With just a weekend left in the regular season, the teams out of the running have started their planning for next season. Earlier in the week, the Cleveland Indians let manager Eric Wedge know his services would not be needed next season.  The Indians had high expectations going into the season, but they turned into sellers trading away high profile players Mark DeRosa, Cliff Lee, and Victor Martinez for younger players.

Now, word out of San Diego is that the new ownership team is going in another direction and letting long time GM Kevin Towers go. The biggest impact Towers has had on the team throughout the season was convincing Jake Peavy to be more open minded to a trade. At the end of the day, the Padres are doing Towers a favor because its will be hard to be excited about going to the office when the team is building to compete three years from  now.

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If you look at the National League East, you know the beast of the division in the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.  They have so much troubles, they can't seem to choose among who gets the demotion to the pen when former Met Pedro Martinez joins the team. 

Despite the injuries and all the failed expectations  coming out of Citi Field with the Mets, they are still just seven games under the .500 mark.  That's quite a remarkable record considering they have been without Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado for a major portion of the season. 

With the team in tact last year, they scored 84 more runs than they gave up. In 2009, they have scored 33 less runs (with 472) than they have given up (505). In comparing 2008 and 2009, they have gone from +84 to -33 in the runs scored/given up differential which is 117run difference.

Still, despite the drop off, Jerry Manuel and Omar have this team competitive. How is this possible?

They have almost no home run ability playing in Citi field where Sheffield leads team in Home runs with 10 Home runs, and are last in NL with 67.

Where is the Mets saving grace that has kept them in games despite the drop off in production?

They are 3rd in the NL in OBP with a .341 mark. They lead the national League in stolen bases, and are fourth in NL in total bases with 1443.

So despite the slugging outage this year with Mets, they are getting people on base and moving across the base paths with the small ball type of mentality. 

These fill in players are doing quite the job. They certainly have not given up despite being overmatched with their bats against many of their opponents. Makes you think the Mets are bringing this mentality from the movie Animal House:

Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...  the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!

Another positive for the 2009 Mets is their defense that backs Johan Santana and company. The Defensive Efficiency Ratio (DER) measures the percentage of times balls in play are turned into outs by the team's fielders, not including home runs. The Mets defense is 9th best in NL . with a .696 Also, the UZR (ultimate zone rating) measures the number of runs above or below average a fielder is in both range runs, outfield arm runs, double play runs and error runs combined. The Mets are 4th best in the NL with a 27.1

Besides Santana, their is no starting pitcher that has stood out in a positive way. The team is 10th in the National league in ERA that puts them in the bottom tier of the league with a .432 ERA.

All things considered, this is one of the more surprising seasons gone by with the Mets. With this downturn in production, you would think they were on pace to lose 100 games. The Mets were neither buyers or sellers at the deadline.

One thing is evident, this is an array of players who has not shown to give up despite all the injuries and players playing in roles they are not accustomed to.  This is what team work is all about. Today, when Parnell takes the mound as the starting pitcher, and Murphy gets his timely hits,  take a good luck. As, they are building something here known as team chemistry, and a little bit of luck.  

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When I was growing up in late 1970s, if you were not a Reggie fan, you certainly were a  Jim Rice fan. Rice went on to play his entire career with the Boston Red Sox.  In little league, we would imagine we were Jim Rice and try to emulate those home run blasts.   I am not sure why it took Jim Rice this long to enter Cooperstown, but I guess his relationship with the writers played a big factor in all of this.   Sometimes how you finish your career, is how everyone remembers you by.  As he mentioned in his speech today, Jim Rice had his career batting average drop below the .300 mark his last year in the majors.  Also, had he reached the 400 home run mark, he certainly would of been in quicker as 382 just fell short. However, a career slugging average above .500 is probably what got him into Cooperstown.

As for Rickey Henderson, I remember him coming up in the late 1970s, and he was the talk in most baseball circles with the flat out blazing speed. I didn't get to see much of Lou Brock's  career, but Henderson and the 100 bases stolen in a season sure made him a star. Back then, you didn't hear as much as you do today about what the ideal lead off hitter must possess. But, Henderson transformed the lead off batter position with the speed and power combination.  As we saw today in his speech, Henderson has the type of personality you'll never probably see again. His references to people like Tom Trebelhorn, Charlie O, Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner, Dave Winfield and others shows us how long he was part of the game.

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From the TBO, Maddon with the use of his number crunching data gave Aybar the rare start:

"I cannot take credit for that," Maddon said. "This is something we do back at the office, and we really crunch numbers and do so many things. Willy came out on top versus Greinke."

Aybar went 4-4 with the game winning hit. Madddon was key in letting Aybar know the ball that went through his legs was simply bad break, and to forget about it.  And that he Did!

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I never did understand why the Cubs parted ways with their valuable spark plug Mark DeRosa in the off season. As other players can fill the void, but You win With Mark DeRosa . At first look, it seemed the Cubs were dumping DeRosa's 5.5 million salary. However, the Cubs GM Hendry has admitted in recent interviews that he was attempting to reduce the number of right handed bats in the cubs lineup : Soriano - R, D. Lee - R, Theriot - R, Soto - R, A. Ramirez - R

I guess the lack of a left handed bat it what sent DeRosa packing. The number of times Ramirez has gotten hurt over the past few years in reason enough to keep DeRosa around as the ball club was not helped in any way with the players the recieved from the Indians for DeRosa.

As a club, the Cardinals always bring in that solid veteran that helps them go over the top and win the division title. This deal giving up a former #1 pick Chris Perez out of the University of Miami who throws in the high 90s is a decent player the Tribe recieved. But in this case, Ryan Franklin is the defacto closer and with another hard thrower in Jason Motte, this was a deal the Cardinals could afford to make.

Mark DeRosa is signed only for the season. However, they have had the void at third base for much of the season, and this will certainly solidify their infield. DeRosa can fill in all across the field, and his 50 RBIs and 13 HRs will fill in nicely.

The Indians did pretty well as far as value, but not as fit. With Kerry Wood signed in the off season as the closer, Perez will have to wait his turn and that could be a while.  For now, he is just another arm for the bullpen. This signals that the Indians are throwing in the towl and building for 2010 and beyond.

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As much as I want to lay into the Neal Harrington regime of the Pittsburgh Pirates for trading away the recent face of the franchise in Nate McLouth, its clear they are running the team in what is best for the team in the long term. In this case, McLouth opened up a lot of eyes last season with his breakout year, but seems like he was never in their long term plans.  They signed him to an extension in the beginning of this year, as it was a deal that would neither hurt his overall value, nor was it one that would prevent them from locking up one of their other cornerstone players. 

The Pirates have properly allowed Andrew McCutchen the time to develop in the minors leagues, despite looking like he could contribute to the big league club the past two years in spring training.  With the emergence of Pirates OF Nyjer Morgan as an everyday player, it seems the Pirates were using the strategy of selling high on McLouth. Its not clear if the Pirates were actively shopping McLouth. It does seem like they jumped in on making a deal pretty early in this trade window over the next month or so.  I am not sure there was a better deal out there to make on McLouth.

Based on what we saw in the offseason with the Padres shopping of Jake Peavy for young talent, its not so easy to find a trading partner. Sure, the Braves had much greater talent in their organization to acquire, but they were holding onto those players. The players the Pirates recieved are decent prospects. In particular, Gorkys Hernandez has the potential of emerging into just as good of a player that Jordan Schafer will be.

The Pirates used a similar approach that Andrew Friedman has used in changing the face of the franchise of always acquiring pitching arms to throw into the mix. Charlie Morton has a small sample size at the major league level, but he is sure to get an opportunity to impress with the Pirates. Pitcher Jeff  Locke has drawn the praises of Baseball Prospectus and John Sickels in their writeups on him this off season.

All things considered, this is a trade you can't really properly evaluate today. Two years from now, I think this is a win win deal for both organizations. Its clear to me with the acquisition of McLouth for the Braves, it signals the end of the Jeff Francoeur in a Brave uniform even sooner than once believed.  In the Pirates case, when your are building for 2011 and beyond, and you are offered several players that will help the franchise to better improve the overall talent, you make the deal.

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With the MLB draft  on Tuesday, I participted in the Mock draft at MVN Outsider and selected for The Tampa Bay Rays http://mvn.com/outsider/2009/06/mlb-outsider-mock-draft-tampa-bay-rays-select-andrew-oliver.html

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We already considered Joe Maddon as a new age, forward thinking, manager based on embracing of the sabertmetrics. Of course, there is also the infatuation with Malcom Gladwell's Blink as suggested reading for all his players. It was last season Maddon stunned the baseball community in 2008 with his 9=8 math . The Tampa Rays and Joe Maddon came to an agreement for a new contract that keeps him as manager until 2012. The thing I like most about Maddon is he taught this young group how to win. You never know after the ball game if the team just won or they lost based on his statements. He is consistent and he never really throws a player under the bus. He is a good face for the organization and is respected in baseball circles. He paid his dues working for the Angels and the Friedman and Sternberg team made the right decision based on the lack of major league managing experience when he first got the job. The first few seasons with the team were rough time trying to change the outlook of the organization. But, its clear this guy is one of the good idea man in all of baseball.

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Last year when the heat was on Mets Manager Willie Randolph, Gary Carter threw his name into the ring as someone who could do the job. The timing of this came out bad for Kid Carter , as it looked as if Gary was adding to the fodder that "Willie Must Go" movement in many N.Y. media outlets. In Carter, you are talking about a Hall Of Fame backstop who called many games in his career. However, he is as ready for being a major league manager as I guess A.J. Hinch is. But, despite his lack of major league managerial experience, its always been thought given the right situation, Gary Carter deserves a shot to manage in the Major Leagues. I beg to differ after seing this quote from his Newsday blog:

Richie G: Do you know all the new stats like FIP/VORP and what do you think of them? I don't know those stats and there are way too many stats to be concerned with to get caught up in that. The most important categories for me are batting average, home runs, RBIs and strikeout-to-walk ratio. Those are what I focus on the most.

Where do we start on this one? There have been books, articles, and even now movies devoted to the fact that the old school statistics are not as meaningful as once believed. If Carter was serious about managing in Majors, he would learn as much about the resources available to him. This is not 1979. Today, almost all MLB organizations have staffers devoted to the new age of statistics, known as sabermetrics. Its clear The Kid has no idea.

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Jorge De La Rosa came onto the Colorado Rockies scene last year, and the team wisely stuck with him even despite his struggles. In 2008 he had an ERA approaching a 5.00, but managed to win 10 games and struck out 128 batters in 130 innings pitched.

It was the Cool De La article over at Fantasy Phenoms this off season that put De Rosa on my radar again. In 2009, De La Rosa owners are being rewarded with his breakout thus far giving up only 15 ER so far in 42 innings pitched. Along the way, he has more than a strikeout per inning pitched with a WHIP of 1.17.

Last night, in a dominant performance against the Pirates, it looked as if De La Rosa would once again be on the receiving end of another loss due to bad run support. He pitched 7 strong innings striking out ten with only one run given up. When he left the game, it looked like he would be in line for a fourth decision, all in the loss column. But, Brad Hawpe would have none of this and belted a home run which took De La Rosa off the hook and Rockies went on to win the game.

This goes to show you how little win and loss records really mean in evaluating pitchers. The Cy Young voters should pay a little more attention to the pitching peripherals than they do to this outdated win and loss record. 

This string of bad luck of Jorge De La Rosa with his 0-3 record made me think of Anthony Young  (A.Y.), the New York Mets pitcher who holds the record of bad luck.  Young lost 27 consecutive games in which he had a decision.

Lets hope De La Rosa gets some luck from here on out and gets some decent run support. These are the type of pitchers its fun to root for.

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