To call John Olerud’s baseball life charmed is no first baseman’s stretch. Let’s see – two World Series rings, possibly the greatest college season in history, an American League batting title, membership in the exclusive straight-to-the-majors club and a shotgun seat on the Seattle Mariners’ magic-carpet-ride 116-victory season. And mixed in there somewhere: a brain aneurysm. OK, so sometimes charm takes a holiday. Or a U-turn toward the scary/tragic. This, of course, occurred during his junior year at Washington State University, after he’d Roy Hobbsed his way into the national baseball consciousness. First there were the headaches and then the collapse during practice, then the swift diagnosis and surgery, Olerud the whole time cocooned in the youthful ignorance that “there couldn’t be anything wrong with me,” while his father, John, a doctor, sweated out the reality. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/oct/25/oleruds-baseball-career-nothing-short-of-amazing
There was talk from Collins that Beato might be better suited to a starting role, and I have to agree. While I was impressed with Beato’s bullpen work, I don’t see him as a closer, but more importantly, he looks to have the potential to throw three “plus” pitches — a hard sinker, overhand curve with good 12-6 bite, and fading change-up. As a reliever, the max-effort approach may not be suited to him; partially because I’m not sure he can be effective through 60-75 games a season doing that, but also because his four-seamer is fairly straight. Though it’s a slightly slower pitch, his sinker is effective, and if he can gain consistent command of either the curve or the change-up, he’ll have enough to be at least a back-end starter at the big-league level. The best and fastest way to gain that command is through repetition, and he can do that more effectively logging 120-150 innings as a starter than he can 50-60 as a reliever. Even if he doesn’t pan out as a starter, his sinker, four-seam fastball, and one more secondary pitch will make him a valuable asset in any bullpen — he could turn out to be an effective tweener like Ramiro Mendoza was for the Yankees in the late 1990s / early 2000s. The big decision for the Mets will be whether to let Beato develop his repertoire as a starter in AAA in 2012, or to use him again in the big club’s bullpen. It might seem like a no-brainer to have him work on his stuff in the minors, but we don’t know how badly the Mets will need relievers next spring — and often, the “now” takes precedence over the “later”. http://www.metstoday.com/7123/2011-mets-evaluations/2011-analysis-pedro-beato
10-25-11: - http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15358 - Juan Lagares, OF, Mets - Lagares quietly had a breakout season for the Mets in 2011, splitting time between High- and Double-A and hitting a combined .349/.383/.500. A 22-year-old Dominican who began his career as a shortstop, Lagares never found a defensive home in the infield, and his time chasing fly balls has only proved that he's stuck in a corner for the long term. What he can do is hit, but it doesn't come with much else; Lagares has below-average power and isn't a big fan of working the count. He's 11-for-28 in Arizona, and he'll need to keep hitting to improve his prospect stock. The hit tools trumps all, but there has to be at least something to go with it.
Bullpen: This is an area that we can all expect some major changes/additions to. The bullpen was exposed this season because the starters rarely went deep into games, but nonetheless it was an extreme weak point. The No. 1 question is who will be the closer? Bobby Parnell showed flashes, but was inconsistent; he had six saves and six blown saves, yet still possesses the best stuff of anyone in the 'pen. In relief, New York sported an unimpressive 4.33 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. Their best reliever was Taylor Buchholz, who had his season cut short after 26 innings because of depression. Francisco Rodriguez -- traded to Milwaukee midseason -- was their second-best, and even Manny Acosta was better than expected, finishing with a 3.45 ERA in 47 innings. This will be an area will Alderson will prioritize, yet he will not be pigeon-holed into taking the ill-fated long-term deal. http://newyork.sbnation.com/new-york-mets/2011/10/25/2512284/new-york-mets-offseason-jose-reyes-sandy-alderson
No one thought it would be this bad. Sure, everyone everyone hated the Jason Bay contract for various reasons but a 100 OPS+ and 18 home runs in his first two seasons as a Met? Only the most pessimistic anti-Canadians among us could have predicted it. Whenever Bay is in the batter's box, all I see is a giant Publisher's Clearing House-type check for $16 million. And this is what a trip to Bay's Baseball-Reference page feels like. Bay's season had a "one step forward, three steps back" feel to it. Every time he strung together a few good games after weeks of suckage, the fanbase always seemed to respond with hopeful "maybe he's figuring it out?" sentiments. And without fail, he would immediately slide into a 4-for-30 funk. Bay finished with a strong September (.313/.392/.563) so maybe he's figuring it out? Doubtful, but he's still not completely ancient at 33 years-old so perhaps he can rebound. More time removed from the concussion he sustained in 2009 is also reason for modest optimism. Even an OPS of .800 would be welcome at this point. - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/10/25/2494933/2011-postmortem-left-field
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