ken Davidoff,
The Mets will wrap up their epically painful season by dropping the first two games to the Astros. And then, on Sunday, successful consultations with a faith healer will lead to the activations of Alex Cora, Carlos Delgado, Fernando Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Jon Niese, Fernando Nieve, Oliver Perez, J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana, Moises Alou, Orlando Hernandez and because he needs the money, Lenny Dykstra.
trs86
10/2/2009-2:47pm at 2:47 pm (UTC -4)
Wait that’s too many pitchers, can Ollie play LF?
stickguy
10/2/2009-5:30pm at 5:30 pm (UTC -4)
I might actually pay to see Ollie wandering around in LF.
have to guess he would be like the kid in little league that spent most of the time watching butterflies.
stickguy
10/2/2009-4:46pm at 4:46 pm (UTC -4)
What a surprise.
Tatis is starting agian, while our starting 1B rides the bench.
I hope TRS is right and they are just trying to keep him above the type B cut off.
But, you can pretty much bet if Omar and Jerry are here next ST, not only will you have a lot of pissy fans, you will have Tatis being featured in a prominant role.
ALso saw over on MLBTR one report on FAs, that said Mill might not offer Lopez arbitratin. Makes no sense to me, but better for the Mets (although his price tag will go up if it is true).
CaseStreet
10/2/2009-5:00pm at 5:00 pm (UTC -4)
yeah, it’s a tricky situation.
You gotta figure the Mets aren going to lose their second, third and possibly fourth picks. I’d imagine as long as they are getting the first pick, they’re happy.
I agree about Lopez. Hope he does get offered arb.
stickguy
10/2/2009-5:28pm at 5:28 pm (UTC -4)
you really think they are going to pony up for 3 type aaaAs? 1 yeah, 2 could be (especially if 1 is a lopez level guy), but I don’t see 3 of them coming in. Heck, there are barely 3 type As worth signing total, and that’s if they all make it to FA.