10/23/11

Cutnpaste: - Manny Acosta, Mets-St. Lous WS, Mets-Yanks ST Games, Walls, Field Changes


From July onward, Acosta owned a 2.11 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 3.41 K/BB. The reliever also earned seven save opportunities, and converted four of them. On the season, Acosta hurled a 3.45 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and 3.07 K/BB. On the surface, the righty’s 2011 was inferior to his 2010 production, but in many ways, his 2011 was more consistent and actually showed important growth. The 30 year-old dipped a bit in the strikeout department (from 9.53 K/9 to 8.81 K/9), but sacrificed some sitdowns for walks (from 4.08 BB/9 to 2.87 BB/9). In addition, while Acosta was supported by an unsustainable .280 BABIP in 2010, his .326 BABIP in 2011 was working against him (thus the spike from 6.8 Hits/9 to 9.6 Hits/9). And as beautiful as his 2.95 ERA was last season, his 3.52 xFIP correctly suggested a more human projection–which was true given Acosta’s 3.45 ERA in 2011. But unlike 2010, Acosta’s 3.60 xFIP in 2011 fully legitimized his surface statistics. - http://risingapple.com/2011/10/20/2011-season-in-review-manny-acosta

St. Louis has almost totally rebuilt its roster with just Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Chris Carpenter remaining from the 2006 champs (Adam Wainwright missed this season after Tommy John surgery). The Mets, meanwhile, have just Reyes and Wright left from that 97-win team; and face an offseason in which they must decide whether to keep going forward with that duo. I spoke to five Mets executives and the sense I got was they believe Reyes will sign elsewhere and -- at the least -- they will be open-minded when teams inquire onWright - http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/out_of_their_league_sPwuHFy9bpaNPhhqOdiAzI#ixzz1bPfhSomF

The Mets and Yankees are tentatively planning to play two exhibition games against each other toward the end of spring training next year, according to two baseball officials familiar with the schedule. Under the plan being discussed, the teams would play one game at the Mets' spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and the other game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. They would mark the first spring training games between the New York teams since 1996. The teams used to play each other regularly in the spring, with the Yankees winning 45 of 87 games all-time. But when the Yankees moved their spring training base from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa in 1996, the travel became inconvenient. And after the start of the Subway Series in 1997, the novelty wore off. – www.wsj.org

I’m not saying that the Mets aren’t hitting the ball (they are), but they’ve resorted to playing small ball, hitting doubles, getting gritty. I personally like the gritty Mets better than the guys that hit home runs all the time. Evantually, it’s like, “Look at that, he hit another one.” It’s tough to expect powerful run production from rookies like Lucas Duda, Justin Turner, etc. It shouldn’t matter how we get the run, as long as we get the run. While I think bringing in the fences will quiet down the Mets Blogosphere, it can only do so much to help them win games.  http://itsallmetstome.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/will-bringing-in-the-walls-help

The raised 16-foot wall in left field is expected to be chopped down to a more reasonable eight feet and the 415-foot graveyard in right-center field is expected to be moved in 25 feet to leave the new depth 390 feet from home plate. Additionally, the Mets will get rid of the quirky Mo's Zone nook in the right-field corner by moving the fencing closer. The move comes after three seasons of debate about how the park's cavernous dimensions affected the team's power hitters. While there's no way of knowing how much truth there is to the popular theory that the home-runs-turned-flyouts were psychologically damaging to Jason Bay and David Wright, the park did yield the third-lowest home-run rate in the National League last year at 1.33 home runs per game. http://newyork.sbnation.com/2011/10/21/2505842/new-york-mets-new-dimensions-fences-move-Citi-Field

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