Tom Seaver Fan Club

Last week, Omar Minaya made appearances on two talk radio shows so he could defend himself against the allegations that he was “Latinizing” the Mets with his recent signings.  Fortunately, several owners came to his defense and discussed how absurd those allegations are.

Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez were all excellent pickups.  You’re talking about three of the best players at their position in the entire league.  And they also happen to be Latin players.  Minaya is trying to improve the Mets to the best of his ability and over the last two years, he’s done an outstanding job.  The Mets, at least on paper, are the team to beat in the NL East and in my (biased) opinion, they’re the favorites in the National League to play in the World Series.  He should be commended, not criticized.

Mike Piazza signed a one year deal with the San Diego Padres.  He’ll be making $2 million, and there’s a mutual option for 2007 for $8 million.  The Padres needed a catcher, and Piazza was the best one around so it was a logical choice.

It’ll be interesting to see how Piazza handles Petco Park.  Piazza had some great seasons for the Mets, but he had his worst OPS in a full season ever.  He’s also been on the DL for extended periods of the time in each of the past three years.

I think Piazza is better then Lo Duca, but Lo Duca might be the safer choice with Piazza apparantly on the decline.

The Mets signed Jorge Julio, the newly acquired relief pitcher, to a one year, $2.525 million dollar deal that allows both sides to avoid arbitration.  I’m still a little skeptical about the trade, but that’s water under the bridge.  The two sides pretty much split their arbitration figures down the middle.  Julio was asking for $2.8 million and the Mets were looking for $2.3 million.

Interesting move.  I didn’t know that Aaron Heilman wanted back into the rotation, so my initial thoughts from yesterday didn’t take that into account.  With that, I still think we’re giving up quite a bit here.  Kris Benson had a good but not great season, but these figures are clouded by a rough second half.  In his first 100 innings or so, Benson hovered around the 3.20 ERA mark and it wasn’t until after a rough August and September that his ERA jumped over 4.00.

With that, the Mets now have one of the most explosive relief duos in the majors.  Jorge Julio was tenth in the American League with 323 pitches above 95 mph, and a lot of the guys in front of him were starters.  Billy Wagner led the National League with 18 pitches above 100 mph, so the Mets will be bringing some heat into the game after the seventh inning.

Heilman started the season in the rotation, then was relegated to the pen around the same time Kris Benson came back from the DL.  He finished the season as a closer and threw very well, ending the season with 106 strikeouts in 108 innings.

I’m also glad we got something else, but John Maine is hardly impressive.  He was hit hard after being called up to the big league club in August to the tune of a 6.30 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP.  Command was definitely an issue as he walked 24 in 40 innings while striking out 24.  In last years Baseball Prospect Book, John Sickels gave him a B- rating, which isn’t bad, but not great.  He’ll turn 25 in May and he’ll probably be a spot starter/long reliever.

According to Lee Sinins’ ATM Reports, the Mets are involved in a trade rumor.  We would be sending Kris Benson to the Orioles for Jorge Julio.  I hope this doesn’t happen.  Benson had a solid year last season, and I think we’ve done enough to short up the bullpen.  Julio’s a hard thrower and would make a nice setup man, but not at the expense of a quality starter.

It almost seems like a trade because Kaz Isii just announced that he was going back to Japan, but the Mets signed Yusaku Iriki to a one year deal.  Iriki will mostly be used as a long reliever, but he started 20 games last year, so a spot start here and there isn’t out of the question.  Durability is a question mark thought as Iriki missed a lot of time in both 2003 and 2004 because of hamstring problems.

This is old news, but the Mets signed backup catcher Ramon Castro to a one year contract. Castro looked pretty good in an extended stint last year when Mike Piazza went down. He hit only .244 but he had eight homeruns and he was pretty good behind the plate (three fielding runs above average).

Castro will be backing up the newly acquired Paul Lo Duca.

That leaves Chris Woodward and Victor Zambrano who haven’t been signed yet and both filed for arbitration this past week.

The Mets came to terms with their first round draft pick last week. Mike Pelfrey signed a four year deal, which includes a $3.5 million signing bonus. If he makes the big league squad, higher salaries will kick in, but no details were provided.

Pelfrey is a highly touted prospect. If you preordered John Sickel’s Baseball Prospect Book, he sent you a list of the top 50 pitching prospects (as well as the top 50 position players). While it wouldn’t be fair to give his exact position, he is in the top 20. I expect to see him get a cup of coffee this September and then maybe make the big league team mid year 2007.

ESPN.com has posted projected starting lineups for all of the teams. While none of this is really a surprise, the Mets lineup is looking good. Here’s what I expect the batting order to look like

1) Jose Reyes SS
2) Kaz Matsui 2b
3) Carlos Beltran CF
4) Carlos Delgado 1b
5) Cliff Floyd LF
6) David Wright 3b
7) Paul Lo Duca C
Victor Diaz/Xavier Nady RF

It would still be nice if the Mets could somehow land Manny Ramirez and it would be equally good to see Willie Randolph go unconventional and hit Carlos Beltran in the number two spot. As always, wait and see.

The Mets signed Bret Boone to a minor league contract today. After a career year in 2001 and a great season in 2003, Boone has been on the decline and hit rock bottom last year. The Mariners released him and while he was picked up by the Twins, he didn’t last too long there either. It’ll be interesting to see if the 36 year old four time gold glove second baseman has anything left in the tank. Kaz Matsui has hardly been stellar, so I have a feeling this spring training will include a good old fashioned position battle to see who ends up the starting second baseman.

The Mets also dealt Jae Seo and Tim Hamulack to the Dodgers for Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll. Seo was solid in twelve starts for the Mets last year so it’s a questionable move. Adding Sanchez to the pen pretty much makes the Mets four deep and makes it rock solid so the logic may have been that Seo had a career year and it was time to get something while the gettings good.

Now, we just need to complete the deal for Manny Ramirez and then throw a bunch of money at Roger Clemens. A guy can wish.

It’s hard to call any season that Tom Seaver has an off season, especially one in which he wins 21 games, but 1972 might have been it. Seaver put up some decent numbers, like the 21 wins and the 249 strikeouts in 262 innings, but he also allowed 10.20 baserunners per nine innings and he lost 12 games. On a support neutral basis, Tom Seaver would have been an unimpressive (for him) 18-15.

The Mets had their fourth winning season in a row but they fell well short of winning their division. The Pittsburgh Pirates dominated the National League East with a 96-59 record in the strike shortened season and the Mets finished 13 1/3 games off the mark despite finishing 10 games above .500. Ironically, they’d win the division the next year despite having one less win.

Despite the down season, Seaver did have some great moments during the season. Pitching in the front end of an Independence Day double header, Seaver pitched a one hit shutout in which he struck out 11 and walked walked four. That one hit didn’t come until one out in the top of the ninth. On September 20, he gave up one run on five hits, but he struck out a season high fifteen batters. Nine days later, on September 29, he threw a two hitter in which he struck out thirteen.

Here’s the numbers….

Wins 21
Losses 12
Games 35
Games Started 35
Complete Games 13
Innings Pitched 262
Hits 215
Runs 92
Earned Runs 85
Walks 77
Strikeouts 249
ERA 2.92
Runs Saved Above Average 10
Shutouts 3
H/9 7.39
BR/9 10.20
SO/9 8.55
BB/9 2.65
SO/BB 3.23
Neutral Wins 18
Neutral Losses 15