This from SI’s Tom Verducci,
 “Mets in right field:New York’s offense is so shaky right now that it can’t afford 40-year-old Gary Sheffield to go down. Mets right fielders have hit one home run (fewer than Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo) and scored only 17 runs while putting up a pathetic hitting line of .246/.329/.324. The Mets are kidding themselves if they believe all they need to do is ride out this injury storm for Carlos Delgado to come back from hip surgery as an offensive stud, for Ryan Church play well again — which he hasn’t done for more than a year since his concussion problems began — for Fernando Martinez to be big-league ready at 20, for Jose Reyes to get his legs strong soon and for Sheffield to hold up playing the outfield every day.
Solution:Stop hoping and trade for Brad Hawpe, Mark DeRosa or Matt Holliday. The Mets play 28 of their next 32 games against the Phillies, Yankees, Rays, Cardinals, Brewers, Dodgers and Reds.”
 IMO, the Mets won’t last if we hold off on aquiring a dangerous bat. We just won’t be able to hold on for long. The baseball season is 162 games long, 2 months longer than the NFL season. In other words, it’s a marathon and we’re only 1/3 of the way through while we’re missing that key component.
 Let’s take a closer look at the players mentioned above courtesy of mlbtraderumors –
“Matt Hollidayhas been on a tear since May 5th, walking more than he’s striking out with an OPS of .989. The A’s have heated up, too. Their seven game win streak ended last night, but they’re only 6.5 games out, so they’ll have to fall off if Holliday’s going to hit the market.”
 Yes, I know all the talk about Holliday’s numbers from past years being jacked up due to playing in Colorado, hell, Im pretty sure if my grandmother exercised more she could pop a few out to the stands there, but he is still a potent bat. He made the transition to McAfee Coliseum in Oakland and though his homerun numbers dont make you rub your eyes, there’s still no one on the Mets who has more than him. Holliday is hitting .279 with 8hrs(T-Beltran) and 37rbi’s(More than ANY Met)
“Mark DeRosa‘s Indians are seven games out of first place, and they aren’t selling now, but the versatile 34-year-old could be appealing to teams like the Cardinals and Mets if the Indians struggle.”
 DeRosa is extremely versatile. In the past 2 years, he’s played every position except center field, and catcher. He would be most valuable for this team. His offensive numbers arent too bad either. He’s hitting .267 with 10 homeruns and 42 ribbies.
 ”Holliday’s former teammate, Brad Hawpe, is hitting .335 with power. His OPS is just shy of 1.000 and he’s striking out less than ever. The Rockies aren’t going anywhere, but they’re on a six game win streak of their own, and Dan O’Dowd is not in a hurry to deal.”
 Hawpe’s numbers speak for themselves. He’s playing in Colorado where the frail feel like Superman but his homerun numbers arent even what stands out for him. He drives runs in (43) and can hit the gaps (17 doubles). Not to mention he’s on my fantasy squad, so that should count for somethin right?
Anyway, guys, your thoughts…
24 comments
CaseStreet
6/10/2009-4:39pm at 4:39 pm (UTC -4)
Wait it out till the deadline. If Church hasn’t made a strong comeback, then bring on Nick Johnson.
darknova306
6/10/2009-4:49pm at 4:49 pm (UTC -4)
That assumes we can stay close enough for Nick Johnson to matter by then. I don’t see that happening.
QnsNative718
6/10/2009-4:58pm at 4:58 pm (UTC -4)
Me either. I see us falling back deep by the ASB. Sad to say(type)
CaseStreet
6/10/2009-4:58pm at 4:58 pm (UTC -4)
I’ll guarantee we can play .500 ball at least.
CaseStreet
6/10/2009-5:00pm at 5:00 pm (UTC -4)
We were plus 7 in April and May.
We can play 500 ball in June and July.
Then in Aug and Sept we should be able to go +8.
That’s a division champ my friends.
darknova306
6/10/2009-5:50pm at 5:50 pm (UTC -4)
I find it difficult to justify predicting the Mets will do well in September. That’s something they have to prove they can do.
.500 ball in June and July…? I don’t see it happening. Our starting pitching looks like a huge question mark right now, even Santana (never thought I’d say that). June’s gonna be awful, we’ll see about July.
Kingman 26
6/10/2009-6:07pm at 6:07 pm (UTC -4)
Santana is a question mark?
Seen Livan pitch lately?
If Pelf and Maine don’t bounce back right away from ONE bad start each, your argument may have potential, but if Pelf pitches well tonight and Maine comes back strong, the starters will continue to be a strength.
darknova306
6/10/2009-6:32pm at 6:32 pm (UTC -4)
Sorry, but Santana has looked rather pedestrian lately. He’ll get it back, but he needs to do it soon, not in the second half. His location recently has been awful.
Yeah, Livan’s been great recently, but you can’t expect that to continue, especially against the lineups of the Phillies and Yankees. He’ll come back to Earth shortly (he’s gonna get smoked by the Yanks).
Tim Redding…? Give me a break.
The question mark with Maine is the tightness he was talking about. If there’s scar tissue from the surgery that’s impeding his delivery, he’s gonna be a huge question mark until that tissue breaks apart.
Yeah, this is all over the top a bit, but after the past few years it’s hard to maintain any optimism.
dirtysanchez
6/10/2009-4:40pm at 4:40 pm (UTC -4)
brad hawpe would be awesome(i have him on my fantasy team too). The problem with rosa/hawpe is their teams still think they can compete so they will be more expensive now. Holliday would be nice but bean would want the farm for him. I think the most realistic options are rosa/hawpe and maybe even huff but omar has two things working against him
1)time-these guys become more available the farther they are out of competition. We need them now but their team may want too much for them as they feel they can still compete
2) trade pieces-lets face the facts…who does omar have to give for these guys..
Should be interesting but maybe the mets have no choice but to get by with this squad….
QnsNative718
6/10/2009-4:48pm at 4:48 pm (UTC -4)
Yea good points about teams still thinking they gotta shot. I think the cheapest out the bumch would be DeRosa. He would fit our needs perfectly.(Not in that way)
sabermetrician
6/10/2009-4:49pm at 4:49 pm (UTC -4)
Informal Poll:
Do you believe Ibanez is on the juice?
QnsNative718
6/10/2009-4:57pm at 4:57 pm (UTC -4)
No. You read how he basically ripped the blogger, “JRod”? “Ill give you my urine, hair feces etc.” I just think him playing for a WS team and finally being in some kind of a spotlight has helped. Not to mention that alot of his hrs have come on the road and against subpar pitchers.
stickguy
6/10/2009-4:59pm at 4:59 pm (UTC -4)
nice sound bite, but no one will ever see anything but the pee, and they don’t test it for hgh, so…
he should just pull a quad soon. From our experience, isn’t tht what old LFs do?
Kingman 26
6/10/2009-6:12pm at 6:12 pm (UTC -4)
No way. Ibanez is probably in better shape than any other 37 year old, and 37 isn’t that old anymore. He has been incredibly consistent and very good for years–as I argued with many folks on the other site over the winter–and while he is hitting more HR than ever before, his results should not surprise.
He spent his entire career in pitchers’ parks on rotten teams with little offense. He came to a new league, in the middle of a really good lineup, and his results should surprise no one.
His HR power will come down, but most of his other stats are not that crazy. If he had anyone to drive in or anyone to drive HIM in, his R and RBI would have been a lot higher the last half dozen years.
As I argued with the Manny-acs all winter, he is one of the most underrated players (and by all accounts a great clubhouse guy and in amazing shape) in the game in recent years, due to playing in KC and Sea.
stickguy
6/10/2009-4:58pm at 4:58 pm (UTC -4)
I would love Hawpe, but it depends on what the Rox want for him. He is also signed for 2010, which to mean is a big selling point. ALso has nice career home/road splits.
Get him if it is a salary dump (although he doesn’t make that much really), if the propect return is manageable.
Hawpe/beltran/church & Sheff is a solid OF.
rustyjr
6/10/2009-5:05pm at 5:05 pm (UTC -4)
We just made a major trade !!! – as per mlbtr we reaquired chip ambres from the bosox – that will put us over the top !!!!
charlies
6/10/2009-5:59pm at 5:59 pm (UTC -4)
hey, that dude hit .333 for us in 2007! (in 3 ABs, but who’s counting?)
CaseStreet
6/10/2009-5:12pm at 5:12 pm (UTC -4)
small moves, Omar is all about small moves during the season.
rustyjr
6/10/2009-5:17pm at 5:17 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah I know – just checking to see if the cerrone issued sarcasm meter was still working
mrose
6/10/2009-5:35pm at 5:35 pm (UTC -4)
everyone..
i introduce to you.. the Johan “I’m a Man” Santana image.. http://www.nleastchatter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11&p=355#p355
again courtesy of our own Mr North Jersey
charlies
6/10/2009-5:48pm at 5:48 pm (UTC -4)
there is a reason why most trades wait until the season is 2/3 complete…teams don’t want to signal to their fan bases that they are throwing in the towel. teams want to wait to the last minute (7/31) to get as much gate as possible before dumping payroll.
as much as a trade now makes more sense for the mets, it probably makes little sense to the sellers out there (except washington, who is dead as a door nail).
mrose
6/10/2009-5:56pm at 5:56 pm (UTC -4)
hey fellas..
smooth has been brought on as the first writer for NLEastChatter.com’s own blog.. check out his first daily post
http://www.nleastchatter.com/
GravediggerHebner
6/10/2009-6:57pm at 6:57 pm (UTC -4)
Geez I was neck deep in the draft I didn’t notice anything else all day.
Welcome to the NLEC family Smooth! More Marlins dancers please!
smooth
6/10/2009-6:06pm at 6:06 pm (UTC -4)
Triple A buffalo continues to make moves. Emil Brown cleared waivers and he will report back to the bisons!
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2009/06/emil-clears-waivers.html