Much as I respect Jose Valentin’s right to earn a living with anyone foolish enough to pay him, why not just have Tom Glavine pinch hit, instead? Other than the opposition aiming at his pitching arm, I mean. Tension-filled Tom has 85 career RBI’s ; that might not seem like a lot, but hitting in the 9th spot over some 1200 career at bats, it could be a lot worse.
Oh yeah, and Glavine pitched another solid game tonight, too (7 IP, 4 hits, HR’s to Burrell and Howard). Heath Bell’s 2006 big league debut was inauspicious enough (3 hits, 1 IP) but he and Jorge Julio combined to protect a ten run lead, and that’s all that counts.
I keep looking for holes in the Mets batting order, and they aren’t coming up. Sure, Reyes oughta get on base more often (we’ll probably be saying that forever). It’s unlikely Paul Lo Duca will hit .300 in August and September. Xavier Nady might eventually come down to earth. But by the same token, Cliff Floyd won’t be straddling the Mendoza Line in July, and if the 3-4-5 of Beltran, Delgado and Wright stays healthy, the Mets might score enough runs to withstand the sad realization they only have a 3 man starting rotation. Glavine, Martinez and 3 Days Of Rain doesn’t have the right sort of ring to it, but that much precipitation must be good for Pedro’s flowers.
On a night the Phillies combined for 4 errors, I would like to remind everyone that Freddie Mitchell and his blessed hands are still unemployed.
Some of these folks are giddy. And some of ’em aren’t.
Glavine pitched exactly the way you’d want a crafty old pitcher with a big lead to pitch (and hit like a lithe young power hitter), the boys hit doubles and home runs and took advantage of errors and kept the hammer down. And I’d say the leather got flashed, but we were even better bare-handed: I’d barely gotten over oohing and ahhing over Reyes’ flip to Matsui’s bare hand and nice turn to Delgado (Kaz apparently rehabbed his knee under the tutelage of Bill Mazeroski) when Wright made that stunning bare-handed grab of a ball pinwheeling off the third-base bag. – Jason, Faith & Fear In Flushing
Carlos Beltran looks like a completely different hitter this year — relaxed, patient and confident. His line this year is an amazing .291/.431/.671 with 21 walks in 100 plate appearances. I find it incredible he has so many walks with Delgado behind him. 12 of his 21 hits have been for extra bases with 4 doubles and 8 homers. I don’t listen to WFAN much anymore, but I’m assuming things have calmed down quite a bit with the negative talk about Beltran. – Mike’s Mets
…the thing with Heath Bell is that his fastball is so straight¦with a fastball like this, he has to adjust speeds more and have perfect location, otherwise, no matter how well he throws a curve-ball or change-up, big league hitters are going to continue to hit the ball hard against him¦ – Matthew Cerrone, Metsblog
The good news? The Mets signed a 29-year old pitcher who sports a 57 percent career winning percentage to a minor league deal today. The bad news? He has a Lima-esque 5.71 career ERA and hasn’t been even remotely effective in either minor league or major league baseball since 2002.
Step right up, Jeriome Robertson! Put together a decent start or two in Norfolk, and you might find yourself as the #4 starter for a potential playoff team. – Ryan McConnell, Always Amazin’
Since his arrival, Pat Gillick has injected an edgy undercurrent and ushered past loyalties out the door. No veteran is too established (he tried all winter to trade Bobby Abreu), no player is too well-liked (Tomas Perez and Todd Pratt got pink slips), and no plan is set in stone (Madson). He’s not afraid to cut losses (Ricardo Rodriguez waived, leaving nothing to show for Vicente Padilla), and he is not afraid to take risks (promoting Cole Hamels). In short, the Phillies finally have a GM with guts. – J. Weitzel, Beerleaguer
After a 9 game winning streak, 8 of them against weak or struggling teams, last nights game was a sober reminder that the Phillies really have but one money starter with the rest of the rotation being not capable of pitching anything for than a minimum quality start against weaker hitting teams thus far. I was last nights game and even Howards HR was a lame dink.
edit: “anything more than a minimum quality start”
So you have the Mets two pitchers vs. the Phils 2 pitchers (Lieber did win 17 games last year and pitched well in his last two outings)? The Phils lineup and the Mets lineup are fairly similar and the Phils have a better bullpen.
The Mets have turned into the Yankees, buying everyone and trading away all of your talent for glory. You have one blue-chipper in the minors who is burning a hole in your pocket, despite what management says.
I’m waiting for that Livan-for-Milledge trade.
not for nothing but Burrell’s HR was a two-run shot….
CJ,
I was not comparing Phillies starting pitching to the Mets, but noting that beyond Brett Myers, the Phillies rotation has been servicable at best. Jon Lieber has an ERA of 6.60, a WHIP of 1.47 and has been hit hard all year long. I hope he will improve on those numbers and that every now and again he goes out and throws a start that exceeds his current 7 innings with 3-4 runs ceiling. Of course, Phillies fans will be eagerly awaiting Cole Hamels MLB debut in Cincinnatti tomorrow night.
CJ,
correction, the Mets have TWO blue chippers in the minors. And you might be seeing Mike Pelfrey before the year is over.
As far as the Mets having turned into the Yankees, both came from the former’s farm system. As far as trading “talent for glory”, Pedro, Glavine, Beltran, Matsui and Wagner were free agent signings. Other than compensatory draft picks, no “talent” was exchanged.
With Cliff Floyd in his walk year, the Mets would have to be crazy to give up Milledge for anything short of a knockout deal. That said, the team is built to win right now (just look at the age of the 3 healthy starters) . I tend to doubt your “burning hole” theory will Milledge, but wouldn’t be surprised if there was some validity to earlier claims that Kaz Matsui is being showcased ; that if the Mets could swap Matsui for a 4th or 5th starter (probably eating much or all of Kaz’ salary in the process), they’d leave with Anderson Hernandez’ lack of offense once he returns.
Fair point, I forgot totally about Pelfrey. As a Phils fan anything having to do with Boras struggles to make it into my cranium. My comparison about the Yankees is driven by the Mets’ significant free agent hauls or dealings with teams from a position of financial advantage. The Wagner deal is enormous, and would leave teams with tighter bottom lines exposed. The four-year no trade is a hefty contract.
It seems as if Lieber has turned it around after a couple of bad outings. His early season struggles aside I’d hardly call the Phils a one-pitcher team. A two-pitcher team I will grant you…
CJ,
Your point is well taken. The Mets’ recent largesse is certainly an example of a competitive advantage they hold over smaller market clubs and/or those without their own TV networks. Though clearly, their ability to go ape in the free-agent / pricey acquisition market has not been any guarantee of past success. Or at least that’s what Mo Vaughn was saying to me at Score’s last week.
re : Wagner. I love the deal for what it means in 2006. Very, very hard to imagine Country Time being worth that kinda dough in ’08 or ’09 however. Reminds me a little of Boston splashing out on Keith Foulke in ’04. Doubtful the Red Sox would’ve won a world series without him that season, and equally doubtful he’ll ever as effective a closer again.
The Mets organization has done a great job trying to be like the Yankees. They want to buy a World Series. It works for the Yanks, but will never work fot the Mets. Mets fans and the NY media love the name brand players like Delgado and Wagner. The Mets will fail again this year as they usually do. Glavin will break down because he is too old and now that Zambrano is out, who will fill in for him? The Phils have a more winners on their team, never count out the Braves or the Marlins. Wags is a waste of money for the meys because he will not not have any games to save by mid-season
First of all, I have a lot of admiration for the learning impaired. So thanks for writing.
The Phillies have won a world championship once in their 116 years. With that in mind, I’ll grant that you’re an expert in abject failure, though perhaps not so skilled in expressing yourself non-verbally.