Tuesday, July 10, 2012

New York Mets First Half Recap

With the All Star Break upon us in Major League Baseball, I figured now was as good a time as any to take a look back at the excitement of the first half of the 2012 season for the New York Mets. As it sits right now the Mets are in the middle of the pack in the National League East. Currently they sit 3rd in the division with a record of 46-40 which leaves them 4.5 games out of first place. They trail only the Braves and Nationals in the East. As for their chances in the wild card, they sit in the 4th spot for the NL Wild Card, a half game out. Now with the rule change baseball made over the winter each league now gets two wild card spots. The top two wild card spots in the NL are currently being held by the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves. The Mets are tied with the San Fransisco Giants at 46-40 a half game out of the wild card spots with plenty of baseball left to be played. So things are shaping up to be very interesting in the 2nd half of the season. but we will touch on that a little later. First things first lets look at some of the high points from a very exciting 1st half so far for the Mets.

 The biggest positive highlight from the first half of the year came on June 1st when Johan Santana pitched the first ever no-hitter in the history of the franchise, in an 8-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. It marked only the eighth no-hitter in MLB history against a defending World Series champion team, the first since former Met Nolan Ryan blanked the Oakland Athletics in their 1990 pennant season. Santana walked five batters, recorded eight strikeouts, and lowered his season ERA to 2.38. He also threw a career-high 134 pitches, and earned the new nickname "No-han". Notable moments in the game included a liner in the sixth inning by former Met Carlos Beltran, which hit the foul line behind third base but was ruled foul. In the seventh inning, Mike Baxter made a difficult catch in left field, preserving the no-hitter, and then violently crashed into the wall. He left the game with a bruised left shoulder and was subsequently placed on the DL. For throwing the no-hitter, Santana was named National League Player of the Week for the week ending June 3, 2012 It was his fifth such award and followed his teammate R.A. Dickey who won it the prior week. His pitching feat earned him the Key to the City, which was bestowed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Baxter made a great catch in that ball game, but sadly when making the catch, hurt his shoulder and hasn't played since, spending time on the DL with that injury. But the catch and Beltran's foul ball in the 6th were the highlights of the game aside from the accomplishment itself. Now that Santana has thrown the no-hitter it leaves only the San Diego Padres as the only franchise in baseball to have never thrown a no-hitter.

The Mets also made noise with another interesting statistical first during the first half of the season. On June 27th, the Mets became the first team in major league baseball to hit a home run cycle, against the Chicago Cubs. Daniel Murphy began by hitting a 2-run home run to knock in himself and runner Ike Davis in the 4th inning, which was his first home run in 352 at-bats. Then in the 5th inning Ike Davis hit a 3-run home run with David Wright and Lucas Duda on base. Later in the inning, Daniel Murphy hit a solo shot in his next plate appearance off of Casey Coleman, who replace starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija. The Mets led the Cubs 10-1 after the end of the 5th. During the 6th inning, Scott Hairston, who was typically a utility outfielder throughout the first half of the season, hit the cycle ending grand slam off of relief pitcher Casey Coleman, scoring himself, Ruben Tejada, David Wright, and Lucas Duda. The game ended in the Mets favor 17-1.

Not Only did the Mets hit for the Home Run Cycle against the Cubs but Scott Hairston hit for the Traditional Cycle on April 27th in Denver against the Colorado Rockies. He singled in the 2nd, homered in the 4th, hit the triple in the 5th and doubled in the 6th to complete the cycle. Sadly it wasn't enough of an offensive punch on this day as the Rockies went on to win the ball game 18-9. There have been plenty of other bright spots during this season for this Mets team, including a few heroic walk off wins. The Mets had four walk-off victories in the first half, none as exciting as their 6-5 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 5. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, David Wright delivered a bloop single off Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon to plate the winning run. Wright, who belted a two-run home run earlier in the game, finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs. That was actually the 2nd time this year that Papelbon has given up a huge hit to the Mets late in a ball game this season. Jordany Valdespin dialed up a pinch-hit, three-run home run off Papelbon in the top of the ninth inning, as the New York Mets stunned the Phillies, 5-2, on May 7. It was the first career hit for Valdespin, who had just been recalled from the minors to replace Ruben Tejada.

So as you can see the Mets have had some good days at the plate with late game heroics. David Wright has been leading the offensive charge this season, hitting .351. Wright also leads the team in RBI's with 59 and is second on the club in home runs with 11. There is a three way tie for the team lead in homers between Scott Hairston, Ike Davis, and Lucas Duda who all have 12. As a team, the Mets are tied for 23rd in the Majors with the mariners and Twins for total home runs hit at 73, but their 8th in the league in runs scored with 379. As a team the Mets are hitting .259 which is good for 14th in the Majors. The problem for the Mets hasn't been the offense, we all know they can score. What has been causing the Mets some trouble this year has been the spotty defense and below standard bullpen.

In the field, the Mets are ranked 26th in baseball in fielding percentage at .980. That's not bad but yet its near the bottom in baseball. The Mets have committed 63 errors which is the 6th most in baseball. So for the Mets to be able to hold onto contention in the NL East and Wild Card Race, the defense has to improve a little. So too does the bullpen. As a team, the Mets ERA is 3.96 which is good for 15th best in baseball, so right in the middle of the pack. If anybody has really paid attention in the first half, you would have realized that there a number of games the team could have won had the bullpen not been so questionable. I'm sorry but if the Mets want to have any chance at making the playoffs this season the first major thing that needs correction is the bullpen.

Starting pitching on the other hand has been one of the bright spots this season for the team, especially the pitching of RA Dickey, but we will touch on that in a moment. Mike Pelfrey had been one of the guys the Mets were relying on from the start of the season to get good starts from but he injured his pitching elbow after 3 starts and will be out the rest of the season. So the team has used a mixed bag of pitchers to fill the 5th spot in the rotation, and now it looks like that job belongs to Chris Young. Young has put up respectable numbers in his six starts this season going 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA. Dillon Gee is the only Mets starter to this point who is under 500 on the season, sitting at 6-7 with an ERA of 4.01. The other starters have winning records. Jonathan Niese is 7-4 with a 3.74 ERA, Johan Santana is 6-5 with a 3.24 ERA, and of course the stud of the staff R.A. Dickey who is 12-1 with a 2.40 ERA. Dickey has been the real surprise of the club this season, throwing together a string of back to back one hitters earlier this season. This is the most wins Dickey has had ever in the Majors. His previous best year was in 2010 with the Mets when he went 11-9. So R.A has been a very nice surprise for the ball club this season and is making a case early for possible NL Cy Young award, but that's jumping the gun just a bit.

As for what the Mets have to look forward to in the 2nd half of the season it is going to be interesting. Of all the teams in the National League the Mets have played this year they have a losing record against only 5 of them: Washington, San Fransisco, Houston, Cincinnati, and Chicago. They are 500 or better against the rest of the league. Coming out of the all star break the Mets start a six game road trip, with three in Atlanta followed by three in Washington. The first home series for the team are three games series with Los Angeles and Washington. For the team, the remainder of July after the break is going to be a real test as they only play six home games the rest of the month, against the Dodgers and Nationals. They have to travel on the road for three in Atlanta, three in Washington, four in Arizona and the start of a four game trip to San Fransisco. So we will see in the coming weeks if the Mets really are going to be playoff contenders come October!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Wild Snag Top Two Free Agents in Parise and Suter

The Minnesota Wild were able to snag two of the most prized free agents in this off season, forward Zach Parise and Defenseman Ryan Suter. The following story comes to us from nhl.com. 

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter spent nearly 72 hours weighing lucrative offers from several NHL teams after the free agent market opened Sunday. For the Minnesota Wild, the payoff was worth the wait. 
Minnesota landed the top two players in the free agent Class of 2012, agreeing to 13-year contracts with both Parise and Suter on Wednesday morning -- making it a Fourth of July celebration for the ages in the State of Hockey and a monumental day in the history of the young franchise. 
Both deals are for 13 years and $98 million, which locks up each player through the 2024-25 season. Each carries a salary-cap hit of $7.538 million per season. 
"This is a great day in the history of the Minnesota Wild," general manager Chuck Fletcher said. "This is a huge commitment on [owner Craig Leopold's] part, on our organization's part. It took a lot of courage and commitment for all of us to go after these players. Minnesota landed the top two players in the free agent Class of 2012, agreeing to 13-year contracts with both Parise and Suter on Wednesday.  
"As for Ryan and Zach, we are extremely excited to add their skill, their experience and their character to what we feel is already a pretty promising roster." 
There were reports this week that Parise and Suter had talked to each other about possibly playing together, and the Wild became the beneficiaries as one of the few franchises that could afford both of them. 
Suter said it was late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning when the idea of both players signing with Minnesota started to look like a reality.
"Ryan and I have talked throughout the year," Parise said. "You always say to each other 'Wouldn't it be great to play with each other and to play on the same team.' Was it realistic all the time? I don't know. With different teams, you have to have the availability." 
Parise said, "I know how great a player Ryan is. I played with him on different teams at several tournaments. To have the opportunity to play with a guy of that caliber is a great opportunity. We kept in touch throughout this process. You have to do what is best for you. We decided that for both of us the best fit would be Minnesota and we are excited that it worked out." 
Parise was the Devils' captain this past season and played in New Jersey for his entire seven-year career after the Devils selected him in the first round of the 2003 NHL Draft. He has 194 goals and 216 assists for 410 points in 502 games. 
He had 31 goals and 38 assists for 69 points in 82 games this past season and helped the Devils reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2003. Parise confirmed that had he not chosen the Wild, he would have stayed with the Devils. 
"There is no question we're disappointed," Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said. "It's a very unfortunate thing when you have a player of his stature that has come right through the ranks and, at this given time, a decision is made to go elsewhere. Right now, there is nothing we can do about that and we'll just go forward. 
"Our offer was competitive and we did not at any time have a phone call that we needed to change it or it had to go up. So it was competitive." 
However, Parise couldn't resist the temptation to go home and play for the Wild. Not only is he from Minneapolis, his parents, including former NHL player J.P. Parise, still live there and Parise has a home in the Twin Cities area.
"It was a very big part of it," said Parise, who turns 28 later this month. "The opportunity to play at home meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to my family. My parents were so excited when they knew I was considering coming back home. They were very excited. When we made the decision, they were really excited. That played a big part in it. I grew up playing here and I love coming back in the summers. I just thought that we enjoy it here so much, it would be great to be here year round."
Parise played four seasons of high school hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. His father worked in the program when he was there. He went on to play two seasons at the University of North Dakota. "This is a great day in the history of the Minnesota Wild. This is a huge commitment on [owner Craig Leopold's] part, on our organization's part. It took a lot of courage and commitment for all of us to go after these players." -- Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher. 
The Wild need Parise to boost their offense. They were last in the NHL last season with 2.02 goals-per game and 27th on the power play at 15.1 percent. Parise has scored at least 30 goals in five of his six full seasons (he missed 69 games of the 2010-11 season with a knee injury). Parise scored 45 goals and put up 94 points in 2008-09.
Parise joins a forward group that already includes Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi and Matt Cullen. Mikael Granlund is considered one of Minnesota's top prospects and could make the team this coming season. 
Suter, meanwhile, becomes the bedrock of the Minnesota defense. 
He had seven goals and 46 points for the Nashville Predators this past season, forming arguably the League's top defensive pairing with Shea Weber and the backbone of a Stanley Cup contender along with goaltender Pekka Rinne. 
A Madison, Wis., native, Suter averaged 26:30 of ice time per game in 2011-12, a career-high and the third-most in the League. He will be 28 years old in January, and Suter has collected at least 37 points in each of the past four seasons. 
Suter joined the Predators at the start of the 2005-06 season and quickly developed into a franchise cornerstone. He has averaged at least 23:59 of ice time in each of the past four seasons. 
Suter said the call to Nashville GM David Poile on Wednesday was one of the toughest he's ever had to make. 
"Ryan has told me in every conversation that money was the not the most important criteria," Poile said in a conference call with reporters. "He told me today that our offer was substantial. He told me it was not about the money when it came to the final decision. As I said to him, and this was all the things that we had talked about, I said, 'I don't know why you are not signing with us,' and he told me it was for family reasons. I guess that is where the disappointment comes in. I know family is important in all this. I can't fight that or argue with that. The disappointing part is that is not what we talked about all year long. I think we met Ryan's desires and criteria on every front and so today is very, very disappointing."
Poile made three trades before the deadline in February, hoping to bolster the Predators for a Cup run and please Suter and Weber with the additions of Hal Gill, Andrei Kostitsyn and Paul Gaustad. He also welcomed back Alexander Radulov, who left the team despite being under contract to play at home in the Kontinental Hockey League before the 2008-09 season, near the end of the regular season. 
The Predators dispatched Detroit in the first round, but Radulov and Kostitsyn were suspended for a game in the second round for breaking curfew, and Nashville lost to Phoenix in five games.
"As far as the future, we have to move on," Poile said. "We would like to get a defenseman to replace Ryan and we could do that in many ways. It could come as a free agent and it could come as a trade. I want to get the right player and the right fit. Secondly, more importantly, our focus turns to our captain, Shea Weber. He's a player that we want to build our team around. He's at the top of his game and is a Norris Trophy finalist. He knows what we think of him and we want him to be in Nashville for years to come." 
Suter joins a Minnesota defense that has several young talents but lacked an anchor, a guy who can play more than 25 minutes and in all situations. Obviously, the Wild expect Suter to be that guy.
Minnesota welcomed the Wild into the NHL for the 2000-01 season, but in one day the 2012-13 edition has become the most talented roster in club history. 
The Wild have made the playoffs only three times and advanced past the first round once, but they could be among the top contenders in the Western Conference with the additions of Parise and Suter, as well as the arrival of a few elite prospects in the near future.

This is a huge signing for the Wild. Minnesota really needed the offensive punch that Parise will provide. The Wild last season scored only 166 goals, the lowest total in the NHL, and this is a surprise considering the fact that they have scoring talent in the likes of Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi and Matt Cullen. But none of those guys were able to hit the 30 goal mark last year, and the one who came closest was Heatley who had 24. The only other 20 goal scorer for the Wild last year was Kyle Brodziak who scored 22. Meanwhile Parise scored 31 goals and 69 points last year with the Devils, so his offensive numbers will be a major boost. As for the signing of Suter, this will be a bit more helpful to the Wild as they were in the middle of the pack with goals against. He isn't much of a scoring threat from the back end, that has been well documented, but he will be a big help in his own zone and help the Wild lower their goals against total for a long time coming.

Now as to the length of the contracts this is going to spark some debate. Both guys just signed deals for 13 years in length at a price tag of $98 million each. With those signings, the Wild have the 2nd highest team payroll in the NHL right behind the Boston Bruins. This signing also comes on the heels of two other large contract extensions going out this week. First was a 12 year extension worth $104.4 million to Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and the other a 10 year extension worth $58 million to LA Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. The length of the contract also brings to mind the 15 year deal signed by Rick DiPietro of the Islanders, and we all know that his contract hasn't panned out very well. That's the thing that bother's me about the length of contracts, is that there are no guarantees that the player you sign to the contract is going to be able to stay healthy and produce over the length of the contract. In my opinion there are only three guys in the HISTORY of the NHL that have EVER been worth a contract of ten years or more in length and they are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemiexu and Bobby Orr. The only other person besides those three who are even worth considering for a contract of that length is Gordie Howe. Now players can come and go and do as they please that is their business, but it could look really bad for the organization if the contract doesn't pan out as the players or the organization would have hoped.

(Authors Note: Story and photo provided by nhl.com and some stats on finances provided by capgeek.com)

Monday, July 2, 2012

2012 MLB All Star Game Rosters Announced!

With the 2012 edition of the Major League Baseball All Star Game just one week away, the rosters have been announced to the public. Here is what the rosters look like. First it's the American League:

Starters:
Catcher: Mike Napoli- Rangers
1st Base: Prince Fielder- Tigers
2nd Base: Robinson Cano- Yankees
3rd Base: Adrian Beltre- Rangers
Shortstop: Derek Jeter- Yankees
Outfielder: Jose Bautista- Blue Jays
Outfielder: Curtis Granderson- Yankees
Outfielder: Josh Hamilton- Rnagers
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz- Red Sox

Reserves:
Catcher: Joe Mauer- Twins
Catcher: Matt Wieters- Orioles
1st Base: Paul Konerko- White Sox
2nd Base: Ian Kinsler- Rangers
3rd Base: Miguel Cabrera- Tigers
Shortstop: Asdrubal Cabrera- Indians
Shortstop: Elvis Andrus- Rangers
Outfielder: Adam Jones- Orioles
Outfielder: Mike Trout- Angels
Outfielder: Mark Trumbo- Angels
Designated Hitter: Billy Butler- Royals
Designated Hitter: Adam Dunn- White Sox

Pitchers:
Ryan Cook- Athletics
Matt Harrison- Rangers
Felix Hernandez- Mariners
Jim Johnson- Orioles
Joe Nathan- Rangers
Chris Perez- Indians
David Price- Rays
Fernando Rodney- Rays
CC Sabathia- Yankees*
Chris Sale- White Sox
Justin Verlander- Tigers
Jared Weaver- Angels
C.J. Wilson- Angels

(Note CC Sabathia is out of the all star game due to injury and is replaced by CJ Wilson)

Now for the All Stars from the National League.

Starters:
Catcher: Buster Posey- Giants
1st Base: Joey Votto- Reds
2nd Base: Dan Uggla- Braves
3rd Base: Pablo Sandoval- Giants
Shortstop: Rafael Furcal- Cardnials
Outfielder: Melky Cabrera- Giants
Outfielder: Carlos Beltran- Cardnials
Outfielder: Matt Kemp- Dodgers

Reserves:
Catcher: Yadier Molina- Cardinals
Catcher: Carlos Ruiz- Phillies
1st Base: Bryan LaHair- Cubs
2nd Base: Jose Altuve- Astros
3rd Base: David Wright- Mets
Shortstop: Starlin Castro- Cubs
Shortstop: Ian Desmond- Nationals
Outfielder: Ryan Braun- Brewers
Outfielder: Jay Bruce- Reds
Outfielder: Carlos Gonzalez- Rockies
Outfielder: Andrew McCutchen- Pirates
Outfielder: Giancarlo Staton- Marlins

Pitchers:
Matt Cain- Giants
Aroldis Chapman- Reds
R.A. Dickey- Mets
Gio Gonzalez- Nationals
Cole Hamels- Phillies
Joel Hanrahan- Pirates
Clayton Kershaw- Dodgers
Craig Kimbrel- Braves
Lance Lynn- Cardnials
Wade Miley- Daimondbacks
Jonathan Papelbon- Phillies
Stephen Strasburg- Nationals
Huston Street- Padres

There you have it the rosters for the 2012 MLB All Star Game. All Star weekend takes place in Kansas City and starts next Monday July 9th with the State Farm Home Run Derby. The All Star Game itself is on Tuesday July 10th at 8PM and the game is broadcast on Fox!