MLBTR has compiled a list of LF who MAY be available through trade. Obviously, this is the one that Mets fans have been looking forward to. Trade Market: Left Fielders
On the list Crawford, Lee, Willingham, Dunn, Pierre, DeJesus, Jose Bautista, Delmon Young, Byrnes, Cust, Scott, Thames and Murton.
Obviously we know all about Crawford: Dirkes had this to say on Crawford “Crawford’s $10MM (plus escalators) club option for 2010 should be exercised soon. Crawford has said he’d like to sign an extension this winter or else play out the 2010 season and try free agency. In a September mailbag, Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times considered a winter Crawford trade “very unlikely” but a July trade possible if the Rays fall out of contention. The 28-year-old speedster hit .305/.364/.452 in 672 plate appearances this year.”
There are a few other names that I am interested in on the list. Obviously Willingham and Dunn would be good targets but I see no reason for the Nationals to trade them unless overwhelmed. DeJesus appears like a guy who could be a likely target for the Mets. Perhaps the Royals think they could get similar production from Pagan at a much cheaper price. I have mentioned Scott and he has been discussed at length. One name that was brought up a lot last year was Pierre. At the time the idea was Castillo for Pierre. The Dodgers are again looking for a 2nd baseman. Would it be worth the look? Would the Mets benefit from trading Castillo for Pierre and signing Lopez or Hudson?
59 comments
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
Leave it to the Mets to acquire the “2K8″ Crawford. 2008 was his worst season.
dirtysanchez
11/2/2009-12:43pm at 12:43 pm (UTC -4)
Still looking to dump luis(dont blame you)…I doubt the mets will entertain that anymore with the season he just had and pierre at 18 mill is rediculous. Crawford/Lee should be ones the mets focus on this offseason.
fongy2
11/2/2009-12:56pm at 12:56 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed! If Omar brought in the likes of Crawford and Lee,
we’re suddenly in pretty good
shape going into ’10.
I haven’t looked but isn’t Granderson heading into his
walk yr?
trs86
11/2/2009-2:02pm at 2:02 pm (UTC -4)
Crawford AND Lee? Again, those are just not realistic expectations.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-12:51pm at 12:51 pm (UTC -4)
Mmm, sign a FA and save the trade chips for mid-season trade or a game changer, e.g. Halladay, Mauer.
I’d think the Dodgers can resign Hudson for $6M and they keep Pierre as 4th OFer.
I’d be interested in Lopez but I read some very disconcering info @ fangraphs that basically said he won’t be worth the Draft Picks and Multi-Million contract.
trs86
11/2/2009-1:53pm at 1:53 pm (UTC -4)
Well at least ours would be a 2nd round. It does not appear, considering they benched him, the Dodgers have any interest in paying Hudson.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-1:08pm at 1:08 pm (UTC -4)
David DeJesus strikes me as the type of guy who would be a good third outfielder in an outfield with two other all-stars.
Not sure he’s what the Mets need at this very moment.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-1:21pm at 1:21 pm (UTC -4)
Random biased gut-based thoughts on the list:
Crawford – stays in TB w/new contract
Lee – I’ll believe the Astros actually trade one of these guys when I see it
Willingham – the Nats have a lot of viable ML OF on their roster, if they decide to part with Josh I’d take him. Won’t break the bank and a guy who’s hit 20 HR 3 times can’t hurt
Dunn – I think they keep him but if they move him instead of Josh we have seen that Citi won’t keep his HR total down, and we already have late inning defensive replacements in house
Pierre – I was an advocate of his acquisition last summer as the players were dropping like flies and thought he’d come at little/no player cost. Now with benefit of full off season and more pickings I think we can do better
DeJesus – some here think he is what FMart will be, if so we’ve already got him
Headley – as long as Keith Hernandez is in the booth Headley is welcome on my team but does he really solve anything on field?
Bautista – could be a useful bench player, we need more than that
Young – I’ve said previously I believe they’ll keep him, but if they’re sending him away lots of upside remains
Byrnes – if they take Ollie in exchange, otherwise no
Cust – poor man’s Dunn, from NJ
Scott – I don’t know how he translates to Citi but it would be nice to plug the average of his last 3 seasons into the lineup
Thames – if we can get the Tigers to pay, otherwise just re-up Sheff at the minimum if this is what we want
Murton – perfect Met, last relevant in ’06
Of all these guys, the one I want most is Crawford. The one I think is the best combination of “gettable” and “helpful” is Willingham. Make it so. The back worries me but…Alabama and Georgia flanking Beltran in the OF is intriguing. The may not “git ‘r done” but at least they’ll be familiar with the phrase.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-1:31pm at 1:31 pm (UTC -4)
Lee also has a no-trade clause which would likely mean having to pay him even more than the ridiculous sum he already earns to get him to waive it.
Willingham is interesting. He consistently puts up solid numbers at or around his career average (in other words he does not have a lot of peaks and valleys): 264 .362 .478 .840.
He’s torn up the Mets: 286 .384 .527. And Shea Stadium: .300 .385 .538 He did not hit well at Citi: 231 .355 .346
But I was surprised to see that he has not performed well in what I consider to be the closest thing to clutch hitting stats: 233 .321 .442 in late and close and 235 .342 .415 in high leverage. Conversely, w/2 outs and RISP he’s hit 267 .406 .471.
His personality strikes me as the type who might be energized by NY, much as Francoeur was.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-1:47pm at 1:47 pm (UTC -4)
Interesting numbers Wanny.
I see last year he batted mostly 5th for the Nats and for Florida prior to that mostly 4th/5th. I imagine as a Met he’d bat 6th or 7th, I wonder if that would make a difference? Wasn’t it the 6th spot in the Met order last year that was a constant source of pain? I seem to recall some early/mid season analysis of that sort.
Also what do you know about him defensively? I know nothing on that, anything you can bring up would be helpful, thanks.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-4:03pm at 4:03 pm (UTC -4)
Anecdotally, I don’t think Willingham is much of an outfielder — he’s the type of guy that just does get to most of the stuff you’d expect a guy to reach.
His career UZR/150 in LF of -5.0 suggests that’s about accurate, though his UZR/150 is supported by a strong arm (+6.3). His range stats are a little below average.
I’d say he’s below average but above disastrous (which we’ve seen plenty of).
trs86
11/2/2009-2:01pm at 2:01 pm (UTC -4)
Here’s the question. Why at around 3M and under team control for at least another year would they trade him? Of course unless they get blown away by prospects. Unless I am unaware of something, they don’t have a 1B so they have room for all their OF if one plays 1B.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-2:17pm at 2:17 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t know enough about their minor league system to properly answer.
Why did they trade Lastings Milledge? I’m not asking to be a smartass, I’m asking cuz I thought a team with low expectations and a low payroll was a perfect place for him to grow at least until arbitration became untenable and his trade surprised me.
In that context their trading someone, possibly Willingham, from among Dunn/Willingham/Harris/Dukes/Kearns/Morgan is something I can’t just flat rule out, especially if they still have DMeatHook Young.
If I were running the Nats I’d probably start an OF of Willingham/Morgan/Dukes and solve the logjam by parting ways with Young and Kearns but I’m not running them.
If they traded Milledge primarily due to off-field stuff then maybe we should look to acquire Dukes who has in the past threatened to kill his estranged wife.
trs86
11/2/2009-2:20pm at 2:20 pm (UTC -4)
Kearns I think is done contract wise as well as DMeatHook I think.
Milledge, I think they liked Morgan better defensively. If you had Willingham and Dunn in the OF you need Morgan.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-2:39pm at 2:39 pm (UTC -4)
FWIW I scanned the Nats AAA & AA rosters for 1B who might be on the cusp allowing them to keep Dunn/Willingham in the OF, and I didn’t find anything at AAA that would allow them to do that.
At AA, they have a kid named Chris Marrero but he spent the majority of 2009 at A and I doubt he’s ready to displace anyone at the ML level this year despite his nice line of .284/17/76 overall with a .358 OBP.
So you win, no Willingham or Dunn. I guess I don’t see any of those I might really want being truly available. I guess I’ve whittled my way down to Cust.
trs86
11/2/2009-2:11pm at 2:11 pm (UTC -4)
Hmm:
Crawford, I think his option gets picked up of course and then traded at the deadline.
Lee, If the Astros trade him then all kinds of Astros will be on the block.
Willingham and Dunn I don’t see either traded until the deadline.
Pierre, if they could trade him for another salary problem that plays 2B or pitches I think they will. His production can be replaced so easily. The only positive for us would be that we would then have the LF but we would then HAVE to either bring in Lackey AND another solid pitcher or AGonz AND a solid pitcher.
Bautista, agreed
Cust, interesting as he is a bad fielder but played RF this year. Correct on the HR/low average decent OBP.
Scott I think could be had for a reasonable trade
Thames I like him. As to your comment on Sheff, don’t you think he will make more than league minimum this year? At least Thames is slightly mobile I think and can stand at 1B.
Murton would be a good AAA pickup to compete for a backup role with Carter but certainly not an answer.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-2:25pm at 2:25 pm (UTC -4)
I have no concept whatsoever (and haven’t read any suggestions either) on what Sheff might make in 2010.
In making the Sheff/Thames comparison my real point was not “keep Sheff” it was we got ~10 HR/40 RBI for $400,000, why should we pay upwards of $3 mil for it? We could probably get Chris Carter to hit 10 HR for $400,000 and use the difference elsewhere.
For me then it becomes, is the ability as you so aptly put it, to ‘stand at 1B’ worth the difference?
metsfan4decades
11/2/2009-2:11pm at 2:11 pm (UTC -4)
So much of this depends on $$ spent on pitching and/or maybe first base. I’m curious to see which way the FO goes about this. I refuse to believe they are not looking to shore up the SP first.
I can say this though: just say no to Dunn, Byrnes – for starters.
trs86
11/2/2009-2:12pm at 2:12 pm (UTC -4)
Man I would love Dunn but I know how polarizing he is.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-2:25pm at 2:25 pm (UTC -4)
Ok, sign Lackey ($16M @ 5/80) and trade for Halladay ($16M in 10 and $23M for 3/69). Go w/ Pagan in LF and Murph at 1B.
Halladay, Santana, Lackey, Perez, Pelf
Castillo-Pagan-Reyes-Wright-Beltran-Frenchy-Murphy-Santos
2010 WS Champs!
jaydh
11/2/2009-2:38pm at 2:38 pm (UTC -4)
works for me.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-4:00pm at 4:00 pm (UTC -4)
I’d like it even more if Ollie has a good year in 2010 and we can trade him and his $12M salary away and bring up Niese.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-3:30pm at 3:30 pm (UTC -4)
Nobody wants to shoot down my Doc and Lackey idea? Somone please do b4 I start thinking it’s a possibility.
jaydh
11/2/2009-3:38pm at 3:38 pm (UTC -4)
I dont agree with the order, but I’m all for having elite pitching before even working on the offense.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-4:09pm at 4:09 pm (UTC -4)
yup, Imagine a WS rotation of Doc, Santana and Lackey. Add a competent set-up man to the bullpen and it’s over.
Of course it takes balls to try something like that.
Omar showed some when he did K-Rod and Putz. So hope is not lost.
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:17pm at 3:17 pm (UTC -4)
Forget Willingham.Real,real bad back.
Could be done at anytime.
If this team wants to content they must be serious about what players they bring in .
Meaning , no 2nd and 3rd rate guys who
will then get the full salesmanship job by Omar to us.
And yes,I’m the one who compared FMat to DeJesus.
However, he ain’t there yet and I wouldn’t
hesitate to use him as a large chip in a deal to bring in a proven MLB
player who could help us win next season.Frankly at this point , I’d be more hesitant to trade Murphy or Parnell than FMart who could just as
likely be Alex Escobar,part two.
trs86
11/2/2009-3:32pm at 3:32 pm (UTC -4)
Fongy I am still concerned over this notion that we have to only bring in stars. Look at Vicki and Werth, neither of those guys were stars at the time. They were basically cast offs. We just need to do a good job on the role players we bring in. Sure we have money for another star and should bring on in but I don’t expect every position to be a star.
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:47pm at 3:47 pm (UTC -4)
neither do I BUT you absolutely cannot bring in guys with
serious injury problems
like Willingham OR are
dogs like Hermida.
Until I see otherwise,
I’m assuming our
infield and catching
situation is set,as is
CF. So, LF is the most likely place a serious
upgrade will be made
and maybe right field
but I think tht depends on Frency’s arb
#s. Should only a LFer be added,…it cannot
be a Luke Scott or Josh Willingham.
Mr North Jersey
11/2/2009-4:04pm at 4:04 pm (UTC -4)
I agree as far as bringing players with injury problems especially with all the returning injured players we have coming back in 2010 already. No need to add to the what ifs. What we need is as close to a sure thing as possible with the knowledge that their is never a sure thing of course.
I will tell you if Minaya could pull off a trade for a bat and bring in someone that has a history growing up around MLB and is a legitimate bat that has room to grow still, it would be
PRINCE FIELDER for me
Mets and Brewers have a history of negotiating and I am still of the belief he can be had.
Give me Fielder in a heart beat what would the brewers want back is the question and do we have it or do we need to involve a 3rd team?
You want to reenergize the fanbase for 2010? Bring in a Fielder.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-4:10pm at 4:10 pm (UTC -4)
I would imagine they would want a young starting pitcher with front end stuff. Unless they think Mike Pelfrey is that, I don’t think we have anything for them.
Mr North Jersey
11/2/2009-3:25pm at 3:25 pm (UTC -4)
I am going to repost this only because when I did post it the 1st time I was late to join the conversation and most had moved on but still feel it is relevant.
I have to say I agree that Minaya should be looking at pitching 1st.
I am kind of looking at it from this P.O.V.
A. If Mets are trying to win now
B. If Mets are trying to build to win for the Long Term.
Scenario A
1st on my list is Roy Halladay. Yes he will be 33 years old next season but he is a horse.
If it takes a trade and sign of 4 year 100 million plus an option is fine with me.
He doesn’t have a history of injury that I can tell. He may just be a freak of nature ala Nolan Ryan.
Add him to Santana and I will put that pair of Aces against anyone in Baseball in a Playoff series.
Scenario B
1st on my list is Aroldis Chapman this kid has the arm rarely seen in Baseball Already regarded one of the best arms to come out of Cuba. Even if he has to go thru the growing pains of adjusting to MLB in 3 years we may regret not signing him.
After that you can add whoever you want to whatever scenario but if you ask me who do you look at 1st if Pitching is a priority then those 2 are it.
trs86
11/2/2009-3:34pm at 3:34 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t think Lackey or Halladay are singular win now moves. I think of the future in basically 5 year periods. Both of those make us much better for the next five years even if they are only here for 3 if you understand what I mean. My fear is when that player starts impacting us for longer than that. If you sign Lackey for 5 years then to me he impacts the 5 years after that as well. Now that I have thoroughly confused everyone I am off.
Mr North Jersey
11/2/2009-3:37pm at 3:37 pm (UTC -4)
LoL I don’t think you even know what you just said LoL.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-3:43pm at 3:43 pm (UTC -4)
wow, is that a Rick Peterson impersonation?
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:51pm at 3:51 pm (UTC -4)
Saw every inning Chapman pitched in the WBC and yes hes got wicked stuff
BUT don’t know if hes MLB ace ready AND will he be another one of these Cubanos who as
they say around
baseball is more happy to get off the island than
play in the Majors?
AND at what cost?Don’t get me wrong,I’d love to have him
BUT only AFTER we sign Lackey
to help NOW.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-3:57pm at 3:57 pm (UTC -4)
Fongy is Loco For Lackey!
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:18pm at 3:18 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah,
its a damn shame!
Hes not exactly
Johan,CC
or Doc
BUT hes
the best out there available by far,so one must beat the drum.
Bang,bang,…..
bang.
Git er done,Omar!
metsfan4decades
11/2/2009-3:22pm at 3:22 pm (UTC -4)
Have to agree with Fongy on this one.
CaseStreet
11/2/2009-3:25pm at 3:25 pm (UTC -4)
Hey, I’m Loco for Lackey, too!
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:29pm at 3:29 pm (UTC -4)
Okay,he agrees with you too then.
metsfan4decades
11/2/2009-4:01pm at 4:01 pm (UTC -4)
Just an FYI: anyone else notice this blog didn’t take into account the change back to Standard Time?
Mr North Jersey
11/2/2009-3:13pm at 3:13 pm (UTC -4)
I just adjusted it sadly it did warn us
“Unfortunately, you have to manually update this for Daylight Savings Time. Lame, we know, but will be fixed in the future.?
Just forgot to adjust it manually I guess.
metsfan4decades
11/2/2009-3:21pm at 3:21 pm (UTC -4)
You’re right, you would think that would be automatic for you guys and not a manual process.
Thanks!
Although I thought, when I initially looked at the time of a previous post of mine, I was one hour closer to quitting time than I actually was….
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:22pm at 3:22 pm (UTC -4)
I just figured Jersey
was in their own time
zone….
The twilight time zone
that is….
And b/t/w,why don’t the Jets and Giants
just be honest and call themselves the
New Jersey Jets and Giants?
Ya know like the Nets….Well for now anyway.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-3:25pm at 3:25 pm (UTC -4)
And will the Islanders be the Flushing Isles, the Brooklyn Isles, the K.C. Isles, Manitoba Isles or remain in Nassau County?
fongy2
11/2/2009-3:27pm at 3:27 pm (UTC -4)
Good question.
I thought it was pretty much a done deal they’re goin’ to K.C..
Next question is though,
will anyone notice?
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-3:55pm at 3:55 pm (UTC -4)
I will.
fongy2
11/2/2009-4:06pm at 4:06 pm (UTC -4)
I’m a35yr Ranger fan who doesn’t hate the Isles
AND I’ll tell ya,
it is a shame
whats happened to them over the past decade or so.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-4:12pm at 4:12 pm (UTC -4)
From a player personnel standpoint, I feel for the first time since Pierre Turgeon was an Islander that there’s potential with Okposo and Taveras. These two kids are real players.
But until the team starts making money I don’t have expectations on any real turnaround. They can continue to collect high draft picks but unless they all hit as these two seemingly will, it won’t be enough.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-3:44pm at 3:44 pm (UTC -4)
I’m glad you brought this up. On the surface, it’s pretty straightforward that they play in East Rutherford, NJ and calling them “New York” is pretty silly.
But when you look a little deeper it gets more interesting. I used cbssportsline.com and looked up all the NFL teams and was surprised how many of them don’t in fact play where their name suggests.
According to that website’s team locations, they should actually be called:
East Rutherford Jets
East Rutherford Giants
Foxborough Patriots
Orchard Park Bills
Owings Mills Ravens
Landover Redskins
Flowery Branch Falcons (my fave)
Nashville Titans
Metarie Saints
Arlington Cowboys
Eden Prairie Vikings
Alameda Raiders
Renton Seahawks
41% of the NFL is misleading us on some level.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-3:53pm at 3:53 pm (UTC -4)
I’m not sure Tennessee is misleading by playing in Nashville. Afterall, Nashville is in Tennessee!
I’m sure residents of Buffalo, Washington D.C., Tennessee, Oakland and Seattle would all vote for the change.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-4:05pm at 4:05 pm (UTC -4)
You’re right, and Foxborough is in New England too.
But why are they being so vague, what do they have to hide?
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-4:10pm at 4:10 pm (UTC -4)
In the cases of Flowery Branch and Eden Prairie, I can’t imagine!
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-4:21pm at 4:21 pm (UTC -4)
This reminds me of Japanese professional hockey, where team names aren’t quite as intimidating as Sabres, Devils or Hurricanes: The Nippon Paper Cranes, Oji Paper, Seibu Prince Rabbits and the Nikko-Kobe IceBucks.
Then again Penguins, Thrashers (though the name sounds menacing) and Ducks are not exactly fierce creatures either.
fongy2
11/2/2009-4:03pm at 4:03 pm (UTC -4)
I meant more the fact that it’s a differant STATE. Plus,with the Jets now out of Hofstra neither The Jets nor The Gints even train or practice
in the state. Clearly being from New York sells more junk than being from
Jersey. But I do think its sort of an insult to Jersey. Of course,I really
don’t give a damn b/c I’m not a fan of either team nor am I from Jersey.
So,I’ll just shut up about it and go back out and rake leaves.
Damn!, country trees!
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-4:12pm at 4:12 pm (UTC -4)
I hear you, I just find it somewhat arbitrary what is considered acceptable and unacceptable. For example, it’s OK to call the Arlington Cowboys the Dallas Cowboys when it’s 22 miles from Arlington to Dallas, but it’s only 13 miles from East Rutherford to New York.
The Jets and Giants are closer to the name they claim than some other teams. But some of us get hung up on state borders I guess which is fine, I just find it arbitrary. Coming from someone in PA where the teams actually play where they claim to I find it more acceptable.
Oh and the Giants train in Albany, New York, and the Jets trained in Cortland, New York in 2009.
wannybackstra
11/2/2009-4:14pm at 4:14 pm (UTC -4)
If they hit Oswego and Geneseo next year they can be the SUNY Jets and Giants.
GravediggerHebner
11/2/2009-4:17pm at 4:17 pm (UTC -4)
Fongy regarding leaves, I don’t know if it’s practical for you but I swear by the “mulch-mower.” It’s changed my life, I never rake leaves anymore, I just mow them.
fongy2
11/2/2009-8:00pm at 8:00 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for the heads up
but the lay out of our property is such that I pretty much have to
hand rake and use the blower infront of the house. B/T/W,thanks for the correction
on where the gints and jets train.Don’t know why BUT I thought the gints have moved to the
Morristown area and the jets to the Florham
park area in NJ.
Also, please,I’m not
from PA,just live here now. From Hells Kitchen,NYC,NY as anyone who hears my accent around here could tell ya.
I do love it here though