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May 18, 2005
Metamorphosis, May 10-17
The Transactions May 16th: Placed C-R Ramon Castro on the 15-day DL. May 16th: Purchased the contract of C-R Mike DiFelice from Triple-A Norfolk. May 16th: Optioned OF-R Victor Diaz to Triple-A Norfolk. May 17th: Activated LHP Kazuhisa Ishii from the 15-day DL. The Analysis Hmm, where to start? OF-R Mike Cameron was reactivated from the DL on May 4th and played in his first game of the season the following day, and since then (through games of May 16th) the playing time breakdown in right field has gone as follows: Mike Cameron: 46 plate appearances. If Cameron hadn’t been hitting .417/.533/.806 over that period, I’d be more inclined to guess that Diaz would still be up with the major-league club. But, alas, Cameron did rake (and get on base), and hence Diaz is temporarily expendable. Now, that’s not to say that I agree with the notion. OF-L Eric Valent has received just eight plate appearances since the beginning of May, and just 33 all season long. He’s also hit .172/.273/.207, so I don’t think anyone can really justify his continued existence on the team’s bench. He’s not being used, and when he’s being used, he’s not hitting. It’s seemingly only logical to those outside of the organisation that he be demoted. Fielding substitutions notwithstanding, Diaz is the much better option right now at the big-league level. Despite a “poor” month, he still hit .300/.391/.550 in May. Wasn’t it about this time last season - and the season before - that we’d have begged for a surplus of outfielders? We have the “problem” now, and we still can’t get it right. All of this was to make space for LHP Kazuhisa Ishii, back from a stint on the DL due to a strained side muscle. He pitched last night, going six-and-one-third innings and walking just two while garnering a no decision. It was actually a decent start, giving up only one run and putting his season K:BB at 16:15. That’s not good, but any start by Ishii wherein we can avert base-on-balls disaster is reason enough to cheer. GS IP K BB K/BB Pedro Martinez 8 56.0 67 11 6.09 Jae Weong Seo 3 18.0 14 3 4.67 Kris Benson 3 18.1 17 4 4.25 Aaron Heilman 7 45.1 39 14 2.79 Victor Zambrano 7 38.0 31 25 1.24 Kazuhisa Ishii 4 25.0 16 15 1.07 Tom Glavine 8 43.1 24 24 1.00 So, the best move is to keep Zambrano and Glavine in the rotation, bring Ishii back and plug him into the rotation, demote Seo to Triple-A and relegate Heilman to the bullpen and spot starter use. Right, makes sense to me. I think we all know the best solution (a rotation of Martinez, Glavine, Benson, Heilman and Seo, Ishii in the ‘pen if he has to be on the 25-man at all, and Zambrano in Triple-A), but there’s no way we’re going to get to that point this early in the season. The Mets seem intent on giving their veterans several chances to fail rather than giving their youngsters a single chance to succeed. They’ve got it backwards. I’d call the Diaz experiment a success, and the only way to comprehend his demotion is to say that the team wants him to get more at-bats and everyday playing time, and that it wasn’t going to happen with Mike Cameron hitting so well. I’d have called the Seo and Heilman experiments successes, too, though. In the other move this week, backup catcher Ramon Castro was hitting a rather lazy .241/.324/.241 before straining his quadriceps and taking a trip to the 15-day DL. In 29 at-bats he had failed to register an extra-base hit. Mike DiFelice, however, was pounding the ball down in Norfolk, hitting .276/.372/.602 with 16 extra-base hits in just 98 at-bats, including eight home runs. He’d struck out 30 times, too, but strikeouts at overrated when you’re creating as many runs as DiFelice had been. So, Castro goes to the DL and is replaced by DiFelice on the major-league team, although DiFelice’s ML track record isn’t as shiny as this season’s minor-league performance. He’s a career .239/.289/.362 hitter in 1,456 at-bats, so the likelihood of him breaking out for a career year at age 35 in Shea Stadium is, well, nigh on impossible. But who’d have thought Castro would go on the DL before Mike Piazza? This move will, of course, have relatively minimal impact on the team. Castro wasn’t hitting, so anything DiFelice does is going to be at least as good as what was being provided beforehand. The only problem will be if Piazza goes down with injury, as, depending on the severity, it would probably require trading some of our farmhands for a capable ML-ready starting catcher, and such things don’t come cheap when the rest of the league knows that you have no in-house alternatives. Gambling on one of our minor-league catchers to be even half as effective as Piazza is far too risky. Keep an eye on this, although it’s not likely to cause too many problems. Oh, if only we’d held on to Kelly Stinnett! I’d like to thank those who suggested new titles for this column. I got so many suggestions both here and via e-mail that I was unable to reply to them all singularly, but each one of them was read and considered. There were some that I really loved over and above the title that I chose, but “Metamorphosis” fits just so well. Dictionary.com describes the word as “a marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function,” which is what each of these transactions does for the Mets, so I figured it was apt. Thanks again to all who replied and gave suggestions. 15 Responses to “Metamorphosis, May 10-17”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Vicious Vic »» |
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Love the title and the column.
I disagree with you on the Diaz move. He needs ABs. His slump, which occurred after teams developed a scouting report on him, shows that he has a couple of (minor) holes in his swing that need to be fixed. That will not happen with him getting to play every 4 or 5 days. Valent is a better option at this time b/c in the need of a double switch, he is a slightly better glove. I think Diaz will be an All star in a couple of years, but he is only 24, if we do not need him on the big club why push him?
As for the pitching moves - I say now - they are stupid - but if Zambrano can go out and give up one run in 6+ innings, I might change my mind. That being said, I still like Heilman (over other options) out of the pen because you know he will come in and not walk the first three batters he faces!
Ishi’s start last night was only “decent”? Geez, you’ve got some tough standards. He’s been great in 2 of his 4 starts this season and his last bad outing he was clearly hampered by the lat injury. Let’s give him a couple more starts before we judge him too harshly.
I have to agree with Rich here, I like your rotation with everything except Seo. Not that I have anything against him, but Ishii seems to be turning around, and besides, what do we do when Trachsel comes back?
It will be very nice to have an abundance of starting pitching come July —– there will be teams lining up to over pay for proven starters. Maybe we can fleece someone for a change!
I’m priming myself for a fleecing and it has to happen to us at some point.
So, which slap-your-forehead stupid move will the Mets pull this year? Petit, Milledge, and Diaz for Dotel, or something similarly inept? I’m only half-joking; we all know that if the Mets are within 15 games of the wild card on the trade deadline, they’ll make some kind of God-awful move.
If Valent was demoted, he would assuredly be picked off waivers by someone (he is out of options). While it is true that Diaz is probably past the point where minor league at-bats will help his development, it is more important for the Mets to somehow generate some value for Valent, and move him for some minor leaguer with upside, while giving Diaz at-bats every day. I agree with the move, although Diaz clearly deserves to be on the big squad.
honestly who would want Valent and why? guys like him are a dime a dozen. if he was picked off waivers, so what? keeping him increases his trade value? puhleeze! it seems to be decreasing it so far, if he had any trade value to begin with.
P.S. send down, banish, release, drown Aybar!!!!!!!
If Valent starts performing like he did last year, there would be a lot of teams clamoring for him, a lefty bat with pop who can play three positions well — the problem is his numbers last season were way out of line with his career - this guy was put on waivers by some God-awful team last year.
I agree that Valent is dispensable at this point. The guy who would provide the biggest benefit on the bench would be Brian Daubach. He could be a serious threat as a PH and valuable fill-in for Minky who just doesn’t hit enough to be an everyday player at 1B.
What does everyone think about the possibility of trading cameron at this point? His value probably will not be higher than it is right now considering his torrid start. If he was dealt what would you want in return?
Mark I couldn’t agree more. Trade Cam now. When he goes into a funk and mean reverts everyone will want to banish him to the 8 hole or the bench for Diaz. Buy low sell high. Our real need is Todd Helton. Free Todd Helton. Minky, Zambrano, Seo and another minor leaguer. Rockies eat 20%.
Reyes
Beltran
Helton
Floyd
Piazza
Wright
Cameron/Diaz
Matsui
Ha my suggestion for a name won? I guess I don’t have to hang myself afterall.
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