Why I Love Jae Weong Seo (in a manly way)

I don't like to think of myself as too much of a sentimentalist. I am a diehard Mets fan, but I'm a fan of the team before I am a fan of any particular player. For example, I appreciate the years of service Al Leiter gave to the franchise, but I wasn't shedding any tears after he was unceremoniously lowballed. For one, it spared me from having to watch any more five inning, five walk, 115 pitch outings, and for another, I won't have to worry about a young pitching prospect being badmouthed and later traded for being cocky during spring training. (Or this year, fat and unable to throw over 87 mph)

Now there was a time when the loss of a Met I liked would affect me greatly. When I was eight and Gary Carter left for San Francisco, I was crushed. This general goodwill towards my Mets was killed by John Franco in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS. And since then, I have no compunction about unloading a guy who has been a longtime Shea Stadium resident. You do what you have to in order to make the team better.

I do, however, hold a special place in my heart for marginal pitchers that probably really shouldn't get people out with their stuff, but do anyway. I don't know why. Perhaps it is due to my own history as a pitcher who managed to get guys out despite not having much more than a 59 foot sinker, and an occasionally sliding slider. My brethren on the mound hold a special place in my heart.

Jae Seo probably wasn't the worst starting pitcher on a major league roster last year, but I would be hard pressed to say he would have been anything more than a fifth starter on a mediocre or worse team (which conveniently, the Mets happened to be). His scouting report pretty much bares this out.

Yet watching his six innings of competent pitching on short rest this weekend reminded me why I adore the Korean right-hander. He is sort of the M.L. Carr of the Mets; the guy on the bench that always waves his towel when a teammate makes a big play. I watched way too many Mets games last year, and by about August, I had to find new ways to make the constant string of defeats palatable. So I started making it a point to check out who was first up the dugout steps when a Met hit a home run. Invariably, it was Mr. Seo.

This was reinforced by a start he had about the same time. He pitched pretty well, probably 6+, 3 ER, and was sitting on a lead when he was taken out. Of course, if you watched any Mets games last summer you can guess what happened next. Someone, I'm going to say Jose Parra, got shelled, the lead was gone and Seo was looking at a dreaded ND. Now, did he go into a Glavine-like funk? Nope, as the Mets stormed back to retake the lead, he was still first up on the dugout steps, a lone bright spot in a summer of poor performances on the field and even poorer performances off the field.

Perhaps I am just grasping at the straws of a lost season, and no doubt Seo will be back to Norfolk or South Korea soon enough. Perhaps this weekend's performance gave him enough utility to be trade bait for some bullpen help.

And I can't say I won't be pleased when Trachsel and Benson are healthy and back in the rotation, but I am going to miss Mr. Seo. I will always have a soft spot for the guy, even if his ERA+ never breaks 100.

Guess Who's Coming to Right Field?

Mike Cameron is prepared to come off the Disabled List and back into the starting line-up for the Mets by the end of the month. Randolph has said that this means a return to the minors for Victor Diaz. Willie wants Diaz to get an opportunity to play every day. Well, here is a radical thought, Willie, let him play every day on the major league roster.

I am a firm believer in playing the hot hand as long as possible. It is quite possible that by May 15th, Diaz will be hitting .250 and botching balls left and right, but as of right now, he is flourishing in the line-up, despite spending most of his time in the eight hole. He leads the team in home runs, runs scored, OPS and batting average, and now he is minor league bound? The only potential advantage I see Cameron offering is defense, and certainly not enough to make up for the loss of offensive production. I know this is the Mets and there is never a promising youngster that can’t be replaced by an inferior, yet high priced veteran; however, how do you sit the guy with the 5th leading OPS in the league (1.519 the last seven days!). Even if that may not last, Cameron will find a way to get his 150 strikeouts and 25 solo home runs even if he takes a few more weeks off. Until then, let Diaz pound the stuffing out of the ball for a little while longer.

Fool's Gold

Throughout Spring Training games I was bombarded with two things:

1. Very ugly jerseys. (As an aside, I would be thrilled to go the rest of my life without seeing any black in the color scheme of Mets jerseys; however, while I’ve made my piece with that inevitability, I refuse to recognize royal blue and black as an appropriate color scheme for any uniform outside of maybe the Arena Football League)

2. Commercials hyping the NEW METS

Indeed, the Mets fan had a lot to look forward to this year. He had a General Manager who seemed willing to spend New York money on A-list free agents, as opposed to New York money on Jeremy Burnitz and mummified Roberto Alomar, a solid starting five that would be league average or better in their respective slots, and a line-up with some star power mixed with serviceable hands and homegrown prospects prepped for breakout seasons. He was even willing to overlook the fact that there was only going to be one or two actual major league caliber pitchers in his bullpen.

While there might have been some debate on whether Pedro was worth the money, or how well Beltran would hit in Shea, or if Mike Piazza would rebound or regress further, the usual Talking Heads were uniformly excited about the top of the Mets order. And, why not? Jose Reyes was looking healthy for the first time. Matsui had the ‘adjustment’ year under his belt, and was no longer going to embarrass himself at shortstop. And they had speed! They had 50 stolen base speed! Both of them! At the top of the order! Smallball! Are you aroused yet, baseball pundit? As attractive as the Mets 1-2 hitters looked before the season, it would seem that all that glitters is not gold.

A caveat- I love watching Jose Reyes play. He’s just plain fun to watch, as he stretches routine base hits into doubles, steals bases seemingly at will and fills the BBTN web gem section. That said, he doesn’t walk. Ever.

Okay, that’s a bit harsh. If you look at his career numbers, admittedly only 120 games worth, he does walk occasionally. Occasionally is a colloquial expression though, so let’s be specific. He walks about once every 29 plate appearances. At his best, Reyes is probably a .310 hitter, and that’s being liberal. Is he going to be getting on base consistently at a .350 clip? I don’t know if I see it.

With that said, he might make a good number 2 hitter, until you look at his strike out rate, in absolute terms and relative to his walk rate. Is this nitpicking? Perhaps a little. I’m not suggesting he become Brett Butler or anything. I’d take his minor league walk rate at this point. If he gets on base a little more, his speed’s multiplier effect will lead to an exponential increase in runs created.

Of course, while Reyes is not without value at the top of the order, Matsui, hitting in the two hole, is more problematic. He walks more than Reyes, and has marginally better power, but he strikes out a lot for a number two hitter, almost once every five plate appearances last year. If you buy the ‘adjustment’ factor, that’s fine. I personally don’t, but even so, how much of a decrease are you willing to grant him? Out of the box, his strikeout rate is about where it was last year, and he’s only walked once. It’s a tiny sample size, but I don’t know if it necessarily an aberration. He is still valuable (offensively, mind you) and would be fine as a number 7 hitter. He just strikes out too much to be valuable in the two hole. Put Wright there and you get fewer strikeouts, more walks, and significantly more power. I’m not suggesting put Cairo out there every day- apparently baseball punditry is not for those with long memories- but there are some fairly simple fixes that Randolph could make that would make the Mets more effective run producers. And with that bullpen, they’re going to need it.

But that is a topic for another day, and probably several other days.