Since the end of the 2010 season, the Mets have overhauled their front office, made a managerial change and reassigned some coaches, including batting coach Howard Johnson. But one area that remains unchanged is the pitching coach. The new Mets brain trust decided to retain Dan Warthen, who has been in charge of the team’s pitchers since taking over for Rick Peterson in June of 2008. Was this a good decision? Under Warthen, the Mets…
For the first time in ages, the Mets will not be heavy hitters in free agency. Instead of chasing high-profile players like Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford, the Mets instead will be bargain hunting this offseason. With Jon Garland and Javy Vazquez already taken off the market, let’s look at a player the Mets should definitely be interested in if the price is right: Jorge de la Rosa. Strengths The best thing a pitcher can…
“It’s nice to be liked. But no, I don’t care as long as they respect me, and understand what it took me to get here. Joe Maddon, myself, Jim Leyland, who didn’t play in the big leagues . . . a lot of times there’s certain guys who say, “Well we don’t understand” because we never played here. Bull(bleep)! I earned my way here just as a player earned his way to the big leagues.…
Recently news came down that Kaz Matsui was leaving this country to return to Japan to play baseball. Matsui was a disappointment in the United States and serves as a reminder that not every highly-touted player from Japan will come over and find success in MLB. While Mets fans basically booed Matsui out of town, it was more because reality did not match expectations, rather than he was a player not worthy of playing in…
Much has been made about Terry Collins and his “fiery” demeanor. It’s a marked change from his predecessor, Jerry Manuel, and a departure from what the Mets usually have for a skipper. In fact, who is the last Mets manager who would be described this way? Perhaps Dallas Green. Let’s run down the recent Mets managers and come up with one word to describe them. Manuel – flaccid Willie Randolph – paranoid Art Howe –…
“My goals haven’t changed,” Backman said. “The fact that Sandy [Alderson] and Jeff [Wilpon] want to keep me in the organization speaks for itself. There are 30 organizations and people need managers. I hope people will think I deserve the opportunity at some point.” Source: New York Post ***** If you prefer longer articles, that’s our specialty here at Mets360. Just click on “Perspectives” on the gray menu bar above this article’s headline and you…
Now that the Mets have both a new general manager and manager in place, the brain trust can begin making preparations for the 2011 team. While it is widely rumored that the club has very little money to spend on free agents, one position they will have to address is lefty reliever out of the bullpen. The Mets have already lost Hisanori Takahashi to free agency and one of Sandy Alderson’s first moves was to…
All of the speculation in Mets land recently revolves around who the new manager is going to be. There is a debate going on about how much autonomy the new manager will actually have, but seemingly one thing he will have control over is setting the batting order. Now, for the most part, lineup construction is overrated and studies have shown that the difference between the best and worst lineup is much less than many…
“It is well known that new Mets vice president of player development Paul DePodesta, as GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers, attempted to hire Collins as manager in 2005 before he himself was fired. That, and DePodesta’s lingering respect for Collins, has led many to assume that DePodesta is strongly advocating for the former Anaheim and Houston manager. But several executives familiar with the Mets’ process said that that perception has been overstated. One pointed…
“But it’s incumbent on us to make sure those issues don’t arise and they’re managed,” Alderson said. “People are going to be disappointed, but it’s important for us to make sure that those who do remain with the organization feel as if they are valued in whatever role they have.” Sandy Alderson, on the prospect of keeping up to three men in the organization who were just turned down for the club’s open managerial position.…
Recently both John Sickels and FanGraphs gave grades/rankings to the Mets farm system. These were met with dismay by Mets fans, who were disappointed that the farm system was not in better shape. The knee-jerk reaction was to blame former GM Omar Minaya, who oversaw the team for the previous six years. However, missing from these criticisms of both the farm system and Minaya’s stewardship was context. What shape was the farm system in when…
“But keep in mind that Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi are both free agents, and that leaves the Mets badly in need of lefty relief. This is not what you imagined Perez would be doing for $12 million in 2011, but the Mets are spending the $12 million already. Perez did hold lefties to a .214 average last year. Of course, being Perez, three of the nine hits he allowed to lefties were homers and…
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