Just, wow

So, one QS from Figueroa (and a loss), and he gets DFA’d and replaced by Casey Fossum.

Casey Fossum, 2008 – worth 0.1 wins to the Tigers over 41.1 innings. 30 years old.

Darren O’Day, 2008, worth 0.3 wins to the Angels over 46.1 innings. 26 years old.

If it’s up to me, I’m taking the young guy who’s already done OK in the Mets bullpen over the aging veteran every time. Especially as this means that the Mets now have two lefty specialists in the bullpen again. Oh joy, more lefty-righty match-ups, multiple pitching changes per inning, tired pitchers; remember how well that worked out with Schoenweiss and Feliciano last year?

It would’ve been far more sensible for Brian Stokes or Bobby Parnell to have started today, saving O’Day and Figueroa from being DFA’d. Or, seeing as Figueroa pitched OK, why not keep him as the long man out of the bullpen? Or put Pelfrey on the DL?

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Why are the Mets risking losing O’Day through waivers? I know they need another starter, but Figueroa is awful, O’Day looks a useful member of the bullpen and has the added bonus of being a side armer (which is cool to watch) and a Rule 5 draft pick (which is an awesome rule), is pitching well, and a useful member of the Best Bullpen in Baseball (small sample size alert). Surely putting Pelfrey on the 15 day DL, going with a smaller bench for a few days (Reed has options) or DFAing someone useless (like Stokes or Feliciano) would be a better move. Unless Omar works out a trade with the Angels, in which case, fair play Omar.

Also, as someone with a ticket for the game tomorrow, I’d much rather see someone with a future with the Mets like Niese or Gee get the start and experience tomorrow.

Hallelujah!

Marlon is gone!

Some numbers:

Marlon’s 2009 Mets line .000/.000/.000

Marlon’s OPS+ in 2008: 40

Marlon’s value to the Mets in 2008, when they paid him$1.1M: -0.8 wins

Players on the Mets 40 man roster who are more useful than Marlon – 40

Chance another team will sign Marlon for league minimum – 0%

So now what? Was Marlon really the most interesting thing to write about on the Mets? If your LH bat off the bench is your biggest worry, then the rest of the team must be pretty flawless, right?

Marlon Anderson Watch

vs. Marlins, PH, no hit. .000/.000/.000. Still, he should be gone later on today when they add Livan to the roster, but the mets have made stupid moves in the past…….

Marlon Anderson Watch

9th April 2009, 14:34

Marlon Anderson, pinch ‘hitting’ for O’day grounds out to pitcher

.000/.000/.000

Marlon Anderson Watch

Marlon is still reaching desperately for the mendoza line, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to grab hold of it and haul himself out of the sinkhole his career has become anytime soon. Pinch ‘hitting’ today for Pelfrey, he struck out with a runner left on base. His 2009 line remains .000/.000/.000

(Statistically speaking, I know it’s a small sample size and everything, but I don’t an improvement coming anytime soon, do you?)

Marlon Anderson rides the Mendoza Line

For some perverse reason, the Mets sent Nick Evans down to AAA to allow them to keep both Gary Sheffield and Marlon ’40 OPS+’ Anderson on the roster. Having Gary Sheffield should mean the end of Marlon’s tenure with the Mets. But it hasn’t (yet?).

So what did Marlon do today? Pinch ‘hit’ for Sean Green. His 2009 line? .000/.000/.000

Bookmark this page, and you too can enjoy the fun of seeing whether Marlon can reach the Mendoza line in ’09.

Bye Bye Marlon?

Advantages of the Gary Sheffield signing:

The Mets can now release Marlon ’40 OPS+’ Anderson. I have no doubt that Gary Sheffield (or me, and I’ve never played baseball in my life) would be more useful to the Mets than Marlon Anderson, but being better than Marlon Anderson really isn’t anything to be proud of. And there is always the danger the Mets feel they don’t have enough gritty veteran presence on the team and decide to keep Sheffield and Marlon, and cut someone (useful) instead.

Disadvantages:

So what else does he bring to the team? Sheffield is an aging Vet, and I am always against the Mets signing the aged.  However, he is being paid league minimum, which is about what he is worth as a player – he had a slightly below league average OPS+ of 90 in 2009. While there isn’t much chance he improves in ’09 (he is 40, and Detroit certainly didn’t think he would get better), the 2008 Gary Sheffield was worth 0.3 wins to Detroit. However he did this mainly as a DH (he started only 6 games in LF, a total of 47 innings), an option unavailable to the Mets. In 2005, the last season he was a full time OF, his fielding cost the Yankees -26.8 runs through 131 games started – now 4 years older, his sucky defence will outweigh his hitting unless he is used only as a pinch hitter and kept out of the outfield as much as possible. As a cheap replacement for Marlon Anderson, he could be a reasonable addition to the team, but allowing him to start in the OF too often will quickly outweigh the value of his bat.

Plus, if he is good there is the risk Omar will give him one of his special contracts for aging vets, a la Marlon or Jose Valentin.

As a Mets fan I look forward to never seeing Marlon Anderson pinch ‘hit’ or play ‘defence’ for the Mets again. Sheffield is a low risk (or at least cheap) signing, with more upside than Marlon, but this is a short term solution that will make the team worse if Sheffield spends a lot/any of time playing the outfield.