Blanco Applesauce - Blanco traveling for physical, Mets still paying Bonilla, Phillies want Polanco

by Joe Budd on Dec 3, 2009 9:00 AM EST in Applesauce Comment 43 comments

I was really hoping that this offseason would be a great chance to recharge and get rid of the memories of 2009. That is looking less likely.

Meet the Mets

Looks like the Henry Blanco thing is going to happen. As Craig Calcaterra points out, the Mets are just about to corner the market on mediocre catchers. Hey, Jason Fry wanted a plan, he didn't really say that he wanted a GOOD one.

It's that quiet time in the offseason where it's necessary to be reminded that the Mets are still paying Bobby Bonilla. At least we have things like this to remember him for.

Theo Epstein is smarter than Omar.

Ted Berg asks where's the love for Johnny Franco? I couldn't agree more: the quintessential Met.

I hope that Omar takes advantage of the hot market for Angel Pagan.

Around the NL East

The Marlins are hoping to have their new stadium featured on the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs. That show is just amazing.

Philadelphia is hoping to have an encore Placido Polanco appearance. This time at third base.

Around MLB

Former catcher Brent Mayne could really do a better job voting for the Hall of Fame than the actual voters.

Ernie Harwell made a surprise appearance at a benefit honoring Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson. Harwell was diagnosed with terminal cancer several months ago.

New MLB players' union chief Michael Weiner and Bud Selig agree that there needs to be a 7 game division series. Good luck getting the team owners to agree to shorten the regular season though.

0 recs | Comment 43 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I would really like to keep Angel Pagan. I guess the smart things would be to bring in Endy to replace Pagan’s. Given a good power source at first base, I would be inclined to have him start in lF.

by Coolpapabell on Dec 3, 2009 9:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

If we can somehow get something good for Pagan, we have to do it. This guys baseball IQ is a negative number. I can’t watch him cost us games with his base running blunders anymore.

by BigBoyJacobs on Dec 3, 2009 9:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, why keep a cheap, versatile OF who hits well and plays great defense?

by Syler on Dec 3, 2009 10:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Don’t get me wrong, I like Pagan and I think he has a lot of talent. But his baseball smarts leave a lot of be desired. The guy is brain dead out there sometimes.

by BigBoyJacobs on Dec 3, 2009 11:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's just due to his fascinating dual nature

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 12:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

damn my photo of the angel broke. it was sick.

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 12:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I see it

and it’s awesome

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Dec 3, 2009 1:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i fail to see

what John Kruk has to do with this thread.

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Dec 3, 2009 2:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh my God.

This whole time, I have failed to see the ludicrousness of his name. But you have made me see the light. Wow.

by Joamiq on Dec 3, 2009 6:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Dec 3, 2009 10:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that is

+1 to if we can get something good for him we have to do it.

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Dec 3, 2009 10:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

but you'll watch Francouer blow games with his talent deprivation, most likely

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 3, 2009 10:57 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He's awesome

and white so that’s a plus. How come nobody mentions his blunder in right against the Nationals, but everyone talks about Pagan’s blunders?

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Dec 3, 2009 4:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you said it yourself

he’s white

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 3, 2009 4:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Damn

I meant to say after my last sentence, “I think I answered my question in the first sentence.”

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Dec 3, 2009 4:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

whenever someone likes a certain white guy better than a certain non-white guy, it’s obvious racism

you guys are so stupid here sometimes, and no amount of sabermetrics can overcome that

A "Zeile" for avoiding outs

by metsguy234 on Dec 3, 2009 5:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

in one sense, you're right to take umbrage

race prejudice goes case by case. matt holliday will never catch another pop up. alex cora is worth $2 million in leadership alone. wright is a sissy. jeter is all class. hamels is too pretty to care. uncle cliff is the ultimate club house guy (ok, this one is true.)

no one is suggesting that there’s a consistent conspiracy against non-white players or a full-on embrace of the white guys. but pay attention and you’ll hear some very ugly stuff, i guarantee, bubbling out of the nonsense of people’s dislike of people not like themselves. exhibit a. (Hmm, he scrubbed this of its most questionable content, but you still get the idea.) exhibit b. Exhibits C – Z are guys at my local bar, or my wife’s uncle, or this one guy at work, or…

It’s all nonsense, and like all nonsense there’s no pattern. But if you tell me there aren’t a lot of people out there who think just like andy rooney on this one, you’ve not stepped out into the world.

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 5:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you've obviously never been out and about

or listened to WFAN.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 3, 2009 10:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pagan was a positive baserunner last year!!!

A few blunders don’t negate his plus speed. His EQBRR was .2 which is just about average.

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Dec 3, 2009 4:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wagner

It really was a no brainer to hang on to him last year, offer arbitration (which he definitely wouldn’t have taken bc he’s a closer and teams always need closers!), and collect the draft picks. Unless Chris Carter all of a sudden figures it out, Omar once again proves he is incapable of being a GM. All he has proven he can do is sign free agents to big contracts.

by BigBoyJacobs on Dec 3, 2009 9:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

and he can't even do the last part particularly well

by Gina on Dec 3, 2009 10:08 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

FYI

Redsox are looking to bring in Orlando Hudson. If this is true, he might demand something north of whatever Castillo makes, which is not appetizing.

by Coolpapabell on Dec 3, 2009 10:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

they can have him

by KeithsMoustache on Dec 3, 2009 11:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff from Mayne

But he kind of ruined it in the comments section by saying that Dawson was the only of the non-first year guys he’d vote for.

by dcmetsfan on Dec 3, 2009 10:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Stuff

Damn Bobby Bo

Theo Epstein is smarter than Omar. No duh.

I don’t understand the hate that Franco has. You gotta love Franco. Any player bearing an uncanny resemblance to Mario, with mob connections is alright in my book.

I don’t like the concept of a 7-game NLDS. The NBA and NHL playoffs seem to go forever because they have so many best-of-seven series. The best-of-5 NLDS is nice, short, but not too short.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 3, 2009 12:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i don't like it

any team can lose 2 measly ballgames in a row and then you’re pretty well out of it. the logic here is probably not great but 7 games seems more fair by a substantial amount.

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 12:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

personally

I’d prefer they just get rid of the division round altogether and go back to two divisions and a two round playoffs. But that’s never happening, so in that case I’m all for lengthening the division series – the longer a series, the higher the odds that the better team will win, and I think baseball should be all about rewarding the best team. I actually kind of hate the idea of playoffs, period – 162 games isn’t enough to determine who should be playing for the championship? World Series = awesome. The rest of it is designed to mess things up.

by cjmulrain on Dec 3, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Lol agreed on the last part

It makes sense in football because the season is shorter and a lot of times there’s not a massive difference between the top teams, but the nba and mlb seasons are long enough that they shouldn’t have more than 1 or 2 rounds of play-offs. at least we can be thankful that half the league doesn’t get in for mlb .

by Gina on Dec 3, 2009 1:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You hate the idea of playoffs?

That is so strange to me. I guess you’re all for fairness but I’m all for watching really damned good baseball games over a one-month stretch.

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 3:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure where you got I hate the idea of play-offs from

I just don’t think they need 3 rounds of 7 round games after 162 game season. 2 rounds is more than enough for me.

by Gina on Dec 3, 2009 5:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like the way it's set up now

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Dec 3, 2009 5:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry, i mean to respond to cjmulrain

who said, “I actually kind of hate the idea of playoffs, period”

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 5:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like a championship

between teams of different leagues. I just think each additional round of playoffs cheapens the regular season a little bit

by cjmulrain on Dec 3, 2009 10:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The ridiculous number of off days aside,

I think the playoffs are too short, in terms of the playoff games/regular season games ratio. You play 162 games to decide who the best teams are, and then induce random results with a 5 game series… doesn’t make sense to me.

by Joamiq on Dec 3, 2009 6:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

assault and battery

So the mets have cornered the market on mediocre catchers to go with their comparative advantage in mediocre #5 starters!! That has plan written all over it.

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Dec 3, 2009 2:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

maybe each pitcher gets their own catcher?

by KeithsMoustache on Dec 3, 2009 2:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yes, then each catcher can

carry their own assigned pitcher off the field for season ending surgery.

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Dec 3, 2009 3:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

we've also cornered the market on mediocre surgeons

whom we recruit from Hollywood Upstairs Medical College.

by letsgocyclones on Dec 3, 2009 3:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think I'm the only one who likes Minaya's approach with catching this offseason.

Coste is cheap because he’s coming off a down year, and may in fact be done, but if he’s not he’s a good hitting catcher gotten for next to nothing, AND his platoon splits complement Santos’ splits. Blanco’s splits also complement Santos’, so spending $2 million on Blanco and Coste, building a smart platoon, and getting depth so that Thole isn’t shoved into the majors before he’s ready, makes perfectly good sense.

Color me astonished.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 3, 2009 7:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs