Bleacher Report - Articles by danny perez

What's It Going to Be Omar Minaya?

danny perez — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:05:10 -0400

With the wrath of crap this team has been laying on the field, it's no question the Mets need help with both pitching and hitting. What we are seeing is disastrous, and now Beltran may be added to the 'ER' to add more injury to insult. We know God is a Yankee fan, but enough is enough.

What should the Mets do here? It's not like there is a clear path to what this team needs. We need it all. Question is, which is more of a priority? What's Omar have on the front burner? Best case scenario we get one of each, though highly unlikely.

One day, the team can't hit a watermelon for the life of them, can't drive in runs, can't piece together timely hits, the word clutch is non-existent, and if Wright, Beltran, Church, or Sheffield don't produce, it's over, which is why most rumblings are calling for the Mets to pick up a bat.

The next day, pitching can't hold a lead. Mets score runs early, give them right back, score more runs, and give them right back to the point where nothing the offense can do will help win the game.

Then, on the rare days that the pitching holds its own, and the offense scores more runs than the other team, the bullpen, except for K-Rod, cannot hold a lead. The walk merry-go-round-itis comes full circle, and there goes the game.

The difficulty in identifying the most important need comes from the fact that there's no pattern to this madness. Given this multitude of issues, there's no clear cut need besides needing everything.

Contrary to the popular belief the Mets should get a huge bat, the smarter move may be for a big arm starting pitcher.

Not knowing if we'll ever see anything good again from Perez, the questions surrounding John Maine, and the Tim Redding inconsistencies are just the tip of the iceberg. Livan Hernandez is a great fifth starter on any team and so far has pitched better than expected.

But right now, Mets Livan is like our No. 2 pitcher behind Santana. The Mets need another top of the rotation starter to provide more of a one-two punch. Pitching is what keeps teams in races and neutralizes great hitting.

Problem is the market for pitching has instantly deteriorated with the current flurry of injuries of potential candidates. It's possible Jake Peavy might be done for the year, and Erik Bedard's shoulder has been flaring up, not good for someone coming off surgery. Either would slide nicely into the Mets rotation behind Santana, but they doesn't seem like an option now. That leaves a group of not-so-interesting pitchers that may be available.

Brad Penny
With John Smoltz returning and Clay Buchholz peeking, the Red Rox need to make a move, and Brad Penny seems as the odd man out here. He'll probably be expensive given one of his best years was as recent as 2007 going 16-4 with a 3.03 ERA.

Jason Marquis and Jarrod Washburn
The Mets need to stay away from these two. Neither are much of an upgrade from what the Mets currently have if you can even call them an upgrade.

Offensively, Matt Holliday will probably be the most coveted, big fish out there. Here's a round up of potential hitters that may be available.

Matt Holliday
Given the A’s playoff chances being slim-to-none, Holliday most likely will be finishing the season elsewhere. It doesn’t seem like Billy Beane is going to re-sign him.

Buyer beware, this is Holliday’s first season away from Colorado, with the A’s, and should be no surprise to anyone why his numbers are down. Everyone is saying that the Mets need to sign Holliday, but should they really?

We know he killed it in Colorado. But who doesn’t kill it in Colorado? His numbers this year away from Colorado as well as his home/ away splits in Colorado raise a red flag and tell an interesting story.

2004 COL- .290 AVG, HR 14 (Home: AVG .388 HR 10/ Away: AVG .240 HR 4)
2005 COL- .307 AVG, HR 19 (Home: AVG .357 HR 12/ Away: AVG .256 HR 7)
2006 COL- .326 AVG, HR 34 (Home: AVG .373 HR 22/ Away: AVG .280 HR 12)
2007 COL- .340 AVG, HR 36 (Home: AVG .376 HR 25/ Away: AVG .301 HR 11)
2008 COL- .321 AVG, HR 25 (Home: AVG .332 HR 15/ Away: AVG .308 HR 10)
2009 OAK- .275 AVG, HR 8 (Home: AVG .245 HR 4/ Away: AVG .301 HR 4)

His average and home runs away from Colorado are significantly lower. Granted, he still hit over .300 on the road in 2007 and 2008, but the disparity in home and away numbers should be an alarm to any team trying to sign him, especially the Mets who play in a huge pitchers park and in big market NYC.

He hasn’t done great in Oakland, which is a bigger market than Colorado. It raises the question of 'is he capable of handling the biggest market, NYC?' I’m not so sure. A Stillwater, Oklahoma, small-town boy who has proven he can hit in Colorado doesn’t mean anything when we’re talking big-town NYC.

Should the Mets get him? Depends on what we’re giving up. What we give up should be relevant to his production outside of Colorado not his career sum because we know he is not going to repeat those numbers at Citi Field, not a chance in hell. Would the lineup be better with him providing support to Beltran and Wright? Hell yeah.

At the end of the day, the Mets should not give up the farm on this one. He’s great, but not give-up-the-farm great.

Mark DeRosa
DeRosa's ability to play everywhere on the field makes him a valuable option. He won't bring big pop, but gets on a ton and scores runs. Thing is, Cleveland will probably not be too eager to move him. Even though they're last in their division, they're not that many games behind the leader, and DeRosa is a big reason why.

Nick Johnson
This one's interesting. Due to Nick Johnson's injury rap sheet, the Mets may be able to get him cheap. Only once has he had over 500 at-bats and twice over 400 at-bats in nine years in the majors. He had no at-bats in 2007 and only 109 last season.

Granted, if he's healthy enough to stay on the field, he would present a slight upgrade to the current lineup. Great on-base guy, though the Mets would be better suited with someone with more pop.

He's not the player to make the impact the Mets really need. Guess if the price is right, it would make sense for immediate help. Plus, he's familiar with the Mets divisional foes, and Minaya has traded for him in the past with Montreal.

Jorge Cantu
This rumor won't even be a rumor until the Marlins officially throw in the towel. Still within striking distance, this one is wishful thinking. It doesn't seem like the Marlins are calling it quits just yet, and the Mets need instant offense. Regardless, Cantu can hit for power and drive in runs at a nice clip if he does become an option for offense.

Aubrey Huff
Huff would bring more power and run production than a Nick Johnson. He has the ability to make more of a difference in offense with his ability to drive in runs. This one makes much more sense for the Mets.

Considering his age and fact that he's not someone that would be part of this team's future, the Mets can not afford to overpay for him.

Will Omar make a huge splash or pick up a little giggler? Omar! Omar!

Holliday shopping: Why the Mets must add the outfielder [Sporting News]
Mets Are Better Than Sex

New York Mets Catching the Mal Occhio [Evil Eye]

danny perez — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:22:57 -0400

The daily cruel game of ‘let’s see who gets hurt today on the Mets’ continues, with Pagan landing on the DL yesterday. Enough is enough. This seems as some type of sick joke, or worse.

This is beyond random injuries, beyond bad luck, and beyond ‘the way the ball rolls’ theory. Here in America, we’d most likely call this constant rash of injuries one of the above. But we need to look further, beyond what you would normally just point out as bad luck or misfortune.

When you look at what has happened with this team as far as injuries and other mysterious things, we have to look further than what it seems on the outside.

Besides the huge injuries to Delgado and others, there have been some freak unexplainable things happen such as Sheffield’s virus on the west coast trip; Beltran gets hobbled then gets a stomach virus.

Jose tweaks a leg, his replacement (Cora) goes down shortly after. The team is close to the top in hitting, but can’t drive them in for the life of me.

How can you explain the twilight zone in left field? And we’re not only talking about Murphy’s gaffs. A few others including Sheffield have done funny things out there.

This can not solely be attributed to chance, there has to be something else at play here. This may be about a higher power raining upon this team through the dark side. This may be the negative ill affects that derive from envious, jealous, and/or covetous forces.

This may be what many Europeans and South Americans easily identify as the Mal Occhio (Italian) or Mal Ojo (Spanish). English translation: The Evil Eye.

This is not a fluke tooth fairy type of thing. This is something that dates back before the Ancient Egyptians, and is still strongly believed by Mediterranean and Central/ South American cultures.

The belief is that someone, not ordinarily malific in any way, can harm you, your children, or in this case, the Mets, by viewing them with envy and praising them at the same time. It’s equivalent to telling someone they look great when in your mind your saying ‘you look like shit’

Have no fear, there are cures, tons of them. Growing up, I used to think my mother was insane, constantly talking about people giving me and my bros the ‘evil eye’, but now I fully understand what this was all about.

Frankly, it’s a striking resemblance to this oddity going on with the injurious Mets.

So growing up, when all the envious mothers gave me or my mother the evil eye because I was better looking than their kids, my mother acted swiftly to counteract their evilness with a smile. My mother used the Italian method for curing, but she had her own twist to it.

In Italy, diagnosis is made by dripping olive oil into a basin of water, a drop at a time, while reciting secret prayers, passed only among females in a family. If the drops run together in the form of an eye, The Evil Eye is the cause of the illness. The cure consists of reciting prayers while dripping oil into the basin of water again and again—sometimes for hours—until a perfect array of oil forms that does not resemble an eye.

If you haven’t noticed, many people walk around with an ‘eye’ charm on a necklace or bracelet or other, as a preventive method. This is specifically to combat any possible Mal Occhio that may come your way through the course of the day.

With the Mets, you have to wonder where this is coming from. I have a feeling those cronies in Philadelphia are sending their witchcraft nasty looks towards Citi Field, or could be these damn Yankee fans not wanting the Mets to steal their thunder. Regardless, we need to look beyond the scope of just bad luck as the trigger to our ailing loved ones.

I will go home tonight, get the water and olive oil out, and beg mom to cure this team from these evils.

Despite watching a motley crew of guys recently for the Mets, some familiar faces are on the way back. Jose Reyes is hitting again on St Lucie and can come off DL on Friday. Ryan Church is coming off the DL on Sunday. Beltran’s stomach virus seems to be subsiding and should be on the field soon.

Oliver Perez, we can forget that one, my mother can’t fix him. That’s a totally different stratosphere of help needed on that one.

The Evil Eye[Lucky Mojo]

What is the Evil Eye [Suite 101]

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

Brian Schneider is Close to Returning, Sigh...

danny perez — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:50:05 -0400

Now it's no secret how many Mets fans feel about Brian "Automatic Out" Schneider. Word on the street is he's headed back to the roster either today or tomorrow.

I'm not going to get into why or how Castro and Santos are better served for the job, we've been down that road a few times and frankly tired of beating that dead horse. The unfortunate thing here is that his salary is what will keep Auto-Out in the line-up, not his success on the field.

PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG. I am dying to eat my words about you. Do something, anything. Call good a game, throw some runners out, how about a clutch hit or over a .250 average, something. How about being healthy enough to stay on the field?

We have a great thing going with what we have now, don't f**k it up Schneider. Our patience is growing thin, and if your garbage continues, we will be calling for your head, soon.

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

New York Mets' Starting Pitcher No. 5, A Battered Bunch

danny perez — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:28:56 -0400

As each spring training day passes, it seems the plan to stockpile a bunch of nobodies to battle it out for the final spot in the rotation is not working out. At this rate, unless Omar can pull a rabbit, or Pedro Martinez, out of his hat, mere process of elimination, and not excellence, is going to determine who will end up being lucky number five.

Let's take a look at this battered bunch.

Tim Redding is all but eliminated in my book. This is a guy who couldn’t get any peewees out in his first outing. Ok, to his credit, they were college players and he actually did retire one whole student batter, giving up five runs in one third of an inning.

Yesterday was no better. Well, he did actually pitch an entire two and one third innings against Florida. Here’s the kicker: dead man Redding was abused for 13 hits, 14 runs, and five home run bombs. His spring ERA is 40.50, and no, that’s not a typo.

I know it’s just spring, but really Tim? Is this the best you can do? And a guaranteed contract of about $2.5 million, for this?

My patience is wearing thin. I don’t even want to see this man in long relief, forget about making the rotation.

Then we have Freddy Garcia, who had an opportunity to boost his chances by getting a few guys out today in his fourth spring appearance vs Detroit. He certainly wasn’t Redding bad, allowing two runs in two and one third innings.

But with a fastball in the low 80’s and a spring ERA of barely under 15, going with him would be like going with the lesser of many evils. It’s time to move on from the Garcia experiment.

Then there’s Jon Niese with a not too shabby 9.00 ERA, well compared to the aforementioned fools. He’s just not impressing anyone either. He’s a lefty so he has that going for him.

On to the front-runner to date, rubber arm man Livan Hernandez. Sporting a 4.70 ERA, by process of elimination, he leads this motley crew to win the job.

I’m just not feeling this. No one is stepping up. No one is taking this animal by the horns as the Mets have hoped. If these are the only options, I’d want to see Niese win the job just for the element of the unknown. Is this what we have to look forward to, selecting someone on these terms?

We know what Livan will bring, just throw him in the pen for long relief and call it a day.

Then there’s Pedro, throwing in the 90’s, looking and feeling like a born again stud with determination. If Redding is getting almost $2.5 million, Pedro’s $5 million asking price is a bargain.

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

New York Mets Cut Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Martinez on Tap?

danny perez — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:04:35 -0400

In a surprise move, the New York Mets announced today the release of pitcher Duaner Sanchez, citing decreased velocity, sporadic command, and not much improvement based on last year.

“We looked at it, really, his over all performance based upon last year to what we see now and we didn’t see the improvement,” General Manager Omar Minaya said.

By releasing Sanchez by Mar. 18, the Mets are only required to pay a small portion of his $1.7 million salary.

Could this mean freeing up some money for Pedro Martinez?

I sure hope so. Our potentials for the final spot in the rotation are looking real shabby. Tim Redding is getting abused by college players. Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia are not impressing anyone, and Jonathon Niese still needs a little molding.

Pedro is determined, looks healthy, and is better than any of the above options. He has voiced his preferance and there's no secret he wants to return to the Mets. If this happens, Pedro will be the best fifth starter on any staff. Plus, come playoff time, he’s the guy you want out there.

Omar, let’s do this before someone else snags him.

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex.

Mets Release Duaner Sanchez [NY Times]
Pedro Martinez to Omar Minaya, Mets: Need a Fifth Starter? Call Me [Daily News]

World Baseball Classic: Early Thrills and a Huge Shocker

danny perez — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:48:00 -0500

Sourpusses take note, man up, and enjoy the show; big things are happening in the World Baseball Classic. As the Debbie Downers continue to frown upon this great event, the World Baseball Classic continues to excite. It's back, it's here, and it’s electric.

Fans here don't need to see hits, home runs, strikeouts, or anything on the field to get them hopping. Just the mere thrill of this tournament is enough to get these fans dancing in the stands.

In the Far East, where the Classic got under way, Japan as expected has already advanced to round two with convincing victories over China and South Korea who both beat Taiwan.

Being that baseball is the national sport of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, the surprise here is China as it’s only been a few years since they have been training baseball players.

China eliminated Taiwan, the first casualty of the tourney. China will now play South Korea to see who will be the final team to advance from Pool A. Winner plays Japan on Monday to decide the top seed.

On this side of the world, in the Pool D opener played in Puerto Rico, interesting and shocking baseball has already taken place. The mighty Dominican Republic was upset by a Netherlands team anchored by Sidney Ponson.

With only three hits for the game, the Netherlands jumped out to an early three-run, first-inning lead and barely held on with a 3-2 victory.

In fairness to D.R., and starter Edinson Volquez, two of the runs allowed in the first inning were unearned, both scoring on an errant throw by Hanley Ramirez. Of course, Reyes would've had it in the bag had he been playing.

Ponson spearheaded the victory with enough to win. However, nothing near the lights out performance Pedro Martinez displayed for D.R. Coming in relief, Pedro kept the D.R. within reach, throwing three masterful innings and facing the minimum nine batters.

Looking like the Pedro of old, it was thrilling watching him mow 'em down, striking out four of his final five batters in true Pedro fashion.

Omar, I hope you're watching! We're still in need of a fifth starter and our potentials haven't impressed anyone yet this spring so far. Let’s hope Omar was also watching Puerto Rico.

Like Pedro, still looking for a job and using the Classic to showcase his skills, Ivan Rodriguez (aka Pudge) went 4-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, and four RBI in Puerto Rico’s 7-0 win over Panama in a Pool C matchup.

Pudge would certainly be an upgrade over any of the Mets catchers at the moment, but that’s a conversation for another post. Carlos Delgado also went yard in the win.

Results from Pool C, being played in Canada, the U.S. squeaked by the Canadians in their first game, but really shouldn’t have going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring positions.

Kevin Youklis, Adam Dunn, and Brian McCann all went deep for Team USA and new Mets reliever J.J. Putz closed it out in the ninth though gave up one run in the process. Venezuela easily took care of Italy, winning 7-0 with help from Bobby Abreu, Endy Chavez, and Melvin Mora.

Pool B will get their chance to shine tomorrow. South Africa will take on Cuba and Mexico vs. Australia.

This is a fast-moving tournament, so it's vital for teams not to blink, just ask the Team USA what happened in 2006. One bad game can seal your deal here. The D.R. is on the brink, though not done yet.

The World Baseball Classic has just barely gotten under way but the thrill is evident and will continue to heighten as we get to the meat of the tournament. Soon the not so great teams will be eliminated and the powerhouses will go at it.

Wait, Netherlands is part of the not so great category and they upset mega D.R., but can they be the World Baseball Classic Cinderella?

Finally, baseball games in March that mean something!

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

Johan Santana Will Start Opening Day

danny perez — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:51:41 -0500

These infatuations with over hyping injuries that aren’t are really a waste of everyone’s time. I understand we need to be overly cautious with Johan, but let’s see how this plays out before assuming who is or isn’t pitching on opening day.

For those that haven’t noticed, it’s only MARCH 4. Opening day is over a month away, and here we are riding this daily ‘is he’ or ‘is he not’ pitching on opening day roller coaster. Things can change in an iffy especially with so much time to go until opening day.

Roller-coaster ride recap

First Santana feels a little sore after throwing. After brief hesitation, the Mets being overly cautious plan on sending him back to NY for an MRI. Then he throws a bullpen session before going to NY. He feels great

Plans for the MRI are scrapped. Then yesterday there are reports that there’s a good chance Santana might not be the opening day starter. In the meantime, he goes out and throws a 46-pitch bullpen and predicts he will pitch on opening day.

Even pitching coach Dan Warthen needs settle down, saying yesterday that chances are “almost nil” that Santana is starting opening day. But as Adam Rubin reports today, Warthen backs off that by saying “all plans have to have room for modification” and Santana indicated that Warthen's schedule for him is too conservative.

Note to Dan: Stop unnecessarily fueling this roller coaster and start treating Johan like a professional, not a two-year old.

Santana is mindful of Dan Warthen being more protective than Hulk Hogan watching Brook go on a first date.

Said Santana: "We are in this thing together, and I appreciate everything he's doing. He's trying to protect me and the team, of course. But as of right now, my mindset is for Opening Day. We've got to go one day at a time and see what's going on. We're making progress every time, every day, and we're on the right track.

"It's not like we're getting any setbacks or anything. I took a couple of days off last week, but I don't think that will be a big thing not to open Day 1. Last week, just because I took a day off, doesn't mean I'm not going to start on Day 1. As of right now, my mindset is for Opening Day. That's about it."

"I appreciate everything they're doing, and Dan is doing, trying to protect me and trying to keep me healthy, but I'm a professional. I know exactly what it takes for me to be ready. I've been doing this for years now, and I know exactly what I have to do. I'm pretty sure I'll be ready for Opening Day."

"We have a full month to get everything," Santana said. "It's just like any other spring training. You have a whole month to get ready. I don't see any difference this time. We started earlier this year, but it's still a month away from Opening Day."

It looks like the media is really missing the signals and glamorizing the potential negative without really giving intellectual thought to the situation on hand. Here are some facts being overlooked in this make believe roller coaster the media is taking us on.

*It’s spring and guys will be sore, it’s normal, especially in guys that aren’t popping ‘roids’.

*There is over a month to go in spring training, plenty of time to work on the soreness.

*Santana threw two bullpen sessions, and one of almost 50 pitches. IF THERE WAS ANY CHANCE THAT THIS IS SERIOUS IN ANY WAY, HE WOULD NOT BE THROWING ANY PITCHES (example Billy Wagner & Duanner Sanchez injuries). Fifty pitches is almost comparable to pitching a half of a whole baseball game.

Read his lips, he is a professional, he has been doing this for years now, knows exactly what he needs to do to get ready, and is pretty sure he’ll be ready for day 1.

This roller coaster has no merit; I’m jumping off.

Johan Santana Throw Bullpen Session, Says He Wants Opening Day Start [Daily News]
This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

An Open Letter to Mike Francesa

danny perez — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:44:15 -0500

Hey Mike,

You miserable rat bastard! Are you that sour of a Yankee fan, to want to call out Wright in the media? Did the A-Roid revelation boost your sourness? We know it’s tough for even the biggest Yankee fan like you to accept, especially when Wright gets all the love in town.

At the end of the day, you should count your lucky stars that Wright is mature enough to take the high road and agree to come on your show.

Really, who do you think you are? Did you think that on-air whining about getting snubbed by David Wright was going to change anyone’s perception of his squeaky clean image. Who do you think you're kidding?

I honestly thought you'd be smarter than that, to pick on David Wright, the most stand-up player in the MLB right now and the face of baseball. I’m confused at what your intentions were there.

And for the record, Wright has every reason to not want to waste any of his time on you and your garbage show. If you were really are impartial as you claim you are, Wright would have no issues ever going on your show. But you must be smoking something funny to even think you are a fair square.

If your argument had any merit, I’d give you the benefit of the doubt. But you’re almost putting Wright in the same category as A-Roid when discussing the inability to hit in the clutch, so I don't blame him.

Oh right I’m still on the line, you can’t press your little button and hang up on me like you do your callers now can you Mike? Sucks for you. That little button must be cool, especially the way you cut off callers that challenge your one-track mind with legitimate claims and solid insight. It’s a shame because if it weren’t for your cockiness, stubbornness, and your inability to be objective, you’d probably have a decent show.

Your my-way-or-the-dialtone on-air dictatorship fools no one, especially not us Mets fans. We're not stupid, just sick of your tired act.

Mike, here's the way we look at it, one down and one to go. The Dog is gone and sooner or later your next, especially if you continue feeding us this crap. For me it’s been a while, I don’t even listen anymore. Thanks to you, I've broadened my horizons and found other more entertaining, insightful sports talk hosts.

You’d be surprised at how good these other guys are on that other station, 1050. For one, the other two Mike’s are tearing up the sports airwaves, and you’re kind of falling into the background. They have these other guys too, Max Kellerman, Tirico & Van Pelt, Michael Tierney, all who provide better insight and coverage on our beloved Mets. And I hate to say it, I used to rag on Michael Kay, the ultimate Yankee fan, but even he does a better job on the Mets than you, which is sad.

Please continue letting your disdain for the Mets cloud your judgment, as the crazier you get, the quicker our radio waves will be clear of your smut.

Can't stand you,
—Mets fans

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

Jerry Manuel Pushes Right Buttons In Spring

danny perez — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:36:35 -0500

Not going by the book, he causes a stir by deciding that it may be a good idea to bat Luis Castillo lead-off and move Reyes down to the three spot. Then he puts Mets hitters through these marathon ‘gangster’ hitting drills where they’re swinging at curve ball after curve ball till they start looking straight and another where they have to hit opposite field on every pitch.

Then he bats Oliver Perez second to assure the pitcher an at bat.

Jerry Manuel’s unorthodox coaching has raised eyebrows and some questions marks. But so far, positive results are beginning to show.

What’s next, a catching drill where Mets catchers get 50 attempts each at throwing out base stealers consecutively?

In 2 games in the lead-off spot, Castillo is 3 for 5, with 2 walks, and 4 RBI. Most importantly is that he reaches base five times. Reyes, in only one game so far in the three hole, goes 2 for 4, with 2 home runs one of which was a grand slam, and 6 RBI.

Countless guys have gone opposite field, including Delgado twice today. On the SNY telecast, after Delgado’s second opposite hit of the day, Gary Cohen reminds the viewers that the “opposite field parade continues”.

With Perez scheduled to pitch only two innings today, Manuel bats him second in the lineup so he can at least get one shot at a bunt in a real game situation. Perez did just that, moving Castillo over to second on a sweet sacrifice bunt in the first inning, accomplishing what Manuel set out for him to do.

Not sure I’ve ever seen a pitcher bat in any position other than the 8 or 9 spot in the order. It’s these little things Jerry is trying to instill on the Mets.

Little things that make good teams great.

This article is also featured on Mets Are Better Than Sex

World Baseball Classic: Starting the 2009 Season Off with a Bang!

danny perez — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:53:24 -0500

With Manny still on the block and the offseason crawling along, good baseball is right around the corner, and it seems no one in this country is paying any attention to it. Yes, pitchers and catchers are in camp and Spring Training is just getting under way.

This is not about Spring Training, this is about the World Baseball Classic. How can we not be excited about the World Baseball Classic?

This is the most exciting thing baseball has done for the sport since its beginning. We’ll get to cons, but let’s get excited for a minute.

We’re talking about the biggest names and best players in the league. Check out the rosters.

Stacked! Stars-a-plenty

A few to name:

Beltran. Big Papi. Wright. Rollins. Jeter. Braun. Delgado. Kazmir. K-Rod. Oswalt. Pedro. Putz. Hanley Ramirez. Guerrero. Dise-K. Soriano. Chipper Jones. Morneau. Ichiro. Cabrera. Abreu. McCann. A-Roid (will bring more attention to the tournament now with his coming out party). And so on.

For goodness sake, Fonzie is on the Venezuelan roster. Yes, Edgardo Alfonzo (just signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan). It can’t get any better than this!

The star quality playing in the Classic makes the All-Star game seem like a scrimmage. A meaningless exhibition, besides the fact that World Series home field advantage is on the line.

Forget All-Star game. This is All-Star tournament with playoff intensity! Unless you’re a Rays or Phillies fan, this can arguably be more exciting than this past World Series.

How can anyone not be thrilled about watching Dominican Republic go up against United States, or Puerto Rico against Japan? Or watching Cuban all-stars no one knows, guys that would pretty much make most MLB rosters if things were politically different.

When you look at the WBC rosters, it’s easy to see how global baseball really is. If you haven’t noticed, guys really do want to play in the Classic. It’s an honor for them to play for and represent their countries. The U.S. players need to jump on the wagon, and I think they are finally coming around.

In the first Classic, it was evident Team USA took a walk in the park. In three second round games, they would only muster up eight runs and were eliminated before reaching the semifinals.

They underestimated the integrity and enormity of what a true world baseball tournament has the potential to be. Well, it looks as if the spanking did them good. They now have a better sense of what to expect and I believe will play with more veracity.

Our friends Chipper Jones and Jimmy Rollins provided some good insight on the attitude of the team then and now.

(Chipper Jones) "there might have been too many chiefs and not enough Indians…I think some guys thought we were just going to throw the bats and gloves out there on the field and we were just going to crush everybody with the names and the bats that we had on that particular team,"

"We know that good baseball is played in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican and Mexico," Jones said. "Let me tell you something, there's good baseball played over there in those Asian countries as well. They took it to us, and they took it to the whole tournament. They came in, they were ready and nobody pitched as tough as Japan and South Korea the whole tournament.

Having too many ‘chiefs’ equates to egos, although it seems Team USA is taking a different approach this time. I almost jumped out my seat when read what Jimmy Rollins said in reference to Jeter being the starting shortstop. Do I sense some Team USA pride here?

"I have no problem with Derek Jeter being named the starting shortstop…He's a great representative for USA Baseball. It has nothing to do with pride or 'I think I'm better' or 'I think he's better; he should do it.' It has nothing to do with that.

He goes on to say, this is the part where I almost left my seat..

"This is baseball. This is a team. It's not about me and it's not about him. It's about the USA going out there and trying to bring this [Classic] title home. If I was named the starting shortstop, then so be it. I'm just fortunate to be on this team."

Did he just say “I’m fortunate to be on this team”? Did we hear that correctly? I’m honestly shocked to hear this and glad at the same time. Can it be that the US is finally getting it? Egos shouldn’t be an issue on Team USA this time if that’s any indication.

Not only did the players treat the tournament like an all-star game, Team USA was coached that way.

In 2006, then-manager Buck Martinez tried to do the seemingly impossible by attempting to provide many members of his star-studded roster equal playing time while simultaneously aiming to win games against top-caliber opponents who weren't utilizing the same All-Star Game-like approach.

A formula for disaster in the making!

Embracing the tournament is a step in the right direction. Seeing the various approaches to the game from different cultures is great for all.

Although interest by U.S. players to represent USA is higher than in previous years—see Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia—there are still guys that don’t see the importance of this and feel to find the need to avoid it for what seem to be selfish reasons.

Some guys that fall into this category are Josh Hamilton, Ryan Dempster, Ryan Howard, Brad Lidge, and Cole Hamels. Good, it gives us more reasons to hate the Phillies, plus we don’t want players that don’t want to be there anyway. Punks!

To each his own and it’s up to the individual players, but there are times that individual clubs put up the block. There’s proof already that players who resisted will in the future regret not playing, just ask Hideki Matsui.

Matsui didn’t play last time around for his loyalty to the Yankees, and now can’t help Japan defend its title due to injury. I’m sure he’s still beating himself up for it and bringing disappointed a masse of Japanese fans since it's most likely his last shot at it.

Dempster is the posterboy for not having any legitimate reasons to play and will not play for Canada because of the contract he signed. He’s healthy, has job security, it’s not a free agent year, and he himself has called the Classic an ‘exhibition tournament’.

It’s just a shame because a team like Canada needs guys like Dempster to bolster their squad. Team USA on the other hand can overcome guys not wanting to play with other quality players, Canada doesn’t have that luxury.

It’s understandable for guys rehabbing injuries and such to not want to play, or being blocked to play by their clubs.

The great thing about the WBC is the competition. This tournament is not lopsided by any means as talent is spread evenly among teams. Of course you have your super stacked teams with Dominican Republic., U.S., Japan, but beware, look out for the Mexico’s, Venezuela’s, Cuba’s of the world.

All teams are coming out with their hearts on their sleeves. Incentives such as having home field advantage in the World Series are not needed in this tournament.

Yes, there’s risk of injury. Of course, MLB clubs are cringing with the high interest of players expressing desire to play in the tournament. Injuries can always happen. We see them in Spring Training, off the field, in taxi’s, something that is sometimes unavoidable.

To limit risk of injury, there are rules that protect both starting pitchers and relievers. In addition to pitch count limits, pitchers who throw at least 30 pitches constitute a mandatory day off, 50 pitches and it’s four days off.

Plus, the whole tournament is not even that many games. The workload is not heavy at all. The most games played were by the finalists, Japan and Cuba, with eight a piece. All other teams played less.

In 2006, Team USA leaders in innings pitched were Clemens with 8.2 and Peavy with eight. They were the only guys with more than six innings pitched on the team and most guys with under three innings pitched, total.

It’s not that much work when you think about it. Granted, Team USA was limited in the number of games played due to being eliminated in the second round and the load would have likely increased some had they advanced further, but not by much.

Yes, the timing in relation to the start of the MLB season stinks. Maybe MLB should think about shortening the season a few games to better accommodate the players and teams. It’s not brain surgery. Soccer leagues accommodate for the World Cup and Olympics. Some sacrifices will need to be made for this tournament to excel, but all worth it in the end.

With all the skepticism it received initially, the WBC proved to be a success the first time around. Attendance was higher than expected in many locations. Ratings did better than expected. More media credentials were issued than the World Series. This should give you a sense of international interest in this and provide hope for a truly globalized baseball world.

MLB should not stop here. We should hope baseball one day gravitates towards a true World Series. One where the Champions from the best leagues go at it, see Little League World Series.

This article is also featured on The Mets Are Better Than Sex

[World Baseball Classic]
U.S. taking team approach for Classic [USA Baseball]
World Baseball Classic 2009 Team USA Team Approach [Ground Report]

Alex "A-Roid" Rodriguez Comes Clean, But Can Do No Right

danny perez — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:04:56 -0500

I mean really, you almost have to pity this poor guy, well insanely rich guy, but you know what I’m getting at.

Alex Rodriguez continues to dig himself in a hole. Every time an issue arises, you used to get the feeling that he’s going to overcome it and become a better person/ballplayer, and really the opposite happens.

Now it’s just like, okay, what’s going to happen next?

Throughout his career, A-ROID has been making bad decisions. He manages to always make matters worse by putting his foot in his mouth when answering questions in the media.

Let’s face it, he tries too hard and it shows. As much as he tries he’ll never get to Jeter-status and we know that kills him.

Hey A-ROID, here’s some advice, if you can just try to be yourself for once, you may come out on top every once in a while. That’s the difference between him and Jeter. Jeter is his own person and people respect him for it. A-ROID tries too hard to please everyone and people see right through that.

As a Mets fan, I was honestly looking forward to him breaking Hank's home run record, because BARROIDS record is meaningless. I will say it again, Barry Bonds’ home run record doesn’t hold any value and it shouldn’t.

But now what?

His legacy is tainted, it has to be. Even if some decide to judge him on his career minus the admitted three steroid years, you just don’t know if he only took it for three years.

Hank's record should still be the number to shoot for and should hold more weight now than ever.

One thing he did do right and should get credit for is coming clean quickly when news broke. For this, he should be forgiven the same way Andy Pettite and Jason Giambi received the free pass. I respect him for coming out with that, even though it seemed he had no choice but to.

A-ROID should thank Clemens for giving him insight on how not to handle steroid accusations and he surprisingly learned from it. Imagine if he would’ve denied it?

Let’s talk about Jose Canseco for a second. He went from being the biggest laughing stock when he released his book, to…okay there may be some truth to it, to...okay maybe he’s on to something and knows a few things, to...is there anything he did say that wasn’t true?

For all the shit he got, let’s give Jose Canseco a hand for basically initiating what has become cleaning up America’s pastime. He was the one that brought it to everyone’s attention when baseball turned a blind eye.

In A-ROID’S case, Canseco said he did everything but inject him with the stuff.

Question is, where would we be if Canseco didn’t let the cat out of the bag? Barry would probably still be playing and approaching 800-900 home runs. Clemens would still be raging on the mound, throwing 95+ at age 45.

All I can say is, thank goodness for Jose Canseco to help bring integrity back to the game.

Go figure.

Giants 2009, Plaxico Or No Plaxico Burress

danny perez — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:19:45 -0500

Seems like the question of the week is, ‘Would the Giants have beaten the Eagles with a healthy Plaxico Burress on the team?’

I'm not sure that’s a guarantee but I will say this, there's no question he's a huge threat for any defense and brings stability to the Giants passing game.

Without him, we lose a playmaker; and defenses turn their focus on other weapons, adding more stress on the running game. It’s no secret that in the last two years, the threat posed by Plax contributed to the huge success the Giants experienced running the ball.

Without him, the passing game has fallen with the Giants' average receiving corps out there. Domenik Hixon didn't take advantage of the opportunity handed to him even though he showed some skills on infrequent occasions.

But seriously, does the combination of Toomer, Hixon, Smith, and Moss pose the legitimate threat needed to keep this Big Blue machine rolling on all cylinders?

One things for sure, Plax or no Plax, Eli needs a big game play-maker, go to guy receiver to keep this offense balanced.

Terry Bradshaw to Lynn Swann. Joe Montana to Jerry Rice. Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin. Tom Brady to Deion Branch. From Bart Starr to Max McGee all the way through Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress, we've seen what a big difference a special quarterback-wide receiver connection can make in the quest for the Super Bowl.

QB to WR: Dangerous combo come playoffs SportingNews.com

Who's to say Plax would've made the catches that were dropped, or that he would have had more balls thrown his way? Who's to say the Eagles wouldn't have double-teamed him and also made his night miserable? Make no mistake about it, the Giants offense with a healthy Plax is virtually unstoppable when functioning on all cylinders.

The keyword is health. Can he recover from the bullet wound to the thigh? In addition to health, there's another keyword to factor in with Plax, and that is the big D word.

Distraction.

Can he come back healthy and not be a huge distraction to the team? That is the bigger question with Plax. Does he have the make up to overcome this, take the high road like a true professional, get back to tip top shape, stay out of trouble, shut up and play? Can we trust him not to do something stupid again? It's as simple as that and that sounds like a tall order.

I'm not sure he's capable. But if he is, welcome back Plax! Either way, the Giants are going to have to make a decision. Get behind Plax 100%, or do what they've done with the previous distractions, overcome them, move on, and become a better team.

And by no means have the Giants been strangers to distractions. Who would've thought the Giants would become a better team rushing the ball without Tiki Barber when he was still around? Looking back, it's easy to see how Tiki's retirement announcement and his yapping in the press about the coach was a distraction that had an effect on the team.

Then you had the Shockey distraction. The Giants got rid of him and didn’t miss a beat, almost like plug-n-play.

Those are just a few to mention. The Giants have managed to overcome distractions fairly easily in recent years and have come out in better shape as a result.

If Plax is gone, this will just be another one to work through. If the Giants decide to rid themselves of this situation, they must replace Plax's playmaking abilities with someone else of his caliber.

Replacing Plax is no easy task as the numbers speak for themselves, though his knack to make big plays in crunch situations is the most important thing of all.

By the numbers with the Giants:

76 REC, 1214 YDS, 7 TDS in 2005
63 REC, 988 YDS, 10 TDs in 2006
70 REC, 1025 YDS, 12 TDS in 2007
35 REC, 454 YDS, 4 TDS in 2008 (partial season)