The Mets season would already be over if it wasn't for "this pitching". They've won 3 games this year when their starter gave up more then 3 runs. That's a miserable offense.
The Mets offense has been the achilles heel so far this year, and contrary to "experts" beliefs our starting rotation has carried us this year, the Mets offense hasn't shown yet that it can be consistant
The Mets Main 1-5 rotation thus far this season They are 37-24 with an ERA of 3.45 Anybody else starts They are 0-10 with an ERA of 8.69
I'm going to say this as a Yankee fan who DESPERATELY wants ARod to re-sign before the season ends. If he leaves the Yankees, I PRAY he ends up a Met. I'll even take it a step further, if he leaves the Yankees, I hope he wins a WORLD SERIES in Queens. Forget all the animosity between our sides of the fence. Forget all the newspaper bullshit. Forget all the comparisons between positional players between our clubs. I want Alex Rodriguez to win a world series. As much as I am a Yankees fan above anything but the Jets, I'm a BASEBALL fan at heart. The single greatest player arguably EVER to don a cap should win a title. If that can happen in NY, I don't care which side of the TriBoro it happens on. -------------------- I admit I joined the kick ARod in the pants party late last year. It was actually during the Boston Massacre series, and I'll regret that for the rest of my life. I changed my stance back to full-on support before Spring Training this year, and I haven't regretted it one bit. If ARod changes NY teams, not only will I simply just hope that the Mets make the post-season because they're another NY team, I'll actively ROOT for them to win a World Series. I won't go so far as to change my allegience, since I'm by no means a bandwagoner fan. However, I'd probably watch more Mets games than Yankees games, just to watch what would be the best lineup in baseball play. -------------------- The only team that ARod could instantly improve more than the Mets is the Red Sox. Playing with that left field fence for 81 games would make him the home run king. Keep Manny and Papi in that lineup with him, and you're talking about far and away the best 3-4-5 in baseball. Add in their pitching, and the Sox would win the division by 20 games every year for the next half decade. I don't want to see that happen though. (Though I'd sacrifice seeing the Sox win another title if it allowed Alex to break the single-season HR record. I hate Barry more than the Sox.)
I think the one thing that would make the Yankees go all out for A-Rod is the fact that Boston still loves him. 2B Pedroia 1B Youkilis DH Ortiz LF Ramirez SS Rodriguez 3B Lowell C Varitek RF Drew CF Crisp Shoot Lugo or make him the most expensive utility man I can remember. (I still don't get that signing.) Add on a pitching staff that'll have Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester and a pen with Okajima and Paps. And, well, wow.
The only thing I'd say you are wrong about is putting ARod behind Manny. Alex will get on base far more often than Manny, so it makes more sense to bat him ahead of Manny. Plus, that will instantly grow ARod's HR numbers, since everyone will have to pitch to him. No question it would be a sick lineup though.
Manny career .410 OBP, Arod career .387 OBP. Aside from that, the lineup is wrong all over the place. Pedroia is not a leadoff hitter. Lowell wouldn't be on the team. Drew would not hit 8th. It would be more like this... Ellsbury-CF Drew- RF Ortiz- DH Ramirez- LF Rodriguez- 3B Varitek- C Youkilis- 1B Pedroia- 2B Lugo- SS
Well, if everyone is always going to scream and yell about living in the present, currently: ARod: .407 Manny: .385 I'd go with current performance as a gauge for where in the lineup each guy would belong. No way in hell I'd have ARod batting behind Manny. If that's Boston's plan, I hope the Green Monster collapses in February, and the Sox have to play their games on a college field. You're also hanging your hat pretty squarely on Ellsbury. You're always telling me to calm down when I get hyped about guy when he plays in MLB games. :wink:
You'd drop two guys with OBPs in the .400 neighborhood to 7 and 8 in the lineup to bat a rookie leadoff? And is Lowell's contract up after this season?
The NL stills stinks but if you want to win a Championship you will need better pitching. It's only half a year, you have the offensive talent to win it all but you don't have the pitching to win it all. That pitching can carry you in a weak league but you aren't getting to or winning a WS as the competition gets tougher. You don't have a shutdown starter, as good as maine has been he's not lights out. If you had a pitcher like that I'd be picking you for he WS and give you a great shot to win it all. I think you would be better off trying to acquire a pitcher rather than another bat. Let me rephrase that, i'd overpay a bit for a big time pitcher(if possible, maybe it's not?) but I wouldn't for a bat.
Yeah, they need to upgrade the pitching- the relief pitching. The starters will be good enough in the postseason. Maybe Duaner Sanchez will be back. Maybe Octavio Dotel will be acquired (Detroit probably will be interested, too). If Martinez is alright, maybe Glavine and Sosa will be moved to the bullpen in the playoffs.
Arod is having a great year while Manny is having what is for him a down year. But my point was saying Arod will get on base "far more than Manny" is ridiculous. Part of what makes Manny such a great hitter is that in addition to the power he always gets on base. I also wouldn't mess with the 3-4 that's worked so well for 3+ years. Arod behind Manny makes sense to me. It's not as if Manny is some replacement player who can't hit. As for Ellsbury, there's a difference between him and Clippard. Clippard is a pitcher with average stuff who is projected to be an average pitcher. Ellsbury already plays excellent defense and has world class speed, which is enough to make him a valuable player. He has also hit EXTREMELY well everywhere he has been, and is projected to continue to do so. In his brief stint in Boston earlier this season he hit .375 in 6 games, had a .444 OBP, scored 3 runs, and stole a base, all while making a couple very good plays in the outfield. Granted it was only 6 games, but a lot of what he brings to the table is speed, something that doesn't slump. I am 100% certain he will be the starting CF for the Sox next year. Yes, Lowell's contract is up after the season. And yes I would drop them to 7 and 8. In '03 and '04 when the Sox were breaking team offensive records it was because of how ridiculously deep the lineup was. Putting Ellsbury at the top and those two near the bottom deepens the lineup 1-9, making pitchers work harder. Ellsbury has always been projected as an elite leadoff hitter, and that's where he belongs.
I've always preferred the term "minion" to underling. It's so much more vampire-like, and Boras is definitely a bloodsucker.
That article is about pedro who when healthy wasn't a big game pitcher besides 1999. It's a big mistake if you are counting on pedro.
Come on man, you of all people should know I don't hate on Manny. I love the guy. I still think ARod would do far better in front of him. If nothing else, Alex will be brought around more often than not on Manny's doubles. With ARod moving Ortiz into scoring position when he's on base, there's multiple RBI in the 3-4-5 spots. I can understand your positioning based on previous success though. To each his own I guess. As for Ellsbury, I was actually being more sarcastic with my comments than serious, but I wasn't aware that he was brought up yet. Honestly, anything that stops me from hearing "Coco Crisp steps to the plate," "Coco Crisp goes back to the wall," "Coco Crisp gets a base hit," etc. works for me. His name was amusing the first 5 or 6 times I heard it. It's tired now.
Do you even think before you post? The same media... in case you haven't noticed the media in New York doesn't give a shit about the Mets. The Mets could be 81-0 and the Yankees would garner all the attention. I'm not saying he's going to go to the Mets but if he leaves the Skanks I'd say the team in Queens has as good a chance to sign him.
I want A-Rod to stay, and as a Yankee fan I definitely DON'T want him going to the Sox... but a tiny, evil part of me is kind of curious to see how Sox fans could possibly rationalize all the hatred they've directed his way. Not your normal, run-of-the-mill "hate" that's directed at players on your team's rival... but what appears to be actual hatred. I'd get a perverse enjoyment out of watching their heads explode dealing with the cognitive dissonance.
Probably the same way we dealt with Damon walking in our door. Honestly, the only person I would be interested in seeing have a reaction is Varitek. I think there's actual malice there. The fan malice is erased as soon as he gets inserted into a lineup already containing two of the premier power hitters in the sport.
I guarantee that Varitek would have no reaction whatsoever. First, I think the idea that he somehow hates him is absurd. The only evidence of this is an altercation that took place during the heat of battle. I'm sure he doesn't have Arod in his "five", but I doubt he actively hates him. Second, even if he DID hate him, he's far too professional for something like that. He knows that Arod would improve the team dramatically, and I can't see him letting personal feelings get in the way of that.
