“Ability is the art of getting credit for all the home runs somebody else hits.” Casey Stengel
Here’s what you missed on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at TRDMB:
- This Day In Mets Infamy With Rusty 09-09-09 by rustyjr
- TRDMB 2009 Mets Song of the Year Search by Mr North Jersey
- Mets In The Papers by CaseStreet
- Game Thread by dirtysanchez
Here’s what you missed on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 around NL East Chatter:
- NL East Daily Recap from 9-8-09 by mrose
- “Lidge Is Toast. He’s Finished…” by MarkHomers Sink Lannan, Nats by Mark
- Gameday: Lee searching for Cy Young form by mattsmith
- Manuel: ‘I don’t know’ about Lidge by mattsmith
You got something to say? Say it on The Real Dirty Mets Blog!
33 comments
stickguy
9/10/2009-8:17am at 8:17 am (UTC -4)
Philly luck will mean that Madson takes over, or they give the job to myers, and end up still having a shutdown back end of the pen this year too.
Myers came back at a really good time for them. If the price as a FA is reasonable, the MEts should grab him. If nothing else, they know he can be quite happy at the back end of the pen.
trs86
9/10/2009-8:20am at 8:20 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, it’s not a bad idea. Question is how much does he want and can we depend on him as THE pitching signing for the rotation. I can’t imagine him getting so little that we could afford him AND a midrotation starter.
stickguy
9/10/2009-8:29am at 8:29 am (UTC -4)
he would have to be THE mid rotation starter. I really don’t see Omar getting 2 guys, certainly not if they cost significant money (or trade prospects).
I would try to roll the dice with Harden 1st, then frankly (assuming Lackey is out), Myers is just as good a bet as anyone after that. He seems fully recovered from the hip thing, he is still young, has “stuff”, and has had some stretches of success.
Oh yeah, see my ramble below. He could also take over as closer!
I’m sure they are expecting Plef and Ollie to be in the rotation. So you got them, Johan, the new import. That makes 4.
Then the maine/neise/neive/parnell/etc. free for all for #5 and the pen.
CaseStreet
9/10/2009-8:37am at 8:37 am (UTC -4)
I like the idea of going after harden but would prefer lackey who is more dependable, even if he costs Burnett money.
trs86
9/10/2009-8:39am at 8:39 am (UTC -4)
Burnett money is SCARY to me. Lackey is not a picture of good health either. If we did not need other positions or had a much higher payroll my obvious choice would be Lackey. One thing to monitor is Harden. He wants at least 4/60 and I am not sure about that either.
stickguy
9/10/2009-8:24am at 8:24 am (UTC -4)
Here’s an idea to chew on (as I work toward winning a toaster…)
If the Mets need to trade a core guy to fill other holes, what about K Rod? any thoughts on what they could get for him? IMO, closers are overrated (and erratic, see Lidge!). But mostly, he makes a lot of money.
What if they could move him for somebody good to fill a hole (a catcher? OF? SP?) that they couldn’t get otherwise. Then, grab a couple of cheaper live arms (like the 10 or so that come out of nowhere every year to be a “stud” closer) to compete with the arms they already got, and let the best man win!
Plus, you get another 10 million to play with.
Heck, you could roll the dice and try to bring back Putz at a discount (no way he gets close to K Rod money). If his arm is fixed, he is better anyway.
This makes sense, especially if they are really cutting the budget.
And, it certainly fits the criteria of “creative”. But I know, Omar would never have the brains to think of it or the stones to pull it off.
trs86
9/10/2009-8:28am at 8:28 am (UTC -4)
This offseason I don’t see it. His contract will actually be a negative. Now if something were to happen to Rivera or the Sox get tired of Papelbon? Sure. But it would have to be a team willing to invest that much money in a closer. The Mets were in a position last year where they had to.
stickguy
9/10/2009-8:30am at 8:30 am (UTC -4)
that’s why I was wondering what they could get for him.
might have to be a salary swap, but if you got back someone you need, why not!
trs86
9/10/2009-8:36am at 8:36 am (UTC -4)
Lets look at it a little deeper because I am bored. The replacing guy for closer would still have to be healthy dependable and cheap. Last thing we want is another year like 2008 where the bullpen single handedly kills us. We STILL don’t have a setup man that could close if a Wagner/Putz type got injured. As for trade I would imagine it would have to be the Cubs or the Tigers. I know no other team that could handle the salary AND has expensive vets to trade. I guess with the Cubs you might could do something around Bradley but that’s an issue all to itself. They would not trade Lee for Krod, it would make no sense. Tigers would most likely dump Maggs and his contract. But Maggs also has this attached to his name: 10:$18M club option Already vested, 11:$15M club option (no buyout) with a line of .284 .357 .395 .752
Any option besides Wright and Johan have to be considered but I don’t think the return is there for Krod.
stickguy
9/10/2009-10:00am at 10:00 am (UTC -4)
Probably won’t be the return. One big problem with handing out big $$ long term deals to the marquee names. You are stuck with them.
Somehow I think paying K Rod $17mill in 2012 isn’t going to be helping budget flexibility any.
trs86
9/10/2009-10:19am at 10:19 am (UTC -4)
No doubt, it was a necessary evil last offseason though. It had to be done. We can argue this year if it’s a good allocation of resources but there is no doubt last year it was. Sometimes that is the way things go. If we are winning, Krod’s 12M is a great thing. If you are bad it’s not so much.
CaseStreet
9/10/2009-8:32am at 8:32 am (UTC -4)
I could agree if it weren’t k-rod and we had a replacement. But Krod is one of the top closers and we will be lucky if Parnell or stokes can setup
stickguy
9/10/2009-8:34am at 8:34 am (UTC -4)
there would have to be some new guys brought in to sort through.
it all revolves around what he could bring back in a trade.
Kingman 26
9/10/2009-10:00am at 10:00 am (UTC -4)
Trade KRod? Wow, I usually agree with you, but this is not a good idea. Without his perfection the first couple of months this year, we would have been out of it earlier, and after what we saw in 2008, how could we trade him?
So next year, everyone is healthy, we score lots of runs, maybe Pelf and Maine rebound, and we watch Parnell blow 2 saves a week?
I sure must register most respectful and most gargantuan disagreement with this idea.
stickguy
9/10/2009-10:03am at 10:03 am (UTC -4)
It was just an idea to throw around. Part of the “creative off season with a decreased budget” conceptuallizing.
I will put you down as a tentative “maybe”.
J/K.
But, I never said just hand the job to parnell. They would need to have a few viable options to throw out there to let one win the job.
Even Putz, if he came on a cheaper s/t deal.
trs86
9/10/2009-10:17am at 10:17 am (UTC -4)
You know the problem with Putz though. Come May he’s injured again and we have no closer and a revamped lineup and staff that still can’t win because we keep blowing leads.
Kingman 26
9/10/2009-10:20am at 10:20 am (UTC -4)
I would love to have JJ back on a cheap deal to see if he can recapture even most of what he once was.
But to me, how can trading KRod even be considered?
Seems to me that if we miss the postseason next year, whether by choke or another injury-filled disaster, then pretty much anyone can be traded, maybe other than Johan and Wright.
But I personally am up for giving the core of Wright, Beltran, Reyes, Johan, and KRod one more year to get it done.
I definitely agree that closers can be very volatile, but a look at KRod’s career record shows that he is most definitely one of the very few closers in the game who are absolutely not volatile.
I very much disagree that closers are overrated though. Some teams win without a great closer yes, but a look at the Yanks the last decade+, the Bosox, and teams from the 2002 Angels back to the 84 Tigers show that many title teams clearly relied tremendously on great closers.
trs86
9/10/2009-10:28am at 10:28 am (UTC -4)
Agreed on needed a strong closer. Not many teams win with garbage closers on the longrun. Also I completely agree on the one more year plan. To me this is the offseason to go get it. If a healhty core and new players don’t get it done then sure start dumping guys like Krod and even entertain Beltran, Reyes, Pelfrey, etc.
CaseStreet
9/10/2009-10:59am at 10:59 am (UTC -4)
you just want J.J. back to have an ex-Mariner in Queens
Kingman 26
9/10/2009-11:51am at 11:51 am (UTC -4)
OK, got me….
Who knows, maybe The Chief is getting in shape for another spring in Port St. Lucie??
Doubt the Phils would trade Grandpa, but he would look OK in left next year.
Joey Cora as Jerry’s replacement? Griffey Jr as HoJo’s replacement?
wannybackstra
9/10/2009-8:24am at 8:24 am (UTC -4)
A good argument in favor of not relying on our prospects for anything, ever again:
http://bases.nbcsports.com/2009/08/restoring-the-rosters-no-20—new-york-nl.html.php
trs86
9/10/2009-8:37am at 8:37 am (UTC -4)
True, I think to judge Omar though on his draft picks we are going to have to wait a few years. Lets see what Havesn, Davis, Holt, and this year’s crop do.
prismo
9/10/2009-9:06am at 9:06 am (UTC -4)
That’s really interesting! Have to say, I’m unimpressed with the roster, especially the line-up. The pitching staff is very dependent on injuries (could be very good with Kazmir and Burnett healthy, but terrible without them), the bullpen is probably average, the lineup is below average.
trs86
9/10/2009-9:18am at 9:18 am (UTC -4)
Agreed, MANY of those are preOmar though. So I am not sure if it’s a knock on Omar.
prismo
9/10/2009-11:06am at 11:06 am (UTC -4)
No knock on Omar in my opinion (his will come in a few years), just a knock on the Mets front office in general over the years.
CaseStreet
9/10/2009-9:45am at 9:45 am (UTC -4)
Speaking of Omar’s prospects, they could be a significant part of the team very soon:
Rotation – Santana, Pelf (05), Perez, Niese (05), Holt (08)
Lineup – C-Thole (05), 1B – Murphy (06)/1B – Davis (08), 2B – Tejada (06), 3B – Wright, CF – Beltran, LF – F-Mart (05), RF – Flores (07)
There’s also guys like Merritt, Kunz and Parnell for the bullpen.
I guess my point is that we are only now beginning to see Omar’s prospect knocking on the doors of Citi Field.
trs86
9/10/2009-9:53am at 9:53 am (UTC -4)
Agreed, we shall see what happens with those guys. I have decent expectations for Holt, Mejia, Thole, Davis, Fmart, Flores, Havens and we forget about Parnell.
stickguy
9/10/2009-9:57am at 9:57 am (UTC -4)
Put Kirk N (2007 I think) on that list too.
CaseStreet
9/10/2009-10:19am at 10:19 am (UTC -4)
yeah, I was trying to stick w/ AA and AAA guys cause they’re closer(except for Flores who is a beast)
3rd round 2008
http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/2009/01/27/25-of-kirk-nieuwenhuis/
stickguy
9/10/2009-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
Kirk is in AA now (or was, season is over). he hit just as well there as he did in A+
CaseStreet
9/10/2009-11:15am at 11:15 am (UTC -4)
my bad, didn’t see Kirk N. made it to Binghamton.
stickguy
9/10/2009-9:58am at 9:58 am (UTC -4)
you should start a real dirty pool for the off season.
let everyone pick the players they think will come and go. whoever gets closest to what the FO actually does wins a prize!
trs86
9/10/2009-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
Not a bad idea. Something we will look at during October when we are REALLY bored.