Hisanori Takahashi Reportedly Headed To Mets
by Eric Simon on Feb 11, 2010 12:11 PM EST
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PrintThus tweeteth David Lennon.
Source confirmed that Hisanori Takahashi is indeed headed to #Mets, as first reported by NY Times' Dave Waldstein.
The left-handed Takahashi will be 35 in April and has been a full-time starter with the Yomiuri Giants since 2000, excepting the 2006 season when he came out of the bullpen. Here are his NPB stats, courtesy JapaneseBallplayers.com.
| Year | Team | W | L | SV | ERA | G | IP | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Yomiuri Giants | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3.18 | 24 | 135.2 | 102 |
| 2001 | Yomiuri Giants | 9 | 9 | 0 | 3.94 | 30 | 134.2 | 99 |
| 2002 | Yomiuri Giants | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3.09 | 24 | 163.1 | 145 |
| 2003 | Yomiuri Giants | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3.84 | 13 | 86.2 | 78 |
| 2004 | Yomiuri Giants | 5 | 10 | 0 | 5.44 | 16 | 91.0 | 61 |
| 2005 | Yomiuri Giants | 8 | 12 | 0 | 4.47 | 27 | 163.0 | 135 |
| 2006 | Yomiuri Giants | 2 | 6 | 15 | 4.94 | 35 | 62.0 | 51 |
| 2007 | Yomiuri Giants | 14 | 4 | 0 | 2.75 | 28 | 186.2 | 141 |
| 2008 | Yomiuri Giants | 8 | 5 | 0 | 4.13 | 23 | 122.0 | 94 |
| 2009 | Yomiuri Giants | 10 | 6 | 0 | 2.94 | 25 | 144.0 | 126 |
12:12pm: NKOTB David Waldstein at the NY Times believes that it is a minor-league deal that would be worth $1 million if Takahashi makes the big-league roster. Tak could earn another $500k in performance bonuses.
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At least it's another lefty option.
Anything that pushes Elmer Dessens further down the depth chart is fine by me.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 12:13 PM EST reply actions
Fire up the bullpen grill, it's yakatori time!
by Jamesir Bensonmum on Feb 11, 2010 12:24 PM EST reply actions
+1
This
"I reject your reality and substitute my own"
-Adam Savage
by blueandorange4life on Feb 11, 2010 3:58 PM EST up reply actions
Not sure what to make of this
I’m all for taking some chances on wild card type guys, but to sign a 35 year old who has never faced Major Leaguers and has been very inconsistent since 2004 seems puzzling to me. I know the stats above aren’t the most predictive or reliable, but they indicate that he’s either been terrible or good (and nowhere in between) every year since 2004.
But I guess for a minor league deal it’s ok.
"You know I am only teasing. I love you gals out there -- always have." - Keith Hernandez
We're throwing
1.9m at Takahashi and Jacobs combined? Think a Torrebella/Blanco platoon at catcher made possible by spending 1.4m(ish) on Torrebella would have been a better use of resources but meh we’ll see.
Not upset about the Mets not spending the money this offseason just the allocation to needs has been very questionable in my opinion (granted who asked me.. no one)
We're haven't actually commited that money.
Both contracts appear to be split-contracts, and those salaries will only be applied if they are on the major league roster. I assume Torrealba would not have taken a split contract, as his contract with the Pad’s was guaranteed. It’s a safe way to bring those guys into camp and get a look, and release them at basically no cost if need be.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
I feel like we've tried this before...
this guy seems like he’s the same type of pitcher as Ken Takahashi. is 5 years in age going to make that much of a difference?
ugh.
by Steve Schreiber on Feb 11, 2010 12:41 PM EST reply actions
Was Ken Takahashi really that bad?
He was above replacement level in his limited time, and seemed like a good guy to have on the NY-Buffalo shuttle. He’s no Johan, but he wasn’t actually being asked to fill that role. I thought he was a pretty good guy to have in Buffalo, espescially with the lack of near ready young arms we have.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 12:59 PM EST up reply actions
c'mon, there's no excuse for the Mets reaching down for a Ken Takahashi...
he was awful last year. Do we really need to dip this low and make excuses for the Mets doing so? I’m not pretending to know anything about this Mr. T, but let’s not hold the bar for him as low as the last Mr. T…
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 1:04 PM EST up reply actions
yeah, it's great
to see the only players the Mets getting aggressive on are ones with very low ceilings and whose upsides are all in the rear view mirror.
then again, 35 is about the right age for every player of interest to the team this winter.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 1:12 PM EST up reply actions
they had to outbid another team, no?
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
"Outbid"...
… in this case, seems to mean “promised more theoretical money to, should he make the major-league roster.” The deal’s a minor-league deal, and if he’s sent to Buffalo to start the season, he’s not getting said million.
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 2:23 PM EST up reply actions
He was above replacement level, which means he was better than what we'd expect from a AAAA guy.
He had a FIP of 4.12 and a tERA or 3.85, which while not great are certainly not bad at all for a guy who was bouncing between the majors and minors. Most of the guys we brought in as injury replacements last year were terrible, Takahashi was one of the few that actually performed slightly better than we really should have expected. He wasn’t fantastic by any means, but he also wasn’t bad. Just look at his fangraphs page and remind me of what exactly he did that made him terrible.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 1:30 PM EST up reply actions
stop it.
he pitched exclusively in mop up situations.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
That's patently untrue.
He came on at least twice for long-relief while the game was still very much in question, including his debut against the Phils (I was there).
That he was used less after getting shelled a few weeks later is, I think, perhaps a bit more indicative of Jerry Manuel’s bullpen predilections than of Takahashi’s overall performance.
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 2:25 PM EST up reply actions
it's not true?
what’s not debatable is that Mr. T pitched nearly exclusively in games lost by the Mets. Was that a choice by the team’s Mgr? of course it was… nearly every team has their A grp and B grp in the pen. KT never made it to the A grp. Point is, that the guy was average at best never working in pressure situations. 24 of the 28 games he appeared in were Met Ls.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:32 PM EST up reply actions
whether you're in mop up duty or a 1 run game
you still need to get outs, and teams don’t just give them to you. Sure he wasn’t used in high leverage situations, but that was by no fault of his own, and in the time he did play he put up decent numbers. And really who complains about an average middle reliever who does his job for cheap?
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:34 PM EST up reply actions
"Pitched in losses" does not equal "mop-up duty."
And, again, his usage is ENTIRELY a function of his manager’s choices.
He put up decent numbers when he did pitch. And did so exceedingly cheaply.
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 2:36 PM EST up reply actions
yeah, okay....
the guy was the last to get up in the pen and often didn’t pitch for 5 and 6 day stretches…
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
which also doesn;t mean he was terrible,
but you cannot say he was anything to write home about just about never pitching with a lead or in any pressure situation.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:39 PM EST up reply actions
we'll never know because they didn't give him the chance to do so
but what we can say is that whenever he was used, he pitched well and we paid him next to nothing to do it. A dirt cheap middle reliever with average numbers means he was a good addition to the pen.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:50 PM EST up reply actions
That doesn't make him a bad pitcher.
That’s just another example of Jerry not knowing how to evaluate players and use guys that were moderately effective (see Evans, Nick). The fact is that when he was actually used, he wasn’t bad regardless of the role he was used in. While he wasn’t exactly Mariano Rivera, he was brought in on a minor league deal which paid the minimum and was riding the AAA shuttle.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
I love it.
If he ends up being a LOOGY for $1.5MM, that’s a huge win. Huge. If he ends up being Bison-fodder for a fraction of that, cool.
The Mets should have made a lot of these moves. But it seems for every Escobar there’s a Cora, for every Takahashi there’s a Jacobs, for every Tatis there’s a GMJr.
Finally...
… that aching Takahashi void, gnawing at the back of our collective mind since Ken’s contract expired in October, has been filled.
It IS a minor-league deal, and he’s an MLB rook. Pretty cheap insurance.
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 1:03 PM EST reply actions
Let's hope he's not another lefty
that specializes in getting rocked by lefties. I call that the LWETDOS (lefty who exists to destroy our souls).
by Mackey Sasser on Feb 11, 2010 1:21 PM EST up reply actions
Does anyone have a clue
as to what the Met plan really is at this point??
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 1:09 PM EST reply actions
the illusion of competition for this year
while holding on to their top prospects for the future. Not great but I have seen worse plans from this franchise.
I love it when
all the praise heaped on the Mets is for “not screwing up” rather than for anything positive.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 1:15 PM EST up reply actions
not screwing up is a positive
just not as much of one as we would like.
no,
not going backwards (if that is what not screwing up essentially means) while other teams in the division have arguably gotten better doesn’t bode well for projecting our chances of contending, imo.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 1:50 PM EST up reply actions
I am not sure anybody in the division got better except the Phills
and even that is debatable considering they gave up Lee. Maybe the Marlins?
not true
the Nats have greatly improved, they’ll probably be less than 10 games behind 4th place this year.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:02 PM EST up reply actions
considering a gulf already existed
between the Phils and Braves to the Mets and with the Mets best player not 100% going into the season if we’re applauding the Mets basically staying in place how does that improve their chances of contending?
and I would not take the Nats for granted this year either… I think only the Fish may have taken a step back in my view.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:09 PM EST up reply actions
He said "illusion of competition" while not screwing the future
I don’t see anybody here arguing that these are world-beating moves. It’s a holding pattern rather than a major fail, which is possibly the most we can hope for from this bunch. You want to make this another “god these people are ruining my life” thread, fine, but everyone else is talking about this Takahashi fellow, who is not ruining your life.
I was referring to this part of his statement...
Not great but I have seen worse plans from this franchise.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:19 PM EST up reply actions
see scott kazmir deal
in order to try to compete when we shouldn’t have. See JJ Putz trade, see Ollie Perez contract. All of these were in fact terrible, shortsighted plans. I’d rather we tread water, have a mediocre season, and start graduating our young talent to the big league club, while taking advantage of the strong 2011 FA class. It’s a better plan than to trade away talent, spend a bunch of money on a crappy free agent class when next year is better, and write a bunch of long contracts we’ll be stuck with and unable to move. Not every season can be a winning season, but i’d rather have one losing season than a bunch because we burdened the team with bad players, sold away our talent, all for one year where we probably still wouldn’t be a playoff caliber team.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
there's no excuse to give up an entire season
while having a $130M payroll…. If that were the case then the Bay deal was in fact idiotic…. or it goes toward the case which proves that the team is just interested in selling tix and they felt that having him would keep the team within sniffing distance of 3rd place… but look at how much $ they tied up in doing so.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
So, I take it...
… you’re one of those “No F*cking REBUILDING” guys I keep hearing so much about?
Listen, I’m with you on Bay— it’s the one move that doesn’t seem to fit the “first, do no harm” “plan,” as it were. But is the aim here to go for broke on one championship year, or build something sustainable around the solid Wright-Reyes core?
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
I'm absolutely not "one of those..."
but how do you mail it in when you still have this core in place and a top 3 payroll in your league??
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:40 PM EST up reply actions
It is a bit strange, granted.
Wright and Reyes are still cheap, and you’ve got Bay— with 1-2 peak-ish years left, prob’ly— in the shopping cart, bought and paid for. Beltran’s out for a month. Johan’s hopefully back… but is he living on borrowed time?
A whole buttload of one-year jobbers would have made some sense.
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 2:43 PM EST up reply actions
What makes you think they've mailed it in?
The fact that they didn’t want to give Fatty Molina a 2 year deal? Not givng a guy 10 million a year when he’s had 1 good season in the last 5? They haven’t done enough to make them a favorite, but if healthy they are definately contenders with plenty of trade chips.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 2:44 PM EST up reply actions
this core argument is getting ridiculous
Yes we have good players, so have a lot of teams that haven’t gone to the playoffs with them, or even been competitive. In 2011, we’ll still have control of all those players, and a chance to have built a team that is legitimately a playoff contender, while preparing to replace or re-sign the talent that will be coming off the books in ‘11. The top 3 in payroll is largely a function of us signing huge lengthy ridiculous contracts that end up biting us in the ass towards the end (castillo, perez, bb-rod, frenchy) Theres a lot of money tied up in bad players, and handing out more large contracts to players who don’t deserve them (like Lackey, Molina, etc.. ) is only going to make things worse. This throw money at the problem solution clearly isn’t working, and i’m glad they showed some restraint for once since there wasn’t a chance they got this entire team fixed in one offseason.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:48 PM EST up reply actions
who said anything
about handing out any more large contracts??
There were/are several good values out there that the Mets have ignored that could have been difference makers imo.
Does Luis Castillo have compromising photos of Jeffy in a safe deposit box or something? How are the Mets not in on Felipe Lopez?
How did they not add another reliable bp arm to give them a serious 8th inning possibility?
How could they go from a scenario where Omir Santos would prob have been buried in AAA to having him be the likely starting catcher?
etc. etc.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 4:14 PM EST up reply actions
and I didn't want
Molina or Pineiro, for the record. But if you’re going with paper clips and duct tape for the rotation then you better make sure the pen projects to be rock solid and I don’t see that.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 4:22 PM EST up reply actions
We need to sort out what we actually do have
we have between 1-4 good starters depending on how they rebound from injuries, we have a bullpen full of potential but unproven, we have a 1b who has been jeckyl and hyde when it comes to his approach at the plate but seems to be strong defensively. We have a SS coming back from injury to his legs, we have a CF out for at least a month, our power hitting 3b hit almost no home runs last year, and the catcher market was weak as hell. On top of this free agents actively avoided the Mets this offseason, which suggests we’d have had to shell out serious money to get any of the few players who were out there and worth looking at. I think even if we had a bunch of money to spend this offseason it was hard to even know what to spend it on, because we have no idea what this team looks like if healthy. I don’t think not doing anything drastic is a bad choice for a team that doesn’t even know where it really stands.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 4:51 PM EST up reply actions
that's a lot of excuses, frankly.
let’s sort out what we have? is that your approach? I think you’re pretty capable of projecting what we have right now… some potential packed into a lot of question marks… a situation that rarely pans out.
Trades were/are out there for catchers. The Mets could have improved the pen and the bench and addressed 2B if they’d acknowledge Castillo as a sunk cost.
Instead of getting younger and more athletic, they’ve chosen older and more brittle. We’ll see how that works out.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 5:07 PM EST up reply actions
I think Omar has done a fantastic job with the pen.
He hasn’t handed out any large contracts, he’s only handed out one contract that goes beyond this season, and he’s brought in a ton of upside. The only thing that I can really criticize with the pen is that we really only have one lefty at this point. Kiko Calero is still out there and could well be a bargain for someone, but that doesn’t in any way mean Omar has done a poor job with the bullpen.
The only Catcher I’ve heard about being on the block is Chris Snyder, and any marginal upgrade he may possibly provide in performance is probably negated by his back issues and bloated contract. Lopez is likely a legitimate upgrade at second, but I don’t think he’s exactly the type of player that will make or break an offseason. Realistically him replacing Castillo will only add a wuin or two at best, and he could easily end up being less valuable than Castillo.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 6:18 PM EST up reply actions
Blue & Orange Goggles...
I guess it’s ok to dish out a 5/80M contract on the one hand but to go into the season with a pen that is going to feature 2 players for 8th inning duty that have thrown 5 innings combined in the MLs the past 2 season backed up by Green & Parnell (7th) and a closer who was pretty awful in the 2nd half and the perpetually overworked Pedro F…. okay. good job.
It’s one thing to have some upside (Escobar, Igarashi, Parnell), but what’s the realistic probability they’re going to hit anywhere near their peak potential and what’s the backup plan? That pen would look a lot better with a more solid 8th inning option and yes even if that would take some greenbacks.
Just curious… is there anything you’d have done differently or does Omar get it all basically correct for you?
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 6:43 PM EST up reply actions
Besides Calero (and he's still dependent on the deal he gets), who would you have liked to have seen the Mets add to the pen?
Valverde and Wags were type A’s, and the Lyons and Rodneys of the world got ridiculous deals. It was a pretty terrible year for bullpen values, and Omar may have found 3 in Igarashi, Escobar, and Everts. There really just wasn’t much value to be had out there (possibly Calero aside, although the more I look at it I like your idea of going after Benoit). I’d have been all over Jose Arredando though, even though he’s out for the year. Hard to fault Omar for passing on that one, as it involved alot of risk.
In my opinion Omar made his errors in the rotation. We really needed to add a starter, and Harden or Wolf (although I hate the deal he signed) would have been the way to go. I like the deals Garland, Myers, and Davis signed as well, and would have been in on all of those guys. The only one who I’m really that upset about is Harden, but I really like Jon Niese and am happy he’s in the mix now.
If you’re really curios what I’d have done, I put it all down in my AAOP, which can be found here.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 6:59 PM EST up reply actions
And I'd give Omar a pass on his rotation failures if he signs Yuniesky Maya when he is made eligible.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 7:00 PM EST up reply actions
off the top of
my head…
Baez
Capps
Calero
Gregg
Howry
and even Smoltz.
None of those got more than a 1 yr deal iirc and any of them would have fortified the pen in the late innings imo.
While I applauded the Escobar signing, to depend on him as the primary 8th inning option at this point is like playing with fire… we have no idea whether his shoulder will hold up… then what?
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 9:44 PM EST up reply actions
Don't Gregg, Baez, and Howry qualify as "older and more brittle"?
I don’t know how you can argue against that and in the same argument try to sign guys that are getting on in years. It’s easy to nitpick and criticise Omar for not making the 15 best moves of the offseason, but the realtiy is he addressed the pen better than most, if not all, of the GM’s in baseball. As many things as he’s done poorly, Omar did a very nice job with the pen this offseason.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 10:03 PM EST up reply actions
Gregg is 31 or 32 and
not brittle. Capps?
Baez also just 32.
Calero, Howry and Smoltz are the older options… you’re right they aren’t perfect but we’re talking 1 yr deals and have more solid track records.
Relying on Escobar and Igarashi as the backbone of your pen is idiotic at best. Sure, it’s no wonder they don’t want (or cant) spend any money in the pen is b/c of the ridiculous amount they’re over-paying KRod.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 10:09 PM EST up reply actions
You honestly think any of those guys are great options?
Matt Capps is average at best. Danny Baez is no safer bet that Escobar, and probably with far less upside. Bob Howry kinda sucks for the money he’s earning. All of those guys are making more than Escobar and Igarashi combined, and with less upside than either of them provides. You’re criticising the Mets for not having a risk free pen, but you haven’t been able to provide a better solution.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 10:20 PM EST up reply actions
face it,
every pitcher I mentioned you were sure to criticize. Capps has been very good but was victimized by a ridiculous .370 babip in 09. If the Mets had handed out a $10M contract to a guy like Scotty Schoe, then $2M – $3M to Capps or Gregg or Calero or Howry or Baez on a 1 or 2 yr deal should be a no-brainer.
It just seems like the team or fans are paying for their past mistakes cause it’s like they won’t even consider any RP with a price of more than $1M after the crazy RP contracts they’ve handed out the past few years (SS, KRod, Wags).
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 12, 2010 9:45 AM EST up reply actions
So the fact that they gave Show a stupid deal justifies overpaying for relievers now?
I’d take Escobar over any of the guys you listed in a heartbeat, and all you have to do is look back at my AAOP to find some proof of that. Calero may certainly be a tempting option, but it really depends on his price. I’d have certainly included Igarashi in my AAOP had I been more knowledgeable about his stuff, as he certainly has at least the upside of a Matt Capps at a cheaper price.
I’m no agaisnt paying 2-3 million for a good reliever, but I think the Mets dound two good ones for less. Along with K-rod, Parnell, and Feliciano that gives them an excellent foundation for a solid pen. Sean Green is nothing special, but I think he’s certainly been good enough in the past to justify a back of the bullpen spot. I think that last spot should really be used for a 2nd lefty, so I really can’t complain that the Mets missed out on any of those guys.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 12, 2010 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
Dotel is
another RP that def would have elevated this motley crew a bit.
Igarahsi?! We have no idea what we’re going to get from him. Expecting another Okajima or Saito is crazy talk. In all likelihood he’ll be no better than Parnell was last year which was nothing special. And we also have no idea whether Escobar will hold up or not.
A team that was decimated by injuries a year ago shouldn’t be resting any big hopes on a pitcher like Escobar. Again, I liked the signing a lot and I’m all for taking some chances on one or 2 injury comebacks but I’d make sure there was a darn solid fall back position if it doesn’t work out.
This pen is a real reach right now.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 12, 2010 2:45 PM EST up reply actions
and I'm actually
fine not adding any SPs. My thing was to see what we have and add an arm during the year if we saw that the team would able to make a run.
With arms coming thru the org over the next yr or so, I wasn’t in favor of adding any journeyman type at this point.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 9:48 PM EST up reply actions
If thats the case, I don't really understand your criticisms of every single move the Mets have made.
At some point they must have done something you deemed acceptable.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 10:05 PM EST up reply actions
I'm happy about Bay
though Holliday should have been the target. And I’m fine with Escobar and Igarashi but not to stop there. The pen needed another solid 8th inning arm to push everyone else back.
And what else have they done? Cora, GMJ, Tatis??
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 10:12 PM EST up reply actions
I guess they should have gone after Brandon Lyon?
Or Fernando Rodney? Jose Valverede? Who exactly signed for a bargain this offseason to pitch the 60 innings or so required from that role?
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 10:23 PM EST up reply actions
well our choices were sign contracts for one year
which wouldn’t have put us over the top anyway, sign longer contracts, that wouldnt put us over the top and would screw us later, or not waste our money. As to the bullpen point, we’ve signed a bunch of relievers this offseason, lets let them get sorted out and see what we have before we say we don’t have anyone for 8th inning. Castillo is only around because nobody will take him, they tried sending him away in a few deals. Paying Castillo and Lopez just means we’re spending 12 mil on a second baseman while only getting average value out of that 2b. And we haven’t been in a situation in a while where Omir Santos would be buried in AAA, unless you include molina, in which case, I honestly and in all seriousness prefer Omir.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 4:43 PM EST up reply actions
The odds of us filling enough of the gaps
to make this a playoff team next year were astronomically bad. We needed a LF, probably 2 SP, C 1B, 2B. The Bay move was an overpay, but not idiotic, because we have him for 4 years, that means he will be with the team for more than just next year. We now have the LF problem taken care of for a few years, by the end of the season we should know what our pitching situation looks like since we’ve got a bunch of question marks who could be good, another outfield spot should go to F!, Thole may be ready by then as well. On top of that a lot of top shelf free agents could hit the market last year, as opposed to the overpriced crap that was floating around this year. Am I upset we didn’t burn down the future to try to win this year? No.
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:42 PM EST up reply actions
The Mets will be better just by adding Bay plus getting Reyes healthy
and hopefully getting more out of David Wright and Oliver Perez. obviously Beltran’s injury thows a major wrinkle in that hope but let us see how long he is out for.
I meant to say the Nats instead of the Marlins in my comment above, Nats may have gotten better but unless Strasburg really is the second coming of Nolan Ryan at age 22, I still think the Mets, if healthy, are a better team by at least 10-12 games. Braves offsesason really does not impress me and if they add Damon to a NL club, their pitching edge may be wiped out by their awful defense and their payroll might get inflated. Bottom line the NL East might be the weakest division in baseball this year. I could easily see everybody but the Phillies ending up below .500
It's certainly not impossible.
They traded a 6 WAR pitcher and replaced him with a guy who’ll likely be worth 1/2 of that. They added a huge injury risk at 1st, and at this point their outfield could very well be worse than last year (kind of dependant on Heyward). They are also counting on Martin Prado being a long term piece based on a very small sample size. An injury or two to the rotation could make them a very bad team. At this point I’d say they’ll likely be pretty decent, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see them end the year in 4th.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 2:34 PM EST up reply actions
I'll be surprised if the Braves don't win
86 – 89 games.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Feb 11, 2010 2:36 PM EST up reply actions
I think that's likely, but like I said it wouldn't surprise me if they end up awful.
Wagner and Saito are injury risks in the pen, and if they go down that’s a huge weakness. They traded all of their upper level starters last season, so they really aren’t in good shape to absorb any injuries in the rotation. Besides Heyward and Schafer, they really don’t have any position prospects close to ready, and they have quite a few injury risk/regression guys on that roster. They’ve built a very high risk/high reward type of team.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 2:50 PM EST up reply actions
exactly
I am not saying they will end up below .500 but it is certainly possible. If Heyward does not catch fire right away, their offense could be subpar. and age and injuries at key spots could catch up to them.
I thought ATL's plan was to start Heyward in AAA
& bring him up sometime around June or so?
Coming this April, fun times with Jeff and Gary!
That would make sense, but it leaves them with a pretty shitty outfield until then.
Cabrera, McLouth, and Diaz isn’t a very good unit to be trotting out there everyday. I have the feeling that if he’s good in spring training, he’ll likely make the opening day roster.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 2:47 PM EST up reply actions
I think it depends on what kind of spring he has
if he is as good as everybody says, he could easily win a job in that outfield I would think.
By bringing him to start the season,
would that start his arbitration clock?
Coming this April, fun times with Jeff and Gary!
Yes, but it's 99% likely to start this season anyway.
Waiting until about June 1st might stop him from becoming a super two and save the Braves money in the long run.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 3:12 PM EST up reply actions
Your 2010 NY Mets
“Now with younger Takahashis!”
by Mackey Sasser on Feb 11, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Profile report from npbtracker:
Hisanori Takahashi From 30,000 Feet
Is coming off a solid 2009 campaign: 10-6, 2.94 ERA, 121/36 K/BB in 144 IP
Isn’t going to overwhelm anyone with an 85-90 mph fastball
Has an excellent screwball, which he induces grounders and misses bats with; should be a plus pitch at the MLB level as well
Also has a two-seam fastball, slider and curve; the two-seamer is a pretty good pitch
Has never been a huge innings eater in Japan: career high is 186.2 IP (2007), has twice thrown 163 (2002, 2005), next highest total is 144 (2009)
Was not a lefty killer in 2009: lefties hit .300 against him (48/160), while holding righties to .250 (99/396)
Did keep lefties in the park in 2009: only three of his 16 home runs allowed came against lefties
Actually saw him pitch in Tokyo
Obviously wasn’t scouting, but that profile seems to match the small sample I saw. He went pretty deep into the game, but this was in his IP-best ’07.
phliadelphoe ite domum!
by Doc Manhattan on Feb 11, 2010 1:57 PM EST up reply actions
Yep, and yep.
Though I can’t tell so far whether the former was the case with Yomiuri.
Still… screwball and shuuto! Fun! Are you ready for Hisa-mania, MFers?
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Feb 11, 2010 2:39 PM EST up reply actions
Only if he wears orange and blue wristbands, use cool sunglasses and has a fashionable haircut.
In lobby campaign for Chris Carter.
Cool, so another lefty specialist
who’s not great against lefties. I’m sure Jerry will still consider him a lefty specialist, though.
well at least lefties don't take him deep much
so it could be worse
by KeithsMoustache on Feb 11, 2010 2:04 PM EST up reply actions
This could be used to our advantage, use him against switch-hitters.
Well, of course we have to take into account who is the manager, so he’ll probably be used solely against lefties.
Meanwhile
Adam Bostick will be better than this guy and for cheaper.
That may be, but the fact that Bostick signed with the Royals this winter kind of makes that irrelevent.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 3:15 PM EST up reply actions
I know that
the point is, they should have kept Bostick.
by Mackey Sasser on Feb 11, 2010 3:16 PM EST up reply actions
I doubt he wanted to be here.
After we didn’t even give him a callup last september when the games were meaningless, I can’t see why he’d feel like he’d ever get a crack here. It’s not like he was released either, he just had enough minor league service time to leave. I hope he does well in KC, but we really shot ourselves in the foot with him a long time ago.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 3:22 PM EST up reply actions
a better point
we could have given him a chance at some point in the last 3 years, especially considering 1. our bullpen/spot starter needs and how many retreads we were regularly sending out, 2. we traded useful pieces to get him and vargas, and then traded an incredibly useful piece to replace the useful pieces we traded for them, so I would hope Omar had seen something about him.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Looks like Omar is looking at him as a starter.
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 3:26 PM EST reply actions
We were just talking about this the other day,
and how Igarashi wouldn’t have someone to look up to, because there were no other Japanese players on the team. Well, bam! There we go!
I really hope both he and Dickey make the Major League team. Dickey, with his knuckleball, and Takahashi v.2 with his screwball. That’s just awesome right there…
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Feb 11, 2010 3:41 PM EST reply actions
"Tak 2", if you will.
"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Feb 11, 2010 3:43 PM EST up reply actions
Tak 2. I like it.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Feb 11, 2010 3:57 PM EST up reply actions
Tak 2.0, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
"I reject your reality and substitute my own"
-Adam Savage
by blueandorange4life on Feb 11, 2010 4:14 PM EST up reply actions
Screw Dickey...
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 4:03 PM EST up reply actions
Don't you talk to R.A. Dickey that way!
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Feb 11, 2010 4:15 PM EST up reply actions
Screw followed by Dickey being the 1-2 punch out of the pen
"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green
by Stephen Schmidt on Feb 11, 2010 4:25 PM EST up reply actions
If only there was a 'Screw' or 'Screws' out there, then.
That’d be a wacky combination, though. What other weird pitching/battery combinations have there been of that ilk in history, I wonder?
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Feb 11, 2010 10:46 PM EST up reply actions
No chance of getting his FIP is there?
they don’t have HR, K or BB do they?
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
where'd you find that?
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
by firejerrynow on Feb 12, 2010 6:46 AM EST up reply actions
I calculated based on the numbers from npbtracker.
See my comment above.
In lobby campaign for Chris Carter.
ah, thanks
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
by firejerrynow on Feb 12, 2010 9:00 AM EST up reply actions
I'm going to venture and say no, being that Wikipedia says that "Takahashi is the third most popular Japanese family name."
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Feb 11, 2010 10:47 PM EST up reply actions
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