213 Miles From Shea

The 2013 World Baseball Classic is quickly approaching and rosters are starting to leak and uniforms are starting to be sold. As pictures go online for a team’s full uniform set, we’ll cover it here. First up on our journey is Puerto Rico:

(Home)

(Away)

The hat is similar to what we have seen in year’s past, so is the country script on the uniforms. The main difference this year, as it is for all the teams, is the BP template and two tone nature.

One complaint you’ll see me make a lot as we go through the uniforms is the home whites with the two tone nature make a lot of jerseys look and feel the same if they have the same under arm coloring. However, a complement you’ll see me make a lot is the two tone nature of the jerseys looks nice on the color away’s. Both statements hold true here.

After the last post that had a picture of Joe Torre wearing what looks to be a new jersey for team USA, Dan, a writer for myKBO, a Korean Baseball Website sent me the following picture over twitter with the USA jerseys:

His sources are here and here.

Now that’s much better. I would personally like the white jersey better with the two tone BP look, mainly because I’m not a fan of the two tone BP look especially on jerseys where white is the base color. I actually don’t mind the two tone look on the Navy USA jersey, it gives it a little spunk.

Also that 2013 WBC patch looks great on white jerseys, not so much on color uniforms.

We’ve seen a few 2013 World Baseball Classic Uniforms in the early rounds of the tournament but the big teams, like the United States, haven’t played yet nor have they sold their uniforms.

I was assuming that their uniforms would look similar to last time, just like how this banner ad for David Wright shows:

However earlier today I saw a banner ad for Joe Torre as the team manager wearing a USA Jersey that is similar to the BP Jersey template used for the last couple of seasons:

Interesting. I’ve been looking for other pictures of the uniform but this is the only one I can find. Was this an soft revealing?

Every year I’m shocked with how much money teams spend in the off season for players to improve their team. Almost every time there is a big player who signs a big contract the analysis is the same:

“This will help the team in the short term, but hurt them in the long term”

Let’s see how true that is. The list below is comprised of players who signed in 2012 with a big contract, and how their team ended up:

– Heath Bell, 27 Million, Marlins – 5th Place NL East
– Carlos Beltran, 26 Million, Cardinals – Wild Card Winner, Lost in NLCS
– Mark Buehrle, 58 Million, Marlins – 5th Place NL East
– Prince Fielder, 214 Million, Tigers – Division Champion, AL Pennant
– David Ortiz, 15 Million, Red Sox – 5th Place AL East
– Papelbon, 50 Million, Phillies – 3rd Place NL East
– Albert Pujols, 247 Million, Angels – 3rd Place AL West
– Aramis Ramirez, 36 Million, Brewers – 3rd Place NL Central
– Jose Reyes, 106 Million, Marlins – 5th Place NL East
– Rollins, 38 Million, Phillies – 3rd Place NL East
– CC Sabathia, 122 Million, Yankees – Division Champion, Lost ALCS
– CJ Wilson, 78 Million, Angels – 3rd Place AL West

It’s hard from the above to make any form of conclusion from the above list mainly because of the quote above about short term vs long term. So let’s expand it 2011 Off Season teams spending money:

– Adrian Beltre, 80 Million, Rangers – Division Champion (11), AL Pennant (11), Wild Card Champion (12)
– Carl Crawford, 142 Million, Red Sox – 3rd Place AL East (11), 5th Place AL East (12), Traded Mid Season (12)
– Adam Dunn, 56 Million, White Sox – 3rd Place AL Central (11), 2nd Place AL Central (12)
– Derek Jeter, 51 Million, Yankees, Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12)
– Paul Konerko, 38 Million, White Sox, 3rd Place AL Central (11), 2nd Place AL Central (12)
– Cliff Lee, 120 Million, Phillies, Division Champions (11), 3rd Place NL East (12)
– Victor Martinez, 40 Million, Tigers – Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12), AL Pennant (12)
– Mariano Rivera, 30 Million, Yankees – Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12)
– Rafael Soriano, 35 Million, Yankees – Division Champions (11), Division Champions (12)
– Jason Werth, 126 Million, Nationals – 3rd Place NL East (11), Division Champions (12)
– Ted Lilly, 33 Million, Dodgers – 3rd Place NL West (11), 2nd Place NL West (12)

From this list, only the Red Sox, White Sox and Dodgers were teams that spent a lot of money to bring in a large contract, and then not make the playoffs for two years. So it looks like in a 2 year retrospective, spending money on large contracts does make a difference about short term chances of making the playoffs, which isn’t too surprising. Now let’s look at the 2013 contracts:

– Zach Greinke, 147 Million, Dodgers
– Josh Hamilton, 125 Million, Angels
– Edwin Jackson, 52 Million, Cubs
– Mike Napoli, 39 Million, Red Sox
– Angel Pagan, 40 Million, Giants
– Anibal Sanchez, 80 Million, Tigers
– Nick Swisher, 56 Million, Indians
– B.J. Upton, 75 Million, Braves
– Shane Victorino, 39 Million, Red Sox

Now of course all of these lists do not include extensions. Looking at the three lists, there really isn’t too much of a difference of money spent (minus the two mega contracts last year) but the real difference is the quality of player. Last year there were some real high quality free agents, this year’s free agents not so much. The market adjusted and you now have players taking home contracts and years guaranteed way above what they would have in other markets.

Just some food for thought.

I collect lapel pins. Lapel pins always strike me as this interesting mix of a consumption culture obsessed with the sports spectacle looking to make collectible memories tangible in a simultaneously authentic and inauthentic way.

But that’s a conversation for another day. One pin I picked up in 2004 has silhouette of both Jose Reyes and David Wright with the script, “The Future”.

Back in 2003 Jose Reyes broke into the majors. The following year David Wright broke in. Things were looking up for the Mets. 2006 Wright and Reyes help carried the Mets to the playoffs. Reyes became the spark plug of the lineup that the National TV announcers made sure to state that about 4.52 times per Reyes AB. Reyes went on to become a major story line in the 2011 season ending it with a batting title…then a trip down to South Beach and now Toronto.

Wright on that pin became the future of the franchise. He’s now the present. He’s the de facto captain of the team. David is the source of hope, a strong player at his position and a now a generational figure.

The new future of the Mets is starting to bring some deja vu in terms of prospect hope coming up to the majors. After Wright and Reyes, the Mets farm system hype machine went into full gear with players like Milledge, Fernando Martinez, etc. There’s something different this time around. Harvey, Wheeler and d’Arnaud all feel like they’re real deal. The hype is different. I think it’s because the hype about these players are coming from outside sources, not just people inside the organization.

Harvey broke in first. Wheeler and d’Arnaud are coming in this year. Harvey was a source of hope for 2012. The only positive prospect for 2013 are these three players growing in a meaningful way.

I expect 2013 to feel a lot like 2004, not 2003. In 2003 it wasn’t obvious if the Mets have a direction. Although the Mets have done some contradictory moves over the last couple of seasons, they have a direction in 2013, making it feel like 2004. Remember in 2005 was when the Mets finally made some splashes in the market and those splashes combined with the young talent led to 2006. I sincerely hope that is where 2013 is going.

It’s the new future with the New York Mets.

Uni Watch Blog, specifically Paul Lukas, posted a link to his column at ESPN today that goes over every new BP hat, all 36 of them. Go read his column and come back.

You back yet?

Yes? Awesome.

I agree almost completely with his analysis. First off, these designs are so much better than the BP hats of the 2000’s that had those odd lines and loops and stretch material to make that hat more breathable or something. The end result was a hat that looked awful if you didn’t curl the brim and wear it forward, and it still looked pretty bad if you did that.

The new Mets hat is awesome. I love the mix match brim to top with Mr. Met as a logo. Perfect.

The Astros are donning my second favorite hat, mainly because I love when teams try to incorporate several types of history in the same hat. The Astros have their new/old H in star logo, and it is circled with a tequila sunrise.

The only hat that is terrible, and I mean terrrrrible, is the Atlanta Braves hat. Over the last several years, the Braves have done a good job of suppressing their racist logo history past. Than this hat happened. I’m not even going to link to it, you can view it above in the column. It’s the old Braves logo. Whenever I think about the Braves, Indians or Washington Redskins, among other teams, I think back to this political comic. At some point as a country we will need to overturn this notion of tradition for sensibility.

The Mets have not added a starting OF yet this off-season, unless you count Collin Cowgill, and with options dwindling, it looks like the Mets will have to look inwards for a lead off hitter, especially if the Mets bring in an OF that is a slugger not an on-baser. That means the Mets realistic options for lead off hitters for 2013 are:

– Ruben Tejada
– Kirk Nieuwenhuis
– Collin Cowgill
– Matt Den Dekker
– Jordany Valdespin

Tejada should really hit second. It’s not only where his game is his strongest, it seems to be where he is the most confident. Showing this statistically is interesting. Last year he hit .293 batting first in the lineup and he hist .292 batting second. His OBP batting leadoff was .334, his OBP batting second was .333. His SLG batting leadoff was .358, .333 batting second. So, it looks like from that perspective Tejada should bat leadoff, or that there isn’t a difference. However, when Tejada leads off a game (his first AB as the leadoff hitter), he hit .243 last season. He hits .303 when he leads off an inning. His OBP split is .282/.336 in favor of leading off an inning. Also in his career he has a .328 OBP batting lead off vs a .338 OBP batting second.

The same reason a lot of people discount Jordany Valdespin on the major roster, he didn’t prove himself last year, could really be applied to Kirk Nieuwenhuis as well.

I would have never really considered Valdespin to lead off if I didn’t see his Winter Numbers so far:

93 AB’s,  16 R, 26 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 2 SB, 18 BB, .280 BA, .402 OBP, .800 OPS

Last year in the minors Jordany had 10 BB’s over 151 AB’s. Last year in the majors Jordany had 10 BB’s over 191 AB’s. Taking his small sample size from this winter, if he played the full 151+191 AB’s, he would have 66 BB’s instead of 20. That’s a large difference. That shows that he is developing the patience part of his game.

And for a comparison, these were his Winter Numbers in 2011:

107 AB’s, 11 R, 27 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, 0 HR, 10 SB, 7 BB, .252 BA, .304 OBP, .641 OPS

I recognize trepidation using Winter Numbers to project a player’s caliber, but comparing winter numbers to winter numbers is at least a statistical way of showing improvement, and Valdespin looks like a much better winter player in 2012 then he did in 2011.

Jordany’s impatience at the plate really held him back, however if he continues this winter show patience, getting on base, etc and continues that through the Spring, he has to be considered for the Major League Roster! Right now the OF is Duda/Kirk/(Baxter/Cowgill).

Compared to Kirk, Jordany’s walk rate last year was just 3% worse. They both stunk at getting on base. Kirk had moderate success last year batting lead off with a .303 OBP. However his OBP batting second was considerably higher at .351. Kirk also lacks that spunk/spark faster at the top of the lineup. I guess I still compare all lead off hitters to Reyes but I feel like Valdespin has more of a chance of doing something exciting leading off a game than Kirk only because of Valdespin’s streak of hitting pinch hit homers.

If the Mets are looking towards 2014 and 2015, then in 2013 they need to take a look at what they have. Valdespin has made an effort to up his walk game, and he should be given a chance to lead off. For Center and Left field, there should be an open competition between Kirk, Valdespin and Den Dekker. Den Dekker, if we really are taking stock in the future, should be on deck in May if Kirk or Valdespin don’t work out.

In short:
– The Mets don’t have a lead off hitter
– The Mets are really lacking in the OF this year
– The Mets are not spending money on an OF this year
– Valdespin has made improvements to his walk game this offseason
– Valdespin should be given a chance to lead off

(tl;dr version: If you followed the story all day yesterday, there is nothing really new this morning except a bunch of people reporting that trades like this take time)

The Dickey to Toronto trade is almost completed, but has been imminent for at least a day now.

Yesterday afternoon, at around 3:00, the magnitude of the trade was revealed, and the delay in the trade made a lot more sense. As of right now:

Toronto Gets:
– Dickey
– Thole
– Additional Prospect

New York Gets:
– d’Arnaud
– Syndergaard
– Buck
– Additional Prospect

In order to make this trade work, Toronto wants to sign Dickey to a two year extension. Also, medical reports for all of the players involved need to be signed. Let’s be conservative and say that Toronto gets 48 hours to negotiate with Dickey. All of these are reasons why this process could get held up.

For the Mets, this is huge. For two years now we’ve been talking about rebuilding, but last year we didn’t take it seriously. The only rebuilding item we did was letting Reyes walk. 2o11 was the last major rebuilding piece by acquiring Wheeler from the Giants. If the Dickey trade goes through, then the Mets have greatly improved their farm system. This upcoming year will be the first time in a while the Mets have several young players that across the league are regarded as fantastic young players:

– Harvey
– Wheeler
– d’Arnaud
– Syndergaard
– Cecchini
– Nimmo
– Flores

The real story here is that Sandy Alerson, even though we have criticized him a lot recently, myself included, has acquired a top pitching prospect (Wheeler) and hitting prospect (d’Arnaud).  Last year I was excited about 2013, but for no reason when it came to the lineup, it was a self-delusion excitement. Now there is legitimate excitement for 2014. Also this means that the Mets will have Niese/Wheeler/Harvey/Syndegaard in a rotation by 2015, with Mejia/Familia in the pen or as replacements in the rotation if things go wrong.

I love Dickey as a player and what he did for the Mets last year, he was the reason to watch games, but it is hard not to get excited about this trade.

The Mets and Blue Jays quickly moved toward a trade yesterday. A trade isn’t official yet, however news from Jon Heyman is that players in the deal have been agreed on, just no news yet of who is involved. At this point it looks like it is medical reviews that are left, possibly extension talks with Dickey. The Other surprising news from last night is the move might require multiple players moving both directions.

The players on the Toronto side looks like Gose and one of JP or D’Arnaud. Obviously, the Mets want D’Arnaud and if JP/Gose would have had the deal done, the deal would probably have been completed a while ago. Travis D’Arnaud is the impact player the Mets could be looking for. In the minors D’Arnaud has put up the following numbers (also I’m not sure but I think the spelling is d’Arnaud):

2012 (AAA): 279 AB, 45 R, 93 H, 21 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR, 52 RBI’s, .333 BA
2011 (AA): 424 AB, 72 R, 132 H, 33 2B, 3B, 21 HR, 78 RBI’s, .311 BA

It is also very entertaining that if D’Arnaud is traded to the Mets, he will be going back to Vegas with the Mets and Blue Jays swap of facilities.

Personally, if D’Arnaud is in this deal, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. If JP is the catcher involved, I’m not as inclined.