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Easley back, Alou not

Frayed Knot Jul 24 2007 04:58 PM

Easley is back off his bereavement leave with Chip Ambres getting shipped out to make room. But it seems that Moises strained a shoulder during one of his rehab ABs and will not be activated until maybe later in the week.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 24 2007 05:00 PM

Good grief.

DocTee Jul 24 2007 05:11 PM

Unbelievable-- this guy is made of glass.

cleonjones11 Jul 24 2007 05:23 PM

Alou reminds me of Captain Tuttle who was a figment of Hawkeyes imagination in MASH.

Elster88 Jul 24 2007 05:40 PM

Further specifics: Alou hurt his shoulder in his 3rd at-bat in the last rehab game. So basically at the last possible moment. I figured he'd get at least 3 games with the big club before hurting another body part. I sorely underestimated his pussification.

Centerfield Jul 25 2007 08:25 AM

Unbelievable. He makes Cliff Floyd look like an ironman.

metirish Jul 25 2007 08:48 AM

Alou can't be counted on,one of the things Minaya talked about was Alou coming back after the All-Star break and giving Omar and his team a few weeks to evaluate him before the trade deadline.

iramets Jul 25 2007 10:33 AM

I realize You Guys (tm) are venting here, but do you have any idea how misplaced your anger at Moises is? The guys holds the patent on injuries, that's the single reliable thing about him over the course of his career, so the Mets snatch him up, placing heavy weight on his oft-crippled back in this crucial pennant-contending season, and you don't want to maybe let off a little virulent steam in Omar's direction? You'd rather question Moises's character? I don't understand why people are angry at a player for getting injured, as long it's not exaggerated or play-acted. The guy's hurt. He can't play. He'd like to play. Leave him the fuck alone, please, and put some of your pissed-offedness on the people who decided that Moises Alou was an excellent choice for the role of RH power hitter in the middle of the Mets lineup.

metirish Jul 25 2007 10:43 AM

We are allowed to change our view on players ira.

Rockin' Doc Jul 25 2007 10:54 AM

The Mets (Omar et al) definitely made a poor decision when they opted to sign Moises Alou to man left field this season. He may still be a productive hitter when he is actually well enough to play, but he is far too fragile to be depended upon. His past track record with various injuries should have provided ample warning that injury problems and significant loss of playing time should have been expected. My frustration with Alou is that he just seems to be out an exceedingly long time for what was a hamstring strain. I get the impression, possibly mistakenly so, that he is in no real hurry to return to the Mets and actually earn some of his paycheck.

iramets Jul 25 2007 11:01 AM

metirish wrote: We are allowed to change our view on players ira. And I wish you would, much more often than you do. And much quicker, too. But what view on Moises, exactly, have you changed? You decided he WAS some kind of ironman, maybe, and now you're disappointed that he's not, even though his middle name, as reported over his lengthy career, is "oft-injured"? How has he not provided you with exactly the sort of season any rational person could foresee? He's been a decent hitter when he's in the lineup, which is never, and that's exactly what you should have expected. My question remains: who signed Alou, and why is he skating away scot-free here?

metirish Jul 25 2007 11:05 AM

I don't exactly remember my overall view on Alou when he signed but I am fairly certain I thought he would be a good bat when healthy,knowing that he would be on the DL at some point.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 25 2007 11:06 AM

Ira again imagines the CPF was standing on their chairs, applauding when in actuality the comments, in a thread he even participated in, included: ]Well this sucks. I didn't realize that one of the goals this offseason was to field as old a team as possible. ]Bad deal. Too old and only 1 100-rbi season of late. ]This makes no sense to me. ]Alou, 40, is expected to replace Cliff Floyd on the disabled list ]Alou is - or at least can be - a terrific hitter who'll give us RH punch ... but I don't like this a bit. He's a lousy outfielder who's often injured and can no longer run very well. And how, exactly, do guys previously contemplating retirement suddenly rate two-year deals? I would have preferred Cliff for those terms. Hey Omar, what happened to 'younger, cheaper & more athletic'? ]Yes, he'll spend some time on the dl, yes he doesn't field all that well any more, but year to year he's still an effective player. ]Urg. Don't think I like this one at all. ]This move sucks. ]can he stay away form the DL?,probably not but if he can then this could bea cool move. ]I'm not excited about this one bit

iramets Jul 25 2007 11:06 AM

Rockin' Doc wrote: I get the impression, possibly mistakenly so, that he is in no real hurry to return to the Mets and actually earn some of his paycheck. And this is precisely the sort of character-assassination I had in mind. Lack of evidence aside, can you suggest a motivation that Moises might have for preferring to spend time on the DL? It beats working? He doesn't give a shit about winning? He's a double-agent? Why would he be malingering? What's his goal in doing so?

iramets Jul 25 2007 11:09 AM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Ira again imagines the CPF was standing on their chairs, applauding when in actuality the comments, in a thread he even participated in, included: ]Well this sucks. I didn't realize that one of the goals this offseason was to field as old a team as possible. ]Bad deal. Too old and only 1 100-rbi season of late. ]This makes no sense to me. ]Alou, 40, is expected to replace Cliff Floyd on the disabled list ]Alou is - or at least can be - a terrific hitter who'll give us RH punch ... but I don't like this a bit. He's a lousy outfielder who's often injured and can no longer run very well. And how, exactly, do guys previously contemplating retirement suddenly rate two-year deals? I would have preferred Cliff for those terms. Hey Omar, what happened to 'younger, cheaper & more athletic'? ]Yes, he'll spend some time on the dl, yes he doesn't field all that well any more, but year to year he's still an effective player. ]Urg. Don't think I like this one at all. ]This move sucks. ]can he stay away form the DL?,probably not but if he can then this could bea cool move. ]I'm not excited about this one bit You wouldn't be able to supply a link to that thread, would you, Johnny? Because a link might reveal a few positive comments about the Alou signing? With the names of specific CPFers on it, perhaps? It's a shame you can't find that link, a damned shame, I say.

metirish Jul 25 2007 11:09 AM

I don't get the feeling att all that Alou would rather be on the DL ,of course what do I know.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 25 2007 11:18 AM

Here's your link: http://www.getalifealready.com/cpf/archives/5200/f1_t5214.shtml

Nymr83 Jul 25 2007 11:21 AM

iramets wrote: You wouldn't be able to supply a link to that thread, would you, Johnny? Because a link might reveal a few positive comments about the Alou signing? With the names of specific CPFers on it, perhaps? It's a shame you can't find that link, a damned shame, I say. in the archives, november 2006, the thread is titled "Alou"

TheOldMole Jul 25 2007 12:07 PM

It wasn't all that poor a choice. Alou was an important part of their roaring start, that propelled them into a division lead that they still have. They knew he wasn't going to play 130 games, and they had capable backup, and capable backup to the backup -- young, healthy players. Who could predict that they'd lose all of them.

smg58 Jul 25 2007 12:12 PM

By signing Alou the Mets made a short-term commitment to a guy who hits when he's healthy. Minaya decided that Lee and Soriano would not be worth their asking prices over the long term, and presumably the outfield depth in the farm system factored into that decision. The risks were obvious, and to date something close to the worst-case scenario has happened. So basically, Minaya was gambling on a few things: 1. The Mets would have enough outfield depth that losing Alou would not knock them out of first place. A litany of injuries to other outfielders besides Alou has made that look very dicey at times, but so far the Mets have kept their heads above water. 2. Alou would contribute at least something significant at some point, preferably in October. That remains to be seen. 3. At least one of either Milledge or Gomez can be handed a full-time job next spring. That also remains to be seen. 4. The Mets will be better over the long haul with some combination of Milledge/Gomez/Martinez roaming the outfield corners and big free agent money spent elsewhere than they would have been had they signed Soriano or Lee. We'll figure that one out some time between now and 2013. All these points are debatable. Minaya's handling of the offseason suggested to me that he was more interested in keeping the Mets competitive for an extended period of time than in doing whatever it took to win this year. That strategy likewise is very debatable. But I think the success or failure of his approach will depend more on what the Mets have in their system than on what Alou does or doesn't do this year.

sharpie Jul 25 2007 12:22 PM

I pretty much agree with what SMG said above. Alou played 98 games last year, 123 the year before that and 150+ games in the two seasons before that. I felt then that with Chavez and Milledge around we could sustain an injury to Alou so that even if he did play roughly 100 or so games we would be fine. What I didn't count on and Minaya surely didn't either was all three of them being hurt at the same time, plus Gomez to boot. If Alou comes back this week and is healthy for the remainder of the season and hits like he has done just about every season he has played then it still isn't a terrible signing. Not as good as if he were healthy for 125 or so games but not terrible.

metsguyinmichigan Jul 25 2007 12:22 PM

I didn't think it was that bad of a signing. The part that went wrong was: * His backup got hurt * The minor-leaguer who was supposed to be the back-up to the back-up got hurt. * The minor-leaguer who was supposed to stay in the minors this year but was brought up to fill in got hurt. * The guy obtained in the trade to be a back-up started in the minors, gor hurt, then sucked when he came up. * The free agent expected to be the Woodward/Super Joe jack-of-all-trades sucked. Had Alou been hurt -- as we knew he would -- and Endy/Lastings/Gomez/Johnson/Newhan been able to fill his spot well, we wouldn't be lamenting his absence. Meanwhile, we're still in first place. And if Alou comes back for the stretch run and is rested for the playoffs, all the better. And if he doesn't come back, well, we've got the best record in the National League without him. Now, if you want to grumble about the Schoenweis signing, count me in!

Johnny Dickshot Jul 25 2007 12:59 PM

Having seen Alou some I'd argue that his crud play at everything but hitting, plus the fact tht his injuries have compromised the team for long stretches this year, makes this a piss deal. The price/committment is right on, bvut I'd almost prefer to think of Alou as the backup/contingency OF and everyone else as a potential starter.

Centerfield Jul 25 2007 01:16 PM

I hated the deal then and I still hate it now. I never understood the club saying they wanted to go in a different direction because Cliff was too brittle, then signing 40 year old Alou with his history of injuries. The Mets had two holes to fill in their lineup, 2nd base and LF, and they took a gamble on two old players and neither of them have been healthy this season. Omar's options may have been somewhat limited but I hated Alou and Valentin in the opening day lineup.

Nymr83 Jul 25 2007 01:20 PM

i still dont think Alou was too bad a move because it was only one year, there was nothing else out there in remotely the same range, and 50 backups all got hurt too which couldn't have been forseen. maybe Alou will still help this team, but if not he'll begone, its not like they got stuck with a bad contract for multiple years (cough Schoenweis cough)

Elster88 Aug 04 2007 06:45 AM

]Changes: Moises Alou and Luis Castillo were removed from the original lineup, replaced, respectively, in left field and at second base by David Newhan and Ruben Gotay. Alou, according to Willie Randolph, "has a bump on his [left] arm," and Castillo, the manager said, was merely given a day off. Alou had crashed into the left-field wall in Miller Park on Thursday, chasing a home run. He had jammed his left thumb sliding into second base Tuesday. Castillo, meanwhile, often ices his left knee.

Nymr83 Aug 04 2007 09:36 AM

LOL

metirish Aug 04 2007 09:50 AM

Some things are best not known....a fuckin bump?

Rockin' Doc Aug 04 2007 10:30 AM

Maybe we should a pitch in and get Alou his own Boo Boo Bear.

Benjamin Grimm Aug 04 2007 11:20 AM

If they're only available in brown, why are they showing them in blue and pink?

Rockin' Doc Aug 04 2007 12:33 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 04 2007 06:05 PM

I'm guessing they're sold out. Alou's a big boy, he should be content with a brown Boo Boo Bear. Edited for typo.

Edgy DC Aug 04 2007 01:03 PM

I have no problem with Willie not pushing him to grind it out. If you want him down the stretch, that's part of how it's done. Yeah, it's better not to know, but then Willie is churish grump. The sort of information a manager considers in making his lineup is often banal.

Elster88 Aug 04 2007 07:37 PM

You take all the fun out of living.