Will the Mets be re-charged or get burned?
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
- Statue of Liberty inscription
Depending on what reports you believe, sometime in the past 6 months the Mets had a package that the Toronto Blue Jays found acceptable for Roy Halladay, but he didn’t want to come here. He wanted to go to, and ultimately earlier this month went to “a contender,” which I interpret as locker room code for “I don’t want to be a savior. I don’t want to make a decent team better, I want to be on a team that’s good already. Roll out the red carpet to the World Series for me, I’m done trying to do it myself.”
Allegedly, the Mets had a reasonable offer on the table for John Lackey, but his agent didn’t call the Mets back and he signed with the Red Sox. Lackey just “wants to win.” As he enters the second decade of his career, he’d rather by the cherry on a sundae than the ice cream foundation.
The highest offer that Jason Bay has been reported to have received was from the Mets. Bay’s options are rapidly closing. The Red Sox have already replaced him with Mike Cameron, and his close-to-hometown Mariners would rather shed one undesirable in Carlos Silva and risk a meltdown from another in Milton Bradley than sign him. Yet the Mets offer sits there, gathering dust on Bay’s agent’s desk.
The Mets have seemingly become baseball’s pariah. They can’t give their money away to any player that is at all coveted for a significant role in the major leagues. Screw them. If they don’t want to play in a brand new shiny stadium in New York City (or at least, not one in Queens) that has state-of-the-art facilities and cushy locker room recliners, let them go elsewhere.
"New York," not to be confused with "New York, New York"
“Give me your hungry, your tired your poor I’ll piss on ‘em
that’s what the Statue of Bigotry says.
Your poor huddled masses, let’s club ‘em to death
and get it over with and just dump ‘em on the boulevard.”
- Lou Reed, ‘Dirty Boulevard’
Perhaps Lou Reed was referring to Astoria Boulevard, or Northern Boulevard, and the only baseball players willing to come to Citi Field for 2010. Even the hungry and tired are going elsewhere. As noted above, Silva and Bradley were exchanged for each other. As I write this, Jason Marquis, an ordinary starting pitcher who playoff teams go out of their way to remove from their rosters, is signing with the Nationals. Apparently the shores of the Anacostia River are a preferred destination to Flushing Bay.
Who is left among the undesirable, the untouchable, the huddled masses yearning to break free that will come play for the lowly New York Mets? Other than Marquis, the only player who has expressed a desire to play for the Mets is carpetbagging second baseman Orlando Hudson. I won’t go so far as to say the Mets don’t need a second baseman, but I will note that they already have one in Luis Castillo. Hudson, who manages to win gold gloves despite negative fielding, and who is good enough to be benched for the stretch run by uber-manager Joe Torre, might actually be OK with coming here but he doesn’t fit. The Mets need pitchers, starters more so than relievers, a catcher, and a left fielder, and perhaps a first baseman, but not a second baseman. So who might come?
Perhaps this guy is willing to play for the Mets
According to Deadspin, Dmitri Young was accused by his ex-girlfriend of choking her. He plays 1B. Jose Canseco and Wil Cordero both walk under a cloud of domestic violence. Both are retired so they’re theoretically available, and could stand in LF or at 1B if asked. The Braves are allegedly trying to trade Derek Lowe. He was arrested for domestic violence in 1996 and underwent 5 months of counseling. Noted misogynist and pitcher Brett Myers can start or relieve so he fits. Kirby Puckett’s ex-wife claims he tried to strangle her with an electrical cord. He’s deceased, but he could still probably play LF as well as some of the currently living, less criminally active available free agent outfielders. So these players should be willing to come to Queens. Who else?
Stepping away from criminals, some other tired and hungry (if not poor) players might come, but many seem to want to be overwhelmed financially. C Bengie Molina, whose career OBP of .307 is sometimes mistaken for his weight might come, but apparently not for 2 years and $10 million. Catchers Rod Barajas and Miguel Olivo have similar issues with getting on base, and all 3 are lacking defensively in some way. At least Barajas and Olivo haven’t refused to sign for less than 3 years.
Free agent OF Jack Cust has hit at least 25 HR in all 4 of his full major league seasons, boasts a fine career OBP of .374 and to his credit has yet to make outrageous contract demands but it’s hard to predict that his OF defense would be anything short of disastrous considering his career UZR/150 as an OF is minus 20.4, improving slightly to minus 18.9 when considering solely LF. Pitcher Ben Sheets is always one movement away from a season-ending injury, but when healthy is an ace. He would give the Mets a dynamic one-two punch at the front of their starting rotation either on the field or in the trainer’s room.
Perhaps this will convince someone to play here
Among players already being overwhelmed financially, Houston OF Carlos Lee is a fine all around hitter but he has a full no-trade clause through 2010 and is scheduled to make $55.5 million over the next 3 years, and he hasn’t been a positive defender in LF since 2004, his last season with the Chicago White Sox. I imagine the Toronto Blue Jays would be happy to send OF Vernon Wells our way considering he is scheduled to make $98.5 million over the next 5 years. Surely Toronto would take a non-prospect in exchange for Wells’ marginal batting and his 3 consecutive years of negative and declining defense. Perhaps the new owners of the Chicago Cubs might want to shed some salary. LF Alfonso Soriano is scheduled to make $72 million over the next 4 years. His offense is in a 4 year decline, but on the bright side last year was the first year he has been a negative defender and his career defense is positive overall.
The Arizona Diamondbacks might be able to help on two fronts. C Chris Snyder is now a back up for them, is scheduled to make $10.5 million over the next 2 years, and has back problems. They’ve finally reached the last year of OF Eric Byrnes‘ contract, but may not want to pay him $11 million to back up at 3 positions this season, especially since he has only managed to participate in 136 games over the last 2 years and put up an OPS of .653 in those games. OF Jose Guillen is being paid $12 million by the Kansas City Royals, perhaps they’d be willing to part with his career .322 OBP and his career minus 5.2 UZR/150 in LF.
When I look in the mirror I see the righthanded me
If the Mets are looking for the right handed version of Oliver Perez perhaps they could offer the San Diego Padres some salary relief and acquire Chris Young. His salary is not high by most standards, but these are the Padres we’re talking about and for them trading away $6.25 million this season and an option $8.5 million next year would be relief. Having made only 32 total starts and walking more than 4 batters per 9 innings over the last 2 seasons qualifies him for consideration among the poor, huddled masses.
In my fantasy world the Rays might consider 1B Carlos Pena and his $10.125 million too much to bear, but he’s productive enough for them to keep and instead seek to move LF Pat Burrell and his $9 million. Burrell certainly did not take well to the AL and to the DH, having by far the worst season of his 10 year career. The last time he was a positive defender was 2004. The Reds are rumored to be seeking some salary relief, perhaps they would move Aaron Harang and his remaining 2 years, $25.25 million (which lucky for the Mets becomes 2 years, $26.5 million if he’s traded). Since being used on 2 days rest to pitch 4 innings of relief in May 2008, Harang is 10-25, and his ERA and WHIP have been the highest of his career the last 2 years. Maybe the Colorado Rockies consider the $35.7 million owed to Todd Helton over the next 2 years too much and would consider parting with the 1B. He does still hit over .300 pretty much every year, and he’s a decent fielding 1B, but he hasn’t eclipsed 20 HR since 2005.
Maybe this train wreck will provide someone
Last but not least there are the Detroit Tigers who offer a veritable plethora of high priced, flawed baseball players to choose from. OF Magglio Ordonez is owed $18 million for this season, has a club option of a mere $15 million for 2011, plus the added bonus of being owed annual deferred payments of $3 million in each of the next 2 years. After averaging 24 HR for 11 seasons, Ordonez managed just 9 last year, and has experienced a 2 year decline in both his offensive and defensive production. Miguel Cabrera is still a very productive hitter, but his defense has lapsed forcing his movement from LF to 3B to 1B where so far his defense has been negative, he apparently stayed out all night drinking then came home and hit his wife with a phone before the post season play-in game versus the Twins, and he is owed $126 million over the next 6 years. Pitcher Jeremy Bonderman has managed to pitch only 256 innings total over the last 3 years, just 10 last year, and is owed $12.5 million this season.
LF Carlos Guillen is coming off a 2 year decline offensively, has been moved all over the diamond only to defend poorly at every position he plays the last few years, and is owed $26 million over the next 2 years. Then there are 2 horrible and horribly overpaid lefthanded pitchers in Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson. Willis is owed $12 million and Robertson $10 million for 2010. Willis made 35 starts and led the league in earned runs allowed in 2007, then managed to make only 14 starts over the last 2 seasons with an ERA of 8.27 and a WHIP of 2.046! Robertson is an ace by comparison, despite having led the league in earned runs allowed in 2008. He has made 44 appearances, 25 starts, over the last 2 seasons to an ERA of 6.14 and a WHIP of 1.681, blowing Willis’ WHIP away.
Yup, she has a twin sister, and they're both pyromaniacs
The great players don’t want to come here. The good players are trying desperately to avoid coming here. We are left to choose from the huddled masses, and try not to piss on ‘em, ’cause they’re all we’ve got left to pick from.
Happy Holidays Met fans! Remember, each new player is a gift, even if the wrapping paper is ripped, even if when you open the box broken pieces fall out, hell even if Daddy doesn’t get it to you by the 25th. The mutt puppy rescued from the shelter is not quite the purebred golden lab you hoped for, but at least it wants to be with you. Hopefully it can cover a lot of ground in LF.
84 comments
mrose
12/22/2009-8:33am at 8:33 am (UTC -4)
Pretty much out of everyone mentioned, i’d take Miggy and Carlos Lee
Other than that, the article depressed me
fongy2
12/22/2009-8:43am at 8:43 am (UTC -4)
Agree with Rose! Very depressing, a couple days
b/f Christmas. Thanks alot Heb.
One positive note though Heb,
Thanks for the Lou Reed mention. THAT Album and I do
mean Album was once of my favorites about 20yrs ago.
Hey, wait a second!
That makes me feel old.
Thanks for that too Heb.
trs86
12/22/2009-8:47am at 8:47 am (UTC -4)
I just don’t get why everyone is so depressed. 2 of the big 3 FA are still on the market and virtually everyone else. I am very interested to see what happens from here. Should be a lot of action in the next 2 weeks.
fongy2
12/22/2009-8:52am at 8:52 am (UTC -4)
Won’t speak for others but
for me, neither
Bay nor Holliday is a very sexy player and I’m
not sure how much Bay is gonna help,especially
for the contract he’ll
receive.
trs86
12/22/2009-8:55am at 8:55 am (UTC -4)
So the entire off-season depended on an overpriced luck of the draw I am the best pitcher on the market Lackey? Because besides that nothing really has happen on the FA market.
dirtysanchez
12/22/2009-9:04am at 9:04 am (UTC -4)
Im sure at the very least he will help with getting us out of last place in the NL regarding HRs
trs86
12/22/2009-8:42am at 8:42 am (UTC -4)
Lots of good information here. I still don’t see us as desperate or as a place that people don’t want to go. Chances are Halladay wanted to go to Philly. That does not mean he hated NY, LA, or anywhere else the Jays tried to send him. Chances are that the Rsox were the only team to offer 5 years to Lackey and he took it because he wanted to be there and did not see the Mets topping it. That does not mean he also did not like LA or NY as both were trying to get him. The Mets never really showed any interest in Marquis.
But again, should be interesting.
mrose
12/22/2009-8:50am at 8:50 am (UTC -4)
I’m actually not depressed, but IF and IF its proven that players don’t want the Mets its depressing.
I have a take on Lackey, that seemed to come out, that his wife is from the area, and that he didn’t want the NL, so I don’t think it was as much about us, as it was the NL and it was Boston.
Marquis, glad we didn’t get him at that price, and Halladay, Philly is marginally better and I didn’t want the Mets trading more of their baren farm.
The Jason Bay thing, I see it as he flat out overplayed his hand and Molina is just bein greedy… i’m fine w/ moving on from them both
trs86
12/22/2009-8:54am at 8:54 am (UTC -4)
Molina I think knows this is his LAST multi-year contract and is trying to squeeze us. He knows we won’t move on so he is hoping we cave.
Bay, who knows? I think it’s that he really wanted to stay in the AL but he also knows this is his last big contract. The Mets are not really going anywhere so he is taking his time.
dirtysanchez
12/22/2009-8:50am at 8:50 am (UTC -4)
Wow…amazing article Grave..
Its funny how we all killed omar for jumping too quick on several players the last few years but this year he is waiting them out and we are all going nuts(myself included). We have a laundry list of issues that in reality most likely will be filled by inexpensive talent. I have no idea what omars plan is to fix the rotation because frankly that has gotten no love what so ever, just gotta hope one of those rumors is true regarding omar and the trade front.
trs86
12/22/2009-8:50am at 8:50 am (UTC -4)
Here is one for Fongy to debate. I promise not to even respond. I think….
Omar Minaya:
But really, what has Omar Minaya ever done to deserve the reputation as a dumb general manager?
Did he give a 5 year/$50 million contract to Gary Matthews Jr.?
Did he give a 6 year/$100 million contract to Carlos Lee?
Did he give a 6 year/$66 million contract to Eric Chavez?
Did he give a 7 year/$126 million contract to Vernon Wells?
Did he give a 4 year/$60 million contract to Derek Lowe?
Did he give a 4 year/$42 million contract to Jeff Suppan?
Did he give a 4 year/$41 million contract to Kyle Lohse?
Did he give an 8 year/$136 million contract to Alfonso Soriano?
Did he give a 3 year/$30 million contract to Eric Byrnes?
Did he give a 2 year/$45 million contract to Manny Ramirez
Did he give a 7 year/$126 million contract to Barry Zito?
Did he give a 4 year/$57 million contract to Travis Hafner?
Did he give a 4 year/$48 million contract to Carlos Silva?
Did he give a 5 year/$80 million contract to Michael Young?
Did he give an 8 year/$90 million contract to Scott Rolen?
Did he give a 6 year/$52 million contract to Daisuke Matsuzaka (after spending $51 million plus on the posting fee?)
Did he give a 3 year/$36 million contract to Jose Guillen?
Did he give a 5 year/$75 million contract to Magglio Ordonez?
Did he give a 5 year/$44 million contract to Juan Pierre?
Did he give a 7 year/$69 million contract to Alex Rios?
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
HAHA! Just about every one on that list is worse than Ollie The Albatross’ deal, and I would say probably EVERY one is worse than Castillo’s. Nice work!
trs86
12/22/2009-9:16am at 9:16 am (UTC -4)
That’s from Mack’s Mets I won’t take the credit.
mrose
12/22/2009-9:16am at 9:16 am (UTC -4)
if anything you can add Castillo and Perez’ deals to the list. But the bottom line is the Mets may have inquired about some of them, but didn’t pull the trigger on them because of those ridiculous contracts.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:19am at 9:19 am (UTC -4)
Not really…which deals on that list are not clearly worse than Castillo’s?
And I have always taken you as a reasonable, fact-based fan, who does not belong to the tribe of the silly who rate Castillo far worse than he actually is.
Not saying his deal was good or even OK, but which deals above are better than his?
And Ollie has two years left on his deal…if he gives us 2007 the next two years, we will all reappraise.
mrose
12/22/2009-9:22am at 9:22 am (UTC -4)
oh, i wasn’t saying i am not one of those fans… i was just saying, the best a naysayer can do is add those deals to the list and try to rank them..
Castillo, the first year seemed a disaster, last year he was solid and I’ll give Ollie another chance, I mean, we have to
trs86
12/22/2009-9:26am at 9:26 am (UTC -4)
But lets say you have to bump 2 to get our guys on. Who are you bumping?
mrose
12/22/2009-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
to be honest, I can’t.. I’ll give Derek Lowe benefit like Ollie has that its early in his deal and he COULD rebound and sorta the same w/ Manny. But, honestly, I can’t get rid of any
trs86
12/22/2009-9:41am at 9:41 am (UTC -4)
Only problem with Lowe is that now it’s a 3/45 deal for a 37 year old coming off of a terrible year.
Ollies is a 2/24 27 year old coming off a dreadful year.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
Gotcha MRose, and nice to see you on here!
mikemattone
12/22/2009-10:42am at 10:42 am (UTC -4)
Did any of those GMs trade Brandon Phillips, Grady Seizmore, and Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon? Other than the Santana gift he got from the Twins, what has Minaya done to prove he is a quality GM? Everyone hates on Steve Phillips, but remember he didn’t trade Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, and he was working under a much more strict budget compared to Omar. Minaya has created a barren farm system and a over-paid, overrated major league club with the toughness of a Peeps marshmallow snack, most popular around Easter time and quite delicious.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-2:30pm at 2:30 pm (UTC -4)
Well, OF COURSE the Colon trade was a disaster, and I am 100% sure you knew that all three of those prospects would become really good at the time; I can tell that about you.
And OF COURSE the Santana trade was a “gift” and not Omar’s doing.
Grow up.
Perhaps Omar told the Twins “no” when they asked for Pelf or Reyes or FMart, and held out until the Twins got desperate, and stole Johan.
And are Reyes and Wright overpaid, considering the early and relatively inexpensive extensions Omar signed them too?
And yeah, Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Francoeur, Murphy, Johan, and KRod are all softer than marshmallow Peeps.
You are very, very silly. I can tell you are silly when I read something below your name.
You don’t know the farm is barren. You won’t know until FMart, Davis, Niese and many more bomb out at the MLB level. And the “barren” farm got us Johan.
CaseStreet
12/22/2009-2:50pm at 2:50 pm (UTC -4)
LMAO
trs86
12/22/2009-8:59am at 8:59 am (UTC -4)
Cerrone actually ask a good question. Kind of. He did not really ask it but I will.
Is there a better way to make us competitive for next year than to sign Bay for 5 years?
dirtysanchez
12/22/2009-9:05am at 9:05 am (UTC -4)
not really imo. In the hands of another manager, maybe but with Manuel at the helm…I think they need to go with the sure thing (an everyday player)
mrose
12/22/2009-9:06am at 9:06 am (UTC -4)
well, normally bay is a 30 or 35+ hr guy and 120 RBI… that was in Pitt and Boston..
Here, lets assume hes 25 HR and 100 RBI if he has the same probs at citi field..
I’d think we could do some sort of platoon and possibly get better defense then him for less than 15-16m this season and redo this exercise next offseason
fongy2
12/22/2009-9:07am at 9:07 am (UTC -4)
Like who?
mrose
12/22/2009-9:15am at 9:15 am (UTC -4)
Well, if it comes to it, i’d take an incentive laden Nady deal depending on his health, maybe Jonny Gomes?
The thing is, Jason Bay is not gonna make or break this team next year or for three to four seasons after.
I’ll also admit, I haven’t been around as I’d like to be, and that should change now, but is anyone inquiring about LaRoche? I mean, he is a terrible start to the season guy, but he rakes after the ASB.
fongy2
12/22/2009-9:06am at 9:06 am (UTC -4)
Don’t know. Thats why this
is so depressing,the available
FAs aren’t great, we have nothing to trade to get better
and those who were avaialble
in a trade who could have made an impact now have new homes.
This is what I meant when the season ended and felt the window for this group may have
just closed.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:15am at 9:15 am (UTC -4)
Not the Granderson thing again. But as far as the window being closed I don’t get it. Look at the ages of our core players. None of them are in their final years. We just needs some pieces to go with them. Basically we need to replace Delgado and get a solid pitcher. Take a look at 2008.
Johan 16-7 2.53 ERA
Pelfrey 12-11 3.72 ERA
Perez 10-7 4.22 ERA
Maine 10-8 4.18 ERA 25 starts
Pedro 5-6 5.61 ERA 20 starts
Then a bunch of scrubs for those missing starts.
I think Johan, Pelfrey, Garland, Perez, Maine, Nieve, Niese could do better than that.
mrose
12/22/2009-9:20am at 9:20 am (UTC -4)
I am so sick of the “window closing” argument..
Beltran will be 33, so getting up there..
Johan is going to be 31.. still 2 years younger than Halladay.
Reyes is gonna be 27 mid season and to put it in perspective, Rollins just turned 31 and had his mvp year at age 28.. Wright is still in his 20′s…
I mean, our CORE is basically younger or similar ages to most of the phillies core when they started making the runs. It may be true that wrong moves have been or will be made, but the window isn’t closing, they just don’t know how to unlock it to open it
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:16am at 9:16 am (UTC -4)
Absolutely. Sign Sheets, sign Garland, and work a trade for someone else like Lowe or Meche.
Then sign Molina or Barajas.
Then, and I cannot believe I am even writing this, see if The Legend of Gritty McHudson is willing to tell his tales here as a platoon 2B, backup 3B, PH, and clubhouse presence who can regale Beltran, Wright, and Reyes with stories of what it is like to sit on the bench during the postseason; something they would not know about. Seriously, sign him for 1 year for 4 mil or something.
Then save money and prospects for midseason deals in 2010 and next year’s FA class.
I like Bay a lot, and he was about the most productive OF in the bigs last year HR and RBI-wise, but he is not Pujols, and enough is enough already.
Even I am starting to get sick of how Omar is not giving Bay an ultimatum–48 hours or go to hell!!
Thank you.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:24am at 9:24 am (UTC -4)
I am starting to soften on Gritty as well. I don’t see why if the Phillies think he could play 3B and he wants to come that we would not give him a similar contract to last year. Let him learn 1B, 3B and LF. I don’t think he could play any worse than some of the people we had in those positions last year. Plus for him he would have to think that helps his value for 2011.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:27am at 9:27 am (UTC -4)
Agreed–and if he wants to be a Met so badly, come on in for 1/4-5 mil.
A platoon of he and Slappy could be excellent, and I would love nothing more than to eat every last word I have written about Gritty if he comes here, hustles, and plays well.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
Great thing about it Kingman is IF he really wants to come here I would even do this.
3/12. Wait I know what you are thinking but hear me out. Structure his contract like this 2, 6, 4. The Mets could then afford to eat more of Castillo’s contract this off-season or during the year and if in 2012 Hudson stinks he only cost you 4 million.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
Really good way to look at it.
Or, structure it somehow with performance bonuses—not necessarily based on total numbers, so he would accept platooning, but on OPS??
That would be creative thinking!
trs86
12/22/2009-9:51am at 9:51 am (UTC -4)
It can’t be on stats at all, only games or plate appearances (or awards but that’s not happening).
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-10:01am at 10:01 am (UTC -4)
Oh yeah….
saltygary
12/22/2009-9:20am at 9:20 am (UTC -4)
Looks like 2003-04 all over again. The team had to throw the kitchen sink at Pedro and Beltran to get some legitimacy back to the club. Just 5 years later the team is in a worse position because they have the same type of bagage and no young talent like Reyes and Wright waiting in the wings.
From an offseason standpoint I’m not any more depressed than I have been the day they closed Shea. That was probably the lowest point for me and I was just too cynical going into last season to ever give them a real chance.
The game plan for acquisitions is still in full effect. The Mets wanted Molina and Bay or Lackey. Even though so many other players signed only one on the list fell through, nothing else has changed. And folks need to get over the Doc H trade. The Mets didn’t have the prospects to give and didn’t want to tie up another 20mil a season on another pitcher.
And us fans need to get our balls back. Since when have we ever gotten insecure about the Phils. F da Phili, F their Fans, F Victorina and all those other punks. The team may be down right now but their still Phili. F Em.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:22am at 9:22 am (UTC -4)
Yipppie. Only thing I disagree with is the first paragraph. I don’t think we are a non-desirable place to go. We just are not the most desired place to go. San Diego or Pittsburg is a non-desirable place.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:24am at 9:24 am (UTC -4)
Don’t agree with all of it, but this is my favorite sentence on here for a while:
“And us fans need to get our balls back.”
A-frigin-men.
metsgirl31
12/22/2009-9:37am at 9:37 am (UTC -4)
Agreed! Met fans need to stop acting like punks. Man up! Grow a pair! We’re tougher than this…let’s go Mets!
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:50am at 9:50 am (UTC -4)
LOL! And from Metsgirl!
I love it!!
trs86
12/22/2009-9:21am at 9:21 am (UTC -4)
Again, I go back to this use of 32 million.
Barajas 3 1 year
Garland same deal as Marquis 7.5. He is a better pitcher.
Myers/Smoltz 5, pitch in the rotation or in the pen.
Nady 2 million with incentives
Ankiel 5
Trade for Wiggy or Lowell. or Sign Hudson 3-5
Sign LaRoche 3/21.
All of that combined takes 28.5, I still got room for a reliever.
fongy2
12/22/2009-9:43am at 9:43 am (UTC -4)
So you have guys in Smoltz
and Nady who you don’t know
can even play b/c of age and/or injury.A few guys who
want no part of NYC in Ankiel,Wiggy and Myers,a couple guys coming off hand/wrist injuries in Hudson
and Lowell AND in Lowell’s case apparently couldn’t pass
a physical just a few days ago
…Then you wanna give Laroche
a 3yr deal to block a good looking young hitter in Murphy and a younger clone of
Laroche in Ike Davis,your thought likely being”no big deal we can always move the contract”. Yeah, and thats worked with Castillo!
Is this really Omar Minaya??
trs86
12/22/2009-9:48am at 9:48 am (UTC -4)
Yup, you can’t tell me that lineup would not have a decent chance of being competitive. Also, Murphy is nothing worth worrying about at this point and Davis can play other positions. How the hell do we know that Ankiel, Wiggy and Myers want no part of NYC. Did you ask them?
How about you come up with a plan besides, “We are doomed, punt.”
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:22am at 9:22 am (UTC -4)
HAHA! Great, great post.
That is why you are perhaps this site’s MVP.
Really nice work, well-written, well-conceived, funny as hell (especially the last sentences), and as always, great use of graphics. And excellent juxtaposition of the serious and the satirical.
I really enjoy reading your posts.
You rock.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:23am at 9:23 am (UTC -4)
And how bout them Giants!!
prismo
12/22/2009-9:27am at 9:27 am (UTC -4)
DNDJohan aka kistics
12/22/2009-9:30am at 9:30 am (UTC -4)
and how bout them Jets!
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:44am at 9:44 am (UTC -4)
How bout my Dolphins!!
That damn loss this week was brutal, but the 2010 Dolphins WILL return to the Super Bowl.
AND beat the Jets twice again.
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:51am at 9:51 am (UTC -4)
OK, I do like the Giants, they are my second favorite team, like the Mariners in baseball….but the Mets are always number one, and then the Fish….
metsgirl31
12/22/2009-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
When they play like they did last nite I remember why I’m a Giants fan…where did that defense go during the middle of the season? Awesome game last nite…hope they keep it going the next 2 weeks.
saltygary
12/22/2009-9:58am at 9:58 am (UTC -4)
If they didn’t win a SB 2 years ago I probably would have jumped out the window with how them and the Mets have played this year.
CaseStreet
12/22/2009-4:57pm at 4:57 pm (UTC -4)
it’s all about getting to the QB. That and the Giants offense is on fire.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
Here is one nobody talks about because it is too positive.
Beltran’s stats last year with part of the year injured.
.325 .415 .500 .915
Seriously? He was in line for an MVP type season. Those are incredible numbers.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
And before the comments come in about how many AB’s
He got 357 Plate Appearances in.
Manny only got in 431
DNDJohan aka kistics
12/22/2009-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
Yes he did have an amazing start. Remember he almost batted .400 for the month of April?
Too bad he was injured and didn’t have any protection. Otherwise he would’ve had MVP type of season, but then we’re talking about going against Pujols…
Well according to some idiot at Foxsports.net, Mets have failed with Beltran too…
trs86
12/22/2009-9:36am at 9:36 am (UTC -4)
His May was not far off. BA slipped a little but his power went up.
.323 .425 .563 .987
Kingman 26
12/22/2009-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
I talk about it dammit!
Jerry’s spring drill last year may have damaged Wright, but it also may have turned Beltran into an MVP…cannot wait to see.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:35am at 9:35 am (UTC -4)
Agreed. Now that I think about it, if we could get Bay I actually think he could help Wright.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:34am at 9:34 am (UTC -4)
Matt must be working hard to audition writers with at least some intelligence.
“I am sorry but I am getting so sick of this hearing about reasons Jason Bay doesn’t want to come here, this is just how negotiations work, he wants more money and years and it seems nobody else is bidding on him. Why does everything have to be a big complicated story about how he doesn’t want to play here for all these random reasons.FIrst of all he already publically said he doesn’t want to play for San Francisco. He could have said the same thing about the Mets. The Mets offer is pretty much the same offer than Boston made and he rejected that. He clearly wants a better offer
Everyday I come on here reading more and more entries about how the mets are the worst organization and nobody wants to play for them. I really don’t get where this is coming from. Is this from Omar calling out a beat writer? People don’t like Jerry? Our team had a ton of injuries? Every team has injuries, it happens and we still have some all-star players that are going to play next year, there is a new stadium and its new york. I would think people would want to come here.”
mrose
12/22/2009-9:35am at 9:35 am (UTC -4)
according to MLBTR, Yankees are closing in on a deal for Javier Vazquez…. they are gonna try that again?
DNDJohan aka kistics
12/22/2009-9:38am at 9:38 am (UTC -4)
That is weird. Vazquez was a complete failure in NY.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:39am at 9:39 am (UTC -4)
That’s great news for the NL East. I can’t believe they would trade Vazquez and keep a now disgruntle Lowe.
I know some have mentioned about getting Lowe and I don’t see the Braves making that trade. However, there is a guy left out in the cold that they might consider.
Kenshin Kawakami
3.86 ERA in 151 innings. Started and pitched from the pen. Has 10:$6.667M, 11:$6.667M on his contract. He is not great but I don’t see him being worse than Marquis or the others.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
8:34am: The Yankees are closing in on a deal for Vazquez, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). Heyman says the Yankees will acquire Vazquez and Boone Logan for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn and a prospect.
mrose
12/22/2009-9:43am at 9:43 am (UTC -4)
not sure of Mike Dunn.. but Melky was a big part of that team last year and I don’t see how they think Vazquez will improve on what he did years ago as hes older now
fongy2
12/22/2009-9:47am at 9:47 am (UTC -4)
Wow! this is a surprise.
Now I guess they go after Damon or I wonder if they
feel the price on Bay is cheap enough(in their world)to jump in on him?
Won’t that be great?!
trs86
12/22/2009-9:50am at 9:50 am (UTC -4)
Would not really bother me. If they beat what the Mets have offered then they will have overpaid again. I just don’t want the Mets to bid against themselves and end up with Bay for 5 years at full price.
As for what this does, to me it puts the Braves and Yankees back in the OF hunt.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:46am at 9:46 am (UTC -4)
Seriously? No really? So the Braves are trading this: 15-10 2.87 ERA 219 innings 238 K’s 1.026 WHIP for this
.274 .336 .416 .752 Which happens to be his best year of his career.
My only fear is that now they go after Bay. An OF of Nate, Melky and Bay would be better than the garbage that was 2009 for them. But to me that is a huge loss in the rotation. For me the way the Braves stayed next year was going to be due to having by far the best rotation in the NL. Now, they have made their offense slightly better and their pitching staff much worse.
prismo
12/22/2009-9:51am at 9:51 am (UTC -4)
Why would the Braves go for Bay? They just traded for a starting outfielder.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:53am at 9:53 am (UTC -4)
Because Melky does nothing for their offense and they only really have a CF coming back. Anderson was in LF and the Diaz platoon in RF.
trs86
12/22/2009-9:52am at 9:52 am (UTC -4)
The guy put up Santana like numbers last year and they are trading him for Melky. Seriously I don’t get it. He’s not a salary dump, you would think they could get much more on the open market.
fongy2
12/22/2009-10:03am at 10:03 am (UTC -4)
I wouldn’t worry about The Braves
going after Bay. They’d already have a pretty filled OF with Melkey,McLouthSchaefer,Jones and Diaz. I think the biggest thing for them was getting a CFer so that neither McLouth nor Schaefer have to
play out there everyday.
DNDJohan aka kistics
12/22/2009-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
I think trs was talking about the Yanks going after Bay. They have a vacancy in their OF with Melky gone. Unless Damon is still in the picture.
I’m assuming that Damon would be their 1st choice and if that doesn’t work out, Bay or Holliday maybe in play.
trs86
12/22/2009-10:12am at 10:12 am (UTC -4)
No many people including me think the Braves will now use the 11 million saved to go towards an offensive player. They have 2 good OF and a bunch of young guys right now. To me they are an offensive player away from contending.
jaydh
12/22/2009-10:13am at 10:13 am (UTC -4)
i agree, this opens the door for them to go after Bay which is fine by me.
trs86
12/22/2009-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
Melky, McLouth, ?
Jordan Schafer* had a .600 OPS last year. He may be their future but in my opinion not their present. Brandon Jones is also risky to assume he will put up good numbers this year. Diaz is a platoon guy.
They came into the trade with a top rotation needing offense. They left that trade with a nice rotation needing offense.
fongy2
12/22/2009-10:14am at 10:14 am (UTC -4)
Shaeffer is looked at by most as a can’t miss prospect who was
The Braves top position player in the minors the past 2/3 yrs. Because a kid in his early 20s
struggles through a
small sample when he
first arrives doesn’t nean he’s a bust.
If that was the case, we should be dumping
FMart now.
trs86
12/22/2009-10:19am at 10:19 am (UTC -4)
Not at all. I never said he was a bust. But if you were counting on contending next year and you just traded away a good pitcher and saved 10 million would you trust him to start next year when their are all kinds of OF options still on the market?
fongy2
12/22/2009-10:21am at 10:21 am (UTC -4)
Depends what they know about his grow both as
a man and as
a ballplayer.
trs86
12/22/2009-10:25am at 10:25 am (UTC -4)
Seriously Fongy?
He needs another year in AAA. Just like Fmart. He’s had 38 AAA AB’s and struggled and only 297 AB’s above single A. He might be great but if I am the Braves I am not resting my championship on him.
CaseStreet
12/22/2009-10:05am at 10:05 am (UTC -4)
Sounds like the best move is NO move.
Getting a healthy core back plus last years revelations should make a nice mix.
Then hope the trade market is active before the deadline.
Still, I’d take a chance on Sheets or Bedard.
mikemattone
12/22/2009-10:46am at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
You can’t assume the Mets will be healthy in 2010, with the worst training staff in professional sports.