Wednesday Applesauce
by Joe Budd on Feb 25, 2009 10:12 AM EST
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PrintI'm going to be putting these together every morning, but as everyone knows, in order to be successful, a column/blog post needs to have a witty, clever, amazing nickname. Stay tuned as I hope for genius to strike. In the meantime, enjoy today's news.
Around Port St. Lucie
There's not too much to learn from yesterday's intrasquad game. Carlos Beltran and David Wright both homered and John Maine and Freddy Garcia contributed scoreless outings. The injury situation, however, was less rosy. Several reports have said that Garcia is not 100% and he threw no fastballs in yesterday's appearance. Knowing Garcia's injury history, I hope that Jon Niese is prepared to make a return to the bigs.
This approach seems to make the most sense to me in regards to playing Tatis. The guy won't embarrass himself in the field, but his right handed bat is the reason he's on the team. His ability to play multiple positions should allow Manuel to rest a variety of the Mets' left-handed hitters.
The Mets travel to Fort Lauderdale for their first spring training game this afternoon. If you're like me, you're hating the lack of television coverage, but are relieved to know that tomorrow's game will be on MLB.TV. There is radio coverage, but a muted television broadcast is much more effective at work than a muted radio one.
I've been seeing a few stories about Johan mentoring Oliver Perez that seem to have the goal of raising the expectations that Perez will suddenly flip the switch and become worth the $12 million/year contract. Count me as a skeptic. Was Santana not on the team last year? Why did this mentoring not have an effect then?
The lost slugger of the steroid era? I'm not sure we can ever conclusively say that any player is clean, but Delgado seems to be a good bet. It's pretty stunning that he has only made two all-star teams. He also has had the unfortunate luck of playing his prime in hockeyland and his less thrilling farewell tour in the media spotlight. I wonder if that's going to affect his Hall of Fame chances.
Faith and Fear in Flushing is hoping that the former Nationals' fourth outfielder will break the Mets' right field curse.
NL East News
The Nationals may be planning their replacement for Bowden.
Hanley Ramirez is USA Today's top fantasy player with Jose Reyes 4th and David Wright 7th.
The Marlins are having some difficulty finding a spot for former Angels' top prospect Dallas McPherson.
We are going to have to wait quite a while before the first Phillie pick in this year's first year player draft.
This post is a few days old, but it got me pretty excited at the prospect of seeing Hanley and Reyes on the same team.
Jayson Stark focuses on the Braves' offseason emphasis on pitching.
Former Met Jorge Sosa is having visa problems for the Nationals.
Around Baseball
How do you think Juan Cruz took the news that he was going to be classified as a type A free agent? Is there any doubt that this is why he's doing the dead man's float around the free agent pool? It would seem to me that this compensation system has be revisited in the near future.
Jose Canseco should apparently start hiring bodyguards.
Look for the Giants to make a big improvement on last year's 72-90 record. A starting rotation that includes Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Randy Johnson, and Barry Zito can keep them competitive in the NL West.
Philadelphia News
Philadelphia newspapers are no different than any others.
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when do the mets make their first pick in this year's draft?
they lost their first-rounder to Anaheim and didn’t get any compensation for ollie, so i’m assuming it’s somewhere in the second round.
also, zito is not good evidence of a formidable giants rotation.
Salary aside, Zito as a fourth or fifth starter is evidence of a pretty deep rotation, especially in the weak NL West.
maybe
if zito can return to somewhat decent form, then he’d be a good fourth or fifth starter. but if he pitches like he did last year, he’s not much better than tim redding.
by englishgrey on Feb 25, 2009 11:50 AM EST up reply actions
true
but since they’re stuck paying Zito that asinine contract regardless of how he pitches (nobody is taking him off their hands unless they pay most of his contract, so what’d be the point of that?), they may as well put him out there every fifth day and see what he can do.
But, let me try and answer your question. This was the best I could come up with:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Major_League_Baseball_Draft
with a second round pick coming at #72
Hanley Ramirez # 1 in fantasy baseball.
Question: If Han-Ram is the most desired pick in Fan-Ball, is it logical to conclude that he’s the front runner for NL MVP? Obviously, he’s being picked #1 overall due to his production (or projected production). Noting that the vast majority of leagues aren’t going to use a defensive skill as a category, his defensive impact (liability) on a fan-ball team is nil. So based on offensive stats alone, does his pick by fan-ball players make him a front runner?
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 11:02 AM EST reply actions
No
At the very least, because the voters are extremely reluctant to give the MVP to a player on a bad team.
JNY. You bring up a great point in your answer.
If voters are swayed not to vote for a great player on a bad team, does that reduce the relevance of the reward?
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 11:51 AM EST up reply actions
Edit
“Award” ugh…
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 12:03 PM EST up reply actions
I actually was going to impose a preemptive ban on myself yesterday for a faulty gif.
Duly noted. In my effort to be speedy, I’m making way too many mistakes.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 12:46 PM EST up reply actions
I think it depends on how you define valuable.
Do you define valuable as intrinsically valuable or do you mean valuable to one’s team.
If it’s the former, you could argue that Hanley should win based on VORP, WAR, WPA, RC/27, etc.
However, if it’s the latter, the argument would be that a bad team would be bad, whether or not the star player was there, thus he could not possibly be valuable.
This could definitely turn into a philosphical argument
and I think it’s been revisited on numerous occasions, so I won’t belabor the point. I will say that I do understand the rationale behind voters not voting for a player on a bad team, even if the player had the best numbers in his respective league.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
Well, it is a philosophical argument.
However, I believe there are rule for voting, which would render the philosophical debate somewhat moot (you would think.)
mmmmm
you would think.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 1:42 PM EST up reply actions
That’s a good question. Anyone know where we can find previous years’ preseason fantasy rankings? I’d love to know where those guys ended up in MVP balloting.
I would imagine that would take some digging but I bet it could be done
I would use; Yahoo, ESPN and MLB drafts over the past 4 or 5 years, compile a top 5 of from each site and then bounce those versus the players who won the actual award from each respective league (NL / AL). That would provide some way of determining whether or not fantasy players drafts have proven to be ‘forward seeing’ on MLB MVP results.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 11:55 AM EST up reply actions
Agreed
I liked it last year, and I can continue to like it this year.
'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Feb 25, 2009 11:06 AM EST up reply actions
How about Daily Hashbrowns?
The author (and bloggers) get to “hash” out the daily topic(s) of interest. It’s also just happens to be a tasty side dish for the morning and / or brunch meal.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 12:02 PM EST up reply actions
Edit
“It also”
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 12:02 PM EST up reply actions
Lou
“Daily Hashbrowns” has nothing to do with NY or Queens or the Mets, this is a stupid suggestion.
At what point did the author say the name for the column had to do with NY, Queens or the Mets?
I understand how it helps, but I didn’t see that written anywhere in the rule book. And don’t forget, I guarantee you that in the greater NY metropolitan area, hashbrowns are consumed on a regular basis with the morning meal.
Well if it (Applesauce) ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Damn Soko.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
Sorry Lou
I was being tounge-in-cheek, riffing off your earlier problems of needing to edit your posts. I was hoping the Lima pic would make it clear I was just playing. I apologize it didn’t come off right.
chuckling - no worries
Oh, I got your message brother! I would have followed up my “Damn Soko” with a smiley faced emoticon but I know how those are frowned upon here at AA.
I’m really going to have to check the batteries on my sarcasm decoder.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 1:47 PM EST up reply actions
I kind of like the name "Link Omelette"
You know… because when you make an omelette you mix a bunch of ingredients together and… yeah.
Bueller?
Perhaps a weekly smorgasbord would be doable.
Monday Applesauce
Tuesday Hashbrowns
Wednesday Omelette
etc.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 2:04 PM EST up reply actions
Friday Fritters
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
It is in the south.
Just ask Gina.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 8:39 PM EST up reply actions
Sounds...tasty?
Can you tell I’m not from the South? Salmon and sardine fritters – for breakfast?
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 26, 2009 12:48 AM EST up reply actions
Take my word for it Bobby
What Gina is suggesting is much better than grits and hog maws
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 26, 2009 8:22 AM EST up reply actions
I don't like grits
and that looks much worse than grits.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 26, 2009 6:14 PM EST up reply actions
Disagree.
That looks delicious. Maybe not the sauce…
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
Squid
You are a disturbed, a disturbed man I say.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 26, 2009 8:49 PM EST up reply actions
To be honest,
it might seem edible if I didn’t know it was called hog maws. It’s not an appealing name.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 26, 2009 9:22 PM EST up reply actions
It's a pork product
I’d have to at least try it.
'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Feb 26, 2009 9:36 PM EST up reply actions
Wow...
CPP? You are a man among boys. I’m from the south and have a little ‘soul’ in me, but ain’t no way I’m lettin that stuff get to my lips.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 27, 2009 8:02 AM EST up reply actions
I agree with CPP
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I gave chicken feet a whirl this past weekend and they were better than I expected.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I thought those were salmon fritters. I’d eat those, not hog maws!
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
This is so making my Friday morning!
So many laughs. Today is going to be a good day.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 27, 2009 8:05 AM EST up reply actions
Bobby
You should have seen the OTHER picture that was available. Had I posted that one, I surely would have been banned.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 26, 2009 8:48 PM EST up reply actions
I think this might be worse than the hog maws
Contains 1170% of your daily RDA of cholesterol per serving!
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 26, 2009 10:23 PM EST up reply actions
Oh sweet Jebus!
This picture really didn’t have that much of an effect on me until I took a closer look. When I saw the words in milk gravy I absolutely lost it! (Why on earth are disgusting food products so damned funny?)
LOLing! Where on earth did you find this gif bro? My appetite has been completely ruined. Ya know, I’m willing to be that Gina’s grandmother has 6 or 7 cases of this in her basement.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 27, 2009 8:09 AM EST up reply actions
As per the Colbert Report...
I believe we have a winner.
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
Squid, I can't see the entire picture
Is this bacon flavored spread? If so, I’m getting online immediately and ordering me a gross. I’ll also recommend this to some of my friends who hob-nob with some of the political glitterati here in D.C.
Brilliant find my friend!
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 27, 2009 11:38 AM EST up reply actions
And, for the truly sick and twisted, I present...
…bacon gumballs.
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
Actually, it's from the Daily Show.
And I dare anyone to post a video of themselves eating it, preferably topping a Jimmy Dean microwave sausage in a pancake, like Jon Stewart did.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 27, 2009 6:14 PM EST up reply actions
I got the full picture from a post
at Consumerist. The rest shows the ‘nutritional’ information, but we’re so far over to the right, it got cut off. As bad as the fried stuff from Gina’s grandmother’s kitchen might be for me, I think this stuff is giving me a heart attack just looking at it.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 27, 2009 6:17 PM EST up reply actions
Bobby
Do tell. How is it that you discovered this web site?
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 27, 2009 10:49 PM EST up reply actions
What, Consumerist?
Or Amazin’ Ave? Don’t really recall either one. I’ve got so many sites bookmarked, I can’t really remember how I found most of them. Probably found my way here via a link on either THT or MetsGeek.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 28, 2009 1:20 AM EST up reply actions
Consumerist
I was just curious how you came about Consumerist. The majority of good web sites I come across are usually due to just dumb luck.
There’s a part of me that wishes my friend would have never introduced me to this site. It’s too damned addicting and it has caused a marked increase in my blood pressure. On the other hand, I get more laughs here than almost anywhere else. It also helps my embiggening skills.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 28, 2009 7:15 AM EST up reply actions
Bobby
BTW, if you’re looking for a quality film this year, I’ve got one for you. I’m assuming a man of your discriminating taste can appreciate a good foreign film from time to time. Check out the write up on the latest film, Gomorrah, which seems to be quite amazing.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 28, 2009 8:24 AM EST up reply actions
I've heard it's really excellent
Seen it compared to The Wire in a couple of reviews, for its scope. Which is a good thing, because I miss the hell out of that show already.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 28, 2009 10:57 AM EST up reply actions
Corporate whore
King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president
belly laugh
WTF?
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 7:02 PM EST up reply actions
What about Queens Court?
The Queens part is obvious and at the same time it denotes that the HNIC of the blog is holding court on the previous day’s events.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 2:13 PM EST up reply actions
Perez really did pitching better after May last year
So maybe Santana did have an effect. Stranger things have happened.
In case you were wondering.
From June 7 on:
9.7 K/9
3.56 ERA
King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president
It is certainly possible. From a fan’s viewpoint, it seemed like Dan Warthen had a much more immediate impact. Santana was there for all of Perez’s season, even the bad parts.
I believe Warthen had a big impact on Perez,
Pérez was also implementing the advice of Warthen and the bullpen coach Guy Conti. In spring training, when Warthen was the Class AAA New Orleans pitching coach, he watched Pérez and made mental notes of adjustments he would recommend. Warthen suggested he move to the middle of the rubber from the far right side, a change that would improve his ability to pitch inside to right-handed hitters and away to left-handers.
He also mentioned the Cardinals great Bob Gibson, whose arm angle was similar to Pérez’s, and advocated adding a slight rock to Pérez’s motion that would give him momentum as he strode toward the plate. Before, he fell off to the side.
I think Warthen is doing a great job.
This isn’t meant to be a knock on Peterson, but I personally subscribe to Warthen’s philosophy. I do not believe that there is a universal way to pitch, whether it be mechanics or tactically. Each pitcher is different and should be treated as such. You’ll mess up a good thing if you try to take a guy with “bad” mechanics and try to enforce “good” habits. (I’m thinking guys like El Duque, Lincecum, Willis, etc. Obviously minor tweaks are welcomed if the mechanics put a guy at risk for a major injury. For example, how Prior’s elbow used to go above his shoulder.)
Anyway, I really like how he treats each pitcher as an individual case and tries to improve upon that pitcher’s style, instead of trying to mold the pitcher in his image.
Delgado: 469 HR, 1489 RBI, and two All-Star appearances
Compare that to Jason Giambi, who has a similar average, 396 HR, 1279 RBI, and five appearances.
Which reminds me: Delgado will have a shot at 500 this year!
"One of the nice things about baseball is that there are no rules you can't break." - Jim Bouton
Prince, I don't understand the point of your comparison
Delgado has two more years in the league than Giambi. So what is significant about the comparison?
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 11:59 AM EST up reply actions
Two more years?
They both had their first full season in 1996…Surely you’re not counting Delgado’s single 1993 at-bat as a “year”.
I think Eric just bailed me out a little (below)
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 12:47 PM EST up reply actions
Apples to apples
Delgado has 8,545 career plate appearances.
Giambi has 7,776 career plate appearances.
That’s a little more than one extra season for Delgado.
Frank Thomas is another guy who's probably clean
Or I would assume he was from what I understand he tried hard to get harsher regulations pushed in the early 90s.
Sorry Gina
I’m painting everyone with a broad, dirty paint brush. I don’t know how it’s even possible to know if anyone was clean.
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 1:45 PM EST up reply actions
It's not possible to know for sure, certainly
But I don’t think that means we should just assume everyone was using.
True, but I'll definitely take the 'over'
" Rebecca Gomez-Diamond. Will you marry me? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Feb 25, 2009 5:07 PM EST up reply actions
I really wish the Mets would sign Cruz.
They could probably sign him to a reasonable contract, and while it would stink to lose a second rounder, he would really make our bullpen devastating.
I'm not so sure about Cruz
He’s posted a couple pretty bad seasons in his career. He always walks too many guys, and he doesn’t particularly keep it in the park. He was good in 07-08 thanks to very high K rates but he could easily turn into a Guillermo Mota-shaped pumpkin. I’d rather keep the draft pick and try to build depth.
Speaking of compensation
does anyone see them getting rid of compensation picks? That strikes me as a pretty bad idea, and one that smaller-market GMs would be opposed to.
by BobbyV_Incognito on Feb 25, 2009 8:26 PM EST up reply actions
I don't know if they'll get rid of them
But I think the problem is the Elias rating systems is terrible. And they need to figure out some sort of fix for situations when a team goes on a crazy spending spree. like what happened to the Brewers and Blue Jays this year. The Blue Jays lose AJ Burnett, to a division rival no less, and they get a 3rd round pick as compensation?
why not do the compensation based on salaries handed out
let the market determine who gets what picks. I’m not sure how many Type A’s there are currently, but say the top 10% of FA’s are currently Type A’s – well, instead of some stupid ranking system, just say that as of opening day, the top 10% of salaries handed out over the offseason would be the ones who get “type A” compensation. I hope that makes sense (it sounds good in my head)
The player's union
wouldn’t like that as it could deflate salaries and as well foster collusion between the owners.
Plus that wouldn't prevent things like what happened with the Brewers this year.
Also if it was just the top 10% a team could still end up giving up a pick for like an 8 million dollar contract.
wait, what happened with the Brewers?
and teams could give up picks for contracts way less than 8 million now. With my method, you’d be letting the market settle which players were the most desired, based on their new contracts, and allotting compensation that way, rather than a bad statistical grouping. I think it would be the fairest way, and would serve the purpose of penalizing teams who just throw money at FAs so small-market teams can’t sign them, which is sorta the point of the whole compensation idea anyway. Though I think Sokojoe is right, the Union probably wouldn’t go for it.
The Brewers and Bluejays
Got second and third round picks for type A players, and top flight free agents, because of the Yankees spending spree and the ranking system. And for example if the same team had signed Juan Cruz and Derek Lowe, or it might have been Ben Sheets I can’t remember, the d-backs would have gotten that teams first rounder instead of the Dodgers/Brewers, because according to Elias Cruz is more valuable.
I'm not saying do away with any compensation system though
I’m just saying that it should be based on what salaries are handed out, after the offseason, rather than based on rankings done before the offseason. The Brewers and Blue Jays would still get the same picks, b/c Sabathia and Burnett got two of the biggest contracts this offseason. This could also prevent teams from being scared off by guys like Cruz, who won’t command top-dollar, just b/c he’s now designated a “type-A.”
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