Unknown Pitchers and the Mets
by Mike T
Will be Starting for Tampa in September
What is it with pitchers the Yankees have never seen and their inability to get any type of offense. Max Scherzer can be very good, but this continual poor performance against unknown pitchers is extremely frustrating. And captain clutch is quickly downward negotiating his salary. As much as he is loved in New York, baseball is a ruthless business and you can’t fall in love with your players. It leads to irrational decisions. If Jeter continues his ground ball trend (his GB/FB ratio is up to 2.06 highest in the league) and his speed continues to slow, his production and value decline immensely.
Now on to the soap opera Mets. I have remained silent on the K-Rod fiasco from the start. But the Mets handled this completely wrong. The team is not going anywhere this year; K-Rod’s actions reflected badly on the organization; AND K-Rod’s contract is outrageous. If he “finishes” out 100 games between 2010 and 2011 or he “finishes” 55 games in 2011, his fourth year at $17.5 M becomes guaranteed.
Since the team is in the tank and the Mets are supposedly so afraid of salary implications, they should have immediately suspended K-Rod for 30 days at a minimum, if not the whole season, without pay. This would have really hit him in the pocket and make it extremely difficult for him to reach the contract guarantees. Let the Union fight it out for him. Let them defend his actions. Have Wilpon step up and say, this is unacceptable. The fans would back this.
Instead, they suspend him for 2 games (whoopee) and Manuel actually let him pitch in a game that was not a save (another game finished). Jon Heyman reported that the Mets were only able to get a 2 game suspension because of the “powerful baseball union.” However, I never heard anything about the Union fighting the Mets’ attempt at a longer suspension. This franchise is inept. Now that it has come out that he injured his thumb in the fight - I guess he never watched Bull Durham – the Mets are apparently exploring whether to void the contract. The Yankees were able to do that with Aaron Boone. I don’t see why the Mets couldn’t do this with K-Rod. Of course this is the Mets, so they will likely end up stuck with this nutcase.
2 comments August 17 2010 10:14 am | Mike T | Discussion |
I agree with the whole post. In fact, I think this Yankee team may be in jeopardy of losing the AL East. The offense isn’t the same and the pitching really isn’t that great. Some may feel that statement to be bit reactive, but the Yanks have been mediocre since the All Star break.
The Mets franchise is an absolute embarrassment. It seems that that Mets don’t take the time to evaluate ANYTHING. The problem is this……no one in a leadership position with the Mets is a big picture thinker. They have no one considering all the angles. Whether it be filling a roster, dealing with an out-of-line employee, firing a manager, re-introducing players that have been on the DL, building a new stadium, or reprimanding a player that committed assault…the Mets simply can’t do anything right.
“Did you hit me with your right hand or did you hit me with your left? Huh? Did you hit me with your right hand or did you hit me with your LEFT?”
“My left.”
“Good! That’s good; when you get in a fight with a drunk you don’t hit him with your pitching hand. God, I can’t keep giving you these free lessons so quit screwin’ around and help me up. “