News: Mets sign Henry Blanco
"Francisco Blavia of ESPN Deportes says free-agent C Henry Blanco agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Mets." via MetsBlog
about 2 years ago
nelsonc
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What??? Why is Omar paying $1.5 million for backup catchers at this point?
This is just stupid. Especially if they’re STILL looking for catchers. Omar’s basically shelling out money for guys who are comparable to Santos at best, which is so disturbing considering what Santos is and how much he’s making.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Dec 3, 2009 6:56 PM EST reply actions
According to Cerrone,
(which I know is a bad source to quote but I believe he’s right on this one)
Minaya’s plan is to fill up gaps in the roster just in case something better doesnt come along, such as signing a bunch of weak hitting OF last year. This “plan” is much akin to Isiah Thomas signing center Jerome James to a ridiculous contract then about a month later trading first round picks to the Bulls to acquire center Eddie Curry. What did NY fans do to deserve this.
the number one issue facing the Mets is finding that one guy who’s going to say "get on my shoulders and ride me to the championship."
Analogy is off
Isiah gave James a $30 million, 5 year deal. Not even close.
"Never throw a slider to The Glider."
- Ed Charles, No. 5
I'm not saying this is Jerome James level bad
I’m just stating that filling a hole multiple times is an example of not having a plan rather than having one.
the number one issue facing the Mets is finding that one guy who’s going to say "get on my shoulders and ride me to the championship."
Don't forget, Coste also plays 1B!!!!!
; )
"Never throw a slider to The Glider."
- Ed Charles, No. 5
this seems to be another torealba decision
a Yorvit Torrealba decision.
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 4, 2009 12:38 AM EST up reply actions
I rather be reminded of this
the number one issue facing the Mets is finding that one guy who’s going to say "get on my shoulders and ride me to the championship."
by Sokojoe on Dec 3, 2009 7:27 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
Holy crap
I just read the “Blanco signed” part and thought ‘hmm, I can live with this.’ Then I read the “$1.5 million” part and, well, basically what everyone else said above.
by James Kannengieser on Dec 3, 2009 7:30 PM EST reply actions
Exactly
What’s next? Is Chris Coste getting a two year deal?
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Dec 3, 2009 7:31 PM EST up reply actions
Thats exactly what I thought
A decent defensive player with good plate discipline for a backup role is ideal…but at 1.5 million? Omar just doesn’t know how to wait out the market.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 7:38 PM EST up reply actions
seriously 1.5 mil?
i was fine with signing him to a cheap deal as either a AAA or a backup, but 1.5 mil?
by KeithsMoustache on Dec 3, 2009 10:58 PM EST up reply actions
Ugh
Omar’s going to be outbid for someone like Harden or Sheets, and moronic contracts like this one will be the reason why.
by englishgrey on Dec 3, 2009 7:37 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Or have to settle for one pitcher instead of 2
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 7:39 PM EST up reply actions
Too true.
If the Mets piss away 6 million or so on trivial signings, there goes Jon Garland or the like to shore up a rotation that threw all of 524 innings last year.
by SeanSchirmer on Dec 3, 2009 10:37 PM EST up reply actions
Zaun better get 5...
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 7:40 PM EST up reply actions
If we were that cursed
Omar would’ve given Ollie 6/66.
I personally love that number, but not in that circumstance.
Beer is good! And stuff!
It almost hurts me to say this, but there's some ACTUAL sense here, boys and girls.
Coste and Blanco are both much better against LHP than RHP, whereas Santos is almost a ML hitter versus RHP. Assuming the Mets keep Santos they now have respectable depth at the catching position. Thole, for those who don’t know, has an even minor league platoon career split. Coste may be done, but there are worse options than a Blanco/Santos platoon with Thole in AAA along with Coste for depth.
I do hope this means that with as many as four major league catchers available Bengie Molina is no longer in the picture.
Fair enough, although he is a C coming off a 96+ OPS season
which makes him an above average hitter for the position. If his defense is any good, that’’s worth $1.5 million or more.
Now, whether he was going to GET that much from anyone else, I have no idea.
But the market was absolutely loaded with catchers of his ability.
It was a buyers market, and Omar moved so quickly he didnt allow it to develop in his favor. This deal would have been fine 2 years ago, but the economy has gone quite a ways south since then. Omar has to realize that he could have gotten better value by being patient.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 7:48 PM EST up reply actions
Catchers of his ability, though, don't get signed for the major league minimum.
Here’s what the New York Times said about him:
“Blanco is one of the more respected backup catchers in baseball, renowned for his defense -– he threw out 40 percent of attempted base stealers for San Diego last season — and his presence in the clubhouse. He batted .235 last season but hit left-handers well, posting a .322 average and 1.039 O.P.S. Santos, by comparison, hit .218 against left-handers with a .616 O.P.S.
Blanco played for the Cubs from 2005-8, and several players pointed to his departure as a reason why their clubhouse chemistry, as Manager Lou Piniella said, was not one of "our better mixes." He also played a major role in nurturing Geovany Soto, who won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2008 but muddled through a disappointing 2009."
Spiegel?
He talks a lot about clubhouse chemistry and other “intangibles,” apparently because he’s not much interested in really evaluating a player’s strengths and weaknesses relative to the rest of the market. The Times likes a story line, and clubhouse chemistry is a perennial.
True. Lifetime Santos is 623 v minor league LHers.
Here’s something that troubles me:
“By the way, I don’t see a whole lot of sense in a hypothetical BMolina/Blanco platoon. They’re both a lot better against LHP, and vulnerable to RHP:
Career OPS
Blanco LHP: 739 RHP: 627
B’Mo LHP: 813 RHP: 692
If that’s the plan, I don’t know what the plan is.
by SeanSchirmer on Dec 3, 2009 10:40 PM EST up reply actions
yeah the price is wrong
but the player is a decent fit
by KeithsMoustache on Dec 3, 2009 10:59 PM EST up reply actions
it's conditional
the move only makes sense if Omar doesn’t sign another catcher. but all signs point to Omar signing Molina or trading for a non-tender candidate catcher like Navarro. if that happens, then Blanco replaces Santos, who will cost two-thirds less and provide similar production. and that makes no sense.
by englishgrey on Dec 3, 2009 8:02 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I think Blanco is a major upgrade over Santos.
Santos is a nice AAA option, and he may actually have some trade value to a team (KC) that doesn’t value plate discipline.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 8:04 PM EST up reply actions
I don't know about major, but he IS an upgrade.
In light of his minor league numbers 2009 may well be Santos’ career year, by far.
And it wasnt all that good
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 9:00 PM EST up reply actions
There's that, too.
At his best, he’s just not that good.
I need to get a fake beard and pick up a baseball bat
Maybe Omar will throw a couple hundred thousand my way.
Metsblog brings up an interesting point...
Schneider got signed for $1.35 million, so Blanco, who was apparently considered better by the Mets, got $1.5 million
I think he's considered better by everyone at this point.
But the Phillies haven’t exactly been making the wisest decisions thus far either. Allowing an awful signing to be the benchmark for yours is just stupid.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 7:50 PM EST up reply actions
With the non-tender deadline rumors that have been swirling this year, Omar shouldn't have signed a single bench piece prior to then.
He hasn’t even seen what is available to him, and catcher seems to be a spot thats only going to get more flooded.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
Damn...
I guess we might have to settle for Navarro and Everett
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 8:09 PM EST up reply actions
Well, when the injury hits
will be stocked at catcher
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
Well, we don't have to worry about the annual trip to the DL with Schneider and Castro anymore, so watch, there will be some kind of problem with having too many catchers on the roster, or something
"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 8:52 PM EST up reply actions
So far, there's $3.5 million dollars pissed away to players who have similar stats that can be found in "no-name" players...
"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 8:52 PM EST reply actions
You know the ol' saying:
“You can never have enough catchers.”
-by: anonymous moron.
"Never throw a slider to The Glider."
- Ed Charles, No. 5
I think this guy said that...
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 3, 2009 9:04 PM EST up reply actions
Who do you think can be had for substantially less than $1.5m
that’s as good or better than Blanco? He throws out 40% of baserunners, and has been about average as a hitter at C for the last two years. Those kind of guys aren’t on the waiver wire…
by SeanSchirmer on Dec 3, 2009 10:14 PM EST up reply actions
I don't think that was the case in 2009.
He faced 145 righties, 59 lefties. That’s about the ratio you’d expect if there was no attempt to platoon. Wrt 2008, however, that ratio was 66:62, so you’ve got a point for that year. The total for 2008-2009 is 211 v RHP, 111 v LHP. Iirc the actual ratio throughout the majors is 7:3, so he was within a few percentage points of what you’d expect from a random distribution of plate appearances.
by SeanSchirmer on Dec 3, 2009 11:53 PM EST up reply actions
Zaun made 1.5 million last year
I can’t see him getting a raise. A 39 year old catcher at most would make 2 million and he’s better than Blanco
"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."
Bottom line ...
this won’t effect any of the major moves we have yet to make.
"Never throw a slider to The Glider."
- Ed Charles, No. 5
I saw that quote, too. Ack.
Molina and Blanco both have trouble with RHP. Omar will look like a complete frakkin fool if he signs two catchers who shouldn’t face right-handed pitching.
by SeanSchirmer on Dec 3, 2009 11:05 PM EST up reply actions
Could be, though that seems to mean that Blanco goes to AAA.
so I’m not sure that’s workable. He was good enough last year, and he’s only had 34 rehab minor league PAs since 2000, so I’d be surprised if he’s expecting to start at Buffalo. Also, given Thole’s lack of a platoon split, that means the Mets would be handing close to $8 million to cover Catcher versus lefties.
That’s a lotta cash.
by SeanSchirmer on Dec 4, 2009 12:34 AM EST up reply actions
For me to buy someone has no platoon split, the sample vs. LHP has to be bigger than Thole’s 319AB.
by OlStubbleBeard on Dec 4, 2009 12:39 AM EST up reply actions
We'd have to go back to his HS stats, then.
But in the absence of any other predictors, we’d be foolish to ignore that evidence when constructing a roster.
I disagree. When you have that little evidence, you assume a normal platoon split.
by OlStubbleBeard on Dec 4, 2009 6:53 AM EST up reply actions
Why? The pattern has been stable
His contact rate is pretty much the same vs. LHP and he’s shown a bit more power vs RHP. If it had jumped all over the place and was being effected by one ridiculous season where he had like a .500 BABIP vs lefties that’d be one thing, but its been the same type of split every season, so it seems unlikely the final number is that far off the mean.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Dec 4, 2009 12:34 PM EST up reply actions
But
That’s not to say things couldn’t change in the majors, but as far as hitting minor leaguers go, I think there’s strong evidence that Thole’s platoon split is fairly insignificant. But we’ll have to see how he hands lefty MLB breaking balls.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Dec 4, 2009 12:36 PM EST up reply actions
Just for fun
2009 WAR with driveline mechanics’ catcher defense added
Blanco: 1.8 (232PA)
Bengie: 1.4 (520PA)
But seriously, as risky as it is, now that we’ve accumulated all these righty backups, I’d just go with Thole.
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