Category: Trades

Mets Trade Church To Braves For Francoeur

Flickr photo courtesy of Keith Allison
Flickr photo courtesy of Keith Allison

We have the announcement of a trade this afternoon with the Mets sending Ryan Church to Atlanta for Jeff Francoeur and cash. It’s basically a swap of under-performing right fielders. Despite Jerry Manuel’s denials, I think we all knew that Church was in his dog house.

We all know Francoeur, we’ve seen him a million times with Atlanta. He’s got a huge arm in the outfield and decent range. He strikes out a LOT and last season was a nightmare for him and he hasn’t been able to turn it around this season either. He’s 25 years-old and in his fifth big league season. He’s making $3.375 million compared to Church’s $2.8 million. That’s why the Mets are getting cash back.

It sounds like a fair deal to me. It won’t change the fortunes of either team in any big way this season or beyond. Both players weren’t meeting expectations, so maybe a new start will work out for them.

Church never seemed like the same player after he suffered a concussion in Atlanta last May. Until then, he was the most valuable player on the Mets. Then the Mets botched his medical situation and flew him around the country with a concussion. He ended up on the disabled list and has never been the same. I like Church as a player but don’t think he’ll ever have much success hitting lefty pitching.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t give us any indication of the direction that Omar Minaya is taking at the trading deadline either. This move doesn’t really improve the team other than adding a right handed bat to a lefty-heavy lineup.

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Mets, Minaya And Barry Bonds, Richie Sexson

Flickr photo courtesy of John H. Kim
Flickr photo courtesy of John H. Kim

There’s been so much talk, as there always is this time of year, about the Mets trade possibilities. I’m as guilty as the next person is about writing and talking about it. But I started thinking today that the Mets could get some much needed offensive help right off the street. There are two players that could walk in and start on this team right now that are unsigned. Omar Minaya needs to get creative before the non-waiver trading deadline and here’s how to do it.

Richie Sexson– Sure, his ’07 and ’08 seasons were forgettable. And I know he got a reputation as a locker room problem in Seattle. But didn’t Gary Sheffield come with baggage? And he’s worked out pretty well so far to say the least. Sexson is 34 years-old and a lifetime .261 hitter with 306 home runs. I’d much rather see him at first base until Carlos Delgado gets back than Daniel Murphy/Fernando Tatis. Big Sexy for first base.

Barry Bonds– I know, I know. I keep advocating for Bonds. But he could fit in nicely for the last 90 games of the season as an outfielder/pinch hitter. A Bonds/Sheffield platoon situation in left field would keep both players fresh and provide some more power in the lineup.

As much as the Mets are trying to showcase Fernando Martinez for a trade, he needs to hit to be traded. And that hasn’t happened, not even close. The Mets don’t need to empty the farm system and trade Bobby Parnell (the most attractive trading chip the Mets have) to get some help. Both Bonds and Sexson would definitely play for the prorated minimum salary that gives the Mets the flexibility to cut them if they don’t work out. It’s a win-win situation that will keep this team moving in the right direction until the injury situation resolves itself.

Murphy clearly isn’t a major league player yet, in the field especially or with the bat. He should be optioned to Triple- A Buffalo. Unfortunately, Fernando Tatis just hasn’t worked out this season. It’s time that the Mets eat the rest of his $1.7 million contract and let him go. That clears two roster spots for Bonds and Sexson.

Let me know your thoughts below in the comments.

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Mark DeRosa To Cardinals Limits Mets Trade Options

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

For the last two months, since Carlos Delgado went on the disabled list, I felt that Mark DeRosa was the best fit from a trade perspective for the Mets. That possibility was gone yesterday with the announcement that the Indians traded DeRosa to the Cardinals for Chris Perez and a player to be named later. Perez is a 23 year-old reliever with a very good fastball. That’s a better package than the Mets could have offered the Indians.

DeRosa can play any infield position and the outfield corners. He’s a right-handed hitter with power that would’ve been perfect for the Mets current needs. I don’t like Aubrey Huff or Adam Dunn for the Mets this season. Dunn has too much money coming over the next year and a half. And I never liked his “walk-strikeout-home run” game.

The more limiting possibilities are Matt Holliday and Maglio Ordonez. Holliday doesn’t have the versatility to play first base until Delgado gets back from the DL. And Ordonez is having a terrible season and has a huge contract with the possibility of vesting options guaranteeing future years based on plate appearances.

My guess is that the Mets try to acquire someone like a Ty Wigginton type of player. I don’t think they’ll make a splash by acquiring a big name. There’s too much risk this season with the Mets players that are currently injured. If Delgado, J.J. Putz, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Oliver Perez, and John Maine can’t come back to the team healthy and make significant contributions, the season is over for the Mets anyway. Making a major investment in a trade for a big name would be completely useless. Holliday couldn’t carry this current Mets team to the playoffs… And that’s the bottom line.

Omar Minaya should wait for as long as possible to pull the trigger on any trades until right before the non-waiver deadline on July 31. That’ll give him time to evaluate the health situation of so many key players on this team. No matter what happens with the currently injured players, I don’t expect the Mets to become sellers at the deadline. But I think they would stand pat and ride out the season if they aren’t going to get some of their premier players back this season.

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Report: Mets Possible Trade Targets 2009 Edition

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports today on the Mets possible trade targets. He focuses his attention on first base. But I’m not so sure that the Mets wouldn’t look at someone like Victor Martinez of the Indians or Matt Holliday of the A’s. The problem with getting a first baseman is that if Carlos Delgado is able to come back from the disabled list this season, there’s no place for him to play.

I still don’t think that the Mets will do anything until mid to late July anyway. At this point in the season they’ll be held up by teams for too much value in return. I think the economy will keep teams from taking on payroll like they have in the past. So as we get closer to the deadline, teams that want to unload players won’t find the number of suitors that they have in seasons past.

The potential trade targets that Olney mentions for the Mets are:

  1. Nick Johnson
  2. Aubrey Huff
  3. Jorge Cantu
  4. Dan Uggla
  5. Mark DeRosa

The Mets are going to have to look at someone that can move away from first base if Delgado gets back. Huff and DeRosa along with Martinez would be the players that I think are the most likely. The Orioles will get a nice look at Fernando Martinez this week. Hopefully, he has a good series to generate some interest for a trade for Huff.

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Mets Trade Castro To White Sox

ramon-castroThe Mets have been rumored to be trying to trade catcher Ramon Castro since the off-season. Clearly, he’s not one of Jerry Manuel’s guys. There’s no doubt about that. For all of the denying that Manuel has done about not having a dog house, Castro sure appeared to be in it.

The Mets finally were able to unload Castro with Brian Schneider coming off the disabled list today, and Omir Santos hitting in the clutch like Johnny Bench.

The Mets acquire relief pitcher Lance Broadway (0-1 5.06) from the White Sox and assigned him to Triple-A Buffalo where to plan to use him as a starter. In a move that appears to degrade the value of both players in the trade, the Mets are also paying $1.4 million of the $1.75 million that’s owed to Castro this season, the last of his contract.

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Mark DeRosa To Mets Trade Talks Confirmed

Courtesy of Wikimedia
Courtesy of Wikimedia

Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse has confirmation from a team official that the Mets and Cleveland Indians are in talks about sending Mark DeRosa to the Mets. Of course, nothing is official yet and trade talks happen all the time that don’t ever pan out.

The Indians are astonishingly bad this season. The only team in the majors with a worse record is the Washington Nationals. The Indians could dump the rest of DeRosa’s $5.5 million contract at this point. He’s not going to help them anyway. They’re beyond help this season.

DeRosa, born in Passaic, NJ, just turned 34 years-old in February. He easily had the biggest offensive season of his career in 2008 with the Chicago Cubs batting .285/ .376/ .481. He’s a very versitle fielder and played 32 games at shortstop in 2007.

With Jose Reyes facing a good possibility of going on the disabled list and a major question mark at first base, this would be a solid move for the Mets. I have to assume that the Indians would want either Bobbly Parnell or Jonathan Niese plus some lower level prospects. I’d hate to give one of those guys up but that’s the nature of the game.

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Time To Second Guess Mets Trade Deadline Inactivity?

The Mets had a rough road trip and the two main weaknesses of the team were exposed, the corner outfielders and the bullpen. The two positional weaknesses should be looked at independently.

Sure, the losses of Moises Alou and Angel Pagan for the season and Ryan Church for an unknown period of time have hurt the team. There’s no denying that. Church is being evaluated by doctors in New York this week and may begin rehab games within the next week. The Mets have to count on him coming back in their plan for the rest of the season.

IMG_0081 When Church gets back they can mix and match in left field between Fernando Tatis, Nick Evans, and Daniel Murphy. If things don’t work out as planned they may be apt to give Fernando Martinez a shot at the job too.

The bullpen is another story. Although Billy Wagner has gone through bad patches, the Mets are married to him as their closer. As long as he’s healthy he’ll be closing games. Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman haven’t been living up to expectations though. I really think Heilman could use a change of scenery. He’d be great waiver deadline trade bait during August. Sanchez may need some time on the disabled list to refresh his arm. He won’t be successful throwing a fastball in the mid-80’s as he has been over the last week and a half.

The Mets may need to explore a trade for a relief pitcher like Brian Fuentes if the Rockies fall out of contention this month. Heilman for Fuentes would be a fair deal for both teams in my mind. The Mets may need to throw in another mid level prospect but not any of their top prospects. If Eddie Kunz looks good over the next couple of weeks it may not even come to that.

I’m not ready to hit the panic button because of this bad road trip. And I’m not second guessing the Mets lack of activity at the trade deadline. But if they don’t take five out of seven games on this home stand against San Diego, Florida, and Pittsburgh then I will think there’s a problem with this team… again.