It's time for Omar Minaya to undo one of the worst trades he made: Unloading Xavier Nady for Roberto Hernandez. Rumor has it that Nady's available. If Minaya can persuade the Pirates to take one of the Mets excess relievers — maybe Nelson Figueroa — who's unlikely to make the roster, he should do it. Fast.
Nady's not just an outfielder: He can play first too. And he's better than Delgado, another aging Met who's showing his age. Maybe Minaya can include Delgado in the deal for Nady and get some young players in return.
Showing posts with label Minaya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minaya. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Who made the Mets mess?
Why are the New York Mets in the mess they're in?
It begins with their starting rotation. The Mets had only three starters available for most of the season: Glavine, Maine, and Perez; however, since the All-Star break, Maine has pitched noticeably poorer than he did before the break.
The fourth starter, Orlando Hernandez, has been ailment-prone. He's only been able to pitch 145 innings this season, but only 66.2 since the All-Star break. He's been out of action with a bunion since his last start on September 11 when, in three plus innings against 19 batters, he gave up eight runs on six hits and four walks. In comparison, Tom Glavine, their most reliable starter, has pitched 200 innings.
Compounding their starting pitching problems is the fact that the Mets were never able to stabilize the fifth slot, rotating a variety of pitchers through it, including Vargas to Brian Lawrence to Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey got the most fifth-slot starts, 13; but this season, his luck's been like his number of starts. His ERA is 5.57 and his WHIP is 1.71.
When you have a unstable rotation, that places more stress on your bullpen.
The Mets bullpen wasn't built to last. It's like a Mercury that I owned in the 1970s. After only a few years of use, with its mileage under 50,000, the car started going downhill faster than an Olympic skier.
By September, Billy Wagner -- when he was available -- wasn't the same pitcher he was earlier in the season. And it's not because he was overused. He's only pitched 67.1 innings. His ERA for August was 6.23; for the last seven days, it's been 13.50.
The Mets hoped September call-ups, such as Carlos Muniz and Willie Collazo would strengthen their bullpen. They didn't.
Willie Randolph said that Guillermo Mota would get over his "buzzard luck." He couldn't.
And ex-starters such as Aaron Sele and Jorge Sosa, whom the Mets relegated to the pen, couldn't perform better there then they did as starters.
Add to that the mistakes that Mets manager Willie Randolph has made with his relievers and starters, sometimes, for example, leaving them in too long, and the mess worsens.
But the biggest mistakes were made by Mets GM Omar Minaya. He assembled this cast of characters. Of course, he couldn't predict that Duaner Sanchez would miss this whole season from an off-field injury he suffered last season. But he either got rid or or didn't re-sign players who've made a difference this season on other teams, Heath Bell, Matt Lindstrom, Royce Ring, and Chad Bradford, players that couldn't have pitched any worse than have Mota, Sele, Sosa, and Schoeneweis.
Bell, Ring, and Lindstrom are gone because Mets' pitching coach Rick Peterson couldn't develop them as well as their current pitching coaches have. So Peterson also needs to share the blame. The same fate should befall him as happened to hitting coach Rick Downs, Bell, Lindstrom, and Ring. As soon as the season ends, Peterson should become an ex-Met.
Minaya will most likely be back next season. What he does in the off-season to strengthen the pitching staff will indicate whether he has the skill to place back on the right track a Mets team that's derailed.
It begins with their starting rotation. The Mets had only three starters available for most of the season: Glavine, Maine, and Perez; however, since the All-Star break, Maine has pitched noticeably poorer than he did before the break.
The fourth starter, Orlando Hernandez, has been ailment-prone. He's only been able to pitch 145 innings this season, but only 66.2 since the All-Star break. He's been out of action with a bunion since his last start on September 11 when, in three plus innings against 19 batters, he gave up eight runs on six hits and four walks. In comparison, Tom Glavine, their most reliable starter, has pitched 200 innings.
Compounding their starting pitching problems is the fact that the Mets were never able to stabilize the fifth slot, rotating a variety of pitchers through it, including Vargas to Brian Lawrence to Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey got the most fifth-slot starts, 13; but this season, his luck's been like his number of starts. His ERA is 5.57 and his WHIP is 1.71.
When you have a unstable rotation, that places more stress on your bullpen.
The Mets bullpen wasn't built to last. It's like a Mercury that I owned in the 1970s. After only a few years of use, with its mileage under 50,000, the car started going downhill faster than an Olympic skier.
By September, Billy Wagner -- when he was available -- wasn't the same pitcher he was earlier in the season. And it's not because he was overused. He's only pitched 67.1 innings. His ERA for August was 6.23; for the last seven days, it's been 13.50.
The Mets hoped September call-ups, such as Carlos Muniz and Willie Collazo would strengthen their bullpen. They didn't.
Willie Randolph said that Guillermo Mota would get over his "buzzard luck." He couldn't.
And ex-starters such as Aaron Sele and Jorge Sosa, whom the Mets relegated to the pen, couldn't perform better there then they did as starters.
Add to that the mistakes that Mets manager Willie Randolph has made with his relievers and starters, sometimes, for example, leaving them in too long, and the mess worsens.
But the biggest mistakes were made by Mets GM Omar Minaya. He assembled this cast of characters. Of course, he couldn't predict that Duaner Sanchez would miss this whole season from an off-field injury he suffered last season. But he either got rid or or didn't re-sign players who've made a difference this season on other teams, Heath Bell, Matt Lindstrom, Royce Ring, and Chad Bradford, players that couldn't have pitched any worse than have Mota, Sele, Sosa, and Schoeneweis.
Bell, Ring, and Lindstrom are gone because Mets' pitching coach Rick Peterson couldn't develop them as well as their current pitching coaches have. So Peterson also needs to share the blame. The same fate should befall him as happened to hitting coach Rick Downs, Bell, Lindstrom, and Ring. As soon as the season ends, Peterson should become an ex-Met.
Minaya will most likely be back next season. What he does in the off-season to strengthen the pitching staff will indicate whether he has the skill to place back on the right track a Mets team that's derailed.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Omar, what have you done?
Ouch!
What the Phillies did to the Mets stunk — and stung.
I'm disappointed that the Phillies swept the Mets, but I'm not surprised. The team that New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya assembled for this season just isn't that good. Sure, they've been in first place all season, but they also had losing records in both June and July. What does that say about the Phillies and Braves performance up until the start of the latest Mets-Phillies series?
Minaya's worst move was to weaken the bullpen. He wasn't responsible for Sanchez' unavailability, but he did bring in the three other S's: Sosa, Schoenweis, and Sele. And he didn't deem Bradford worthy of re-signing though, last season, Bradford had an ERA of 2.90. He also traded away four other relievers who had spent most of their Mets careers in the minors: Matt Lindstrom, Henry Owens, Heath Bell and Royce Ring, all of whom are now on big league rosters. In 2006, Ring, in 11 games with the Mets, posted a 2.13 ERA and had a 0.789 WHIP. Not low enough?
What did the Mets get in return? Two minor league pitchers who have underperformed in Triple-A, Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick, an outfielder, Ben Johnson, and reliever Jon Atkins, who spent all of last season on the Padres roster.
When the trade was made, the New York Mets Web site had this comment by Minaya:
Johnson had 27 at-bats for the Mets in which he hit .185. With New Orleans, in 188 at-bats, he had a slugging average of only .356; yet, when the trade was made, Minaya said "Ben Johnson is a versatile outfielder who can play all three spots, has speed and shown some power."
Johnson spent most of this season in Triple-A until he injured his ankle in a game, disabling him for the rest of this season.
It appears that Minaya counts differently than do most Mets fans. The addition of Johnson and Atkins balanced against the subtraction of Ring and Bell results in a loss on my calculator.
But it was another Minaya acquisition who made one of the major blunders in the Phillies sweep. In game 3, with the game tied 2-2 because of the two homers Oliver Perez surrendered in the first inning, pitcher Jamie Moyer was the Phillies lead-off batter in the fifth inning. All Perez had to do was to throw strikes. Nothing fancy. Moyer was hitting about .148. But Perez, never known for his control, walked Moyer. Minutes later, Moyer scored the winning run on Burrell's sacrifice fly.
Perez's record is now 12-9, close to what I think is the best that can be expected of him in a season. To me, his initials stand for "Over-rated Pitcher." He had that one fluke season with the Pirates in 2004 and, even then, only finished 12-10.
Awhile ago, Steve Phillips, former general manager, predicted that the Mets wouldn't make the play-offs. I hope he's wrong; however, if the Mets keep playing as they did against Philadelphia, he won't be.
What the Phillies did to the Mets stunk — and stung.
I'm disappointed that the Phillies swept the Mets, but I'm not surprised. The team that New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya assembled for this season just isn't that good. Sure, they've been in first place all season, but they also had losing records in both June and July. What does that say about the Phillies and Braves performance up until the start of the latest Mets-Phillies series?
Minaya's worst move was to weaken the bullpen. He wasn't responsible for Sanchez' unavailability, but he did bring in the three other S's: Sosa, Schoenweis, and Sele. And he didn't deem Bradford worthy of re-signing though, last season, Bradford had an ERA of 2.90. He also traded away four other relievers who had spent most of their Mets careers in the minors: Matt Lindstrom, Henry Owens, Heath Bell and Royce Ring, all of whom are now on big league rosters. In 2006, Ring, in 11 games with the Mets, posted a 2.13 ERA and had a 0.789 WHIP. Not low enough?
What did the Mets get in return? Two minor league pitchers who have underperformed in Triple-A, Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick, an outfielder, Ben Johnson, and reliever Jon Atkins, who spent all of last season on the Padres roster.
When the trade was made, the New York Mets Web site had this comment by Minaya:
"It may not be a sexy trade," Minaya said in Florida. "You have to remember, the little ones are what count sometimes. Those are the ones."Later in the article, Minaya said this about Atkins:
"Jon Adkins has had success on the Major League level and can pitch multiple innings," Minaya said. "He's another quality arm to add to our bullpen staff."Adkins' "quality arm" has thrown most of its pitches in 2007 for the New Orleans Zephyrs. He's pitched 61.2 innings for the Zephyrs and one for the New York Mets.
Johnson had 27 at-bats for the Mets in which he hit .185. With New Orleans, in 188 at-bats, he had a slugging average of only .356; yet, when the trade was made, Minaya said "Ben Johnson is a versatile outfielder who can play all three spots, has speed and shown some power."
Johnson spent most of this season in Triple-A until he injured his ankle in a game, disabling him for the rest of this season.
It appears that Minaya counts differently than do most Mets fans. The addition of Johnson and Atkins balanced against the subtraction of Ring and Bell results in a loss on my calculator.
But it was another Minaya acquisition who made one of the major blunders in the Phillies sweep. In game 3, with the game tied 2-2 because of the two homers Oliver Perez surrendered in the first inning, pitcher Jamie Moyer was the Phillies lead-off batter in the fifth inning. All Perez had to do was to throw strikes. Nothing fancy. Moyer was hitting about .148. But Perez, never known for his control, walked Moyer. Minutes later, Moyer scored the winning run on Burrell's sacrifice fly.
Perez's record is now 12-9, close to what I think is the best that can be expected of him in a season. To me, his initials stand for "Over-rated Pitcher." He had that one fluke season with the Pirates in 2004 and, even then, only finished 12-10.
Awhile ago, Steve Phillips, former general manager, predicted that the Mets wouldn't make the play-offs. I hope he's wrong; however, if the Mets keep playing as they did against Philadelphia, he won't be.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Is Minaya missing something?
On a Mets discussion board, Chico posted a message revealing the highlights of WFAN host Mike Francesa's recent interview with Omar Minaya.
According to Chico, Minaya said that he
Here's an abbreviated log of what Zephyr Philip Humber's did in his final inning of a start that lasted just 3.2 innings:
Should Minaya be calling up Humber to be a Mets reliever during a pennant race? The Mets need relievers with nerves of steel who won't flinch in the face of adversity.
Three other Zephyr pitchers didn't do any better in their last starts. Adam Bostick gave up six earned runs in five innings. Dave Williams gave up seven earned runs in 6.1 innings. Jason Vargas gave up five runs in five innings.
The only two who had decent last starts were Mike Pelfrey and Jose Santiago. Pelfrey gave up three earned runs in five innings; however, he threw 94 pitches, which indicates control problems. Only Jose Santiago had a quality start, giving up only one run in six innings, but his ERA's 5.27.
According to Chico, Minaya said that he
- has tried to claim relievers who were placed on waivers, unsuccessfully
- tried to trade for Eric Gagne
- may call up Zephyr starters to relieve (The Zephyrs are the Mets Triple-A affiliate)
Here's an abbreviated log of what Zephyr Philip Humber's did in his final inning of a start that lasted just 3.2 innings:
- Single
- Walk
- Double steal
- Home run
- Home run
- Popout
- Flyout
- Walk
- Double
Should Minaya be calling up Humber to be a Mets reliever during a pennant race? The Mets need relievers with nerves of steel who won't flinch in the face of adversity.
Three other Zephyr pitchers didn't do any better in their last starts. Adam Bostick gave up six earned runs in five innings. Dave Williams gave up seven earned runs in 6.1 innings. Jason Vargas gave up five runs in five innings.
The only two who had decent last starts were Mike Pelfrey and Jose Santiago. Pelfrey gave up three earned runs in five innings; however, he threw 94 pitches, which indicates control problems. Only Jose Santiago had a quality start, giving up only one run in six innings, but his ERA's 5.27.
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