Dec 13
"But it's not only me, breaking down the non-tender list"
The fine folks at MLBTR have compiled both a complete non-tender list and an interesting non-tender list.
Your job as a thoroughly engaged and opinionated Met fan is to go check out those lists and recommend a player or players that you think the Mets should have interest in. Let us know who you think the Mets should pursue and why you think they should in the comments section.
MLBTradeRumors
Matt Harvey's Next Two Starts Will Be... { " the Mets need to... } – May 22, 12:20 PMMatt Harvey's Next Two Starts Will Be... { Yup, choosing Backman has about... } – May 22, 12:10 PMMatt Harvey's Next Two Starts Will Be... { Good lord, what happened to... } – May 22, 12:09 PM
Matt Harvey's Next Two Starts Will Be... { backman. Yuck. and just 1... } – May 22, 12:06 PM
Matt Harvey's Next Two Starts Will Be... { Don't worry Chief, Backman already... } – May 22, 12:03 PM
26 comments
GravediggerHebner
12/13/2009-12:19pm at 12:19 pm (UTC -4)
My thoughts:
Garrett Atkins or Ryan Garko to add some right handed hitting to the bench and the 1B mix;
Jonny Gomes to add some right handed hitting to the bench and the LF mix;
Kelly Johnson to add some left handed hitting to the bench and the 2B/LF
mix;
Alfredo Amezaga to the everything mix;
Clay Condrey, Matt Capps or DJ Carrasco as right handed bullpen options.
Obviously I know they can’t get all of them, but these are the guys that I would be sifting through if I were GM.
CaseStreet
12/13/2009-12:27pm at 12:27 pm (UTC -4)
Garko – RH, plays 1B and OF, had a poor BABIP in 2008 after his LD% went down 3 points.
Atkins – RH, plays 1B and 3B, LD hitter due for a resurgence after a poor BABIP in 2008
Capps – RHP, w/ 67 Career Saves, 6.89 K/9 and 1.66 BB/9 Career. Hello bridge to K-Rod.
Blanco, Cora, Atkins or Murphy, Pagan and Garko on the bench.
Capps setting up for K-Rod.
So sweet, it’ll never happen.
steveo
12/13/2009-12:46pm at 12:46 pm (UTC -4)
Capps for one and Johnson.not big on atkins
whataputz
12/13/2009-1:05pm at 1:05 pm (UTC -4)
there are so many options! moves! lets make some moves!
Kingman 26
12/13/2009-1:10pm at 1:10 pm (UTC -4)
Matt Capps absolutely and positively. Young, was very good in 07 and 08 for rotten teams, and might very well bounce back nicely as a setup man, especially with the amazing influence of Molina and Blanco. DJ Carrasco or Mike MacDougal might be worth a look if Capps is taken.
Kelly Johnson is a no-brainer if he was willing to accept the possibility of not playing every day, and frankly, if he would come really cheaply, he should be picked up to platoon with Slappy. Keeps Slappy fresh, and Johnson could be his successor.
Ryan Garko might be an ideal platoon partner for Murph, and 5th outfielder if we keep Pagan. Pagan would play a fair amount on days when Bay, Beltran, and Frenchy take a day off, and Garko can be the wild card/PH/double switch guy on days he doesn’t start at first.
And how can no one have mentioned Jack Cust? The power and BB would make him a great 4th OF if he would accept that role, and perhaps he could be a VERY cheap LF and bat 7th if we miss out on Bay/Holliday and wind up with Lackey, M Gonzalez and maybe Halladay and/or another pricey starter.
No thanks on Wang after reconsidering, no Gomes, no Amezega, no McClung.
I think Atkins is probably not worth it either. But, if we could not get Garko, Atkins would be a decent second choice.
Maybe a ST flier on Olson if no one else takes him?
Jackson Quezada looks interesting if we can have him for a few hundred bucks.
oleosmirf
12/13/2009-2:33pm at 2:33 pm (UTC -4)
there are plenty of options out there to improve this team without spending a fortune. If we see Argenis Reyes, Nick the Stick, Ramon Martinez or other scrubs playing everyday, Omar has no excuse…
rustyjr
12/13/2009-3:55pm at 3:55 pm (UTC -4)
i wou;d love to get capps or garko – but i have a sneaky suspicion that delgado will be back come spring training – which could be beneficial for us offensively
stickguy
12/13/2009-4:38pm at 4:38 pm (UTC -4)
I think I will have to be the wet blanket (chicken little?) that spends the rest of the off season pissing and moaning about needing to improve the defense, especially on the RS of the IF.
Delgado and Castillo will be a disaster for any GB pitcher.
stickguy
12/13/2009-4:36pm at 4:36 pm (UTC -4)
How did this guy end up on MB? I like the way he thinks!
kidfromqueens December 13, 2009 at 1:29 pm
If I could pick one position to spend FA money on, it would be a starting pitcher, and Lackey is clearly the best one on the market, but giving him big money for five years at this point in his career is insane. He got steadily better through his 20s, culminating in his huge 2007, age 28 season, but it’s been downhill since then. He’s been injured (and not odd freak or “fixable†injuries, but most likely chronic arm issues) each of the last two seasons and put up worse numbers than he has since 2004 even when he has pitched. Tying up a pitcher for big money through his age 35 season when both his age 29 and age 30 seasons point to future injury and decreased performance just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Would it be the best move for 2010? Probably- but I wouldn’t be willing to risk losing serious value over the course of the next five years in return.
oleosmirf
12/13/2009-4:49pm at 4:49 pm (UTC -4)
while I agree somewhat, unless Omar makes a trade, Lackey is still miles ahead of the next best FA SP. If he can get us 3 years of 15 Wins and a sub 3 ERA i’ll take the 2 years of mediocrity…
stickguy
12/13/2009-6:32pm at 6:32 pm (UTC -4)
based on what?
he won 15 games once in his career (in his magical 2007 season. And he has only come near 3.00 one (3.01 in 2007).
The last 2 years he has had an ERA of ~3.8, and given up an even hit per inning. While missing 6 weeks each year with arm problems.
Being better than the rest of the FA class says a lot more about them being mediocre!
If you want him, fine, but at least acknowledge that they are going to overpay for a guy that is well into the risky part of his career, and their is a pretty good chance that it can blow up on him.
It’s not like you are talking about a wolf-like contract (3/28ish) here. 5/90? Huge, huge risk.
He has managed to average ~61/2 innings per start the last couple of years, but that is the AL, with no PH happening (I alsways expect an AL pitcher should average more innings per start just due to the DH).
oleosmirf
12/13/2009-6:49pm at 6:49 pm (UTC -4)
well you also must factor in that the AL is the far superior league (at least when it comes to offense) so his numbers should improve here. If the Mets feel that Lackey can give them 3 years at the level he is at now, then I would offer him 4-5 years.
Personally I would go all out for Adordis Chapman and take a flier on Bedard as that will probably cost you less than Lackey and then use that money to replace Castillo and add some relievers and bench players like Atkins, Garko, Kelly Johnson etc.
Next offseason (or possibly this trade deadline) is where u go all out for pitching…
Kingman 26
12/13/2009-4:51pm at 4:51 pm (UTC -4)
Of course, no ideas, just negativity!!
The mantra for this offseason.
Kingman 26
12/13/2009-4:53pm at 4:53 pm (UTC -4)
That was directed at Stickguy’s new hero, not you Oleo….
stickguy
12/13/2009-6:24pm at 6:24 pm (UTC -4)
hey, it was a specific response to the idea of throwing a blank check (years and $$) contract at lackey. Not required to supply an alternative plan with every post!
There seems to be a growing mystique about Lackey now too, and occasionally you need to take a step back and look at the other side of the equation.
Kingman 26
12/13/2009-8:35pm at 8:35 pm (UTC -4)
You are of course right.
I personally am sick to death of armchair internet experts proceeding to tell us why EVERY player the Mets are considering is too old, too fat, too slow, a bad fielder, hurt, over the hill, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.
We ALL know about Lackey’s problems with injuries the last two years.
njstuckintx
12/13/2009-10:11pm at 10:11 pm (UTC -4)
Looking at the list, I see Kelly Johnson and Matt Capps as the best cost effective options out there. Atkins is probably the best talented option out there, but unless we consider him to be the starting 1B, then I’d say pass. Honestly, that wouldn’t be a bad option in my mind. It would go from needing a platoon for Murphy to Murphy being the backup to Atkins. If someone can let me know how Atkins D is, I would appreciate it. Maybe he could be had for 2 years, 8 mil? I would think that’s reasonable. maybe even a 1+1 at 5 mil per with a buyout? I dunno.
Oh, and sign Lackey.
CaseStreet
12/13/2009-10:34pm at 10:34 pm (UTC -4)
average D, probably not as much range as Murphy but won’t have cement boots like Delgado. If Atkins became a Met, it certainly wouldn’t be to platoon or ride the bench.
Prob w/ Kelly Johnson is we already have Blanco, Cora and Pagan on the bench. So you still need a corner infieler and another outfielder. Johnson isn’t either, unless you think he can play 1st and 3rd, ala Tatis.
njstuckintx
12/13/2009-11:00pm at 11:00 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for the D info. That said, I am leaning towards Atkins at first, especially considering the upgrade overall at 1st vs. the investment. This is realizing the alternatives (delgado, laroche, etc.).
I hate to say Murph would be the odd man out, welcome to the bench buddy, but (while I am huge on Murph) I am not going to just give 1B to a guy who has just learned first and just shown signs of being a capable bat. He’s probably suited to be a serviceable 1B/3B/2B(maybe)/OF(in a pinch) type bench guy.
If Castillo can be moved, I think I would prefer Johnson over O-dawg. Even Murph, for that fact. And no, I’m not saying Murph can do it all. I’m just saying that looking at what Castillo gave us, if moved, I’d take about any replacement, and at least Murph is cheap (and presumably serviceable). Hence, sign Johnson and stick Murph on the bench.
CaseStreet
12/13/2009-11:50pm at 11:50 pm (UTC -4)
prob is that Atkins has only played 105 games at 1B and only started 75 (Career). Murphy has played 101 games at 1B and started 95 (Career).
oleosmirf
12/14/2009-12:46am at 12:46 am (UTC -4)
what about minor leagues though?
trs86
12/14/2009-9:18am at 9:18 am (UTC -4)
He has played in 182 games at 1B in the minors but most came in 2001 in Single A. Honestly a lot of guys like him end up at 1B in the minors because they could not field.
His MLB UZR at 1B is terrible but I am not a big fan of it for 1B anyway.
Fact is though the guy is going to get a decent amount and is not very good. Honestly to me he provides nothing that Tatis doesn’t provide yet Tatis is cheaper and plays more positions. Tatis’ last 2 years have been much better than Atkins and we know he is ok with the reserve role. We do not know that about Atkins. I also think it would be an incredible mistake to move Murphy for a guy who actually found a way to be worse than Murphy last year.
CaseStreet
12/13/2009-11:45pm at 11:45 pm (UTC -4)
An interesting comment on fangraphs about Ryan Garko:
Considering his splits, Garko will easily end up as the RH side of a 1B or LF platoon.
Career vs. LHP: .313 AVG,.392 OBP,.887 OPS
I could easily see someone like Minaya jump on him to platoon with Murphy and there are plenty of other spots where he could end up as well.
———————
Personally, I’d like to see a Garko/Murphy platoon. As I noted above, Garko is due for a resurgence next year as is Murphy.
Murphy career vs. RHP .282 AVG .340 OBP .436 SLG .775 OPS
Garko career vs. LHP .313 AVG .392 OBP .495 SLG .887 OPS
Garko is a 28-year-old who batted .283/.353/.480 in the American League over his last three seasons, with over 3000 innings at 1B. Having not seen him play, fangraphs says his defense was -7.8, -5.2 and 2.6 UZR btw 07-09.
njstuckintx
12/13/2009-11:54pm at 11:54 pm (UTC -4)
Would you feel comfortable with that tandem at 1B?
Me, being in the “I’d have no prob with Murph at first this year” camp, I’d take Garko, based on his bat, to be in that tandem.
Pagan, Murph/Garko, Cora, Blanco, someone as bench. Would prefer that someone to be a homerun threat off the bench, a la Matt Stairs. Cust? Evans?
CaseStreet
12/14/2009-12:00am at 12:00 am (UTC -4)
Couldn’t hurt to have competition or at least a pretty good and inexpensive platoon, instead of spending big bucks on Delgado, LaRoche, Nick Johnson.
trs86
12/14/2009-9:19am at 9:19 am (UTC -4)
Really depends on how much Garko wants but to me he is the perfect signing as long as he does not get close to what Delgado would without incentives.