Official 2005 Mets Willie Ball Thread!! | Page 4 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Official 2005 Mets Willie Ball Thread!!

I completely agree. Third base has been a sore spot throughout Mets history. Looks like we've locked up that spot for the next 10 years, though.
 
I was just going to report this, man your fast!

well if anyone can fix him, Peterson is the man, it's worth a shot!
 
phunwin said:
Awesome, I had no idea we had one of these threads!!!

OK, here's my grades at the one-third point for this bunch...

Batters:
Reyes - B. Fine defense, and a pretty fair mix of speed and power, but good God, Jose, it's okay to take a walk once in awhile! A .304 OBP for a leadoff hitter is unacceptable.

Matsui - F. Bats like Rey Ordonez, fields like Jose Offerman. Can we trade him for a bag of chips?

Beltran - C+. I expect a little more from him, considering the massive contract the team gave him. That said, his power's coming around lately, so I expect this grade to improve.

Floyd - B+. Started white-hot, but has cooled considerably. His sabermetric numbers right now are about what I expect. If he stays healthy, so much the better.

Cameron - A+. Wow, I can't believe we almost moved him for Eric Byrnes.

Wright - A-. His bat has been as good as advertised, but I'm taking him down a touch for some costly errors.

Mientkiewicz - D. I don't care how good a fielder he is. There is no first baseman in the history of baseball whose defense was good enough to make up for a 654 OPS.

Diaz - B+. I wish they'd get him into the lineup more; this kid can rake. He was a second baseman once upon a time. Maybe he's too much of a defensive liability there, but can we teach him to play first? I'm dead serious about this.

Piazza - C-. The bat's really heating up, so he's another guy whose grade will improve. But still, at the moment, a 740 OPS isn't good enough considering his defense has progressed from mediocre to bad to worse to first base coaches telling guys to run at will.

Cairo - B-. His 712 OPS isn't terrible, and his defense at second, and his versatility, have been a huge help. Unless Matsui goes off, and I mean GOES OFF during Cairo's injury, Cairo should be the regular 2B on his return.

Woodward/Anderson - A. Two of the best pinch hitters in baseball right now.

Pitchers:
Martinez - A+. It is almost impossible to pitch better than he has so far.

Benson - B+. Benson's looked very good since coming back from injury.

Glavine - C. He's nearing the end of the line. I think his sole role is to give the team 7 innings and not to get killed.

Zambrano - C+. Good stuff and keeps the ball in the park. I'd like him to cut down on the walks, but that's probably never happening. Best case scenario, he becomes Kenny Rogers, who succeeded his whole career with lousy walk totals.

Looper - B. He's been pretty solid since Opening Day. His stuff is better than the 5 K/9IP he's averaging, though. That must improve.

Hernandez - A. But there's no way he's going to keep it up.

Bell - B+. Should take over the primary RHP setup role before long; Hernandez needs to dial back the innings if we're going to get much more out of him. Bell's the one relief pitcher who, right now, I feel confident can get a big strikeout.

Heilman - A-. Has done whatever's been asked without complaint and done it well. Why isn't he in the starting rotation? He's the third best starting pitcher on this team right now.

Ishii - C. Alternates awful starts with good ones. Check his game log, it's true. A little consistency would be nice. Should move to the bullpen in favor of Heilman, though.

DeJean - C. Walks almost a batter per inning, yet his numbers are respectable. Not a good trend.

Koo - D. One spectacular game doesn't wash away the fact that he's been hit very hard. Hopefully he gets straightened out.

Aybar - B-. Has been pitching pretty well, but mostly in garbage time. Still, a 27/4 K/BB ratio is pretty impressive.

Coaches:
Randolph - B+. Willie's brought optimism and excitement and hasn't been afraid to turn his baserunners loose. He's generally made the right decisions in-game, too. Misses an A because I think he does too much worshipping at the "altar of the Proven Veteran", i.e. demoting Seo, sticking Wright near the bottom of the lineup, moving Heilman to the pen, not finding at bats for Diaz, sticking with Mientky despite his miserable bat. I also think he needs to drop Reyes in the order until he starts getting walks, and hit Wright leadoff instead.

Peterson - A-. Has handled Pedro beautifully, learning from the lessons of Grady Little. I'm still pissed at him for greenlighting the Zambrano trade, though.

Down - C. Needs to stress plate discipline more. Jose Reyes will never be a Rickey Henderson-type leadoff man, but he's got to learn the importance of taking a walk. That's the single most important offensive issue the team has right now.
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Great post. I actually think Ishii in the pen could be disastrous. He is a slow starter and so inconsistent. Heilmen has provided the only bit of consistency we have in the pen. I don't trust Looper at all.

I couldn't be more excited about Wright.
Floyd just needs to stay of the DL.
Pedro has proven me to be an idiot, and I love him for it. Please just keep it up for more than one year.

Your Matsui comment made me spit out my drink :rofl3:
I agree wholeheartedly about Diaz. Willie made the comment that Diaz needs to play every day right before he sent him to the minors. First can't be too hard to learn.

It's sad to see Piazza slide so far. He has warmed it up a bit though.
Woodward has been a wonderful surprise. I didn't realize how competently versatile he is.

I was so excited when we got Doug. He is supposed to be great in the clubhouse, but come on already with that bat. Maybe someone should give him some batting gloves.

I think this thread might get a little more traffic. I've been dying to talk about the Mets.
 
I don't think Peterson will have to do much; I think moving from the GAB to Shea Stadium will take care of a lot. Graves was bit hard by the home run ball this year, giving up one every 4.5 innings. Before Cincy's new park, he didn't give up a lot of homers.

Even last year, he was a pretty decent pitcher. I think he'll help a lot.
 
You're probably right about Ishii; my larger point was that Heilman should be starting. Maybe we could trade Ishii for a decent reliever.

Try ebay; you can get almost anything there. Mets.com is a good place, too.
 
finswin56 said:
I think this thread might get a little more traffic. I've been dying to talk about the Mets.
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To steal and change a line from a movie!

Win and they shall come!!! ;)
 
I went to the Mets game the other night when Pedro pitched against the Diamondbacks. I never been to Shea and have lived about a half hour from the stadium my whole life so I figured I had to go to a game. I hate the Mets but Shea is a hell of a stadium. If was about half full but the ushers had no problem letting me sit wherever there was a seat and I was about 10 feet from Cliff Floyd and Luis Gonzalez. Almost got some foul balls hit to us and it was a fun experience. I will forever hate the Mets (it's my duty as a Yankee fan) but if I was gonna take the kids out for a day to the park I would take them to Shea no doubt. 32 bucks to sit field level, can't be that. 32 at Yankee stadium gets you in a tier lol. Anyways props to Mets fans also. I went decked out in Yankee clothes and had the whole stadium screaming "Yankees suck" while I stood on a chair waving my arms up. Fun night indeed!
 
To be fair, getting Mets or Red Sox fans to chant "Yankees Suck" is about as difficult as getting a dog to scratch itself. :)

Still, glad you had a good time.
 
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