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All-Star Mets 2008

bmfc1 Jul 06 2008 08:20 AM

It's All-Star Selection day. According to [u:bf922a4ddd]The New York Post[/u:bf922a4ddd], for whatever that's worth (Hubbach didn't write the article), none of the Mets are starting: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07062008/sports/yankees/jeter__a_rod_start_118679.htm (no word if Lenny Kravitz will sing the National Anthem). Which Met or Mets do you think will be selected as a reserve? I think David Wright and Jose Reyes will make it. Wagner should, too, but I don't think he'll get the call.

Gwreck Jul 06 2008 08:43 AM

I think Wright will get it as a reserve third baseman. The other possible option for reserve second baseman is Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs, who is less likely to go, if only because the Cubs have 3 starters. At shortstop, Reyes might be most deserving but there's also Cristian Guzman and Miguel Tejada as possibilities. (I think Reyes goes). Billy Wagner might be relegated to the "Final man" vote.

metsmarathon Jul 06 2008 11:04 AM

wright and reyes and beltran are all the second most offensively productive national leaguers at their positions (based on a quick sampling of runs created per espn.com) wright and reyes should make the team. beltran, tho 2nd best centerfielder, is only the 6th best outfielder, and therefore is less likely to make the team, depending on how many outfielders they carry. mind you, i haven't checked to see if the best thridbaseman and shortstop are also the leading vote getters, so there's always that monkey wrench!

metsmarathon Jul 06 2008 11:20 AM

and that assessment holds up when i look at VORP, too. hanley ahead of jose, chipper ahead of wright, and mclouth ahead of beltran. if i open it up to include defense, per wins above replacement, then beltran actually drops to third among centerfielders, with aaron rowand taking top billing. using win shares, wright is third behind chipper and aramis ramirez reyes is third behind christian guzman (!) and hanley ramirez and beltran is the number 2 outfielder, still behind mclouth

Fman99 Jul 06 2008 11:30 AM

What closer from the NL is having a better year than Wags is though? Kerry Wood?

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 11:50 AM

THe NYPost claims to [url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/07062008/sports/yankees/jeter__a_rod_start_118679.htm]already know the starters[/url] despite the fact that TBS is supposed to have top secret rights to them at 2:00 this afternoon. IIRC, ESPN jumped the gun last year by leaking the names and denied MLB's new partner TBS of their moment in the sun.

metsmarathon Jul 06 2008 11:54 AM

wood has more saves, and about as good an era, lidge has 19, like wagner, but with an 0.77ish era and no blownies.

seawolf17 Jul 06 2008 12:05 PM

]Yankees New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will be named with the other pitchers and reserves. The plan is for Rivera to pitch the final All-Star inning in Yankee Stadium history. BAAAAAAAARF.

AG/DC Jul 06 2008 12:07 PM

Mmmmmmop-up.

AG/DC Jul 06 2008 12:11 PM

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 12:36 PM

Wagner's in.

bmfc1 Jul 06 2008 12:39 PM

And only Wagner!

TransMonk Jul 06 2008 12:44 PM

He would have been my only choice.

bmfc1 Jul 06 2008 12:50 PM

Great work by MLB: because of the rule that every team must have a player on the team, Mitchell Report star (and noted liar) Tejada makes the team but David Wright, a player that MLB should be showcasing, does not.

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 12:52 PM

One could make a dcent argument for either Wright or Reyes, but it's always a numbers game and it looks like Chrisitan Guzman, as the token Wash Nat, "took" Reyes's spot.

bmfc1 Jul 06 2008 12:55 PM

Wright's up for the "26th" spot in the fan vote.

Zvon Jul 06 2008 01:24 PM

I am surprised Wright didn't get selected for the bench.

Rockin' Doc Jul 06 2008 01:28 PM

I remember when we kicked around the idea of possibly getting Jermaine Dye to help solve the Mets outfield woes last summer (Alou & Chavez injured, Newhan & Ledee were getting starts). Nobody showed much love for the struggling Dye at the time, now he has a legitimate claim for deserving to be on the AL All Star squad and is one of the 5 vying for the last man fan vote. Hopefully Wright can pull out the vote and make it as the NL's 26th man.

SteveJRogers Jul 06 2008 01:38 PM

bmfc1 wrote: Great work by MLB: because of the rule that every team must have a player on the team, Mitchell Report star (and noted liar) Tejada makes the team but David Wright, a player that MLB should be showcasing, does not. Tejada was picked by the players. You want to be annoyed, be annoyed at them voting Aramis Ramirez over Wright.

bmfc1 Jul 06 2008 01:48 PM

SteveJRogers wrote: ="bmfc1"]Great work by MLB: because of the rule that every team must have a player on the team, Mitchell Report star (and noted liar) Tejada makes the team but David Wright, a player that MLB should be showcasing, does not. Tejada was picked by the players. You want to be annoyed, be annoyed at them voting Aramis Ramirez over Wright. Valid point SJR. It bugs me to see Tejada, and a big-time jerk like Milton Bradley, in a showcase game, but it's not a contest of virtuosity.

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 02:40 PM

Wright's competition for the final spot is: Pat Burrell - Phi Carlos Lee - Hou Cory Hart - Milw Aaron Rowland - SF Reyes's problem is that all the good SS are in the NL this year. Ranking the 20 SSs who qualify with enough ABs by OPS, the NL guys are 1st (Ramirez), 2nd (Reyes), 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 19th (Khalil Greene) while the AL guys are 6th (Michal Young), 11th, 12th (Jeter), 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th & 20th

batmagadanleadoff Jul 06 2008 02:46 PM

You could make a reasonable argument for Johan Santana as an All-Star, given the selections. Santana has the lowest ERA among all pitchers not selected to the ASGame and is one of the leagues's top pitchers this year, if not one of its elites. Santana's won-loss record, which is not suggestive of the quality of his season, undoubtedly did him in.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 06 2008 03:33 PM

Quick, let's trade Reyes to the American League.

Gwreck Jul 06 2008 04:23 PM

With this long rain delay, I expect all CPFers to vote at least 25 times each for David Wright on the "final man" vote.

bmfc1 Jul 06 2008 04:36 PM

I looked at a Rays board and they want us to vote for Longoria and they'll vote for Wright. Voting for Longoria keeps Giambi out of the game.

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2008 05:09 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 07 2008 02:11 PM

AL Vote-in choices: Jermain Dye - Chi Jose Guillen - KC Jason Giambi - NYY Evan Longoria - TB Brian Roberts - Bal

Gwreck Jul 06 2008 05:09 PM

I voted for Longoria, on merit, mostly. (I will admit that keeping Giambi off the roster did cross my mind). Here's hoping the Rays fans vote for Wright. After all, they already have Kazmir.

Rockin' Doc Jul 06 2008 05:26 PM

Yeah, the Rays and their fans do owe us on that score.

G-Fafif Jul 06 2008 05:51 PM

2008 Mets All-Stars Suck

metsguyinmichigan Jul 06 2008 10:05 PM

bmfc1 wrote: I looked at a Rays board and they want us to vote for Longoria and they'll vote for Wright. Voting for Longoria keeps Giambi out of the game. Deal! Those sneaky Rays fans!

metsguyinmichigan Jul 07 2008 08:27 AM

It seems like the 25-vote per person rule doesn't apply for the last-man slot...it let me keep voting and voting and voting like I was in Chicago. If D-Wright doesn't make it, it won't be my fault.

soupcan Jul 07 2008 08:36 AM

Do you guys really care that much? I haven't given two craps about the All-Star game since I was 17. Sure I'll watch it but other than that...

Benjamin Grimm Jul 07 2008 08:39 AM

I don't. I hope Wright wins, but whether he does or not, I'm still not voting or watching. (I guess I give fewer craps about the All Star Game than soupcan does.)

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 07 2008 08:50 AM

Wright really oughta go. Wagner really oughta be traded to Seattle.

Vic Sage Jul 07 2008 08:52 AM

i would think that, whichever of those players (maybe all?) have A-S bonus clauses in their contracts would have their agents set it up so they have 24/7 voting for their clients.

metsguyinmichigan Jul 07 2008 08:55 AM

I love the All-Star Game. It's one of my favorite days of the year. Might be a carry over from when I was growing up and the NL beat the snot out of the AL year after year. With the Mets in the dumpster in those years, it was my only chance to get one over on the Yankee fans. I was able to attend the Home Run Derby in Cleveland before it was a Big Hairy Deal -- it was lumped in with the celebrity softball game and the workout day. And I've been able to get to the FanFests in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit. They're a lot of fun.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 07 2008 08:59 AM

When I was a kid I liked the All Star Game because it was a chance to root for guys like Johnny Bench and Willie Stargell and Juan Marichal instead of against them. And when we got into the mid-80's, it was fun to see so many Mets in the starting lineup, and to root for guys like Strawberry and Gooden do well on the big stage. By around 1990, though, both of those aspects and worn out for me. And the 1994 strike forever killed my interest in the All Star Game (among other things), and the only thing that will bring it back is if my daughter someday plays in the game, as she seems to think will happen.

AG/DC Jul 07 2008 09:01 AM

The All-Star Game predicted the future, in that first the distinction between leagues grew toward meaninglessness, and then the distinction between teams grew toward meaninglessness.

Nymr83 Jul 07 2008 11:32 AM

Vic Sage wrote: i would think that, whichever of those players (maybe all?) have A-S bonus clauses in their contracts would have their agents set it up so they have 24/7 voting for their clients. i'm picturing a bunch of high school kids out of school for the summer, getting paid $8 an hour to vote non-stop.

G-Fafif Jul 07 2008 11:33 AM

I've enjoyed it (save the result) the last few years given the generous Met representation and participation, to say nothing of the lavish Willie Mays tribute last summer. Now it comes to MFY Stadium and all its attendant self-love and there's one Met named (for now) and it's the one Met I'm not exactly in the mood to look at lately. I've never been in the "screw it" camp, but I might be this year.

Vince Coleman Firecracker Jul 07 2008 12:20 PM

metsguyinmichigan wrote: It seems like the 25-vote per person rule doesn't apply for the last-man slot...it let me keep voting and voting and voting like I was in Chicago. Really? After I voted once, I had to shave my beard into a goatee before I could vote again. I suppose I could shave the goatee into a mustache to vote a third time, but I don't want to look like [url=http://www.thesportshernia.com/baseball/images/giambi.png]certain jackasses[/url].

86-Dreamer Jul 07 2008 02:04 PM

wondering if the choice of Wagner over Santana due to: 1) Stupidity (inability to comprehend very simple statistics which clearly indicate Santana as one of the top 3 or 4 starting pitchers in the league) or 2) Strategy (a reliever used to working one inning probably better fit than a starting pitcher working in between starts if trying to win one game) I guess stupidity.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 07 2008 02:14 PM

I bet if Santana's record was 10-4 instead of 7-7, everything else being the same, he'd be on the team.

AG/DC Jul 07 2008 02:14 PM

Don't criticize the stupidity, so much as exploit it by encouraging your team to buy pitchers whose performances aren't shown justice by unimpressive win-loss records.

Frayed Knot Jul 07 2008 02:42 PM

by the way, has anyone heard that the game's going to be in YANKEE STADIUM this year?

Vince Coleman Firecracker Jul 07 2008 02:42 PM

Not that I care that much for the ASG, but Tejada over Reyes is a pretty bad snub. Reyes, 2008: .297 AVG /.357 OBP /.485 SLG /124 OPS+ /.301 EQA /35.9 VORP /9.5 WARP3 /12 Win Shares Tejada, 2008: .283 AVG /.324 OBP /.440 SLG /101 OPS+ /.267 EQA /18.6 VORP /6.6 WARP3 /9 Win Shares No reason behind this at all.

metsguyinmichigan Jul 07 2008 02:54 PM

Wright is apparently second in the voting right now, behind Corey Hart. Needless to say, I've had a productive half-hour trying to get him up there. The potential for Wright to belt a game-winner in the MYF's home on the big stage is too great to ignore. He seems to do well in All-Star Games.