Month: January 2009

Mets Sign IF Alex Cora

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The Mets announced the signing of infielder Alex Cora, formerly of the Boston Red Sox. He’ll become the backup middle infielder for this season. He signed a 1-year/$2 million contract yesterday.

He’s your typical light-hitting middle infielder that can pick it at shortstop and second base. So Damion Easley won’t be coming back which is fine with me. Easley had some big hits but was a liability in the field and had too many nagging injuries for a part time player.

Alex has 11 major league seasons under his belt and he turned 33 in October. His brother Joey is the White Sox bench coach. Cora brings a career .245 average with basically no power. His lifetime slugging percentage is .348.

I’m usually pretty neutral about bench players because they don’t usually have a major impact over an entire season. But I thought the Mets would’ve looked for a back up infielder that had some pop in his bat. With Luis Castillo being an automatic out, they could use someone like Easley that brought some offensive contrast to the position. We’ll see how this works out.

Braves Sign Derek Lowe; Mets Moving On

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 04: Derek Lowe #23 of the ...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Atlanta Braves went where the Mets wouldn’t, four years for Derek Lowe. Multiple media reports have the Braves agreeing to a deal with Lowe for 4-years/$60 million. That’s way beyond the Mets reported offer of 3-years/$36 million so I have to assume there were other teams bidding for the Braves to go that high.

The Mets are left to work on Oliver Perez, Randy Wolf, and Ben Sheets. I don’t mind seeing Lowe sign somewhere else, I just wish it wasn’t in the Mets division.

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Mets Extend Contract Offer To Oliver Perez

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According to the NY Post and a report on MLB TV, the Mets have offered a 3-year contract to free agent pitcher Oliver Perez. The offer is reported to be in the $30 million range.

We know all about Ollie and I can’t say that I’ve ever been a huge fan of his. He’s maddeningly inconsistent. Although he did seem to find himself a bit under the tuteledge of pitching coach Dan Warthen.

I’m still not sure why the Mets haven’t been linked to Ben Sheets at this point. Sheets and Derek Lowe are better pitchers than Ollie. But Sheets has such a bad injury history, the Mets must’ve been scared off.

We’ll see if this rumor pans out and Ollie ends up coming back to the Mets for three more years.

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Hot Stove: Lowe And Martinez News

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Los Angeles…

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Los Angeles Dodgers vs Chicago…

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Derek Lowe pumps his fist after getting the last out of the sixth inning during game 1 in their National League Divisional Series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago on October 1, 2008. (UPI Photo/Mark Cowan) Photo via Newscom Photo via Newscom

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There are a couple of minor stories out there now in the hot stove world. I try to keep these updated as much as possible but so many of these stories never pan out to mean anything. So I pick and choose the most logical stories to post here.

First, Pedro Martinez’ agent is talking to the Marlins this week according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes. That would be a great fit for both parties. Pedro would put some badly needed fannies in the seats in Florida. And Pedro could help the younger pitchers on the Marlins’ staff. He’s always been good about that, which isn’t always the case with veteran players.

Second, the Atlanta Braves are in serious talks with Scott Boras about Derek Lowe. Although it would be tough to see Lowe go to a division rival, the Braves need to do something after losing John Smoltz to the Red Sox this week. I’ll be shocked if the Braves offer Lowe a fourth year in his contract when the Mets wouldn’t go there. Other than that, Lowe is a good fit for the Braves. And there’s been talk that Chipper Jones called Lowe with a sales pitch for the Braves this week.

The Mets could always move on to Oliver Perez or Randy Wolf if they lose Lowe to the Braves. I’d be more comfortable if Lowe went to another division or the American League but that’s out of the Mets control.

Farewell Pedro, Mets Fans Hardly Knew You

pedrom11Although the signing of free agent pitcher Tim Redding to a one-year contract may seem very benign, it actually is significant for some current and former Mets. I thought that the Mets could have gotten Redding to sign a minor league deal. But by signing a major league deal, he’s guaranteed to be competing for the fifth spot in the starting rotation.

First, the impact of this signing means that Jonathan Niese and Bobby Parnell have a tougher fight to make the major league roster than they did earlier this week. I thought Niese, especially, had a great shot to secure the fifth spot in the rotation out of spring training. And that may still happen. But it won’t be easy. He’ll have to supplant Redding and his $2.25 million major league contract and relegate him to the bullpen. That won’t be easy. Most likely, Niese will start the season in Buffalo and have to work his way to the majors.

Second, the Mets haven’t ruled out Pedro Martinez returning to the Mets. And Pedro wants to come back to the Mets. By signing Redding the Mets have all but eliminated the possibility of Pedro coming back. Pedro likely won’t come back with a minor league contract. And Pedro won’t work out of the bullpen for the Mets. He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer not a long reliever.

Let me preface this next paragraph by saying, I think Pedro is great. That said, I don’t want him back again. This is a time where we should look back on Pedro’s four years with the Mets because he won’t be coming back. And that’s okay.

Don’t feel bad for Pedro. He’ll be just fine. He’s made just over $146 million in his career. In his 17 year career, Pedro made about 36% of his money from the Mets over four years. The Mets were extremely generous to Pedro.

Pedro’s Mets career was great in 2005, but a disaster since then. We only saw Pedro in 79 games total as a Met. His record over the four year span was 32-23, not exactly beefing up his Hall of Fame resume. Since 2005 we’ve only seen Pedro in 48 games during the last three years of his contract.

Although it would be nice to see Pedro come back and get a chance to redeem himself for the last three miserable seasons he spent with the Mets, it’s not going to happen. I don’t say farewell to Pedro  with the same disdain that Yankees fans said goodbye to Carl Pavano. Pedro was almost always with the team, supporting them from the dugout. You can’t say that he didn’t care, he did.

The bottom line is that you have to be able to be on the field to make a contribution. And Pedro just couldn’t do that. Farewell Pedro, best of luck to you. See you in Cooperstown but it won’t be as a Met.

Flickr photo courtesy of bryce_edwards.