Comments on: Delgado: He just stunk

By: letsgometsgo

letsgometsgo — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:28:32 +0000

What's a matter Steve the O…. Don't you think the Churchman is good enough to replace the aged, injures, slowing Delgado in the 5 hole??? If I missed my target you wouldn't have responded.
Of Course I'll give Churchman a chance. I'm the one wanting him to protect Beltran!!! I think his nickname should be steeple. I see he has almost as few stolen bases as Gus Triandos had. So since he is slow steeple sounds pefect. Beltran better have healthy legs with Alou and steeple at his sides. I see my man steeple has a number 19 assigned to him. Any good Mets ever have it before? Was Ojeda 19?

By: Steve (The ORiginal)

Steve (The ORiginal) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:04:41 +0000

Letsgo: If that is a fight then you missed with an overhand left!!!! Now repeat after me… Give Church A Chance!!! Give Church A Chance!!! Give Church A Chance!!!

By: letsgometsgo

letsgometsgo — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:43:09 +0000

Since you all for the most part love the Churchman and think Delgado is finished, why don't you have Delcos try to talk Willie into batting Church 5 and Delgado 7. You all know….. Because an aging Delgado is still a lot moe potent than the Churchman in the prime of his baseball years.!
(I can't help it. I find the Delgado fight boring and the Church fight fun!)

By: metsfan

metsfan — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:13:47 +0000

if I knew you Mike C. i'd put like $50 down on Delgado having a better year then last year, but unfortunately we can only argue about it over the internet, what a shame.

By: Mike C.

Mike C. — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:54:45 +0000

Because… he was going through a brief period of good health when he accumulated those numbers.

I'm not saying that he won't have two or three little streaks of effectiveness in 2008… he probably will, at that… but the dude is what he was last year plus another year and more injuries.

By: metsfan

metsfan — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:49:30 +0000

That may be all so Mike C., but it still doesn't mean that Delgado is finished, and we're "lucky" as you say to even get .250 and low 20's in HRs. That is simply ridiculous. In 2 of the last 3 months of the season last year, he had OPS's of .939 and .949. In the 2nd half, he hit .285 with an OBP of .375. In september alone he his .321 with a .383 OBP with that .949 OPS. The other months of the season weren't great, but it was his April that really made his entire year look that bad, yet he only got better as the season went on. How does your rational explain any of that? If a player is losing skills as he ages, how does he get better as the season goes on and have a really great september?

By: Mike C.

Mike C. — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:20:15 +0000

Yeah, he improved a bit by the end of last season… and then he got injured. Again. And he's another year older to boot.

There's only one way to get years and injuries back… and it's the same thing that Pettite's pulled a Reagan on in the news today.

"I'm told I did HGH but in my heart, I don't believe it."

Injuries and years diminish returns in baseball, past your early thirties or so. They just do.

By: scoopcoop

scoopcoop — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:50:14 +0000

crockett, "If we get league average power and on-base numbers from him, which I think is entirely possible, we’ll be okay."

As long as Alou is healthy for 80-100 games and Church gives us what he did last yr.

By: dave crockett

dave crockett — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:43:00 +0000

Aging cost him a lot of his effectiveness. So Ravi and most of the other posters here are right. The 40 homer days are likely long gone. He can't consistently turn on the plus fastball inside anymore. If we get league average power and on-base numbers from him, which I think is entirely possible, we'll be okay.

By: Ravi

Ravi — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:07:24 +0000

It wasn't a total lost year for him. If you recall, he had some procedures done shortly before the season started, and while the 1st half was way down for him, his second half #'s were on par with his career averages, with only his SLG% taking a dive (and a result, his OPS which is SLG% + OBP):

AVG OBP SLG OPS
1st Half .242 .305 .435 .740
2nd Half .285 .375 .469 .844

Career .280 .386 .549 .935

The days of him as a 35-40HR guy with 125+RBI are more than likely over, but I think we could see a 30-35HR/90-100RBI season out of him, given a productive lineup. While I'd love to have Tex in Citifield in '09, that right field porch should help inflate Delgado's numbers, should he re-up

By: metsfan

metsfan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:57:05 +0000

I don't know how Mike C can say he only expects .250 and low 20's in home runs. I mean, ANYONE who watched game last season, saw Delgado was a much better hitter in the 2nd half and towards the end of the season. In the 1st half, he went through prolonged stretches were he just looked lost. He didn't look great the whole 2nd half, but there were stretches of his past self and overall he was much more consistent. He also got injured during the middle of him heating up and that cost him. Now, i'm not saying we're getting circa 2003 Delgado, but we're certainly not getting a totally washed up Delgado. A washed up player wouldn't have been able to do better in the 2nd half then in the 1st half. How does that work? Delgado's demise has been overrated in my opinion. He'll be a fine #5/#6 hitter.

By: scoopcoop

scoopcoop — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:26:37 +0000

Whether he does well or not I hope Mets go after Texieria in the off season.

By: Steve (The Original)

Steve (The Original) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:17:54 +0000

OK…I now know…Mike C and Steve C are one in the same! :-)

By: Azy

Azy — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:00:42 +0000

If he's open to adjustments we could get a decent year out of him. If he looks the other way and stops trying to hit the up and in fastball which he can't catch up to anymore. He should stop focusing on hitting homers and more on getting doubles and driving in runs.

A productive Delgado really lengthens the line up.

By: Mike C.

Mike C. — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:51:45 +0000

He's a broken-down powerhitter, aged 5-7 extra years by injuries, who won't admit he's not a powerhitter anymore… if he would change his approach and swing for contact instead of drive, maybe there's still a year left in him.

But the way he's in denial that repeated injury and aging were what turned his old successful ways into bad habits… because his body couldn't make the old ways work…

Well, lets just say, I doubt it. I think we're lucky if we get .250 out of him and the low twenties in home runs.

If we still had Milledge and Estrada, I'd bat him eighth until he proved otherwise… as it is, no higher than sixth. He was shakily collapsing in 2006, in streaks and slumps, he collapsed entirely in 2007.

A dude hopes but a dude also lives in reality.

I think he's basically done.

By: Steve (The Original)

Steve (The Original) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:27:20 +0000

Well he better regain his "focus." Because without him, this lineup becomes pretty pedestrian IMO