Friday Morning Applesauce: Mets One Up Red Sox Clubhouse, Considered Moving Wright

by Stephen Schmidt on Oct 14, 2011 9:36 AM EDT in Applesauce

Dan Patrick went a little deeper into the history books yesterday, asking Al Leiter a very specific question about the Mets clubhouse that definitely appeared to have caught Leiter off guard. It's definitely worth listening to the interview if you haven't already, although I don't know how many conclusions I'd make from it.

In more important news, the Orioles have been rumored to be interested in interviewing JP Riccardi for their vacant GM position. The have been multiple sources on Twitter that have denied the club's interest in JP, but in my opinion it's worth pointing out the story anyway.

Irving Picard seems to believe that he's not going to have a favorable outcome in his attempt to sue the Wilpons over the whole Madoff affair and seems to be trying to bypass this step in the process. The longer this drags out can only hurt the Mets, so hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later.

There was also some talk that the Mets have discussed moving David Wright to the outfield to allow Daniel Murphy to play at third. While I'd be all for moving Wright if there was an Evan Longoria nipping at his heels, I don't think it makes too much sense to do so for Daniel Murphy.

Around MLB

The Brew Crew evened up the NLCS yesterday behind a strong performance from Randy Wolf. Game 5 will be tonight at 8:05 EST for those of you planning to tune in. The WSJ ran a story about how the Yankees released Brew Crew closer John Axford yesterday, something I hadn't heard about until very recently.

The ALCS also got a little closer as the Tigers won 7-5 over the Rangers to draw within a game at 3-2. In that game Nelson Cruz continued to show why he's among the elite players in baseball.

Baseball Prospectus took a look at why teams tend to miss on their evaluations of young hitters so often. I'm sure most clubs would love to have a re-do on their evaluations of Mike Trout and Jason Heyward at this point.

BtB ran down a post 2011 NL West all star team using less traditional statistics. These types of articles are always fun reads for myself, as it really does tend to show how some traditional statistics tend to miss certain players.

Some guy named Eno did a preview of the 2012 free agent catching market over at FanGraphs. This one might be worthy of note, as catcher is a position where the Mets seemingly could upgrade without breaking the budget.

The Padres are going to be adding a few extra names to the free agent list this offseason, stating they are declining several options yesterday. Several of these guys could be fits as Mets, so they'll be worth keeping an eye on.

Finally, the LA Times takes a look at how declaring bankruptcy could end up costing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

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Comments

They must not have a great prognosis for Wrights future defensive play

amest I bovvered forsooth?
ARE YOU DISRESPECTING THE HOUSE OF CITI
ARE YOU CALLING REYES A POX RIDDEN WENCH
ARE YOU CALLING DAVID WRIGHT A GOODLY ROTTEN APPLE
CAUSE HE AIN'T EVEN A GOODLY ROTTEN APPLE THOUGH

by Gina on Oct 14, 2011 9:50 AM EDT reply actions

-1 WAR on defense over the last three years

Scouts talking about diminished range, and he always threw the ball like he had some case of semi-yips.

by Philip Larkin on Oct 14, 2011 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Mind you

That’s -1 WAR in every single season, not 2009-11 cumulative.

by Philip Larkin on Oct 14, 2011 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, the idea was squashed according to the article

Also, his UZR was stable this year after he returned from the DL. He altered the way he was throwing the ball. If he plays defensively next year like he did this year in the second half, he should be a league average defensive third baseman.

__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Oct 14, 2011 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

But there is no reason to assume that his average will be only like one chunk of the season

the larger pool of data—the last three years together—definitively shows Wright to be a below average defensive 3B.

don’t get me wrong, he’s our 3B going forward and I’m happy that he is…but he probably not going to improve much defensively, though i will hold out hope that he reverts to 4-5 years ago +defense form.

by BurleighGrimes on Oct 14, 2011 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah and defense generally drops off significantly around 30

that’s the only reasonable explanation for why they’d consider the switch.

by Gina on Oct 14, 2011 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

His range has been awful for some time now.

There is absolutely no reason to expect it to get better

by Mike Clemente on Oct 14, 2011 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Here's why I think that Dubs MIGHT post a respectable UZR next seasion

He still has the athleticism to play a league average 3B
His UZR stopped its 2011 free-fall after he returned from the DL, which corresponded with a change in his throwing mechanics. We have an actual explanation other than a statistical fluke.

__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Oct 14, 2011 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions

But UZR doesn't really take infield throwing into account, right?

At least according to this UZR Index on Fangraphs I can’t find any info that says it does really take throwing into account. I guess perhaps the throwing errors would effect his UZR but he made a lot of errors after coming back. I think that it’s his range that’s being questioned and from the eye test, it seems to be diminished. He doesn’t seem to get to as many balls as he used to going left to right.

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by Steve Schreiber on Oct 14, 2011 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Comparing 2009-2010 to 2011, the range component improved and the error component got worse.

I’m reluctant to draw any definite conclusions based on 2011, specially since he logged fewer innings. A better positioning and more consistent throws can offset some of his defensive decline, but 10 runs improvement is a lot, and somewhat improbable. If he can improve to just slight below average, that’ll be great.

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Oct 14, 2011 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions

If he can hit like he did from 2005-2008

I can live with a -4 to -6 UZR.

2012 National League Wild Card Champion New York Mets

by piazza62 on Oct 14, 2011 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll take 3 years of UZR data over a couple of month's

by secret defense on Oct 14, 2011 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions

2.5 Years

and I don’t see how an alteration in the input can be so easily dismissed.

__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Oct 14, 2011 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Aren't his throws the problem?

rather than his range?

"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"

by feslenraster on Oct 14, 2011 7:15 PM EDT up reply actions

How do you get any prognosis on future defensive play?

Did the medical staff weigh in on this?

by graves9 on Oct 14, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

would you let our medical staff way in on anything?

by Gina on Oct 14, 2011 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm interested on their thoughts on the whole #occupywallstreet stuff

by graves9 on Oct 14, 2011 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm all in favor of signing Ramon Hernandez

Good defensive catcher, stays healthy, competent hitter, right-handed. Pairing him with Thole sounds like a cheap and efficient way of improving the team.

by Philip Larkin on Oct 14, 2011 10:00 AM EDT reply actions

Is he going to be that cheap though?

Competent hitting catchers are hard to come by. I may have lost touch with how well he has played but I seem to remember him being pretty darn good, would he even share time with Thole?

by guyfish on Oct 14, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Just checked the stats

Competent’s about right. I imagine he gets a two or maybe even three year deal somewhere, though.

by guyfish on Oct 14, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

He will be 36 next year

And he shared playing time with Hanigan over the last two years with the Reds. I doubt he plans to catch 120-130 games again.

by Philip Larkin on Oct 14, 2011 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Ah, thanks for this.

Maybe not the three year deal then :P

by guyfish on Oct 14, 2011 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Based on those Madoff stories, it looks like Rakoff's decisions will be overturned and the process will drag on.

The amount to be paid was capped around $300m-ish, but that could change too. Where is MTC when we need him?

While I’d be all for moving Wright if there was an Evan Longoria nipping at his heels, I don’t think it makes too much sense to do so for Daniel Murphy

And by Evan Longoria, you mean Zack Lutz.

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Oct 14, 2011 10:36 AM EDT reply actions

The poor bastard is more snake bitten than the entire franchise

by graves9 on Oct 14, 2011 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

even at a 300 millionish cap do the Wilpons have that kind of cash lying around?

I wonder how much they’d actually be able to raise in a somewhat limited period.

by Gina on Oct 14, 2011 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions

One previous story had stated that they would have to return 80m in profits.

Another 300m in principal would be likely, but up for debate. So there would be strong incentives for them to settle, if the base (80m) and the cap (380) were set. That was the conclusion after Rakoff dismissed 11 of the 13 (?) allegations against the Wilpons. Though reading those links from today, the story is not like that. In case they had settled, I suppose they would work on installments.
In any case, we would have to consult with AA Legal Advisor, but he is MIA in Africa.

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Oct 14, 2011 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions

That group of catchers

is abysmal. 6th grade dance doesn’t even begin to cover it.

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by Cory Braiterman on Oct 14, 2011 12:57 PM EDT reply actions

So...A porn room...

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Oct 14, 2011 1:28 PM EDT reply actions

The epicenter of "grission"

__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Oct 14, 2011 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

how about that?

Now, kids, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep; in giant blender.

by meigs1414 on Oct 14, 2011 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

rumor is it was remodeled by

Chad Bradford

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by itsmetsforme on Oct 14, 2011 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I like having both Murphy and Wright in the lineup

so I think whatever gives us the best D with both of them player is worth a shot. I have not seem Murphy at 3B enough to say if he is better, worse , or about even with Wright at 3B. Wright has made quite a few errors over the last few years. I have seen Murphy in the OF and he sucks, so if Wright can play OF better than Murphy and Murphy can play at par with Wright at 3B, then maybe this is our best option. I do not like Murphy at 2B getting hurt. He was in horrible position on the play he got hurt on.

Any task BIG or small, Do it well or not at all

by Rickfansince76 on Oct 14, 2011 3:08 PM EDT reply actions