By most accounts, it seems the Mets will send R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole and a prospect to the Blue Jays for Travis d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, John Buck and a prospect. Both prospects have been described as “non-elite.”
I’ll have way more tomorrow, obviously. But assuming the deal actually happens and those are actually the terms of the deal, what say you?
Brief note: I am shocked, horrified and generally miserable after what happened in Connecticut this morning. It’s a shocking, horrifying and miserable thing. I’ve got nothing insightful to say about the subject.
I’ve seen several people suggest that anything written about anything else today is unnecessary and/or unimportant, and I certainly hear that. But nothing I ever write about here is necessary or important, and I don’t really know what else to do this afternoon but answer some silly questions about silly topics in a silly fashion. Is this the time for that? Of course not. But if you think about it that way, it’s never the time for that.
In other words: Please don’t take this stupid blog post as a lack of respect for the awful gravity of a shooting that killed 27 innocent people, 18 of them children. It’s not meant that way; it’s just a stupid blog post. I don’t blame you if you don’t feel like reading stupid blog posts today, so if that’s the case just click away. There’ll be plenty of stupid blog posts here whenever you feel up to returning.
https://twitter.com/robValcich/status/279608690229796865
Meggings, Rob has explained to me, are leggings for men. I don’t know why they need their own distinct name, since the term “leggings” is not at all gendered to begin with.
Regardless, they’re not for me. Maybe they’re comfortable, but my issue with pants isn’t their name but how constricting and unventilated they are, and that doesn’t seem likely to change with meggings.
Also, you guys can’t see my lower half on the web videos, but I’ve got disproportionately large legs. It’s a weird family thing. My brother held our high school’s squat record until I broke it eight years later. It’s a useful body type for pushing stuff around, but it’s decidedly the wrong build for tight pants of any sort. What I’m looking for is more of a toga or muumuu.
https://twitter.com/thekaterer/status/279609914006052864
That is an outstanding article about a $26 chicken sandwich, and I’m far too vain to callously recommend lengthy sandwich reviews besides my own. This one’s funny and well written, and it demonstrates a very strong understanding of the nature of sandwiches. Kudos to J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, whose Food Lab posts are also consistently interesting.
These sentiments should sound familiar to TedQuarters faithful:
…the First Rule of Sandwich-Making: a sandwich must be greater than the sum of its parts.
There are implications to this statement. In order to achieve sandwich greatness, you don’t necessarily need to start with great ingredients—so long as when you add those ingredients together and put them between bread, if they are thus improved, then you have succeeded at the art of sandwich-making.
https://twitter.com/JoeBacci/status/279631890162528256
I didn’t watch the whole thing; I got home late and fast forwarded through most of it, breaking when I saw Adam Sandler, when I noticed that Kanye was wearing a skirt, and then when I caught up with the DVR during Billy Joel’s set. As a Long Islander, I am oddly comforted by the music of Billy Joel and found myself getting a cup of warm milk and taking out my contact lenses during his performance — Billy Joel was literally putting me to sleep.
I don’t particularly like Coldplay and I thought Chris Martin sounded like he might have had a cold or something, but Michael Stipe’s appearance was great. It made me think of what other R.E.M. songs I would have liked to hear, which made me think of “Stand,” which made me realize “Stand” is probably too cheery for the occasion, which ultimately made me turn down the volume during Chris Martin’s last song so I could see if there was a way to sing a sad version of “Stand.” It’s not really possible. If you slow it down a lot you can make it sound sort of wistful, but without changing the melody you’re not really going to make it full-out sad.
I thought Paul McCartney sounded pretty great, and the pyrotechnics during “Live and Let Die” were amazing. I wish he did more Beatles songs and I wish he played more than one song with Nirvana, though. And I need to go back and watch Roger Waters’ set.
https://twitter.com/arrabin56/status/279601490778275841
Maybe. The operative part of this question is “if you were a monkey.” If I’m a monkey, I’m not into the same things that the human me is into. What do we know about monkeys? Monkeys like eating things, climbing things and throwing feces at people. You can do all of those things at Ikea!
Plus, presumably the monkey version of me wouldn’t be holding a lot of cash, both because I don’t often hold a lot of cash as a human and because monkeys are more or less unemployable. And say what you will about the food at Ikea, it’s reliably a pretty great deal. Don’t sleep on those Swedish meatballs.
https://twitter.com/jenconnic/status/279600619449380864
Problem is, you need something that you could stomach for breakfast and something that you wouldn’t get sick of too quickly. My instinct is to say it’d be my mom’s ravioli, but I don’t know that I could handle eating it for breakfast. So it’s probably a cheeseburger, preferably one with lettuce and tomato so I get my vegetables. I could pretty much always go for a cheeseburger.
https://twitter.com/IanBinMD/status/279601000925495296
Oh, ahh… this is going to be sadder than it should be. Growing up, my family had one ornament that was a really tacky gold metallic bird with bendable legs that clamped on to the top of a branch — like a bird, get it? — instead of dangling from the branch. Everyone thought it was pretty ugly, but my brother always thought the bird was the neatest thing. The original got lost or broken or thrown out at some point before he died, but after he died, I got my parents and sister similar birds at a Christmas market in France. After I got married and started getting my own tree, my wife got me one of my own. It’s great; the bird clamps on top of the branch like real birds do. Very neat.
Via email, Bill asks:
What would you name the new seven-team, basketball-focused conference rising from the ashes of the Big East?
Honestly, it’s really hard to keep track of what’s happening with all this, and whether they’ll have the ability to dissolve the conference, to keep the name Big East, to keep their automatic tournament bids, and which teams they’ll be able to bring on from outside the conference. I believe it’ll be more than seven teams when the dust settles though, so you can’t go with “the Magnificent Seven” or anything like that.
If they’re all Catholic schools in the new league, maybe there could be a tie-in there, like “The Big Priest” or something. Alternately, I kind of like “The Medium Sized East.” CATCH THE FEVER!
https://twitter.com/seanadekunle/status/279602892007149569
I do. Dirk Hayhurst’s The Bullpen Gospels was great. It sort of took me a while to get into it, but Hayhurst is a very funny dude and paints a great picture of Minor League life.
Also, Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball is outstanding. I know someone will pep up and say something about Posnanski’s soft stance on Joe Paterno because the Internet, but that obviously has nothing to do with the content of the baseball book.
I mostly read fiction at home, and I’d definitely recommend Bernard Malamud’s The Natural over Chad Harbach’s recent bestseller The Art of Fielding.
https://twitter.com/jeffpaternostro/status/279601387313168385
I’ve actually sponsored a bunch of baseball-reference pages, but I always snooze and let the sponsorship expire. The pages I’ve sponsored in the past are: Tommy Hanson, Fernando Martinez, Val Pascucci, the 2009 Mets, Bris Robotham Lord — “The Human Eyeball” and Buzz McWeeny.
I changed the message for the 2009 Mets a few times, but for a while I went with “Carlos Beltran: Because baserunning blunders happen more frequently when you’re always on base.” I was pretty happy with that, given the early goings-on of that season.
The Tommy Hanson page obviously had to do with his much-rumored relationship to the band Hanson. I don’t remember what I wrote for Martinez or the Scooch. Obviously the pages for Lord and McWeeny had jokes about their names.
I thought about sponsoring Jeff Francoeur’s page, but it turns out Jeff Francoeur’s page costs $265! It’s almost as much as Frenchy’s on-base percentage. It might be cool to sponsor the pages for the other Ike Davis and David Wright as shoutouts to Mets fans who click the wrong link.
https://twitter.com/patrickboegel/status/279604215830163458
What? Dude, there should be a sandwich named for Mike Piazza at Citi Field regardless of if he makes the Hall of Fame. There should be a standard sandwich named for Mike Piazza available all over the place, like a Reuben or an Elvis. And it’s pretty obvious what it should be: Mike Piazza is an Italian hero. So all your finest Italian meats and cheeses piled high on a hero, with some oil and balsamic vinegar, red roasted peppers, and maybe sundried tomatoes if those are your thing.
https://twitter.com/TheHoeMan16/status/279600909074456576
I have no idea, but I can’t imagine adding Havens does much for a deal at this point beyond freeing up a 40-man roster space for the Mets. Even if you haven’t given up hope for his career, teams aren’t going to give up anything of value for a 26-year-old who has yet to play above Double-A and has never played 100 games in a season. So is Dickey and a non-Harvey, non-Wheeler pitching prospect enough to get a trade for Trumbo and Bourjos done? I kind of doubt it, but I suppose it depends on how much the Angels value the pitching prospect.
I’m way less excited about Trumbo than many Mets fans seem to be, for what it’s worth. He has a ton of power and he hits right handed, both of which would satisfy some of the Mets needs. But without having seen a ton of him in the outfield, I can’t say for certain he’d be a great fit in a corner at Citi Field. And his approach at the plate seems at least a bit foreboding.
Check this out: In 2012, Trumbo posted a .317 on-base percentage and a .491 slugging. Since 2000, only 11 other players have enjoyed seasons with an on-base percentage below .320 and a slugging above .490, and it’s not a very inspiring list of hitters: Jay Gibbons, Jason Lane, Garrett Jones, Jorge Cantu, Nelson Cruz, JJ Hardy, Mike Jacobs, Garrett Anderson, Alfonso Soriano, Tony Batista and Curtis Granderson.
Granderson, Jones and Trumbo all did it in 2012. Of the rest, only Soriano managed an OPS above .800 in the following season. And Batista, Jacobs, Hardy, Cantu, and Lane all collapsed to significantly below average hitters the year after doing it. The endpoints are pretty arbitrary and based on Trumbo’s season, but the point shouldn’t be that difficult to grasp: It’s hard to keep hitting for lots of power without lots of patience.
And since I suspect Trumbo would require more in a deal than Bourjos would, and that Bourjos might come with additional prospects where Trumbo likely would not, I’d take Bourjos over Trumbo. He’s younger, and because of his value on defense I imagine he has a higher floor than Trumbo. His numbers from 2011 don’t seem terribly out of line with how he performed in the Minors, given the expected improvements for a 24-year-old, and I’d take a chance that his 2012 numbers were at least partly the result of playing part time for the first time in his professional career and try to buy low on him instead of buying high on Trumbo.
But all that said, given the price that’s been paid for pitching on the open market, the Mets should probably hold their cards for at least a bit longer and see if someone goes crazy with prospects or young players.
https://twitter.com/Columboid/status/279614969438412800
Nope. He’s 22. I know a knock on Tejada when he was coming up was that due to his body type and physical skills, he didn’t stand to improve much. I… well, I don’t really believe that. Maybe he won’t get faster or more rangey in the field, but I’d bet he gets stronger and more selective at the plate over the next few years.
https://twitter.com/Ceetar/status/279602938173849600
It was Beltran.
https://twitter.com/Beards25/status/279602188014202880
If we’re talking about their baseball prime and not their Mets prime, the Mets get Willie Mays. So that’s sweet.
My starting nine looks like this:
SP: Pedro Martinez
Cases could be made for Tom Seaver, Johan Santana, and oft-forgotten Met Warren Spahn, but Pedro’s 1997-2003 prime was one of the best things we’ll ever see in our lifetimes. <3 Pedro so much.
C: Mike Piazza
Duh.
1B: Keith Hernandez
It was a tough call between Keith, John Olerud and Carlos Delgado — who was an awesome, awesome hitter with the Blue Jays. But Mex wins by a mustache.
2B: Edgardo Alfonzo
Fonzie’s prime didn’t last long, but it provided some of the best seasons in Mets’ history. I know some of you might say Jeff Kent, but f- Jeff Kent. And though Robbie Alomar was probably the best of all of them, I can’t in good conscience include Robbie Alomar even despite the parameters of this exercise.
3B: David Wright
No brainer. Honorable mentions to Hubie Brooks and Chico Walker for having cool names.
SS: Jose Reyes
Another lay-up.
OF: Carlos Beltran, Willie Mays, Darryl Strawberry
Beltran has to play left because of Willie Mays. Willie Mays is Willie Mays. Darryl Strawberry a) still owns the Mets’ home run record and b) one time bought me a sandwich.
Incidentally, by baseball-reference’s WAR, Bernard Gilkey’s 1996 is the best season ever by a Mets right-fielder. But that’s mostly because the defensive WAR kills Strawberry in 1988. I’ll take the Straw Man.
Everyone’s running wild with trade talk now that the Angels have signed Josh Hamilton and seem to have too many outfielders. They seemed to have too many outfielders last year, too, for what it’s worth, but the two names most frequently being mentioned in rumors are Peter Bourjos and Mark Trumbo.
Both players bat and throw right-handed. Trumbo is one year and three months older than Bourjos.
In 1175 plate appearances over 301 Major League games the past three seasons, Trumbo has hit .259/.302/.478 with 13 stolen bases in 22 attempts. By fangraphs’ version of WAR, he has been worth 4.6 wins over his career. By baseball-reference’s, he has been worth 4.7 wins over his career. He hit 32 home runs in 2012 and posted a .268/.317/.491 batting line.
In 940 plate appearances over 299 Major League games the past three seasons, Bourjos has hit .247/.301/.402 with 35 stolen bases in 48 attempts. By fangraphs’ version of WAR, he has been worth 8.3 wins over his career, in large part because of his defense in center field. By baseball-reference’s, he has been worth 7.3. He played a part-time role in 2012 and posted a .202/.291/315 line in 168 at-bats.
Trumbo and Bourjos would both be under an acquiring team’s control through arbitration for the next four seasons.
So who ya got?
Via Paul Vargas comes Grub Street’s list of thirteen spectacular pork sandwiches that aren’t the McRib. A bunch of these will be familiar to regular TedQuarters readers. I’ve had seven of them — though I haven’t reviewed a few — and been to nine of the places listed. They’re all good, but the only ones I think I’d call “spectacular” would be the inner-circle Sandwich Hall of Famers on the list, the P.B.L.T. and the Momofuku pork bun.
Also, I keep reading about this Brooklyn Sandwich Society, and I’m obviously intrigued even if it seems a bit expensive. But I’m also massively frustrated because I used to live around the corner when there was no such sandwich society in existence. This is a map from my old place to the Brooklyn Sandwich Society:
Dammit.
Several Mets fans have suggested to me they’d like to see the team sign A.J. Pierzynski. Assuming that would require a multi-year deal or even a lucrative one-year deal, it’s just not a good idea.
As you may know, Pierzynski hit 27 home runs last year. As you may also know, regression to the mean is a extraordinarily powerful force in baseball, and Pierzynski has never before been as good as he was at age 35 in 2012.
In fact, using park- and league-adjusted OPS+, Pierzynski’s 96 career mark in the stat is actually one point lower than Josh Thole’s rate from 2009-2011. Thole fell apart offensively after returning from a concussion in 2012, but if he can return to form, it’s at least even money he’ll be a better hitter than Pierzynski in 2013. And Thole is a full decade younger than Pierzynski.
Oh, and by the best efforts of those who evaluate catcher defense, Pierzynski was actually worse than Thole behind the plate in 2012. And 2011. And 2010.
Teams with financial limitations and almost no outfielders to speak of should not hand out big contracts to 36-year-old catchers coming off the best seasons of their careers.
If Pierzynski hit right-handed and came cheap, he might fit as a platoon partner for Thole. But since Pierzynski and Thole both hit left-handed, the Mets would be paying a premium to displace a 26-year-old who hit like a league average catcher from 2009 to 2011 in favor of a 36-year-old who hit like a league average catcher from 2009 to 2011. If Thole can bounce back and the team can find a suitable right-handed complement, it should be able to get at least the production Pierzynski would provide at the catcher position and dedicate the resources that would be required to sign him toward outfielders.
Here’s my best guess at how the Mets would be set up if the season started today. This is only based on guys on the 40-man roster, which is silly because they’ve got a couple open spots and will inevitably have a bunch of non-roster Spring Training invitees. But the whole exercise is silly; that’s kind of the point:
Starting pitchers
R.A. Dickey
Johan Santana
Jon Niese
Dillon Gee
Matt Harvey
Bullpen
Frank Francisco
Bobby Parnell
Josh Edgin
Elvin Ramirez
Greg Burke
Robert Carson
Jeremy Hefner
Lineup (vs. righties, at least)
1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Mike Baxter – RF
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis – CF
8. Josh Thole – C
Bench
C Anthony Recker
INF Justin Turner
INF Brandon Hicks
OF Juan Lagares
UTIL Jordany Valdespin
So the starting pitching should be pretty good. The bullpen looks shaky and the outfield scary.
The Mets will not enter the season with the above-listed 25-man roster. Changes will come. How many and how important they are remains to be seen, but it’s pointless to fret now when Spring Training’s still months away. We’ll have plenty of time to fret then.
For my fellow Hoya fans: On one hand, we have Jeff Green’s dunk in the Celtics’ win over the Mavericks last night.
On the other, we have word that the Big East is on the brink of breaking up:
According to reports from the Providence Journal and ESPN.com, the seven Catholic schools in the conference are on the verge of breaking away from the Big East Conference and going their own way. Both reports said the seven schools would have a conference call with Commissioner Mike Aresco Thursday and then announce their plans within the next 24 to 48 hours….
Sources told ESPN.com that it “would be an upset” if the Catholic schools remained in the Big East.
When asked if the Catholics were splitting, a separate Big East source told SNY.tv, “It sure appears that way.”
The ongoing conference realignment has been frustrating to follow, especially for fans of basketball schools without legit football teams. But I’ve been insisting to my friends that as long as Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova stuck together, they’d play in a decent conference. I suspect it’ll still be a while before all the dust settles, but I think those basketball programs are too good to be drowned in the wake of big-conference football.
A new conference of small Catholic schools would hardly be the Big East, obviously, but whatever’s slated to exist as the Big East next year wouldn’t really be the Big East either.
As with most things, I blame Syracuse for all of this.
In short: Moderate. I’ll be brief here because I’ve got meetings all afternoon.
Per the New York Post, the Mets have interest in Ross and view him as a potential everyday player, but see Hairston as more of a platoon outfielder.
Over the course of their careers, Ross has only marginally outhit Hairston against right-handers: Ross has a .727 OPS in the split to Hairston’s .704. But it’s probably telling that while the two have almost exactly the same number of appearances against left-handed pitchers, Ross has nearly twice as many as Hairston against righties. So it could be that Hairston’s numbers against righties are a bit inflated by a lack of exposure to the toughest right-handers.
Other than that, they’re pretty similar players. Ross is seven months younger than Hairston. They’re both adequate defenders in the outfield corners who can fill in at center in a pinch. They both hit for power, but Ross gets on base a bit more. And, again, Ross has had slightly more success against and a lot more exposure to right-handers.
Of course, signing either would give the Mets only one capable right-handed hitting outfielder at the Major League level. It’s unclear how much they’ll cost and how much the Mets have to spend, but bringing in both to join Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter and Lucas Duda could allow them to cobble together a decent outfield by carefully managing platoons and defensive alignments. It might get a little hairy on defense sometimes, but you start Duda when the ground-ball pitchers are on the mound and so on.
The end. Now, the meetings.
Tedquarters 