Brown shirt, gray rumors
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, the MLB Network, and pretty much everywhere else, spoke earlier this morning with Evan Roberts of WFAN. Here is some of what he had to say:
Surely I will be in an accident shortly after passing this sign
Heyman reports that the Mets‘ priority list is 5 items long, and he puts it in this order: 1). Corner Outfielder, 2). Shortstop, 3). First Base, 4). Relief Pitching, 5). Starting Pitching. So if I understand this correctly, the Mets are standing pat at Catcher, Center Field and Second Base. What a relief.
He somewhat contradicted this list by saying that the Mets did not have any specific interest in any specific Outfielder at this time, noting that the Mets had “little to no” interest in Adam Dunn, who is considered an “AL player.”
Pure joy, impure calf
The Mets are hopeful that Jose Reyes will return in 4-6 weeks, and are satisfied with Alex Cora and Wilson Valdez in the interim, reports Heyman. Why Shortstop would qualify as priority #2 given that is a mystery to me.
Nick Johnson in the latrine
Despite Heyman placing First Base squarely in the middle of the priority list, he spent the most time talking about this position. Due to Nick Johnson’s impending free agency and injury history, Heyman suggested that the Mets would not have to part with any top prospects or major league ready players to acquire him. “Realistically, the Mets would have to give up 1 or 2 AA prospects” to get Johnson in Heyman’s opinion. He went on to say that if Victor Martinez were available, the Mets would definitely be interested, but added that Martinez is not on the market at this time, saying the only Cleveland Indian currently on the market is Mark DeRosa.
Bursts New York's bubble
Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane has reiterated that starting pitcher Roy Oswalt is not on the market. The only Astro currently on the market is Miguel Tejada, per Heyman. If the Astros were to make Carlos Lee or Lance Berkman available, the Mets would likely be interested according to Heyman, who believes that the Astros have a barren farm system and desperately need prospects to rebuild. He anticipates that if the Astros do not make the post season this year, a massive rebuilding project will begin, but that doesn’t help the Mets now.
Young sox fan mocks Met prospects
Further, Heyman notes the Red Sox have the best quality and quantity of prospects and should any player on the market be of interest to them, they could offer the best package, so the Mets may have some competition for anyone they choose to pursue.
After noting that Relief Pitcher was the fourth Met priority, Heyman never spoke of it again. So there you have it, Jon Heyman’s view of the Mets’ needs and some potential ways to fill them. Take it with a grain of salt.
Official salt of conflicting rumormongers
8 comments
fongy2
6/6/2009-1:55pm at 1:55 pm (UTC -4)
So basically Heyman says we need
help all over.
gipperpdx
6/6/2009-1:57pm at 1:57 pm (UTC -4)
And then condradicts himself.
gipperpdx
6/6/2009-1:58pm at 1:58 pm (UTC -4)
*contradicts.
This blog would be PERFECT with an edit button!
rustyjr
6/6/2009-2:34pm at 2:34 pm (UTC -4)
LOL isn’t he a dirty Yankee fan? Btw only that biased philthy fan is callng reyes “overrated”
stickguy
6/6/2009-2:42pm at 2:42 pm (UTC -4)
what they “need” is a fungible question, largely determined by what assumption you are working under (I know, Mets medical staff..) as to who comes back when. ANd even harder to dertermine, how?
For SS and 1B, are you just keeping the position covered until the regular comes back, by August? Or trying to find a nw guy for the rest of the year!
ANd what do you plan to do with the replacement when the wounded return? For 1B, you can find a player for 2010+ too. Not SS
RP is always going to be lower on the food chain. There are multiple guys already to shuffle around in roles, and live arms to call up. And other than a few elite closers, BP guys are notroiously erratic, so you might as well fill internally.
OF too, they have bodies, so if yo ubring someone in, it starts the domino chain.
I also would not get too hung up on needing a “big bopper” power guy. I would rather have a solid hitter with good D, than a bad glove lumbering HR or nothing machine.
ANd Heyman was just making this stuff up off the top of his head. I, or any of a dozen other posters here, could have done the smae piece (and possible even better, since we follow th eteam)
wannybackstra
6/6/2009-4:22pm at 4:22 pm (UTC -4)
Great stuff, Heb. Heyman is an arse.
oleosmirf
6/6/2009-5:39pm at 5:39 pm (UTC -4)
what we need is a reliable SP after Omar let Lowe slip away. However now that Delgado is out until September and Reyes until the all-star break, we need someone who can hit b/c Beltran and Wright are not enough considering how everyone else is sub par and Sheffield is starting to cool off again…
Martinez wont help us this season and Murphy and his .240 BA 4 Hr and 18 RBI along with his awkward defense is unacceptable at 1B. Delgado will be back and some point so Nick Johnson is only an option if we can get him for next to nothing. We have 2 SS Cora and Valdez who can fill in for the next 4-8 weeks until Reyes is back and our relief pitching is fine.
What we need is a power bat that can play the field but at the same time wont cost us one of our top prospects (expect for Murphy and/or Niese) I have no problem trading either one of those…
CaseStreet
6/6/2009-7:06pm at 7:06 pm (UTC -4)
Grave, excellent post. Love the Full Metal Jacket pic.
This is going to be a fun and interesting couple of months, trying to guess who will be traded.
However, I doubt Omar will bring in a STAR player. It’s not his M.O.
Let’s just hope our guys play .500 ball and the DL team makes it back soon and ready to go.