Judging from the early spring training box scores, Mets manager Jerry Manuel was entirely serious about putting last season’s disaster of a second baseman Luis Castillo in the leadoff spot and moving the electrifying Jose Reyes to the number two spot.
I’m still not a fan of that lineup shift because you have to wonder how long Manuel will continue to bat Castillo in the leadoff spot when he’s hitting .235 while Jose Reyes will still be adjusting to his new role.
The last time the Mets messed with Reyes’ position on the ballclub was when they moved him to second base to clear the shortstop position for a guy named Kaz Matsui. We all know how that arrangement worked out.
I definitely hope I’m wrong, but messing with a good thing sometimes brings huge consequences; and Jose Reyes in the leadoff spot is a good thing.
Another interesting lineup placement was seeing Carlos Delgado in the number three spot.
Delgado was a monster for the last four months of the season last year, but asking for even close to a repeat from the big man is a tall order, especially considering his slow start.
The change actually makes sense only because Manuel is trying to break up the lefty-heavy bottom of the order, but it still makes more sense to have Wright at number three.
For all intents and purposes, I see Delgado getting bumped down to number six at some point and Reyes back at number one.
The first couple of months will be accompanied by some lineup tinkering by Jerry Manuel who is beginning his first full season as manager.
Additionally, for the Mets to have a chance to overcome Philadelphia this year, they will need to add another bat at the trading deadline.
Tatis and Murphy do not make a playoff caliber left fielder and Ryan Church is still unproven, although he was off to a career-year start before concussions sidelined him last year.
The Mets will undoubtedly pick up a corner outfielder by the end of July.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Castillo Batting Leadoff for the Mets? No Way, Jose
If the Mets can lay claim to one thing over the past few years, aside from being masters of the late season choke, it is that they have had probably the most electric leadoff hitter in baseball.
When Reyes comes to bat you're never quite sure what you'll get; a base hit that is almost an automatic double after you consider that he'll most likely steal second; a sharp hit ball down the line into the corner that has Reyes sliding into third with an easy triple; or a sizzling line drive that makes it over the wall for a home run. Regardless of what Reyes does, it has been proven that when Reyes performs the Mets win. Period. He ignites the entire lineup from the leadoff spot, and the leadoff spot is one place where the Mets are not broken.
So if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Luis Castillo was a great leadoff hitter for the Florida Marlins and his career totals of .292, .367 OBP and 342 SB are impressive, but Castillo last year was obviously a player in decline. He hasn't stolen over 40 bases since 2002 and his achy knees will prevent him from stealing one third the bases that Reyes would from the leadoff spot.
One of the arguments that Jerry Manuel made in favor of Castillo at leadoff was Luis' high career OBP. During the last three seasons, here is how Castillo's and Jose's OBP compare:
YEAR CASTILLO REYES
2008 .355 .358
2007 .362 .354
2006 .358 .354
While the OBP arguement may have been valid earlier in Jose's career, it holds no weight now because Reyes has grown into a solid on-base guy during the past three years.
Combine the high OBP with Reyes' other stats (16 HR, 19 3B, 113 R) and in addition to his flair, it is obvious that he is not the guy whose game you would want to disrupt.
Luis Castillo may very well rebound this year and have a fine season, but he'd better suit the second spot in the order because he will not be the leadoff hitter that Jose Reyes is. Ever.
Leave the best leadoff hitter in baseball where he belongs- the leadoff spot.
When Reyes comes to bat you're never quite sure what you'll get; a base hit that is almost an automatic double after you consider that he'll most likely steal second; a sharp hit ball down the line into the corner that has Reyes sliding into third with an easy triple; or a sizzling line drive that makes it over the wall for a home run. Regardless of what Reyes does, it has been proven that when Reyes performs the Mets win. Period. He ignites the entire lineup from the leadoff spot, and the leadoff spot is one place where the Mets are not broken.
So if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Luis Castillo was a great leadoff hitter for the Florida Marlins and his career totals of .292, .367 OBP and 342 SB are impressive, but Castillo last year was obviously a player in decline. He hasn't stolen over 40 bases since 2002 and his achy knees will prevent him from stealing one third the bases that Reyes would from the leadoff spot.
One of the arguments that Jerry Manuel made in favor of Castillo at leadoff was Luis' high career OBP. During the last three seasons, here is how Castillo's and Jose's OBP compare:
YEAR CASTILLO REYES
2008 .355 .358
2007 .362 .354
2006 .358 .354
While the OBP arguement may have been valid earlier in Jose's career, it holds no weight now because Reyes has grown into a solid on-base guy during the past three years.
Combine the high OBP with Reyes' other stats (16 HR, 19 3B, 113 R) and in addition to his flair, it is obvious that he is not the guy whose game you would want to disrupt.
Luis Castillo may very well rebound this year and have a fine season, but he'd better suit the second spot in the order because he will not be the leadoff hitter that Jose Reyes is. Ever.
Leave the best leadoff hitter in baseball where he belongs- the leadoff spot.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Danica Patrick and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
It's that time of year again when Sports Illustrated releases everyone's favorite sporting magazine- the swimsuit issue.
This year, SI gives readers an inside look at NASCAR and lays out a pretty good argument to become a fan of the Sport.
Here are some excerpts from this in-depth look at NASCAR by Sports Illustrated:
Danica Patrick
More from America's favorite sports magazine, including covergirl Bar Rafaeli:
This year, SI gives readers an inside look at NASCAR and lays out a pretty good argument to become a fan of the Sport.
Here are some excerpts from this in-depth look at NASCAR by Sports Illustrated:
Danica Patrick
More from America's favorite sports magazine, including covergirl Bar Rafaeli:
Sports News & Views; Mr. Bud and Brett Favre
It's comical to listen to Bud Selig these days when he condemns A-Rod and all the other steroid abusers in Baseball because you'd think the guy had no idea what was going on for all those years.
I remember back in 1987 or 1988 when Lenny Dykstra showed up at New York Mets Spring Training claiming that he had gained 30 pounds of muscle in the offseason.
Back then I was a young adult and my brain was not fully formed (some would argue that it still is not) but I thought something was pretty fishy when Lenny's claims were posted on the back pages of the NY Daily News.
Now we have Bud Selig, who is something like the 5th highest paid 'player' in Baseball, playing the holier-than-thou card just because he got caught. Yes, Bud got caught just as much as A-Rod got caught because the world knows he was looking the other way when records were being broken and fans were paying for tickets in record numbers.
Bud Selig presided over the most profitable age in Baseball, but there will be an asterisk placed next to Bud's legacy just like there will be one next to the legacies of Bonds, Clemens and now A-Rod.
Bud's tough talk is just that- talk. And it's cheap talk at that. The sport has a revamped drug testing policy which Selig will take credit for, but does anyone really think he would have implemented that policy if the court of public opinion (and Congress) wasn't pushing him to do so?
Talk your talk, Bud, and sleep with your millions of dollars, but don't take your fans for idiots and insinuate that you knew nothing of this steroid mess as it was developing.
This week we got the annual proclamation from Brett Favre stating that he plans on retiring.
Chances are, in my opinion, 80% that Favre comes back next season, although not for the Jets. His tenure as a Jet was a complete failure even though he had his critics fooled for a few midseason games when the Jets looked a lock to make the playoffs and the football world began whispering about an all New York Super Bowl in Tampa.
However, the Jets imploded last season for the same reason that Favre will come back next season- Favre likes it to be all about him.
When the Jets needed him most down the stretch last season, Favre was on TV talking about the possibility of his retirement, not how he planned to lead his team to the playoffs. It became painfully obvious to Jets fans, and probably Jets players, that Favre did not care about making the playoffs as much as he did listening to his own soundbites.
Favre's love affair with himself cost the Jets their season and Eric Mangini his job. Nothing can ever take away from the legacy that Favre left in Green Bay, but he'll be judged by two legacies now, and his second one as a Jet is a complete failure. The Jets gave up a lot for him and he rode into town like a saviour only for the city of New York to watch the Quarterback who Favre replaced lead his new team to first place in the division and a playoff berth.
If Favre stays retired now and just shuts up, history will forgive and forget (but New York won't).
If he changes his mind (again) and makes a mockery of this offseason (again), Favre will be remembered as a great Quarterback that couldn't let go and let a football nation watch his physical (and mental) decline.
Favre doesn't care about all that, though, because to him, as long as his name is in a headline somewhere, or his voice is on a soundbite somewhere, everything will be just fine- for him.
And that's what Favre loves even more than he loves football- he likes it to be all about him.
I remember back in 1987 or 1988 when Lenny Dykstra showed up at New York Mets Spring Training claiming that he had gained 30 pounds of muscle in the offseason.
Back then I was a young adult and my brain was not fully formed (some would argue that it still is not) but I thought something was pretty fishy when Lenny's claims were posted on the back pages of the NY Daily News.
Now we have Bud Selig, who is something like the 5th highest paid 'player' in Baseball, playing the holier-than-thou card just because he got caught. Yes, Bud got caught just as much as A-Rod got caught because the world knows he was looking the other way when records were being broken and fans were paying for tickets in record numbers.
Bud Selig presided over the most profitable age in Baseball, but there will be an asterisk placed next to Bud's legacy just like there will be one next to the legacies of Bonds, Clemens and now A-Rod.
Bud's tough talk is just that- talk. And it's cheap talk at that. The sport has a revamped drug testing policy which Selig will take credit for, but does anyone really think he would have implemented that policy if the court of public opinion (and Congress) wasn't pushing him to do so?
Talk your talk, Bud, and sleep with your millions of dollars, but don't take your fans for idiots and insinuate that you knew nothing of this steroid mess as it was developing.
This week we got the annual proclamation from Brett Favre stating that he plans on retiring.
Chances are, in my opinion, 80% that Favre comes back next season, although not for the Jets. His tenure as a Jet was a complete failure even though he had his critics fooled for a few midseason games when the Jets looked a lock to make the playoffs and the football world began whispering about an all New York Super Bowl in Tampa.
However, the Jets imploded last season for the same reason that Favre will come back next season- Favre likes it to be all about him.
When the Jets needed him most down the stretch last season, Favre was on TV talking about the possibility of his retirement, not how he planned to lead his team to the playoffs. It became painfully obvious to Jets fans, and probably Jets players, that Favre did not care about making the playoffs as much as he did listening to his own soundbites.
Favre's love affair with himself cost the Jets their season and Eric Mangini his job. Nothing can ever take away from the legacy that Favre left in Green Bay, but he'll be judged by two legacies now, and his second one as a Jet is a complete failure. The Jets gave up a lot for him and he rode into town like a saviour only for the city of New York to watch the Quarterback who Favre replaced lead his new team to first place in the division and a playoff berth.
If Favre stays retired now and just shuts up, history will forgive and forget (but New York won't).
If he changes his mind (again) and makes a mockery of this offseason (again), Favre will be remembered as a great Quarterback that couldn't let go and let a football nation watch his physical (and mental) decline.
Favre doesn't care about all that, though, because to him, as long as his name is in a headline somewhere, or his voice is on a soundbite somewhere, everything will be just fine- for him.
And that's what Favre loves even more than he loves football- he likes it to be all about him.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Joe Torre's Book and A-Rod Being A-Rod
Joe Torre created quite the controversy with his latest book, 'The Yankee Years', written by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci.
Although Verducci wrote in the third person about Torre, Papa Joe has stood by everything written and contends that the truth about life in the Yankee clubhouse during his manager years needed to be unveiled.
I have yet to read the book, but I've been keeping up on the controversy.
I'm pretty surprised that Torre broke the sanctity of the clubhouse while he is still managing a Major League team, but it's probably not as surprising to anyone who has had insider info on the inner workings of the circus that has become the Yankee organization.
In my opinion, Torre became an enigma in himself and many of the egos in New York and Tampa could not cope with him stealing that much spotlight. Hank and Hal wanted some credit for having the ability to open up a wallet and throw money around, but wanted Joe to take the heat if the big-money veterans couldn't gel in the clubhouse.
Joe Torre's tenure as a Yankee may be somewhat tarnished as a result of this tell-all (but I bet there's a whole lot more to tell) book, but his legacy cannot be denied.
It is also ironic that Torre will probably make more from the popularity of this book than the Yanks offered him to manage last season.
Sometimes the drama gets to be so much that an honored figure like Joe Torre breaks a little bit. Sure he loses a little bit of that impeccable image, but he doesn't look as bad as the Yankees do.
As for A-Rod, or A-Fraud, or is it A-Roid (his nickname on the back pages of the New York tabloids changes daily), his is the image that is becoming tarnished.
It's bad enough for the superstar that he can't hit in the playoff clutch, but his recent admission of using steroids will put a question mark next to everything he has done in the game, and everything he ever will do.
The Yankees, in my opinion, were hoping to see A-Rod ultimately break the all time home run record as a Yankee sometime down the road, and that could have played into why they were willing to break the bank for A-Rod even after he made an idiot of himself by opting out of his contract.
Now, even if the guy does approach the record, no one is really going to care because, after all, it has now been revealed that he is an A-Fraud.
To be fair to Rodriguez, it's not right that his name was revealed while no others, especially considering the tests from 2003 were supposed to be confidential.
However, on a good note, judging by the below pictures, A-Rod is still rounding second base pretty often, but unfortunately, we already know that he can't perform in the clutch.
Although Verducci wrote in the third person about Torre, Papa Joe has stood by everything written and contends that the truth about life in the Yankee clubhouse during his manager years needed to be unveiled.
I have yet to read the book, but I've been keeping up on the controversy.
I'm pretty surprised that Torre broke the sanctity of the clubhouse while he is still managing a Major League team, but it's probably not as surprising to anyone who has had insider info on the inner workings of the circus that has become the Yankee organization.
In my opinion, Torre became an enigma in himself and many of the egos in New York and Tampa could not cope with him stealing that much spotlight. Hank and Hal wanted some credit for having the ability to open up a wallet and throw money around, but wanted Joe to take the heat if the big-money veterans couldn't gel in the clubhouse.
Joe Torre's tenure as a Yankee may be somewhat tarnished as a result of this tell-all (but I bet there's a whole lot more to tell) book, but his legacy cannot be denied.
It is also ironic that Torre will probably make more from the popularity of this book than the Yanks offered him to manage last season.
Sometimes the drama gets to be so much that an honored figure like Joe Torre breaks a little bit. Sure he loses a little bit of that impeccable image, but he doesn't look as bad as the Yankees do.
As for A-Rod, or A-Fraud, or is it A-Roid (his nickname on the back pages of the New York tabloids changes daily), his is the image that is becoming tarnished.
It's bad enough for the superstar that he can't hit in the playoff clutch, but his recent admission of using steroids will put a question mark next to everything he has done in the game, and everything he ever will do.
The Yankees, in my opinion, were hoping to see A-Rod ultimately break the all time home run record as a Yankee sometime down the road, and that could have played into why they were willing to break the bank for A-Rod even after he made an idiot of himself by opting out of his contract.
Now, even if the guy does approach the record, no one is really going to care because, after all, it has now been revealed that he is an A-Fraud.
To be fair to Rodriguez, it's not right that his name was revealed while no others, especially considering the tests from 2003 were supposed to be confidential.
However, on a good note, judging by the below pictures, A-Rod is still rounding second base pretty often, but unfortunately, we already know that he can't perform in the clutch.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl Sunday
As much as I'd like to see another dog team pull out a win in this years Super Bowl, as the Giants did last year, this one will go to the Steelers.
23-17
23-17
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