NL East Update: The One Where David Wright Can’t Stop Whiffing
May 11, 2010 by William Yoder
Filed under Fan News
Mets Blog is starting to get worried about David Wrights’ astronomically high strikeout rate, and (W)rightfully so, up until Monday he was in the midst of striking out in eight consecutive at bats.
Wright was pretty upset Sunday and it is easy to tell that not only he, but also the entire Mets team has been pressing since their eight game win streak. Wright is the type of player that when he argues a call or gets ejected, you know things are not going well, but seriously, eight consecutive strikeouts is unacceptable.
He is on pace to hit 35 home runs and collect 111 RBI for the season which is a very impressive season, but he is also on pace to strike out 213 times, so just think about how much better those numbers could be if he cuts down on the K’s.
Now in his seventh season in the bigs, Wright has enough experience and talent that he should at least be able to hit the ball into play, even if it’s a weak groundout, because at this point anything’s better then leaving the bat on your shoulders.
The Good Phight proposes a hypothetical trade worth looking at, which would shake up the Phillies outfield in a big way.
Obviously when looking at this one has to ask themselves what is the true value of Jayson Werth? The 31-year old is enjoying an MVP type season and has seen his numbers improve on an annual basis.
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NL East Update: Ryan Madson Is Down and Out
May 6, 2010 by William Yoder
Filed under Fan News
The Phillies were dealt a big blow to their bullpen with the news that Ryan Madson will miss the next 8 weeks with a broken right big toe.
Days after their impressive series win against division rival New York, where they took the last two of three, the only thing that has been getting the Phillies any attention was a 17-year old fan getting tasered in front of 45,000 fans, and now this. As you can see by the picture in the link (which by the way isn’t actually his toe), it can be a pretty gruesome injury, and it doesn’t help that it is the toe that Madson pushes off of from the rubber. You can add Madson to the list that already has Brade Lidge and JC Romero, of Phillie relievers that will miss significant time due to injury. All of a sudden, Jose Contreras may be the biggest X-factor on the Phillie pitching staff as his number will be called much more. Nelson Figueroa will also see significant playing time meaning that Philadelphia will put their trust in two aged castoffs, trying to make one last impact in the major leagues…this is certainly their time to make a final statement.
With a 0-5 record and a 5.47 ERA, one can rightfully assume that maybe Kenshin Kawakami just isn’t that good, but in this article Braves Blast defends the struggling right hander.
Braves Blast couldn’t have said it better. It doesn’t matter who you have out there; any starter that gets 1.25 run support will not win games (except if your name is Roy Halladay of course). You have to feel for Kawakami because the team leader in wins with 4 is Derek Lowe, who has an equally bad ERA of 5.18…funny how cruel baseball can be sometimes. Last season with a 3.86 ERA, Kawakami collected 7 wins and proved that he doesn’t have to be the type of pitcher that blows hitters away to be a quality starter in the league. There comes a point where a pitchers win-loss record is a reflection of his teams hitters, and right now, the Braves hitters are not looking too good.
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National Winter Meetings Review: NL East
December 14, 2009 by William Yoder
Filed under Fan News
Each year GM’s from across the league come together and meet in one place and talk hardcore baseball, these are the Winter Meetings. It’s the Black Friday of baseball’s shopping season, and the springboard that leads into MLB ‘s Hot Stove offseason.
The meetings wrapped up last week and to review the action The Nats Blog is going to get reviews from top blogs across the league. Today will be the NL East, here will be the schedule for the rest of the week:
12/16-NL Central; 12/17-NL West; 12/18-AL East; 12/19-AL Central; 12/20 AL West.
Team Name: Atlanta Braves
2009 Record: 86-76
Team Needs: 1st baseman, utility infielder, outfielder, several bullpen arms
Team Moves: Extended Tim Hudson; signed Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner; released Ryan Church and Kelly Johnson; traded Rafael Soriano for Jesse Chavez
Winter Meetings Grade: C+
Evaluation: The most noteworthy aspect of the Braves’ offseason so far was Frank Wren’s miscalculation on Rafael Soriano, who wound up accepting arbitration after Wren had publicly predicted that he wouldn’t, forcing Wren to trade Soriano for a scrap arm from the Rays . There was no room or money for Soriano after Wren had already spent $10 million on Wagner and Saito, who are aging but still intriguing, particularly outside the launching pad in Fenway. Money issues also prompted the non-tender of bench OF Ryan Church and IF Kelly Johnson, whom the team might welcome back at a lower price.
Wren and Cox have identified the team’s biggest remaining need as offense, but it’s not clear where that will come from: Cox has disavowed interest in Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, and the team refused to offer arbitration to 1B Adam LaRoche. The team has no serious internal options for 1B, so they’ll need to fill it with a free agent or a trade. Outfield is less clear: Matt Diaz and Nate McLouth will be back, and Cox has indicated Jason Heyward will be given the chance to win the RF job in spring training, though at least one of those positions really ought to be upgraded—Diaz isn’t very good against RHP, and McLouth’s CF offense and defense are both average at best. A higher offseason grade will depend on how Wren improves the offense.
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Team Name: Philadelphia Phillies
2009 Record: 93-69 (NL Champs)
Team Needs: Pitching of all kinds, 3B
Team Moves: IN: Placido Polanco, Ross Gload, Brian Schneider, Juan Castro, DeWayne Wise, Wilson Valdez, Cody Ransom OUT: Brett Myers, Matt Stairs, Pedro Feliz,
traded for Roy Hallaay
Winter Meetings Grade: B
Evaluation : Looking at the in/out team moves above it might be difficult to understand a B rating; that might be the least exciting group of free agent signings in recent memory. I applaud the front office for being direct and successful in signing their targeted players. Polanco (as Ibanez was last year) is slightly overpaid, but he was the team’s main target and they did what they needed to do to get their guy.
Also to this point management has been smart about the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. Putting him atop the rotation with Lee makes the Phillies an even more dangerous team, but only at the right price. If it costs Happ, our best prospect and we have to move Blanton, and maybe lose a Eyre and a few others in the prospects, there might be more holes than we began with, just a lot of smaller ones. Bottom line, the Phillies have had a magical two-year run and after this offseason the Phillies are still in a place to potentially extend the excitement for another season.
Team Name: Washington Nationals
2009 Record: 59-103
Team Needs: Starting Pitching, Middle infielder, CatcherTeam Moves: Signed C Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Traded for RHP Brian Bruney, Re-Signed LHP Scott Olsen
Winter Meetings Grade: C+ (pending signing of FA pitchers)
Evaluation: The Nationals went to the Winter Meetings looking for a pitcher or two, a veteran catcher and some middle infield help, and came out with reliever Brian Bruney, acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees, who seems, in hindsight, to have been signed as insurance should Mike MacDougal not take his non-tendering well; Pudge Rodriguez, a veteran catcher who, in hindsight, seems to have been signed as insurance in case Jesus Flores isn’t ready for the start of the season; and Scott Olsen, signed just after the Meetings, who was non-tendered and re-signed to an incentive-based deal as insurance in case he can’t come back from surgery to repair a torn left labrum…The Nationals are still looking for starting pitching and possibly a middle infielder, but with ’09 No.1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg competing for a starting spot and IF Alberto Gonzalez still on the roster, they might just have to go into the season with the roster they have if they can’t convince any more free agents to believe in their Plan.
Projected 2010 Lineup: 1) Nyjer Morgan, CF 2) Ian Desmond, SS 3) Ryan Zimmerman, 3B 4) Adam Dunn, 1B 5) Josh Willingham, LF 6) Elijah Dukes, RF 7) Ivan Rodriguez, C 8) Cristian Guzman, 2B.
Team Name: Florida Marlins
Record: 87-75 6.0 GB; second NL East
Team Needs: Salary Relief (as usual), New Stadium (on the way), and a suitor for Dan Uggla.
Moves Made: Dealt Jeremy Hermida to Boston for Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez Dealt Matt Lindstrom to Houston for Luis Bryan, Robert Bono and Jorge Jiminez
Winter Meetings Grade: Incomplete, no Uggla deal leaves little to grade them on.
Evaluation: Florida continued to pare payroll moving Matt Lindstrom to the Astros for Luis Bryan, Robert Bono and Jorge Jiminez, who Houston had selected from the Red Sox in the Rule V draft. Moving Uggla remains the priority to the Marlins offseason. The take will determine how successful their offseason will have been. With Gaby Sanchez likely ready to assume first base and Jorge Cantu able to slide across the diamond to play third, incumbent 3B Emilio Bonafacio then would take over for the departed Uggla.
The outfield situation is more settled in Miami. Chris Coghlan, Cameron Maybin and Cody Ross are all young and carry reasonable expectation of improvement. John Baker and Ronny Paulino continue to share the catching responsibilities.
On the mound, Florida returns ace Josh Johnson, whose looming free agency has sparked rumors the righty will be dealt. The Marlins tried to quash any speculation by emphatically declaring Johnson would not be going anywhere. Florida seems content to promote from within with prospects Sean West and Andrew Miller likely to join the rotation accompanying Johnson, Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco. With Lindstrom gone, Leo Nunez will hold onto the closer job. The Fish have a collection of solid setup men and middle relievers.
As usual the club is putting together a team on the cheap. They’ll contend in July and maybe into August. If their young pitching pans out, they might even make the postseason. But the patchwork plan leaves much to be desired and does almost nothing to build fan loyalty, a commodity the Marlins desperately need.
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