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Wacha and Porcello

Johnny Lunchbucket Sep 09 2020 06:19 PM

You know who these two stiffs remind me of? Ricardo Jordan and Toby Borland. Two vets acquired over the off-season in place of a popular guy (the former signed to "replace" Wheeler, the latter acquired in a deal for Rico Brogna. Both pairs got off to lousy starts that threatened to ruin their clubs' respective seasons, only the 97 Mets still had the ability to cashier them before it was too late. Toby and Ricardo were among the first hated Mets and top topics of online fan derision on the young mofo, the forefather of our crane pool

Edgy MD Sep 09 2020 07:13 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Estes and D'Amico breathing a little easier.

Johnny Lunchbucket Sep 09 2020 08:16 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Yeah, even better. Those 2 guys part of that disaster off-season

Fman99 Sep 09 2020 08:16 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Suck + additional more suckage

Johnny Lunchbucket Sep 09 2020 08:17 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

I was willing to buy into damico too. Estes was total fake news

nymr83 Sep 09 2020 08:38 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I was willing to buy into damico too. Estes was total fake news He did throw behind Clemens!

Edgy MD Sep 09 2020 08:59 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

My favorite inextricably linked offseason pair of veteran starter imports is Scott Erickson and James Baldwin, who gave us a total of four starts. I think Baldwin got a minor league deal to be our #6 starter on layaway in Norfolk, so he's not really analogous, but Erickson was an ill-considered big-league dealio, and was supposed to open the season in game two, got hurt warming up, and didn't appear until a brief and ineffective showing in mid-season. Aaron Sele probably felt sorry for them both. Jason Vargas is probably doomed to forever be remembered as the embodiment of all hard-sell veteran starters brought in to eat innings in the back of the rotation. He replaced Bartolo Colón, who is probably the patron saint of all such figures.

Lefty Specialist Sep 10 2020 07:33 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Wacha and Porcello? More like Abbott and Costello.

MFS62 Sep 10 2020 09:10 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Edgy MD wrote: He replaced Bartolo Colón, who is probably the patron saint of all such figures. And what a figure he had! Later

A Boy Named Seo Sep 10 2020 10:58 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

I don't recall having feelings about Ricardo Jordan or Toby Borland, ever, for that matter. But Wacha and Porcello were sold to us as solid additions when every indicator was that they were both gonna be shit.

Edgy MD Sep 10 2020 11:32 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Let us not forget the Trachsel wars.

A Boy Named Seo Sep 10 2020 12:14 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Kevin Appier also wants in on this conversation. Edit: Appier was a lot better than I remembered.

Frayed Knot Sep 10 2020 01:10 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

In defense of, well not of Wacha & Porcello themselves but the thinking behind the strategy that brought them here, they weren't supposed to be what they became which was effectively the numbers 2 & 3 starters behind JdG. They were supposed to be fighting it out to see who'd grab the 5th starter slot and who'd be the 6th starter/long reliever/backup plan. As bad as those two have been, it's been made worse by the non-attendance and/or suckitude of Thor and Gsellman and the two Long Island boys. Going back to The Shawn Estes Experiment (they opened one time for Tears For Fears) now THAT was a staff made up of five hopes and five prayers. I'm betting that the thinking was that all those 2002 starters -- Leiter, Astacio, Estes, D'Amico, Trachsel -- had at one point laid claim to being their clubs #1 starter and so IFFFFF they all simultaneously put it all together again that you'd have the making of a good staff. But of course that's the baseball equivalent of being dealt a straight flush and it wasn't going to happen; Leiter was too old, Astacio was old before his time, while Estes, Trax, and d'Amico were only briefly aces and for not particularly good SF/MIL/TB teams. This year's staff, at least as constructed and planned last winter (which now seems like it was about a decade ago) wasn't depending on getting 'career best' stuff out of either of these guys.

batmagadanleadoff Sep 10 2020 01:30 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

They coulda signed Wheeler and Stroman. That's what mega-market teams do. That's the issue as I see it. Plain and simple.

Chad ochoseis Sep 10 2020 02:50 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

In 4 1/2 healthy seasons as a Met, Wheeler showed flashes of greatness with bouts of inconsistency. He had the potential to be great. He also had and still has the potential to be Ollie Perez Redux. I don't blame the Mets for not meeting the 5 year/118 million asking price. I'll admit that I don't remember what the off-season FA possibilities were in the price range between Porcello and Wheeler.

Edgy MD Sep 10 2020 03:11 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Wacha and Porcello would be cool if one of them was blonder and the other darker, and one impulsive and the other more measured, and they had adventures and had each other's backs and always had more ladies than they could handle. They would also have to drive around in a sweet ride — perhaps the Mets bullpen cart.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 10 2020 03:16 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Maybe we'll get pitchers like that in the Steve Cohen era.

Johnny Lunchbucket Sep 10 2020 03:17 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

I'd have totally tried to sign Wheeler. I suspect tho that Brodie/Fred/Jeff tried and failed to move him last deadline after getting Stroman as a short-term cost-saver and only wound up with 5 above-average guys by accident. But look where it (almost) got them! I don;t reflexively blame everything on Lousy Cheapass Management and these guys get a relatively long leash from me becasue I understand it's difficult but the Wheeler transition to me seems obviously badly played beginning to end, sure seems Lousy and Cheapass, and was an even a bigger mistake letting him go to a division rival. By the way I totally invented the "Five No. 1s" idea advanced above online wrt the Dmico/Estes rotation, mainly as something to justify all the energy I was going to spend rooting for them.

LWFS Sep 10 2020 05:30 PM Re: Wacha and Porcello

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Kevin Appier also wants in on this conversation. Edit: Appier was a lot better than I remembered. He REALLY was. Basically, wrong team, wrong time. Edgy MD wrote: Wacha and Porcello would be cool if one of them was blonder and the other darker, and one impulsive and the other more measured, and they had adventures and had each other's backs and always had more ladies than they could handle. They would also have to drive around in a sweet ride — perhaps the Mets bullpen cart. Only if Luis Rojas agreed to grow a nice, full mustache and more freely let them know when he'd had it up to HERE with them.

smg58 Sep 11 2020 07:15 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

I was perfectly OK with bringing in Wacha on the cheap as a sixth starter, even though it hasn't worked out. The money spent on Porcello and Betances could have allowed us to at least break even with Wheeler. Or the Mets could have spent more money. The former is on the GM; the latter, well, they'll be out by Thanksgiving. Appier wasn't bad at all for us. He wasn't Mike Hampton, and less money could have gotten us Ichiro, and trading him for Mo Vaughn was asking for trouble, but none of those were really his fault. Jeff D'Amico got off to a good start for us, but then he struggled for a couple of outings, and then Valentine rather bizarrely let him throw an absurd amount of pitches in a game, and then his arm fell off. He could have been handled better.

whippoorwill Sep 11 2020 07:28 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 11 2020 07:36 AM

I just read that Wheeler hurt himself on his pants and has to skip a start

Edgy MD Sep 11 2020 07:33 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Edgy MD wrote: Wacha and Porcello would be cool if one of them was blonder and the other darker, and one impulsive and the other more measured, and they had adventures and had each other's backs and always had more ladies than they could handle. They would also have to drive around in a sweet ride — perhaps the Mets bullpen cart. Only if Luis Rojas agreed to grow a nice, full mustache and more freely let them know when he'd had it up to HERE with them. This is working for me. And they get their scouting reports out on the concourse. After donning frumpy looking civilian garb, sunglasses, and bucket hats, they find a guy hawking programs that nobody has really taken the time to look at in 20 years, but may or may not be Toby Borland. He doesn't make eye contact, but reminds W&P that J.T. Realmuto is a sucker for the backdoor slider, and Rhys Hoskins sits fastball but is dead in the water if you can get ahead of the count with your breaking stuff. Seeing as the concourse is empty and this scenario cannot come to pass, it's been a rough season for Wacha and Porcello.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 11 2020 07:55 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

=whippoorwill post_id=46268 time=1599830907 user_id=79] I just read that Wheeler hurt himself on his pants and has to skip a start

He hurt himself on his pants?

Edgy MD Sep 11 2020 07:59 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

I hurt myself on my pants just reading that post.

Lefty Specialist Sep 11 2020 08:03 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Well, that's why I use the talcum powder.

whippoorwill Sep 11 2020 08:43 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Not kidding! Google news zack wheeler

Benjamin Grimm Sep 11 2020 09:10 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

He injured his fingernail while putting on his pants. If I had his kind of money, I'd have a team of assistants to put on my pants for me.

Edgy MD Sep 11 2020 09:41 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

I'd have impressively high-tech gloves just for dressing myself.

whippoorwill Sep 11 2020 09:44 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Benjamin Grimm wrote: He injured his fingernail while putting on his pants. If I had his kind of money, I'd have a team of assistants to put on my pants for me. I'd be embarrassed to admit it

Lefty Specialist Sep 11 2020 10:07 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Well, this certainly justifies going pants-free this weekend.

MFS62 Sep 11 2020 10:12 AM Re: Wacha and Porcello

Benjamin Grimm wrote: He injured his fingernail while putting on his pants. Yeah. That's what they all say. (wink wink) Later