The Farce is Strong with Billy Wagner
Ohh, they have done it now. Due to the performances of Oliver Perez, Carlos Beltran, and Fernando Tatis, this post won't be entirely dedicated to ranting about the mess that is Billy Wagner. There goes the well developed, Star Wars-themed entry I had planned to run that would have let me pull out a line about knowing who Pedro Martinez' father, er daddy, is (answer: just about everyone right now). So thanks a lot Mets, you screw me over even when you win.
It's too early to throw confetti, but it should be noted that Ollie overcame some seriously crappy defense (Marlon Anderson calling off Beltran so that Marlon can wave his glove at the ball, Delgado ruining Ollie's pick off play, etc.) and other stuff that would normally have thrown him off his rocker and hung in there pretty good. Now that the bullpen has roles, we can clearly see how each of them are doing in their new positions, and it ain't pretty. Anyhow, I'm still convinced that, after staring into the abyss that is Ollie's overall performance (from erratic to shellshocked) the Mets GM (whoever that turns out to be) will not be meeting Scott Boras' demands and Ollie will go on to frustrate some other franchise. Which makes his recent performances tragic. Which, in turn, makes Ollie's recent sucesses make sense, since we will be tortured either way. Or maybe it's just the new facial hair.
One things certain, if the Mets ever need someone to stand in front of their locker, they have their guy in Billy Wagner. However if they need someone to come up big in the very situations he is paid millions to do so in, they might want to look elsewhere. Statistically, yes he’s a good closer and yes, the Mets could do worse. But the “BLOWN FARCE” is strong in this one.
Thinking about other team’s strategy sessions before facing the Mets. “ Look at those Mets, aren’t they adorable how they put all those base runners on? It’s cute how they leave them there without scoring any runs."
When I got an email from the Mets yesterday, asking for my help "Get David Wright to the all star game" my first thought was "what, can't he afford his own ticket?" Sorry David and Jose, it looks like Mets fans are not going to stuff the ballot box in your honor if you don't perform at a level that moves us to something other than disgust.
Labels: photofun, use the farce
posted by I.M. Forme @ 10:39 AM
2 Comments:
At 10:42 PM,
Vain Saints said…
The entire difference between Wright' MVP caliber '07 season and this year's pace is about 15 singles last year turned into outs this year--all against right-handed breaking balls, but whatever. All of his other rates--save stolen bases--are astoundingly similar. As his consistency has been aptly described by Tim Marchman as "freakish", it's a pretty safe bet that he'll up his average to his career norm of about .310. He's already raised it about 16 points just in these last 2 weeks--from .272 on June 23 to .288 today.
My point is we've been through this before with DW. He's earned some cred with his fans by now.
(BTW talking about freakish consistency)
Wright:7/6/2007=.288/.372/.500/16HR
Wright:7/7/2008=.288/.382/.501/17HR
And Reyes is on pace to put up an OPS+ this year higher than Rollins' last year. Rollins, BTW, was MLB's disgusting MVP last year. Reyes has been putting up a raw OPS of .900+ since May.
(I think I'm going to be sick!)
Wright and Reyes should have been locks to the All-Star game this year without question. Considering how bad this team is at essential positions, 2b, c, LF, RF(minus Church), closer, (I'm sorry, but to hell with Wagner already; stats be damned) and 1B (ESPECIALLY against lefties) it's a marvel that Reyes, Wright, and Beltran alone have been able to take them as far as they've gone.
And yes, my take on Wagner is a bit inconsistent with the rest of my approach, but if you can't hate on Wagner, whom can you hate on? He is Armando Benitez Redux (people forget how dominant Benitez could be in meaningless games). Trade this dude to some incompetent GM who still buys into the myth of the coser before it's too late!
At 1:45 AM,
I.M. Forme said…
Fair enough--hopefully folks will click the comments and read your analysis, since it amounts to an entire well-thought out post, even if it contradicts much of mine.
Points well taken about Wright's stunning statistical sameness. I guess I am greedy and want improvement on Wright's part. My gripe is that this is Golden Boy, Prof.Reyes and Buntran's team, and it is a loser. Watching many many games has left me with the impression that in much of the first half, the teams' stars are not starring, not stepping up to win games when the opportunity arises. Some people like to use the word "clutch" but that isn't exactly what I see. I have seen too many times when these 3 guys fail to put the team on their backs--their collective defensive and mental errors have also pissed me off.
Wright's not making the all star game has a lot to do with a certain redneck hitting damn near .400 towards the end of an underappreciated career. But i bet it also has to do with many many mets fans deciding they won't bother to vote for the Mets stars, since they don't feel the team has earned it. Can so many people be wrong? Probably.Same goes for Reyes, and the tantrums and mental blunders probably didn't help.
I'm with you on Wagner, as the fact that I spent my morning photoshopping him into the cannon(squint so you can fully appreciate it) attests. He is now officially deserving of a position on the Mt Rushmore of Mets small game closers.
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