Pittsburgh Pirates: Brutal Youth
by Matthew Callan on Sep 17, 2010 10:05 AM EDT
Email
PrintA short while ago, Omar Minaya got into some hot water for saying something stupid. I'll refresh your memory, because after a while all the stupidity of this organization blends together. In a lengthy profile of the Mets done by USA Today, in which all of the teams woes were delineated in excruciating fashion, Minaya was quoted at length about his own performance. The face-palm moment came when he said New York is "not a market where you can go young. You have to bring in players."
This seemed to confirm the worst beliefs about how the Mets' front office thinks and operates. Not only did they completely misunderstand the economics of baseball in the 21st century, but they also misunderstood their fanbase. "Of course you can go young in New York!" people screamed. "We will accept growing pains from young players sooner than useless veterans!"
I agree with this sentiment, in the broadest terms. But I also saw something this week that makes me wonder if Mets fans would really accept a total Youth Movement. And that something is the PIttsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates have been in perpetual rebuilding mode since 1992, when Sid Bream beat a throw to the plate and Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla were lost to free agency. For years, they were criticized (and rightly so) for curious, low- or no-yield free agent signings like Derek "Operation Shutdown" Bell, Jeromy Burnitz, and Joe Randa, which did nothing but drain their already meager payroll.
Pittsburgh also did a terrible job of using the one asset they did have--high draft picks--wisely. B.J. Upton, Ryan Howard, and Matt Wieters are just some of the players who could have been Pirates now, if only the Pirates had picked them. To be fair, many of these players wanted contracts the cash-strapped Pirates could not afford. But one big reason they couldn't afford to sign talented amateurs is because they spent money on useless free agent signings like Doug Mientkiewicz.
The Pirates have clearly learned the error of their ways. They're finding ways to sign their draft picks, rather than using that money on the Terry Mulhollands of the world. This year's Pirates team is full of very young players with potential, kids like Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez. There are virtually no veterans in their everyday lineup. It is a Youth Movement in extremis. That's a good thing. Right?
Perhaps, for the long term future of your club. In the short term, it can make for some supremely unwatchable baseball.
Case in point: Wednesday's game against the Mets. Pittsburgh takes a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth. After two one-out singles, the first Met run scores when second baseman Neil Walker can't field a sharp ground ball, easily the most excusable blunder of the night. After a walk to load the bases and an RBI single, Pedro Alvarez makes a nice play on a dribbler up the third base line and tosses it to home for the force. But the ball clanks off Chris Snyder's glove, allowing two more runs to score. Then, shortstop Ronny Cedeno muffs a fairly easy ground ball, allowing the tying run to score. Two batters latter, Angel Pagan drives in two more runs with a single up the middle. Seven runs score in the inning--only two of them earned--en route to an 8-7 Met win.
This is the kind of inning a Youth Movement team will have, particularly on the road. The Pirates are on pace to lose more games away from home than any team in modern baseball history, even worse than the wretched 1963 Mets.
The average age of the Pirates' position players in Wednesday's starting lineup: 25.5. Remove 29 year olds Snyder and Garret Jones, and it's 24.3. Six of these eight players have three or fewer years of major league service. Three of them have less than a year. Two are in their first season in the bigs. Some of these kids are very talented. But they're still kids, and that means growing pains. Those growing pains increase exponentially with every youngster you add to the lineup.
From both an economic and common sense stance standpoint, this is the kind of lineup the Pirates should field. They've tried bolstering themselves with veterans and it brought no appreciable success. They might as well play their prospects, to both give them major league experience and get fans excited about the future.
But I wonder, if the Mets did something similar, would you watch? Could you watch? Would you be willing to suffer through multiple seasons of baseball like the kind seen on Wednesday night, on the promise of 22- and 23-year-olds, some of whom may never reach their potential?
As I watched that nightmare inning above, I scanned the Twitter-verse, and the sentiment I heard over and over from Met fans was, Thank god I'm not a Pirates fan. Because for all the woes the Mets have suffered the past few seasons, they are a team that has a chance when the year begins. Regardless of who they do or do not sign in the offseason, and even with the whispers of Bernie Madoff-caused insolvency, you can say they have a shot. (How big a shot depends on your perspective and/or self-delusion.) This is because they have some established, experienced major league talent, a few bona fide elite players, and starting pitching that is not a complete disaster area.
On the other hand, you can virtually guarantee right now that the Pirates do not have a shot in 2011, because they lack all these things. Their hope lies several years in the future. A season like 2010 might plant the seeds for a fruitful tomorrow. But in the short term, all they can count on is more evenings like Wednesday's.
If it pays off down the road, their fans will take it. Any fans would. But if given a choice, would you take that gamble?
This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions, reasoning skills, or attention to grammar and usage rules held by the editors of this site.
67 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Fortunately for the Mets
they don’t have to completely the Pirates route. They can afford to do both, bring in players and sprinkle in some youngsters. Unfortunately for the Mets, they haven’t done either especially well, although i think the farm system has gotten better.
Well said.
Good writeup, Matthew, but it led you to the wrong question. For the Mets, who could easily run up a $150m payroll every year (and shouldn’t be having anything like the problems they’re having spending $20m less), this is not an either/or situation. As wobatus said, they can do both. Bring in good young ballplayers and seed them into a strong existing team. With the Mets’ revenues a decently run team should never have to rebuild. Look at the Red Sox for instance in this decade, and the Angels, since 2004, though their dropoff this year is due to some poor offseason work, imo.
Ike Davis is the least of the kind of prospects the Mets should be piecing into the lineup, and even Ike was an emergency fill in who is turning out all right. The Mets should never be in a situation where a hitter as miserable as Tejada is getting this many at bats, because a player as likely as Castillo was to be barely above replacement level will never be Plan A.
I'm willing to tolerate an inferior team if the Mets actually demonstrate that they have a clear plan
That means no stupid trades and no pointless trades. It also means not signing non-elite free agents to ridiculous contracts. Lets not forget screwing up player development of top prospects to meet the short-term needs of the manager. I’d also like to see the Mets go overslot in the draft to the point where Bud Selig is publicly livid – every year.
Overslot and upside are two totally different things.
There are plenty of signable guys that slip for either character concerns, injury concerns, or just being very raw that the Mets generally shy away from. I could care less if we operate on the same budget if we start to focus on prospects with elite upside when they are available.
Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Martinez, Tejada...
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 17, 2010 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions
well I think a lot of the raw guys we shy away from
are usually prep arms/bats, and generally even if they’re not major signability concerns it’s going to cost more to sign them than a college junior/senior. There have been a couple of instances the last few years where there were slot signees available but we’ve opted for players who sign for well below slot instead.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
Apples and Oranges with those two clubs
The Pirates constantly have to go young because they can’t afford to re-sign their developed talent, and can’t afford to sign market priced free agents. The Mets seem to be going young because the free agent talent they signed just sucks. If guys like Davis and Niese pan out, there is a good chance they are long term pieces here…in Pittsburgh the clock would have started until they had to be traded to a team that could afford to keep them.
Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Martinez, Tejada...
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 17, 2010 11:47 AM EDT reply actions
apples, oranges, and other fruit
i agree that it’s not really fair to compare the two; the Pirates are more or less doing what they’re doing because they have no choice, and the Mets have infinite resources compared to them. I just wonder if Minaya’s statement, as dumb as it sounded, isn’t true—would youth really fly in “this market”, particularly if youth looked something like the Pirates do now?
by Matthew Callan on Sep 17, 2010 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions
The thing is there's no reason for youth to look like it does with the pirates
because the pirates never had a david wright/jose reyes/angel pagan. We could have gone young and still kept a core of elite players. And likely wouldn’t look any worse than we do now, in fact we’d probably have looked better if we’d given the sum 1000 pa’s of old replacement players to some younger players. (like Thole who’s already been worth more than Barajas and Blanco combined in like 300-400 less PA’s)
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
Disagree, personnally.
I’ll take a development strategy with a few mercenaries chosen tactically. From everything I’ve read here, statistically that is irrational, but rooting for a bunch of millionaires representing a city I haven’t lived in since 1981 is pretty irrational, too.
I should have finished my thought
All other things being equal, one wants to watch the younger player.
by TheBigStapler on Sep 17, 2010 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Chances are, most of them don't live there either.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
In lobby for Josh Byrnes/Chip Hale as Mets 2011 GM/Manager.
the problem is...
the Mets HAVE been acting Pirates-ish the last few years. Sure, they go out and sign “big name free agents” ala Beltran and F-Rod, and Bay (inserts chuckle here-chuckle at “big name Type A free agent”)…but
then they go out and acquire the Brain Schneider’s, ancient Gary Sheffields of the world. And, they go trade former #1 picks (regardless if they worked out in the Bigs or not) for mediocre talent…
and to answer any doubts: YES, I would be willing to sacrifice 5-8 years of mediocre baseball if it means that this Mets team will turn it around. As a fan/follower, I am tired of their misdirection- I want them to stop spending, and trading for any veterans and go with a full-blown youth movement.
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
I think what we have here is a failure to communicate...
The Mets like to be secretive, even quixotic in their communications to fans. If they were to come out and say “yeah, 2011 is going to be rough, but in 2012 we’re going to have a lot of extra dollars and our focuses in the meantime are x, y, and z,” I think a lot of fans would get behind that. NY fans are not stupid; this means that while they will spot and criticize dumb moves they will also support good moves that may not bear instant fruit (WFAN mouth breathers and participants in the Frenchy text poll notwithstanding). Also, rather than operate as they have in the past, where they identify a position and try to find a big name to fill it, it seems like it would make better sense to sign the best guys available for the dollar, regardless of position (certain positions, like 3B, excluded), with an emphasis on fielding versatility. This would give the team bench depth when the inevitable spate of injuries occurs. But if the team were to do this, they might as well just come out and say what their plan is, and stick with it for more than 3 days.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 17, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Let's hope the new GM has a plan before he gets hired.Agree with not wasting time on
unproven hitters that can’t play a position.That has to stop!!
by Putnan Prince on Sep 17, 2010 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Omar has a plan and his plan...
he likes his plan.
The one and only mistermet on teh Interwebz!
by Steve Schreiber on Sep 18, 2010 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions
I could only get behind that--partially--if it included a new GM.
Otherwise, in as many words, the Wilpons would be saying, “we’re keeping the same FO that has run this team into the ground, and we’re punting next season because we don’t want to spend the money to add a whopping two three win players and a little bullpen depth.”
Minaya couldn’t make the 2009 team a legitimate contender going into 2010, and he won’t be able to make the 2010 team a legitimate contender going into 2011. The Mets don’t need to back off and “reload”. A .500 team with upside (Wright, Bay, Beltran, and Reyes all have chances to be better, even significantly better next year) and a $130m+ payroll in a big market should never be in rebuilding mode.
Oh...Getting rid of MInaya was implicit in that whole thing.
It would clearly make no sense with him still around.
Transparency only works when the underlying decisions are not mind-boggling in their own right.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 17, 2010 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
the pirates are
the bargain basement of baseball. It;s obvious their ownership has no desire to win only to take the profits and pocket the money. If they developed their talent and spent half what the met’s have they would be a lot better than a mediocre AAA. team
I don't think
that’s really true. A lot of their money goes into drafting & scouting. I think they lead MLB in that category.
Is the sun going to come up tomorrow?
Only for the last three years, and that is just begining to approach the majors.
Prior to drafting Alvarez, they were notoriously cheap in the draft.
Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Martinez, Tejada...
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 17, 2010 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah before what little they had to spend was gong to awful signings
like the Doug with the last name I can’t spell mentioned above.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
I do not have a problem
with signing free agents, I have a problem with Omar signing free agents. I also have a problem with Omar drafting players and Omar overseeing the development of players. He may not be hands on but he should have a philosophy of player development that permeates the organizarion. It does not appear to me that one exists. I don’t think the mets have a single bona fide stud int heir entire organization. Not many teams can make that claim, I would guess. So I would take a youth movement, if we really had better than average youth coming along. We need a top exec to set the course. We have some players here. I know it will not happen next year but I am not ready to sign on for a 4 year wait, which is what the last 4 years have been, waiting for Omar to bring in a yearly big signing that does not quite pan out and to fill our coplementary roles with below average stiffs. I truly hope that we do nothing drastic next year except cut the dead weight and add a few guys who will play for a 1 year deal. However, once all this sunk money is gone a competent exec should be able to get us pointed in the right direction come 2012. now how do we manage to bring in a competent exec with the Wontpons making the call?
I agree with this...
While the Mets have some good players under development, there is no one that you would point to as “the future of the organization,” at least not based on current performance. I think the Mets have, and have had, a problem with rushing guys to the majors to fill holes. I remember in 2004 and 2005 that people accepted that they were not going to win this year, but looked at the team as a rebuild in progress, and were happy with that. If we were to have a dugout with 3 or 4 more guys who could get on base more than average, we’d be in much better shape than with Jason Bay (even if Bay played to potential, and nothing against the man…yet). The key is to find a few guys who truly are undervalued (cue Gina with the “no one is undervalued, ever” argument) and signing them to short deals, perhaps with a team option and/or (perish the thought) a well-thought out vesting extension.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 17, 2010 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Just yanking your chain...
GIven last week’s argument that teams can hang on to players until they are in their late 20s so it’s hard to find an undervalued FA.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 17, 2010 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions
oh no there's plenty of undervalued fa's
they’re just all old. guys like mike cameron or even johnny damon, beltre all get paid well below what their actual value will be because they’re old. I never said it’s hard to find undervalued fa’s, it’s just impossible to find ones that aren’t 30+.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
.
I don’t think the mets have a single bona fide stud int heir entire organization.
Wilmer Flores disagrees.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
In lobby for Josh Byrnes/Chip Hale as Mets 2011 GM/Manager.
I think theres way too much projection left for him
to be anywhere near a bonafide stud.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
He's top-100 a only 19.
I think that qualifies as “stud”.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
In lobby for Josh Byrnes/Chip Hale as Mets 2011 GM/Manager.
bonafide studs
are usually goes like Wieters or Price or Heyward, guys in AA/AAA who project to be 4-6 WAR players. Not guys who are 3 years away.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
That's:
“Wilmer Flores disagrees with you…. all the way from A-ball.” With his 9 walks in 262 PAs. His upside as far as patience goes is Jeff Francouer!
(ducks)
What’s that Wilmer? We can’t hear you. It sounds like you got dropped down a well. What?
Besides, his name is Wilmer. That’s like Wilbur, only wimpier.
When I hear Wilmer, I think Fes.
Fes is not grissiony. He’s foreign.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Sep 19, 2010 9:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Foreigners can't be grissiony.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Sep 20, 2010 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions
I know a Dolph Lundgren...
Who begs to disagree.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 20, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Meh I think the pirates are a poor example
our youth movement would be more like the youth movements teams like texas/rays/minnesota have had the last 3-4 where they had major impact players surrounded by young players. If the pirates had players like Reyes/Wright/Pagan/Niese around the rest of their youth it would be drastically different.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
good point Gina
Minnesota would be a better comp….except they’ve been fairly successful…of course they play in AL Central…
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
by feslenraster on Sep 17, 2010 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions
The NL central isn't exactly the AL east
Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Martinez, Tejada...
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 17, 2010 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions
To be sure, Chris Synder...
is not part of the Pirates youth movement.
but we're apparently terrified of him in the 8 spot anyway
Hey, wait! I'm having one of those things. You know? A headache with pictures?
by KeithsMoustache on Sep 17, 2010 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Forgive me, KM...
but I was on the West Coast for business this week. I would welcome the context.
by JE on Sep 17, 2010 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions
was it twice or three times?
including once in the second inning i think
Hey, wait! I'm having one of those things. You know? A headache with pictures?
by KeithsMoustache on Sep 17, 2010 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions
The pirates only recently have instituted a youth movement.
It’s only with Neal Huntington that instituted a full blown youth movement – before him, they were wasting away their money on things like Matt Morris (remember that trade?).
Neal’s had 3 years now to institute a REAL youth movement, and imo, a way extreme youth movement.
If I were a pirates fan, I’d take this ANY day over what they dealt with in the past before Neal.
As a mets fan, would I wish this on the mets? no. I think there’s better ways to build a team. you want youth and veterans, and i think we’ve built that. I also hate the contract that I believe crippled parts of the mets, ie, ollie & castillo. hated them from the very beginning. other things like matthews, jacobs are equally frustrating, but fortunately, not as financially debilitating.
Would I take what we have now, or have what the pirates have now? With the mets budget, I’d love to have what the pirates have now, and have the financial flexibility in the offseason.
Would I have taken the pirates from sept 07-sept 10? for what could be the possiblitiy of signing solid foundations in this offseason to play alongside youngsters who have high ceilings like alverez? yes.
I think those were some of the things the mets did back in 04/05/06. signing beltran, pedro, etc, to play alongside reyes and wright (the stupid postion change with signing matsui notwithstanding). and yeah, that was exciting. I’ll take it again.
are the Pirates really the best "youth movement" example for the Mets?
How about Tampa Bay? They’re not exactly a veteran team, and unlike the Mets, they’re really freakin’ good. If they had the financial resources the Mets do, there’s no doubt the Rays could compete every single year with the Yankees and Red Sox.
The Rays hired Andrew Friedman in 2005, and he began by blowing up the mess he inherited and started over. 2005, 2006, and 2007 were awful seasons for the Rays, but it sure looks like it was all worth it, with the 2008 World Series appearance and another postseason appearance all but guaranteed at this point.
Would I be willing to see a new regime come in and blow up the team a la the 2005 Rays if I knew that 3 years down the line we’d have a monster team instead of this blundering mediocrity we have now? Sure, but I’m probably not typical of your average Mets fan.
Of course, this makes it all the more obvious how stupid the Mets front office is to actually care about what the Post, Daily News, and WFAN callers think.
"It’s just everytime we think the bar can’t get lower, they lower it. Now next year we’ll just be happy to hear that rogue shirtless officials aren’t implementing useless detrimental drills in spring training for no apparent reason."
-Gina, 3/1/10
I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't even take 3 years
for a competent team to turn this around. most of the issues are easily fixable. (assuming wright,reyes and bay had played up to their career averages rather than the disasters they’ve been) this team could have looked like a 90 win team just by signing Kelly Johnson and Joel Piniero, which half the people in here were smart enough to realize were good ideas.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
You're right. It wouldn't take three years. It won't take any years.
It just depends on what you’re willing to pay. If the Mets want to add, say, Cliff Lee and Orlando Hudson, a solid OFer, and a very good bullpen arm, they’re all but favorites in the NL for 2011. Even just changing managers before the beginning of 2010 and not doing utterly stupid shit like taking six weeks to figure out that in fact two-fifths of the starting rotation still couldn’t pitch at all leaves the team around 3 games out as of tonight. At worst.
There's no reason to blow up the team, though, in the sense that there's nothing to blow up.
There’s no one who will fetch anything in trade, and everyone except Santana, Wright, and Bay + whatever arb guys you want to keep will be gone after 2011 anyway. There’s no point in doing something like eating $40m of Bay’s salary in order to get a B prospect, for example, if that’s what you mean by blowing up the team.
unfortunately
you’re absolutely right. there’s NOTHING to blow up. it’s already a disaster.
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
by feslenraster on Sep 20, 2010 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
You ever see the video of an exploding garbage heap?
I’m cueing that one up for next season already.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 20, 2010 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Ever see the video of the exploding whale?
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Sep 20, 2010 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I saw that while you were still in junior high my dear boy....
I saw it in a tiny photo frame on a sub 56k modem. I researched it in the law library (pre-Snopes) to see if it was real and found microfilm newspaper accounts of it.
At the same time, I saw an autogyro in the sky and cursed at it for it scared my cows.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 20, 2010 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Just making sure, just making sure.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Sep 20, 2010 11:53 PM EDT up reply actions
False choice.
Like others have said, Youth Movement =/= Pittsburgh Pirates.
by Jamesir Bensonmum on Sep 17, 2010 3:57 PM EDT reply actions
Keeping your high draft choices and finding gems in the later rounds
and then developing these players with patience and putting them in the best situation when they are ready and only augmenting the roster with a couple of ace starters is the only way to compete for a World Championship year after year. That should be the goal of every Major League Team but many including the Mets have competing pressures. Identifying, drafting, signing and developing these guys is hard work. Hard work that doesn’t pay off for 4-5 years and can sometimes be filled with heartbreak. Only an organization that is committed to competing for a World Series EVERY year has the strength and discipline to stay the course. The easy way out is to sign the big free agent and then point the finger when things go wrong. The facts are the Wilpons have spent so much money chasing their tail that to start all over would seem like an admission of failure to them. Their interests are many. Public relations, ticket sales, ad revenue ect ect ect. Someday someone like Nelson Doubleday will come along and he’ll hire a man that does have the strength and discipline to stay the course and then we’ll have a year like 1984 (a very memorable and enjoyable year for me personally) followed by a great 1985 and a Thank God 1986 and on. Until then it’s one disjointed move after another and God dammit Omar you said all we needed was to sign K-rod and we would be OK. Now go sell Wagner so I don’t have to pay those two prospects we could get for losing him too.
You guys have it all wrong...
“New York is not a market where you can go young,” is not a statement about the fanbase. It’s a statement about the media.
And we all know that they’re the only people whose opinion counts.
The Mets, not unlike lots of businesses, hold the paying customer in the highest contempt. The Wilpons could not care less what we’d be willing to put up with. They do care about the collective wisdom of the media. If you ever needed any proof of this, remember Jeff Francoeur.
"Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin
eh
given the results of that poll I get the feeling more fans than not wanted to keep Frenchy
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
No...
More fans than not thought he had some value and wanted to get something better than the guy who got DFAd for Cora for him, not realizing that Frenchy’s contract precluded a trade for anything of value (except of course, negative value).
by MookieTheCat on Sep 17, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
The media needs names, but the media also loves making names
Dwight Gooden was a nobody in April 1984. He didn’t stay a nobody for long.
Its not how much, but, on what?
Lets look at the METS. They are paying K-Rod, Bay, Ollie, Castillo and, Maine multi-millions to do nothing. If you took these guys off the payroll, what would we be paying? These are all bad contracts from Omar. Its the “kids” that are playing, and, winning right now. We have a good mix of youth and vets. I would dump all the above mentioned, except, Bay, who we are stuck with, and, also dump Beltran. Get two starting pitchers, and, a closer. I don’t thnk Bay will play this bad in 2011, and, with Wright, Reyes, and, a healthy rotation, we should be able to finish third, with, a chance at a wild card.
at least Maine had the injury excuse...
he was pretty decent before he got hurt, LOLperez, on the other hand…
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Amazin' Avenue
Related FanShots on Amazin' Avenue
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Snoop Dogg delivers memorable first pitch at U.S. Cellular Field
- The Juice: Mesoraco’s grand slam helps Reds complete four-game sweep of Braves
- Please hold: Indians’ Joe Smith jumps the gun on relief appearance
- Local radio host honors Cubs’ Tony Campana with parody song
- Roy Halladay bobblehead with glove on wrong hand selling on MLB.com
