Meet the 2nd half; Same as the first half
The second-half of the season has gotten off to a pretty rotten start. Aaron Laffey was awful, allowing eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in an 8-2 loss in Seattle Friday night, although five of the runs were unearned.
While that bothers me, a couple of other things bother me more.
David Dellucci was in the frickin’ lineup again tonight. There is just no logical reason for him to be there. He’s been awful, and he has no role in the future. His appearances at DH are taking ABs away from Ryan Garko and others - at-bats they need to prove that they either belong in the big leagues, or they don’t.
Every decision made from here on in must be made with next year in mind. I don’t see how Dellucci playing contributes to that goal.
The other thing that bugs me is the statue-like play of Jhonny Peralta at short. It was his booting of a routine groundball that opened the floodgates for the five unearned runs off of Laffey in the second. Peralta and Marte should be splitting 3B to see if either is a viable alternative there for next year, while Asdrubal Cabrera should be given the chance to make a bid for the 2009 shortstop job.
I have to admit with the four Tribeless days completed, I was looking forward to things getting started again so we could start watching the “next-year” folks - Marte at 3B, Cabrera as SS, Peralta at 3B, Raffy Perez as closer.
These moves make sense to me, but I’m not sure the powers that be see it the same way. For them - for some reason - it’s important to get David Dellucci some more at bats.
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on Saturday, July 19th, 2008 at 9:20 am and is filed under Aaron Laffey, Asdrubal Cabrera, Rafael Perez, Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland Indians, Tribe report, Andy Marte, David Dellucci, A.L. Central.
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13 Responses to “Meet the 2nd half; Same as the first half”
July 19th, 2008 at 11:18 am
It’s a catch-22: If Dellucci is to be trade bait, he has to be in the line-up but since he is playing so poorly, more exposure makes him less and less tradeable.
Everybody who is portraying Peralta as the next 3B is offering no credible evidence that he’d be any good at it. Plus his offense is a lot less valuable as a 3B than at SS. I don’t think Jhonny has a viable future with this club, at any position, and I would like to see him traded assuming there is a market for his services (Dodgers?).
July 19th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Met fan here. Who do you think Shapiro would demand in exchange for Casey Blake, if he’s available at all?
July 19th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
MealTicket…He’s available….
It’s hard to say what the market is for Blake. My initial thoughts are that the Indians could get a nice AA player for him…someone who is a couple of years away…
in a straight up deal.
Although I’m pretty sure Cleveland will start high.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Outside of Ferd Martinez and Jon Niese, what do the Mets possibly have to offer? Nothing better than Type A draft compensation by my estimate.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Pete, go take a look at NYM AA franchise. Jon Niese and Fernando Martinez are just about it. I’d love to have either but I thank that would be over-paying for Blake and I don’t see it happening. There’s not a single, other player on that roster that’s worth bothering with, IMO.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
…think that would be… that is. is there any way to edit your comments here when you commit a typo.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Thanks for the feedback. I don’t think Omar will part with either FMart or Niese. Consider some of the following:
AAA
Valentino Pascucci 1B
AA
Dan Murphy 1B/2B/OF
Mike Carp 1B/OF
Nick Evans IF/OF (currently on big-league roster)
A+
Dylan Owen RHP
Dylan Gee RHP
July 19th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
If it were my decision, meal ticket, which it isn’t, of course, I’d pass on all of those guys. Hopefully the Rays see something in Blake because they have the talent to spare. One thing the Tribe doesn’t need is another 1B prospect.
July 19th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Thanks, Mick. As I suspected.
Needless to say, in the tradition of homers worldwide, Met fans are actually fairly high on the players I listed, and some others, as well. (Perhaps we’re in denial about how little value is left in the system.)
So that if, say, 2B Dan Murphy (23, .309/.372/.485) was packaged with fireballing Binghamton closer Eddie Kunz (21, 3.09, and touted as Billy Wagner’s replacement), and say Dillon Gee or Brant Rustich, there would be some major carping from Met fans. Not that it would be an accurate reflection of the deal.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I’d have to do some research, but if Murphy and Kunz are what you were saying, I think the Indians would lunge at that.
Again, I don’t know the names from a hill of beans…
The thing is meal…we here in Indians-land feel the same way about our guys as you do yours. At the end of the day, we are talking about Casey Blake…not Alex Rodriguez. He has incredible value, but as Mick said, tweener value. Not a top pick…but not middling picks either.
If Kunz truly is a guy that’s being groomed as a closer, then I guarantee you he’s got Shapiro’s attention. 2B is a position that Cleveland wants to shore up as well….
I’d have to do some research…before I could say either way…
July 20th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I thought Danny Murphy had been moved off of 2B. As far as Kunz, I’m not saying that he doesn’t have value but, oddly enough and despite the Tribe’s current bullpen problems, we have lot’s of future closer candidates in the system like Sipp and Stevens. Middle infield and a power corner OF are really where the needs are and nobody would turn down a high ceiling young starter either. I just don’t think the Mets system matches up very well. If the Rays would offer up Brignac or Jennings or Hellickson, there is just no way the Mets compete w/o offering up one of their big two. I think the names I mentioned from the Rays are probably a little rich for Blake (with the possible exception of Brignac who is a little bit tarnished). I’m just not sure the Mets could even go toe to toe against a Heath Rollins type offer. Maybe Kunz, I’m just not sure. Just my opinion.
July 20th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Murphy is generally the starting 2B for the Binghamton Mets. He does sometimes play first and OF–alternating with Carp and Evans–but he most commonly starts at second. One scout was quoted recently as saying that Murphy was the most talented of the three and the one with the best shot in the Majors.
Every year, it seems, some previously unheralded minor leaguer puts up impressive numbers in AA or AAA. Most then revert to the mean. Murphy could go either way.
You’re right, of course, about the Rays’ excellent farm system. Very few teams can go toe-to-toe with them these days.
July 20th, 2008 at 10:11 am
They will never give up Hellickson, unless the deal is bigger than Blake.
I would love to see a Peralta and Blake deal…for all three of the guys you mentioned…moving Brignac (tarnished, but only from this year…still a top 50 prospect) to second…
Some are saying that Hellickson’s stuff is as good or better than Price’s…
Of course…this is all without ever having seen any but Brignac play…
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