Friday, April 07, 2006
Mets 9, Marlins 3
It is somewhat difficult to get too excited about beating the Florida Marlins this year. It's like jumping up and down over the fact that the Mets were able to beat one of the better AAA teams. It's still fun to see the Mets win in dominant fashion, but drawing conclusions about the team's ability as a result of it is probably unwise.
According to ESPN.com, the Marlins' payroll this year is $14,344,500, or less than half of what the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are spending. The Marlins' second highest paid player is Brian Moehler, who posted a 4.55 ERA last year in his best season since 2000. ESPN's salary listings only show 23 Marlins, but surely the other two guys are making the league minimum of $327,000. Adding those two to the total still leaves the entire Marlins team making less money than each of the five highest paid players on the New York Yankees this year. So you can understand how the Mets could send out both Jorge Julio and Darren Oliver to pitch in this game and still win.
The Mets' offense continued to roll in the face of this insignificant opposition, racking up thirteen hits, six of them for extra bases. It was another big night for Jose Reyes, who had both a double and a home run among his three hits. David Wright had another two hits, one of which was his second home run of the season. Both Carlos Delgado and Xavier Nady had two hits as well. And in the category of "I don't know which should embarrass the Marlins more," both Steve Trachsel and Endy Chavez hit a double.
Trachsel also had a good night on the mound against Miguel Cabrera and eight other professional baseball players. Trachsel lasted six innings and allowed just one run on three hits and one walk while striking out six. At thirty-five years old and having missed most of last year due to injury, Trachsel is something of a question mark this year. If he can maintain something resembling this sort of performance against actual major league lineups, the Mets rotation will begin to look a bit more solid than it did at the start of the season.
Chad Bradford pitched another good inning in relief, getting through the seventh without allowing anything on just nine pitches. Julio, on the other hand, is still not good. Pitching with a lead of eight runs, Julio gave up two runs on three hits and one walk in the eighth while striking out two. The hits weren't struck especially hard and he was able to come back and strike out Cabrera with the bases loaded and just one out to avoid total disaster, but it was still another unimpressive performance from the Benson bait. Oliver pitched a perfect ninth in his season debut.
Things should be a bit more competitive tomorrow as the Marlins send out the guy they have who can pitch to start the game. Dontrelle Willis (0-0, 0.00) will take on Tom Glavine (1-0, 1.50). ¶ joe | 10:30 PM |
It is somewhat difficult to get too excited about beating the Florida Marlins this year. It's like jumping up and down over the fact that the Mets were able to beat one of the better AAA teams. It's still fun to see the Mets win in dominant fashion, but drawing conclusions about the team's ability as a result of it is probably unwise.
According to ESPN.com, the Marlins' payroll this year is $14,344,500, or less than half of what the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are spending. The Marlins' second highest paid player is Brian Moehler, who posted a 4.55 ERA last year in his best season since 2000. ESPN's salary listings only show 23 Marlins, but surely the other two guys are making the league minimum of $327,000. Adding those two to the total still leaves the entire Marlins team making less money than each of the five highest paid players on the New York Yankees this year. So you can understand how the Mets could send out both Jorge Julio and Darren Oliver to pitch in this game and still win.
The Mets' offense continued to roll in the face of this insignificant opposition, racking up thirteen hits, six of them for extra bases. It was another big night for Jose Reyes, who had both a double and a home run among his three hits. David Wright had another two hits, one of which was his second home run of the season. Both Carlos Delgado and Xavier Nady had two hits as well. And in the category of "I don't know which should embarrass the Marlins more," both Steve Trachsel and Endy Chavez hit a double.
Trachsel also had a good night on the mound against Miguel Cabrera and eight other professional baseball players. Trachsel lasted six innings and allowed just one run on three hits and one walk while striking out six. At thirty-five years old and having missed most of last year due to injury, Trachsel is something of a question mark this year. If he can maintain something resembling this sort of performance against actual major league lineups, the Mets rotation will begin to look a bit more solid than it did at the start of the season.
Chad Bradford pitched another good inning in relief, getting through the seventh without allowing anything on just nine pitches. Julio, on the other hand, is still not good. Pitching with a lead of eight runs, Julio gave up two runs on three hits and one walk in the eighth while striking out two. The hits weren't struck especially hard and he was able to come back and strike out Cabrera with the bases loaded and just one out to avoid total disaster, but it was still another unimpressive performance from the Benson bait. Oliver pitched a perfect ninth in his season debut.
Things should be a bit more competitive tomorrow as the Marlins send out the guy they have who can pitch to start the game. Dontrelle Willis (0-0, 0.00) will take on Tom Glavine (1-0, 1.50). ¶ joe | 10:30 PM |
