Odds and Ends: Lieber, Tavarez, Oswalt

Tavarez may be an option for the Phillies, if they are concerned about Tom Gordon's health. Tavarez could allow Madson to move into the setup role, while also providing insurance in case Brett Myers continues to pitch the way he has been.

I agree with you nrmax, his starts have lacked the sizzle that they've had in the past where he just overwhelmed teams. Particularly his slider...many starts he scrapped it, and when he's thrown it, it just hasn't been a good pitch.

On the other hand, he has really impressed me with his demeanor/competitiveness in most of his starts. He's done really well without that great stuff, and has been a grinder/bulldog in tough spots almost all year (Felix GS notwithstanding). Not like other pitchers with great stuff who back down when faced with some rare adversity. Also a great, great fielding pitcher.

If I was a Mets fan I'd be concerned about his long-term health/stuff, but as a baseball fan I have a new respect for him as a competitor having watched him more this year

nrmax88: How about june 12th vs Arizona (in my opinion the second best team in the NL this year next to cubbies). he went 7.0 with 10k's only 3 hits and 3 walks. thats like a .900 whip and a 0.00 ERA. If you ask me that is a pretty dominant startt.

The problems for the mets go so far beyond Johan Santana. Johan has been a gem and a bright light on a team that just doesn't seem to care. They got down on themselves early in the season and never recovered. I agree with you that there is a little loss on his velocity but I think thats more due to the Mets trying to protect their investment. This is also why you don't normally see him go past 7 inning. However if you look at every start he has held teams to under 4 earned runs in EVERY START ALL SEASON.

As far as the Yankees not wanting to dock years on for sabathia.... anyone remember a little fish by the name of Carl Pavano? And what the hell kinda contracts do they think chaimberlain is going to want once he's eligable? At least 5/60 or 5/75 for his first contract i'd imagine.

Some say maybe they'd pay more money for less years? I disagree. why would u pay 25 million a year for four years [100 million] (assuming thats the minimum years CC would take to the best of my knowledge), when you could probably get away with paying 110-120 million for six years. That to me just wouldn't make sense. The yankees will put in whats needed to get sabathia, and I think steinbrenner will have the final word, especially if cashmans plans have kept the yankees in third and below.

Greg. Lets not forget. what wins world series. a big 1-2 pitcher combination. Schilling/beckett,
johnson/schilling, Webb/haren?
I would say they hold as good a shot at the world series as any team.

Besides the fact. they got plenty of bats that can get hot at any moment. Their offense is struggling yes, but their only NL competition thats going to exist this year is the Phillies and the Cubs. Lets face facts. The NL is a very weak league this year.

7th, he's physically broken down. In the article he admits as much, that he's been running out there far less than 100% to try to help the team. A broken down shoulder on a 40+ year old guy is not going to resolve itself, it will only get worse

Guys, for all the “second half” stuff said about Johan, let us not forget last years split:

1st ~ 2.75 ERA, 1.033 WHIP, 121 IP / 95 H / 30 W / 125 K
2nd ~ 4.04 ERA, 1.122 WHIP, 98 IP / 88 H / 22 W / 110 K

…Last years problem seemed to be caused by the team not doing what it can to win, the results were his FB seemed to dip and his Hit rate rose dramatically (well, for him) while his K/BB did actually get better. This years results show a slower FB, an even higher Hit rate and lower K/BB ~ infact the lowest totals of his starting career. But he is currently on a team which is seemingly without focus and currently suffering internal conflict ~ it could just be a lack of motivation… I mean, it was after Luis Castillo was traded (a move he didn’t react well to) that he started to go 4.18 ERA and 1.197 WHIP over his final 11 starts… (2.92 ERA and 1.014 WHIP up to that point)

Fix the clubhouse and we might see a different Johan ~ and I know that sucks to say about a stud like him because it kind of points to a weaker mental state; but...

hey darkstar u always put up good posts. good point about last years splits. also i think u r right about the atmosphere. johan is a very emotional and fiery guy and i think he might need that fire lit. the mets just dont have that energy/chemistry thing going that makes people play better than they r sometimes(like my cardinals always have). i really think the new york media does so much damage to their teams, in all sports. they overpay their teams and then put all this pressure on them to win. baseball is a tough game with constant pressure from many angles.

Let me add a little something on Colletti's trade history. One, he has kept a frickton of talent in the system by not making stupid trades, which is exactly what the Cabrera trade would have been. Two, why is this guy railing on the deal that brought Mark Hendrickson? Does Simers even know why the Dodgers picked him up? Because they dumped Dioner Navarro once they figured out what they had with Martin, who has become, without a doubt, the best, most cheered player on the team. Why in the world would you keep a guy like Navarro, who is a starting catcher, to take ABs away from a guy who is better than him in every possible way? The Dodgers got a good backup (Toby Hall) and Hendrickson's salary paid by Tampa Bay.

add 3 bb's

nrmax88. did you watch the game? Cause I live in NJ and get every mets game aired live on local tv. so i tend to catch just about every mets game and if i don't i watch gameday at work (so long as i'm not at work late). Just because you let a few runners on base DOES NOT MEAN that you can't have dominated a game. Great pitchers such as Santana and Beckett, and most power pitchers are going to have elevated pitch counts. If you WATCHED the game, you would have seen that he was VERY dominant. The diamondbacks were just very patient hitters. They went into the game (as Hudson or Upton said after the game) intending to make johan throw a lot of pitches. Watch the game on MLB.tv if you have it or find a rewind of the next days sportscenter, and you will see that almost every single at bat first pitch was taken. I believe his pitch count after 5 was around 80, which for johan is high. The twins took very good care of him in his stay there as far as his workload was concerned.

My overall point nrmax88 if you continue reading my posts is that Johan Santana has been fantastic for the mets. Look at the numbers. yes he allowed a hr to felix hernandez. very embarassing i'm sure. But as king felix said he was joking around before the game saying he was going to swing for the fences. Well he did, and he connected on a pitch left up. But all 3 runners on base were unearned. I would credit his lack of dominance to a lack of the amazing defense that minnesota had with torii hunter and crew. In the end he got credited with 1 earned run, felix. I dunno but if matsuzaka had come to boston and put up a 2.96 (just comparing because overall value of deals and amount of hype was similar) never allowing the opposing team over 4 ER per game, I would not be complaining. hell i'm not complaining about his 4+ ERA in his first year. he's in a new league with new hitters. hes never seen the likes of chipper jones or lance berkman or matt holliday.

Simply put numbers dont lie and johan is having a great year. its the mets franchise which is awful. David Wright got his money. He obviously has shown he doesn't really care anymore about working to be the best 3B in the NL.

Reyes is awful. Every big hit scenario he chokes. When he's stealing 60+ bases a season its a bit more forgivable but he hasn't been as aggressive this year, possibly cause he's almost never on base.

Delgado is done. Andy Phillips should immediately start in his place. Delgado was the Carl Pavano of the Yankees. A HUGE waste of money that might as well have been injured. the team would have been better off.

Beltran is pretty much the only offensive player on that team that I can have ANY faith in right now.

As far as Sabathia goes you're partially right. Sabathia would not take a 4 year deal though unless it was OUTRAGEOUS. I really cant see him accepting less than 90 mil for a 4 year deal. Yes i'm aware thats more than johan, but its less years. For a pitcher guaranteed high paying years is the most important thing.

All i'm saying is that the yankees (or any other team) gets a BARGAIN on the last two years. I think he would look at a 4 years 100 million dollar contract the exact same way as 6 years 120. the numbers were not meant to be completely accurate. just there to prove a point.

Wow, you're a moron. A total fukcing moron. You tell me don't make stuff up, and then say David Wright doesn't care about getting better because he got his money? He got his money over 2 years ago. Jose Reyes has been awful? So .295/.360/.480 is awful for your leadoff hitter these days? Johan was not very good at all in the game. Calling the D'Backs hitters patient is an absolute joke. They chased 3 or 4 pitches on full counts that would have been ball 4 otherwise. Keep arguing with me all you want. But just know I will never take another debate with you seriously after you accusing David Wright of not caring about winning, and calling Jose Reyes awful. You also said that Johan is struggling because of the Mets defense? Funny. Torii Hunter has nothing on Beltran defensively. Jose Reyes is a great defender. Church is outstanding, Endy Chavez is amazing. Brian Scneider is also outstanding. So perhaps, instead of calling me out for making stuff up, you should do som research of your own. Because you are absolutely clueless.