The Mets have apparently decided to follow my advice and signed LH reliever Taylor Tankersley to a minor-league deal. Here’s what I wrote when I was still “auditioning” for this job:
Finally, for a lefty specialist to replace Feliciano, I would invite Taylor Tankersley to spring training. The now ex-Marlin is still only 28 and has held lefties to a .223/.313/.372 line, and was even better in limited work at the big league level in 2010. For his career, he’s struck out 8.8 per nine, and has shown a propensity to give up the long ball, which would be helped by moving to Citi Field.
Needless to say, I like the move. There was never a need to go out and spend a lot of money on a left-handed reliever. Now, between Mike O’Connor and the “Tank,” the Mets are likely set at LOOGY for 2011. And, hopefully, the money saved by not re-upping Feliciano can go into a few above-slot draft picks.
35 comments
metsfan4decades
1/12/2011-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
Maybe a future job for you in the Mets organization should be considered. You apparently have the requisite mindset for what they’re trying to do.
So glad you do your homework so I don’t have to. All I have to do is come here and read these well thought out posts. Good job.
kistics
1/12/2011-12:24pm at 12:24 pm (UTC -4)
I second that!
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-9:38am at 9:38 am (UTC -4)
Now, if you could start writing about the Met’s pushing to sign Pujols if he hits free agency, moving Ike to RF, then we’d be talking.
Do you happen to write your articles while sitting in a bagel store?
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-9:39am at 9:39 am (UTC -4)
And by the way, I agree with you. I do like this signing. Minor league deal to boot!
Now, assuming the Mets sign another to a major league deal, who gets the boot from the 40 Man? Castillo or another?
TRS86
1/12/2011-9:38am at 9:38 am (UTC -4)
Are you not concerned about his velocity last year?
metsfan4decades
1/12/2011-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
Well yeah, you’d almost have to be.
I guess the Mets took a chance after reviewing medical records indicating his arm is 100% healthy. Maybe he just needed that extra year to get back the stamina.
If it doesn’t pan out, it’s not such a big loss – $$ wise.
TRS86
1/12/2011-9:45am at 9:45 am (UTC -4)
Agreed, it cost nothing. Just not sure he is a solution to the “problem”.
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
By problem are you referring to the lack of lefties in the pen? Or the Pen in general?
TRS86
1/12/2011-10:00am at 10:00 am (UTC -4)
Damn search for a LOOGY. Which by the way I think is pointless and should be worried about for just as long as they do their 5th OF.
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-10:56am at 10:56 am (UTC -4)
No OOGYs or Wire Coat Hangers!!!! EVER!!!
kistics
1/12/2011-12:26pm at 12:26 pm (UTC -4)
Who’s the 4th? Evans?
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-12:32pm at 12:32 pm (UTC -4)
Evans & pirdie as 4 & 5 right now, assuming no one is signed to circumvent them.
stickguy
1/12/2011-1:37pm at 1:37 pm (UTC -4)
I like evans, but really want an upgrade from Pridie.
TRS86
1/12/2011-9:43am at 9:43 am (UTC -4)
I still like giving Roy Merritt a look as well. He has not pitched well above AA (only a couple of AAA innings anyway) but he’s 25. He also pitched 80+ innings last year.
kistics
1/12/2011-12:45pm at 12:45 pm (UTC -4)
How can you see the lefty-righty splits on BR for minor leaguers?
TRS86
1/12/2011-12:53pm at 12:53 pm (UTC -4)
You can’t. There used to be a great site called minorleaguesplits.com but the guy shut it down.
TRS86
1/12/2011-12:55pm at 12:55 pm (UTC -4)
You can check this out from Amazin Avenue.
3) LHP Roy Merritt
Merritt is on this list for one reason: he throws with his left hand. Though he’s had more and more trouble with righties as he’s climbed the ladder, he’s always handled lefties extremely well. This season he held them to a .228 average with zero homers and did so between Double and Triple-A. There are lefties to be had on the market this offseason but Merritt represents a league min. option that could look very good in that second LOOGY role for any teams in a lefty-heavy division (including the Mets).
metsfan2011
1/12/2011-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
I agree Merritt should be in the mix too. I don’t know how Tankersley will do, but I do think it’s a good signing because the odds are that between O’Connor, Merritt and Tankersley, someone will step forward and perform. There’s a tendency to dismiss these moves as “minor” and to some extent they are. But if we have a one-run lead, 8th inning, against the Phils in a big spot, with Utley and Howard coming up, it won’t seem unimportant any more. And, of course, saving 3.5 million in the process could become really important down the road if the money is put back into the team.
kingman 26
1/12/2011-11:15am at 11:15 am (UTC -4)
LOL!
In his last 30 IP over the last 3 years, he has allowed 49 H/BB and TEN HR!
In 2008 lefty batters hit .360 with a .467 OBP.
A bum; a serious bum.
Not a LOOGY not an anything—except a darn good excuse for Met fans to be somewhat annoyed. This guy SUCKS.
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-11:39am at 11:39 am (UTC -4)
Not every move will be the signing of Santana, unfortunately. To me, Low Risk/Reward type on minor league contract. No problems with it.
kingman 26
1/12/2011-12:11pm at 12:11 pm (UTC -4)
This guy is actually not low risk/high reward. Where in the world could the high reward be? Dickey is a fluke exception as he mastered the knuckler.
He has nothing whatsoever going for him, and might have the exact same terrible effect on the team that Jacobs and Matthews did last year.
This guy is a terrible major leaguer.
njstuckintx
1/12/2011-12:25pm at 12:25 pm (UTC -4)
No mention of the word high there. more of a low risk, there could be a reward type.
metsfan2011
1/12/2011-11:42am at 11:42 am (UTC -4)
in 2008 he pitched a total of 5 innings against lefties at the big league level. That’s hardly a meaningful sample size. Plus, lefties had a .450 BABIP against him, suggesting it was mostly bad luck anyway. If you look at the body of his work he can get lefties out.
kingman 26
1/12/2011-12:09pm at 12:09 pm (UTC -4)
Ah, I see, so the limited body of work in 2008 is not meaningful but in 2010 it is meaningful. In 2008 he had 31 PA against lefties—that’s more than five innings.
Ah, it’s all bad luck.
Psssst—a high BABIP can ALSO mean that everyone hit line drives off of him. It wasn’t “mostly bad luck” and comments like this are what get people to scoff at advanced sabermetrics.
The last time this guy was even mediocre was four long years ago in 2007.
I agree that it is a pretty meaningless signing, but last winter I was furious at the signings of Jacobs and Matthews and most people scoffed and said I should relax.
Jacobs and Matthews are horrible players who presence on the team most definitely did not help in any way, shape, fashion or form.
This guy is terrible and hopefully will be nowhere near Citi in 2011.
metsfan2011
1/12/2011-1:37pm at 1:37 pm (UTC -4)
I didn’t say 2010 was meaningful, in fact I expressly identified that it was a small sample. Plus, it had the benefit of being in line with the stats for the rest of his career.
Also, having a .450 BABIP is absurdly high. Even the worst big league pitchers don’t have BABIP’s that high.
Jacobs and Matthews were problematic because a) they are bad baseball players; b) because they were overpaid relative to their skill levels; and c) the Mets intended to use them in roles their level of performance did not justify. None of those are true with this signing. In fact, it’s just an invite to Spring Training.
Ceetar
1/12/2011-1:59pm at 1:59 pm (UTC -4)
now now, Manuel used Jacobs and Matthews in roles they did not justify. I’m pretty sure they intended Jacobs to be at best a bat off the bench backing up Murphy and Matthews an emergency backup CFer.
Of course, they bother underperformed those roles too.
I’m not excited about Tankersly, but hey, bullpen depth.
stickguy
1/12/2011-2:15pm at 2:15 pm (UTC -4)
there is a big difference to a guaranteed ML deal (even if it is 1-2mill) and taking up a 40 man spot, and a MiL invite (he sucks, he gets cut, costs next to nothing).
Jacobs might have been a MiL invite, but I can’t recall. GMjr. was just a poor execution of a valid idea.
these are also examples of how having some legit depth (especailly at the higher levels) in the minors makes the team better. if you can get that spare pen arm or bench bat out of AAA you avoid overpaying for stiffs like these.
Ceetar
1/12/2011-2:52pm at 2:52 pm (UTC -4)
And in regards to our 4th/5th OF. i think we’re there. I think we’ve got the depth.
We don’t have that in the infield, or at catcher, however. I think Tank provides some measure of bullpen depth (understanding that guys are basically hit or miss every year anyway and the 8th guy on the depth chart isn’t usually very good anyway. )
stickguy
1/12/2011-3:32pm at 3:32 pm (UTC -4)
catcher no, but I think they are OK at IF now. unless you mean ML regualrs stacked up waiting a turn!
oleosmirf
1/12/2011-11:15am at 11:15 am (UTC -4)
while its wonderful to have a nice loogy, 4th OF or a legit 2B, the fact of the matter is unless our top players act play like top players, whatever happens is irrelevant.
All I care about is Reyes, Bay, Beltran, Wright playing to their career averages at a minimum and Pelfrey, Niese, Dickey pitch like they did last season at a minimum. If that happens, everything will wind up working its way out…
metsfan4decades
1/12/2011-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
I’ll agree with that first statement but….someone did a post in the past couple of days on just how bad our secondary/bench players were the past few years. Something like bottom production across the league.
We need better pieces than we’ve had. I don’t think that the backup MI or 4th OF is irrelevant in most cases. In fact sometimes, as we very well know, that 15 day DL stint for some of the regulars, substituting the likes of Cora and GMJ, and the rest of the cast of characters that paraded out there in ’09 and ’10, can cost a couple of games.
stickguy
1/12/2011-1:40pm at 1:40 pm (UTC -4)
a game here, game there, and it adds up.
that was one of the big problems people had with Omar. Ignoring the margins and falling just short.
oleosmirf
1/12/2011-5:14pm at 5:14 pm (UTC -4)
im fully confident in Sandy’s ability to find complimentary players now and during the season. Its our top players that we need in order to compete.
stickguy
1/12/2011-5:26pm at 5:26 pm (UTC -4)
agreed. and that IMO is why this perception of “doing nothing” that has so many people up in arms. The roster was already full of “stars” (and payroll seemingly maxed out), in year 2 of Omars go for broke plan.
if they perform, mets do well. If they flame out, nothing he could have done to save the ship.
actually, to me, the first true test for Sandy and the boys will be how they handle the trade deadline. If mets are in it, can they get the right pieces needed to stay in it? if they are out of it, can he trade away the luxury items for prospects?
and the real big question, can they tell the difference between in and out?
Remember a few years ago when the white sox were close, but gutted the team? Best move they ever made, given the return on that investment!
metsfan1744
1/12/2011-8:48pm at 8:48 pm (UTC -4)
Love The Mets.