Saturday, March 19, 2005
Ishii a Met?
various sources are reporting that the mets and dodgers are working on a deal that would send kaz ishii to shea in exchange for jason phillips. ishii, whose first name is kazuhisa (not to be confused with kazu "o for 4" matsui), would fill the rotation spot emptied by steve traction.
now, i've seen kaz ishii up close for a couple years. this guy can be downright 1986 bobby ojeda brilliant at times, and downright frighteningly bad. before we get to the obligatory joke cliche ("let's see what guru peterson can do with him"), let's consider a few important points. first of all, he can be very wild. i'm talking zamboozled wild. do the mets want two potential ankiels in the rotation? secondly, the guy will probably have less strikeouts than kaz matsui. i'm not saying a high walks/low strikeouts pitcher can't succeed with the goofy mets, but... what the hell. yes, i am saying he can't succeed here. thirdly, and most important, the guy is very lackadaisical in his shaving habits. most of the time, he's got that drunken master stubble shit happening. mikey piazza can get away with that 10 am shadow of his, because he's promised to leave the mets after this year without a big stink, but kazuhisa? no way. that ain't gonna fly with willie.
as for jphill, i always liked him. he would be returning to a servicable role as the main backup catcher and (hopefully) get to start 50 games maximum this year. he can be great in that role. he's busting out in spring training so far. take that with a grain of salt, but he surely isn't as bad as he showed last year. losing him on top of the trade of vance wilson earlier, and we're stuck with the likes of ramon castro as the most likely backup. that's not good. if mikey starts missing games left and right as i'm sorta expecting, that's really no good.
now, i've seen kaz ishii up close for a couple years. this guy can be downright 1986 bobby ojeda brilliant at times, and downright frighteningly bad. before we get to the obligatory joke cliche ("let's see what guru peterson can do with him"), let's consider a few important points. first of all, he can be very wild. i'm talking zamboozled wild. do the mets want two potential ankiels in the rotation? secondly, the guy will probably have less strikeouts than kaz matsui. i'm not saying a high walks/low strikeouts pitcher can't succeed with the goofy mets, but... what the hell. yes, i am saying he can't succeed here. thirdly, and most important, the guy is very lackadaisical in his shaving habits. most of the time, he's got that drunken master stubble shit happening. mikey piazza can get away with that 10 am shadow of his, because he's promised to leave the mets after this year without a big stink, but kazuhisa? no way. that ain't gonna fly with willie.
as for jphill, i always liked him. he would be returning to a servicable role as the main backup catcher and (hopefully) get to start 50 games maximum this year. he can be great in that role. he's busting out in spring training so far. take that with a grain of salt, but he surely isn't as bad as he showed last year. losing him on top of the trade of vance wilson earlier, and we're stuck with the likes of ramon castro as the most likely backup. that's not good. if mikey starts missing games left and right as i'm sorta expecting, that's really no good.
Steroidsgate: Continued
how the mighty have fallen. has the SI curse stuck these former gods, mcgwire and sosa? once they were on cloud 9, now they're in hell. mcgwire is long gone from baseball, shrinking the body down, trying to get the peanut testicles reinflated, rubbing cream on his male pattern baldness and pock marks. sosa has been shrinking in public and been banished to baltimore courtesy of the cubbies.
what a sad show on capitol hill.
mcgwire had a tiny crib sheet up his sleeve to deliver his only lines:
"i'm not here to talk about the past."
"i'm retired."
"i want to turn a negative into a positive."
even his biggest apologist in the world, attorney tony larussa, was flabbergasted at big mac's clam up job.
as for sosa, it was pretty wild to see the man suddenly feign non-comprehension of the english language.
canseco and palmeiro were the only entertaining ones there. canseco threatened to plead the 5th on certain questions because of his lack of immunity, but the house committee wasn't there to expose anybody, so he was forthcoming. palmeiro was doing an angry "i'm innocent and pissed to even be here" indignation act which was funny.
curt schilling came off bad. dude has been the most outspoken guy in baseball against steroids for years, and now he backtracked from his past and kowtowed to the current ridiculously soft baseball agreement in every aspect. he's a gutless "schill" for the player's association.
what a sad show on capitol hill.
mcgwire had a tiny crib sheet up his sleeve to deliver his only lines:
"i'm not here to talk about the past."
"i'm retired."
"i want to turn a negative into a positive."
even his biggest apologist in the world, attorney tony larussa, was flabbergasted at big mac's clam up job.
as for sosa, it was pretty wild to see the man suddenly feign non-comprehension of the english language.
canseco and palmeiro were the only entertaining ones there. canseco threatened to plead the 5th on certain questions because of his lack of immunity, but the house committee wasn't there to expose anybody, so he was forthcoming. palmeiro was doing an angry "i'm innocent and pissed to even be here" indignation act which was funny.
curt schilling came off bad. dude has been the most outspoken guy in baseball against steroids for years, and now he backtracked from his past and kowtowed to the current ridiculously soft baseball agreement in every aspect. he's a gutless "schill" for the player's association.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Steroidsgate: How Sad It Is
Monday, March 14, 2005
Trachsel in traction?
things are getting a little more scary for the allegedly solid mets rotation. not only has vic zamboozled been showing off his rick ankiel tendencies, but now trax is feeling lower back pain and in nyc getting an MRI.
trax has been somewhat of a workhorse for the mets, and a very important standout, mediocre cog in the mets rotation since he's been here. he shows up at the gate, usually bringing his mediocre stuff. sometimes he gets in sub-mediocre stretches, as he did for long parts last year. sometimes he gets in pretty good swings, like he did two summers ago. it all balances out to the mediocrity he is. he's also the world's slowest working pitcher, and he makes bad mets games pretty much unbearable if he's pitching on the losing end of a game.
still, trax is needed here. the mets have pedro with his slight labrum problem. they have old man glavine who has given mets fans 1 1/2 years of crap pitching in 2 years. they've got zamboozled, and they've got anna benson's husband. throw in trax, and this is the allegedly solid rotation. take out trax, and then we go into the alleged rotation backup depth, and you DO NOT want to see me rant about that.
feel better, trax.
trax has been somewhat of a workhorse for the mets, and a very important standout, mediocre cog in the mets rotation since he's been here. he shows up at the gate, usually bringing his mediocre stuff. sometimes he gets in sub-mediocre stretches, as he did for long parts last year. sometimes he gets in pretty good swings, like he did two summers ago. it all balances out to the mediocrity he is. he's also the world's slowest working pitcher, and he makes bad mets games pretty much unbearable if he's pitching on the losing end of a game.
still, trax is needed here. the mets have pedro with his slight labrum problem. they have old man glavine who has given mets fans 1 1/2 years of crap pitching in 2 years. they've got zamboozled, and they've got anna benson's husband. throw in trax, and this is the allegedly solid rotation. take out trax, and then we go into the alleged rotation backup depth, and you DO NOT want to see me rant about that.
feel better, trax.
