Pitching

Bay was a nice addition, although probably for one or two years too many. I agree with Rey that there was no way we were shelling out that much money for Lackey and Bay, and I think we filled the greater immediate need with the left fielder. The rotation does have a number of question marks, but we’re not sure how many genuine holes it has because of inconsistency of Perez and Maine. Our infield defense should be better with Reyes back, and hopefully Wright bounces back from a sub par year in the field (and with the bat). If they do it will greatly benefit the pitching staff. While I’m not a fan of Molina (i’d rather they just sign Torrealba if we can get past the previous difficulties between the two parties), we need somebody who’s a starting caliber catcher and Thole could use another year of AAA ball to really get ready, don’t want to rush him like we have with other players in the past. I wouldn’t mind Pinero or Sheets, although both are currently asking for more than they’re worth. More than anything I’d have liked to see them go after a 2b this offseason and really actively try to move Castillo, as I think 2b defense has been a major issue which has negatively impacted our pitching staff, this however is wishful thinking at best.

Manuel and Minaya have been awful, with Minaya constantly misreading the market on players and overpaying or waiting too long to get into the game for big name players. Manuel doesn’t seem to even understand basic baseball concepts at times. The FO has been infuriating for the past few years, as have the third base and hitting coaches.

Asides for John Lackey, there really weren’t any “difference making” pitchers on the FA market this off-season. Lackey was going to get paid more than he was actually worth, so that accounts for some hesitation there on everyone’s part, but ultimately he signed with Boston. So, without that one ‘major’ pitcher on the market, a lot more thinking and analysis needs to be done on what other FA pitchers are available, how good they’d fit, what pitchers might possible be available via trade, how good they’d fit, what we might need to give up, and if those costs are worth what we get back in return…I’d much rather have Minaya being hesitant and playing it safe than him being reactionary and signing anyone to bad deals that are either giving them too much money, or too much time.

As for my personal feelings, I don’t like Jerry Manuel as a coach. Though we lost plenty of games last season because of a lack of a decent team due to injuries, there are quite a few instances I can remember losing because of Jerry going to the bullpen too early, or too late, or bringing in questionable replacements (pitchers, pinch hitters, or out/infielders). Omar Minaya, I’ve soured on. Earlier in his tenure, it did seem like everything he touched turned to gold, and I bought into that. Around 2007, though, it seems like he began “buying into his own hype”, and that’s when things seemingly started heading downhill. He’s also been very reactionary- addressing the biggest problems of the previous season, without necessarily looking ahead at problems that could be- in his signings, and an unskilled GM. What I mean by that is that it doesn’t take much ability to take the money your bosses give you, and sign the biggest free agents by flashing them more money than everyone else. He’s made a few very questionable trades that, in theory, lost us the division in 2007 and 2008 (Brian Bannister, for example, could have given us 1 more win in 2007 and 2008 that, say, Brian Lawrence, or Brandon Knight didn’t give us). So, that’s not cool.

As for why they’re still in charge? I guess they both needed to be given the benefit of the doubt, for 2009. It was a horrible season, but it was marked with record-setting injuries and all that. Like I said earlier, Jerry lost a bunch of games, I think, because of his managerial decisions, but you need to give him the benefit of the doubt- would he have won more games with a less injured team? Omar, same thing- would he have done things a bit different at last year’s off-season, and up to the trade deadline, if the team was in better contention? Should the team start off, or end, poorly in 2010, I have the feeling that both will be axed. If they aren’t fired early, neither will be given further extensions, or new contracts, at the least, anyway…

I also think we need a starter or 2, but I do not think we had to go for lackey. I would rather see a smaller contract on a solid #3 starter. I think we may have gotten some help in the pen with Escobar andI am curious to see this Evert kid in the spring, he seemed to put some decent minor league numbers up, but we all know that doesn’t always translate to majors.

As far as Catching, I am as confused as you are, why we signed both Coste and Blanco I have no idea 1 of the 2 would have been fine. I do think we can benefit from getting Molina as a proven starter that can swing the bat

He’s coming off of a long injury, and only pitched 5 innings last season, but traditionally, he is a starter. We’ve all penciled him in the bullpen, but what are the odds that, at some point (either immediately after Spring Training, or at some point later in the season) he gets transferred back into the rotation. Assuming that he’s effective once more, as a pitcher- be if in the bullpen or elsewhere- he’s had a decent career starting, putting up alright numbers and all. God knows, our rotation is thin…

Just a thought for mulling.

(kidding :p )

I think Minaya definitely needs to (and will) sign a starter… probably Pineiro

I don’t think we should get Molina (about 2 Mets fans actually want Molina)

Minaya does a lot of stupid stuff (Putz trade, Perez contract last year are two prime examples) but he seems willing to do what he needs to do to improve the team (Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, K-Rod, Santana, Bay). Manuel gets ridiculous. He really is a poor manager. His strategies make zero sense (bunt, bunt, bunt, bunt, bunt, never bring in K-Rod in a non-save situation, etc) and he really never acts serious, even when the team was mired in futility last year he was cracking jokes at postgame press conferences and stuff.

welcome to my world