I don't care enough to keep pursuing this, but IMO it is beyond absurd to try to compare the weaknesses of fielding statistics, none of which are remotely considered by consensus to be very useful, to things like OBP, slugging pct, WHIP, etc., all of which have been demonstrated over and over as being strongly related to scoring and preventing runs. There are some things that cannot be measured very accurately. That's not "throwing up your hands," it's recognizing reality. I've repeated several times that I am in no position to say who else in the league is truly deserving, but I've watched enough baseball in the past 45 years to know that IMO Wright is far too erratic to be considered a top fielder, and I suspect that most people would agree with me.
I agree there's no useful metric to determine how many runs a defender saves or costs his team, but that's not what I was talking about. There are however metrics that determine which players have the best range at their respective positions and which players consistently make plays that most wouldn't be able to get to. That goes a pretty long way in my book in determining who's a good fielder and who isn't.
So the immortal Buster Olney is suggesting the Mets trade for Ramon Hernandez, who has played with Rick Peterson before. He suggests Milledge or Gomez going the other way, and expanding the deal to include a Chad Bradford and/or Brian Roberts. Won't happen, and I'm not sure if L-Millz or Gomez should be included in a non-ace deal. But it is interesting. Thoughts?
Pelfrey and some minor leaguers to the Nationals for Chad Cordero and some minor leaguers is supposedly in talks. I think that would be a pretty good trade, especially if Pelfrey keeps pitching like he did this season. Cordero is a dominant reliever. He'd fit right in with the Mets as the set-up man.
Do not want. Unless the Mets are totally convinced that Pelfrey will never be a good pitcher this trade makes no sense.
It's just a rumor, but I heard about this today too, so it must be going somewhere. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Mets-want-Cordero-Nats-want-Gomez-Pelfrey?urn=mlb,52931 Mets want Cordero, Nats want Gomez, Pelfrey Thursday, Nov 8, 2007 7:31 am EST After their historic crash earlier this fall, it became apparent the New York Mets need bullpen help, someone like Chad Cordero of the Washington Nationals. The Washington Nationals, meanwhile, are interested in Mets' outfielder Carlos Gomez and right-hander Mike Pelfrey, according to a baseball source. Pelfrey, 23, is a pitcher the Nationals have been coveting since before the July 31 trade deadline. Source: MLB.com
I wouldn't trade a top prospect for a reliever, unless it was a completely dominant one like K-Rod. I would rather just sign Gagne or Linebrink or Riske in free agency, any of whom could be just as good of Cordero. I read somewhere that the Nationals were looking for a pitcher like Mulvey...I think a Mulvey-for-John Rauch deal works well for both teams, but the Mets might have to give more.
It'd be an okay trade, because you're getting 2 solid starters and a good reliver (though I might ask for someone else because Bradford and Smith are too similar). I'm very high on Roberts, he's a very good player and would be great hitting behind Reyes. Omar should try to expand the deal into somehthing like: Bedard Roberts Hernandez Bradford for Gomez Pelfrey Humber Heilman Another prospect?
We don't know who the minor leaguers in the deal are though...the Nats could be giving us another top prospect in this deal, but that's highly unlikely. If we sign two good starters, I wouldn't mind trading Pelfrey away for some bullpen relief and some prospects.
There's no way the Mets are going to get Bedard. And I don't think a possible minor upgrade at C and/or 2b is worth giving up highly rated prospects for.
Yes but Humber is not the prospect Kazmir was. Also, they'd be trading Humber for someone actually worth a top prospect...not Victor Zambrano.
I don't particularly like the idea of trading Milledge for Roberts, but I wouldn't call Roberts a minor upgrade at 2B. I agree with you 100 percent about Hernandez.
OK, so what are our options? If we're not trading for Hernandez, and we don't want Lo Duca anymore, it seems that Torrelba (sp?) is the best option. I don't like that at all... If Omar would just do something significant, anything, really, I'd be really happy.
Roberts has had one amazing year and one pretty good year. The rest of his career he's basically been similar to Castillo. As for catcher I'd be fine with Castro the starter and signing LoDuca to be the backup in case Castro goes down again or if that's not acceptable to LoDuca sign some other durable asshole on the cheap. The available catchers are so bad it really doesn't make any sense to pay alot of money for any of them.
That's true, but, as I said a few months ago, the Mets management will never start Castro. It would be viewed as a downgrade, and perception is everything.
Mets management will never start Castro because with his physical conditioning, he is incapable of holding up over a full season. We're talking about a player who has an arthritic back and has struggled to stay healthy while in a part-time role. When he's gotten to play in an everyday role, his bat has definitely slowed down, in large part due to his conditioning. At his weight (listed at 255) and his age (32 in March), these issues aren't going to go away.
