Daily Archives: November 17, 2006
In the Daily News, Bill Madden quotes Mets GM Omar Minaya as saying…
“Basically I got a good feel [at the GM Meetings] for what the competition needs as opposed to what we want, and it may be we might have to make a trade to fulfill our needs.”
In the New York Times, Minaya is quoted as saying…
“I don’t think there’s enough in the free-agent market to fulfill those needs, so the only option is for trades. And I think there’s going to be a lot of activity there.”
Madden also notes that Yankees GM Brian Cashman appeared un-enthused by the high cost of middle-of-the-road, free-agent pitching, such as Gil Meche, Miguel Batista, Ted Lilly and Randy Wolf.
…i don’t know if these two very savvy, new york general managers are simply using the trade market as a way to leverage against the free-agent pitchers, but the more and more they talk about relying on the trade market, the more and more i see reports like the following…
According to the New York Post, an NL executive believes the Marlins may be willing to part with a young starting pitcher, such as LHP Scott Olsen or RHP Josh Johnson, in exchange for a young center fielder, such as Tampa Bay OF Rocco Baldelli.
The 22–year-old Johnson was 12–7 with a 3.10 in 24 starts for the Marlins last season, while Olsen, 22, went 12–10 with a 4.04 ERA in 31 starts.
The Mets would certainly swap Lastings Milledge in such a deal, reports the Post, specifically in exchange for Johnson.
…early this week, however, the word from florida was that, instead of milledge, the fish would prefer a guy like baldelli, or Carl Crawford, or Felix Pie, or Willy Tavaras, or Chris Duffy…
Today, however, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that Houston intends to keep Tavaras, and the Cubs intend to keep Pie, while the Palm Beach Post notes the same about Duffy and the Pirates.
…if these other guys are off the market, then milledge’s stock goes up, i would think…
According to the Denver Post, the Mets, Twins, Astros, Cubs, Rangers and Yankees are all interested in Rockies RHP Jason Jennings, who Colorado has pronounced as, “available.”
In 32 starts for Colorado last season, the 28–year-old Jennings posted a 3.78 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .258 average. His ERA ended above 5.00 in each of the previous seasons.
Lastly, though a Mets official denied it, Phil Rogers, of the Chicago Tribune, notes that the Mets continue to have interest in White Sox RHP Freddy Garcia and RHP Javier Vazquez, while the Rangers have shown interest in 
Vazquez and LHP Mark Buehrle.
In the column, Rogers believes a deal from Texas offering John Danks and Nick Masset, two pitching prospects, along with Akinori Otsuka could land Vazquez, who is controlled through 2008.
…yikes…that would be equal to the mets offering Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman and a double-a pitcher for vazquez…
…again, i’d rather start pelfrey or heilman over vazquez, let alone trade both of them for him…
At Pick Me Up Some Mets, Zoe goes wild with Photoshop again, this time speculating on a few products that we may eventually see at Citi Filed, thanks to the building’s sponsorship by Citigroup.
Mets 3B David Wright and Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols were in Bristol, Conn, early this week filming a ‘This is SportsCenter” commercial for ESPN.
…thanks to our espn friend for the info…
…from what i can gather, wright and pujols do not appear in the ad together…thankfully…i don’t think i am yet ready to see a met and a cardinal acting all chummy…
…the wright commercial goes as follows…
…dressed in home whites, david scurries in to the snack area at the espn studios, and sidles up alongside sportscenter anchors Scott Van Pelt and Neil Everett…with his glove to his mouth, keeping the conversation a secret, much like he would do with Jose Reyes on the infield, wright and the anchors discuss where to hang out that night after work…the three agree on a place to meet up, to which wright announces, “Don’t tell Stuart Scott or John Anderson,” then removing the glove, pounding his fist to the mitt and shuffling off back to his position…
…he is filming a second spot, as well, which, hopefully, is a bit funnier than this one…
Despite signing free-agent Damian Easley, and re-signing Jose Valentin, Mets GM Omar Minaya is still seeking another second baseman, like Julio Lugo, reports Ben Shpigel in the New York Times.
…already this off-season, the Mets have been said to have interest in Ronnie Belliard, Adam Kennedy, lugo and Rich Aurilia…
…now that they have re-signed valentin, the sense i get is that the mets are more interested in finding a semi-regular option, a veteran, who will handle not playing every day, but who can if called upon, which would decribe a guy like aurilia, or even free-agent Todd Walker, more than it describes a guy like lugo, kennedy or belliard…
In the New York Post, Joel Sherman talks about LHP Barry Zito with eight anonymous general managers, of which five think Zito will eventually sign with the Mets.
…as heyman points out, there is a serious disconnect with how the mets view zito and how boras views zito, compared to how the league views a guy like Ted Lilly and other mid-tier pitching…
…from what i can gather, the Mets see zito as worth roughly $45 million over four-years, essentially as a second or third starter, which is roughly the amount expected to be offered to a guy like lilly, or Gil Meche…
…however, zito’s agent, Scott Boras, sees his client being worth far more, such as seven-years, $100 million, which is nearly twice as much as lilly and meche, and 30 percent more than a guy like Roy Oswalt, who has comparable stats to zito, and who signed for $73 million over five years with houston last season…
…subsequently, the five-year, $70 million mark is what many believe boras will get Daisuke Matsuzaka from the Red Sox, who are said to be aiming more towards four-years, $50 million, which, again, sounds like lilly and meche money…
In a column for USA Today, Boras proclaims that Zito will be the finest left-handed starter since Steve Carlton, adding, “He will be baseball’s next great ace.”
…too bad no team is willing to pay him as such…
…i think the writing is on the wall here…
…the mets will make an offer, boras will counter, they’ll meet in the middle, say five-years, $70 million, like oswalt, and then zito will have to decide whether he wants to pitch in new york, with Rick Peterson and David Wright and Jose Reyes in a new ballpark and an up-and-coming team, or accept more money and more years from a team like the Angels or Texas…
…since last off-season, i have been predicting that zito will pitch for the mets in 2007…i still believe this…the question is, will the fast-acting minaya wait around for zito to decide…i’m not convinced that he will…
In the New York Post, Mark Hale reports on his conversation with Tom Glavine, who continues to weigh whether he would prefer to pitch for the Braves or the Mets in 2007.
Glavine tells Hale that it is a “50–50 split” between the two teams, though he seems to acknowledge that if the decision comes down to money the Mets will certainly have the advantage.
According to Ken Rosenthal at FOXSports.com, citing a National League GM, the longer it takes Glavine to make his decision the more likely it will be that he returns to Atlanta.
Rosenthal believes the Braves can afford to offer Glavine $8 million for one season.
Hale provides a long, insightful quote by Glavine, who hopes to resolve this sooner than later.
The Mets must decide by Monday, November 20, whether to accept a $14 million team option on Glavine’s contract. As Hale points out, if the Mets decline, they must pay the pitcher a $3 million buyout, at which point he officially becomes a free agent and can negotiate with Atlanta.
…from what i understand, if the mets were to pick up the option, and glavine makes the all-star team next season, the salary could bump up to $16 million…all signs suggest that glavine and the mets have a hand-shake agreement that the option will not get picked up…
Despite Glavine inevitably hitting the open market, Rosenthal still believes that the most likely outcome will be the Mets and Glavine eventually agreeing on a two-year deal worth roughly $23 million.
…you know, if you add the $3 million to the $8 million from atlanta suggested by rosenthal, glavine’s not far off from what the mets are willing to pay…in fact, it’s the exact figure…
…for the first time this off-season, i am having my doubts about glavine coming back to shea…
The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the Daily News all file stories today about how MLB’s General Managers feel a bit frustrated with the prices in the free-agent market – and how they may be forced to turn to the trade 
In Newsday, Ken Davidoff writes that we could be in store for “a relatively dull New York baseball winter,” in a column about Omar Minaya and Brian Cashman, who he feels will show fiscal restraint this off-season.
…it is a bit crazy out there…the demand for pitching is so high, and the rumors of four-year, $40 million deals going to guys like Ted Lilly and Gil Meche will likely become reality…
…the buzz around baseball had been that there will be a ton of trades this off-season, and from what these four publications report today, it sounds like this will certainly be the case…
…given the tight market, if you want the mets to upgrade their starting rotation, it may come down to parting with Lastings Milledge, Oliver Perez, John Maine or Aaron Heilman, though i do get the sense they have no interest in moving Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber…
