Let's take a look at some links as the northeast prepares for Hurricane Irene..
- Cubs starter Ryan Dempster was non-committal when asked about his player option for 2012, but he doesn't sound like he wants to leave town either, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 34-year-old's 2012 option is worth $14MM.
- Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com wonders if the Cubs will keep Reed Johnson in the fold in 2012. Johnson, he points out, could help groom top prospect Brett Jackson next season. This year the 34-year-old is hitting .347/.385/.539 in 209 plate appearances.
- Despite his insistence to the contrary, the swirl of trade rumors throughout the season have bothered David Wright, a Mets staffer told Andy Martino of the Daily News. The third baseman surprisingly cleared waivers this week. Wright is owed $15MM next year and can void a $16MM club option for 2013 if he is dealt.
- Jason Kubel is happy to still be a member of the Twins, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Earlier this evening we learned that the Indians were the team to place the winning claim on him, not the White Sox as once thought.
- Padres closer Heath Bell didn't let the recent round of trade speculation get to him, writes Corey Brock of MLB.com. Earlier today, Ben Nicholson-Smith outlined the club's options regarding Bell this offseason.
- Veteran Jim Thome is happy to return to the Tribe as the elder statesman, writes Zack Meisel of MLB.com. The slugger will celebrate his 41st birthday tomorrow.
David Wright, Um… Angels!! Hi, I would like to offer you Kendrick-Aybar-Chatwoof-Jepsen for: David Wright
Glad you threw Jepsen in there. Otherwise it would have been way one-sided.
Ok, a couple of points. Why are people still talking about Wright like he’s an elite 3rd baseman (I know that’s not what the point of the article is about, but it just bugs me)? Over the last 3 years he’s been pretty much middle of the pack.
Secondly if the Mets fail to sign Reyes or any big names during the offseason or any big name to replace him, why not trade Wright, it’s not like the Mets will compete next year without some big changes or major surprises.
Well first off you do know that he plays in Citi Field so his power numbers are going to be down dramatically and pitchers are going to pitch around him because well the mets lineup isn’t all that great
Oh and by the way I’m not saying he’s elite(Even though I believe he will be)but while he’s a met his numbers are going to suck and thats why I believe he should go to the Angels who have a nice ballpark and they could use a third basemen and a batter with pop or maybe even the Rockies with a huge ballpark made for home runs and doubles
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, because I honestly don’t remember, but this is Citi Field’s third year in operation?
In 2009 Wright had a .029 better SLG away from Citi Field, in 2010 it was a .012 better away from Citi Field, and this year it’s so far .005 better away from Citi Field.
Not seeing the park as a problem.
Not a Wright fan by any means, but I do think that the park, the surrounding lineup, and injuries (both his and to the rest of the team) all have played a part in his “decline.” He was an elite third basemen during his first handful of years in the league, and just hasn’t been able to adjust or had the surrounding threats to make sure that he is getting pitches to hit.
Last season Wright had 29 homers, 103 RBI’s, and a .283 average. Not to mention his glove work. Seems pretty elite to me. Not the best, but a top 3 third base man in the NL.
Before mentioning one’s glove work you should remember that over the last 3 years Wright has had one of the worst UZR’s of any third basemen.
Going back to the elite comment, I’d hardly call any player who compiled an under 9 WAR over the last 3 years elite (By the way, over the last 3 years that would make him middle of the pack).
Saying he’s “middle of the pack” makes about as much sense as saying he’s still an elite third baseman. Over the last 3 years he’s had an OPS+ of 124, 130 and 117 and although his glove work is overrated, he’s still not going to hurt you too much in that area either. He’s done this all while fighting through some injuries and watching his organization fall apart around him. Outside of a few, truly elite 3B, who else can compare to his production?
BTW, I’m not a Mets or a David Wright fan, just the opposite in fact.
you can’t just ignore defense when it’s convenient. wright has been well below average by every metric available (UZR, TZL, DRS, +/-) for three seasons now
ranking 8th out of 16 qualified 3rd baseman since 2009…yea, i’d say middle of the pack is pretty fair
Why didn’t the Dodgers claim….oh never mind.
Wright is a very very good player and arguably the best 3B in baseball. If he were to leave the Mets, he would be an MVP candidate on any other team.
I’d like to see Longoria, Zimmerman, Rodriguez, Beltre, Bautista etc. put up great numbers as a Met…
Bautista probably could make Citi field look like a tee ball field
*Bautista probably could make any field look like a tee ball field.
There fixed that for ya.
“arguably the best 3B in baseball”
Zimmerman does just fine on a bad team. In fact he’s about to take his team to the next level. The Mets will go nowhere with Wright. He didn’t come up big when they had a good team and is not ever going to get any better
Wright’s career average is .302/.384 27 HR 106 RBI 22 SB. Zimmerman and Wright are very close but Wright gets the edge b/c he has to play in the possibly the worst hitters park in baseball and a much more demanding media market and most importantly, his numbers are slightly better…
Just because the team around him sucks, has nothing to do with the fact that he is perennial All-star and if he keeps this pace for another 5-7 years he will be a future hall of famer.
“Zimmerman and Wright are very close but Wright gets the edge b/c he has
to play in the possibly the worst hitters park in baseball”
just park-adjust their stats then. wRC+:
wright – 126
zimm – 134
womp womp wommmmmp
That’s because Wright’s stats were adversely affected to due a back injury he was playing through. Not to mention that the Mets terrible pitching staff has led to Citi field being actually labeled a hitters park this year.
that’s a three year sample brosef, so i’m afraid not
Ryan Zimmerman career wRC+120
David Wright career wRC+ 136
Now that Wright has regained his pre-2009 form its very reasonable to expect Wright to go back to being one of the best players in the game again..
“what david wright (or anyone else) did 4+ years ago is almost completely
irrelevant going forward, so no one cares about career numbers. you’re
using them because his best seasons are all that far behind them, and
they skew things considerably in favor of your bias”
the seasons from 4, 5, and 6 years ago that you’re including in the sample to make it look better juuust happen to be zimmerman’s worst and wright’s best. clever i guess, but kinda obvious
my only point is that the 2012 David Wright should look more like the 2004-08 then the 2009-first half of 2011.
Would you agree that the 2004-08 David Wright is equal to or better than the 2009-11 Ryan Zimmerman????
absolutely. he used to be what ryan zimmerman currently is. offensively, at least. he was never as good defensively
He was better offensively than Zimmerman is now. Zimmerman never had the numbers Wright did and Wright did it on the highest stage.
Defensively, Zimmerman is better and there is no debating that…
that’s true, actually. wright’s offensive peak was longer and higher than zimmerman’s
04-08 wright: 142 (~.400 wOBA)
09-11 zimm: 134 (.384 wOBA)
it’ll be fun if that comes back
reverse those #s for OPS+, another park adjusted stat
war 2005 – 2011 29.8 Wright 28.7 Zimmerman.
Very comparable value
you should never use OPS+
insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/ops_a…
The park doesn’t seem to bother Reyes. It didn’t bother Beltran. Not a Mets fan but they really need to sign Reyes and move on from Wright if they are serious about getting better. Phils, Braves,and Marlins are better. Next year the Nats will make a move.
that’s because Reyes is not a HR hitter. Ever since returning from his back problem (which likely caused his altered stance that made him strike out a ton) he’s been back to his old ways. Wright should return to the .300 25-30 HR 100-120 RBI line next season…
The Mets are the most difficult team to play for the MLB. They are perennial losers yet have a tremendous media following, a GM that set the team back years and a paranoid fan base. Add that and extremely tough dimensions and power hitters have extremely struggled.
There is no reason to move on from Wright (and Reyes for that matter). Its not their fault the team is below average at C, 2B, LF, CF, RF and has one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball…
Did the park bother Beltran or the kid (Davis) they had playing first? Just giving you an outsider’s opinion. I would rather have Zimmerman or Longoria. Making excuses for this guy isn’t going to help the Mets. My money is on Alderson moving him if he gets the right deal like he did with Beltran.
This has nothing to do with the Mets being bad. Im solely talking about David Wright. He has better career numbers than both Longoria and Zimmerman and has done it in a much more difficult playing enviornment.
If you take a player and put them on the Mets they pretty much automatically see their production go down. If Wright played on any other team, he would be seen as one of the top 10 players in the game…
there is no data whatsoever to suggest that
what david wright (or anyone else) did 4+ years ago is almost completely irrelevant going forward, so no one cares about career numbers. you’re using them because his best seasons are all that far behind them, and they skew things considerably in favor of your bias
For whatever reason David Wright changed his entire game going into 2009. Ever since he returned from the DL in July for a stress fracture in his back, his batting stance, approach and numbers have all reflected his previous stats.
Unfortunately it is impossible to back up the human element with statistics but anyone who watches him play regularly has seen that he the guy playing now has returned to the mechanics and approach that he used up until 2009…
yes, there’s nothing for us to really work with there. fwiw, i hope you’re right. i like the guy. i just don’t share your optimism from such a small sample in light of the larger context
He cleared waivers. That the first step out of town. If Alderson has guts and smarts he’ll move him. He certainly isn’t one of the best 10 players in the NL let alone the majors. Good luck just another opinion
Dempster would probably be in line for a 4/48 type deal this winter considering the top SP free agent is C.J. Wilson. He’ll get an extension from the Cubs.
Dempster’s major interest appears to be his family, especially his daughter with DeGeorges Syndrome. Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital is one of if not the best hospitals in the country as far as treating 22q deletion. So he is very unlikely to leave the city under just about any circumstance. Add in his value atop a shaky Cubs rotation (Garza, maybe Wells, they could rush Nick Struck…) as an effective innings eater, and he’d be worth 3/40 to the Cubs given the likelihood the next front office regime will be rebuilding and evaluating the youngsters.
Wrong Brett Jackson link. My brain got a bit confused there.
If Dempster doesn’t want his $14 million player option, can I have it?
I think the Red Sox should trade for Wright in Ortiz does not come back and make Youk the full time DH. Youk is getting older and is better suited to play DH than 3rd everyday, he would not get beat up as much and would be healthier if he wasn’t playing 3rd.
Shut up.
Why are you exactly telling me to shut up? I think the Mets would move Wright if they got a good deal I don’t see what your problem is. Everything I said I’m my post is not unthinkable is it?
for 14MM in one year i wouldn’t want to leave town either….
Why did it post my comment 3 times? WTF