Mon 5 May 2008
It looks as though a change in pitching coach is immanent as there are a couple of stories in the papers today on the gag order placed on Rick Peterson. In order to speak to Peterson you have to go through Jay Horowitz to get which means you don’t get to speak to Peterson to ask him what his routine is with Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez? What kind of work has he done with Aaron Heilman and Jorge Sosa to get them on track? What is the problem with those underachieving players since it doesn’t look to be physical? Is he able to relate to them? Has he reached a wall with the guys like John Maine, Perez and Pelfrey? We will never find out because of the gag order but this much is true, Peterson’s days as Mets pitching coach are near the end.
Howard Mengal is an Oliver Perez fan and so am I and his article in the
Matt Wise is just about ready to be activated from the DL and question is who goes when he does. It would be a shame if Joe Smith gets bounced just because he has options over Jorge Sosa who has been totally ineffective but is making $2mil. I don’t know if Angel Pagan has any options but if he does do you drop a position player to add an 8th reliever? Sounds crazy but the way Willie uses the pen, it might be a plan.
The Mets are looking at Derrick Turnbow recently released by the Brewers. Hey if it’s a minor league deal what the hell?
I don’t want to sound like a little whinny Ranger fan but if your Gary Bettman how can you be happy with the way yesterday’s Rangers-Penguins game (the whole series for that matter) was officiated? Chris Drury gets his face spilt open by Ryan Malone’s stick and the assholes in stripes and an arm band (Marc Joannette and Brad Watson) make no call. What’s worse was the mannequin behind the Ranger bench Tom Renny a guy who makes Willie Randolph look like Earl Weaver does nothing. Drury then clips Malone who drew a trickle of blood and he gets a four minute minor so the clueless refs let that become the defying moment in the game as the Rangers were done after that kill as the overtime session started. It’s time now for Slats Sather to clean out the house a bit with the first move being his retirement so that Mark Messier can take over the hockey operation. I’ve been a big critic of Slats but I’ll give the invisible GM his due he has left the Ranger organIzation with lots of good young talent. Good bye Jagr and Shanny thanks for all you’ve done for the organIzation but it’s time for more new blood. Messier needs to take this team to the next level and find a coach with a fucking pulse and some passion.
Thank you Boston Celtics for finally showing up and doing what should have been done in four games. Hopefully Doc Rivers will let Tom Thibodeau lock the team in the film room and pound playing the defense that made this a great season in their heads as the take on the Cleveland LeBrons. Please C’s get this done in no more than six games.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Before I read the article about OP, I was a fan of his and I totally agree that it will definitely hurt the Mets if/when he leaves next year. Either way we are screwed because if he pitches like crap this year, it hurts us and if he pitches like last year, he will want something like 5 years $60 mil which I don’t think the Mets will pay.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I read the article with interest, and thought the stat about number of unearned runs given up was interesting. However, my take is that the focus described in the article (fielders don’t concentrate cause of all the walks) is a bit backwards. I think it’s Ollie who loses concentration when something goes wrong behind him.
I was in SF last year for a game that the Mets lost 9-1. All of those runs were given up by Ollie, with only 2 earned. He was pitching a beauty, leading 1-0 into the 5th when he got into a little trouble. 2 runs in, 2 outs and a liner that Shawn Green let clank off his glove that should have been the third out.
After that it was like Ollie imploded - 7 more runs that inning and the game was lost.
His appearances are so bipolar - either 0 runs allowed or loads. I’d love to see a breakdown of his good starts vs his bad starts - you can’t properly evaluate him based on the averages!
I do like him but for what it’s worth I benched him in my fantasy league last night, and that turned out to be a good decision! Dropped him today….
It will be interesting to see if a new pitching coach can make a difference on this team.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:17 am
My problem with Perez is that I don’t think he can handle expectation. The more that’s expected of him, the less he delivers. Last year, expectations were not that high, but this year people were talking about him at least matching what he did last year. That’s pressure.
And, of course, his decision NOT to extend means he’s under pressure to perform so that he can get the big contract he figures is his due.
Perez needs a psychiatrist, not a new pitching coach.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:23 am
There are some interesting, but odd points in that article. One, what is he saying about the defense behind Perez? That the Mets don’t try as hard when he’s on the mound? If not, then why do they make more errors when he’s on the mound? Why does the defense’s concentration lapse?
Then there’s this:
This year, a Perez who merely repeats his 2007 would give New York a third starter far better than those possessed by division rivals Atlanta or Philadelphia, along with nearly every team in the National League.
I agree with that. BUT, he won 15 games last year and we all EXPECT him to duplicate that at a minimum. That’s a pretty high bar, one that I think is too big a burden for so delicate a mind.
Nobody doubts the guy’s talented, but I doubt he’s a winner.