Tag: mark teixeira
June 20, 2010	Mets 2010 Games Joe Janish
Mets Game 69: Loss to Yankees
Yankees 4 Mets 0
Sorry Dad.
Mark Teixeira chose the Subway Series to get his groove back — much to the chagrin of Mets fans.
Additionally, C.C. Sabathia chose Father's Day to spin his best outing of the season.
C.C. Sabathia spun 8 innings of shutout ball, holding the Mets to a mere 4 hits and 2 walks.
Johan Santana was not quite as sharp, as he — everyone, together now — didn't have his best stuff. Santana allowed 8 hits and a walk in 6 innings, expending 114 pitches. The big blow was a four-run homer by Teixeira (which is often referred to as a "grand slam" or "grand salami"). Santana had no command whatsoever of his change-up, often missing high and in to LH / high and away to RH (in fact he plunked Robinson Cano with one, Santana's first HBP of the year). His fastball velocity hung around 88 MPH, and was located above the belt, usually catching the middle of the plate. Generally speaking, spotting your two main pitches high in the strike zone is a bad thing, particularly in a homer-happy ballpark such as the new Yankee Stadium. In fact, I found it surprising that the Yankees didn't hit MORE homeruns, considering where Santana was "living" in the strike zone. Ironically, Teixeira's blast was one of the few pitches Santana placed at the knees — but it was flat and without much mustard.
The closest the Mets came to mounting something resembling a rally was in the 7th inning, when an Ike Davis leadoff single was followed by a Jason Bay walk (it was also the only inning that the Mets had two runners on base). However, Rod Barajas followed with a strikeout and Fernando Tatis hit into — you guessed it — a double play.
Speaking of, why in the world was Fernando Tatis the DH? Just because he is a righthanded hitter and there was a LHP on the mound? I suppose that is the CYA logic used by Jerry Manuel, with the addendum that "it was a chance to get Tatis some at-bats". Guess what? The whole concept behind the DH is this: it is an opportunity to put the best batter in your lineup who doesn't have position. The lefty / righty thing does not apply, unless your best hitter not on the field is unusually weak against a like-sided hurler. Armed with that knowledge, who should have been the DH in Sunday's game? Chris Carter, of course, because he is the best hitter on the 25-man roster who wasn't on the field.
Oh, and why was it so important to get Tatis at-bats? The argument, of course, is that he hasn't been getting many opportunities to hit lately. Why is that? Because he's NOT A VERY GOOD HITTER! The man is hitting .178 with a .259 OBP. Yes, he hasn't had many chances — but if he was hitting at all, there would've been good reason to give him more chances. Carter's numbers don't look awe-inspiring, for sure, but they're much better than Tatis' (his OPS is over 100 points higher) and Carter has at least been hitting the ball hard recently.
Next Mets Game
The Mets get a day off as they travel back from the Bronx to Flushing (those subway transfers can take a while, you know). On Tuesday they host the Detroit Tigers. Game time is 7:10 PM, with Jon Niese taking the mound against Justin Verlander.
November 17, 2009	09-10 Offseason Joe Janish
Holliday Posturing
The latest on Matt Holliday is that the Yankees aren't interested (per Buster Olney), the Angels aren't either, and the Red Sox and Jason Bay appear to be on the same wavelength. That said, the Mets may have only the Cardinals to bid against when the Holliday auction begins — right?
Not necessarily …
December 23, 2008	Latest Post Joe Janish
Buy Me To the Moon
With the recent signing of Mark Teixeira for $180M over 8 years, the New York Yankees have spent a total of $423.5M on three free agents this winter.
Add in the $248M still owed on Alex Rodriguez's contract, and the Bronx Bombers have committed over a half-billion dollars ($671.5M to be exact) to three ballplayers over the next eight years.
If that's not an attempt to buy a World Series Trophy, I don't know what is.
Based on this winter's signings, the Steinbrenners clearly did not have any investments with Bernard Madoff (unlike another baseball team father-son ownership based in New York City … though, we're assured that little financial scandal won't affect their organization in any way).
The immediate reaction by 99% of people is that this enormous outlay of cash by the Yankees is despicable, unfair, and/or "exactly what's wrong with baseball".
Hmm ….
On the one hand, it's slightly upsetting that Teixeira did not choose to join his hometown Baltimore Orioles, who have some bright young arms, athletic outfielders, and a future superstar catcher on their horizon. Adding a solid All-Star bat like Teixeira might have been the last piece of the puzzle to push them into contention at some point within the next 2-3 years. Already the toughest division in baseball, the AL East would have been even more competitive if the O's joined the ranks of the elite.
But now, it's a three-team race among the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays — who have to prove 2008 wasn't a Cinderella season. No matter how much the Blue Jays and Orioles improve, it's doubtful they'll sniff the postseason before 2012. Though, you never know.
Does that make the Yankees a big bully? Is their spending this winter as obnoxious as everyone says — particularly in this difficult economy? Are the Yankees singlehandedly "ruining baseball" ?
No, no, and no. And no to any other such nonsense.
First off, the Yankees had over $80M come off their 2008 budget thanks to the expiring contracts of Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, and Kyle Farnsworth (yes, I know Farnsworth was traded, but it was nonetheless another $5.5M off the books). With all that coming off, it's entirely possible that the Yankees' 2009 budget will be BELOW their 2008 spending even with the additions of Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett. Heck, they may still have room to sign Manny Ramirez. Yes, their payroll is still going to be a good $70M or $80M more than the next-highest spenders, but they're not going above and beyond what they've been doing since 2003. And guess what? Despite spending more than any other team for the last five years, the Yankees have yet to make a World Series appearance. Huh.
Secondly, while every other team in baseball is crying about the economy, claiming they can't afford to pay for free agents — and in many cases, laying off non-player personnel — the Yankees are HIRING. If the Steinbrenners follow up these big free agent signings with an announcement that they're cutting their administrative staff or stadium maintenance people, then something stinks. But that doesn't appear to be the case. In these tough times, I openly applaud business owners like the Steinbrenners, who instead of laying off people for fear what the future might bring, are instead investing in their future and seeking to improve and grow their product.
Obviously, the Yankees can afford to pay all these ridiculous salaries — they must be doing well. Would you prefer that they sat on their money, or hid it somewhere, rather than doling it out? Consider this: with the signings of three All-Stars, how many Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett Yankee jerseys and T-shirts will be sold? How many more baseball gloves with those players' "autographs" on them will leave the shelves? How much money will Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett themselves spend, now that they're ultra-millionaires? My guess is all three will put at least some of their earnings back into the economy, as well as into charitable foundations. Spending money in these tough times shouldn't be frowned upon — it should be embraced and encouraged. Somehow, it all trickles down, eventually.
Finally, it is not the Yankees "ruining the game" by spending boatloads of money. If anyone is "ruining" baseball, it's the San Diego Padres, who are dismantling their team piece by piece because their owners are in the midst of a divorce. To me, it is vastly more despicable for a teams like the Padres and Marlins to run "fire sales" in an effort to reduce payroll — and in effect, put a minor league team on the field. I understand that small market teams can't compete, financially, with the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, etc. But if they can't figure out a way to generate the minimum $40-60M to cover a Major League payroll, then either find a new management team, sell the club, or go to the minors — in my opinion there are too many MLB teams anyway.
Which brings me to another point that isn't related to the Yankees, but with MLB in general. We've heard that the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays have been "forced" to lay off administrative personnel during this offseason. It's also been reported that MLB had to cut their staff significantly, specifically in their MLB Advanced Media / website department. Can someone please explain to me how and why there are teams and MLB itself cutting staff when they made more money in the last five years than they ever have in history?
It was widely reported last winter that MLB.com paid out $30M to each club, after it generated nearly $400M in revenues. MLB Advanced Media's growth has been fast and furious, and I find it VERY hard to believe that revenues were down in 2008 — if they were, they couldn't be down by much. MLB.com's user base, paid subscriptions, and traffic all went up. In addition, it was also widely reported that MLB as a whole made over six billion dollars in 2007 — an all-time high — and set attendance records. Following that momentum, several teams during the 2008 season set records again for attendance and ticket sales (including our New York Mets). So for the last two or three years, baseball has been absolutely booming, bringing in money faster than they count it — yet, teams (other than the Yankees) are crying poverty and adding to the unemployment rate. Is it me, or is something rotten in Denmark?
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but the money being thrown around by the Yankees is, to me, refreshing. At least there is one team doing well enough to feel they can put their profits back into the company, with an eye toward improvement and long-term growth.
Happy holidays.
argonbunnies on Fixing the Mets' roster for 2020
Dan42 on The Mets' new manager
argonbunnies on The Mets' new manager
Adrock on The Mets' new manager
argonbunnies on Who wants a Mets-Mariners blockbuster?
Fixing the Mets' roster for 2020
The Mets' new manager
Who wants a Mets-Mariners blockbuster?
The Mets Bewildering Move
Fanboy or Old Cynic?
Time warp to 2012!
Are the Mets better off than they were entering 2017?
The Mets: Will This Re-boot Work?
Congratulations, reader!
Could blockbuster trades make the Mets champions in 2018?
Get newest MetsToday posts by email.
Mets Blog Topics
Mets Blog Topics Select Category 07-08 Offseason (197) 08-09 Offseason (35) 09-10 Offseason (185) 10-11 Offseason (143) 11-12 Offseason (204) 12-13 Offseason (185) 13-14 Offseason (140) 14-15 Offseason (79) 15-16 Offseason (13) 16-17 Offseason (20) 17-18 Offseason (1) 18-19 Offseason (1) 19-20 Offseason (2) 2006 Postseason (11) 2009 Mets Evaluations (42) 2010 Mets Evaluations (33) 2010 Spring Training (38) 2011 Mets Evaluations (20) 2011 Spring Training (76) 2012 Mets Evaluations (10) 2013 Spring Training (34) 2015 Spring Training (16) 2016 Spring Training (1) 2018 Mets Season (3) Around the Blogs (227) Baseball Basics (15) Bring Wally Back Man (13) Bullpen Blueprint (7) Buzz (31) Catching Mechanics (3) citi field (26) Cool Mets Stuff (20) Featured (3) Gameday Open Thread (54) Hot Stove (163) Inside Looks (26) Latest Mets News (257) Latest Post (123) Lawrence Watch (2) Lineup (84) Lineups (11) Link Dump (97) Manuel Being Manuel (26) Mets 1969 Games (1) Mets 2006 Games (164) Mets 2007 Games (165) Mets 2008 Games (207) Mets 2009 Games (153) Mets 2010 Games (231) Mets 2011 Games (169) Mets 2012 Games (194) Mets 2013 Games (185) Mets 2014 Games (146) Mets 2015 Games (68) Mets 2016 Games (35) Mets 2016 Season (1) Mets 2017 Games (5) Mets Birthdays (14) Mets Books (4) Mets Gifts (2) Mets History (10) Mets Hitting (22) Mets Injuries (92) Mets Mailbag (9) Mets Memories (4) Mets Minors (30) Mets Photos (4) Mets Videos (1) Mets Yesterday (6) News Notes Rumors (289) Off Topic (47) Opinion and Analysis (189) Page Two Tuesday (13) Pitching Mechanics (30) Pitching Staff (163) Player Notes (96) poll (13) Predictions (16) Reviews (5) Rumors (71) Series Previews (130) Shea What? (160) Spring Training 08 (107) Spring Training 2006 (10) Spring Training 2007 (35) Spring Training 2009 (17) Spring Training Countdown (28) Stats (10) Talking Points (2) The Fix (4) Today's Tweet (1) Trades (56) WallyBall (15) Where Are They Now (8) Where They Are Now (20) where's ollie (3) Winter Leagues (1) Would You …? (4)
angel pagan astros bobby parnell braves cardinals carlos beltran cubs dan murphy david wright diamondbacks dillon gee dodgers Gameday Open Thread giants ike davis jason bay jeff francoeur jerry manuel johan santana john maine jon niese jose reyes josh thole k-rod Link Dump lucas duda luis castillo marlins mets mike pelfrey nationals new york mets nick evans oliver perez omar minaya padres phillies pirates RA Dickey reds red sox rockies ruben tejada wally backman yankees
This Month's Mets Blog Posts
Friends of MetsToday
Friv Games at friv-games-bunker.com No deposit bonus codes blog
Visit MetsToday on Facebook
2018 Offseason
© 2014 Joe Janish. All rights reserved.
http://purchasepropecia.net/ modafinil phentermine-med