Category: Latest News

Mets Finally Sign K-Rod

The most inevitable signing of the off-season finally happened today. Francisco Rodriguez finally agreed to a 3-year/$37 million deal to come to the New York Mets.

It’s a great move by Omar Minaya on his second day in Las Vegas. And this signing doesn’t seem to be much of a gamble. The Mets were the biggest market team in need of a closer, and K-Rod was the biggest closer on the market.

Initially, K-Rod was looking for five years but that quickly fell apart when a “glut” of closers hit the market via free agency and trade possibilities. The Mets gave Scott Schoenweiss a three year deal, so getting K-Rod for three years is a stroke of genius if not luck for the Mets.

K-Rod will be 27 years old next season and, although his delivery is pretty violent, he’s been remarkably durable during his seven year career. He brings 208 career saves and a 2.35 career ERA to New York. And don’t forget he set the single season record for saves last season with 62.

All we need now is for K-Rod to pass his physical, and the Mets can move on to solving other problems in the bullpen, second base, the rotation, and left field.

Mets Roster Will Take Shape At Winter Meetings

The Mets 2009 roster is full of holes but should start to take shape this week at the Winter Meetings. The meetings start up on Sunday December 7th in Las Vegas and Omar Minaya will be able to start making some moves, whether trades or free agent signings, during the week.

There have plenty of rumors over the last several weeks about the closer, starting pitchers, and second base. But the activity has been curiously slow so far. Be it the 21st century version of the Great Depression or the astronomical contracts that the top-tier free agents are seeking, the free agent market is still undefined.

Until K-Rod, Derek Lowe, CC Sabathia, and Manny Ramirez sign contracts we won’t see much action happening. They need to set the tone for the market by signing contracts so the lower end free agents gain an understanding of their value. Not to mention the fact that some teams, like the Mets, may need to go the trade route for key roster spots if the K-Rod’s of the world sign elsewhere.

Expect the Mets to settle the closer the position this week. Whether we end up with K-Rod, Brian Fuentes, J.J. Putz, or Huston Street this week is still up for debate but I expect the issue to be resolved this week.

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Closer Market Gets Crowded As Hoffman Joins Free Agents

This week Trevor Hoffman joined the ranks of the currently “between contract” closers. It’s a pretty impressive list right now with K-Rod, Brian Fuentes, and Hoffman all free agents. Bobby Jenks and J.J. Putz are rumored to be available for trades as well.

The Mets couldn’t have picked a better time to be in the market for a closer. We haven’t heard any rumors about the Mets making an offer to anyone yet. So we know they’re not immediately jumping into the fire after any of the available free agents.

Hoffman could be a good one year stop-gap until Eddie Kunz is ready to take over the reigns as the closer. Sure, he’ll be 41 years old this year. And his fastball is topping out in the mid to high 80’s now. But he’s still got the great change up. And he’s not far removed from some excellent seasons.

Last season Hoffman had 32 saves with a 3.77 ERA and 1.037 WHIP. Not bad for an old man. The Mets would’ve killed to have someone like that last season after Billy Wagner went down. In 2006, Hoffman had 46 saves and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting and tenth in the NL MVP voting.

I’d rather have Hoffman for one season than Fuentes for three and K-Rod for four or five. The way relief pitchers are up and down from season to season, you just can’t trust them to be consistent over any great length of time.

Omar Minaya should really think about getting into a short-term deal with Hoffman. Not to mention the fact that his price tag will be significantly lower than the other free agents. And the Mets are still on the hook for Billy Wagner’s $10.5 million salary in 2009. It’s not my money that they’re spending but I’d rather see the resources applied across the multiple potential openings in the bullpen, left field, and rotation than to one “great” closer.

Image via Wikimedia

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Free Agents: Ranking the Best Available Players

We all know that the Mets need a closer and one or two starting pitchers. There’s a hole in left field right now and several spots on the bench are open. The Mets have an underperforming second baseman and several relief pitchers that aren’t getting the job done.

There aren’t any secrets about what the Mets need. And Jon Heyman of SI does a nice job of ranking the available players in his column and projects potential contracts for many of the players. Heyman always does a nice job with the baseball scuttlebutt and it’s rumored that he’s a sounding board for “anonymous” Mets front office personnel in the form of Jeff Wilpon.

CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, and Francisco Rodriguez highlight the list of free agents this off-season. But there are plenty of good, if not great, players out on the market right now and that doesn’t even include the players being offered up as trade bait like Matt Holliday.

Check out Heyman’s column here.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

Mets 2008 Off-Season Needs: Bullpen

Here’s the post that I’ve been dreading. It seems like the task of defining a reconstruction of the Mets bullpen is almost too daunting. I won’t go into the history of the 2008 season for the Mets bullpen. Suffice it to say, it was nearly a complete disaster.

My expectations are that Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano, Brian Stokes, and Eddie Kunz will be in the bullpen in 2009. I expect the Mets to dump Scott Schoenweiss, Aaron Heilman, and Duaner Sanchez. They’re all under contract for 2009 but should be either traded for next to nothing or released. Obviously, Billy Wagner is under contract but won’t play in a Mets uniform again due to injury. Luis Ayala will be a free agent and I don’t expect the Mets to make a major play for him to sign a deal.

Let’s start at the top of the shopping list: the Mets need a closer. The two top-tier choices are the Angels’ K-Rod and the Rockies Brian Fuentes. Clearly, K-Rod is head and shoulders above anyone else on the market this off-season. He’ll be looking for a five year deal from somebody. I hope the Mets don’t do it. He’s ultra-talented but the Mets really don’t want to get into a five year commitment to a relief pitcher. Their performance varies so wildly from year to year that it’s too difficult to predict future success levels.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets will be front runners for Brian Fuentes in the neighborhood of 3-years/$36 million:

Fuentes, however, could come off the board quickly because, executives say, his market of around three years at $36 million-$39 million has been established. The Mets have indicated they don’t want to pay a big salary to a new closer in addition to paying Billy Wagner , who will miss all of 2009 and whose $13 million contract is not insured. But they have determined their need is great enough and the top closer on the market, Francisco Rodriguez, might cost too much to sign.

Fuentes has 111 saves over the past four seasons, including 30 last year when he pitched to a 2.73 ERA and struck out 82 in 622/3 innings.

He does have an unorthodox delivery, however, that leads to questions about his consistency and susceptibility to injuries.

Another route that the Mets could go for a closer could be with a trade. Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Marlins are expected to shop closer Kevin Gregg. He’s a big step down from Rodriguez and Fuentes but he’s only going to cost $2.5 million next season. With Wagner’s contract still on the books for 2009, the Mets may want to look at cheaper alternatives than the free agents.

The lower tier free agent options at closer would be: Eric Gagne, Eddie Guadardo, Jason Isringhausen, and Kerry Wood. It’s not a great list to choose from. Wood is pretty good but the rest of these guys will give us some major heartache during the 2009 season.

Once the closer spot on the roster is secured, there should still be three roster spots to fill in the bullpen. According the MLB Trade Rumors, the free agent market looks like this (age in parenthesis):

Jeremy Affeldt (30)
Luis Ayala (31)
Joe Beimel (32)
Joe Borowski (38)
Doug Brocail (42)
Shawn Chacon (31)
Juan Cruz (30)
Alan Embree (39) – $3MM club option for ’09
Scott Eyre (37)
Kyle Farnsworth (33)
Casey Fossum (31)
Keith Foulke (35)
Tom Gordon (41) – $4.5MM club option for ’09 with a $1MM buyout
LaTroy Hawkins (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Matt Herges (39)
Bob Howry (35)
Jon Lieber (39)
Jason Johnson (35)
Damaso Marte (34) – $6MM club option for ’09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Trever Miller (36) – $2MM club option for ’09 with a $0.4MM buyout
Guillermo Mota (35)
Will Ohman (31)
Darren Oliver (38)
Chan Ho Park (36)
Horacio Ramirez (29)
Al Reyes (38)
Dennys Reyes (32)
Arthur Rhodes (39)
Juan Rincon (30)
Glendon Rusch (34)
Rudy Seanez (40)
Brian Shouse (40)
Russ Springer (40)
Mike Timlin (43)
Ron Villone (39)
David Weathers (39)
Kip Wells (32)
Matt Wise (33)
Jamey Wright (34)

Again, we’re not looking at a great list here. But Jeremy Affeldt, Scott Eyre, Bob Howry, Damaso Marte, Arthur Rhodes, and Joe Beimel have some talent. I doubt that the Mets would fill all three spots with free agents. There are some arms out there that could have a positive impact on the team though.

What the Mets need to do is to avoid getting into contracts greater than two years with these guys. The three year contract for middle relievers is a killer. It rarely works out well. Look at the Schoenweiss deal that’s killing the Mets now. It’s just a bad idea. The middle relievers are so inconsistent from season to season generally that maxing out contracts at two years has to be a priority. Even if the per season salary is higher than expected, it’s better than getting into a long term commitment to a middle reliever.

Chime in with your thoughts below in the comments section.

Mets 2008 Off-Season Needs: Starting Pitching

You probably thought my next off-season needs post would be the bullpen. Yes, that post is coming soon. It’s almost too much to think about though. So for now, let’s talk about the starting pitching situation.

Returning starters Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine will be in the rotation. Santana is a shut-down ace and really requires no further discussion. He’ll be starting on opening day in Cincinnati, period. Pelfrey had a break out season in 2008 and should be the #2 behind Santana. He seemed to run out of gas a bit in September but really found himself in May.

John Maine is coming off shoulder surgery to address a bone spur. He’s cleared to start throwing again in December and should be fine for spring training. I really thought he was going to have a break out season after being nearly unhittable in spring training. But the injuries really damaged his season.

Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez will both be free agents after the World Series ends. I don’t expect to see Pedro back again. And Ollie will probably get a better offer than he’s worth from someone other than the Mets. If Omar Minaya can make a decent deal with Ollie and Scott Boras (doubtful) in the neighborhood of 3-years/$27 million, he should take it. But I think some team out there will go to four or five years for Ollie because he’s only going to be 27 years old during the 2009 season.

That leaves two openings to be filled in the rotation. Expect Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell to get a shot to compete for one of those spots in spring training. One of those two promising minor leaguers should get a chance to occupy the #5 spot in the rotation.

The Mets will probably look to fill a #4 spot from free agency and take a chance on a “project” starter as insurance in case Niese and Parnell aren’t ready for the majors yet. You can see the complete list of starters that will be free agents next month at MLB Trade Rumors. Beyond CC Sabathia (17-10 2.70) and Ben Sheets (13-9 3.09), the list isn’t really that impressive. Don’t expect the Mets to splurge on another ace like those two. They got Johan Santana last off-season. So I don’t see the Mets making another huge financial commitment to a starter.

A.J. Burnett (18-10 4.07) will probably opt out of his Blue Jays contract. But he’ll be looking for a long-term deal and I don’t expect the Mets to get into a 4+ year deal with any pitchers at this point.

There are several guys that could fit nicely into the middle of the rotation like Derek Lowe (14-11 3.24). Despite the rumors that he doesn’t want to be on the east coast again, he’ll go where the money is. He’ll be 36 years old next season but he could certainly fill the spot in the middle of the rotation. Jon Garland (14-8 4.90) and Ryan Dempster (17-6 4.51) are certainly worth talking to about a three year contract as well.

The “project” pitcher that the Mets pick up on a one-year deal could be anyone from Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Carl Pavano, Matt Clement, or Sidney Ponson. The tricky part will be finding a pitcher that will agree to a minor league contract so the Mets can give Parnell and Niese a legitimate shot at the fifth spot in the rotation. Colon and Clement seem the most likely candidates to agree to start the season in the minors.

Even with Pedro and Ollie probably leaving there are plenty of free agent options available this off-season. I certainly wouldn’t like to see the Mets get into a contract longer than three years for a middle of the rotation starter. That should be the key criteria, even if the contract has to get into the $33 million plus range. Gil Meche and Ted Lilly both got five year deals, so that throws off the market. But the Mets really need to keep their contracts to as short a term as possible.

Add a comment below with your thoughts.

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Mets 2008 Off-Season Needs: Second Baseman

I think it’s universally agreed upon at this point that one of Mets GM Omar Minaya’s biggest mistakes was signing Luis Castillo to a long term contract. He’s a shell of his former self, with bad knees plaguing his ability to contribute to the Mets. Frequently, during the 2008 season Castillo sat on the bench watching Damion Easley, Argenis Reyes, and even Ramon Martinez start at second.

Castillo just finished the first year of his 4-year/$25 million contract. He received a $1 million bonus when he signed the deal and he’s scheduled to receive $6 million/year thereafter.

If that wasn’t enough to turn your stomach, here’s the bad news: I fully expect Castillo to be the Mets starting second baseman on opening day 2009 in Cincinnati. The reason is 100% financial. I don’t think the Wilpons will be of a mind to eat all or most of Castillo’s contract as has been suggested by some, including one of my favorite writers Matthew Artus.

You don’t need me to give you Castillo’s statistics for 2008 to know he was terrible. I heard you booing him at Shea in September, including when Jerry Manuel benched him just to avoid being treated so harshly by the home crowd. Castillo lost his starting spot during the most important games of the season in September to journeyman Ramon Martinez. Need I say more?

The sad truth is that Castillo isn’t going anywhere. The Mets have too many holes to fill in the free agent market this off-season in the outfield, bullpen, and rotation to eat Castillo’s contract. Billy Wagner’s $10.5 million isn’t covered by insurance because his injury was a pre-existing condition. So the Mets are eating that money already. And don’t forget that they’re paying Willie Randolph $2.25 million in 2009 to watch on his favorite network SNY. They won’t eat another big contract.

The bottom line is don’t get your hopes up about Orlando Hudson or Brian Roberts. The only way that will happen is if the Mets can trade Castillo for another player with a bad contract like the D-Backs’ Eric Byrnes. He’s got $22 million coming to him over the next two seasons. That may be a fit because they’ll need to fill a hole at second base when Hudson leaves. And the Mets need some help in the outfield.

Barring that type of deal, you should expect to see Castillo at second base again next season. I don’t see the Mets eating most or all of his contract.

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