Will Omar connect the dots and bring Met fans a Merry Christmas?
Much like TRS86 has done in his post Figgins off the market?, I will take a look at what is being said in other cities about other players, and try to postulate how it might impact the Mets. John Lackey is covered in the Figgins post so we will tackle other players below.
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Roy Halladay: According to Jordan Bastian of mlb.com, Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos’ focus since taking over that role has been to strengthen the farm system. Two points in the article stood out to me. 1, Anthopoulos is satisfied that he has a talented group of young starting pitchers to build around. 2, he believes they need to improve the organization from a position player standpoint. Bastian hypothesizes: “With that in mind, Toronto will likely target some top position-player prospects in any trade talks involving ace Roy Halladay.“
As Met fans I believe that means if we hope for the Mets to acquire Halladay, we better have and be prepared to part with high quality position player prospects.
What's up, Doc?
Matt Holliday & Joel Pineiro: According to Matthew Leach of mlb.com, the St. Louis Cardinals’ entire off-season hinges on whether they re-sign Holliday or not. In Leach’s opinion, if the Cards bring Holliday back quickly, their offense is basically set. If negotiations drag out, or they fail to re-sign him, the Cards will have to bolster their offense with improvements at both LF and 3B. Regarding starting pitchers, Leach says “The top three starters are settled and under contract: Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse. The fifth is likely to come from in-house, someone like Jaime Garcia or Mitchell Boggs. But a veteran No. 4 is the second item on the shopping list (after Holliday).”
This impacts the Mets in a number of ways, the most obvious of which is that should the Cards re-sign Holliday he won’t be available to the Mets. The more subtle way is, if Leach is correct in that signing Holliday would end the Cards’ pursuit of hitters, they would be one less team competing with the Mets for remaining free agent bats. Also, Leach adds that the Cards prefer a short-term solution to the their # 4 starter, and nothing would be shorter than the 1-year contract Joel Pineiro would receive from them should he accept arbitration. Should he accept, that eliminates Pineiro from consideration by the Mets for their rotation.
This photo of Pineiro giving up a HR is what we call "subliminal"
Bengie Molina: According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants’ front office staff has spent the days leading up to next week’s GM meetings in Indianapolis figuring out who their starting catcher will be in 2010. Apparently it won’t be Bengie Molina or Buster Posey. “General manager Brian Sabean said the front office had a ‘raging debate’ over whether Posey would be the No. 1 catcher, adding, ‘We came to the overall conclusion it would be a tall order to ask him to do that. He just hasn’t played a lot.’ Molina, who hit .278 and averaged 18 homers and 85 RBIs in his three years as a Giant, and his representatives made it clear he ‘doesn’t have an appetite for a one-year deal. So it’s pretty much a moot point,’ said Sabean, who would have wanted Molina with a one-year deal.”
Despite the fact that the Mets have signed catchers Chris Coste and Henry Blanco this week, multiple media reports suggest the Mets are still searching for a catcher. That effects the Mets two ways. It means one less suitor for Molina, but competition for some of the other catchers still available. One also wonders if the Giants believe, despite his 2009 cup of coffee, that uber-prospect Posey is not ready, do the Mets believe Josh Thole is ready?
"Trust me, they'll overpay you," whispers Cora to Molina
27 comments
stickguy
12/4/2009-6:02pm at 6:02 pm (UTC -4)
lets call for a total news blackout on Bengie. Put a spam filter on his name or something until he actually signs with someone. Just not the Mets, unless he ends up at 1 year/3 mill. like the rest of the questionable catchers.
My lord, what if Omar’s big off season plan is to overpay for Bengie and Pinata (to go along with Cora), then eat some money to trade Castillo so he can overpay Hudson? Even if he snags a guy like Harden to be the wing and prayer guy, all that does is save Freddy some $$.
WHich of course they lose right back through decreased ticket sales, but I am not even confidnet at this point that the Mets FO can connect those dots!
fongy2
12/4/2009-6:15pm at 6:15 pm (UTC -4)
Funniest line of the day….
(Molina)”doesn’t have an appetite for a one year deal”
Get outta here!!
Take a good look at him…..
It’s obvious his appetite
doesn’t come with limitations
GravediggerHebner
12/4/2009-6:16pm at 6:16 pm (UTC -4)
What scares me the most is the Molina “doesn’t have an appetite for a one year deal” quote. Most of us have resigned ourselves to the idea of Molina coming here (as much as we hate it), and tried to make ourselves feel a bit better about it by framing it in a “well, hopefully he’ll just get a one year contract while we wait for Thole” way. That seems unlikely now. If Omar truly does want Molina, he’s gonna be round (and around) for a while.
fongy2
12/4/2009-6:22pm at 6:22 pm (UTC -4)
Heb, what do ya think of the story on the
blognazi’s site about
how Omar’s goal is to rid us of Castillo
in order to sign The O-Dog.
Could it be Omar moves
Castillo for Guillen,
signs both Molina and
Hudson.
Then just patches the
SPing with a Meche and/or Garland type?
Would that be a friggin’ disaster or what?
GravediggerHebner
12/4/2009-6:33pm at 6:33 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t go there anymore so I can’t comment on it directly, but from the way you’ve summarized it it does sound like a disaster. Or at best, a disappointment.
I’d rather have Milton Bradley than Guillen, at least in the context of on-field baseball ability.
Contract-wise, Guillen makes more sense, $12 mil in 1 year instead of over 2 years for Castillo.
If I’m going to be disappointed either way, I think I’d rather they go this hypothetical way:
trade Castillo for Bradley;
sign Felipe Lopez;
leave the catchers the way they are now;
patch with Garland, at least he stays healthy so he doesn’t force you to dig deeper.
fongy2
12/4/2009-6:42pm at 6:42 pm (UTC -4)
Jeez…
Thats not good either.
GravediggerHebner
12/4/2009-6:46pm at 6:46 pm (UTC -4)
I agree, but somehow it hurts me less than ODog, Molina and Guillen.
I just think ODog is a slightly glorified version of Castillo, and the idea of Francoeur, Guillen and Molina all refusing to take a walk in the bottom of the lineup is truly depressing.
fongy2
12/4/2009-6:47pm at 6:47 pm (UTC -4)
Hey can someone give me a heads-up
on how to change my password?
fongy2
12/4/2009-6:55pm at 6:55 pm (UTC -4)
I’m not disagreeing.
It just seems everyone(pro-scribes)
think Omar is gonna sign Molina
and really wants Hudson.
I wouldn’t be real happy with either.
Also…so much for the owners controlling themselves in this economic climate should Figgins get
4yrs&32/36mil, on top of Polanco’s
and Scutaro’s contracts.
Seems to me all three will be well overpaid for all being role players.
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-7:04pm at 7:04 pm (UTC -4)
goes to show you some teams value defense more than others
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-7:03pm at 7:03 pm (UTC -4)
re Doc: have to imagine Santos or Pagan if Jays want ML ready or Thole or F-Mart if they want prospects. Throw in some infield prospects like Davis or Havens. Then all you need is a SP w/ high upside but far away. Sounds like Familia.
Re Holliday: If Cards do pull Holliday, I see it affecting the Mets because the Yanks, Sox and Angels would still need feeding. I’m actually more concerned about the Braves and Cameron. He’s from GA and they need a righty bat.
Re Molina: Reyes-Castillo-Wright-Beltran-Cameron-Murph/LaRoche-Frenchy-Molina doesn’t look too bad. Even if it’s a two year deal, figure Thole could use all of 2010 in AAA and split time in 2011. Of course it stops us from getting Doc or Lackey, nope.
fongy2
12/4/2009-7:16pm at 7:16 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t think we have what
it takes to get Halladay.
I have thought all along that
The Cards will end up keeping
Holliday.
The latest word is that the Braves may be chasing Byrd
which is good news for us.
I’d prefer Cameron if given the choice of the two.
Lastly, I’ll state again, I want no part of Molina.
36 y/o Catchers fall real fast
and hes clearly no longer
a “plus defender”.
Further him and Frenchy
6/7 in the order would equal
very few runs from the second half of the order.
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-7:23pm at 7:23 pm (UTC -4)
re: Doc, not much comp out there. same as for Santana.
re: Holliday, doubt Cards want his contract if they want to keep Pujols. I’m thinking Cashman bails out Boras, again.
re: Cameron, I hope you’re right
re: Molina, agreed on fat and old but if he can still hit I wouldn’t mind Frenchy and Molina batting 7th and 8th. Ultimately, I like Santos and Bennie from the BX. (Blanco was on my list of plus defenders)
fongy2
12/4/2009-7:40pm at 7:40 pm (UTC -4)
Correction, there was NO comp for Santana.The Twins had no where else to
go. With Doc
the yanks,Sox,Angels(if they dont resign Lackey)
and I’m sure one or two more are still in.The prob w/Frenchy&Molina backtoback
is the terrible
OBP of both AND
with Molina being a baseclogger unlike any other,the 8 hole hitter
is useless.
Just think about it.
ceetar
12/4/2009-7:50pm at 7:50 pm (UTC -4)
There is a lot of negative to Bengie. I’m not sold that the Mets are actually serious about him though.
Then there’s the disaster manager who may bat Castillo out of order, 8th, and Francoeur elsewhere. You could do Francoeur, Murphy, Molina 6,7,8 which is probably the best way to align that bunch, but Molina 8 is so bad because he can’t be bunted over as easily.
Santana’s already given the mental middle finger to Manuel’s bunt signs (2RBI double), imagine what he’ll think trying to get that guy over? (It’s an out anyway, i might as well swing.)
stickguy
12/4/2009-9:49pm at 9:49 pm (UTC -4)
not an issue really, since Blanco will be his personal catcher.
No idea, of course, if Blanco is much faster than Molina.
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-8:07pm at 8:07 pm (UTC -4)
It’s been rumored doc wants to stay near florida or at least during st
so same as Santana
I’m not advocating for Molina but I’m not as against it as many
would be nice to have slg in the bottom of the order obp is for top
most catchers hit 8th don’t see the problem
I’d like castillo leadoff followed by Reyes taking advantage of castillo obp and Reyes slg
maybe Omar is trying to spread he slg instead of getting 1 big bat
stickguy
12/4/2009-9:51pm at 9:51 pm (UTC -4)
you might not now this, but I actually prefer Castillo not be on the team (breaking news, I know).
But, I have preached for a while that if he is playing, castillo 1 and reyes 2 is a much more effective order.
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-10:41pm at 10:41 pm (UTC -4)
Lol. You may have mentioned it once or twice.
Clearly having the better obp guy in front of the better slg makes sense. I’d say it won’t happen but Jerry did play around with it during st.
fongy2
12/4/2009-8:01pm at 8:01 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed Ceetar.
Plus imagine a healthy Reyes in the leadoff spot with Molina 8th i/f/o the Pitcher. Not good.It would take away 2 of Jose’s best parts of his
game,driving Pitchers crazy on the basepaths and his ability to drive in runs from the one-hole.
Also, the prob with hitting Castillo 2 is that unless he suddenly becomes the player he was 5 yrs ago, it never
makes any sense to have your 7th best
hitter getting more ABs than your best 6 hitters.
Molina just isn’t a good move for this team at this time.
I think its 2to1 that you get 2002
like stats out of him in 2010 ,at
his age.
wannybackstra
12/4/2009-9:51pm at 9:51 pm (UTC -4)
I cant envision any scenario in which Omir Santos (who is lucky to be on a major league roster) might possibly be part of a trade for Roy Halladay.
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-10:47pm at 10:47 pm (UTC -4)
Then that would leave thole as the catcher prospect to be traded, if a C is a must.
At least in the next week we should know what teams are really involved and what they are offering.
Perfect storm:
yankees – holliday
red sox – bay
angels – lackey
mets – doc
phils – Mo Vaughn and Benjie Molina
metsfan4decades
12/4/2009-10:51pm at 10:51 pm (UTC -4)
I love Santana but can someone please explain to me why he needs a personal catcher? Has he indicated to the FO that Santos catching him is not going to cut it next year? Was there something about the Schneider/Santos/Castro tandum that Johan felt cost him some runs/games the past two years? I really did get the impression that Johan calls his own game out there on the mound.
I mean, there were a few legit reasons Johan lost games he should not have such as poor defense, that ’08 BP, and run support, but the catcher specifically???
I may be naive or dense on this but I really don’t believe Omar is going after Molina. I’ve read all posts/comments from you all on this the past few days. Some have good points, and/or presented a scenario where it could possibly make sense to Omar but I still think it’s out there.
Carrying 3 catchers and calling one a backup for Murph at first?
Sigh….it’s going to be a long 2010 if this is the really road Omar is going down….
CaseStreet
12/4/2009-11:08pm at 11:08 pm (UTC -4)
The 40 man guarantee is key. Not guaranteed to be on mets
jaydh
12/4/2009-11:13pm at 11:13 pm (UTC -4)
The way I see it is, a Santos/Blanco platoon. Johan should be satisfied with Blanco behind the plate. Coste will mentor Thole in AAA while playing some 1B and sparing Thole at C when needed. Now to get another catcher makes zero sense and I dont want molina. Get me a SP, a setup guy, backup corner IFer, and a LFer, while keep also keeping tabs on delgado. Of course if we do get delgado murph will fill the need of backup corner IFer. Then we should be ready to rock.
Kingman 26
12/5/2009-8:42am at 8:42 am (UTC -4)
I am very happy to say that I agree with every last word of this post.
Seems like we are so desperate to criticize Omar that we are giving him grief for Molina already.
I really think that Jay’s scenario regarding the catcher position is EXACTLY right, and almost surely what we will see, at all levels.
Not to mention how right he is that our by far next biggest needs are a starter and an 8th inning guy.
Now how bout them Nets?!
wannybackstra
12/5/2009-11:04am at 11:04 am (UTC -4)
See today’s Post, in which Bart Hubbuch reports that Manuel and Warthern are both dissatisfied with Santos’s game calling ability.