Cora Analysis from Joe Sherman
Ruben
Catching situation. It sounds like the Mets are determined to get Molina
who is so old for a catcher, and has so up side that I can't see what the
hell they are thinking here. In addition, they would have to give up a
#40 draft choice to sign him. Teams in the Mets position don't hand over
higher level picks for 35 year old catchers with declining OPS+ hovering
at 86...
All I can say is Backman...Oberkfeld.... Backman Oberkfeld.....
This is the team that wouldn't give Piazza another year..and he was a lot
better than Molina in even his worse season.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Like Damon, Alex Cora is represented by Scott Boras. And while Boras is
sure to annoy many in the public for asking (and probably) getting a lot
of dough for clients such as Damon and Matt Holliday. But his best job of
all might be getting $2 million for Cora from the Mets.
Cora is a terrific guy and a really smart baseball player. But he needed
surgery on both thumbs, has no power, is a below-average hitter and, at
age 34, has lost most of his range. This kind of player probably should be
getting a non-roster invite with a chance to make $750,000 if he makes the
team. I can’t figure out why the Mets would feel compelled to assure
Cora $2 million, especially at a time when their payroll is tight and they
have so many needs elsewhere.
And Cora actually can earn another $1 million in games started bonuses and
there is a $2 million option for 2011.
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Ruben
Just to put this in better perspective...here is Sherman's Nov 15th
article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I asked five executives from outside the NL East to rank the NL East in
order by best major league talent, one through five, and then best minor
league talent, one through five. The Mets finished no better than third
for major league talent and no better than fourth for prospects. So more
than 2010 is in play now.
“The present is much better than the future,” an AL GM said. “If
their core is healthy, they could be contenders. But their minor league
talent is way under the talent base of the Phillies, Braves and
Marlins.”
The likelihood is that when the NL Rookie of the Year is announced Monday
that Philadelphia’s J.A. Happ, Atlanta’s Tommy Hanson and Florida’s
Chris Coghlan will finish 1-2-3 in some order, so the Mets’ three main
challengers already have incorporated key youngsters into their everyday
fabrics. And the general consensus is those three teams have among the
majors’ best prospect bases overall. Atlanta’s Jason Heyward, for
example, just might be the No. 1 prospect in the majors.
jonathan
This is the first I've heard of the option, so I went and checked
Cot's to make sure . . . and sure enough . . .
There it is! The option automatically kicks in if Cora starts 80
games. This went from, 'whatever' to 'beyond stupid' in about 5
seconds. Yet another Omar Minaya overpaying for a veteran player for
no reason move. It follows well on the hells of Julio Franco, Marlon
Anderson, Luis Castillo, and company.
jonathan
> Catching situation. It sounds like the Mets are determined to get Molina
> who is so old for a catcher, and has so up side that I can't see what the
> hell they are thinking here. In addition, they would have to give up a
> #40 draft choice to sign him. Teams in the Mets position don't hand over
> higher level picks for 35 year old catchers with declining OPS+ hovering
> at 86...
But this is Omar's pattern with that position. Look at it:
Lo Duca
Schneider
Molina
His focus has been on veteran catchers who are reported to be strong
defensive players, even though in the case of all three of these
players their defense is overrated. All three are also players who
have decent 'traditional' stats but lousy real stats.
I have zero confidence that Omar can come up with a good solution to
the catching problem. His best answer was Castro, the guy he traded
away. Castro is the best offensive player he's had back there.
Unfortunately he can't stay healthy. Now he wants to trumpet Santos.
Santos can't hit at all, although I'm sure 40 RBI's in 96 games will
have some calling him a 'run-producer'. At least he's cheap. He's
not much of a defensive catcher either.
Ruben
> Teams in the Mets position don't hand over
>> higher level picks for 35 year old catchers with declining OPS+ hovering
>> at 86...
>
> But this is Omar's pattern with that position. Look at it:
>
> Lo Duca
> Schneider
> Molina
>
> His focus has been on veteran catchers who are reported to be strong
> defensive players, even though in the case of all three of these
> players their defense is overrated. All three are also players who
> have decent 'traditional' stats but lousy real stats.
>
There is no reason for it. Molina will not out produce other immediately
available options that don't cost draft picks.
> I have zero confidence that Omar can come up with a good solution to the
> catching problem.
You see, this is double edged thing. I don't think there IS a solution,
regardless of money or draft picks. Their next catcher is going to have
to come out of the system unless they magically swing a deal for Mauer,
maybe starting with Jose Reyes going to Minnisota.
OTOH, I don't think that if there was a solution that Minaya could find it.
>His best answer was Castro, the guy he traded away.
100% and I said that last year when they made the deal. They decided they
wanted to keep Santos and traded Castro to keep Schnieder. How stupid
was that. At least Castro has occasional pop in his bat.
> Castro is the best
> offensive player he's had back there. Unfortunately he can't stay
> healthy. Now he wants to trumpet Santos. Santos can't hit at all,
> although I'm sure 40 RBI's in 96 games will have some calling him a
> 'run-producer'. At least he's cheap. He's not much of a defensive
> catcher either.
Molina's MVP numbers ALSO suck and are on the decline. Maybe they can
lull Tood Hundley out of retirement.
Ruben
jonathan
> You see, this is double edged thing. I don't think there IS a solution,
> regardless of money or draft picks. Their next catcher is going to have
> to come out of the system unless they magically swing a deal for Mauer,
> maybe starting with Jose Reyes going to Minnisota.
Catching as a whole is a problem position around the league, so I
agree with you. You already pointed out that he missed the boat on
Shoppach, who Cleveland gave away for nothing.
My continuing problem with Omar is that he falls in love with players
and then won't make moves that he could make to upgrade a position.
He is especially in love with anybody from the Montreal days.
> 100% and I said that last year when they made the deal. They decided they
> wanted to keep Santos and traded Castro to keep Schnieder. How stupid
> was that. At least Castro has occasional pop in his bat.
Santos sucks. I don't know why anybody thinks Santos is a major
league catcher. The guy can't hit. I was sitting in Fenway Park the
night he hit the home run off of Paplebon. That ball barely got out
of there, and it's a fly out to leftfield in any other park in
baseball. Otherwise, I saw a guy who, in his prime, showed limited
power, zero plate discipline, and unremarkable defense. He's maybe a
backup catcher, but as guy who might start 2-3 times a week and split
with somebody else, that's a lot of wasted plate appearances.
>
> Molina's MVP numbers ALSO suck and are on the decline. Maybe they can
> lull Tood Hundley out of retirement.
>
> Ruben
>
Hell, I'd settle for Jerry Grote or John Stearns at this point. I'm
not saying Mike Piazza or Gary Carter has to come through the door,
but at least find somebody who does something positive, whether it be
a really good defensive catcher who can at least get on base or an
'offensive' catcher who can be part of the lineup even if he's not a
star defensively. I don't care about power. This ballpark kills
power. Find some guys who can get on base. Let's start with that.
Ruben
> Their next catcher is going to have
>> to come out of the system unless they magically swing a deal for Mauer,
>> maybe starting with Jose Reyes going to Minnisota.
>
> Catching as a whole is a problem position around the league, so I
> agree with you. You already pointed out that he missed the boat on
> Shoppach, who Cleveland gave away for nothing.
Omar doesn't want Shoppach because he's in his prime and strikes out too
much...
It's unbelievable.
Uncle Abogado�
wrote:
>On Dec 1, 12:53�ｿｽpm, Ruben <ru...@www2.mrbrklyn.com> wrote:
>> I largely agree with this...but what is really concerning me is the
>> Catching situation. �ｿｽIt sounds like the Mets are determined to get Molina
>> who is so old for a catcher, and has so up side that I can't see what the
>> hell they are thinking here. �ｿｽIn addition, they would have to give up a
>> #40 draft choice to sign him. �ｿｽTeams in the Mets position don't hand over
>> higher level picks for 35 year old catchers with declining OPS+ hovering
>> at 86...
>>
>> All I can say is Backman...Oberkfeld.... Backman Oberkfeld.....
>>
>> This is the team that wouldn't give Piazza another year..and he was a lot
>> better than Molina in even his worse season.
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> 2. Like Damon, Alex Cora is represented by Scott Boras. And while Boras is
>> sure to annoy many in the public for asking (and probably) getting a lot
>> of dough for clients such as Damon and Matt Holliday. But his best job of
>> all might be getting $2 million for Cora from the Mets.
>>
>> Cora is a terrific guy and a really smart baseball player. But he needed
>> surgery on both thumbs, has no power, is a below-average hitter and, at
>> age 34, has lost most of his range. This kind of player probably should be
>> getting a non-roster invite with a chance to make $750,000 if he makes the
>> team. I can�ｿｽt figure out why the Mets would feel compelled to assure
>> Cora $2 million, especially at a time when their payroll is tight and they
>> have so many needs elsewhere.
>>
>> And Cora actually can earn another $1 million in games started bonuses and
>> there is a $2 million option for 2011.
>>
>
>This is the first I've heard of the option, so I went and checked
>Cot's to make sure . . . and sure enough . . .
>
>There it is! The option automatically kicks in if Cora starts 80
>games. This went from, 'whatever' to 'beyond stupid' in about 5
>seconds. Yet another Omar Minaya overpaying for a veteran player for
>no reason move. It follows well on the hells of Julio Franco, Marlon
>Anderson, Luis Castillo, and company.
Well, sure, the minors are full of backup infielders who can hit .240
with no power or speed. But Alex Cora gives you that downhome
veteranny goodness that you can only get from a 30-something middle
infielder.
Thanks, Omar!
-- Uncle A�ｿｽ
27*!! 27*!! 27*!!
Uncle Abogado�
wrote:
>Santos sucks. I don't know why anybody thinks Santos is a major
>league catcher.
Because the alternative last season was Brian Schneider. Next to
that, pretty much anything looks like a decent option.
-- Uncle A�
27*!! 27*!! 27*!!
jonathan
wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 04:37:42 -0800 (PST), jonathan <jmeri...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Santos sucks. I don't know why anybody thinks Santos is a major
> >league catcher.
>
> Because the alternative last season was Brian Schneider. Next to
> that, pretty much anything looks like a decent option.
>
> -- Uncle A®
>
> 27*!! 27*!! 27*!!
Agreed, but obviously an organization with a clue would realize they
have to address the catching position going into next year and
wouldn't even consider Santos as a realistic option. The Mets seem to
think Santos can be part of the solution, although truthfully I'm less
certain of that then I was a month ago.
Ruben Safir
> The Mets seem to
> think Santos can be part of the solution, although truthfully I'm less
> certain of that then I was a month ago.
There are so many other things to be concerned with now and their best
options went to other teams weeks ago :)
Ruben