2nd Half Swelliciousness

The Mets have now won nine straight games, which is their longest such streak since 2000 and I think ever. It is ALL Jerry Manuel and no one else.

Obviously I am kidding, but this team is in much better shape than they were with Willie.

One thing I love is the fact that Manuel is a man who is not afraid to let kids contribute. Why not? You have the players...why not let them help you regardless of how old they are?

Willie would never have batted Nick Evans in the two spot on Sunday. Now, that is not why they won, but it is encouraging that Jerry is comfortable with himself enough to throw the 'ole vote of confidence behind the young kid and he went out and had a day for himself. Willie had some sort of inferiority complex which made him belittle rookies and keep young players down until they grew a moustache and started playing second base.

Also, Jerry is not afraid to stack lefties. Willie was allergic to stacking lefties for fear at some point during the game the opposing manager might bring a lefty in and then be able to mow down his lefties in a big spot.

However, managing for a situation in the game that may never happen is poor form and Manuel has been concentrating on putting the best product on the field and in the best order regardless of some silly little propensity to live and manage by some playbook that makes sense only to one person.

Compounding mistakes? Not really Manuel's thing.

"We haven't really discussed that at length," Manuel said. "I think we're all a little worried about dealing with that. I think when the time comes, we'll make a decision and see how it fits and go forward from there. But right now, we're really playing well at that position. I mean, very well. That's going to be a tough one.

Omar paid the slappy hitting second basemen too much for too many years? So what? A good manager is not afraid to bench a guy with a four year contract in favor of a guy who is here on a one year contract and is supposed to be on the bench if the bench player is playing better. Easley is not a highly regarded fielder, but he made some sparkling plays Sunday night and certainly has not hurt the Mets defensively.

Managers may not be solely responsible for his team's performance, but he can certainly help contribute in meaningful ways and put his team in the best position to win. That is what managers are supposed to do and that is what Willie failed to do from day #1. If something is not working, fix it. Manuel seems to operate that way and is always looking to fix the team and get the best players in there.

Willie was a firm believer in staying the course and when this team was at their worst, he actually said that he does not need to say anything to his players and they know the deal and what is at stake. That is absolutely egregious and I believe Manuel will never assume his player's know the deal. He seems like the type of guy that will remind his team what exactly is going on in case they lose sight of things.

Raise your hand if you still care about how Willie was treated by the Mets....no one? Good. I'm glad we are all in sync.

* * *

Mike Pelfrey looks like an absolute stud. It was a frustrating ride at times getting here, but the guy had 19 starts heading into this season. Why it is assumed that any pitcher should be amazing from day #1 is beyond me.

Since June 1st, he has tossed 109, 112, 112, 113, 98, 98, 109, 113, and 119 pitches and has been a horse. His ERA+ of 112 is extremely impressive when you think about the fact he was almost dropped from the rotation with a sub 80 ERA+ not too long ago. The fact of life is that if you want to develop young talent, you need to let them take their lumps.

Evan Longoria, Edison Volquez, and David Wright do not come along often. Jose Reyes, Carlos Quentin, and Mike Pelfrey are more of the norm where there will be ups and downs, but confidence and patience will pay off handsomely and being at the stadium on Sunday while the fans are going absolutely nuts for Pelfrey was amazing. It felt like 2006 again when the fans were excited and there was a playoff atmosphere at Shea. The Mets may regress a bit and fall behind the Phillies again most likely, but they will catch up again if that happens.

Fuentes prefers Yankees!

"I've never played in Yankee Stadium," he told The Post. "I have no preference, but putting on the New York Yankees would be something special by itself."

No preference...NONE. Does this article have a point?

Ye of little faith... Aaron was simply too good and simply did not look all that off when he was getting beat like a rented mule. His K/9 is over 9 and his H/9 is under 9. Heilman is still pretty good and just had a terrible run.

Delgado thinks the break may be bad and when you are playing this good, it is hard to see anyone wanting to take a break.

"It's nice to get the break, but by the same token, you wonder if we continue to play are we going to play good?" Delgado said after the Mets' 7-0 victory over Colorado, which pushed their win streak to nine games. "It boils down to executing. We're playing good, but eventually you're not going to win, so we have to find a way to get back to where we are right now - executing, pitching well, catching the ball and coming up with some good at-bats."

F-Mart gets some praise.

"When you look at the field, there are guys that stand out, guys that you notice," an NL scout who was at yesterday's Futures Game said. "He's one of those guys. He has one of the best swings of anyone out there."

Mr. Billy Wagner is good.

I may be impartial here, but Sunday night should be in the top five.

Some athletes just don't get it. Instead of criticizing the Mets, he should be praising them for being right! Zito would have been a bust at $75 million.

I am excited to start heading down the road of obesity.

The team said today that the new Queens stadium, Citi Field, will include a Blue Smoke restaurant and a Shake Shack stand when it opens next spring.

Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group's other offerings will include a taqueria (tah-kuh-REE-uh) and Belgian-style fries with dipping sauces.

The award-winning restaurateur also will open the Sterling Club, which will provide premium seating and views of home plate; a bar and lounge, and a cafe serving comfort foods.

Sugar Pants to the rescue.

"I spoke to David Wright," NL manager Clint Hurdle said after the game. "I told David, 'You were the last pick. I went and got you. Have you ever pitched in an All-Star Game?'

"I said, 'You wanted to be in this thing. That's all I've read, all I've heard for the last three days. You won't believe how much you might be in it here real quick.'

"He said, 'Let's go.' He's good to go."

Adam Rubin was feeling quite generous when handing out his mid-season grades.

Callis, Law, and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, oh my!


Joe (Troy, NY): What do you think of Wilmer Flores? I know he is only 16 but does BA think he is legit prospect or just a flash in the pan? Please give a diehard Mets fan something to look forward to.....

Jim Callis: He's very legit. He's one of the best prospects in the Mets system, though he may move to third base down the road.

Hmmmm...While I like any positive endorsement of Met prospects, saying he is one of the best prospects of a shitty system really tells us nothing. That being said, it is still nice to see.

Mark (Villanova): Any chance Flores moves to 2nd with Wright and Reyes already on one side of the infield?

Jim Callis: He might be better suited for third base, but yes, with Wright around, Flores could wind up at second base.

Going to second would certainly bolster his value.

Joe: (NYC): Is Jon Niese a decent prospect or is Omar just trying to build him up in the media for a trade?

Jim Callis: No, he's a solid prospect. Mid-rotation lefthander.

Sweet.

John(s. fla): How good is Fernando Martinez?

Keith Law: I still think he's a superstar. He's going to hit, hit for power, and play a good RF.

Sweet.

RJ (Pittsburgh): Pelfrey's last 9: 59.7ip, 41k, 19bb, 0(!)hr, 2.26era. Still not an ace but a) has he turned a corner? b) should we expect him to continue to improve? Thanks Keith.

Keith Law: Yes, yes.

The experts are still cautiously optimistic, but he is a beast.

Morgan answered like six questions and none added any value. Way to earn your keep Joe.

Sweet Baby Jebus

Haha... 135.00 ERA. Nice.

Stupid People Say Stupid Things

Everyone once in a while an article so great...so tremendous...so utterly ridiculous comes along for our pure amusement. Paul Daugherty gave us such an article on Sunday.

The best baseball managing is done by the seat of your pants, using good, old-fashioned, pre-sabermetric logic. That's another reason to like Dusty Baker. (Beyond his knowledge of single-malt Scotches and Van Morrison lyrics, which is merely astounding and downright Renaissance.) If Baker manages by a book, it's one inside his head, not one written by Bill James.

The other day, the Reds manager decided he wanted Joey Votto and Adam Dunn to swing their bats more. "I don't like called third strikes," Baker said.

Can we get an Amen?

Not from me. Didn't I just make fun of the ridiculousness of that statement last week? I mean, Votto is not walk machine and already strikes out his fair share. Basically, this would seem to be a detriment to him if he tries to be less selective and it could result in less walks and more strikeouts. It seems just so silly to me, but Paul loves it.

It always amuses when fans defend heart-of-the-order hitters by pointing to their on-base percentage. Wow, look at all those walks.

Unless they're intentional walks, or the big boppers are being pitched around, walks aren't what you want from players hitting third through sixth. You want them up there smart-hacking.

OBP? Who says that? OBP is more important than batting average, but it certainly is not the main thing people concentrate on for middle of the order bats. It is a component, but not the only thing. For guys in the middle of the order, I would concentrate on OPS (if you just want to keep it really simple) or OPS+ (if you want to keep it really simple and be smarter about being simple). Now OPS is not perfect either, but it gives you a pretty good idea who is masher and who is not.

The best thing about Baker is that from all accounts, it's important to him to know his players individually: what jazzes them, what scares them, the situations that best suit their talents and temperaments. Contrary to the notions of the seamheads and stat freaks, players are not numbers.

You won't find one person who denies that players are not numbers, but there is value in balancing both. Numbers alone will not tell you if someone will shrink in New York or Boston, but who ever denied the need for getting pulse on that kind of stuff? Dusty just ignores the other side of the argument while the other side tries to fold in both. In fact, Joel Sheehan said that he could probably manage the actual Xs and Os of a game better, but could never manage a team for the fact that it is just not numbers.

Creepy Crawly (Los Angeles): Joe, shouldn’t major league GM's require that their managerial candidates play in some simulation leagues in order to develop a better sense of the value of particular strategies? I'm serious.

Joe Sheehan: If baseball teams were run like businesses, sure. Bill James first suggested this two decades ago, and he was as right then as he is now.

This also goes back to my particular hobby horse, that the job of "baseball manager" requires such disparate skills that no one man will have them all. So why not have a front guy, a Dusty Baker or someone who's a leader of men and who the media loves, and then get coordinators for the other stuff?

I'll tell you right now that I couldn't be a major-league manager. But could I (or Bill Meinhardt, or Stan Suderman, or Nate Silver) run the game decisions better than some or even most of them? I'd take that bet. Even factoring in the knowledge sets the sims don't cover, which can be learned, sim managers simply understand the "engine of baseball" better than MLB managers, as a pool.

It goes well beyond numbers, but ignoring the relevance of advanced stats is just silly. Too bad we have a manager who eschews stats and probabilities for his gut.

Anyone with a laptop can locate the Web site baseball- reference.com and sound like an expert. Anyone with a library card can pick up one of James' mind-numbing baseball "abstracts," in which the author makes the game sound like a first cousin to biomechanical engineering.

It ain't that scientific.

Who said it was that hard to get your hands on this info and sounds like an 'expert'? It is being aware of these numbers that is important and people continue to not be aware. I know nothing of advanced stats. However, I look at some sites that wrap them up for me and I use them as a tool of evaluation, which is something not only every could do, but should do.

Baseball's cerebral side involves numbers. While I believe in baseball-card wisdom - you are who the back of your card says you are - it's just a little piece of the whole. When some of us (OK, me mostly) advocated dealing, say, Votto and Homer Bailey for Oakland pitcher Joe Blanton, the Statboys came out flame-throwing numbers:

Blanton's a creation of his spacious home ballpark! Look at his ERA, home and away! Blanton's a flyball pitcher! Check out his ratio of groundballs to flies!

{crickets chirping}

Steve Tracshel won 15 games in 2006. As did Roy Oswalt and Chris Carpenter. By looking at their win totals, do we get anything meaningful? Not so much. You would not need to delve deeply into the subject to figure out which name of the three does not belong, but you would have to look past wins. No one said Blanton (or Traschel for that matter) has no value, but Votto and Bailey are two of the best prospects in the game. Trading one for Blanton would be regrettable much less both.

Numbers are fun to look at but dangerous to dwell on. Baker understands this. If Dunn walks 30 fewer times this year, he'll drive in 15 more runs. His on-base percentage will dip. Oh, no.

If Votto takes fewer first-pitch strikes, his run production will improve.

And so on. Here's a stat: Wins as manager: Dusty Baker, 1,162; Bill James, 0.

Maybe Dunn might drive in a few if he was less selective and just hacked away with guys on base. I would not doubt that some people are too selective, but is Dunn one of those guys? I am not sure, but I do contest that Votto is one of those guys as stated the other day. Also, is there factual proof that hacking on the first pitch will result in higher run production? If it ain't in your wheelhouse, wait for the next one.

As for the last sentence, I know he thought he was brilliant with that one. However, he fails to mention that Bill James is gainfully employed by a pretty good baseball team that uses a blend of both sides of the argument. Overall, Daugherty just comes off as ignorant and having some kind of axe to grind and wrote a complete piece of garbage article that tells half truths and misses the entire point of advanced stats.

Advanced stats are supposed to enhance traditional baseball views, allow deeper penetration into a set of players you might not be able to see with your own eyes, but might detect something in the numbers that suggests that guy should be on your radar, allow for some meaningful projections as to what a prospective signie might do over the next five years, get a better understanding of what moves give you the best probability of winning, etc.

I'm sure this douche got a ton of email mocking him and I wish I could read some of them. He officially jumps into the Wallace Matthews and Richard Justice Hall of Fame with this one. I picked this off of Neyer's blog and someone in the comments mentioned that this guy probably has a Hall of Fame vote, which would not be all that shocking.

Also ripped off from Neyer, Joe Posnanski's take on the stathead thing.

You get the point — some will rip the whole idea of stats by bringing up … other stats. It happens every fall.

Of course, but people have to determine which stats are more meaningful which is where the divergence occurs. Paullie boy from above likes the back of the baseball cards stats, which is silly. To think that no evolution in terms of stats is possible over the last however many years is possible is utterly stupid.

The second argument is one I want to write a little bit about today — it’s a little bit more involved. There are a few people out there who hate — HATE — the idea of new statistics because we did not grow up with them. In that world, baseball is a game of batting average, home runs, RBIs, wins, ERA, maybe saves, a few runs, a sprinkle of stolen bases and maybe — MAYBE — an advanced metric like strikeout to walks ratio. Everything else is Communism.

You need to seriously go and read his column.

Blogger: I have come up with a new statistic. It involves balls put in play. I call it batting average.
Establishment: Great! How’s it work?
B: See, what we’ll do is, we’ll take the number of hits that the batter has and divide it by the number of at-bats that he has in order to determine how often he gets a hit.
E: That sounds like on-base percentage. What’s the difference?
B: Well, it’s all in what you call “at-bats” For one thing, we don’t count walks.
E: What do you mean you don’t count walks?
B: They don’t count. We take plate appearances and subtract walks. They never happened.
E: How can a walk never happen?
B: It just doesn’t.

Pure genius...read the entire thing.

Now, what does all of this mean? You already know the answer to that: Nothing. It’s not supposed to mean anything. I’m not the first, the 10th or the 100,000th person to point out that pitchers wins are flawed, and the figuring I’ve done above has been done better by countless people. I’m only trying to say that people statheads are not always trying to make things more confusing. Often enough, believe it or not, they’re actually trying to make things less confusing.

For a better take on that crappy Paul Daugherty article, head to Fire Joe Morgan.

Don't use jazz as a verb, please. Also: stat freaks and seam heads hate baseball. They are fucking ASIMO robots who make managerial moves through NASA press releases. Eric Wedge makes his moves from home, via on-line chats. Terry Francona has never met anyone on his 25-man roster. Joe Maddon is a 2.4 gigahertz Linksys router. Manny Acta is actually M.A.N. eACTA, the black-ops code-name for the Mechanized Algorithmic Numerical (internet-ready) Actionable Computation Techno-Automaton. When his "contract" runs out with the Nats he is going to be launched into space. We are weaponizing space. Deal with it, China.

It's delicious. I wish I did not write anything before finding this one as mine review is crappy and inferior in comparison while being a day late to boot.

* * *

Carlos Gomez is fast and he knows it.

By way of Ossy....

Two words. Fuck Yeah. Seriously, some things look gross when you talk about infusing bacon flavor or adding bacon. Though bacon vodka sounds good to me, I can understand why others think it sounds gross. The same goes for bacon flavored mints. Maple flavored lollipops with bacon chunks suspended in it? Now, I am not one who think men should eat lollipops, but this one is certainly one that I would allow.

Giradi is soft. Wagner, who I do happen to like unlike many of you, was a baby when he got miffed Michigan was trying win and was wrong. Girardi is wrong here. I'm sorry that Cervelli broke a bone, but then he should not block the plate.

He would rather the runner a) risk injury by sliding into the catcher legs first b) completely give up and concede the run on his end while trying to make the team c) pull up from a full sprint to avoid a collision, which in turn could injure him.

It was/is a no brainer. It is a too bad that everyone did not walk away in one piece, but such is the case when you play a physical game.

Wow. This guy is not making me feel good about my top two picks.

I guess I'm surprised to see Ryan Braun get SO much respect in drafts, considering he's had just 451 career at-bats. I would've stayed away, yet he could also make me look stupid and be an absolute beast for years to come.

I am praying for the latter.

The big shock for me was seeing B.J. Upton go so high. I know his potential is ridiculous, and he's probably eligible at both outfield and second base, which is nice, but he's only played the equivalent of a season and a half in the big leagues. The power/speed combo is undeniable, but I would've waited.

Alrighty then.

"I'm a winner and I have always been a winner." Interesting.

Slowly, but surely, the Mets walking wounded are coming back. Also, Angel Pagan is making Omar think long and hard about whether he needs to bring in anyone at all. He might not hit many homers, but he has some XBH pop and has a solid glove.

El Bandita is back.

Johan had his best game as a Met.

Zimmerman has a Maine-eque view of the world.

"It's just part of the system," Zimmerman said. "I am not upset by any means. They have control for three years, and that's how it goes. Many people before me have done it the same way. There are no hard feelings either way. I am not opposed to doing a deal," he said. "It is just a matter of having it make sense for both sides. I'm sure they will still talk to my agent during the year, but as far as me being involved now, it is time for baseball, and my job is to help this team win and not worry about getting myself a contract.

"I want to be here for a long time. They know that. It is part of the business. If you go year-by-year or long term, if you play well, you'll make money. It doesn't matter."

Amazing. He understands the system. How hard is that exactly? Not very.

Juan Rivera would be perfect. Any idea how much he would cost? I cannot see the Mets having nearly enough to get anything done unless they want to overpay, which would be a horrible idea.

Stuff White People Like

I'm back, but not for long. I'm off to go snowboarding and hopefully knock over some kids on the mountain. It's not like baseball started or anything, right?

As a peace offering, I give you this...Wouldn't 'Things White People Like' be a better title? I say yes, but who gives a fuck? Stereotyping works!

#68 Divorce

Most studies on the topic of divorce, focus in on the obvious. For instance the median age of divorce for white men is 30.5 and 29 for women. This is usually around the time when white people further over analyze their lives and look for change, even if some of the stuff that they accomplished, like having good credit, a high paying job, or the ability to purchase a hybird car are things that people from other ethnicities would love to have.

#67 Co-Ed Sports

On the surface, these events seem like friendly contests with everyone having a laugh. But these events are lurking with danger, and within them exists the possibility to ruin your reputation and hard earned status with white people.

If you are a poor athlete, rest easy. Co-ed sports were made for you!

But if you are reasonably skilled in sports, you have to be extremely careful how you approach your co-ed matches. If you try TOO hard (bowling over a female catcher, throwing a kickball EXTRA hard at someone) you come off as an aggressive, crazy guy. On the other hand, if you don’t try at all you come off as a jerk who thinks he’s above the game. The only solution is to approach the game like a point-shaving basketball player - play hard enough to be convincing, but not hard enough to win.

If you follow these rules, you will find yourself invited to the mandatory post-game drinks at a local bar where you will be photographed many times.

#66 Recycling

If you are in a situation where a white person produces an empty bottle, watch their actions. They will first say “where’s the recycling?” If you say “we don’t recycle,” prepare for some awkwardness. They will make a move to throw the bottle away, they will hesitate, and then ultimately throw the bottle away. But after they return look in their eyes. All they can see is the bottle lasting forever in a landfill, trapping small animals. It will eat at them for days, at this point you should say “I’m just kidding, the recycling is under the sink. Can you fish out that bottle?” And they will do it 100% of the time!

The best advice is that if you plan to deal with white people on regular basis either start recycling or purchase a large blue bin so that they can believe they are recycling.

#63 Expensive Sandwiches

If you are in the position where you need to take a white person to lunch for business or pleasure, saying “I know a great sandwich shop,” will always bring out a smile. The white person will then tell you about the great sandwich shop in the town where they went to college and how they had a crush on a waiter, or that there was some special sandwich that they always ordered. This will put the person in a good mood.

#58 Japan

Though there is full white consensus on a number of white things, there is perhaps nothing that draws more universal white acclaim than the island nation of Japan. It should be noted, that some white people harbor SOME ill will toward Japan because of whaling, killing dolphins or Nanking. But those are generally considered isolated incidents that do not indict the entire nation.

#55 Apologies

White people know that their ancestors did some messed up things. As a result, it has become hard wired for them to apologize for almost anything.

In fact, white people are so used to apologizing that they start all sentences that might cause disagreement with “I’m sorry.” For example “I’m sorry, but Garden State was a better film than Hard Eight.”

In other cases, white people will apologize without being asked.

“Excuse me Dylan, you dropped a piece of paper in front of my desk.”

“Oh, sorry about that!”

It’s just that easy! Just point it out and they’ll apologize.

Sometimes if you are out late at night and a white person irritates someone at a night club or a bar, the first thing they will do is apologize in rapid fire mode in hopes it will stop them from getting their ass kicked. This technique has a surprisingly high success rate, as the aggressor immediately knows that fighting this person will be very easy, with little satisfaction.

#53 Dogs

A lot of cultures love dogs - be it for entertainment, labor, or other. But white people love dogs on an entirely different level.

It should be understood that in white culture, dogs are considered training for having children. That is to say that any white couple must get a dog before they have kids. This will prepare them for responsibility by having another creature to feed, supervise it’s bathroom activities, and to love. Because of this, white people generally assume that their dog is their favorite child unless otherwise stated.

#51 Living by the water

To a white person, a view of water from your house is the greatest achievement in life. And you should remember this when discussing your hopes and dreams with white people. It is also important that you choose a water sport (swimming, fishing, kayaking, etc) that you pretend to like. That way, you can talk about how when you move to your waterfront property you can just wake up in the morning and [insert outdoor activity], right from your front door.

#49 Vintage

First, it allows them to say “oh, this? I got this shirt at Goodwill for $3.” This statement focuses the attention on the shirt, taking attention away from the $350 jeans and $200 shoes. The white person can then retain that precious ‘indie’ cred.

Secondly, it allows a white person to have something that other white people don’t. This is an important consideration when trying to determine the worth and ranking of white people.

#31 Snowboarding

If one would like to meet a lot of white people, one of your best bets would be to go on a Snowboarding trip. Snowboarding is the practice of skiing sideways on one ski. White people love snowboarding as opposed to basketball or football because there is a sense that it is an alternative sport outside of the mainstream. Also too many ethnic people are skiing now. White people enjoy activities that cost a lot of money and require expensive clothes. Even though pro snowboarders make far less than football or basketball players, it is an activity that is exclusive to those who have money. Below are some of the prerequsites for snowboarding

Plenty of good nuggets for you to peruse this weekend.

* * *

This is an oldie but a goodie. Old women falling down.

I'll take a iced tea with lemon......oh and some fecal matter.

The real Mr. Met

I have to travel for work so I have no time to write anything meaningful. So.....I'll just post the best thing I've read in quite a while since not everyone has access to ESPN Insider. Oh, buy a membership to ESPN Insider.

* * *

From Ben Shpigel's piece about David Wright in yesterday's Times:

At age 25 and preparing to enter his fourth full season in the major leagues, Wright is in a unique position. Already admired by his peers for his professionalism and accountability, Wright, for the first time in his brief career, will be expected to assume part of a leadership void created when Lo Duca and Tom Glavine were not re-signed.

-- snip --

"I've tried to emulate Glavine's professionalism and the way he carries himself. John Franco's leadership, the way he could get everyone on the same page. The one thing that all these guys had in common was that they had the ability to bring together people from different backgrounds and languages."

Is this guy for real?

True Story: Last year I thought Wright was the best player in the National League. His numbers were brilliant, and from Sept. 2 through the end of the season he batted .365 with devastating power. I spend most of my time 3,000 miles away from the National League East battles, but from here he looked like the MVP. So that's what I wrote. He finished fourth.

Right around Thanksgiving the phone rang. We had visitors so I let the machine pick up. It was David Wright, or at least it was someone identifying himself as David Wright. He said he'd read what I'd written and just wanted to say thanks. Later I checked an ill-used e-mail account and discovered that the Mets' PR director had asked for my phone number. So it really was David Wright.

Obvious Question: So is David Wright really, in addition to being probably the best player in the National League, also an incredibly thoughtful guy? Or is he merely a fantastic player who thinks his life might go a little better over the next 25 years if the writers are on his side?

Simple Answer: Both. Or rather, all three. David Wright really is the best player in the National League. He really is smart enough to know that one quick phone call to a writer might lead to something good down the road. And that really is the mark of someone who's both thoughtful and emotionally mature, and perhaps worthy of our admiration as not only a hard-working professional athlete, but also a person.

Next fall, if I think Wright wasn't the best player in the National League in 2008, I will write passionately about who was the best. But if Wright is the best player, again? I'll write with exactly the same passion … and a bit of pleasure tacked on.

* * *

I'll say it again. The Mets will have the Cy Young Award winner and the MVP.

No No, No, No No No, No No

Joe Posnanski had a nice post about something weighing heavily on our feeble minds.

There are so many fun things to be found in The Bill James Handbook. I was glancing through it again in my flu-ridden stupor and ran across his pitchers most likely to throw a no-hitter along with their percentages.

1. Scott Kazmir, 24%
2. Erik Bedard, 23%
3. Jake Peavy, 20%
4. Johan Santana, 17%
5. Daisuke Matsuzaka, 13%
6. A.J. Burnett, 12%
7. Chris Young, 12%
8. Tim Lincecum, 12%
9. Javier Vazquez, 11%
10. Oliver Perez, 11%

Mind you, this actually has some statistical relevance. There was actual thought and number crunching that helped comprise this list. I am a bit shocked at Vazquez's inclusion here, but the rest have that domination factor. When they are on, they are unhittable and they have devastating out pitches that are second to none when they are working. Joe also assembles his own list in a non-scientific manner, but it is hard to argue with his list.

1. Johan Santana.

I’m stunned that not only has Santana never thrown a no-hitter, he’s never thrown a one-hitter. He’s never thrown a two-hitter. Of course, the reason for that is simple: Santana does not complete games — the guy has six complete games in his career so far.

You have to agree with his #1 choice and that is not being a homer. The guy is moving to the NL with a big park and a good, and sometimes great when Endy subs in for Alou, defense behind him. As for him not completing games, who cares? If you could see the look on my face, you would see the look of a person who does not care. The guy has simply no reason to push himself and has logged more innings than any human since 2004. If all the chips are down, I have no doubt he will push it.

2. Chris Young.

He has led the major leagues in fewest hits allowed per nine innings each of the last two years, which is pretty amazing. But when it comes to pitching into the late innings, he makes Johan Santana look like Robin Roberts. Young had made 99 starts in his still young career and he has completed exactly 0.0 of those games. Not one complete game. He currently ranks fifth on that all-time list, most starts without a complete game (behind Tony Armas, Casey Fossum, Shawn Chacon and Claudio Vargas) and I would say he is by the most accomplished starter to never complete a game.

Fewest hits per nine? Nice. Despite the facts, I am not agreeing with his place among the top ten. Also, other factors apply which you will see down the line.

3. Scott Kazmir.

One complete game in young Kaz’s career. You know, I realized that the complete game is way, way down and everything, but I guess until I started looking at young pitchers, I had never really put it in proper perspective.

Pitcher of the 1950s:
Warren Spahn (215 complete games) or Robin Roberts (237 CGs).
Pitcher of the 1960s: Juan Marichal (196 CGs) or Bob Gibson (165 CGs)
Pitcher of the 1970s: Jim Palmer (175 CGs) or Tom Seaver (147 CGs)
Pitcher of the 1980s: Jack Morris (133 CGs) or Fernando Valenzuela (102 CGs)
Pitcher of the 1990s: Greg Maddux (75 CGs) or Roger Clemens (57 CGs)
Pitcher of the 2000s: Randy Johnson (30 CGs), Pedro (18 CGs), Johan Santana (6 CGs) or Clemens (3 CGs).

We’re there — we’re at that ground floor in baseball now where the complete game is so outdated that it’s possible that the best pitcher in the 2010s might not complete a single game. Or maybe, who knows, some manager and GM will figure that the best way they could score runs would be to go to the old Earl Weaver and Casey Stengel method of platooning, and that will mean the need to have more hitters, thus fewer pitcher, and that would lead to more complete games. I doubt it — as Bill James will tell you the complete game has been dwindling pretty consistently since the beginning of the 20th Century.

It seems unlikely now for that trend to ever get reversed. Anyway, Kazmir’s stuff is so overpowering, he will — assuming he stays healthy — have more than one shot at a no-hitter, I think. I have him below the other two only because it seems to me that an American League guy — especially on an American League team with 19 games against the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays — will have a tougher time throwing the no-no. Of course, that might be wrong. All three no-hitters in 2007 were by American Leaguers (though Justin Verlander threw his against Milwaukee).

I kept that entire blurb because it speaks to the craziness of the game today and how gently pitchers are treated these days. That being said, Kazmir can do it. When that slider is on and his fastball is humming, he is so fun to watch.

4. Carlos Zambrano.

I’m surprised he’s not on Bill’s list, though I’m certain there’s a sound reason for it. Zambrano seems to me one of the rare guys in today’s game who — even though he has never actually thrown a no-hitter — is a legitimate threat any time he pitches*. He’s thrown a couple of eight-inning one hitters, two complete game two hitters, if he was pitching in San Diego or LA or somewhere like that I would bet on him being the No. 1 choice to get the next no-hitter.

My issue with the Big Z. is his walks. However, the man can throw 150 pitches so I would not think the walks prohibit him. Didn't Burnett walk like six during a no hitter? I would suspect his would go something like that.

5. Jake Peavy.

Another guy who doesn’t complete games. He deservedly ran away with the NL Cy Young Award last year even though he did not throw a shutout nor complete even one game. Last guy to win the NL Cy Young without a single complete game? Roger Clemens in 2004. But Peavy was a lot better than Clemens in 2004 — he became the 30th pitcher since 1900 to win the League Triple Crown — most wins, most strikeouts, best ERA. He was the first to do it without a complete game* — (only Johan Santana in 2006 has done it without throwing a shutout). *Another sign of the times.

Here is a sampling of those Triple Crown winners: Lefty Gomez, 1934: 26-5, 2.33 ERA, 25 CGs, 6 SHOs. Bob Feller, 1940: 27-11, 2.61 ERA, 31 CGs, 4 SHOs. Sandy Koufax, 1965: 26-8, 2.04 ERA, 27 CGs, 8 SHOs. Steve Carlton, 1972: 27-10, 1.97 ERA, 30 CGs, 8 SHOs. Dwight Gooden, 1985: 24-4, 1.53 ERA, 16 CGs, 8 SHOs. Roger Clemens, 1997: 21-7, 2.05 ERA, 9 CGs, 3 SHOs, x HGHs Pedro Martinez, 1999: 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 5 CGs, 1 SHO. Randy Johnson, 2002: 24-5, 2.32 ERA, 8 CGs, 4 SHOs. Jake Peavy, 2007: 19-6, 2.54 ERA, 0 CGs, 0 SHOs.

The caveat for him is the outfield defense. I would say more things have to go right for him than others on the list. One or two spectacular plays need to be made and with Kouzmanoff at third and the aging outfielders with Headly/Hairston in left, you would be hard pressed to convince me he can throw one without striking out twenty. That would especially be true at home with such an expansive outfield when those guys simply cannot go after balls and vacuum everything up.

6. Erik Bedard.

My favorite Erik Bedard story so far was hearing Brian Bannister talk about facing him in spring training. Banny — what a guy. He takes a lot of pride in his hitting, and he said he was facing Bedard and the guy was throwing serious gas. Banny says that what makes Bedard’s gas so much more effective than most is that he hides the ball really well so that when you’re swinging, it’s ON YOU before you even know what happened. Anyway, Banny’s telling the story and he says (I’m paraphrasing), “So Bedard throws me a pitch, and I’m right on it. I mean I’m right on it. And I hit a hard line drive — I’m right on it, this is the best I can do — and it goes foul over the first -base dugout. And then I’m like, ‘Uh, OK, I don’t think I’m hitting this guy.”

Awesome story. Awesome pick. That is especially true if he moves to SafeCo, but Ichiro might have to call off Ibanez a few times though.

7. Tim Lincecum.

He just seems sort of a modern day Jose Deleon — I think he’ll have no-hitters going into the sixth and seventh inning for as long as he can stay healthy.

Great arm and a great pick. I just hope it does not happen against the Mets.

8. Matt Cain.

I guess a 22-year old stud who consistently allows fewer than 8 hits per nine innings and has been good for one complete game each year he’s been in the big leagues should be on this list.

Man, the Giants sure can develop pitching. Now about those bats...

9. John Maine.

I don’t know why … I just think this is the guy who is going to break that Mets curse. He’s thrown a shutout each of the last two years, he keeps hits way down, he strikes out people. Here’s the second preseason call of 2008 — John Maine throws a no-hitter for the Mets.*

*Brilliant reader Jeff P. already points out the contradiction that if I think Maine will throw the first Mets no-hitter, he should be ranked ahead of Santana. It’s true. However, it’s a mind-heart thing. My mind says that Santana is the most likely guy in baseball to throw a no-hitter in 2008. But my heart says he’s another Mets great who won’t throw a no-hitter for the team (while young and up-and-comer John Maine will). The rankings are more based on mind. The opinions are more based on heart. I know this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but there you go. It’s like Eddie told Tom Berenger. Words and music, man. Words and music.

How can you not agree with this one? We have seen him almost do it about two times already and simply dominates some games. When he is on and getting people to chase those high heaters, he motors through the lineup.

10. Cole Hamels.

I’m a huge no-hit fan of Fausto Carmona, King Felix, Jered Weaver, but for whatever reason I can already see the headline: “Cole Hamels Throws No-No.”

How can you not agree with this one? He looks people make stupid every night with that change-up. Overall, a great list.

However, I would like to inject some more homerism and remove his #2 off the list and slide in Oliver Perez somewhere between seventh and tenth. If you put Kazmir on there, Oliver needs to be as well. Their stuff is comparable when they are on and both sliders could arguably be the best from any lefties in the game so I am with Bill James on this one. The guy may walk ten one night, but he can rebound with nine k's and no walks the next time out. Believe the hype.

* * *

Jim Caple has a nice article on the Twins fantasy camp he attended.

It looks like Schilling is going to go down the non-surgical path. Of course this is what Pedro had ailing him and he too initially opted for the non-surgical path at first. That might get him through the 2nd half of '08, but he will need to go under the knife after that.

However, his doctor thinks he may never pitch again without surgery. Even if he could come out and pitch in 2008, would sitting out 2009 after surgery mean retirement is in his future after 2008? It would be hard to envision him sitting out 2009 and rehabbing all the way back in 2010. The only way I see Schilling returning to pitch again is if get surgery now and eyes the 2009 season.

Everything you wanted to know about Erik Bedard and more. He seems like a down to Earth guy and seems like he would do well Seattle given their lack of New York/Boston-like media coverage.

A little Colbert action. Not enough? How about some more Colbert action.

Stupid, stupid, stupid animals.

Boo hoo. The Braves are getting no respect. ESPN did a hot stove match-up in which they debated who was the better team in the NL East between two teams and neither was Atlanta. Of course, the Braves are the 2nd best team in the division. I mean, yes, the Phillies won the division, but they are have holes and many of them.

The Rockies may have finished second and made it to the World Series, but who is speaking of them in the same regard as the Dodgers, D-Backs, and Padres? Not many. You will forgive me if I think the NL East is in fact a two team race that does not include the Phillies. One thing I do have an issue with is this:

RIGHT FIELD — Also not close, but in the Braves' favor. Jeff Francoeur is far preferable to the Mets' Chavez/Church duo and the Phillies' Geoff Jenkins/So Taguchi/Jason Werth combination

Frenchy facts: In 2006, he had a .260/.293/.449 line. Yikes. His 2007 line was .293/.338/.444. The bad news is even though he improved in the plate discipline department, he was still pretty bad and simply covered it up better with a higher BA. It is also worth noting he had a BABIP of .337 in '05, .284 in '06, and .337 in '07. The MLB average is usually between .290 and .300. Of course the big time players end up sustaining a much higher BABIP, but we have no idea if that does include Frenchy. He had exactly the same about of XBHs in '07 and in '06, but ten fewer balls found their way over the way in '07. His OPS+ was 87 in '06 and 103 in '07. Overall he notched 22 Win Shares, after nabbing 16 in '06.

I guess the real question is, who is Frenchy? Is he Atlanta's David Wright as many over zealous fan dubbed him? Or is he another toolsy player that has trouble putting it all together?

Church facts: Churchy compiled 19 Win Shares in 18 less games in '07. In '06, he tallied 6 less Win Shares in 71 games compared to 162 for Frenchy. Over the last three seasons, he beat Frenchy's career best OBP and posted an OPS+ of 118, 131, and 114. He also posted a higher WARP1 in '07 for good measure. The big thing here is one guy will be 24 next year while the other would be 29, but why no love for Church? If I were making a team for the long term, I could not deny Frenchy's upside, but for 2008 and maybe even 2009, give me some Ryan Church. I am shocked people really think this guy is an afterthought.

Let this one marinate in your head for a second. It is great! The entire family is crooked.

"Roger came to me one day and told me that we had been asked to do a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated," Debbie Clemens recalls. "I had major anxiety! I was a 39-year-old mother of 4! Once I realized that this WAS going to be a reality, I decided I had to give it everything I had." "My mind was set," Debbie Clemens continued. "I am not a risk taker, but have since learned that with great risk, sometimes comes great reward. The responses from that experience have been wonderful and I feel it was a turning point in my life. It's nice to have a goal for yourself and to see it through. The goal kept me motivated and focused. Using common sense and my ability to balance my life, I achieved that goal."

Big risk. Taking some clothes off and smiling in spread that everyone forgot until now? I totally admire you for that. There was also a tasty one in the comments:

If it's true, maybe Kim Mattingly should've taken some as well, then she's still be hot.

Ziiiiing!! Now, that is not nice. True, but not nice.

Take a look at this link as well. The pictures are classic. Nothing like getting together with a few buddies and downing some Miller Lites and injected some steroids.

I have not seen this one before so it is new to me.

All eyes will be on Santana this spring.......wait....no...all eyes will be on Pedro this spring. Luckily there is enough media coverage both will get their fair share of attention. There is no question they are both important, but there is also no question for me about either of those two. They are both going to healthy and very good.

Steve Popper has lots of questions. He could have just asked me though. I have answers to all of them.

McNamee's lawyers sees the Feds getting involved in the Clemens case. Roger, Roger, Roger...maybe you could have come up with a half lie and say you did it once like everyone else. Now you are going to come out looking horrible if this goes awry. Or maybe he is taking the George Costanza stance on lying.

It's not a lie if you believe it.

Fernando Tatis gets an invite to Spring Training.

New York Edition: Aside from 56 at-bats for Baltimore in 2006, Fernando Tatis has not played in the majors since 2003. Nevertheless, the Mets have invited him to spring training and would love to have a righty bat to potentially serve the role Julio Franco once filled - pinch-hitter/caddy to Carlos Delgado.

The Yankees inked Robinson Cano and bought out his last years of arbitration and tacked on a few more.

He will receive $3 million this season, followed by salaries of $6 million, $9 million and $10 million. The Yankees will have a $14 million option for 2012 or can pay a $2 million buyout.

There is a $15 million option for 2013 with another $2 million buyout.

Seems like a great deal for each side. Cano will never go hungry again and the Yankees get some nice value out of stellar production.

I guess the fact that Sandy Alderson is their CEO means Bonds to the Padres would be rather unthinkable.

Spring Training this week? Swelliciousness.

Must Read of the Day

You just cannot make this stuff up.

We are holding Jesus ransom until you clean up the poopie from your wieners and trust us we see you take your wieners for long walks w/out picking up their poopie in our yards. This has upset us dearly so please clean up all the wiener poopie, if you want to see Jesus unharmed. Sincerely, Lindy Lane Residents.

Just let that sink in.

At first, this all seems to be your typical Oregonian suburbanite craziness. Then after it marinates for bit, it all seems reasonable. What type of heathen does not clean up the excrement, or 'poopie' as they phrased it, that is left by their dogs? Of course, this story is made all that much better by being able to say 'weiner poopie' because 'labrador poopie' just does not have the same pizazz.

"It has to be a young person because they put these lines around Jesus, no adult is going to waste their time doing that," says Mansel. "And referring to wiener poopie. My gosh!"

Although that sounds like airtight logic, I would presume it is in fact a grownup. Kids generally do not get all bent out of shape about dog droppings around the hood. I do not know about you, but I cannot wait to hear the end of this tale that includes Jesus being stolen, ransom notes, and weiner poopie.

* * *

Congress is back at it assuming their newly self-crowned position of morality police. I think Belichick should sit in the corner for what he did, but stealing baseball signs has been around and is probably still prevalent. Teams go through great lengths to try and mask their signals because they assume there will probably be an attempt to steal them.

Now sitting somewhere with a video camera is different case, but this is not really all that big of a deal that Congress should get involved.

What is more improbable than a blind guy hitting a hole-in-one? A 92-year old blind guy hitting a hole-in-one.

By way of Rob Neyer's blog, this is swellicious read.

Unfortunately, I occasionally encounter fans of teams I do not support, and I will never be able to understand how they can have come to such a clearly incorrect conclusion. I spend a great deal of time trying to set straight whatever misinformation they have received. Yet, they somehow still manage to believe that their team is the best, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary. Take Red Sox fans, for example. The Red Sox suck, whereas the Yankees, by contrast, rule. There's simply no debating that. Why some people cannot grasp such obvious, empirically demonstrable facts is beyond me.

Give the entire article a read.

This is a first that I'm reading this nugget.

Once the Santana trade is done, expect the Mets to swoop into the free-agent market to add an outfielder to replace Carlos Gomez. One name they've kicked around: Kenny Lofton.

Um, why?

How come no one is screaming about the Latino movement? I mean, Johan is Venezuelan and his last name ends in a vowel. Furthermore, Omar traded away two white players as part of the deal. Hmmmm...seems fishy to me.

Oh, no big news here. The Mets only finalized their deal for Johan Santana. These types of signings happen all the time.

Swelltastic

Being that I had the last two days of posts partially written and never got around to finishing them, I will put them all in a one big swelltastic weekend post.

Two out of three in Milwaukee? Good stuff. This team showed some moxie by coming back after a demoralizing defeat and even Brian Lawrence came up to give a respectable five innings. Jorge Sosa in the bullpen gives me a funny feeling in my pants and I kind of like it. I do think the Mets should consider bringing up Humber and see if they can get slightly above league average production from him and let him get his feet wet and some valuable experience for next season while Sosa helps out in the bullpen.

Wright has a 900+ Ops and is seventh in the league in steals and is on pace to swipe 36 bags and is currently swiping them with a 92% success rate. Out of the NL, only Michael Bourn and Chris B. Young have a better success rate and only Curtis Granderson, Ian Kinsler, Jason Bartlett, Michael Bourn, Chris B. Young, and Ichiro Suzuki best him out of the entire bigs. I think he will get into the 30/30 club this year and he is just oozing sugary goodness of late.

With the Braves cutting Franco, I think we can all agree that his playing days are over. I cannot imagine some team being desperate enough to give him another shot. I still cannot for the life of me figure out what the Braves were thinking, but I guess he did win one game for them. In regards to the Braves overall, they are firmly 5 games behind the Mets and it is completely up to them as to whether or not they will let someone else take this thing.

If you look at Lastings' career so far and take a look at his 162 game average on ESPN, he has a .254/.314/.408 line with 25 doubles, 15 homers, 29 walks, 78 RBIs, and 103 strikeouts. While that may not look great, you have to factor in he was 21 for a large chunk of that with very little minor league action. If he can maintain that .050 ISOD and keep his ISOP around .175, I think he'll hit .300 to .320 every year and be a very impressive ball player and I think he can do that right away if given a steady job.

Also, that swing of his may be the most level of any Met player and he just consistently hits the ball hard. His level swing and bat speed should allow him to stay out of prolonged slumps and prevent him from getting homer-happy and allow him to churn out consistent production. In regards to fielding, if he can just translate the way he plays center to right or left field, he will make up for the lack of power, though I do not think he will be a slouch in that category. I just hope the Mets trust him enough to give him the job in 2008 and keep him in the lineup when Beltran returns. I do not think it will be very long before he hits his stride and produces at a high level.

* * *

Luis Castillo is already talking about returning to the Mets in 2008.

Jason Stark has a good rundown of the deals.

Braves:

"I love making deals with John Schuerholz," said one GM on Tuesday. "When you're making a deal with John, he gets right to the point: 'Would you do this -- yes or no? And no hard feelings if you say no.' He's a breath of fresh air in our business. I wish more guys were like him."

What makes him good is that he is not out there trying to rip people off like legions of these GMs who would rather keep a guy they should trade unless they rip the other team off, which is probably the worst way to run a franchise. In the case of the Devil Rays, this has made them much worse than they needed to be over the years.

"Are they the best team in the East now? That, I don't know. They never did get that starting pitcher they needed. But did they make the best deals of anybody to get better? They sure did that."

The Braves are a better and much tougher team, but I would have to still give the edge to the Mets if their bullpen settles in and I think it will with a few internal moves. If Pedro can make it back with Sosa and Humber hitting the bullpen, Aaron coming back strong, and Smith getting some respite, they should settle in just fine. Also, you cannot forget that Perez and Maine have averaged 6.3 innings per start this year and have gone seven or more in just about half of their starts. Last year in the playoffs, the Mets were not getting the gift of innings and I expect that to change and not tax the bullpen as much.

Rangers:

But give him credit. Daniels did indeed deal them both -- plus Kenny Lofton -- and came away with nine prospects, just about all of whom project to play in the big leagues.

The gauge of a good draft is whether or not you got two or three guys that can contribute on the big league level with some stars sprinkled in over the years. The Rangers basically got the equivalent of three or four drafts in one swoop without having any to pay any signing bonuses and freed up a ton of cash that was going to go to Teixeira and can now be allocated elsewhere.

If A-Rod opts out, the Rangers gain $24 million next season alone between two players and will see millions more off the books with Gagne and Lofton gone. The Rangers are in a much better place right now than they were on Monday. Their first five picks which included Blake Beaven and Michael Main were solid and they should get a top ten pick next season. Jon Daniels finally read the book on how to start to rebuild a team. Now if they would only slide their fences back a bit...

Mets:

"I like that pick-up, but that doesn't mean he's the same guy he used to be," said an official of one team. "His hip is starting to wear out on him, and it shows. But one thing he'll do is, he'll give [Jose] Reyes a chance to run like hell because he has no problem taking the first two strikes. And he'll help them defensively, because he still plays great defense."

Castillo was worth the gamble but I hope they are not married to what they want him to be if he does not play like that ideal player they had in mind.

Johan is pissed.

"It's not just about hope," Santana told The Star Tribune. "In a realistic world, you have to really make it happen and go for it.

"You always talk about future, future. ... But if you only worry about the future, then I guess a lot of us won't be part of it," Santana told the newspaper.

Veteran baseball players are pretty much all in agreement with Santana. When the GM holds steady or even spins a player off that is perceived to be an integral part of the fabric of the club, they get mad. They do not want to hear about rookies, farm systems, or even acquiring prospects and they want to hear 'some guy I don't know traded for some veteran I know'. Standing still or being realistic about your chances and maybe acquiring a guy who can help you down the line is waiving the white flag. The Twins going for it would be a big mistake and unfortunately, he has to think about life after Santana should he leave. There is a good enough core there to be competitive for a while.

If anything, maybe the finger can be pointed towards Carl Pohlad who pocketed 20+ million over the past two years. When you factor in player depreciation, he made more than that. Of course it is his right to make money and spending frivolously is never a good idea, but the Twins should probably be spending more money being that revenue sharing gives them a handsome sum of cash yearly. Terry Ryan is not to blame for not doing something and it is not as black and white as Santana says.

Ryan was simply realistic about their chances did not want to make any mistakes. In the off-season, they need to get a bat, but their rotation and bullpen should be spectacular and they should absolutely be in the thick of things in 2008. Why risk the future for an ill-advised run in 2007? Ryan should be saving all his bullets for 2008 and saving $2 million that was going to go to Castillo with a suitable replacement in the system already was a good idea, though many people think they ripped off by the Mets. Sure he got next to nothing back, but Castillo and his 18 RBIs just did not have much value and it was purely a cash dump and to make room so a piece in 2008 could start getting his feet wet.

It turns out that Mark Teixeira turned down a big $140 million contract.

The proposal would have kept Teixeira in Texas for eight more seasons at a total of approximately $140 million. The deal would have included a mutually agreed figure for Teixeira's last year of salary arbitration in 2008 and another seven years worth $18 million per season.

First, I think Mark might want to win and the Rangers have some work to do. Second, would a team that far away from winning be making a good choice by plunking down that cash? The Rangers need to stop making crappy trades like when they gave Cordero and Mench away for half of a season of Lee and not trade guys like Chris Young for Adam Eaton. Besides, Hicks spends big. So when they are ready, they can go toe to toe with anyone for a free agent. Lastly, Boras would never let a player like that sign early.

Gil thinks Teixeira is stupid.

But Teixeira's agent, Scott Boras, told the Rangers that his client wasn't interested.

Which proves, I suppose, that they don't teach math after all at Georgia Tech, where Teixeira attended. By 2007 salaries, the deal would have made Teixeira the fourth highest-paid player in baseball.

Is Teixeira the fourth-best player in the major leagues? Not even close.

Since when was it a prerequisite to be a top ten player to get paid a top ten salary?

1 Giambi, Jason - $ 23,428,571
2 Rodriguez, Alex - $ 22,708,525
3 Jeter, Derek - $ 21,600,000
4 Ramirez, Manny - $ 17,016,381
5 Helton, Todd - $ 16,600,000
6 Colon, Bartolo - $ 16,000,000
7 Pettitte, Andy - $ 16,000,000
8 Schmidt, Jason - $ 15,703,946
9 Bonds, Barry - $ 15,533,970
10 Sexson, Richie - $ 15,500,000
11 Abreu, Bobby - $ 15,000,000
12 Thome, Jim - $ 14,833,333
13 Berkman, Lance - $ 14,500,000
14 Delgado, Carlos - $ 14,500,000
15 Guerrero, Vladimir - $ 14,500,000
16 Hampton, Mike - $ 14,500,000
17 Martinez, Pedro J. - $ 14,002,234
18 Drew, J.D. - $ 14,000,000
19 Jones, Andruw - $ 14,000,000
20 Tejada, Miguel - $ 13,811,415

Do I really have to go into how many of the top twenty salaries are not top forty players much less top twenty players? Four players at most would be cracking the top twenty. Regardless I'd take Teixiera for $18,000,000 than any of those guys listed above at the their current salary with the exception of A-Rod. Things just aren't that simple when it comes to salaries and skill level and I think that is obvious. It is more about being a free agent at the right time with the right teams needing to fill certain spots.

This was truly a bizarre trade, but much like the one that Orioles made for Kris Benson. Sometimes teams believe they need a veteran around to give them some stability even if their starts are not spectacular. Maybe there is credence to that and maybe not. Personally, it seems like a bad allocation of money to me and just outlines why the Pirates are a team going no where. As an article stated the other day, the Pirates are the same team that passed up Wieters because they did not want to plunk down the extra cash. Better use of funds...$13 million for Morris or $7 million for Wieters?

Heyman apparently says that Heilman was involved in the Cordero deal. Heilman and Humber? That may be one of the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. At the end of the day when the dust settles, Dayn Perry still believes the Mets will win the NL East and I have to agree with him.

Don't worry about your shrinking portfolios as I have some dependable information that says the Dow is headed for 17,000.

Jim Callis had an interesting article today about Jeff Samardzija that is hauntingly similar to Mike Pelfrey's situation.

Samardzija has the velocity and life on his fastball to blow hitters away. He touched 99 mph at Notre Dame, comfortably works in the low to mid-90s and gets tremendous sink.

"Not very many pitchers have natural sink that's hard and late with that velocity," says Rich Bombard, his pitching coach at high Class A Daytona. "You can't teach that. That's what separates him. There are other guys in this league who can throw 93-95 mph, but not with that movement."

Hmmm...not piling up strikeouts? Great natural sink on their mid 90's fastball? More hits than whiffs in every start? Developing slider and change-up?

If you have a few minutes, this stuff is gold.

Pedro is hitting 87 mph on the gun. I'm not sure what speed he needs to be at to be effective, but I would imagine he could be effective at 87 mph and do a pretty good Greg Maddux impression.

"There's room for growth," Minaya said, referring to Martinez's velocity. "But we all know Pedro can pitch. The most important thing I saw was movement, location, late movement, that's Pedro."

Michael Salfino has a great article about who is the best in New York. There are not many surprises either. He did mention that Mota should perhaps throw more change-ups, and that may be true, but he needs to still set them up better as Darling said. The guy has a fastball that can be overpowering at times and a great change. Simply stated, he should be much better than he has been and should be dominating reliever, but he remains and enigma. I remember him pitching against the Mets while he was on the Marlins and wondering how anyone every scores a run against him.

On a related note, why not claim Farnsworth and the money owed to him? I see that as a risk worth taking should the Yankees make and ill advised decision with Professor Rick's propensity to turn bullpen arms around. He still has a fast (albeit straight) fastball and a nice slider.

Willie logic...

Bat Newhan 2nd and bat Gotay 8th. Minor? Absolutely, but still lacking any rational explanation. Outside of a guy feeling, I could not see any reason for it. It is simple. Your better hitters should maximize their times at the plate and there really is no debate for that one. I get the lineup being loaded with lefties since Zambrano just mows down lefties, but not this. It is a wonder why some people question me for questioning Willie's thought process.

Just an aside, I know managers see this type of situation as a good opportunity to rest some guys. In Alou's case, you have a guy that is really tough on righties and Alou's body is nearing a meltdown so this is a good opportunity to sit him. However, I think people get too caught up in this and sacrifice a better bat for lesser hitting lefty. Now, I'm not talking about Willie's inclusion of Newhan into the lineup because the guy has not seen much playing time. I think it was a good day to try and get him at-bats, but I'm just talking in generalities here.

The Mets are rolling....rolling...rolling. They have only lost one series out of the firt six after the break and are off to a nice start with their ace on the mound tommorrow trying to make it six out of their first seven series. It should also be noted that they have the largest lead out of any first place team not named Boston. I think it is safe to say the Mets are headed in the right direction.

Mid-Season Shake Up

Right out of the box the Mets fired off two big moves. They first fired Rick Downs while hiring Rickey Henderson and they also designated Julio Franco for assignment. First off, I was never a big Rick Downs fan. I would have preferred they did not take one of Willie's guys from the start as he was obviously taking him out of convenience and comfort and that is not the best way to build a staff. If he was special, the Yankees would have kept him. Omar went out and added solid pieces after hiring Randolph and already had his pitching coach in place. Given the choice, I'm sure Omar would have preferred not to take Downs from the start.

In regards to Rick, HoJo was credited with Wright's maturation at a hitter as Rickey was credited with Reyes' so it is unclear if he had much an affect on this team anyway. I am not actually sure what affect hitting coaches have on big league teams, but I do think there is value there. Maybe not in the teaching aspect, but protecting people from going out of slumps and identifying idiosyncrasies in a player’s swings. We do know we have seen more than a few good players go through prolonged slumps on this team and I do think this is a good move. Adding Rickey to the staff certainly has more value add than Rick Downs and one has to believe this team is now stronger in regards to the coaching side of things.

As for Franco, Omar finally removed Julio as a choice for Willie. God knows that Willie would have been calling his number every single big pinch hit opportunity while better choices sat on the bench. Maybe now Damion Easley will get a chance to actually pinch hit. What a novel thought. In tandem, Milledge has been brought up in his place in a move we all knew was going to happen anyway and Omar also inked Marlon Anderson. Anderson will report to AAA New Orleans while the Mets figure some more things out. Ultimately, Marlon is 1,000,000 times better choice as a bat off of the bench than Old Man Egg Whites.

The Mets may not have shaken the world with their moves, but it shows that Omar is not exactly enthralled by the past two months of baseball and felt he needed to make some moves. They are making a statement that they are serious about winning and really, with Franco as the first guy of the bench to pinch hit, I could not in all seriousness believe that the Mets wanted to put their best foot forward. As of today, this team has been Willie-proofed a bit more. As Bookied mused on Toasty's site, is it too much to hope for that we'll see Gotay at second (wrote this before his start) and Milledge batting higher than 8th (we now know he will)? Probably, but it is clear positive moves have been made.

* * *

Larry Rother has a a nice article about baseball in Brazil. Baseball scouts must be drooling at the thought of tapping into Brazil's potential. However, being entrenched in soccer, I think they are realistic about it. As stated within the piece, getting a big star or two in the bigs as Venezuela did with Johan, Miguel, Big Z., etc. can truly put baseball on the map. As baseball gets more popular and taps into the talent in places like Brazil, China, Africa, Australia, etc., there is going to be some serious talent infused into the league. The only problem is that it takes a long time to get up to snuff so it will be a long time before any of those places are contributing meaningful talent to pro baseball in the US.

This guy is my new favorite human being

Just classic....The title was Prince Charles Sizes Up a Female Soldier.

The Padres wished they could take a mulligan on their '04 draft, but they can't. They passed up Verlander, Humber, Weaver, and Drew and went for Matt Bush. He could not hit, but he was a spectacular pitcher in high school with big time velocity and a nice curveball. I can only imagine they preferred him as a short stop because he was small. Well, he is back on the mound and he touched 98 mph in his first two starts.

"Very impressive. I was pleasantly surprised," said Dave Rajsich, Bush's AZL pitching coach. "He throws a lot better than I anticipated . . . His command is much better and his velocity is a little more than I expected. (He's) much more polished than I was expecting."

Bush, whose fastball has been clocked as high as 98, also did not expect to make such a rapid adjustment to the mound.

In some breaking news, the Cubs are trying to deal the Jaque Jones. Really, is that even news anymore? Does that even deserved to be printed?

Wow. Looks like A-Rod will become the $30 million man regardless of what happens.

The language in Rodriguez's record-breaking contract says that for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, A-Rod will receive $27 million plus the higher of $5 million or $1 million greater than the annual average value of the non-pitcher with the largest annual average value package.

Since no one will be even close to that salary, he gets $32 million. At this point, Hicks should still be drawn and quartered for that incredibly idiotic contract. Seriously horrifying is what that thing is. Also within the article it states that the Yankees want to bring him back anyway and not even give him a chance to opt out of that contract.

But that certainly brings up another issue doesn't it? The popular opinion is that Hicks would still be on the hook for $9 million a year for three more years if he does not invoke the opt-out clause. However, a lawyer (he said he was one anyway) said on the radio that as soon as you modify the existing contract, the previous obligor (in this case the Rangers) would be off the hook.

Any legal feedback on this one?

The Mariners need starting pitching. Is there any team that doesn't?

Blow it up.

Even if you can only two B grade prospect for each, it needs to be done. They need to get whatever they can get and start turning their situation around. They are not going to get what they want and the trades will not be popular, but they have some fun guys to watch that will draw some fans. They backed themselves into this corning and have to make some difficult decisions to get back out.

Did anyone that watched the game think the telecast cutting to the a sunset behind the Statue of Liberty was weird? They made it seem it was close. They might as well have show us a Costa Rican sunset. I just missed the relevance. It was nice, but it's not really where the stadium is. Now maybe if they mentioned the sunset behind the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey, I would be OK with it.

Great win and the players we have been clamoring for came up in a big way. Good stuff.

Willie Proof™

The Mets recipe for success:

1) Let Willie scribble down the Mets lineup.
2) Let the offense spot the pitcher a bunch of runs
3) Have the starter go almost eight innings.

Simple! The three step process to the Mets success in '07. Watching John Maine pitch is just great and it is just nuts how he really does nothing too spectacular. His slider has become a nice pitch, but not overwhelming. His fastball is 90/91 mph, but it is sneaky and I love how he just throws it up in the zone. His off speed pitch is a decent offering, but far from Pedro-like. However, he simply gets the job done and has been doing it at a high level. He has the highest VORP this season out of any Met pitcher (Joe Smith is 2nd) and the Mets finally pulled off a trade in which another team's fanbase is thinking "what a horrible deal that was for us". The Mets have four legitimate big league pitchers that can win any game and once Pelfrey comes around, they will have a complete rotation.

Offensively, this team is pretty much firing on all cylinders. While Wright and Delgado are not carrying their weight (Delgado's homer tonight notwithstanding), there is no doubt they will come around and produce like they are needed to and it is good to see everyone else producing. Then you take a step back and look at the depth on this team and you have to feel good with Milledge and Gomez in the wings with Sosa looking great in AAA as a call-up for the rotation or out of the bullpen. From DG...

VP Tony Bernazard indicated pitching coach Mark Brewer has helped Sosa alter his arm slot, keeping the ball concealed longer so that batters find it more difficult to read and react to the incoming pitch. “He’s keeping the ball down,” Bernazard said.

While the 'experts' will point to the Dodgers long term stability this season over the Mets because of their depth, like their rotation, I think the Mets depth is over looked. If Delgado goes down, Green can admirably fill in at first with Milledge coming up into rightfield. Any outfielder goes down, they have the aforementioned Milldege. If LoDuca goes down, Ramon Castro will step and give the Mets arguably better defense behind the plate and let the man who is tied for 2nd on the Mets in homers get more hacks. If a pitcher goes down in the rotation or bullpen, you have Sosa and Vargas with Humber down the line.

There are only three spots the Mets are especially vulnerable, but you show me a team that has no vulnerabilities in terms of depth. While the Dodgers might have more premium prospects backing up their big leaguers, the Mets are covered just as well as anyone and are an extremely dynamic ball club. While some teams need to tread lightly and are teetering on the edge being one injury away from non-contention, the Mets are not one of those teams.

* * *

Burgos-gate II revisited:

I was wrong when I said Burgos had better numbers against lefties, but that does not mean my position has changed. If Burgos is pitching well keeping his pitch count low, you leave him in with a three run lead and a guy on second to face the red hot Kelly Johnson. Also, it should be noted that Johnson has a .333/.459/.500 line against lefties this year with a .265/.390/.588 line against righties in roughly the same number of at-bats.

Mets non-Wagner relievers vs. lefties:
======================================
Schoenweiss vs. lefties .222/.300/.222
Burgos vs. lefties .235/.350/.471
Feliciano vs. lefties .111/.357/.111
Heilman vs. lefties .667/.667/1.667
Sele vs. lefties .286/.333/.714
Smith vs. lefties .182/.182/.273

If you were going match up and actually did some research, you would probably have left Burgos in with his success in that inning, his success with lefties, and Johnson's stats against lefties. The standard moves do have some caveats and Sunday's game appeared to be one of those instances. Furthermore, if you had a hard on to get a lefty/lefty match-up, it seems like a no brainer who you would chose.

As for Monday's game, if Burgos had put runners on like he did against the Rockies, of course you would pull him in that situation. However, Ambiorix looked decidedly different on Sunday. Also, Gary Cohen had made mention of Willie testing his new guys early, but that is exactly what he didn't do on Sunday. So I have a hard time believing he actually doing that and is more so doing a lot of managing from the seat of his pants guessing a lot.

Ironically enough, the post game of Monday's game was chock full 'o Willie love saying how happy Met fans must be to have Willie and Willie must be happy he waited to manage and learned the ropes in the meantime. Huh? Did they know about Randolph actually being offered a job and turning it down? It wasn't his choice. He was actually turned down by a lot of teams including the Mets two years before he got the job. Of course, things did work out for him because he inherited one hell of a team. I'm done harping on this topic....

Back to the Mets starting pitchers....they are now 11-4. All the teams that were considered the class of the NL in regards to their starting pitchers? Not sniffing the Met starting pitchers jock straps.

       Innings  ERA     K/9     BB/9    H/9     HR/9
Mets    107.2   3.01    6.69    4.18    7.27    1.09
Braves  113.2   4.20    6.26    3.72    9.03    1.03
Dodgers 107.2   3.34    6.60    3.76    9.28    0.59
Padres  106.1   4.66    5.84    2.88    9.90    0.51

Not bad huh? Braves fans are crying about the Mets being regarded as the better team and point largely to their rotation that is much better in their eyes than the scrubs the Mets are throwing out there, but I think if everyone just looks at what the Mets have going on right now, a rational person would rethink their position in regards to the Mets rotation.

Even better? The bullpen drastically lowers the team's ERA.

        Innings  ERA     K/9     BB/9    H/9     HR/9
Overall   160    2.59    6.69    4.50    6.81    0.90

The Mets team BAA is far and away the best in the National League out of any contenders and the only people who seem to grasp how good this Mets team is are the good people who do the Power Rankings for the sports sites around the web. The Mets were first or second on all Power Rankings on this dude's list with only Dayn Perry listing them lower than 2nd with the Indians and Diamondbacks ranked above them which immediately destroyed his creditability.

Baseball Prospectus has them at the top as well, but senses a major correction from them.

Off to the races: Jose Reyes is hitting .356/.457/.593 and running riot over the rest of the league, with four triples, eight steals, and 18 runs thus far. Elsewhere, the stat sheet has a few puzzles. David Wright is riding a 26-game hitting streak going back to last September 17, though he's yet to homer. And while the pitching staff has put together a league-best 2.40 ERA, their walk rate (4.65 per 9 IP) and the team's insane .778 Defense Efficiency Ratio suggest a major correction up ahead.

Of course they will come back to earth, but they are still the real deal.

Carlos Beltran wins player of the week.

Beltran led the National League with 27 total bases as the Mets swept a two-game series from the Florida Marlins and won four-of-six games last week.

During that span, Beltran hit .448 with a .951 slugging percentage and a .484 on-base percentage. Beltran's 27 total bases included four doubles, two triples and two homers.

In that same span, Beltran had 13 hits and nine RBIs, tying him for second-most in the National League.

Phil Humber won the PCL player of the week honors.

ets prospect Philip Humber is already making a splash in Triple-A, winning Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week honors after posting a 1-0 record and 1.38 ERA in two starts last week.

Humber struck out seven while allowing just two runs in 13 innings to earn the award.

A-Rod went deep twice to set a big league record for the fastest to fourteen homers. Unreal. Oh, and the Yankees lost are are half game above the Devil Rays and are one game out of sole possession of last place. Problems in the Bronx? Absolutely.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

This Met team looks to be tighter than a camel's ass during a sandstorm.

The way the Mets are pitching, the four wins could be the start of a big season for the defending NL East champions.

"They keep pitching like that, we're going to be dangerous," Reyes said.

The Mets have a 0.75 ERA and their starters have all four of their wins this season. They won their first four games, including three against St. Louis, by a combined margin of 31-3.

"It's good, we just stay together," Reyes said. "When we stay together, we're going to be dangerous. We've got the talent here. We've got to see what we can do."

The bullpen has not given up a run yet and the starters have been electrifying. While the Cards may not be a good team, they are still the defending champs and the Mets came out and smoked them and the Braves are no pushovers. Regardless what happens these next two games, coming home 6-0, 5-1, or 4-2 is going to be a great start and I'd venture to guess the Mets pull out at least one of these next two games.

Oliver Perez looked nasty which was great to see for obvious reasons and Jose Reyes just looks like he is in mid-season form already. 3 for 6 with two runs, four RBIs, and two triples? Are you fucking kidding me? As I stated on The Coop's blog yesterday, it's hysterical that the same reason the Mets will not make the playoffs according to some experts is completely being glazed over when it comes to the Yankees. The Mets starters have upside at least and what is the upside outside of anyone not name Phil Hughes on the Yankees? Igawa? He won't finish the year in the rotation. Mussina? He'll be decent enough, but nothing spectacular. Pavano? He had one good year ERA wise with horrible peripherals. Even if he pitches his best, he's not very good and league average at best. Pettitte? This ain't Andy of 1997. Wang? If he's your ace in the AL East, you have problems.

If people think the Mets should be concerned about their rotation, the Yankees should be concerned beyond belief. No Yankee starter has actually made it through five complete innings, but some moron has an article about how they'll win 110 games? Seven teams won 110 or more games in the history of baseball and this Yankee team might be the eighth? Please. Their rotation is a sham and most people fail to exhibit a little objectivity when it comes to the Mets and Yankees. This Met team is far and away the best in the NL and the Yankees are in serious danger of not making the playoffs unless they get Clemens and Hughes contributes significantly this season. They'll miss the playoffs one of these years and this could be the year unless their rotation sorts itself out.

* * *

I had Knick tickets yesterday (ridiculous seats about seven rows back) and met some friends before for some beers at bar. I wanted to see a few innings of the Mets game before I went in, but the bar had two TVs both playing the Yankees! So I ask, "hey man, can you put the Mets game on one of these TVs?" To which he replied, "I don't know, people are watching the Yankee game and might get mad." So I said, "bro, the TVs are two feet apart. If someone wants to watch the Yankee game, they can slide down. Besides, no one is even looking at the Yankees game right now and it's on." So the bartender finally gives in a puts the game on begrudgingly. Then the guy behind me says, "oh man, you like the Mets?"

What kind of fucking world do we live in? The Mets sold 3.5+ million tickets last year, already sold 2.5+ million this year, and are really damn good and I have a hard time getting them on in a bar in New York City? And people wonder why I hate the Yankees. How could I not?

From Count yesterday in the comment section...

With respect to the Yankees and their favorable treatment on ESPN, I direct you to this quote:

"We pretty much think of baseball as the Red Sox and Yankees and everybody else is the Washington Generals," said one ESPN employee who shall remain unnamed.

Fucking ponderous.