NJFINSFAN1
FinHeaven Elite
phunwin said:
Like I said above, we have been hearing about Bell for two years now, he lights up the minors, but we he comes up he gets lite up. It's time for him to step up.
The Official 2006 New York Mets Thread
- Thread starter Rocky Raccoon
- Start date
Like I said above, we have been hearing about Bell for two years now, he lights up the minors, but we he comes up he gets lite up. It's time for him to step up.
phunwin
The name's Bond...James Bond.
NJFINSFAN1 said:
Bell has an insane 33/3 K/BB ratio this year at AAA, with a 0.92 ERA. If he's not ready now (he's 28 years old, too), it'll be obvious that he's just another AAAA player.
Hernandez' era and whip are fine...away from arizona. hes got an 8.15 home era and a 2-some road era and a large part of that is that hes a fly ball pitcher in a bad pitcher park.phunwin said:Yeah, I'm all broken up. Really, I am.
God, Lima was terrible. Jeremi Gonzalez hasn't been a whole lot better. Hopefully, Hernandez and Soler will take the back two spots, and pitch well enough that they have a tough decision to make when Bannister's healthy again.
Huge win last night, though. With Gonzalez going tomorrow, that game was probably the rubber match for the series. Needless to say, I don't have a ton of faith in the Mets' ability to pull it out tomorrow.
As for El Duque, I think it's a quality deal, though I'm not exactly thrilled that we've effectively traded Kris Benson for Orlando Hernandez, John Maine, and 6 disastrous weeks of Jorge Julio. Hernandez's ERA and WHIP don't look too hot, but his K/BB ratio has been sterling. To me, that's a good sign that he's going to improve significantly. (Much as it's a sign that Brian Bannister is going to regress significantly...essentially the Mets just traded for the anti-Bannister.)
The biggest problem with ell is that he only has 2 consistant pitches, fastball and splitter and neither is off speed. when he gets the slider or change over hes more effective and thats what we shoud be watching for to know if hes really improved
Ray Finkle
☠️ Banned ☠️
The El Duque move is more for the playoffs. He guy is 89 years old but somehow is always lights out in the big spots. He'll probably land on the DL a few times before October but if he's on the mound in a big spot bet the house on him. I still can't believe he came in with the bases loaded last October vs. the Red Sox with 0 outs and retired the side 1, 2, 3.
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2004
- Messages
- 15,357
- Reaction score
- 150
Ray Finkle said:
It's a move for now. You can't even think playoffs in May! Zambrano is done. Lima sucks. Traschel is up and down. Bainster is hurt.
They only have 2 starting pitchers on their roster and a shakey Traschel. It's only May. We have seen teams start fast and not make the playoffs before, they gotta get to the playoffs and if Pedro gets injures or if Glavine goes back to his old ways, this team isn't going to sniff the playoffs. They need Orlando for NOW!
phunwin
The name's Bond...James Bond.
MikeO said:
I agree. The 4 and 5 spots of the rotation have been a gaping wound the last few weeks, and they had to staunch the bleeding. I think Hernandez's fine history as a money pitcher helps, but IMHO, that's not why they made the deal. I think Minaya saw a guy who:
1. had a strong history of pitching in New York,
2. was probably undervalued because he's (as Boik noted) a fly-ball pitcher who was pitching half his games in a park that eats up fly-ball pitchers, and
3. he could get for a player who wasn't helping the team and wasn't likely to help the team.
This was a value-driven deal, not a "let's get ready for October" deal.
NJFINSFAN1
FinHeaven Elite
As I said with Bell, a walk and a single for an RBI. They even said it on TV, he is lights out at AAA, but can't get it together at the big club. El Duque will help, but I have a feeling we will miss the innings Lopez was giving us, and like him or not, he has pitched well over the past few weeks.
GreenMonster
Never con a con man
MikeO said:
A good move for the Mets to make now.. No way could they continue to toss Lima out there and get rocked.. The Mets are dominating 1 run games and if that comes to an end they need some pitching to continue to play at this level.
New Si piece on D wright. Pretty good read; some highlights below:
Prince Of the City
By Franz Lidz
"When I first got to the majors in 2004, female fans held up signs asking me to marry them," Wright says, barely concealing his embarrassment. "Those girls today were what, 13, 14? I'm 23, but that's a little young even for me."
Roughly half the unwed women in Queens -- and about a third of the unwed queens in Queens -- want the budding superstar for a husband. Many of the borough's married women would be happy just to bear his children. "I don't know what it is about David," says utilityman Chris Woodward. "I mean, he's O.K. looking, but it's not like he's Brad Pitt."
"I wish I knew how to pitch that kid," says Atlanta Braves ace John Smoltz, against whom Wright is 7 for 21. "As hard as it is to fathom, he doesn't have a weakness."
"To me, New York is the greatest baseball stage in the world," he says. "The fans have a certain energy, a passion, a fire that I haven't seen anywhere else."
Larry Jones likens Wright to Scott Rolen, the St. Louis Cardinals' six-time Gold Glove winner. "As a fielder, David is as acrobatic as Scott was at that age," Jones says. "And he's a little ahead of Scott offensively. He can hit for average, hit for power and hit to all fields. David doesn't just flick singles to right; he'll hurt you with a moon shot. For a 23-year-old that's very rare."
Equally rare is Wright's ability to make adjustments, not only from at bat to at bat, but also from pitch to pitch. He's one of the few sluggers who walks nearly as often as he strikes out (22 free passes, 34 K's at week's end). Of the 767 pitches Wright has seen this season, he has whiffed at only 52. And Wright is particularly dangerous with two strikes (batting .284 through Sunday, including 6 for 10 with an 0-and-2 count). "David won't let a pitcher determine what he swings at," Glavine says. "He's so disciplined that you can't pitch to him the same way twice."
"Dad's plan worked." He adds, playfully, "I guess I wasn't good enough to play infield in Little League, but I'm good enough to play it in the big leagues."
As part of his entry-level hazing, Wright had to lug the veteran's Louis Vuitton luggage on road trips. He still cringes at one memory of taking the bags through security at LaGuardia Airport and getting grilled by an airport screener.
The agent rummaged through one of Floyd's suitcases and pulled out three pairs of tiny nail scissors.
"Are these yours?" she asked.
Wright winced. "Uh, yes," he said.
The screener reached in again and withdrew enough gold chains to buy Minneapolis and St. Paul. "Are these yours?" she asked.
"Uh, yes."
She plunged in yet again and drew forth copies of Ebony, Jet, XXL, King, Smooth, Essence, Black Enterprise, Black-Gen, Black Men's Swimsuit Extra.... LOL :)
"And I suppose these are yours, too?"
Wright lowered his head and whispered, "Yes, ma'am."
Floyd was at the back of the line and missed the interrogation. "When David told me what had happened," he says, "I laughed and laughed and laughed." Still, Wright carried Floyd's bags the rest of the season without complaint. "David told me he was happy to," says Floyd. "Nothing fazes the kid."
"I make a lot more money than both my parents combined, so, to my mind, I've got it pretty good. How many other 23-year-olds get to play a game for a living and act like a kid? The worst day on a ball field is better than the best day in any office."
What will happen if Wright grows up and the game grows old? "I refuse to have a bitter taste in my mouth about this game," he says, flatly. "As soon as baseball becomes a job, as soon as I stop caring, as soon as the smile goes away, I'll hang up my spikes and do something else."
A thousand players have said that, but this one makes it sound like a promise.
Prince Of the City
By Franz Lidz
"When I first got to the majors in 2004, female fans held up signs asking me to marry them," Wright says, barely concealing his embarrassment. "Those girls today were what, 13, 14? I'm 23, but that's a little young even for me."
Roughly half the unwed women in Queens -- and about a third of the unwed queens in Queens -- want the budding superstar for a husband. Many of the borough's married women would be happy just to bear his children. "I don't know what it is about David," says utilityman Chris Woodward. "I mean, he's O.K. looking, but it's not like he's Brad Pitt."
"I wish I knew how to pitch that kid," says Atlanta Braves ace John Smoltz, against whom Wright is 7 for 21. "As hard as it is to fathom, he doesn't have a weakness."
"To me, New York is the greatest baseball stage in the world," he says. "The fans have a certain energy, a passion, a fire that I haven't seen anywhere else."
Larry Jones likens Wright to Scott Rolen, the St. Louis Cardinals' six-time Gold Glove winner. "As a fielder, David is as acrobatic as Scott was at that age," Jones says. "And he's a little ahead of Scott offensively. He can hit for average, hit for power and hit to all fields. David doesn't just flick singles to right; he'll hurt you with a moon shot. For a 23-year-old that's very rare."
Equally rare is Wright's ability to make adjustments, not only from at bat to at bat, but also from pitch to pitch. He's one of the few sluggers who walks nearly as often as he strikes out (22 free passes, 34 K's at week's end). Of the 767 pitches Wright has seen this season, he has whiffed at only 52. And Wright is particularly dangerous with two strikes (batting .284 through Sunday, including 6 for 10 with an 0-and-2 count). "David won't let a pitcher determine what he swings at," Glavine says. "He's so disciplined that you can't pitch to him the same way twice."
"Dad's plan worked." He adds, playfully, "I guess I wasn't good enough to play infield in Little League, but I'm good enough to play it in the big leagues."
As part of his entry-level hazing, Wright had to lug the veteran's Louis Vuitton luggage on road trips. He still cringes at one memory of taking the bags through security at LaGuardia Airport and getting grilled by an airport screener.
The agent rummaged through one of Floyd's suitcases and pulled out three pairs of tiny nail scissors.
"Are these yours?" she asked.
Wright winced. "Uh, yes," he said.
The screener reached in again and withdrew enough gold chains to buy Minneapolis and St. Paul. "Are these yours?" she asked.
"Uh, yes."
She plunged in yet again and drew forth copies of Ebony, Jet, XXL, King, Smooth, Essence, Black Enterprise, Black-Gen, Black Men's Swimsuit Extra.... LOL :)
"And I suppose these are yours, too?"
Wright lowered his head and whispered, "Yes, ma'am."
Floyd was at the back of the line and missed the interrogation. "When David told me what had happened," he says, "I laughed and laughed and laughed." Still, Wright carried Floyd's bags the rest of the season without complaint. "David told me he was happy to," says Floyd. "Nothing fazes the kid."
"I make a lot more money than both my parents combined, so, to my mind, I've got it pretty good. How many other 23-year-olds get to play a game for a living and act like a kid? The worst day on a ball field is better than the best day in any office."
What will happen if Wright grows up and the game grows old? "I refuse to have a bitter taste in my mouth about this game," he says, flatly. "As soon as baseball becomes a job, as soon as I stop caring, as soon as the smile goes away, I'll hang up my spikes and do something else."
A thousand players have said that, but this one makes it sound like a promise.
phunwin
The name's Bond...James Bond.
Boik14 said:
I know they've been working to lock him up long-term and avoid those "arbitration years". That's what the Indians did with their young talent in the early-to-mid 90s and are (I think) working to do now with Grady Sizemore. The distinction here is that we haven't HAD any young talent worth locking up until now.
So long Jeremi Gonzalez. He was designated for assignment last night. So it'll be Hernandez and Soler in the back of the rotation until Bannister gets back. And then, who knows?
NJFINSFAN1
FinHeaven Elite
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Mets made another trade to help their injury-depleted pitching staff Thursday, acquiring Dave Williams from the Cincinnati Reds for a minor leaguer.
He went 10-11 with a 4.25 ERA for the Pirates last season
Winning 10 games for that team is pretty dam good, he will start at AAA and is a lefty!
He went 10-11 with a 4.25 ERA for the Pirates last season
Winning 10 games for that team is pretty dam good, he will start at AAA and is a lefty!