Yardbarker: Aaron Sele

Matt Garza Pulls a Pedro

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:00:10 -0500

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Should The Mets Trade Bobby Parnell?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:30 -0500

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP A sign of things to come? Browse more photos » Or more specifically, should the Mets trade him for Nick Johnson, the rumored Nationals' asking price? James got me thinking about this question, and there's a pretty interesting debate to be had. Usually, I don't give full consideration to ever rumor that's whispered, but usually I have an immediate yes-or-n...

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:09:00 -0500

Red Sox Magic Number - 97The Red Sox magic number is now 97. There isn't much special about the number 97. And there really wasn't anything special about the 97 Red Sox. Just look at the starting rotation for that 1997 team - Tim Wakefield, Tom Gordon, Aaron Sele, Jeff Suppan, and Steve Avery. The team sure has come far in 12 years.

Happy birthday, Damon Buford

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:00:18 -0500

Happy birthday to Damon Buford, who turns 39 today. Buford, son of former major leaguer Don Buford, came to the Rangers from the Orioles after the 1995 season, in exchange for former Loyola Marymount swingman Terrell Lowery, who had been drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round by Sandy Johnson a few years earlier, when Johnson was in full-on "I'm too cool to draft baseball players" mode. Buford had a nice season as a part-time player in 1996, was given the starting centerf...

Standings and Placement Analysis

Sun, 17 May 2009 20:37:00 -0500

This week I will cover all the teams in the AL and where they are in the division and analyze why they are there.AL East:1. Toronto Blue Jays (25-14) – The reason the Blue Jays are doing so well right now is pretty much everything. They have the 2nd best ERA in the AL (3.97) behind the Kansas City Royals, and they have scored the most runs in the AL (223), by 17. Also, they’re tied for the 3rd least amount of errors in the AL (19) with Texas, behind only Detroit (18) and Minnesota (13). They ...

#36-40 Top 50 All-Time Rangers List

Sat, 09 May 2009 15:52:00 -0500

The Rangers are in first place by 1.5 games and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. I can’t wait for them to get back in town next week. I was at the game last Sunday at the ballpark, when the Rangers beat the White Sox 5-1, behind 5 solid innings from Matt Harrison plus a 2-for-3 performance by Elvis Andrus. My grandparents own a condo in Myrtle Beach and we go there every year in the summer. The Braves Low-A affiliate, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, play there, and we always see them play while we’...

And that’s how you do that

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:14:46 -0500

Man, when’s the last time we heard “Dirty Water” played on Opening Day? Turns out 1995, behind five innings from Aaron Sele, a 4-5 hitting performance from Mike Greenwell, plus 3 RBI from the Hit Dog himself, Mo Vaughn. Thanks to 10 K’s from Beckett, home runs from Pedroia and Varitek, timely hitting from some of our other fabulous white guys, and shut door from Papelbon, the Standells blared once again in Boston. All is right with the world. For me, it was a frustrating first few innings. “Ooh, the pulsating circle representing David Ortiz looks late on these swings…” And what’s up with the poorly loading commercials on GameCast? So in a way, tomorrow’s my personal Opening Day, when I...

Villone leading the pack...

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:28:20 -0500

It appears that the cutting of Duaner Sanchez will save the Mets approx. 1.5 MM which will more then likely be the salary of the two relievers who will replace him. If Duaner was the pitcher of old Jerry Manuel was leaning towards a six man pen with Duaner and Green picking up most of the middle ...

Preliminary Thought on the Mets: Pitchers

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:12:41 -0500

They haven't even played intersquad games yet, but while we're waiting for things to get underway here are a few keys I see early on, along with some from the gut picks on who I think might be on the opening day roster. Today we'll do the pitchers, tomorrow the position players and ...

My Struggling Organization: Texas Rangers

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:12:33 -0500

One of the most vivid memories of my childhood was watching the Rangers and Yankees play in the ALDS every season. The Rangers were a fun team to watch because of their ridiculous lineup anchored by Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Rafael Palmiero (enter steroids joke here). Not too mention that they had two guys: Rick Helling and Aaron Sele, who had huuuuuuuuuuuge breaking curveballs that seemed to to float up to the sky before furiously spinning back over the plate for a strike. How cool ...

Playing With Fire

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:30:00 -0500

Sure, it was crushing.But this game, unfortunately, was lost on Saturday night.Sure, one might say that the Mets squandered the lead twice in this game – and that it's hard to lambaste the team when the starting pitcher went fewer than five innings because of an injury – but this one was really over Saturday night.You might remember Saturday night's - well, maybe Sunday morning's - Mets game, a 14-inning thriller chock full of comebacks, contributions from journeymen, and guys on ...

Fertilizer

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:07:00 -0500

I really wanted to write a wrap-up of last night's game. Something scathing. But, the Mets lost to a pitcher named Dickey (perhaps my relative), and started a team (with the highest payroll in the National League) that included Trot Nixon, Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis and noted stiff in '08 Oliver Perez. This is the baseball equivalent of an NFL Europa team. And to be fair, I don't much care for that Castillo fellow. He really plays poor baseball. Maybe it's the injuries, but i...

Mets decline Arbitration to Eight...

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:25:06 -0500

According to Rotoworld the Mets have declined to offer salary arbitration to C Paul Lo Duca, C Sandy Alomar Jr., 1B Jeff Conine, C Mike DiFelice, INF Damion Easley, OF Shawn Green, RHP Aaron Sele and 2B Jose Valentin.

El Duque Would Bolster Mets' Pen

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:10:13 -0500

It comes down to risk vs. reward, and maximizing your assets. How much is gained by moving Maine or Perez to the bullpen? If the impact is minimal, the team must consider all of its options. For a rotation that averages rarely more than 6 innings per start, the value of the bullpen come October can't be overstated. And while the team's current streak of wins has everyone riding high, less than a month ago fans and management alike were in a panic over the state of the Mets' relief corp. The Mets' postseason prospects may have improved, but the likes of Aaron Sele, Guillermo Mota, and Scott Schoeneweis certainly have not. Even Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman aren't the reliable rocks of a season ago, and one could argue that Heilman hasn't been the same pitcher since Yadier Molina's NLCS-winning home run last October. The Mets are going to need innings out of their bullpen if they're to make any sort of credible run in the playoffs, but it remains to be seen from where those innings will come. Though Billy Wagner has put up strong numbers (if uneven results) and Jorge Sosa has a 2.78 ERA since moving to the pen, it's tough to shake the feeling that the Mets are missing one more piece in that bullpen.

Kennedy, Eckstein and Spezio

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 23:10:48 -0500

I like interleague play. It's cool going to new cities and playing against teams you don't face very often. I've never been to St. Louis or Cincinnati so I'm looking forward to checking out both stadiums. St. Louis has been a trip I've been looking forward to since the schedule came out. I know more guys on that team than any other team in baseball. Adam Kennedy is one of my best friends in the game. Then you have Eckstein and Spiezio, just a bunch of solid guys. It's going to be fun playing them. Those guys were all part of our championship team. We had great chemistry. I loved hanging out in that clubhouse and it showed on the field. It was a special group. I really like this year's team too. We have a good mix of guys, a lot of young guys and a bunch of older guys who've done it before. We can show the younger guys how to win. The young guys are hungry and that brings a lot of energy to the team but it's good to have the mix. You need a little of both. I guess I'm kind of in the middle. I'm not an older guy but I've been to the playoffs three times so I know what it takes to win. Ultimately you have to have talent and we do. You can only teach the young guys so much. You need talent to hang. Early on for me, Aaron Sele and Dennis Cook were here and they took me out to lunch every day on the road and taught me how to be a big leaguer. They taught me everything. I mean how to tip, how to act, a lot of things that go into it that you just don't think about.