Those "Amazin" Mets

What happens when you are a team owner and you invest your money in a "legitimate business" to make a quick dollar? Well ask Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and they'll tell you that it costs approximately $162 million in payoffs to victims of Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. 162? That's a number that sounds awfully familiar to a baseball fan, oh wait! It's the amount of baseball games in a season, which means that the Mets owners will being paying exactly One Million Dollars per baseball game. That's money that they could have invested into Jose Reyes' contract, or the future contract of David Wright. Maybe the Mets could have signed Prince Fielder, or Albert Pujols, but no, they have to pay off money which was issued by the United States Government. Wilpon, an owner since 1980, stated, "The first order of business and the first priority will be getting down to Florida tomorrow, getting to the Spring Training camp, and trying to bring the New York Mets back to the prominence that our fans deserve and the city of New York deserves." HAH! I will certainly laugh about that one later. If New York fans want to look a team that is successful and prominent, they should look 20 minutes across the city at Yankee Stadium to see a real team play. Or at least a team that fans and the city of New York deserves. Apparently Mets fans are supposed to "stick with us." But to be honest, if I were a Mets fan, I would have stopped being a Mets fan in 2007 when their "Amazin" collapse happened. I know that this blog post may be biased with me being a Phillies fan, but you have to look at this at a standpoint of a Mets fan. How dumb could your owner be to invest in something like Bernie Madoff's "Company" which MLB restrictions go against? That is money that could be spent towards free agents, towards new contracts for great players, and hopefully towards a World Series Championship! But meanwhile, ticket prices will most likely go up, players will not sign large contracts, and prospects will be traded away. Sorry Mets fans, but things are not looking too good for your team. Talk about a great 50th Anniversary...

Answering the Call of Duty: Jim Thome

For the first time since 2007, Jim Thome played first base on Monday's Minor League Spring Training Game. Thome played 4-innings at first for the first time since 2007 where he played a total of 8 innings at first for the Chicago White Sox. After the game he was questioned, "Just like riding a bike, right?" To which Thome replied, "Oh no. No, no." Many don't realize that Jim Thome is 41 years old, he's been in the Majors since 1991, which as of this season is 21 seasons ago. Plagued by back problems, old age (by baseball standards), and overall rust, Thome will have some trouble playing at first. In the Spring Training game, a ball went right by him, to which he replied, "The ball always finds you when you haven't been out there in a while." With Ryan Howard gone, who will play first? Or who will fill the void of RBIs and homeruns? Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix, John Mayberry, Domonic Brown, and Jim Thome all can't play at once to fill the void. So what is Charlie Manuel to do while Howard out on injury? He hopes to have Thome there to play at first and is banking on around 200 at-bats. Unfortunately if Thome only pinch-hits and plays as the DH in Interleague Play, that means that he will still only have around 115 at-bats. (Most at bats of a pinch-hitter was Lenny Harris who had 83 in 2001 with the Mets). But Phillies fans aren't going to forget what Jim Thome has done for the city, hitting 47 homeruns in 2003 in the last season of Veterans Stadium. Thome is in the top 6 of homerun hitters in the past 10 years that isn't linked to steroids. He hit his 600th with the Indians in the 2011 season (finished with 604) and he hopes to have many more with the Phillies in 2012. There are some things that Thome has to re-learn at first, and he's hoping to get his mitt back into shape. I wish Thome luck in the 2012 season, and hope that he can play first at the best of his abilities. 

What Has Third Base Become?

A-Rod Steals Third on Adrian Beltre in Texas
(Ironic, I know)

The "Hot Corner" has become a position is looked at now almost more than any other position. Why you ask? Well I'll try to inform you. Third has now become a position where you have to field like a shortstop and hit like a first baseman. Before this off season (the year of the closer/first baseman), recent years have shown that third baseman are become more and more coveted by teams. Let's look at some of the recent trends at third. Who plays third base as of right now? Starting off the 2012 season, new third baseman, Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez will now take over third for the Miami Marlins thanks to Jose Reyes filling the shortstop position this off season. The defense on the left side of the field will not be as good as it was in '03 when they won the World Series, but it surely will be an improvement. But wait, who was that guy at third for the Marlins in 2003? Oh right, Miguel Cabrera. Since Prince Fielder has now taken over first for the Detroit Tigers, Cabrera is back to his original position in MLB at third. Want to know something remarkable about Cabrera? He's gained in the realm of 50 lbs from when he left the Marlins in '07. Playing third keeps you agile, and playing first, well look at Fielder. You can get big and still have great defense. So "Miggy" will certainly have to lose some weight to regain some agility and make sure he is able to field the ball well at third. Unfortunately for him, the 2012 Fielding Bible expects him to make plenty of errors throughout the season. So how does the average third baseman stack up to these power figures shifting to third? Unfortunately, he doesn't. How does the Chicago Cubs third baseman Ian Stewart stack up against A-Rod? He doesn't. How does Juan Uribe of the Dodgers compare to Ryan Zimmerman? He doesn't. The idea of a third baseman that can only field is out the door. Mark Reynolds of the Orioles does not have the greatest fielding percentage, but can hit 30 homers in a season. That's what the Orioles wanted, power! After signing Adrian Gonzalez to first base, the Red Sox were forced to move Kevin Youkilis back to third, which his defense lacked, but he still could drive in runs. Phillies fans can remember a time after Scott Rolen, when there was a platooning of David Bell (my favorite, seriously), Abraham Nunez, Wes Helms, and Greg Dobbs. In closing, I just hope that third base can become a position where baseball players can succeed, whether they are amazing fielders or power hitters, third base simply amazes me. In my opinion, there's almost nothing better than an "around the horn" double-play ball.

Brett Myers: A Closer Once More

For the first time since 2007, Brett Myers is once more a closer in the National League. The Houston Astros have formally announced Brett Myers as their new closer for the 2012 season after many delegations. This raises many questions of what will happen with the Astros rotation. In the past two seasons, Myers has started 67 games for the Astros with a record of 21-22, and ERA of 3.79, and 439 2/3 innings. In the National League Myers has the 5th most innings pitched as a starter, so how do the Astros easily move him only into the 9th inning? Well they have many young arms to take his place in the rotation, those arms being: Livan Hernandez, Zach Duke, J.A. Happ, Wandy Rodriguez, Bud Norris, Jordan Lyles, Lucas Harrell, Henry Sosa, and Kyle Weiland. Let's just say they have their fair share of minor league pitchers to choose from if one doesn't work out. So let's just say that the Astros are "set" in their rotation, but how does Myers stack up as a closer? In 2007, Myers went 5-5 with a 2.87 ERA with 21 saves. Not too bad, but compared to last year's closer Mark Melancon, who had 20 saves in the 2011 season, Myers could be a large improvement. But what do the Astros need to do to compete in the only division that has six teams? What do they need to do to win more than 56 games? My guess would be that they need to fix their team batting average of .258 and their team ERA of 4.51. While increasing one, and decreasing the other, there is no reason that the Astros should at least finish above the Cubs(?). Myers will have five weeks of Spring Training to get his arm ready to be a closer once more, I wish him luck in the 2012 season and hope he is a successful closer for the Astros.

Oh Those Crazy Nationals...

Screech!

By "popular demand" my resurgence of my blog is starting with the Washington Nationals and their silly antics in our nation's capital. Since the rebirth of a franchise in Washington D.C., the Nationals have had a goal of finishing at .500, which they did in their inaugural season of 2005, and almost completed this amazing feat at the end of this season, coming up one game short (80-81). Due to a rained out game with the Dodgers that they never made up, the Nats now think because they finished third, they are what we call "contenders." Now don't get me wrong, I never want to see anybody finish with 59 wins in a season, or constantly be in the cellar of a division, but I don't see it happening this season. As stated in previous blogs, the Miami Marlins are a new force not to be reckoned with, the Phillies are still dominant in pitching and are looking to reclaim the NL East for the 6th strait year, and the Braves are still trying to figure out what they did wrong at the end of last season (I purposely left out the Mets because they care more about rhinoplasty than baseball Nice Nose Niese). What exactly are the Nationals up to? For starters, the Nationals have recently signed a 6-year, $100 million contract extension with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. The Nationals traded for Gio Gonzalez earlier this off season with the Athletics and make him a dominant pitcher in the rotation. Stephen Strasburg is coming back this season after surgery, and Bryce Harper is said to probably make the team this season. A personal favorite of mine, Tyler Clippard is still on the team, and the Nats added Brad Lidge to their arsenal of bullpen arms. On a side note, the Nationals are trying a new campaign this season called, "Take Back the Park," which is supposed to stop Phillies fans from going to Nationals Park. Good luck with that, because Citizens Bank Park South is certainly a Philly fan favorite. So what are the Nationals going to do this season? I don't know, but what I do know is that the NL East is the division to watch this upcoming 2012 season because there certainly will plenty of surprises.

Welcome to Miami (Bienvenido a Miami)

Well Blog followers, by now you are thinking, is this blog only about the Miami Marlins. It's starting to look that way, but the Marlins are making the biggest "splash" this offseason. But as stated in the title, and elaborately stated by Mr. Will Smith, "Welcome To Miami." Today, approximately 10 minutes ago at 12:15 PM, the Miami Marlins formally announced their signing of Jose Reyes. "The contract is a 6-year, $106MM deal today.  The deal does not include a no-trade clause.  Reyes will receive $102MM over the first six years of his contract, and has a $4MM buyout on a seventh year option worth $22MM." Jeffrey Loria says Jose Reyes will have cut his hair. "everybody has to follow the rules ." This is big for the Marlins because they now need to figure out many problems that can/will pan out during this offseason. The first problem's name is: Hanley Ramirez. The All-Star shortstop is not happy about the Marlins signing Reyes, simple because: it's his position. Ramirez is none too happy about the possibility of relocating to either center field or third base. Ramirez has even been reported saying that he would prefer being traded then moved to third. BUT, BUT, BUT, the Marlins stated today in the press conference that Hanley is now the starting third baseman. 

The second problem the Marlins face are finances. A new stadium, two very big signings worth approximately $133 million, and the other finances that are normally dealt with such as other contracts on the team. Apparently Jeffrey Loria's idol is George Steinbrenner, and Loria wants what Steinbrenner had. He wants championships, he wants money, and he wants to use that money on big names in baseball. But unfortunately, the Marlins are not the Yankees. The Marlins do not quite have the fan base to bring in the money that the Yankees have, but Loria is trying to change all of that with the new image of the "Miami Marlins." And if this doesn't work, the Marlins have a little trick up their sleeve. All of the new contracts and signings they have been offering do not have no-trade clauses. Meaning, if the Marlins are starting to go into the "red" they can trade away Jose Reyes and another team can pay his contract. Genius.

The last problem the Marlins face is Albert Pujols. The fact that the two teams that are leading the way to obtain Albert Pujols are the Marlins and the Cardinals just amazes me. But since both the Yankees and the Red Sox already have great first baseman, I guess the market is a little slim. Pujols has been receiving offers from both the Cardinals and the Marlins that are 10-years and over $200 million. I don't know about you, but having Albert Pujols in the NL East for 10 years really scares me. "The Machine" playing at least 18 games against the Phillies, that's a game changer. If the Marlins do obtain Pujols, their payroll will be enormous, bigger than it has been in years combined. If the Marlins do not obtain Pujols, they will still be in a position where they are lacking some offense. Jose Reyes is a leadoff hitter, not a 3 hole batter, nor a cleanup batter. Plus Reyes is only one person. Can one person make a difference? I think so. Can two players make a difference? Definitely. Good luck Marlins, I'm really excited to see you play in 2012.

Back to the Marlins: Part II

A bit of my own "creativity

There have been many rumors about the Miami Marlins in the past few weeks. It was November 11th when they became the Miami Marlins and things have been heating up in the recently nicknamed: "The City of the Future." So what have those crazy fish from the south been up to? Yesterday the Marlins officially signed closer Heath Bell to a 3-year $27 million contract with a fourth year vesting option wroth $9 million. The Marlins front office stated they wanted a dominant closer, a pitcher (so that Josh Johnson isn't their only hope), and new offensive power. Well, they can check one of those off! Bell has made the All Star team the past three years and had at least 42 saves each season since 2009. That kind of pitching dominance in the 9th inning will really help the Marlins win more games! As a Phillies fan, I don't want to see them win too many games, but finishing last is something that no team wants to do. Moving towards the pitching end of the spectrum, the Marlins are still "fishing" around for CJ Wilson, but NL East rival Washington Nationals are also pursuing the left-hander. Mark Buehrle has also been linked to the Marlins, but nothing has come from that. Last but not least: Jose Reyes. Apparently the market for Reyes is not as open as many would thought it would be. So far the Mets and the Marlins are the frontrunners for Reyes, but the Tigers and Brewers appear to be "iffy" in the market. The only thing that would really stop Reyes from not signing with the Mets is that they refuse to offer a 6th year. The Marlins on the other hand, are offering a 6th year, but initially offered less money. The Marlins are willing to bump it up a bit, but who knows? But it does appear that it will be very unlikely that Reyes leaves the NL East. I heard of rumors that Jose Reyes was seen in Philadelphia, but what are the chances the Phillies will sign Reyes? Highly unlikely. Would I love to see it? Yes. (Back to the Marlins: Part III soon to come, as soon as something happens)