R.A. Dickey Trade to Blue Jays Appears Imminent

_MG_4618Multiple media sources are reporting that 2012 Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey is on the verge of being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Reportedly, the Mets will receive top prospects including catcher Travis d’Arnaud and outfielder Anthony Gose.

The Blue Jays have already improved with some major acquisitions this offseason. They made a blockbuster trade with the Marlins acquiring Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle. They also signed free agent Melky Cabrera. Acquiring Dickey puts them in the top tier of American League teams heading into the 2013 season.

The Mets will acquire some sorely needed catching and outfield help. Both d’Arnaud and Gose are considered high potential prospects which is what the Mets have been after since the season ended. And with contract extension talks stalled with Dickey, the Mets are clearly ready to head in another direction.

Mets Buy Out Jason Bay’s Contract

Jason Bay
Jason Bay (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Mets and Jason Bay agreed to “part ways” today. From the quotes we got from Sandy Alderson and Bay, it sounded mutual. But we all know that the Mets wanted him gone and so did we. They just had to find a way to get rid of him while still owing him $21 million guaranteed.

In three years with the Mets, Bay played in 288 games and hit .234 with 26 HR and 124 RBI’s…. Combined over three years!!! It’ll certainly go down as one of the worst contracts in Mets history, if not the worst. The 4-year/$67 million deal left Bay and his family financially set for life thanks to the Wilpons but left Mets fans exasperated.

The move leaves a hole in left field for the Mets going into 2013 but we all know that the Mets aren’t playing for 2013. They’re building to try to be competitive again in 2014 after Johan Santana’s contract expires.

The only good thing I can say about Bay is that he always hustled and never made excuses for his poor performance when it would’ve been easy to do so. I have to commend the guy for giving 100% effort during extremely difficult conditions. He just seemed to lose any ability to hit the ball. It’s dumbfounding.

Mets and David Wright Negotiating Contract Extension

There’s no secret that the Mets and David Wright have been talking about a contract extension. Sandy Alderson discussed it openly near the end of the lost 2012 season. Wright has a team option for 2013 at $16 million and the Mets have five days after the end of the World Series to take that option.

Joel Sherman is reporting in the Post today that his anonymous baseball people believe the Mets want to finalize that deal before having to take the option year. That would allow them to package the option year into one large deal in the neighborhood of 8-years/$143 million. That would eclipse Johan Santana’s 7-year/$143 million as the highest paid Mets player ever.

I’m not so sure that the Mets will finalize a deal of that magnitude within five days of the World Series ending. But all signs point to a deal getting done soon that will keep Wright with the Mets for what will likely be the rest of his career. The guy has done everything right since he’s been with the Mets and keeps himself in great shape. So if you’re going to risk a huge contract, I can’t think of a better player to risk it on.

Mets Owners Seek To Reorganize Debt

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: Mets Chairman an...

(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

The New York Times is reporting that the Mets are looking to move debt away from the team to SNY to get more favorable debt terms. Plus, they may rearrange the debt and take a dividend for themselves along the way.

I wish that Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz were more interested in improving the Mets roster with their available credit. You might have noticed the 2012 74-win, fourth place Mets had the biggest payroll decrease in MLB history this year with a $50 million reduction from 2011.

It continues to be a sad state of affairs in Queens.

Mets 2012 Home Attendance Down Again

English: Citi Field during the day

English: Citi Field during the day (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Surprise!!! Attendance at Citi Field was down again. Home attendance has been dropping steadily since the Mets moved into Citi Field in 2009. They went from 3.1 million tickets sold to 2.5 (2010), to 2.3 (2011), and now bottoming out at 2.2 million.

If you’ve been to a game this year, you know that they didn’t have the 27,000+ average tickets sold in the park. It was a ghost town unless R.A. Dickey or Johan Santana were pitching.

33% of the available tickets went unsold this year despite the team’s aggressive marketing tactics (you know what I mean if you’re on their email list). And they reduced ticket prices this season… Again.

Maybe the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson might start to get the idea that they need to win some games to sell tickets. That would be a novel idea.

Sherman: Mets Should Trade David Wright and R.A. Dickey

David Wright wearing the Mets' alternate colors
David Wright wearing the Mets’ alternate colors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to NY Post columnist Joel Sherman, the Mets should trade David Wright and R.A. Dickey in the offseason for prospects. He contends that they need a full-blown rebuilding mode to become competitive again. As terrible as it sounds, it may be the smartest and most painful way for the Mets to move forward.

We all know that the Mets aren’t anywhere close to seriously competing with the likes of the Reds, Nationals, and the upper echelon of the National League. And it’s laughable to think that they’re close to the Rangers, Yankees, or Angels in the American League.

The Mets are in a no-man’s land of talent. They’re not bad enough to be cellar dwellers in the league like the Cubs but they’re not good enough to make the playoffs.

My guess is that the Mets don’t go the route of a full-blown re-tooling because they’re afraid of an empty Citi Field for the next two years. They’ll go the same route that they did this year: a slight rebuilding mode while trying to finish in third or fourth place in the division that keeps a portion of Citi Field seats filled.

Currently, the Mets are 17 in MLB in attendance while selling 72.3% of available tickets. That’s why they won’t trade Wright and Dickey. Mets ownership can’t take a lower attendance number because of the debt burden against the team.