Victor Zambrano Stinks

by user Awrigh01

When will the Mets organization realize what every Mets fan already knows--Victor Zambrano stinks? Zambrano does not have the talent or makeup to the be in the Mets starting rotation. Since the trade for Scott Kazmir, Zambrano has not made the requisite adjustments to improve his pitching and frankly I am sick of it.

On most days, I think the Mets can win. When Pedro Martinez is on the mound I expect victory. I know that Tom Glavine, Brian Bannister, and Steve Trachsel at least will keep the Mets in a ballgame. Zambrano . . . well, no one has confidence in him.

Yesterday, with two outs, Zambrano in classic fashion loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning. First he allowed a hit to the pitcher. Pretty pathetic. Then he walked Dave Roberts, followed up by another hit by young 2B Josh Barfield. As the Padres best hitter--Brian Giles--walked to the plate, you could see the fear in Zambrano's eyes. Not surprisingly, Zambrano grooves a batting practice fastball and Giles cracks the ball over the right field fence. Typical Zambrano.

Who's to blame? Is it Willie Randolph for stubbornly refusing to adjust his starting rotation? Is it Rick Peterson who arrogantly stated that he could fix Zambrano's mechanics in "10 minutes"--an absolutely absurd statement? Or is it Omar Minaya who refuses to bring up a young arm from the minor leagues to fill Zambranos start.

Let's not repeat the misery of last year, when the Mets stubbornly stuck with Kaz Ishii. Just imagine if they brought Jae Seo up a couple of days sooner, we might have made the playoffs. We know you made a mistake in trading away Kazmir. We forgive you. You kept David Wright and Jose Reyes, and from all estimations, Lastings Milledge will be an impact player. Let's get this clear Mets management--Zambrano is not the answer. He's not the messiah. He's a below average pitcher who belongs on the Royals. Let's end the shower of boos, and send him away from New York for a bag of balls.

Date

Mon 04/24/06, 7:53 am EST <pageTools></pageTools>

Anonymous Fanatic #1

1297 days ago

Score 0

as all Mets fan know this trade for Zambrano will not go away. he will pitch on his regular turn for a long time.

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Awrigh01All-Star

1297 days ago

Score 1

why does it have to be that way? Team make plenty of mistakes. The Yankees traded Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps . . . did they insist on starting Phelps for years?

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

1297 days ago

Score 0

Zambrano has the talent but even I am starting to wonder...

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PeanMajor Leaguer

1297 days ago

Score 1

How long do we have to hear Mets fans whine about this? The trade happened in 2004. Get over it. We all know it was a bad trade

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1297 days ago

Score 0

I agree. I don't understand why they don't get rid of it. Why can't the Mets just let this guy go and bring in a guy from the minors. Zambrano and New York don't mix. Why do we, the fans, see it, but not the mets management?

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1297 days ago

Score 0

It's not surprising at all that they stick with this guy. Do the Mets ever make rational moves? If they did, Heilman would be starting instead of Zambrano, Valentin and Chavez would not be on the team, and Keppinger would be at second instead of Kaz.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1297 days ago

Score 1

Its completely rational that Heilman is in the bullpen, because in the Mets estimation Zambrano's value in the bullpen is lower than Jorge Julio or any other play in the minors. Therefore, to mazimize the talent the Mets currently have, they decided that Heilman should remain a reliever, as opposed to a starting pitcher. How is that not rational? As for Valentin and Chavez? Who would replace them?

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Anonymous Fanatic #3

1297 days ago

Score 0

The Mets could be 161-1, and they would call the FAN all day and night complaining about the one loss, and crucify whoever caused that loss

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RoblefkoLegend

1297 days ago

Score -1

if the Mets were 161-1 there would be every reason to complain about the 1 loss...it prevented them from having a perfect season!

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DNLLegend

1297 days ago

Score -3

It's not rational for Heilman to be in the pen. The Mets have Heath Bell in the minors, who could easily eat an inning every third game if need be. Remember, Zambrano rarely makes it past 5 innings, so he's costing you an inning per start (as most starters make it through six). That eats up any advantage you get from having Heilman in the pen over Bell.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1297 days ago

Score 1

The Mets made this calculation. Value(Heilman in the pen) > Value(Zambrano in starting rotation) or Value(Health Bell in the pen). I think that's a rational decision.

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DNLLegend

1297 days ago

Score -2

You have your equation wrong. It should be:

Pen(Heilman)+Rotation(Zambrano) > Pen(Bell)+Rotation(Heilman) <p> Seems wrong to me. The better explanation is that the Mets are tilting the left side by adding off-field value (i.e. "saving face" and "not having to cut a guy making $3m").

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

1297 days ago

Score 0

Cmon DNL. I think Heilman stinks but I recognize he is better than Bell. Bell only has 1 pitch which makes him ineffective. The Mets bullpen, especially if Julio and Bradford ever get it going, is very good. Zambrano, like any pitcher this early in the season, deserves more than 3 games before the boo birds come out.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1297 days ago

Score 0

The AF's equation seems perfectly correct to me.

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Anonymous Fanatic #3

1297 days ago

Score 0

do you idiots really think they are going to cut him? The guy is having a bad month, and could probably get demoted to the pen, but cut him? Just becuase he was involved in a bad trade, and is not performing like the person who he was traded for? Look at his stats for the last 3 years -- great? of course not -- but serviceable. Get a fucking clue

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1297 days ago

Score 0

I think he should be demoted to the pen, but I don't think that Heilman should be promoted. I think they should bring up Soler or Maine from the minors.

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Anonymous Fanatic #4

1296 days ago

Score 1

As a Royals fan, I have to say that we don't want Zambrano either.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1296 days ago

Score -1

A team with a .276 OBP in the leadoff spot not making smart decisions. I just don't believe it.

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