Tag: Mets

Done a bad, bad thing

Scott Kazmir takes the mound tonight for the Tampa Rays to open up the 2008 World Series, reopening a wound for Mets fans that runs pretty deep — Kazmir was supposed to take the hill for the Mets under the big lights.

I hope Kazmir does well. The kid has nasty stuff, even if his durability remains a question mark.

That said, the Kazmir trade ranks among the worst ever made by the organization. Where? I’m not sure. But it appears to be rather high — at least on a par with most of these awful transactions:

  • Tom Seaver to the Reds for Pat Zachary, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman and Doug Flynn. Seaver was “The Franchise” and still in his prime. Just awful.
  • Nolan Ryan and a bit player to the Angels for Jim Fregosi. Fregosi was a decent shortstop on the decline that the Mets converted into a terrible third-baseman. Ryan got his chance in the rotation and became a force on the mound (if a bit overrated).
  • A young and unheralded Amos Otis to the Royals for third-baseman Joe Foy. One in a long line of bad trades for bad third-basemen.
  • Jeff Kent and Jose Viscaino to the Indians for Carlos Baerga. (The Indians then turned around and moved Kent for Matt Williams, who bolted for Arizona.)
  • Rusty Staub to the Tigers for an over-the-hill Mickey Lolich.

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Defending David Wright

We listen to WFAN in the office frequently and Mike Francesca has been on a “break up the core” kick regarding the Mets. As part of his argument, he says that the Mets should not take trading David Wright (pictured, from MLB site) off the table. Wright, he says, is good but not that good and probably not the best thirdbaseman in the league and that he’d rather have Evan Longoria of the Rays and Kevin Youkilis of the Sox. He’d trade him straight up for either — an odd proposal based on the track records of the three players discussed.

Youkilis, for instance, is 29 — four years older than Wright — and had a big year this year that wasn’t even as good as Wright’s. Youkilis, in two other seasons as a starter, drove in only 155 runs total, though he has come up big in the playoffs (five series over the last two years, two of them huge, three of them not so hot).

As for Longoria, it is way too early to know what he is. I think he is likely to be one of the best at his position, but what does that mean? Can we expect a .300 batting average, 30 homeruns and 100 RBIs? How is that better than Wright?

Consider: Wright is the only third baseman in baseball to hit better than .300 each of the last four seasons — his first four full seasons in the majors. during that time, Wright has 444 runs batted in, second among third baseman only to Alex Rodriguez (510), and 116 home runs — third behind A-Rod (172) and Aramis Ramirez (122, with 424 RBIs).

Has Wright been good with the chips on the line? No. But he was not as bad as people are saying, his performance in clutch situations being decent (according to the numbers), though his failures have come in the highest profile situations. He did hit .330 in the second half with a good September and a .375 average over the last week of the season — but with no RBIs or extra basehits.

But let’s be honest: No other third baseman belongs in the conversation if the conversation is about who the best at the position is.

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Scary stuff on the mound

The Mets' bullpen — visual representation.

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