Is it Willie's fault? Is the team just sucking lately? Why can't the team with the second biggest payroll in the big leagues maintain a record over .500?
Song of Solomon 5:4
Is it Willie's fault? Is the team just sucking lately? Why can't the team with the second biggest payroll in the big leagues maintain a record over .500?
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Rob Neyer wrote a blog on ESPN Insider today about the Mets. Over the last 182 games or so, they've got a record 2 games less than .500, and based on thier runs scored/runs allowed, they are a .500 team.
The payroll is really irrelevent. Most of it is tied up in aging, under-producing veterans.
Delgado is over the hill - that's evident and when one of your "power position" players is batting seventh your team is in trouble
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They have always sucked, jkIs the team just sucking lately
1. inconsistent starting pitching other than Santana and Maine
2. inconsistent leadoff hitter, more strikeouts than walks and a poor OBP
3. The only dangerous hitter is Wright. Delgado is too old, Beltran can't handle the pressure of the New York spotlight.
4. The second best hitter right now is Ryan Chruch, Ryan(hahahah) Chruch
o
He's got a .351 OBP, which is solid, and only 9 more strikeouts than walks (last year, just 1). Jose Reyes is not at all part of the problem.Originally Posted by Reade
3. The only dangerous hitter is Wright. Delgado is too old, Beltran can't handle the pressure of the New York spotlight.Are you joking? Beltran's power's missing so far this season, but what on earth makes you think he "can't handle the pressure of the New York spotlight"? This is a guy that over the last two seasons, 2006-2007, hit .275/.370/.558 with 74 home runs.
Actually, Reyes has been their best hitter, at least in terms of value. On a strictly offensive performance basis, Wright's number 1 with Church 2nd.4. The second best hitter right now is Ryan Chruch, Ryan(hahahah) Chruch
The outcome is different when you compare players to those at their position, and assess the value they've given. Using VORP, the Mets leaders are:
Reyes 25.6
Wright 19
Beltran 13.9
Church 13.6
Church comes out lower than Beltran because he's played less.
The Mets are simply a middle-of-the-road team. They're 9th in the league in runs scored, and 9th in the league in runs allowed.
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Sorry I expect more than a .270 batting avg and 100 strikouts per year for 13.5 million dollarsAre you joking? Beltran's
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The Mets are not performing to people's expectations this year. They need to play better baseball. Willie Randolph lets them play. The Mets need to perform better and start to win.
"Baseball Mogul is a good game. To win, you have to score more runs than your opponent. If they score more runs, they win."
o
The batting average is fine when it comes with plus-center field defense, power, and a good on-base percentage.
And the strikeouts are really not relevent at all. The overwhelming majority of the time, they're no worse than any other out. He gets on base and hits for power and plays good defense....but becuase he doesn't hit .300 he can't handle New York? He's had two seasons with .300 averages. He just isn't a high-average hitter. It has notihng to do with New York. The best season of his career came in New York. I don't see what makes you think he "can't handle the pressure." Generally, when people can't handle pressure, they don't do better than they've ever done before.
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The Mets just flat out, aren't a very good team.
It definitely isn't Willie's fault; he is a heck of a manager, but needs a real franchise to prove it. Willie should just come back to the NYY to be our bench coach
Master of Ale!
The Mets were grossly overrated going in to the year. Counting YET AGAIN on Moises Alou to play full time, counting on any kind of consistent health from Pedro, counting on both Maine AND Perez repeating career years. And, it's not like they could have realistically expected the production they've gotten from Church, either, that was just good luck, luck that may have ended with his concussion. They didn't look like a team, more like a bunch of parts sort of glued together with hope.
o
Nitpick here. They were counting on Maine to continue his development, and he pretty much has. Also, Oliver Perez's career year came in 2004
The Rob Neyer reference is spot on.
A few weeks ago during on of the nationally televised games it was mentioned that Since June 1 2007 the Mets were exactly 500 (at the time)
Is it Willie ?
only a little,
i dont think he quite gets national league play,
and i think he needs to argue the next poor call like a maniac and light a dang fire.
It seems every time the team has gotten any kind of win streak going ,
they kind of settle back and say OH OK there it is again, and then wonder why "it" vanishes and they lose 13 in a row or get swept by the pads.
relying on highly paid aging vets who are also clearly injury prone is a large part of it.
It does look a bit like a win NOW that is failing miserably.
one can only hope that the majority of players who have been drastically underperforming when compared to their career averages (ie aberration) , will eventually have a reciprical hot tear (correction)
then again, being a 500 team for a year speaks to a consistently average team.
but hey maybe we'll win 20 in a row in september.
we'll prolly have to ...
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Psh, the Muts are lucky to be around .500 - I mean, with an offense carried by Ryan Church, a guy that they probably expected to hit around .270/15-20 HR/80 RBI.
o
David Wright and Jose Reyes
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How?
Batting Average: Church @ .300, Wright @ .279, Reyes @ .288
Home Runs: Church @ 10, Wright @ 12, Reyes @ 8
RBI: Church @ 35, Wright @ 47, Reyes @ 29
Slugging Percentage: Church @ .522, Wright @ .502, Reyes @ .485
Games: Church @ 50, Wright @ 63, Reyes @ 61
I don't think we can say that Jose Reyes carries the offense. Now, you can definitely say that he is the catalyst; that he gets the offense going. He just doesn't put the team on his back and carry the team.
But factor in that Wright has played 19 more games than Church. I think in 19 games, Church would continue his lead in BA over Wright, and he would tie or pass Wright in homers, and tie or pass Wright in RBI's - At least at the current pace he was going.
I mean, for MOST of the season Church has carried the Mets. While Church is hurt, Wright is now the best offensive player on the team.
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