http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings090903
In the above article, ESPN’s Jason Stark looks at the Mets and their prospects in seasons beyond the nightmare 2009 campaign. Some interesting notes:
On Help from the Minors-
As big a nightmare as the big league season may have been, life wasn’t exactly nirvana down below, either. The Mets’ Triple-A and Double-A teams are a combined 60 games under .500. Not one full-season Mets affiliate has a winning record. And we haven’t even gotten into the whole Tony Bernazard affair.
“That system is a mess,” said one NL executive. “They’re going to have to have a complete organizational, philosophical direction change.”
“That’s not a good system,” said an AL exec. “The good prospects they do have are a long ways away. They don’t have depth in their system or on their roster.”
While I am sure that Stark and the unnamed execs with whom he spoke don’t have the baseball IQ that some would require to make these proclamations, its not a rosy outlook.
On the Rotation-
“What are they going to do for a rotation behind Johan [Santana]?” asked one scout. “Oliver Perez has turned into their Adam Eaton. [John] Maine has reverted back to a Triple-A pitcher. [Jonathon] Niese is a rookie. Bobby Parnell is Aaron Heilman all over again. [Mike] Pelfrey is just a [No.] 4 or 5 [starter]. So they have to go out and get at least two, and probably three, starters.
Again, we can take this one scout’s word as gospel, as I am sure there are plenty of lousy scouts in baseball. However, I tend to agree with his assessment of the arms the Mets could potentially be throwing out there.
On the Outlook for Reshaping the Team:
And if they don’t make some kind of significant change to a mix of players their fans have lost faith in, can they possibly sell the 2010 Mets to a town where Yankees caps now seem to outnumber Mets caps by about 1,000 to 1?
The guys they could trade, they can’t bring themselves to trade. The guys they’d be happy to trade are guys nobody wants. And there aren’t nearly enough dollars in the old Wilpon checking account to solve this conundrum with money alone.
“So which way do they go?” asked one exec. “They don’t have any real good options. And that’s trouble.”
There is more in this article, and while I will not vouch for everything that is written there, it does reemphasize some of the points I have been making re: the Mets on this blog and in the comments. I don’t think the Mets have a team, healthy or not, to compete with the NL East. They have $30 million coming off the books, but they will have to spend it prudently. The bullpen needs which helped doom them in 2007 and 2008 have been addressed, but now other gaping holes loom.
September 3, 2009 at 5:02 pm |
Just more piling on. It’s easy to write negative stories now, and the reporters are cherry-picking their sources to support their negative view of the Mets. If Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Santana and K-Rod are all healthy, you don’t need much more. The problem the Mets have had is they want the big names and big $ guys like Santana, Beltran, Delgado, k-Rod, Wagner etc. and are willing to pay for them, but they are not willing (or able) to spend to support these players with a good supporting cast (like the Yanks can). That’s the difference between a 220 million payroll and a 135 million payroll. The Mets’ failures of 07 and 08 was on the supporting cast, but the fucking cretins in the NY media decided to blame the stars who performed up to level for lacking “intangibles.” Look at what happened when the stars got hurt this year. The supporting cast was exposed as a bunch of scrubs.
By the way, $30 million gets you M. Holliday and John Lackey with $ for a veteran catcher leftover. I’m not saying they’re gonna do that, but they’ll be fine. Santana injury very minor (he’d still be pitching if they were in the hunt) and should be fine next year. Pelf’s problems are more mental right now than anything. His secondary stuff has improved greatly this year, but he has been unable to put it all together. I suspect he’ll take a big step forward next year. He’s still young. Perez was hurt all year with the knee problem and he’s a fucking mental midget whose mechanics are a god-awful mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out of baseball in a year. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if he won 15 games next year either. Add one solid FA to those three and let Niese, Maine and Parnell battle for the 5th spot. Not bad at all.
Mejia and Holt should be ready for 2011. Same thing for F-Mart. Teh farm system is pretty decent, but the best prospects are all 2-3 years away, other than Niese and F-Mart (who can’t stay healthy).
September 4, 2009 at 8:56 am |
“If Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Santana and K-Rod are all healthy, you don’t need much more”
You need a ton more. Philly doesn’t have a match for K-rod with the way Lidge is going, but Utley, Rollins, Lee, Howard, Ibanez, Werth, Hamels, Happ> Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Santana, Murphy, Pelfry, Pagan…etc
and enough with Pelfry. He is 9-10 with a 5+ ERA and a 1.5 WHIP. The lineup injures can’t account for that. His ERA was under 4.00 once, in may, for one start. Its 6.10 in the second half and he’s had a 1.70 WHIP. You didnt make him out to be a yound kid figuring it out, you placed him as a 2-3 starter behind Johan.
I can’t believe that you would seriously consider Johan, Pelfry, Perez, unnamed free agent and that #5 pu-pu platter “not bad at all”. That is awful. an average 5.21 ERA from non-Johan starters? As presently constituted, the Yankees have a 4.19 behind CC.
I think its fair to say we have been talking baseball since 1998. In that time the Mets have made the playoffs 3 times, and averaged 84 wins. In the same span, the Yankees have made the playoffs 10 times, won the WS 3 times, made the WS 5 times, and averaged 98 wins.
I can’t remember a time during that span when you didn’t make a convincing, stats-based argument that the Mets were a good team, and the yankees were flawed. However, the most important numbers simply don’t bear that out.
September 4, 2009 at 9:43 am |
Pelf had a much lower era last year than your great white trash hope does this year. Should we write Joba off too? Pelf is a young pitcher with fantastic stuff. Patience. Perez has been hurt all year and he’s a mental midget. I’m willing to give him a mulligan. The talent is there, and he has had success in the past (including a real nice run last year from June thru August). Maine has talent too, but has been hurt. If he can’t stay healthy as a starter, he’ll be excellent in the pen with Parnell (another great young arm who lacks command for the rotation), Stokes and Feliciano setting up K-Rod. A rotation of Santana, FA signing, Pelf, Perez and 1 of Maine, Niese and Parnell would be more than adequate, particularly with a deep pen behind it.
As for that allegedly terrible farm system, Josh Thole went 2 for 5 in his major league debut yesterday. He is a 22 year old catcher who hit .328 in AA this year. He needs to refine his receiving skills (converted catcher) and won’t be ready until 2011. F-Mart (cf), Holt (p) and Mejia (p) are all top 50 prospects. Ike Davis (1b), Reese Havens (ss/2b), Thole, Ruben Tejada (ss) and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (cf) (great name, gotta root for this kid) are all emerging as real good prospects. At Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Goldstein wrote this about Nieuwenheis yesterday: “This guy is seriously blowing up. … The tools are there to match the performance, so get excited, Mets fans.” Tejada is a slick-fielding ss who is hitting over .280 at AA at the age of 19.
In A ball, they have the just turned 18 year old Wilmer Flores who a lot of scouts liken to a young Miguel Cabrera and just turned 19 Jeffrey Marte (3b), both of whom will be on a lot of top prospect lists this off season, and two big-time young arms in Kyle Allen (08 draft pick) and J. Familia (19 year old dominican). I suspect you’ll be hearing a lot about Familia next year if you follow prospects much. They’re about a year away from having a good farm system for the first time in a while, and that’s why I didn’t want them to trade away several prospects for one or two rent-a-players in a season destined be a lost cause. And because of their shitty record this year, they can sign free agents without sacrificing their first round pick. If they are willing to keep payroll at the same level as this year, they should be able to field a 90 win team next year while their farm system improves greatly. No reason for all the doom and gloom.
By the way, you should read the David Lennon article in today’s Newsday about Murphy. He repeats everything I wrote two weeks ago about his aggressive defense and improving bat after adjusting to the pitchers who had learned to pound him inside. And they have Ike Davis, who killed AA pitching this year in the minors to replace Murph in 2011.
September 4, 2009 at 10:00 am |
From Toby Hyde of Mets MinorLeague Blog:
Yesterday, Jayson Stark wrote an absolute must-read about the Mets at ESPN.com. Stark spoke with people around the game from scouts to executives who dish on the various and familiar problems for Mets fans.
Stark, given the shallow pool of free agent talent and the assumption that the Mets spending will be limited this coming off-season reasonably suggests that the Mets must improve via trade.
And Stark suggests not trading for talented players but “gritty” players:
Here’s where this gets complicated. This is a team that doesn’t just need to make a trade to patch a hole or two. It’s a team many baseball people think needs a massive chemistry transplant.
Let me be perfectly clear: this is wrong. The Mets lost in 2009 because they didn’t have enough talent to make up for their injured stars. The Mets lost in 2008 because their bullpen would have been one of the worst in history for a playoff team. Remember, Luis Ayala attempted to close games. These are talent problems, not chemistry problems. Would bringing in talented, gritty players help? Absolutely. Would bringing in gritty players help? Not unless they’re really talented.
Stark also bounces the idea of trading one of the Mets core of Beltran, Wright, Reyes or Santana this off-season, concluding that Reyes or Beltran are the only viable options. Imagining a scenario where the Mets can get a blockbuster package back for either player, with their value at its lowest point in years, is nearly impossible. This is simply not the time to sell on Reyes or Beltran.
At SNY.tv, Ted Berg, who I almost always agree with also tackles the Mets 2010 planning. He argues that the Mets recent trades of youngsters (See: Santana, Putz) has left the team short on major league caliber players which forces the team into overspending to bring in role players like Alex Cora for $2.5 million. There’s a minor fallacy here, I think in that, even after trading youngsters away, the Mets didn’t have to spend $2.5 million on Alex Cora; $1 million or so would have netted an equivalent substitute.
So, Ted argues, for the coming year, the Mets
“… should save their money, hold onto their prospects and spend 2010 figuring out which holes cannot be filled from within.”
This position strikes me as incomplete, although not Jayson Stark level irrational (trade Reyes or Beltran when neither has value). As I understand this argument, it goes: hope and more hope. Given the Mets elite core, new stadium and narrowing window, standing pat should be unacceptable. It means:
1. offering arbitration to Jeff Francoeur and hoping that he hits more like his .301/.323/.503 line for the Mets in 158 AB rather than his career .269/.309/.429 hitter over the first MLB 2,636 AB. What rationale is there to believe that this is reasonable? Francoeur’s walk rate as a Met has declined to a career worst 2.7%, while his BABIP as a Met is .327, his best since 2007.
2. handing the LF job to Fernando Martinez and hoping the 21-year-old 1. stays healthy for the first time in his career and becomes an adequate corner OF immediately. Remember, Martinez’s high in games played was 90 in 2008 and that includes four rehab appearances in the GCL. He played in 74 games in 2009, culminating in a .176/.242/.275 line in 91 AB at the MLB level.
3. hoping Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans or Chris Carter, if in fact he is the PTBNL in the Billy Wagner trade form some sort of acceptable firstbase platoon.
4. hoping that Josh Thole and Omir Santos form an acceptable catching tandem. Of the first four hopes, this actually seems the most likely to happen.
5. hoping that John Maine, Oliver Perez and Jonathan Niese are healthy and effective enough to complement Johan Santana, and that Santana himself approximates the Santana of 2008.
6. hoping that Mike Pelfrey makes the improvements he hasn’t yet to be more than a back-end starter.
That’s a lot of hope for this author’s taste.
However, hope would be better than wildly overpaying for the services of Benji Molina or Jerrod Washburn to pick two potential 2010 free agents who will likely be paid much, much more than their worth.
The Money
If healthy, the Mets really still do have a championship-caliber core, and will through 2011. To take advantage of that window, the Mets must do everything in their power, beyond wishing upon a little star, to create a World Series caliber team in 2010 and 2011. Following the 2011 season, three members of the core, and five players- Beltran, Reyes, K-Rod, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and K-Rod will be free agents – will be free agents. Assuming the Mets pick up Reyes’ 2011 option at $11 million dollars, those five will take up $60.488 million dollars in 2011.
According to the wonderful Cots, the Mets already have $90+ million dollars committed for 2010 with John Maine, Jeff Francoeur and Pedro Feliciano scheduled for arbitration. If the Mets offer all three arbitration, the Mets’ payroll will likely sit north of $96 million to pay for a roster that has fallen short three years in a row, twice by the slimmest of margins, and one by a yawning chasm of injury-induced irrelevance. The question is how best, given whatever budget ownership sets, to add the pieces that will make the Mets not just competitive, but championship caliber good in 2010 and 2011.
In part, a big part will be have to be a return to superstar level production by the Mets stars.
The second part cannot be answered alone by a series of hopes of varying degrees of far-fetchedness.
Is Free Agency the Answer?
Partly, but it’s a terrible class.
John Lackey says he wants AJ Burnett-type money (5 yrs/$82). If he was pitching like 2005-2007 when he put up WARs of 5.9, 6.0 and 5.6, that would be worth it. In 2009, John Lackey’s 2.9 WAR is equivalent to Randy Wolf’s. He’s missed pieces of ‘08 and ‘09 with arm problems, this year with elbow troubles. So, that would be $80 million for the age 31-35 seasons of a guy who has declined from his elite peak into a very good pitcher? No thanks. Such a contract would make the Mets better in 2010, and 2011 mind you, but the odds are that it would be an albatross at the back end.
With question marks at all three of the primary power positions, LF, RF, and 1B, the Mets would be well served to add a premium bat and there are two available: Jason Bay’s .395 wOBA is fifth among MLB OF, while Matt Holliday’s .391 is sixth. Bay, who will be 31 on Opening Day 2010, and Holliday who will be 30, will both want longterm deals at big money. Both would be better five-year commitments than Lackey. If the Mets are serious about playing playoff baseball in 2010, they must upgrade their production from the corners not manned by David Wright. Holliday or Bay would meet this requirement.
Would Carlos Delgado come back on a short, incentive laden contract to play 1B? Maybe. Would he be productive after missing almost all of 2009? Maybe.
The Minors
Lets take a look at a few of the guys close to the big leagues.
Pitching
Neither Brad Holt nor Jenrry Mejia have conquered AA in the manner that would make one think they could help early in 2010. Although scouts have had good things to say about Mejia recently, the Mets just cannot count on either for 2010 in the majors.
LHP Adam Bostick has quietly been terrific out of the Buffalo bullpen (2.61 ERA, 41 K and 17 BB in 38 IP) and murder on lefties (.222/.300/.278 with just two XBH allowed in 36 AB). It’s small beans, but the Mets should not need to sign a free agent or make a trade for another LOOGY this offseason, when a perfectly competent one is under team control.
Ike Davis has had a great 2009, clubbing an organizational best 20 HR between advanced-A and AA as part of a .298/.381/.524 year. He should start 2010 in AAA, but his near-readyness should be a deterrent to spending too heavily or investing in a long-term contract at 1B.
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis’ late-season surge which has taken him to AA, is not enough to place him in the MLB plans for 2010.
SS/2B Ruben Tejada is blocked by Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo and doesn’t offer the pop the Mets so desperately need. Should either need to miss significant time in the coming years however, he might prove a capable stop-gap.
The Answer
Stark is right, to a degree: there’s no easy answer. However, the fact that there are no easy answers doesn’t mean there are no answers. Free agency cannot be a complete answer, and the contracts signed there could be long-term burdens, just as the current Mets contracts are now. Trades will be difficult. Standing pat is one answer but it carries its own significant risks with a questionable reward.
Given that this will be the current regime’s last without a playoff berth in 2010, a quiet off-season in Flushing seems highly unlikely.
September 4, 2009 at 11:55 am |
that was a whole lot of reading dude. How about the cliff notes version with a link next time?
And Joba had a 3.62 ERA coming into this month, before he started getting jerked around in the rotation. and he still has several starts left. So this much lower ERA crap is pure nonsense. Let him finish the year before you compare a during the season ERA to an end of season ERA. Right now vs right now your boy is 9-10 with a 5.03, mine is 8-4 with a 4.38. Mets 17-15 in Pelf starts in 2008, Yankees 17-8 in Joba starts in 2009. And dont forget Pelfry pitched 200 innings last year.
Joba is a better pitcher than Mike Pelfry, younger with better stuff. And hes still being groomed. At 23 Pelfry was 3-8 with a 5.57, at 23 Joba is 8-4 with a 4.38.
September 4, 2009 at 12:27 pm |
Pelf has excellent stuff and you know it. He throws a consistent 95 with great natural sink. His slider has improved greatly this year, and his changeup is coming along. He just hasn’t put it all together this year for whatever reason (mental?). And he has also been killed by horrible defense as a groundball pitcher. Castillo (old cripple) and Cora (mediocre 2b playing ss) have no range in the middle of that infield, and Pelf has been hurt by that. Joba’s fastball velocity is erratic. One start he’s at 94-95, the next time he’s at 90-91. But Joba’s slider is absolutely nasty. That’s the difference between the two. I wasn’t saying that Pelf is better than Joba (though Joba has yet to have a season as good as Pelf’s last year), but I was simply pointing out that its wrong to judge young pitchers with good stuff prematurely. People could very easily say “Joba sucks his era is nearly 4.50 and he cant pitch more than 5 innings.” That would be unfair and premature. But labeling Pelf has nothing more than a number 5 is unfair and premature as well. Lets not pretend that Pelf doesn’t have great stuff and huge upside on account of a bad second full year in the majors following a pretty damn good first full year — better than Joba’s.
The fact that Pelf pitched 200 innings last year should weigh in his favor, no?
September 4, 2009 at 12:51 pm |
I think if you let pelfry rip with his sinker in the 8th, then let him start, then shut him down, then let him start, then sat him 4 days, then six, then 5, and left him with an innings limit which he didn’t fully have explained- and did it all at 2-3 years earlier in his development, you’d see a much different pitcher.
I think he looks like he could be good, but I dont think he IS good now. Just ok with flashes. You think he can follow a John Lackey-like trajectory?
September 4, 2009 at 12:54 pm |
I was hoping Brandon Webb, but now I’m not sure because he needs to mature mentally.
September 8, 2009 at 8:27 am |
In the interest of fairness, Peter Gammons paints a much less bleak picture of the Mets situation on ESPN.com today. He does advocate for a leadership change at the highest level, along with catcher, top-of-the-rotation starter and some other help. He also likes Pelf.
September 8, 2009 at 10:11 am |
I was just going to post Gammons’ comments. He said what I have been saying: one power bat, one good starting pitcher and a decent catcher. He also pointed out that the farm system ain’t as bad as the liars in the NY media say it is.
I have zero interest in Jason Bay. He will be exposed in Citifield. But I would give Holliday 5 years, 75 million, and try to get a veteran catcher cheap on a one year deal. Not sure who will be available pitching wise, but I would not (and no one will) give Lackey Sabathia money. I heard he was looking for Burnett money.
Not so sure that Gammons advocated for a leadership “change” as much as the hiring of an additional person to oversee Omar’s operations. He’s right about the draft, however. When it was just the Yanks and the RedSox going over slot in the draft, I could live with the Mets being good corporate citizens and the Wilpons kissing Selig’s ass by abiding by his slotting system. But now that every team is ignoring the slotting system, its time for the Mets to throw some big market money around in the draft.
September 8, 2009 at 12:30 pm |
I dont know much about front office structure. How is someone overseeing Omar not a change in leadership? no sarcasm, seriously, if you need to hire a guy to monitor the GM, whats the deal? Does Cashman have one (Lonn Trost? Hal?)
As for Holliday, lets use him as a jumping off point for AL vs NL-
In oakland- .286, .831 OPS, 11HR, 54 RBI, 99 hits
In stL- .378, 1.125 OPS, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 59 hits
Smoltz-
In Boston- 2-5, 8.32 ERA, 1.7 WHIP
In St. L- 1-1, 2.65 ERA, .824 WHIP
Penny-
In Boston- 7-8 5.61 ERA, 1.5 WHIP
In SF- 2-0 1.20 ERA, .667 WHIP
Cliff Lee (admittedly pitching great in the AL)
In Cleveland- 7-9, 3.14 ERA, 1.3 WHIP
In Philly- 5-2, 2.81 ERA, 1.021 WHIP
I am sure there are more examples, but what is up with guys thriving after moving from the AL to the NL? I really think the quality of hitters and pitchers as a whole is better in the AL. Thoughts? And how bout my boy Matty not being just a Coors Field fluke?
September 8, 2009 at 12:57 pm |
Change of leadership implied the firing of the GM. Gammons was talking a new CEO, not a new GM.
I read that Holliday was miserable in Oakland, and he was also in a terrible lineup and the worst ballpark for hitters in baseball. I knew he would go off as soon as he switched teams. Penny is a fucking headcase — always has been. Shutting out the Phillies in Philadelphia was impressive — that lineup is as good as any AL lineup. Smoltz took ten days off during which he worked with the best pitching coach in baseball. Cliff Lee is reigning AL Cy-Young, and he got rocked his last two times out. What about Barry Zito?
September 8, 2009 at 1:40 pm |
I disagree. The phillies are in what you would term a McStadium, and they would not put up the same numbers when facing AL pitching. The Yankees have put up 124 more runs than the Phillies, LAA has about 90 more, Bos has 42 more. philly is only 15 runs over the AL average.
Phillies Ranks-
24th in hits
3rd in HR
6th in RBI
23rd in BA
6th in SLG
14th in OBP
Thats a good slugging NL lineup, but let them play against the AL east and not the AAAA stars.
I really think that things seem much closer because those that excell in the NL do so spectacularly so against inferior talent.
Batting averages-
NL .259, .741 OPS, 134 HR, 581 RBI
AL .265, .763 OPS, 157 HR, 631 RBI
Chalk some of that up to the pitcher batting. But then logically, the pitching numbers should be better in the NL, since they face the pitcher.
Pitching Averages-
NL 4.21 ERA, 1.380 WHIP
AL 4.46 ERA, 1.390 WHIP
I don’t know man, from a very general perspective, it seems like the AL is a lot stronger than the NL.
September 8, 2009 at 2:00 pm |
The AL is stronger, but not as much as many say. And it’s much easier to pitch in the NL. I just get annoyed when people overplay the differences between the leagues and pretend its easier to do everything in the NL. If I was a pitcher, I’d want to play in the NL. If I was a hitter, I’d want to play in the AL. But as a fan, I prefer the real baseball played in the senior circuit over that slop played in the AL.
How did the Yanks do against the Phils this year? If I remember correctly, they were lucky not to have been swept, and that was in New York, with the advantage of the DH. How did the Rays do last year against the Phillies?
Rollins, Utley, Howard, Werth, Victorino, and Ibanez. That’s as good as it gets. Do you think your top six (Jeter, Damon, Aroid, Tex, Cano and Posada) are any better right now? I don’t. And Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz are no slouches either.
September 8, 2009 at 2:54 pm |
May 22nd, thats when you are referring to? Yes, the Phillies took two of three in May from the Yankees.
Rollins- .243, 82 runs, 18 HR, 61 RBI, .702 OPS
vs
Jeter- .329, 97 runs, 17 Hr, 62 RBI, .866 OPS
So thats close…..
Utley- .295, 95 runs, 29 Hr, 84 RBI, .947 OPS
vs
Cano- .316, 92 runs, 23 Hr, 76 RBI, .869 OPS
Goes to Utley
Howard- .277, 86 runs, 38 HR, 116 RBI, .926 OPS
vs
Tex- .282, 90 runs, 35 Hr, 106 RBI, .931 OPS
Push- adv Tex as a switch hitter
Werth- .269, 83 runs, 31 HR, 81 RBI, .894 OPS
vs
Damon- .288, 99 runs, 24 Hr, 76 RBI, .878 OPS
I’ll take Damon, but Werth has more pop.
Running out of time here at work, but
A-Rod is better than Ibanez- its true and you know it is
Posada crushes Carlos ruiz
Swisher and Matsui crush Feliz and Greg Dobbs
Melky crushes anyone else on the team.
124 more runs dude. 124 more. and getting better.
September 8, 2009 at 3:58 pm |
Werth is much better than Damon. Damon’s “resurgence” is all about the short porch in right. Howard is a better offensive player than Tex — not a better player though b/c Tex is an excellent defender. Why points for being a switch hitter? Who gives a shit? What about Victorino? Melky “crushes” Victorino? Please. Victorino is 1000 times the ballplayer that Melky is. Matsui is a DH. The Phils play real baseball, so he is irrelevant.
Lets go starting 8 (offense only, no defense considered) — Posada better than Ruiz; Howard better than Tex; Utley better than Cano; Rollins and Jeter even; A-Roid better than Feliz, Ibanez better than Damon; Victorino better than Melky; and Werth better than Swisher. That’s 5-3 Phils.
September 8, 2009 at 4:08 pm |
I can do the numbers tomorrow, but Howard is not better than tex, the Yankees best player (a-rod) is heating up, and the options 7 8 9 the Yankees have are better too.
September 8, 2009 at 6:23 pm |
Check that on tex vs Howard. I didn’t realize the numbers. Slot a rod in there though
September 9, 2009 at 9:08 am |
Yeah, Howard has some sick power numbers starting in 06. The Phils fucked him over by signing Thome and leaving him in the minors while he was ready to play in the majors. Their numbers are close this year, but Howard’s HR and rib totals over the past three years blow Tex’s away.
September 11, 2009 at 12:09 pm |
Happy B-Day, old-timer.