Tag Archives: Bench

Jan 23

Thoughts On 2013 Projected Roster

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Will Ruben Tejada leadoff for the Mets in 2013?

Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo, posted what he believes the Mets roster will look like come Opening Day.

C : John Buck
1B: Ike Davis
2B: Daniel Murphy
SS: Ruben Tejada
3B: David Wright
OF: Lucas Duda
OF: Kirk Nieuwenhuis
OF: Mike Baxter
Bench: Collin Cowgill
Bench: Andrew Brown
Bench: Justin Turner
Bench: Brandon Hicks
Bench: Anthony Recker

SP: Johan Santana
SP: Jon Niese
SP: Matt Harvey
SP: Dillon Gee
SP: Jenrry Mejia
RP: Frank Francisco
RP: Bobby Parnell
RP: Josh Edgin
RP: Greg Burke
RP: Robert Carson
RP: Jeurys Familia
RP: Jeremy Hefner

I have it almost exactly the same way. I also feel confident that Hefner, Familia and Mejia all make the team as I asserted yesterday in another post. The real battle will be Feliciano versus Burke for one bullpen spot.

The starting lineup and bench is about the same as last year from a production standpoint, but still considerably worse than 2011. That outfield is really tough on the eyes.

I think Valdespin edges out Brown or will make the team for his ability to play second base and for the fact he may have the best speed on the team. The only way ‘Spin doesn’t make the team is if Hairston comes back.

By the way, for three weeks in a row there was a report that Hairston was about to announce who he was signing with that week. It hasn’t happened yet. Are the Mets waiting him out or is he waiting the Mets out?

I agree that Recker will edge out Powell who I never took as a serious catching option anyway. Not that Recker is all that better, it’s just a hunch.

I have no idea what the top of the order will look like this season, but I can assure you it will have a resounding effect on RBI opportunities for both Wright and Davis.

Will it be Tejada and Murphy?

Both of them are slow of foot, and if it’s Baxter, his boneheaded plays on the bases last season made Angel Pagan look like a Mensa.

This team might be one of the slowest Mets teams I’ve ever seen and I wonder if they will crack the 50 stolen base mark in a park that was apparently built for pitching, defense and SPEED.

Whenever d’Arnaud does come up, I hope they don’t do something crazy and bat him in the middle of the order out of desperation. I wouldn’t put that past Terry Collins. Even David Wright was batting seventh and eighth after he was promoted from Triple-A and stood there for almost two months until he slowly inched his way up.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on DiComo’s projected roster…

 

Dec 03

Letting Carter go explains a lot.

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The decision to let Chris Carter go explains a lot about both the past and present regimes of the Mets.

Just to save a few dollars, the Mets traded Billy Wagner to Boston for Carter late in the 2009 season. The option would have been to pay out the balance of the contract, offer him arbitration and collect the compensatory draft choices when he declined.

Those draft picks would look good now for a team with a myriad of holes.

Then GM Omar Minaya didn’t want to take that gamble because of the fear Wagner might accept and saddle the Mets with a bad contract, albeit for one season. That fear was instilled in large part from pressure from the Wilpons to save money.

What Minaya didn’t realize, and therefore couldn’t relay to the Wilpons, was Wagner understood the Mets were a sinking ship and wouldn’t have wanted to come back anyway. In hindsight, the prudent decision would have been to pay out Wagner for 2009 and gamble on arbitration.

Tbat brings us to Sandy Alderson and the decision to cut ties with Carter.

There’s still pressure to save money where ever possible as the 2011 contract for Carter would be at least $200,000 (60 percent of last year’s contract) plus the minor league contract. Alderson can bring Carter back at a reduced rate in a new split contract.

The pressure is on Carter to accept because with Fernando Martinez (assuming he’s healthy) and Lucas Duda, the Mets already have left-handed bats off the bench.

Carter was productive as a pinch-hitter, but he’s strictly a one-dimensional player in that his defense and throwing are weak.

Alderson knows Carter doesn’t bring much to the table, at least not more than Martinez or Duda, so why pay the extra money that’s needed for a franchise that wants to pinch pennies?

Jul 29

Mets Chat Room; getting critical.

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Game #102 vs. Cardinals

Even if defeat, you have to admire how the Mets played last night. Their ace was hammered for six runs in the first inning, yet they fought back to tie the game. There was an extraordinary amount of pressure on Ike Davis, but he came off the bench to hit a game-tying single.

Still, there is no such thing as a moral victory in baseball. It remains a loss, one in which is difficult to rebound against. But, they have to do so with R.A. Dickey if they are to prevent spinning out of control as is often the case with these types of losses.

Even if they win, it remains doubtful the Mets can fix all that ails them in time to make the playoffs. They might make a run, but they don’t have enough, and now there’s word they won’t make a move for Ted Lilly or Brett Myers, the middle-tier pitchers in the market.

Oh yes, and the Phillies are closing in on a deal for Roy Oswalt.

After today,  there are 60 games remaining to the season. To win 90 games, what it would probably take to make it as a wild card, the Mets would have to go 40-20, a pace they’ve never reached this season.

But for now, it’s all they can do to reach 52 wins.

Jul 22

Tonight’s lineup at Dodgers

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As promised, Jerry Manuel is sitting his Killer B’s: Jason Bay, Carlos Beltran and Rod Barajas are all on the bench for tonight’s game at Los Angeles.

No real surprises. I thought Barajas might play because he homered last night and tends to hit them in bunches. But, Manuel did go to bat to keep Josh Thole so he might as well play.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Jose Reyes, SS

Angel Pagan, CF

David Wright, 3B

Ike Davis, 1B

Jeff Francoeur, RF

Chris Carter, LF

Josh Thole, C

Luis Castillo, 2B

Hisanori Takahashi, LP

Jun 23

Would you deal Pagan?

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I’m throwing this out there for you to mull over, much like Omar Minaya will be asked to do in the upcoming weeks.

PAGAN: Teams like him.

Other teams aren’t stupid, they see what is going on with the Mets rotation and in their outfield. They see, like most of us here, that the rotation, although going well now is not a sure thing. We don’t know how long Hisanori Takahashi and RA Dickey will continue this run. They also have no interest in sending a veteran pitcher to the Mets for the likes of John Maine and Oliver Perez.

The Seattle Mariners are on record for saying they want major league ready hitters; players they can immediately plug into their lineup.

The Mets have precious few of those to offer, but there is one whose trade value is high. Don’t think about Carlos Beltran. With his injury history and salary, he’s not going anywhere.

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