Category: Roster

Mets have Bigger Problems than Cliff Lee

May 28, 2010- Milwaukee, WI. Miller Park..New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana pitched for 8 scoreless inning giving up 3 hits and striking out 5 Brewers batters..Milwaukee Brewers won over the New York Mets 2-0, taking the first game of the 3 game series against the Mets...Mike McGinnis / CSM.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets front office has their work cut out for them. With the announcement of the Phillies signing of Cliff Lee, Mets fans everywhere cringed at the possibility of another World Series Championship to a division rival. Now the best team in the division just got a whole lot better. The Phillies will start the year with a rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels. This is the best rotation in MLB right now.

This is painful for Mets fans. The front office has simply conceded that this year and maybe next, will be a wash. They are wasting the prime of David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana. They are also wasting the end of the career of Jason Bay. They are tricking themselves into believing that Daniel Murphy will be a good fielder and that they will be able to spend money in the next two years for free agents.

With the Mets on the decline, I really hope that someone is taking a close look at their financial future. They have money tied up in players next year for over $120 million dollars. In 2012, they already have over $60 million dollars allocated to players but this does not include the impending signings of Ike Davis, Angel Pagan, R.A. Dicky, Jose Reyes, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, or Josh Thole. While I do not think they will sign all of those players in 2012, the signings of even half of those players might push the 2012 dollars over $100 million and it still would not include any big free agent signings. Continue reading “Mets have Bigger Problems than Cliff Lee”

Mets Sign Paulino, Carrasco

June 06 2010: Marlins' catcher Ronny Paulino (29) strikes out at bat during MLB action between the New York Mets and the Florida Marlins at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. The Mets beat the Marlins 7-6.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets signed two free agents to big league deals today at the winter meetings. No, it isn’t Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford. It’s Ronny Paulino and D.J. Carrasco. A backup catcher and a middle reliever aren’t much to get excited about. But for the Mets, it’s about all we’re going to get.

Ronny Paulino should split time with Josh Thole behind the plate. But I would guess that it won’t be a straight platoon situation. I think Thole should get about 70% of the playing time with Paulino playing occasionally against lefties. Paulino is going to be here on a 1-year/$1.3 million contract and still has a few games on a steroid suspension from last year to serve out. He’s not bad offensively so he won’t be an automatic out coming off the bench.

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB
2005 24 PIT NL 2 5 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .500 .600 .500 1.100 195 2
2006 25 PIT NL 129 481 442 37 137 19 0 6 55 0 0 34 79 .310 .360 .394 .754 96 174
2007 26 PIT NL 133 494 457 56 120 25 0 11 55 2 2 33 79 .263 .314 .389 .703 83 178
2008 27 PIT NL 40 130 118 8 25 5 0 2 18 0 0 11 24 .212 .277 .305 .582 56 36
2009 28 FLA NL 80 266 239 24 65 10 1 8 27 1 0 25 48 .272 .340 .423 .762 99 101
2010 29 FLA NL 91 344 316 31 82 18 0 4 37 1 0 25 51 .259 .311 .354 .665 76 112
6 Seasons 475 1720 1576 157 431 77 1 31 192 4 2 129 281 .273 .328 .383 .711 86 603
162 Game Avg. 162 587 537 54 147 26 0 11 65 1 1 44 96 .273 .328 .383 .711 86 206
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 12/7/2010.
D.J. Carrasco is working on a 2-year/$2.5 million contract. He’ll be 34 years old in April and is a middle inning replacement for some lost arms in the bullpen this season. He generally keeps the walks to a minimum and consistently has a WHIP in the 1.3-1.4 range.
Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP
2003 26 KCR AL 6 5 .545 4.82 50 2 21 0 0 2 80.1 82 44 43 8 40 4 57 7 0 6 355 102 1.519
2004 27 KCR AL 2 2 .500 4.84 30 0 11 0 0 0 35.1 41 22 19 5 15 3 22 3 0 2 163 100 1.585
2005 28 KCR AL 6 8 .429 4.79 21 20 0 1 0 0 114.2 129 67 61 11 51 2 49 6 3 7 511 92 1.570
2008 31 CHW AL 1 0 1.000 3.96 31 0 6 0 0 0 38.2 30 17 17 2 14 1 30 5 0 0 158 117 1.138
2009 32 CHW AL 5 1 .833 3.76 49 1 11 0 0 0 93.1 103 42 39 5 29 4 62 2 0 3 405 125 1.414
2010 33 TOT NL 3 2 .600 3.68 63 0 8 0 0 0 78.1 68 39 32 5 34 3 65 5 0 6 330 113 1.302
2010 33 PIT NL 2 2 .500 3.88 45 0 6 0 0 0 55.2 50 24 24 4 22 1 45 4 0 4 232 105 1.293
2010 33 ARI NL 1 0 1.000 3.18 18 0 2 0 0 0 22.2 18 15 8 1 12 2 20 1 0 2 98 135 1.324
6 Seasons 23 18 .561 4.31 244 23 57 1 0 2 440.2 453 231 211 36 183 17 285 28 3 24 1922 106 1.443
162 Game Avg. 6 5 .561 4.31 62 6 15 0 0 1 112 115 59 54 9 47 4 73 7 1 6 489 106 1.443
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 12/7/2010.
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Mets Won’t Be Active At Winter Meetings

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 29: Sandy Alderson answers...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

This week Sandy Alderson has been trying to get the fans excited about the prospects of activity at the MLB Winter Meetings this week. I don’t know about you but it’s not working on me. I know the reality of the Mets situation. They have $5 million or less to spend on free agents within the 2011 budget. That’s not good enough to bring back Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, or any other player remotely as skilled as they are.

Frankly, I would more excited if the Mets were able to dump Luis Castillo or Oliver Perez on another team. That’s the best possible scenario. And that’s a pretty sad state of the team.

Alderson was talking pretty tough to reporters this week when he said:

“I can guarantee you, we’ll come back with some good players,” Alderson said. “I can’t guarantee how high-profile they will be. Or how many. If nothing else, we’ll pick in the Rule 5 draft, just to say we brought a player back.”

We’re smart enough to understand the reality though. Alderson is trying to find a low-budget starting pitcher like Chris Young or Jeff Francis. They’re guys coming off injuries or severely under-performing seasons looking for a short-term deal until they can get back to a more “normal” performance level.

The Mets are also looking to add some bullpen help with the recent losses of Raul Valdes, Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green, and Hisanori Takahashi. Middle relievers signing doesn’t generally get the fan base out in mass to buy tickets.

There is the outside chance that Jose Reyes could get traded. The one team that I think would be a good trading partner for Reyes is the Reds. I don’t think the Reds want to start 2011 with Paul Janish as their plan for the season at shortstop. They won the Central Division with 91 games and are bringing pretty much everyone of value back again except Orlando Cabrera. By the way, Brandon Phillips is making the exact same salary as Reyes in 2011, the last year of his contract with the Reds. Although the Reds do have a club option for 2012 at $12 million. Keep that in mind.

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Mets Non-Tender Maine, Green, Carter

NEW YORK - MAY 09: John Maine #33 of the New ...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Mets finally cut John Maine loose. They did it a year too late but as long as they got it done, that’s what counts. It’s been a downhill slide for Maine since his breakout 2007 season with 15 wins. Injuries and difficulty coping with them took its toll on Maine leading to him coming off surgery (again) but this time without a contract. I’m sure some team will offer him a minor league deal to see if he can recover but I doubt that it will be the Mets.

Here are Maine’s career stats through 2010:

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO BF ERA+ WHIP
2004 23 BAL AL 0 1 .000 9.82 1 1 0 0 0 0 3.2 7 4 4 1 3 1 19 51 2.727
2005 24 BAL AL 2 3 .400 6.30 10 8 1 0 0 0 40.0 39 30 28 8 24 24 184 69 1.575
2006 25 NYM NL 6 5 .545 3.60 16 15 1 1 1 0 90.0 69 40 36 15 33 71 365 122 1.133
2007 26 NYM NL 15 10 .600 3.91 32 32 0 1 1 0 191.0 168 90 83 23 75 180 810 110 1.272
2008 27 NYM NL 10 8 .556 4.18 25 25 0 0 0 0 140.0 122 70 65 16 67 122 608 101 1.350
2009 28 NYM NL 7 6 .538 4.43 15 15 0 0 0 0 81.1 67 42 40 8 38 55 349 92 1.291
2010 29 NYM NL 1 3 .250 6.13 9 9 0 0 0 0 39.2 47 29 27 8 25 39 190 64 1.815
7 Seasons 41 36 .532 4.35 108 105 2 2 2 0 585.2 519 305 283 79 265 492 2525 98 1.339
162 Game Avg. 13 11 .532 4.35 34 34 1 1 1 0 187 166 97 90 25 85 157 806 98 1.339
NYM (5 yrs) 39 32 .549 4.17 97 96 1 2 2 0 542.0 473 271 251 70 238 467 2322 102 1.312
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/3/2010.

The Mets also chose to non-tender Sean Green and Chris Carter. Green only made it into 11 games last year after having cracked ribs. He claimed the injury was because the Mets were trying to convert him to a submarine style from his usual sidearm delivery. Who knows if that’s really the case? But it just didn’t make sense to bring him back. Relievers are so up and down from year to year.

Carter was such a likable player in 2010 for the Mets. He’s the kind of guy that everyone roots for, including me. He was the super Joe McEwing of 2010. It’s too bad he didn’t have the talent to stick on the roster. Carter was an absolute butcher in the field. I could see him getting a shot with an American League team as a designated hitter. I hope it works out for him. I’d be thrilled to see him back in the big leagues and playing successfully at some point.

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Mets 2011 Hot Stove – Trade Bait

New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes (L) and center fielder Angel Pagan celebrate their 4-0 win over the New York Yankees in their MLB inter-league baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, June 18, 2010. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL IMAGES OF THE DAY)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets are strapped with a high payroll and a lot of baggage. Sandy Alderson feels the proper course is to wait out certain expiring contracts. Therefore, the Mets will look to get creative this hot stove. This will require signing some lower priced free agents to be brought in to compete to win jobs. It will take low risk-high reward players possibly coming off down or injured seasons. It may take a trade or two to import some exciting new talent and shake things up. Here is what you can expect to hear from analysts during the upcoming hot stove.

Possible Trade Bait:

Jose Reyes SS

Profile

The catalyst for almost half a decade has been a popular topic of trade conversation. Reyes is coming off a few injury plagued down seasons, and could become a free agent after the 2011 season. It will take a boatload for a team to convince Sandy to deal the explosive shortstop. Shortstops who hit and field as well as Jose make him a commodity. When he is healthy he can spark an offense and infuriate pitchers. Continue reading “Mets 2011 Hot Stove – Trade Bait”

Mets Should Make An Offer For Derek Jeter

NEW YORK - APRIL 03: David Wright of the New York Mets and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees attend Delta's Jeter/Wright batting challenge at the Stone Rose Lounge on April 3, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

There! I said it. Something no one else would dare say. “Go get Derek Jeter”.

The Mets have a leadership problem and a hole at second base. Both holes can be filled immediately and at the same time some bragging rights can be taken for the City of NY.

WE JUST STOLE YOUR CAPTAIN! Take that Yankee fans! Welcome to NY Sandy Alderson. You’re the Man!

Yes, my crazy, zany, wacky, ridiculous idea for the Mets to sign Jeter is not exactly “Saberliscous” but who cares. Think about what would happen if the Mets stole the future Hall of Famer from the Yankees. Think of the ticket sales! Think of all the crying Yankee fans. Think of all the Met #2 Jerseys that would be floating around the Tri-state area with Jeter’s name on it. Oh the pain!

Jeter can obviously handle the NY media, give hands on training to David Wright on how to be a captain and bring some professionalism to that clubhouse.

Of course, the Yankees would never allow themselves to lose a bidding war for Jeter to the Mets. At the very least drive up Jeter’s offer. Force the Yankee’s to overpay him considerably, thereby ensuring the Yankees will have less payroll flexibility in the future. Knock out the Yankees this year from next years free agent market.

It’s a win – win! Just sayin…

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Mets Pick Up Jose Reyes Option

New York Mets SS - José Reyes
Image via Wikipedia

One of Sandy Alderson’s first moves was a no-brainer today. He picked up the option year on Jose Reyes contract for $11 million. The Mets don’t have a better option at shortstop and $11 million isn’t bad for Reyes. He would get a lot more than that on the open market.

Reyes is still my favorite everyday player to watch on the Mets despite the last few seasons having been less than what he’s capable of. I think most Mets fans still want to see Reyes with the Mets long-term. But putting a price on Reyes’ talent is difficult. There aren’t many players that have hit free agency recently with similar skills. Waiting one more year for Carl Crawford to get a free agent deal will give a good starting point for Reyes. They’re not exactly the same type of player, especially considering Reyes plays short, but it will be a good guage of what a player with a good mix of power and speed can get on the open market.

Check out Reyes’ career stats and it’s obvious that committing $11 million to Reyes is unquestionably the right thing to do.

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