Whatever contract they gave to Jason Bay is definitely outside the parameters, that's all I know. I think I would steer clear of six year deals for players over 28, especially in the National League. The Ryan Howard deal is a really embarrassing one only because the Phillies are a National League team. -X-
It gets better, the Phils have all of a sudden decided they want Cliff Lee and it appears they have a good shot to get him. I wanted last season to end so bad and now I don't want this one to begin.... fuck me.
It's like the Miami Heat of baseball. Cliff Lee will play the LeBitch role. He didn't want the pressure of New York or Texas so he went to a team where he could fit in as a #2 or #3 starter.
My take is with Texas, he didn't wanna end up like A-Rod. A great talent that's wasting away cus he's taking up a sizeable portion of the team's payroll and limiting their flexibility. My take is with the Yankees..he just didn't wanna be here. He listened to the Yankees to drive up the price of other teams to a point. Obviously, nobody is gonna outbid the Yankees if it's a straight up discussion about money but he figured he could squeeze a lil bit more money out of Texas or Philly. He would be the #2 starter behind Sabathia but you're right he probably didn't wanna deal with the pressure of NY. Also, and I posted it in the Yankees thread, that behoove comment by Hank was retarded. And finally with the Phillies, it was just ideal. He got big money, Philly will spend to compete, the NL East isn't very good, he was happy there, etc.
I think the Rangers ballpark was also an issue. Lee simply does not pitch well there. It's amazing that pitchers want to pitch for the Phillies, but shun the Mets. A top pitcher who is healthy could put up great numbers pitching half his games in Citi Field.
^ This At least they'll have terrible contract issues in four or five years. Meanwhile, I haven't seen anything here on any of the rule five draft pick ups for the Mets. Brad Emaus looks like a solid hitting second baseman. Gets on base, has decent gap power. I've seen projections that he can average around 20 home runs a year and draw a ton of walks, both good skills to have. Doesn't have great range for second base, but will probably compete for the starting position, and will probably be at least a solid utility infielder next season, and a good bat off the bench. Pedro Beato is a power armed relief pitcher from Brooklyn, which is kind of cool. 2.11 ERA in AA last year. Can probably contribute to the bullpen. And they'll probably give all the chances in the world to succeed, since the Mets will lose them if they're not on the 25 man roster. Also, the Phillies may be the oldest team in baseball next year, so there's that.
Beacuse the Mets suck... why would any player in his right mind want to play for the abysmal franchize I call my favorite?
I really like the Emaus pick. Think him and Murphy will be competing for a spot in ST and I think Emaus'll win out. He gets more walks than K's and can play 2nd, 3rd, and 1st, plus some pop. Oddly enough I remember us pull a draft-and-follow on Beato a few years ago and we ended up not signing him due to high demands and he got picked in the supplemental 1st round of the next year's draft. He didn't fare well as a starter but mid-year last year the Orioles converted him to a reliever and he fared pretty well. God knows we can use the bullpen help.
As I said in the Lee thread, bad news for the Yankees, worse news for the Mets. They're clearly playing for the wild card at best for the next 4 or 5 years, barring catastrophic injuries to the Phillies rotation. Have to give the Phillies credit - they've played the new ballpark card to perfection, something neither the Mets nor Yankees have been able to do. Hard to believe it was only 4 years ago that the Phillies fans were complaining about the big bad Mets trying to buy a championship.
It's actually funny to see how similar the ideology of the current Phillies and the 06-07 Mets are. The Phillies have decimated their farm system, have at least 131 million dollars committed for 2012, and only have two players on their 25-man roster under the age of thirty. 75 million to four players over 33 in 2013. They obviously did a better job picking players than the Mets did, but the overall philosophy of "buying a championship" is extremely similar. They'll be disgustingly good next year, probably, but the more I look at it, the more I think the Mets will be able to compete for the division by 2012, if Alderson does a good job building a team, combined with a lot of money coming off the books after this year.
The Mets should at least be above .500, if they aren't too unlucky and if they can get another starting pitcher. Which means they'll have an outside shot at the wildcard throughout most of the summer, hopefully, and might be able to get lucky enough at the trading deadline to make a push. But if the Phillies don't run away with the division this year they'll have fucked.
Cliff Lee to Phils is hilarious!! I love to see Yankee fans cry and bitch, especially the fattest one of all who all along proclaimed "Cliff Lee is gunna bea yankee, dehs no one out dere dats gunna payem moaw munee dan da yankees, so its jus a mattah ov time" As for the Mets I predict a 74 win season AT BEST
I hope you're right, but I have trouble seeing it. The Phils have 4 #1/#2 starters, and none is older than 33. If the Phils don't lock up the division for at least the next three years that's a tremendous failure on their part (barring injuries).
The Mets will not be completely worthless. I don't think they'll be great, but I'm sure they'll be competitive and likable and hopefully avoid the embarrassments that the previous regime gave us on the regular. That's really all I'm asking for. I know a few things... -The lineup will never have something like Jacobs, Francoeur, Barajas, pitcher, meaning I won't have to watch 5 pitch innings any more. -Some combination of Emaus, Turner, and Murphy will hit and field better than Castillo. -Jenry Mejia will not be rushed to sell tickets. -The outfield, however imperfect, is the best outfield we've had in years. I can live with that this year knowing there's a competent long term plan and team in place. -X-
Thinking back the Phillies trading away Lee a couple of years ago was a brilliant idea as they now have pretty much gained prospects for free.
They have a competent GM now in place and a better manager than last year, but you think the team will be worse?
