Tuesday, November 04, 2008

I Was Kind Of Afraid Of This

This seemed inevitable ... but apparently while tanning in Dana Point, Omar and the Mets have expressed some interest in Javy Vazquez to help round out their rotation. (Historians will no doubt look upon New York City as the habitat of former Expos ... Seriously, it's a Cities of the Underworld special waiting to happen). Looking at his stats and expecting to find out that after finding the largest prime number, UCLA students would then search for Vazquez's career ERA, his 2008 season wasn't so bad. He had a 4.13 ERA and a 12-13 record in 196 innings in '08.

Those, of course, are his numbers before the magic threshold of September 17th. After that, Vazquez was 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA and an opponents OPS of 1.077. He fits into the program quite well, I'd say.

***

Oh, come on. For old times sake.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does Omar have any common sense? Does he not remember the one not-so-good year that Javy had when he wore pinstripes....? He can't pitch in NY...so instead of maybe going after A.J. Burnett (who is younger), Derek Lowe (who would supplant Pedro and John Maine as the number 2 pitcher) or CC Sabathia (I know, too expensive), he decides to go to another former Expo/National. Hey Omar, you dumb SOB, I hear Dennis Martinez is warming up at home...he is ready to go....
Being a Mets fan now really sucks....
Beezermess

SS said...

Good rip!

Anonymous said...

They kept pitching Vasquez on 3 days rest after Sept. 17. A manager over using his pitching staff? Where have I heard that before? Vasquez is an excellent pitcher, could easily be #2 or 3 starter on the Mets.

Nick Nightingale said...

Metstra,

If you look up the game logs, you'll see that Javi made 2 of those 3 starts on 3 days rest. He had made just 2 appearances on 3 days rest in his career prior to that. Ozzie Guillen is a moron.

Also, I know you're not a big stats guy, but if you take a closer look at Javi, you'll see he's underrated - he has great peripheral stats and has played on some awful defensive teams in his career (Expos, Chi-Sox). Peace.

Anonymous said...

The 2004 Yankee defense was atrocious as well, with perhaps the worst defensive outfield in baseball history.

Vazquez would immediately become the 2nd best starter on this team, and frankly it's not even close.

That is of course assuming that the new park plays like Shea.

Metstradamus said...

His stats aren't really as bad as I thought they would be. Outside of last season his WHIP's have been solid.

I will say: Let's also see who would be traded for him. For example: Aaron Heilman = good trade. Jon Niese = bad trade. It's all relative.

Nick Nightingale said...

Agreed Metstra.

The biggest reason Vazquez is an enticing trade option is because the White Sox appear to be ready to sell low on him. He's fallen out of favor with the lunatic manager over there, and the Mets may be able to steal him for a fraction of what he's really worth.

He'd be the Mets #2/#3 right now. The Mets defense is impeccable (6th in the league in defense efficiency in 2008) so his misleading ERA from '08 would likely be lowered. Combine that with the fact that Jerry Manuel isn't dumb enough to start him twice on 3 days rest in the span of 2 weeks, and you've got yourself a solid pitcher.

Anonymous said...

Luis Castillo's contract and mid-level prospect also a good trade Frees up 2nd base for Hudson or Roberts.