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According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, citing 
‘a person familiar with their thinking,’ the Mets are planning to exercise the $7.5 million option on Moises Alou’s contract.
Alou played in just 87 games for the Mets this season, during which he hit .341 with 13 HR and 49 RBI.
The Mets were 47–40 in games that Alou played. They were 41–34 in games he did not.
Heyman also sets odds on the possible replacement candidates for Joe Torre, which includes Bobby Valentine at 15 to 1.
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Bobby V would be amusing to watch interact with George.
I think it is smart to bring back Alou. Is there a lefty version we can platoon him with? Uncle Cliffy? For a season, I think it could work.
It would work until they inevitably went on the DL at the same time… then you’re really screwed.
lol
I’m fine with Alou as long as we’re not counting on him to bat 5th and be a major run producer.
I’ve said this before, but I’d love to see him get some work at 1B in spring training. He could pick up 30-35 games there against LHP – less wear and tear on both him and Delgado. Then, ideally, get him another 65-70 games in LF or at DH during interleague (total of 100 games). It also allows us to ease Milledge (assuming we keep him) into the OF for 120 games or so and hopefully still pick up one big OF stick.
Bringing back Alou is a good move.
that would be stupid move #1, Alou is a tremendous hitter, too bad he cant get any RBI when he is on the DL. This team needs to get younger, why not get a Good hitting outfielder via trade or free agent signing, Omar you have the money, spend it, rather than wasting money and bench space on Aging injury prone players
It’s not wasting money. Alou when healthy is a very, very valuable player. 100 games from him is better than 150 games from an average player. We have the horses to back him up adequately.
AMEN!!!
Jason Bay is being shopped this winter by the Pirates. The Mets would wise to bring back their former farm-hand to bring some youth and pop to the corner outfield position. While Gomez and Milledge are good young players, neither has matured enough to be considered a home run threat.
Didn’t they say that about Jason Bay before they traded him?
Yeah, but it can be a bit dicey waiting for young outfielders to develop power when the easiest position to fill via free agency or trade is a corner outfielder with pop. I wouldn’t recommend trading both Milledge and Gomez, but surely one of them packaged with an Humber might be worth considering.
And to clarify, I’m not suggesting doing this for just anybody, Jason Bay is a legit young All-Star and potentially either Milledge or Gomez could develop into stars of similar magnitude so it would balance out in the end. Just a thought.
bay had a very good 05 and very good 06, but his 07 was quite sub par. maybe he was hurt all year, who knows but id be a little worrisome about unloading alot to get him. i mean if he reverts back to his previous 2 years, thats great but i mean lastings milledge is definitely capable probably now of the numbers bay put up last year.
AVG .247 | HR 21 | OBP .327 | SLG .418
from mlbtraderumors.com
“It could be a confidence issue, it could be that he’s burnt out on all the losing. It could be a good old-fashioned off-year, similar to those experienced by top comparables Tim Salmon and Dale Murphy.
At an incredibly affordable $5.75MM for ‘08 and $7.5MM in ‘09, many teams would love to acquire Bay. He could certainly return to his elite level of 2004-06. He’d be a nice addition for the White Sox, Twins, Padres (his former club), Orioles, Padres, Dodgers, A’s, Rangers, Angels…OK, almost any team. I’m guessing the price would be two very good young players, one or both a pitcher. It’ll be interesting to see if Huntington makes a blockbuster deal in his first offseason as GM, possibly at the Winter Meetings. “
Bay = Jeromy Burnitz v3.0
no thanks
He’s much more productive than Burnitz and he’s also one year removed from an All-Star appearance. You’re basing that comparison one down year? That’s just not enough. I agree that they both have that same goober look, but to my mind that’s where the similarity ends :)
he’s not burnitz, but he’s also not worth whatever tradeable talent we have. Pitching, please.
Aaron Rowand is the answer for the mets. He plays hard and had a great year. His stats may be a little inflated but that defense is not. Alou will miss most of the year, and the mets will miss his bat.
Good call! Rowand is gritty! We need get-your-uniforms-dirty-play-hard guys, and he’s one of them!
rowand’s d is no better than beltran’s, and his bat isn’t worth 10 mil a year. Please, please, enough with this rowand stuff…he’s not coming here to play a corner (and if you think he’d be better in CF than Beltran, well, I don’t know what to tell you)
i love alou but i dont like the idea of having 8 guys in your starting lineup that cant play the whole season (castillo is in this category as well). what if alou goes on the DL again for a long time and chavez has to play everyday which hes clearly not good at, and gets hurt since his body is not used to the stress of playing everyday for say a month or so? then we’re back to 2007 all over again…..thank you moises for being one of the few guys with any heart down the stretch but i think this team needs to get younger and healthier.
Good point, but this move could be both good and bad. Relying on Alou is a bad move. Signing him and not relying on him is a good move IMO. Omar can exercise the option but he can’t sit on his hands with the pitching staff or not target any other hitters.
AMEN!—to that too!
I love Alou, and have no problem bringing him back, but would like to see them acquire a big bat for rightfield if possible.
Also, I would HATE to see Bobby V. go to the Yankees. They’ve already taken Ventura, Leiter, Gooden, Strawberry, Coney, and others I’m sure I can’t think of right now, we can’t let them get Bobby V. Plus, if Willie doesn’t work out next year, I want Bobby V. back in Flushing Meadows.
Hey, we got them back by taking Torrez & Tidrow!
You forgot Benitez.
picking up the option makes sense to me. at the very least we start the season with Alou – Beltran – Milledge with Endy subbing. However, I would still want a quality back up for alou and we would have to pick up a big FA should milledge get packaged for SP.
i would prefer gomez and f-mart spend all of 2008 in the minors. gomez still has potential but he was just plain awful at the plate in 07.
I agree. At less than 8 mil for a 1 year deal. There is no question that Alou can still rake and if they get lucky and he somehow plays 125-130 games that is just gravy.
I also have convinced myself that Milledge is absolutely ready to be an everyday (or 5 game a week) right fielder. Throw in some Endy time at all three (mostly left) and I think thats a strong outfield. If Green was willing to take a small contract on a 1 year deal and accept a bench/RF/1B role, I would consider it, but they can probably find a lefty bat for the bench somewhere else (or maybe Omar will grab Rickey Ledee again – 3rd times a charm) or just get Marlon for the whole year.
I am probably in the minority, but I don’t see the makeup of the team as the problem, they just need to play to their ability consistently (J. Reyes – that means you) and fix the bullpen from Starters to Billy and fix whatever was going on with Billy the last month+ of the season. Nevertheless, I think they are pretty close and picking up Alou’s option is the right move.
i definitely agree with the idea of fmart and gomez in the minors all of 2008, fmart theres no question he will be in the minors but gomez i dont want him up (unless we need him due to injury). let the kid fine tune his talent, and learn how to develop as a player, hes very young and has plenty of time we need to stop rushing our prospects IMO.
no need to bring back Green, Marlon Anderson can fill that role. If they need someone else then Jose Valentin can play some corner OF and PH. Maybe then Green before Newhan… but I cant see either getting a snif from the Mets.
Cartman will be pleased…
Is Valentin signed for next year? I was kind of thinking out loud with Green and I doubt he would take a small one year deal to back up anyway. Marlon is probably (unless he gets greedy again – like after 05 – and runs off to some 2 year deal) the guy.
NO DAVID NEWHAN – classic AAAA player.
The Mets have an option on Valentin at 4.5 or so with no buy out. It didnt vest because he didnt have enough PA’s. I would offer him about 2.0 with incentives up to about 4.0…
If the Mets bring back Castillo, then I think Gotay and Easley make a nice bench with Marlon. Valentin, Green, et al might be too many lefty bench bats.
If they dont bring back Castillo (preferred by me) then I think they can find room for Valentin as a PH and a part time player at 2B and corner OF. I prefer his versatility over Green.
That’s right – I knew Valentin had some kind of option for another year.
I also prefer a Castillo-less 2008, mostly because I can’t get the images of him hobling around the dugout for 2 weeks out of my head. I think if someone just convinced Gotay to scrap hitting RH all together he could play everyday – but if not, a strict platoon with him and Easely would be fine, because Easely could also grab some RH PH ABs, and some outfield and first base ABs.
Actually, if anything, we need another RH bat for the bench, assuming we have Chavez, Gotay and Anderson from the left side. It would also be good to get someone who could spell Delgado against lefties at least part of the time
Personally, I’d go with Mark Loretta – better hitter than Easley over the years, plays a better SS and 3B than Gotay and he’s accomplished at 1B as well.
(Again, unless the Mets were to let Alou work in at 1B in the spring and plan on him playing part time at 2 positions — and that doesn’t sound like Willie’s style).
Is Loretta a FA – I thought he signed a 2 year deal?
I like Alou, but so far the lessons learned from this monumental collapse has been the return of the same manager, pitching coach, and injury prone outfielder who’s DL assignment in June is what set off the first period of poor play for this team. In other words, it looks like the game plan is “we’ll bring back the same guys and hope we don’t screw up again” which is really not what this team needs right now.
All we need now is to pick up Tom Glavine’s for another year and resign Paul LoDuca and I’ll officially not spend a dime on this franchise next season.
I believe that change is necessary even just for the sake of change. I like bringing Alou back for that amount of money, but I still believe they should be looking for another thumper in the OF. If they sign Alou and get complacent, then I will be just as angry as you. Some combination of players should leave the team. As much as I like LoDuca he is probably replaceable after a subpar year and I don’t ever want to see Glavine in a Mets uniform again. That “I wouldn’t change a thing, I will just to get em in my next start, I thought we executed well but I tip my hat to the opponent, we are so talented” theme (Read Absolute BS) has to stop somewhere.
I’m just losing a wee bit of faith in the FO these days. Historic collapses do that to a person.
lol I hear ya.
I sat next to this woman behind home plate against the Nats…..she was very nice and we chatted it up a bit about the Mets…..as the game progressed I realized that she was married to Alou and when I bought it up, she laughed and said she was. I then proceeded to ask her….”So, is he retiring after the season”. She said “Yep, he’s done….” to which I replied “That’s what most wives say….”. We laughed about it. I think (and hope) he’ll be back…when he’s healthy he’s a gamer.
Did he sign a pair of her knickers for you? ;)
No, but I heard he promised to write something in the snow. :)
YES! another great reason to bring alou back that i forgot about: PISS JOKES!
we have to do this. for the fans.
A good idea, because of th eyears and dollars (both low!)
They stil need a long term solution out there. Well, if they can find it for 2008, not a big problem. Alou could potentially platoon, heck, he could be a very expensive PH!
Since he is only back for 1 year this justs buys them some time to find his replacement.
One option is to get another guy and play him in RF, although I still want to see lastings out there every day.
Just sign Dunn (if he gets cut), and let them platoon! Man, do the match with those 2 guys (Alou vs. LHP, Dunn vs. RHP) and that is a powerful bat!
Seriously, Alou is perfect if they expect that one of the young guys (Milledge, Gomez) could split time in ‘08, and be ready for a FT gig in ‘09.
Still, I would look hard for someone else just in case.
Or, get Dun nif he is available, and figure out a way to unload Delgado.
Actually, Dunn has Yankees written all over him. Big, lefty power bat for 1B/DH. Isn’t giambi gone after this year? If so, here is the replacement!
This may sound like a 180 from some of my posts during the season but the organizational philosophy of signing all these stopgaps and trying to get the rookies feet wet with part time play during injury breaks really ended up failing this past season. While I will not go as far as some and claim next year is a “rebuilding year” and that we should just throw all rookies and youngsters out there, I really think this organization needs to start acquiring players they can build around for 162 games, rather than 90 from one guy, 50 from another and so forth. The same goes with the pitching staff. We need to either justs throw some of these kids out there everyday until the get it right, or we need to acquire players who are more long-term solutions and who can be counted on day in, day out. I loved the Alou move when it was made last year, but 2008 is different from 2007 and it’s time we start expanding our core a bit, instead of putting band aids on all of our problems.
in all fairness, that philosophy did not consider every outfielder being hurt at the same time.
‘a person familiar with their thinking’
solid source, heyman! anyway.
alou is fine for another year. he clearly want to win. when healthy he produces. when unhealthy the kids get more playing time: gomez and milledge (if not in right full-time as he should be).
pitching is the biggest need especially the bullpen. i’d make a major push for mariano rivera. i’d also check out trade with twins for joe nathan (free agent next year)
if they can get a top-of-the-rotation starter that would be great. if not an innings eater who’s solid instead if glavine. maybe, livan hernandez for a year. pitching in shea will improve his era and he has a rubber arm. bullpen is more important though.
I still think Minaya should find a way to pry Joe Blanton away from the A’s … While the statheads don’t like him because he doesn’t K a guy an inning, Blanton is very, very solid and would probably be better than any guy currently in our rotation next season.
i’d take blanton. certainly over livan. only problem is the cost. blanton has 3 or 4 years until free agency so beane will want quality in return. giving up milledge worries me. i think he will hit. really hit. with the position players getting older it would be great to have lastings to go with reyes and wright. ideally, you trade milledge ++ to get an oswalt-level pitcher then sign an proven outfielder like hunter.
the mets spend, but keep that budget so i’m not too confident there. if they give up the chips for blanton do they have enough left to fix the pen?
Sliding Blanton into the rotation would be good, but think of what Beane will want for a locked up pitcher who isn’t about to fall apart. Beane is a very shrewd GM, and if the Mets do make a pitch for him, Beane will wait it out, Minaya will hold his breath, and a few things will happen for sure. The Mets will get screwed, and so will the fans again, when Beane pulls the offer back and Minaya never pursued anyone else. The same goes for Bowden, who is even more of a mess.
All fair points. I just wish more fans would be open to the idea of Blanton. Despite Bean’s shrewdness, I still think he would come cheaper than Santana and we would be guaranteed to control him longer.
And I know he had a miserable ‘07 but I think the Mets would be fools not to see what Jason Jennings is commanding on the open market. He had too many solid seasons in a pitcher’s nightmare park in Colorado for me to be discouoraged by one lousy half of season in Houston.
It is all fair, as long as Minaya doesn’t get tunnel vision which I am very worried about. The whole Zito thing is what has got me worried, and it was made worse with cordero at the deadline. Omar can ill- afford to put all his eggs in the same basket.
if we sign alou, we realistically cant expect more than 110-120 games from him.
I was hoping Alou would sign somewhere else and we would get a draft pick. Since he won’t, we might as well sign him and plan on having him on the DL for a significant part of the season.
The solution for the Yankees is easy- we trade them Willie and Delgado for $1. They belong there- and we unload $20M of dead weight.
then sign arod haha
Mets had Blanton. His name was Brian Bannister.
I think if there was an award for a fanbase that obsesses the most over past trades, Mets fans would win hands down.
Regardless of what you think of the Bannister-Burgos trade, its an irrelevant part of a conversation that’s focused on what could be to improve the team NOW, now what could have been done 2 years ago. In addition, until Bannister starts doing what he did in KC last year three-years running it’s a gross overstatement to say he’s Joe Blanton.
Actually, I am not obsessed with the trade. My point is that Blanton and Bannister are the same type of pitcher. Not a hard thrower, therefore I don’t see Minaya interested.
I stand corrected. My apologies for the snarky response.
This to me a no brainer. Yeah, Alou is up there, but he’s batting over .300, I would absolutely keep him. Maybe give guys like Gomez more time to develop as a starter, if they keep the top outfield prospects.
Haha, Bobby V to the Yanks would be GREAT.
Great, maybe next year he’ll play 50 games.
Kill me. Just kill me.
There is nothing wrong with this. He’s an excellent hitter when healthy and he’ll only be paid 7.5 million. We shouldn’t just get rid of him for the sake of getting younger. Getting younger doesn’t necessarily mean better. He was one of the few hitters who didn’t choke at the end of the season and we aren’t depending on him to be our best. He’ll give us a .900 ops for 7.5 million, which will both give s a very good hitter and free up money to improve the pitching, which is our real concern. Alou, Beltran, Milledge, Chavez, and a solid veteran 5th outfielder is a good outfield. Then when Alou inevitably gets hurt, Endy can temporarily start while the veteran 5th outfielder(Green?) or Gomez steps in to replace Endy as the valuable bench player. The real concern is at 2B, where Luis Castillo is no lock to return. I hope they don’t bring back Paul LoDuca and instead opt to make Ramon Castro the starting catcher and sign a good backup. We don’t need to waste money at positions where we have solid players. We need that money for pitching, and also need to save up money for a good 1B after 2008. Think, guys… think.
Right on all counts.
Brian Bannister fluked this year. His K/BB ratio was miserable and that is usually a sign that a guy is overachieving. I believe Burgos can have more value to us if he gets healthy and is an effective reliever. Bannister is no good. Think Jae Seo. How’s he doing?
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that most of the teams prevailing in the postseason this year are the younger ones. Younger lineups, rotations and bullpens.
The Mets already have enough age and injury issues going into ‘08 — Wagner, Delgado, El Duque, Pedro. When will they learn?
It’s not just that I don’t think Alou will help in ‘08, but I fear he’s an indication that the front office has yet to change its philosophy on building an AARP team.
I hope Heyman is wrong. Or that Alou decides to retire regardless.
You’re softening on Alou (sort of). Meanwhile, I’m coming more to your side … I would rather this FO get more creative and find a guy who can give you Alou’s offense for a full season, rather than plug a stop gap in every position not locked down by Beltran, Wright and Reyes and crossing their fingers that kids like Milledge and Gomez are going to mature into everyday players in platoon/part-time duty.
oh correction. I misread your comment. You’re not softening on Alou at all. The double negative threw me off.
OK, just for the record, the Mets ARE NOT going to get Mariano Rivera. That being said, anyone who would rather have Wagner is not alright. Wagner is a frightened little turtle when the lights come on in October.
As far as catcher is concerned, I mean, who knows? The Mets are bringing back Alou it seems in the OF….if they bring back Lo Duca, they’re going to field the same group of guys that joined together for the monumental collapse, and crushed all of us over a 2 + week span. Some positions have to change, and as much as I like Paully, I think he’ll sign elsewhere.
Next year: Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Alou…. 5/8 of your lineup is set in stone…these guys won’t go anywhere….I think the front office will look to alter the remaining 2 or 3 positions to bring in some mental toughness to this group…I hope.
Delgado isnt as immovable as he is immobile at first base.
The Mets owe him 12 mil next year with the Marlins picking up the additional 4 mil of his salary. The team has an option on him for 2009 of another 12 mil with a 4 mil buy out.
I would think the Mets could pay the 4 mil towards the buy out, and another team would be happy to have Delgado for 1 year at 8 mil, or two years at 16 mil. Even if he repeats 2007 for two years, that is a bargain.
I would HOPE that Omar spends a significant part of his offseason shopping Delgado. But not to sign Dunn… please no Dunn.
then who plays first, and do not, DO NOT say shawn green