Friend of the site John from Albany passes on a note – thru his excellent Morning Links column – from Baseball America, saying that Coleman Crow, acquired from the Angels in the Eduardo Escobar deal, is in jeopardy of being selected in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. Crow did not throw a pitch for the Mets due to having TJ surgery. Crow was injured when acquired but the team felt good about his medicals. He had the surgery on 8/11 and is likely to miss most or all of next season. If a team selects Crow, they would need to keep him on their 40-man roster but he would go on the IL and not on their 26-man squad.
https://metsnewsandlinks.blogspot.com/2023/11/mets-news-and-morning-links-11222023.html
*****
Congratulations to my friend from Boston – John Dvorak – for winning the 2023 Survivor Pool! We were down to three players left and JD won with his pick of the Lions, while Metsense and Mike W both went down with the Commanders. When told he was a football savant, JD replied, “more like the first part of an idiot savant!” Thanks to everyone who participated and hopefully we can get even more participants next year.
Recently, I was reading some comments about potential HOFers in this year’s class, when I saw something which nearly caused me to choke.
The likelihood that Steve Garvey was headed to the HOF!
I recalled something I wrote and posted – somewhere else – about a year ago.
It was in response to the Steve Garvey Fan Club, and can be found at that internet place where brain cells go to die
Please do not take offense at my condescension – there’s no way I would address anyone from Mets360 in this manner
Just keep in mind the type of person to which the following was directed:
There are other stats – besides WAR – to which I attach huge significance: adjusted ERA+ and adjusted OPS+
Perusing B-R, I found some interesting facts
Gravey’s average stats per 162 games had some pretty good points
R/2B/HR/RBI/BA/SO
79/31/19/91/.294/70
These numbers are all indisputably no less than respectable
However, 33 walks per 162 games is HORRIBLE
It leads to triple slash numbers which are not particularly impressive
OBP/SLG/OPS
.329/.446/.775
And adjusted OPS+ of 117, which is mediocre for a first baseman
BTW, the reason adjusted OPS+ (and ERA+) is so incredibly useful is that it takes into consideration the ballparks, the quality of opponents, and the hitting/pitching environment
Thence, it’s ridiculous to compare, without appropriate adjustments, stats from 1930s and 1990s to the deadball era of the late 1960s
Furthermore, if you look among the leaders in lifetime adjusted OPS+/ERA+, you’ll find a list of the clearly best players, and nary a schlub
Let’s compare Garvey’s lifetime 117 adjusted OPS+ to the leaders
Again, from B-R, I find that Garvey’s adjusted OPS+ ranks him as…
…
…
476th
Yikes¹
I have to honestly say that I had no idea Garvey’s numbers were so unimpressive
FYI – Francisco Lindor’s current adjusted OPS+ is also 117
But Lindor gets more of a pass because he’s a SS and not a 1B like Garvey
So, by my reasoning, if Garvey is a HOFer, then Lindor will eventually be one if he plays long enough and his OPS+ doesn’t decrease
Well, Lindor is a much better fielder than Garvey, and I am a NYM fan
But I don’t see Lindor as a HOFer yet – he needs to do more to get in
Final point: I didn’t realize it, but Garvey’s 1974 NL MVP is one of the very worst choices in the history of the MVP award.
I looked at the list, and I can easily make a case that at least 10 – and possibly as many as 15 – other NL players were clearly more deserving than Garvey
Garvey was third in hits, with 200, among those who received NL MVP votes
But his 31 (!) walks ranked him 18th on that same list
Terrible
1. I think I’d be justified using all caps for “yikes” but, alas, Brian don’t like that
Garvey is not a HOFer or even a bubble candidate. B-R cites JAWS for HOF candidates based on position. JAWS uses career WAR and 7-year peak WAR for the JAWS score. Garvey ranks 51st among first baseman, below Boog Powell, Don Mattingly, and Carlos Delgado.
There are 24 1B in the Hall. Garvey does not deserve to be #25. If he gets in, then that’s another bad call by the Veteran’s Committee (or whatever they’re calling it now). Keep the Hall small.
Was Garvey a good fielder?
He won 4 NL 1B GGs from 1974 to 1977¹
I haven’t studied much about modern fielding stats, but his combined dWAR for 74-77 is
-2.2
I can’t believe there was no one around who was better
Yet his combined oWAR for those same years was the best 4 year stretch of his career at 16.3
1. BTW, starting in 1978, Mex won 11 consecutive NL 1B GGs
Brian:
Oh Em Gee!
I’m sorry I let that horror of “horrible” in all caps slip by
Two things I remember about Garvey:
Member of an infield that played together for what seemed an enormously long time.
And,
upon retirement he was considered bominateabke for the U.S. Senate. When Davey Lopes was asked to comment on that possibility he said, “Mr. Garvey is a real gentleman; doesn’t pee in the shower or nothin’.”
This was my first Survivor Pool and I loved it. I was teetering between picking Houston and Washington, but I picked Washington because the Giants are really bad and their QB is Tommy Devito.
Speaking about OPS+, look at big Frank Howard. Same WAR as Garvey, but he had an OPS+ of 142!
It’s probably my favorite pool and it was definitely a bummer for me to go out in the first week.
Frank Howard is a very interesting case. There’s no doubt that his counting numbers were hurt by playing in the deadball 60s. But he also said that he didn’t really learn how to approach ABs until he was managed by Ted Williams, so it’s not just like we could write him in for 40 HR every year from 62-66, either. But if he debuted in 2008 instead of 1958, he’s probably a lock for 500 homers and the HOF.
“I did it without even trying to walk,” said Howard. “I was ready to hit, if it was my pitch, but if it was something other than I was looking for, I took it. I was laying off some bad pitches, getting more counts in my favor, and all because of Ted Williams. He’s one in a million! A marvelous, marvelous, man!”
Congratulations John for winning the Survivor Pool !
Just saw where Ron Hodges passed away. I have a hard enough time losing guys who played for the Mets in the 1960s, so losing guys who played in the 1980s is tough to take.
I am getting really impatient with the Mets to start making moves.
FLUSHING, N.Y., November 27, 2023 –
The New York Mets announced today that M. Scott Havens has been appointed President of Business Operations.
In this role, Havens will be responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership for the New York Mets, overseeing the Senior Leadership Team for all Front Office functions except Baseball Operations. Reporting to Mets Owner, Chairman and CEO Steve Cohen, Havens will be instrumental in shaping the future of the franchise, driving financial success, and continuing to build on the Mets reputation as a beloved institution in New York. Havens will
join the organization in January.
“Bringing someone on board of Scott’s caliber is an exciting development for the Mets organization,” said Mets Owners Steve and Alex Cohen. “Scott has vast experience leading world-class media and digital technology-led companies such as Bloomberg Media and Time Inc. and he’ll provide a modern vision and strategic direction for our organization.”