So Willie, former Yankees bench coach is now the Mets new manager. Omar Minaya introduced him in a press conference yesterday. Randolph has no prior managing experience. What does he bring to the table? Well he's been part of the Bronx Zoo Crew for quite a while now and is used to success. He could demand a lot out of these players, especially the young ones. He also shouldn't have a problem dealing with the media unlike Art Howe. There are of course the problems of never having managed a game. I'd like to think this would turn out like a Mike Scioscia (or however the hell you spell it) story where he takes a team to the championship in his first year. Then of course there's reality. I don't expect much out of Randolph. Turn out a winning season and I'll be happy. Just don't make the same mistakes Art Howe did of being a nice guy.
From what I've heard the Mets are going to trade Piazza for Jose Guillen. Don't really know what to say about that..
I haven't heard of that rumor but if it's true I think the Mets should do it. Mike Piazza's numbers have fallen every season. From 130 or so rbi's in '99 to 100+ in 2000 to not even cracking 100 since then. I love Mikey but his production keeps dropping and he seems to be having trouble staying healthy. I don't know too much about Guillen except that he had a good year numbers wise. I know Anaheim could've used his bat in the playoffs but he has a temper. Don't know if that'll carry over and how Randolph will handle it. But the Mets have Vance Wilson and Jason Philips. Not the best but Vance is a great defensive catcher and Philips can have his moments with the bat. Floyd plays left but he's injury prone as well. Don't know what they'd do about him. I assume they can move him or Guillen to right since it doesn't seem like Richard Hidalgo will be back. But in the Mets case I don't think it's power that they need. They need reliable pitching. Leiter's a free agent but his numbers weren't all that great. His innings pitched count dropped the lowest in like 10 years or something and he's walked more batter in the same amount or around it. Plus Zambrano (worst trade ever) could easily be hurt again as he's known to. Not to mention their bullpen sucks. If there's one thing the Mets shouldn't do though is re-sign John Franco. I love him and he's the longest tenured Met, but he sucks. Plain and simple. Gave up the homer to Bobby Abreu back in July to bring the Phillies division lead back to 2 games and the Mets went into a tail spin from then on. Not blaming him for the tail spin but he blew some games as well as Mike Stanton. Who knows about the Piazza/Guillen trade though. I think Mike might need a change of scenery and if he happens to leave I wish him the best of luck and will always remember what he did as a Met.
piazza and sosa are two players i'd have to be given a sweet deal to take you better eat their salaries and take something i don't really care for sosa tries to go long, piazza can't play defense and doesn't want to move to his natural position (anything other than catcher) i don't really know jose guillen... so i can't comment but i'd say green still has some life left in him... far better than sosa or piazza (remember, he ain't a catcher)... no idea why they would do it... unless green's salary is taken and piazza's salary is mostly eaten up by his old team... throw piazza into the outfield and tell him... sorry, you should have been here 10 years ago... deal with it
Piazza played a good number of games at first last season for the Mets. Interestingly his numbers at catcher were better than at first base. Of course he made a ton of errors at first as he was still learning the ropes. He takes a lot of pride in catching and has been against the idea of being a DH. However, he's also a team player and wants to do whatever it takes to win so I don't know how all that would fall into place. As for being an outfielder? I don't know. Todd Hundley was forced into the outfield when Piazza came in. Didn't work out too well.
Yeah, and I'm sure he'd move for the benefit of the team, no matter what team that is. I just don't see the point though of moving a 35 year old and trying to teach him a new position.
He played a lot of first base for the Mets last season. He didn't have to. They asked him to and he did. Yeah he was reluctant at first, but he did it. He probably would've been at first more if Jason Philips wasn't swinging a lame bat and Vance Wilson wasn't hurt.
Well yeah, but the idea never came up till about 2-3 seasons ago. But back then they had Mo Vaughn playing first.
Well all I know is that with the Mets it didn't come up till around then. In 98-99 they had Olerud, 00-01 Zeile, 02 Vaughn, 03 Tony Clark/Jason Philips. I honestly don't even know what we're arguing about anymore.
Lot easier to find a first baseman that can hit instead of a catcher. Piazza has always had a crappy throwing arm. That's pretty much the only reason to want to throw him at first base until the last year or two when it becomes an issue of prolonging his career. His game calling skills are still good.
Yeah, I think people focus on the fact that he's awful at throwing out runners. It's true; he sucks when it comes to that. But he's a pretty decent catcher when it comes to the other defensive aspects. He can block pitches in the dirt and he's not afraid to block the plate. Obviously the Mets thought moving him to first would prolong his career considering the beating he's taken behind the plate. But he's know better at throwing to second than he is throwing to second from behind the plate. I understand why the Mets would want to move him to first but his numbers weren't as good. I think he's better suited as a DH at this point in his career considering how his numbers have steadily dropped.
no player is worse hitting when they play a different position... it's utterly stupid it's just a different day at the office and you didn't necessarily perform on that day piazza was a catcher to get the offensive stats... he should have been moved **years** ago... and the debate started years ago... like when he was on the dodgers as it is... i wouldn't want him on my team... waste of a catcher and going downhill faster and faster by the moment
Well I don't if the stats changed at all by the end of the season but during one of the Mets telecasts, they showed his season numbers as a catcher and his numbers as a first baseman. His numbers as a catcher were better. More rbi's, more home runs, higher batting average. As for Piazza as a waste of a catcher? Hence the fact that I said he's probably better suited as a DH.
it's a statistical fluke... nothing more it's moronic to think one plays better at the plate when they play a certain position on defense
Eh, call it what you will. Moronic? I don't know about that but whatever. Anyway, so Omar Minaya seems like he has a certain swagger to him as a GM. He gives off a persona like he's more of a sleazy agent. Anyway, he seems to have a couple of moves in mind and so far they involve sluggers. I think the pitching, especially the bullpen, needs to be addressed. I'd probably worry about starting pitching too. Not too much confidence in that rotation even though Leiter had a decent year and Glavine bounced back strong after a horrible Mets rookie year. Benson might not even re-sign and Zambrano is Zambrano.
Yeah, they bought it out for $2 mil and now he's free to talk to other teams. I don't think he'll command that much money and I believe he'll be back in a Mets uniform.
Met moves The Mets have officially re-signed Kris Benson to a three-year, $22 million deal. There's an option for a fourth year at $7.5 million. According to the Miami Herald, the Florida Marlins have offered Al Leiter a one-year $7 million contract. The Mets have offered one year at $4 million plus incentives. Sandy Alomar Sr. has signed a two-year deal to be Mets bench coach. Rick Down, former Yankee hitting coach, may be picked up for the same position with the Mets. He's supposedly turned down a minor league managerial position with the Yanks and is now waiting for his Yankee contract to run out.
Re: Met moves Didn't hear that one about Alomar Sr. That's an interesting move. I wonder if Rick Peterson will stay on as pitching coach.