Chipper Jones Talks Mets Baseball

The past two seasons have seen the Mets and Phillies engage in a war of words. But the Phillies have gotten it done on the field, winning the division in both seasons. Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Beltran, Cole Hamels, John Maine, and Francisco Rodriguez have all gotten involved.

Chipper Jones finally landed the Atlanta Braves on the trash-talking map this week in an interview with The Sporting News. From the interview:

We won for 14 consecutive years, and you never, ever saw any bulletin board material. And now that these two teams are on top of the division, they can’t keep their mouths shut. Just go play baseball. It’s Cole Hamels now. It was Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Beltran the past couple of springs. These two teams are constantly going at each other verbally. You know, win with class, lose with class. Just keep your mouth shut and go play your game.

Jones also chides the Mets for using their financial resources to secure the two best closers available on the market. He chalks this up to “the rich get richer”. You have to take a few minutes to read the column. Jones also discusses how the Braves made the best trade offer to the Padres for Jake Peavy, but Peavy didn’t want to play for Atlanta.

I guess it’s about time that someone from the Braves popped off. But Jones’ comments seem contrived, like he’s trying to make the Braves relevant in the NL East. The Braves have had an incredibly quiet off-season and don’t appear to be poised to make a run at the division title in 2009.

I have to say that I like that the Mets are the talk of the NL East. Clearly, the Mets have gotten into the heads of the Phillies and Braves. Hopefully, that will translate into wins on the field.

Flickr photo courtesy of darkensiva

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Mets Won’t Offer Lowe Fourth Year

Once again Jack Curry of the New York Times comes up with some seemingly solid information about the negotiations between the Mets and free agent pitcher Derek Lowe. Apparently, Curry is talking to someone with inside knowledge about the Mets strategy in dealing with Lowe and his agent Scott Boras,

Curry says, definitively, that the Mets won’t offer Lowe a fourth year. Currently, the Mets offer stands at 3-years/$36 million. The money will be a topic of negotiation but not the years.

I can understand the Mets reluctance to give more years to Lowe considering that he’ll be 36 years old next season. But Lowe has been durable. He’s pitched at least 182 innings/season since 2002. That was his first season as a starter.

If I were Omar Minaya, I wouldn’t get too hung up on three years. A vesting team option for the fourth year should be acceptable. Maybe they could look to vest the fourth year if Lowe averages 190+ innings over years two and three of the contract, or something along those lines.

Mets Offer Derek Lowe Contract

Jack Curry of the New York Times is reporting today that the Mets made an offer to Derek Lowe. It’s no surpise that he’s the pitcher the Mets are after right now. Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, and Randy Wolf are still available as free agents as well. But Lowe is the best starting pitcher on the market.

Curry reports that the offer is a 3-year/$36 million contract. Lowe will be 36 years old next season so it makes sense to keep the contract to three years or fewer.

Lowe is reported to be seeking a 5-year/$90 million contract. So the Mets are pretty far from Lowe’s desired deal. The Red Sox and Phillies are also reported to be interested in Lowe. But it’s difficult to tell how interested they are. The Red Sox just signed Brad Penny to a one year deal. So they may not go after another starter.

I’m completely on board with this signing, especially if Omar Minaya can keep the contract to just three years. I would even go to four years, but there’s no way that I’d go to five. Lowe is probably going to get closer to the $50 million range than the $90 million that he’s seeking.

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Audio: Ken Rosenthal Hot Stove Report

Fox Sports senior baseball writer Ken Rosenthal joins Evan Roberts on WFAN to talk hot stove baseball. Of course, Evan talks mostly about the Mets. Rosenthal debunks the notion that the Mets and Dodgers are still talking about an Andruw Jones trade. Several media reports have done the same today despite Buster Olney’s report on ESPN yesterday.

Ken Rosenthal audio

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Report: Mets And Dodgers Talk Andruw Jones Trade

Andruw Jones, a Major League Baseball player i...
Image via Wikipedia

Buster Olney is reporting at ESPN that the Mets and Dodgers are talking about a deal that would send Andruw Jones to New York. Olney writes that the Dodgers would be willing to eat some of the money left on the last year of Jones’ contract.

Jones has been terrible for two seasons in a row now. He gained a lot of weight and lost several steps in the outfield. Olney surmises that the Mets would put Jones in right field supplanting Ryan Church.

I can’t figure out how this makes sense for the Mets unless the Dodgers are willing to take Luis Castillo in return. But Olney writes that the Dodgers likely have no interest in Castillo because Blake DeWitt is playing second base.

Omar Minaya has made some bad signings during his career but he’s usually pretty saavy in the trade market. I’ll be surprised if he’s willing to take on Andruw Jones at this point in his career.

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