Who Would You Rather Have?

I'm know Matt Clement has been getting tooooo much attention on my site, but this is the last time I get into it before some of the few people that actually come by stop coming by.

With Benson's signing imminent and basically a given at this point, I wanted to post this while it still had some relevance.

While on another site, someone was discussing Kris Benson and Matt Clement in the comments. They said that Kris Benson and Matt Clement are basically the same thing when it comes their value and basically suggested Clement is not worth a million or two more than Benson. That debate stirred up my next question. Who would you rather have, Kris Benson or Matt Clement?

The person on the other site's argument basically was comparing their career numbers and pointed to Clement's career 4.23 BB/9 inning ratio as his biggest weakness and his inability to stay in the game as long as Benson. However, when looking at Clement, there is no way you can look at his career numbers and asses him fairly. Clement was erratic at best in his first four years before breaking out in 2002 to post a then career bests in ERA, BAA, K/BB, K/9, etc. He basically figured out how to pitch and gained some more control. To properly compare the two, you must take Clement's last three years to see what type of pitcher he is now. To be completely unfair in my comparison just to prove my point further, I'll take Benson's best three years, two of which came a long time ago in 1999 and 2000. Benson has not been nearly as effective as Clement the past three years and the comparison would not be close if I went with each player’s recent years. Even cherry picking Benson's best years, Clement is by far the better choice. Clement's K/9 is 8.82 compared to Benson's 6.69, his K/BB is 2.39 compared to Benson's 1.99 (even when Clement was edged out, it was marginal), he has 119 more K's in 27 less innings, gave up 116 less hits (although in 27 less innings), gave up 1.23 less hits per nine innings, 30 less runs, has BAA of .215, .227, and .229 in his last three years compared to Benson's of .249, .249, and .263 in his three best years, averaged 6.25 innings per game to Benson's 6.53 (again, Clement was marginally beat out) and his BB/9 is only .32 higher than Benson's. How they could be in the same category is beyond me. Clement looks like true #2 with the possibility of getting better and Benson looks like a #3 with the possibility of getting better. Both still have upside, but Clement has shown progress and gotten better throughout the years while Benson has been in a steady holding pattern and has not posted under a 4.31 ERA since 2000 when he went under 4.00 for the one and only time in his career while Clement has posted below a 3.69 ERA twice in the last three years. Minaya has no ties to the Benson deal, he should walk away while he can and take Clement if signing Benson means the rotation is set.

The bottom line is that Benson is not worth the nearly $8 million per year his deal would reportedly receive and if Benson will not sign for his market value, he should be shown the door and invited to try and get that cash elsewhere. If Kris will hold the Mets hostage in negoatiations knowing they gave up too much to watch him walk, then the Mets have other options. This one is not even close, Matt Clement is the more talented pitcher. He makes people miss and that is really hard to teach. Clement can be dominating at times as evidenced by his 101 less hits than innings pitched over the past three years, two of the his last three years posting about 9.5 K/9 innings, and no BAA higher than .229 and in my opinion would immediately be the best starter the Mets would have. Is that not what they are looking for? A chance to upgrade the rotation over what they currently have without breaking the bank?

Overall, I do know that a lot of people do not think Clement actually is an upgrade for the Mets and would not make an impact on this team. However, I've actually wasted an hour of my life plotting out the last three years for each of the top pitchers on the free agent market to prove that Clement could be a difference maker for the Mets. He beats every single pitcher except for a future hall of famer in just about every category. He has the 2nd lowest H/9 with 7.44 to Pedro's 7.22, the 2nd highest K/9 behind only to Pedro, the 3rd lowest ERA behind Pedro Martinez and Odalis Perez, the 2nd lowest BAA behind only Pedro, the only guy who struck out more than 500 (576 which is 147 more than the next guy behind him) with the exception of Pedro Martinez who eclipsed 600 easily, started the 3rd highest total games, and just flat out has pretty damn good numbers. This officially ends any further discussion by me on Matt Clement. I've dedicated this post today to him and this post a few weeks ago on him. I know the Mets are not even thinking about him so he has no chance of being a Met and Omar is pretty set with his rotation as Leiter will most likely return with Benson. When you talk about getting the most production out of a given salary, Clement is the guy this off season for pitchers.

Since Blogger does not like tables, I cannot put the data I made into in the body of the post that would be easy on the eyes. If you want to check out the sheet of information I compiled, feel free to email me for a copy @ metropolitans@optonline.net.

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The

Mets cable deal is safe for now according to Newsday.

Hutchinson told Freeman that the networks paid $275 million in rights in the last eight years. Freedman wondered whether that improved the value of the team. "Nothing would improve the value of the team except better pitching," she joked.

The Red Sox are now interested in Damian Miller and have reportedly offered him a 2 year contract worth around $7 million dollars. The 35 year old catcher is looking for a three year deal. Damian Miller is one of the best defensive catchers in the game and is my favorite free agent catcher on the market in terms of value and what he would bring to a team.

The Red Sox and Dodgers have also contacted Matt Clement's agent Barry Axelrod. The Red Sox are due to meet Carl Pavano, have an offer out to Pedro Martinez, are looking at Brad Radke, are looking at Matt Clement, and Epstein has discussed trades with Billy Beane for one of the big three. You think they are making pitching their priority this off season?

Several teams think Clement is young enough, at age 30, and has such good stuff that he could be on the verge of a breakout year. He might also command less money than Carl Pavano, Brad Radke and some other top free agent starters.
-ESPN Insider

From the NY Daily News:

SEXSON, THE CITY: A baseball source said the Mets have expressed preliminary interest in Arizona free agent 1B Richie Sexson, although they are not believed to be among the teams to have made him an offer. Agent Casey Close had told the Daily News on Nov. 2 that Sexson "absolutely" had reciprocal interest in the Mets, saying "they definitely are a team he'd be a good fit for.

The article also mentions Mookie Wilson might return as first base coach and was interviewed yesterday.

In more coaching staff news, the NY Post says:

The Mets interviewed Colorado third base coach Sandy Alomar Sr. for their bench coach job yesterday and Alomar Sr. said, "Everything went well." Alomar Sr. did not receive an offer from the Mets yesterday but is the favorite for the job. A decision could be made by tomorrow.

Troy Percival is going to sign with the Tigers.

The free-agent closer Troy Percival and the Detroit Tigers agreed Wednesday to a two-year, $12 million contract, a move that will lead to Ugueth Urbina's becoming a setup man or his being traded.

Pudge last year, now Percival this year, they just spoke with Jeff Kent, and they dished out the bucks on Justin Verlander. Looks like someone is willing to open their wallet. Now if they can actually bring in some starting pitching.