Mid-season report cards

[Mookie4ever]

Hey Mets fans!

The Cafe wants to prepare Mid-Season Fantasy Report Cards for MLB teams and we're asking the fans to prepare them. The report cards would be in this format:

Catcher: [insert Mets catcher here] Greg Zaun .259 4 HR 26 RBI 17 R 1 SB Grade: B

What more could the Jays have asked from the vet Zaun? He did it all while playing spotless defence and playing through injury.

Second half: Expect the old timer to cool off as the long season wears on him. He is valuable in AL-only leagues and may be worthy of a roster spot in mixed leagues.

First Base:

Second Base:

Third Base:

Shortstop:

Outfield:

SP:

RP:

One person can prepare the list but we would prefer that it be done in collaboration. You can work on it together or split up the positions.

We are looking to have these finished by the all star break. Once the report cards are done we will be posting them in the Leftovers forum.

Show the Cafe which team has the best fans.

[Mookie4ever]

For examples check out the

Jays forum http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/foru ... p?t=140999

or the Rangers forum
http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/foru ... p?t=139429

[j24jags]

i will definitly post this either later tonight or tomoro but i have to get ready to go to the game tonight

[j24jags]

heres how i see things:
Starting Pitching-B, Pedro has been great, Benson has been solid but the rest has been totally inconsistent

Pedro-A+, cant complain at all, 8-2, ERA in the mid 2s, 117 Ks, hands-down NL CY Young frontrunner as of now, btw he beat his "daddy" tonight
Second Half: He may slow down a little but he will continue to be dominant. He will miss some starts due to fatigue but will be effective when he pitches. If he is 9-3 in the first half, I think he may be 8-4 in the 2nd half. He will win NL Cy Young.

Glavine-C+, has been extremely inconsistant, opponents are batting .323 against him which is extremely PATHETIC. A WHIP of 1.71 foreshadows that his ERA may jump even higher than the current 5.06 it is at. A 21:17 K to BB ratio does not bode well either.
Second Half: I expect him to pick it up a little but mostly because he cannot get any worse really. He is 39 and not getting any younger...

Benson-A-, excluding his first two starts back from the DL, he is 6-1 with a 3.30 ERA. Despite two shaky starts, his WHIP stands at a respectable 1.16 and he sports a Strikeout to Walk ratio of almost 3 to 1.
Second Half: Being 3-0 in his last 4 starts bodes well for Benson. He's pitched very well lately and I don't see any reason why he would slow down. By the end of the season, he'll be clearly the #2 pitcher (if he is not already).

Ishii-C, Ishii has looked awful. With a record of 2-6 and an ERA of 5.25, Ishii has been pathetic. Meanwhile, Jason Phillips, the man he has been traded for, is hitting the ball decent (.255 BA, 4 HRs, 31 RBIs). I think the only reason Ishii is still starting is to try and make that trade look a little better. It is backfiring.
Second Half: Nothing looks good, he has had little to no control and has shown no signs of turning it around. In 6 of his 10 games started his amount of batters walked is equal to or greater than the number of batters he strikes out which is pathetic. Also, historically he blows up after the All-Star Break.
Career Pre-ASB-31-18, 3.79 ERA, .237 Opp BA
Career Post-ASB-7-13, 5.77 ERA, .255 Opp BA
-not lookin good for Ishii
-When Traschel comes back, Ishii will most likely either be dealt, sent to AAA or to the bullpen.

Victor Zambrano-B-, yes the 3rd best pitcher in the rotation which is sad. There are some days where he looks solid and some where he just looks poor. He has pitched much better than his 3-6 record. If Rick Peterson continues to work with him he can keep developing and become decent. Decent yes, worth Kazmir definitly not.
Second Half: He can continue to pitch decent. He is capable of posting a .500 record on the season but i dont see anything much better. 6 of his last 7 starts were "quality" starts which bodes well for Zambrano.

Pedro Martinez is obviously the anchor of this rotation. Without him, the starting pitching would probably get a C+. He makes it so good because of his dominance. They have 3-4 solid pitchers when Traschel comes back and they may want to deal for a starting pitcher. Possible trade bait could be Mike Cameron, Kaz Matsui (If anyone wants him, he'd waive his no-trade clause to play SS) or even Victor Diaz if the club wants to deal him. They could probably get a decent pitcher for Diaz.

Once Again, Starting Pitching=B

[j24jags]

Relief Pitching-C+, Looper and Hernandez have been the only stable guys and Looper hasnt been too stable.

Looper-B+, He may be solid since the beginning of the year but he still has 12 Ks in 27.1 Innings which is pathetic as a closer. A 3.30 ERA is not great for a closer either. On the good side, before tonight he hadnt given up an Earned Run since May 17th.
Second Half: Unless he gets injured, he'll remain the closer. He will need to strike out more batters to become more successful. I don't forsee more than 35 Saves for him this year.

Roberto Hernandez-A, About 9.3 K/9 IP which is very good. An extremely respectable 2.03 ERA. Saves the occasional game (Looper DtD injury or extra inning game). Only has given up 1 Homerun in 31 Innings.
Second Half: At 40 years old, Hernandez shows no signs of slowing. With opponents hitting .218 against him, I think he'll keep up the great ratios and have 5 saves on the year.

Danny Graves-C, It's a little early considering hes only appeared in 3 games but his ERA is over 10. After pathetic time in Cincy, the Mets got him to help strengthen the bullpen not weaken it.
Second Half: Like Glavine, things r at an all-time low and cannot get much worse. I have faith that Rick Peterson can help work with Graves and make him fairly reliable (ERA under 4 w/ a solid K to BB ratio)

Mike Dejean-C-, Reason they cut him

Aaron Heilman-B, he would get an A if it wasnt for that one terrible outing in Philly. I was beginning to think we had a reliable 4-inning guy possibly. I'm having second thoughts though. He has a great 2-seam fastball and if he can lower Hit Batsmen and Walks he can be a very solid option out of the pen.

Royce Ring-B-, it's early to judge him but he has a great slider, 3/4 delivery and he can develop into the lefty specialist they wanted Feliciano to be. He is still young and has time to develop. If Peterson works with him on control, he will be a solid set-up man in years to come.

Dae-Sung Koo-C, best thing all year for him was double off the Unit and the headfirst dive into the plate. His pitching isnt good. He's supposed to be a lefty specialist yet lefties hit .250 vs. him. Righties tear the cover off the ball vs him (.345 BA)

Heath Bell-B-, Has good velocity, needs to develop off-speed stuff. He has potential and once again, it may depend on Peterson to turn him into a solid pitcher. He hasn't been great this year. A trip to AAA wouldnt hurt him.

With two proven vets (Looper, Roberto) and many young guns (Bell, Ring, Heilman) this bullpen is unpredictable. If the young guys develop into solid pitchers this bullpen will become stable. However, in order to contend for the NL East Pennant and/or the postseason the Mets will need 2 of the 4 unsure things (Bell, Ring, Heilman, Graves) to step up and pitch well.

Bullpen=C+

[j24jags]

ill do the infield and outfield tomoro

[j24jags]

Infield-B
Catcher-Piazza-B-, He has been bad offensively posting a Batting Average of .265 w/ only 8 HRs. He's on pace for under 20 HRs and about 90 percent of the runners stealing on him are safe. That is a major disadvantage. 31 RBIs is below average especially considering he bats 4th and 5th very often.
Second Half: Things will get a little better. He is over the hill at age 36 though (Turns 37 in September). His BA, OBP and OPS have dropped off historically after the ASB. This year he is batting .215 w/ Runners in Scoring Position which is pathetic. He'll need to pick that up to remain the 5-hitter because the 5-hitter needs to be an RBI-Man. David Wright is hitting .277 with RISP with more RBIs than Piazza. If they are switched in the order, that will drop Piazza's value even more.

First Base-Mientkiewicz-B-, He has been okay defensively but not nearly gold glove caliber. His .221 BA and 9 HRs are not cutting it. He is 8-24 in his last 7 games which bodes well.
Second Half: He has been getting better with Brian Daubach breathing down his neck. He has had some nice hits and has been making good contact lately (5 Ks in June). Historically his BA and OBP are higher after the ASB so he could be better but don't expect a 25 HR season with any more than a .270 Batting Average.

Second Base-Kaz-C, Just awful, offensively and defensively, nothing else to say
Cairo-B+, he has made the plays defensively and he has a very respectable .286 BA. He also had 7 SBs when he went down which is solid.
Second Half: Cairo could be the go to guy with Kaz slumping so much. Kaz said he'd waive his no-trade clause IF anyone wanted him to play Shortstop. The only possibility I can think of would be the first two shortstops on the depth chart of a team getting hurt plus a second baseman. Cairo had been getting the majority of the starts before they both got hurt though. For now, Marlon Anderson and Chris Woodward are playing decent.

Third Base-David Wright-A-, still young and inexperienced but he is so fun to watch. He knows what he is doing and he is an exciting player. He made one of the best catches I have ever seen (Leaping into the 4th row at Safeco) and he has a solid arm with so much potential. He is hitting very well (.292 BA, 10 HRs, 38 RBIs). His RBI total is so low because Willie had him batting 8th for some reason for many games.
Second Half: Wright will only get better. He is young and gaining experience. Hopefully he will not kill himself replicating his play at Safeco. He will not win MVP, Gold Glove or maybe not an All-Star spot this year but look for him to win them in years to come.

ShortStop-Jose Reyes-B+, his lack of walks (8) has caused him to be dropped from the leadoff hole. He has fielded well and like Wright, will only get better with gaining experience. He is so fast and has so much raw talent.
Second Half: He'll begin to show more plate discipline, discipline comes with experience. Once he gets his BA and BBs up, hell regain the leadoff spot. It may be this September, this postseason (if we get there), or next year.

The left side of the infield is very promising for several years to come (Reyes & Wright, my sig ). The improvement of Mientkiewicz and whoever wins the battle for second base is critical. If the infield can cut down on errors and start hitting better (Aside from Wright), the Mets can make a run at the pennant.

Infield=B

[Mookie4ever]

If somebody covers the outfield I will post this right away.

Where is Amazinz when you need him

[Pogotheostrich]

I agree with most of j24jags comments but the letter grades are crazy. How is no one on the team lower than a C? How is Glavine not an F?

[Amazinz]

I agree with most of j24jags comments but the letter grades are crazy. How is no one on the team lower than a C? How is Glavine not an F?

Well the letter grades are fantasy-based right? In which case ADP is relative so there is only one player on the Mets who deserves a D (I was under the impression it was A-D, not sure about F) and that would be Beltran. That's part of the problem with the letter grades is that it's not very specific as to what they are supposed to mean.

I will post OFers. I thought Jags had gotten it.