Prospect Smackdown: Davis vs. Freeman vs. Morrison
by robcast23 on Mar 13, 2010 4:31 PM EST
9 comments
With so much of the talk during ST revolving around rising stars, I thought the time was ripe for another Prospect Smackdown. And where better to focus than first base, with 3 teams in the NL East nearly ready to graduate young first base prospects, all of whom are big, athletic lefties with similar profiles, figuring to anchor their respective lineups for years to come. As usual, I'll try to be as impartial as possible here.
Prospect Smackdown: Ike Davis vs. Freddie Freeman vs. Logan Morrison
9 comments | 6 recs
Open Thread: Mets vs Tigers, 3/13/2010
by Eric Simon on Mar 13, 2010 1:28 PM EST
49 comments
Oliver Perez gets the start for the Mets, followed by Hisanori Takahashi, Nelson Figueroa, Sean Green, Bobby Parnell, and Jenrry Mejia.
The game is on PIX11 and MLB.tv and on the radio on WFAN.
49 comments | 0 recs
Chris Carter: virtu and fortuna
by Michkin on Mar 12, 2010 3:45 PM EST
52 comments
Yes, he hit 3 HR's in 3 straight at bats. In Spring Training. Should he be in the opening day roster because of that?
(He should be considered for the opening day roster because of all the other stuff, not just 3 AB).
Note: This is not about the Oakland Athletics prospect (right-handed hitter), The X-Files creator, the safety, the wide receiver, the New Zealand politician or the Canadian television actor.
52 comments | 21 recs
Fred Lewis: This Year's Sheffield But Better
by James Kannengieser on Mar 12, 2010 11:00 AM EST
23 comments
In a recent online chat, CSNBayArea's Mychael Urban gave a shout-out to SB Nation blogs Athletics Nation and McCovey Chronicles, and also predicted that 29 year-old Giants outfielder Fred Lewis would be "cut loose near the end of camp". If this happens, the Mets should try to sign him, much like they did when Gary Sheffield became available just before Opening Day 2009.
Lewis is a lefty-hitting corner outfielder with a career wOBA of .343 in 1048 plate appearances. Projections peg him at something around a .330-.340 wOBA, or slightly above average. He's also a plus defender in the corner outfield spots, per all the defensive metrics. This is an overall league average performer who would be manning the Mets' fifth outfielder spot (and is probably better than the current third and fourth outfielders).
Lewis is out of options and wouldn't cost anything. Based on this post at McCovey Chronicles, it seems he might be the Angel Pagan of the Giants, at least in the average fan's view:
The haters chime in here, saying things like "Lewis drives me nuts when he plays the outfield! He takes weird routes! He makes stupid baserunning mistakes! He just isn’t a heady baseball player!" I can see your point. I disagree with the premise that it adds up to Lewis being a below-average player, but I can see how he’s a frustrating player to watch.
Sounds like the type of player Brian Sabean wants no part of, much to the chagrin of MCC but potentially to the delight of Amazin' Avenue. Production trumps (almost) everything, and Met fans should be happy to endure the occasional baserunning blunder in return for a 1-2 win player being paid peanuts.
If the season began today, emerging cult hero Chris "The Animal" Carter would be worthy of a spot on the big-league bench. However, if Lewis is jettisoned by the San Francisco brain trust and signed by the Mets, Carter would rightfully start the season at AAA. This situation should be monitored and let's hope for a subpar March performance from Lewis.
23 comments | 0 recs |
Indefinite Applesauce - Reyes out at least two weeks, Mets turn to Tejada, Pelfrey shaky again
by Joe Budd on Mar 12, 2010 9:59 AM EST
in Applesauce
26 comments
26 comments | 0 recs |
Prospect Retrospective: Pete Schourek
by Alex Nelson on Mar 12, 2010 5:00 AM EST
15 comments
The Mets drafted Pete Schourek in the second round of the 1987 draft out of Marshall High School in Virginia. Schourek’s principal asset as an 18-year-old was his height; his lanky, six-foot-five frame offered lots in the way of projection, and his sinking fastball was already sitting in the high 80s. It didn’t require much imagination to see Schourek eventually sitting in the low 90s, plus velocity for a southpaw. The other big point in Schourek’s favor was that he already had a very good breaking ball, a hammer curve that could bend knees. He needed a changeup, but that’s really not uncommon for young high school arms.
The Mets quickly signed Pistol Pete and sent him to Kingsport to close out 1987. He made 12 starts and pitched just okay: his strikeout rate was okay, his walk rate was okay. He wasn’t a world beater, but he held his own, and the Mets were prepared to give him a taste of full-season ball in 1988. But Schourek’s elbow had other ideas, and Tommy John surgery kept him out for the entirety of the season.
Schourek’s 1989 suddenly become a season of paramount importance. He had lost a year of development, and nobody knew what to expect from his arm as it recovered. He played a whole season for Columbia in the South Atlantic League, and the results were generally positive. His ERA was well above the league average, and his strikeout rate was much stronger than it had been at Kingsport, increasing from 6.5 to 8.7 per nine innings. He was walking a batter every two innings, but, coming off a major arm surgery, it was a strong showing. The Mets rewarded his performance with a promotion to St. Lucie late in the season.
15 comments | 0 recs |
Brian Giles Announces Retirement, Was Awesome
by Eric Simon on Mar 11, 2010 10:54 PM EST
17 comments
Brian Giles retired today, and I have a feeling that he probably won't get the recognition he deserves for being a truly remarkable hitter for a long time. Frankly, I'm not sure he ever got it, though the Padres did once trade Jason Bay and Oliver Perez for him so it seems like someone in San Diego thought very highly of him.
I'm not saying that people didn't realize he was a good player, just that they probably don't realize how good he was for a little while there.
| wOBA1 | wOBA2 | wOBA3 | wOBA4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Giles | .434 | .433 | .413 | .445 |
| Alex Rodriguez | .433 | .428 | .424 | .420 |
| Albert Pujols | .462 | .439 | .436 | .448 |
The table above represents the best consecutive four-season stretches for Giles (1999-2002), Alex Rodriguez (2000-2003), and Albert Pujols (2003-2006). They don't necessarily represent these players' four best seasons, but perhaps the peaks of their careers (though Pujols might actually be in the midst of his peak right now). While Giles has still been a decent player for the last few years (notwithstanding 2009), he doesn't have nearly the dominant longevity of the other two. Nevertheless, his offensive peak was at least as good as Rodriguez's and not too far off from Pujols's, which puts Giles in pretty good company with arguably the two best non-Bondsian players of the past decade.
Giles's traditional offensive slash lines for those seasons are just awesome.
| AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | .315 | .418 | .614 | 1.032 |
| 2000 | .315 | .432 | .594 | 1.026 |
| 2001 | .309 | .404 | .590 | .994 |
| 2002 | .298 | .450 | .622 | 1.072 |
The highest Giles ever finished in the MVP voting was 13th in 2002, and he was only an All-Star in two of his four peak seasons. Leg injuries—his knees and ankles in particular—destroyed his power following 2002, as it dipped from .622 to .514. The massive alleys at Petro Park surely did him no favors either, though Giles was able to stick around for a number of years on the strength of his superb eye at the plate. He'll retire with considerably more walks than strikeouts: 1183 to 835. He doesn't have 300 homeruns or even 2,000 hits, and he doesn't really have a chance to make the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in five years, but at his best he was surpassed by very few of his contemporaries.
17 comments | 2 recs |
Open Thread: Mets vs Red Sox, 3/11/2010
by Eric Simon on Mar 11, 2010 1:12 PM EST
73 comments
Jason Bay collides with his former team! John Lackey gets his first look at the club that spurned him this offseason! Jerry Manuel says, "That's gangsta!"
Mike Pelfrey gets the start today at Tradition Field, followed by Pedro Feliciano, Tobi Stoner, Ryota Igarashi, Bobby Livingston, Elmer Dessens, and Travis Blackley.
If you're at the game, send a photo of the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and maybe we'll put it on the site.
Today's game can be seen on SNY and MLB.tv.
73 comments | 0 recs
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