A Smattering of Intelligence--Santana, Wolf, Invented Trades, and the Hall of Fame

To their credit, the Mets bounced back with a win on Wednesday night, responding nicely to their most devastating loss of the season. They just have to hope that this year's pennant race won't come down to one game, the way it did last year.

Here's my reaction to the Mets' 8-6 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday night: perhaps the Mets should start treating Johan Santana like an ace. On Tuesday, Santana threw 105 pitches over the first eight innings. He sailed through the eighth inning, needing only a handful of pitches to retire the Phillies, putting the Mets three outs away from sole possession of first place. With the Mets holding a three-run lead and Billy Wagner unavailable, the conditions seemed right to have Santana start the ninth and attempt to finish off the game. Instead, manager Jerry Manuel pinch-hit for Santana in the bottom of the eighth and turned the game over to Duaner Sanchez. Six runs and three more pitching changes later, the Mets found themselves down by three runs--on their way to a crushing loss against their prime divisional rival.

I understand that Santana is a prized arm, someone the Mets desperately want to keep healthy, but 105 pitches over eight innings is not an exorbitant total. Asking Santana to give you 115-120 pitches, especially on a night when your closer is unavailable, is not an unreasonable request. Yet, the Mets continue to treat Santana with the most sensitive of kid gloves, even in the midst of a heated pennant race with the Phillies and Marlins. The continued babying of Santana partially explains why he hasn't pitched a single complete game all season. Not one. In contrast, Toronto's Roy Halladay has pitched seven complete games. CC Sabathia, now with the Brewers, has a total of five on the season. I'm not expecting that Santana match either of those totals, but it would nice for the game's top left-hander to complete a game every once in a great while.

Instead, Manuel and the Mets allowed themselves to be ruled by the dreaded pitch count, where anything over 100 pitches is treated with red flags, fire whistles, and burglar alarms. It cost them a game, one that they may or may not be able to retrieve...

The Astros' acquisition of Padres left-hander Randy Wolf has baffled much of the baseball community. Why would the Astros give up a prospect in Triple-A right-hander Chad Reineke for a veteran pitcher when they're already ten games out in the National League Central? What possible difference will Wolf make for a team that needs help everywhere, from the lineup to the bullpen and maybe even the manager's office? Are the Astros certain they can re-sign Wolf, who is eligible for free agency at season's end?

Here's a deal, courtesy of some creative Internet types, which makes so much sense that it will never happen. The prospective trade would have the Orioles send veteran catcher Ramon Hernandez to the Yankees for burly right-hander Chris "Big Foot" Britton. Hernandez would give the Yankees a competent hitting catcher with power (11 home runs), thereby replacing Jorge Posada, who won't be able to catch any more in 2008. Britton, a 25-year-old reliever who has thrown well in limited duty but never gets much of a chance to pitch in New York, would complement George Sherrill in Baltimore's improving bullpen. Britton, a shorter version of Tim Stoddard (the original Big Foot) who stands six-three, 278 pounds, has enough stuff to be a closer, which could ultimately make Sherrill available in a subsequent deal...

The Hall of Fame's official web site doesn't list his name among the inductees returning to Cooperstown for this weekend's induction, but a Hall source tells me that Cal Ripken, Jr. is indeed planning to attend. That brings the total number of expected Hall of Famers to 53. The group also includes Tony Gwynn, who was also a part of the memorable Hall of Fame Class of 2007. Those who are not coming to Cooperstown include Stan "The Man" Musial (who has eliminated most of his public appearances because of health concerns), Hammerin' Hank Aaron (who doesn't often attend inductions), and Carl Yastrzemski (noted for being a recluse).