All-Star Thoughts

Every time Eric Karros opened his damn mouth I wanted to throw my remote through my TV. The look on his face, the way he said things thinking he was making some profound statement each time, his overall tonality, and his lisp all contributed to my desire to chuck electronics.

I'm not sure why, but the break between them announcing Paula Cole singing God Bless America and the seemingly half hour from the announcement to the commencement of the singing to watching her sing it made me want to scratch my skin off.

Willie Mays throwing out the first pitch to Jose Reyes? Swellicious. Then he signs it and gives him the ball. Swellicious to the Nth degree. Jose is growing up so fast {sniff…sniff} and is an uber star.

While on the topic of Willie Mays, 24 All-Star games? Just insane.

Can they just stop trying to place importance on this game? Just let the guys play. I still like to watch the All-Star game to see some guys I do not get the chance to and isn’t that the point? I don’t know that you are going to get the players to really care more or less than they do by saying home field advantage goes to the winning league. Is it a HUGE deal? No, but it annoys me and isn't that all that counts?

The Mets were representing in full force (with the exception of Wagner). Reyes, Reyes, Reyes! First the single, then the steal, then scoring from second, then showing off his rocket arm, then cuing one to make A-Rod look silly, and another hit. He was an MVP candidate for sure if the NL could have held onto the lead.

Wright’s play in the first inning was swellicous and Beltran knocking a triple was great, but he might have hit the 2nd in the park homer in All-Star game history if he wasn't watching his majestic shot.

Speaking of in the park homers, I'm sure you know that Ichiro hit the first one in the history of the All-Star game last night. Ichiro was just awesome to watch and getting a chance to see why he is so great with my own eyes is precisely why I enjoy the All-Star game.

Johan's change-up is so good it made me shed a tear.

Alfonso Soriano has big time opposite field power.

So let me get this straight. Bases load...down by a run...improbable comeback in place...LaRussa miraculously has one of the best hitters of our time on the bench because he held him back and said he would play him anywhere if necessary...and he lets Aaron Rowand come up to end the game? I like Rowan's moxie as much as the next baseball fan, but can we all exhibit some common sense here? I think Tony was trying to sabotage the NL's chance for a victory. Really nauseating. Almost as nauseating having to listen to Buck and McCarver for three hours. Almost...

I guess there is always next year.

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Some Mets talk on a BP chat:

Amos (New York): Easley, Valentin, and Gotay have all had their uses for the Mets this year, but do you think it would behoove them to go after someone like Orlando Hudson in the offseason?

Marc Normandin: A friend of mine who is a Mets fan thinks Valentin has reached the limit of his usefulness due to his injury; it's hampering his range at second, which was his greatest qualification for keeping a job if/when his bat expired. Finding a new second baseman should be in the plans, but I'm not sure about Orlando Hudson. Defensively he should be all there, but I wonder how much Arizona raises his value as a hitter

Love the stache, but starting to hate the player again.

Also from the above chat:

realhack (thomasville, ga): I am in a very deep, 12 team H2H league. Injuries to my pitching staff have taken a huge hit, still I am in contention. Josh Johnson and Smoltz are the latest casualties. What can I expect from the two of them, and who are some candidates likely to be available who I could pick up to make up the slack? Thanks for your help.

Marc Normandin: I have Josh Johnson, John Smoltz, Ollie Perez and Bill Hall. Sigh. I'm probably just going to sit on the pitchers I have, because my free agent pool has been totally ravaged. Really. Someone picked up Brian Bannister, and I felt jealous for their find.
Ooh, wait. Better answer: "I haven't really seen enough of your team to know what it is you need. Maybe if I talked to the owner one-on-one, or avoided answering your question at all. Sign Dave Concepcion."

Reminds me of the 100 team league we have going on for this site. I'm languishing at the bottom and there is NO ONE to pick up. Everyone is literally gone and it is scary to see the guys that are getting picked up in this league.

Oliver Perez shut down some high school kids in his first rehab game.

Mets left-hander Oliver Perez made his first rehab start today with four scoreless innings in a game against the Gulf Coast Dodgers.

In stark contrast to what Keith Law said the other day, an American League scout was gushing about Deolis Guerra.

2. Deolis Guerra, rhp, Mets

“Just unbelievable stuff with great life and movement late in the zone,” an American League scout said. “His breaking ball is very good right now, but it has a chance to be plus-plus. He pounds the zone, repeats well for a big-bodied guy, and really has a chance to be special.”

In Law's defense he did have three of the same names on the list in regards to the best pitchers. Also, in one inning of work, a few people can see a few different things, but the main issue with Guerra would relate to his velocity and Baseball America did not speak to that. Either way, he's a young kid who is a long ways off from the bigs and has plenty of time to sharpen his skills.

I did enjoy The Bronx is Burning and apparently it is realistic.

Jeff (Iowa): Did you watch The Bronx is Burning last night? If so, what did you think of it?

SportsNation Goose Gossage: I think it was very close to how realisitc it was. The characters seemed very real. Billy Martin was exceptional. Thurmon Munson, I thought I was looking right at him. I went to the premiere of it and I thought it portrayed it just like it was back in the day.

Good to hear that from Gossage because I was wondering how much was based on hard facts and how much was sensationalism.

Rob likes Willie.

Floyd (Los Angeles, CA): If you could choose anyone to manage your team for the next 10 years--given the advancing age of guys like Bobby Cox--who would you choose?

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:09 PM ET ) Tough question, but I will say that Willie Randolph is one of my top candidates.

...and...

Russ (Merrick, NY): Not to nitpick, but WIllie Randolph gave two innings each to Scott Schoenweis, Aaron Sele, and Guillermo Mota in extra innings before allowing Billy Wagner to pitch. What makes him such a good manager?

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:27 PM ET ) I like the cut of his jib, generally.

This is a hard thing to pin down for someone who doesn't watch a team all often, but it does bear noting. Also, a lot of times people will hear Willie talk (and he does talk a good game) and look at the Mets success and assume he is in the cream of the crop in regards to coaching talent.

But they do not see his insistence in using Franco as his go to guy amongst other things. Also, Neyer probably missed that the exact same thing he criticized Torre for the other day when Willie did it in the Mets seventeen inning win over the Astros (I think someone on Toasty's site pointed that one out). Either way, the great internal debate in my head burns on.

The Mets new Citi Field might be host to the 2011 All-Star game. They really need to get one while Wright and Reyes are in their prime so two of baseballs brightest will have their time to shine in front of their home crowd.

Though the Nationals were better than expected, they should sell everything that isn't nailed down. Even Ryan Zimmerman could be available in the right deal if you go Billy Beane's theory that no one is untouchable, but here are very few players that should not be dealt down in DC.

Lastings should be in left field for the Mets on Thursday and I fully expect him to go off. More thoughts on him tomorrow...

All-Star Snub?

As of Friday afternoon, the top pitchers VORP in the NL were Jake Peavy with 42.7, Brad Penny with 41.7, Chris Young with 35.7, John Maine with 34.7, Ian Snell with 33.9, Tom Gorzelanny with 33.2, Roy Oswalt with 30.8, Derek Lowe with 30.0, John Smoltz with 28.8, Jeff Francis with 28.5, and Ben Sheets with 27.7 with Hamels a bit behind with a 23.5. The pitchers chosen for the team were Francisco Cordero, Brien Fuentes, Cole Hamels, Trevor Hoffman, Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Brady Penny, Takashi Saito, Ben Sheets, John Smoltz, Jose Valverde, Billy Wagner, and Chris Young.

Aside from Peavy and Penny, the variance between the rest coupled with their respective reputations makes it a difficult thing to truly lock down in terms of who is more deserving. Chris Young was voted in by the fans fair and square. He has a ridiculous home ERA of 0.82 and a BAA of .168, but his road ERA of 3.33 is still impressive with his .227 BAA. If he did not get voted in by the fans, he certainly would have deserved a spot anyway and should have been included initially. Then you have Sheets and Smoltz who were picked and one has be alright with those guys based on their current performance this year and their careers. While Maine has All-Star numbers, his case is hard to argue against Sheets and Smoltz as not every guy gets in based on 1/2 a year performance. If two or three guys are close, the seasoned star gets in 100% of the time unless someone is the sole possible representative. Then you have Oswalt, who is replacing Smoltz, and you have Hamels. If you look at their home parks (both strangely have performed better at home) and factor in their dominance factor, it is not an open and shut case that Maine should have been in over them. Everyone has a legitimate case between the three, but no one could really argue about Maine getting left out.

The only argument would be in Brian Fuentes. How you can put a guy who lost his closer job and has an ERA north of 4.00 is beyond me. Matt Holliday was already going to make the team, so it was not just an obligatory vote to get a Rockie in there, but if you are strictly playing to win, it certainly behooves a manager to have as many closers as possible. But Brian Fuentes? I could possibly see the benefit if the AL was loaded with lefties, but that is far from the case. Then you look back at June 21st. You will see twenty saves and a 1.89 ERA for Fuentes. The pitchers and reserves were announced on July 1st and they were probably picked a few days earlier. Fuentes' ERA ballooned from 1.89 to 4.17 in five consecutive appearances. Throw in the fact that starters and relievers are different beasts. You can throw in six closers and not have to worry about their availability. Regardless, I have a hard time thinking LaRussa just pulled these names out on the 29th of June.

They had a good idea who they were taking and at the time they had formulated that opinion, it looked like six closers were having outstanding seasons and LaRussa had three lefties in the pen. Again, if you are trying to win, giving yourself six closers and three of whom could be potential LOOGY options, you might be putting your best foot forward. With six starters already, who gives the NL a better chance at winning, Maine or Fuentes? I do not think it could be argued that a seventh starter starter who might take ten more pitches to warm up over a sixth reliever who will not need as much time is more of a value add. If the Mets go to the World Series, would you rather have a Maine All-Star berth or homefield advantage? Again, the most deserving should go, but Fuentes precipitous decline is not typical and guys like LaRussa are not knee jerk. If he was, he certainly would not be where he is and Fuentes was not undeserving a short time ago.

Did Maine, Snell, and Gorzelanny get snubbed? Yes and it is not a perfect system. Did Beltran get a gift? Yes and that makes it hard to argue about Maine if you are a Mets fan. I would have loved to see Maine there, but I'm not in a tizzy that he is not as there it is not as cut and dry as it seems and Maine's exclusion is not egregious.

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Speaking of All-Stars, Miguel Cabrera is having a great year, but after a dismal April, Wright has played right with him. Anyone complaining about his status on the team is just not looking at the numbers close enough.

The bullpen came up big for the Mets last night and that is certainly refreshing to see.

Mike Pelfrey was a bit roughed up again on Friday and he is just not consistent enough. He struck out Lance Berkman on a great change-up which showed everyone what he could do, but he could not replicate the pitch often and his slider was horrendous. The jury is still out on him, but as Keith pointed out, he's never had a full season on the minors and he either needs to be in the bullpen or he needs to be in the minors working on two pitches rather than getting people out.