sorry for lack of a post on this New York Highlanders Elimination Day but it’s been busy today with lot of work around the house. I don’t know what has me more giddy, the fact that the Bronx Bastards played only 5 more games than the Mets or that Alex Rodriguez still has 6 years and $143 mil due to him on his worst contract ever, the tide is turning Mets fans, the tide is turning
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This post was written by kranepool on October 7, 2011
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) has begun voting on its end of season awards. The first award the BBA will announce is the Connie Mack Award for Manger of the Year. As President of the New York National League Chapter, I am pleased to announce the chapter’s final ballot for the Connie Mack Award for National League Manager of the Year:
The announcement of the Connie Mack Award winner will be on Monday October 10th
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This post was written by kranepool on October 7, 2011
Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
One of the worst kept secrets surrounding the Mets was the fact that Chip Hale was ready to head back home to Northern California to join his buddy Bob Melvin as bench coach for the A’s. What was surprising was the domino effect Hale’s departure had on the rest of the coaching staff.
Mookie Wilson was let go with the old “we’ll reassign you in the organization” which is like when a cop sucks at fighting crime, the NYPD sticks them in the property clerk’s office. But where does Mookie get reassigned to? Word is he didn’t work well with Lucas Duada in getting him acclimated to right field and he wasn’t very good at positioning the outfielders or working with base runners during games. Wilson also hasn’t fared too well as a minor league manager and since he had trouble coaching the outfield with the big club, roving minor league instructor seems out as well. What’s left?
Jon DeBus got the boot from the bullpen it seems because he was a catcher and the club would rather have Buffalo pitching coach Rickey Bones, a former pitcher, in the pen to work with the relievers. DeBus was also in charge of working with Josh Thole and Ronnie Paulino and supposedly wasn’t helping Thole with his defense and was negligent in getting Paulino to show a better work ethic.
It’s a shame that Ken Oberkfell got the ax as Obie did what he was assigned to do, be the yin to Terry Collins’ yang. Obie was brought in the be Collins bench coach because he was calm, cool and collected a contrast to Collins “makes coffee nervous” persona. Obie is one of those good solid baseball men who did everything he was asked by the organization and now is shown the door. I hope he lands with a team that makes the post season and gets to cash one of the nice winner’s checks.
Tim Teufel gets the prize job as 3rd base coach/obligatory 1986 World Champ for 2012. Gotta meet that quota of 86ers ya know.
The job for Collins’ consigliore it seems is between Larry Bowa and Jim Ringgleman. Both are close confidants of Collins but I will be really pissed off if Riggleman gets the job as the Mets should be looking to stay away from quitters.
Once upon a time, Murray Chass was one of the best baseball writers around. His coverage of baseball labor disputes was unparalleled due to his close relationship with former MLBPA President Don Fehr and his mouthpiece Gene Orza but after Chass was let go by the NY Times he became a bitter nasty old man and started a website (he’s refused to call himself what he really is, a blogger) where he could spout his bitter nasty old man bullshit. Today he posted about Jeffey Skill Sets and how he is known around baseball as the most disliked executive in baseball. Of course, Old Man Murray rails for most of the post about the Mets blocking the Highlanders Triple A team from playing in Newark next year (oh yeah I forgot, Chass is an unabashed Highlander ball licker an older version of Ian O’Connor) but at the end of his piece he stated something that I have heard as well so that’s why I’ve included it in my post:
Sandy Alderson, Minaya’s successor, is completing his first season in the job, and I have already heard that he is growing tired of Wilpon’s suffocating presence.
Now if this was just Murray being Murray I’d laugh it off but I have heard the same thing from folks whose take on things around the club I respect and stories they have told me have turned out very reliable. I’ve always said I’m a Mets fan for life but I’ll tell you this, If Sandy Alderson leaves the Mets because of dealing with Jeffey is getting in the way of his work then I’d have to seriously think of stopping my support of the team until a new owner takes over.
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This post was written by kranepool on October 6, 2011
After the news broke yesterday about the NY Mets Third Annual Adjustment of Ticket Prices, I got an e-mail inviting me to a conference call with Mets Executive VP of Business Operation, David Howard to ask questions about the new dynamic pricing on Mets tickets. As most of you know, I’m not a fan of Howard’s and from what I hear the feeling is mutual. After last night’s conference call nothing has change in our relationship.
Howard started the call by reiterating what was in the press release where the organization has scraped its Platinum, Gold, Silver, Tin Can tier pricing to a new pricing program where Mets tickets will be priced like a commodity. Just like gold, silver and pork bellies (the Skill Sets have really morphed into the Duke brothers ) the price of a Mets ticket will now be set by market demand, however there is one caveat, there is a minimum price a ticket will go for and it will be what a season ticket holder paid for their ticket, which is fair as the organization is protecting its best customer. Ah, but this being the Mets there always a “read the fine print” moment and in this case it’s giving season ticket holders a deadline of November 7th to make a payment to commit to 2012 season tickets. This is a full month earlier than usual and as Howard Megdal points out right at the time teams can have exclusive negotiating rights with its own free agents. The Mets fan cynic in me says this means that there is no way the club will resign Jose Reyes and they want to make sure those who hold season tickets make an early commitments before they can decide if a Reyes-less Mets team is one they want to invest their discretionary income.
I’m not a season ticket holder but I did at one time buy partial plans but with different commitments and such, I decided to buy game tickets when I know I’m free to go to games. So under this plan I will have to play Russian Roulette Mets style to buy my tickets. The price of tickets will vary as to who the opponent is and if the team is in contention or an also ran. So a seat for a game against the San Diego Padres on a Monday night in September will a whole lot less than a game against the Highlanders on a June Friday night. Classic supply and demand.
The question I posed to Howard was about all the seats with no ass’s in them behind home plate and how watching the current post season games from Citizen Bank Park, Comerica Park and Rangers Ballpark where there are real good old fashion baseball seats with fans in them as opposed to Citi Field where fans would rather sip Chardonnay and talk about how happy they are that the financial intuition they work for is sucking the country’s economy dry, than watch a baseball game. So courtesy of Amazin’ Avenue, who has done a fantastic job of transcribing the conference call (a big tip of the Mets cap to Chris McShanne and James Kannengieser ) here is my question and Howard’ response:
Steve Keane, Ed Kranepool Society: This is the 3rd year in a row that the organization has revamped its ticket program and it seems like the organization has a problem reading its fan base. Watching these postseason games, especially games at Citizens Bank Ballpark, Comerica and Arlington, you see the seats behind home plate are regular stadium seats, whereas at Citi Field they have these big expensive luxury seats. Has there ever been any thought of taking those seats out by the Champions Club, and putting in seats where fans will actually sit in those seats during games.
DH: The Champions Club is behind home plate but not immediately behind home plate on the field level. It’s actually technically off of the field level concourse. They sit above the Sterling Seats. With regards to the Champions Club in particular, we are actually changing that club and making it an all-inclusive club. While the prices are essentially remaining constant, there is going to be complimentary food and non-alcoholic beverages served.
I think in regards to the Delta Club, which is the club that’s on camera from the center field view during games, those are upholstered theater-style seats. They are very comfortable. They are a premium seat. They are basically sold out. Again, you may not see people sitting in those seats all the time. They may be in the club, they may be in the back, they may not be there. Those seats are sold, so we don’t have any plans at this point to change those. What happens is that the team starts to win more, it gets more exciting; people will be in those seats on an increased basis.
So in essence, who gives a shit if someone is sitting in the seats, THEY’RE PAID FOR!!!! And they are sold out (I guess those were the tickets that sold like “hotcakes” last season) Howard’s thinking is we can get the corporate suit here to wine and dine during games but it’s you annoying Mets fans with your rent and mortgages and families to take care of and on top of that insisting on having a winning team that we need to buy tickets. There has to be some bloodline between David Howard and M.Donald Grant .
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This post was written by kranepool on October 5, 2011
So Jose Reyes is nominated for the Hank Aaron Award which honors the best offensive player in both leagues. To vote for Reyes go here and remember if Reyes wins it means more leverage in his contract talk with the Mets. You’ve been warned!
MLB Trade Rumors has a list of players slated for free agency due to injury or plain old ineffectiveness. Two names on the list have future Mets written all over them, RHP Jonathan (Guns Of) Broxton and RHP Joel Zumaya.
Toby Hyde has a detailed look at the Catcher position in the Mets farm system and as you can see, it’s slim pickins’ not only at the minor league level but with the big team as well. Josh Thole may be pretty good with a bat but his quite inadequate behind the plate. Ronnie Paulino I think looks better defensively than he really is because of how bad Thole is. So what to do? Trying to find a good receiving backstop is very tough and trading for one will be difficult, a guy like Chris Iannetta would look nice in a Mets retro 50th Anniversary uniform but are the Rockies willing to deal him away? Hell I’d even go for Braves backup David Ross at this point. Omar Santos anyone?
The more I watch these post season games the more I side with letting Jose Reyes go elsewhere and invest in pitching, pitching and even more pitching.
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This post was written by kranepool on October 4, 2011
Okay folks as promised here is the Who Stays, Who Goes pitchers division for the New York Mets. The 2011 Mets were woeful tossing a baseball from sixty feet six inches which is why the front office is thinking long and hard (that’s what she said, I miss Michael Gary Scott) about going overboard in signing Jose Reyes to long term, big money deal. Better to use the Reyes money towards finding some good decent pitching.
So with that here we go:
R.A. Dickey-I wish the Mets had about three more pitchers like R.A. The guy is a true professional who goes out each and every start and gives you quality even while fighting off the pain of a plantar fasciitis injury, a true gamer. What amazes me more about Dickey is his low walk total, 2.3 BB/9 for a knuckleballer. You better believe he STAYS
Mike Pelfrey-Now we get to the Anti-Dickey, Big Pelf. He is a guy with a great pitchers body, a durable arm that has the talent to throw hard and change speeds but the inability to but those gifts to good use. Between the inconsistency of Pelfrey from start to start (sometimes from inning to inning) and the mound meltdowns to go with his annoying habit of licking his hand, the majority of Mets fans would love to see Pelfrey become an ex-Met, and they may be right but I say he STAYS, for one more year make on a break contract.
Chris Capuano-A dumpster dive by Sandy Alderson that paid off. Cap gave the Mets more innings than he could have imagined as due to numerous injuries, he never pitch more than the 186 innings he did this season since 2006. Early in the year there was talk of putting Cap in the pen as long man/swing man but he was starting to get consistent with at least 6innings a start which in turn triggered the incentive clauses in his contract that helped Cap triple his base contract. Love to have Capuano STAY but being a lefty and effective he may be too pricey for Mets .
Dilon Gee-One of the bright spots on this Mets pitching staff. Unlike Pelfrey, Gee seems to know exactly what he’s doing on the mound, like he has a real plan and he does his best to execute it. His biggest downfall is the base on balls, hopefully he can corral his command issues, if he does, he will be a solid starting pitcher for a long time. Hell yeah he STAYS.
Jon Niese-Good thing about Niese is he throws strikes, bad thing about Niese those strikes are very hittable. If Niese can learn to fool hitters and stay healthy, then he and Gee could be the Mets #3 and #4 starting pitchers for a good while. STAY
Bobby Parnell-He’s no closer and the front office knows it. He won’t be on the big league team next year as he’ll either be dealt off or be a member in good standing of the Buffalo Bison. Classic example of the Rick Peterson line “there are guys who can throw 100 MPH driving UPS trucks” GOES
Jason Isringhausen-Great story. Comes back to Mets and gets his 300 save. But Izzy is done here and maybe for good. The mind is willing but the body isn’t. GOES but thanks Izzy.
Pedro Beato-Wore down as the season went on as the Mets had no choice but to keep his valuable arm on the big league team due to his Rule V status. Alderson has hinted already that Beato is Buffalo bound in 2012, good move. STAY
Tim Byrdak-He is what he is, a LOOGY and a pretty good one. Signed a contract extension last week of season so he STAYS.
D.J. Carrasco-Mets wanted Carrasco to be a late inning reliever but what he turned into was a batting practice pitcher for the opposition. Started throwing from down under so who knows it may help, it can’t hurt. One of Alderson’s few bad moves giving DJ a two year deal. Hopefully he turns into one of these relievers who bounces back from a bad year to have a good one. STAY
Ryota Igarashi-Even though Igarashi pitched pretty good in September, he won’t be back in 2012. Good riddance GOES
Manny Acosta-Acosta won himself a contract for next season with a very strong August and September. Acosta STAYS because of his effective two months and he’ll work cheap.
Miguel Batista- Too bad for Batista that Omar isn’t in charge anymore as after his start on the last day of the season, Minaya would have signed the 40 year old righty to a 5 year deal. Not the current GM, if lucky Batista gets a spring invite and lands in Buffalo. GOES
Taylor Buchholz-After leaving the team with to deal with depression he became the organizations forgotten man. I hope wherever he is he’s dealing with his troubles and getting better. I guess I’ll put Buchholz in the GOES column as his issues seem bigger than playing baseball.
Chris Young-Nice try signing Young as low risk, high reward pitcher but his shoulder didn’t hold up. Oh well win some, lose some. GOES
Chris Schwinden-Looked like he was overwhelmed by the big league experience but again he works cheap and maybe the big league jitters will be behind him. A shaky STAY
Josh Stinson-didn’t show much in his big league audition. He’ll get an invite to St Lonesome or maybe a throw in a deal this offseason. If not he’s another STAY with Buffalo as his destination.
Danny Herrera-there is something about Herrera that I like. I don’t know if it’s my admiration that a guy with his lack of size is in the big leagues, or he has a great head of hair or he could be the second LOOGY that Alderson wants to add for a bargain price? But I think he STAYS and gets a good look in St. Lonesome to be the second lefty in the pen
Pat Misch-Enjoy Japan Pat. GOOOOOOOOOOES
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This post was written by kranepool on October 3, 2011
