Thursday, January 27, 2005

Breaking News! Well, at least to me...

One thing I had forgotten to mention that could make the Doug Mientkiewicz (I've frickin' memorized how to spell his name by now) trade even more suspicious.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Tony Clark to a one year, 750K deal.

Perhaps Clark left a bad taste in the Mets' mouth after 2003, and I do realize Mientkiewicz is better than Clark with the glove. But...

Mientkiewicz, 2004 (career): .676 OPS (.767)
Clark, 2004 (career): .755 OPS (.821)

One would have to assume that Omar Minaya simply felt that 2004 was an off-season for Mientkiewicz and that he'll bounce back, because his glove cannot make up for that anemic offensive production, especially for a 1st baseman. While Clark has been a disappointment every since he left the Detroit Tigers after 2001, he's only 32, so it's not out of the question that he could bounce back. His last two season have been strikeout-laden and bereft of a full season of at-bats, but he still walks at a high rate and hits for power...

Well, it won't really matter to me in either case, since I hold no affection for either the Mets or Diamondbacks. I just think that Minaya had to have had a couple of better options to play 1st base than Doug Mientkiewicz. Heck, he could've gotten Ken Harvey or Calvin Pickering from the Kansas City Royals, and may have been better off offensively, and definitely better off in the payroll department.

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