|
In the Palm Beach Post, Joe Capozzi quotes free-agent OF Cliff Floyd as saying he is open to finishing his career with the Marlins, 
where he won a World Series and spent six seasons in the late 1990s.
According to previous reports, Floyd could retire, having spent roughly 40 percent of the last two seasons on the disabled list.
Floyd will seek a one-year, $3 million deal, similar to what he earned with the Cubs last year, writes Capozzi.
…i know there will be Mets fans who want floyd back at shea, to serve as a platoon for Lastings Milledge and Moises Alou, who will certainly be hurt at some point during next season…it’s not a terrible idea, it’s just that he’s as much of an injury risk as alou, if not more…i miss cliff as much as the next nostalgic fan, but he’s not the future…this ship has got to keep moving forward…
If Cliff Floyd is on the 2007 New York Mets…not in any big role just merely a member of the team, on the bench or whatever….
There is NO WAY that they suffer the collapse that they did..
Cliffy would never, ever have let that team fall apart like they did…he would have gotten that clubhouse going.
Say what you want about the Mets being a veteran clubhouse, but Cliff Floyd was the GLUE of the 2006 New York Mets…and without him, well, you saw what happened….
With that said, dont think its worth it bringing him back now….
as I mentioned below, Cliffy seemed like a decent enough guy, but unless Cliffy was going to pitch every fifth day, or pitch solid relief pitching, this idea that he would have emotionally lifted his team out of its Sept. doldrums is a bit farfetched. Clifford Cornelius spent more time getting cortisone shots and rehabbing than playing. Pedro was also supposed to keep the clubhouse upbeat and loose and we saw where that got us?
Bottom line … this team gets 1 or 2 more well-pitched games this September, this whole “softiee” argument is moot. Get better players next year, not better cheerleaders.
Nice old guy made of glass. That’s one thing the Mets were in no short supply of in 2007. It’s mere speculation and fantasy to think that Cliffy, alone, would have had enough magical rah-rah power to release the deadly choke hold applied to the team. I’m sure I’m not the only Mets fan to remember Cliff “there’s no light at the end of the tunnel” Floyd wallowing in frustration and having no answer to the Mets losing ways when he was here and a playing a key role (with all his damn injuries) in all the losing and lost hope.
If you want a LH counter to Moises Alou, then I think Cliff is your man. Endy is still available to play late innings. It makes our bench a little stronger.
While I love Cliff – I think that the argument that the guy playing 60 games for Mo in LF needs to be LH is foolish. Mo absolutely rakes against RHP and LHP so it just needs to be someone that can stay healthy all year and play a game or two a week while Alou is active and then not hurt the mets playing 4 or 5 games a week when Alou makes his yearly 2 month DL stint.
Guys, I’ve done a bit of scouting on possible Japanese players worth considering. The 33 year old, left handed closer from the Chunichi Dragons, Hitoki Iwase may be a viable option for the pen next year. He also is a free agent on his own terms, which means the Mets would not need to go through a posting process. He holds the Japanese record for most saves in a single season with 46 and his slider and fastball have been compared to Akinori Otsuka’s. He enters next year with a career earned run average of just 1.97 in Japan, and during 2007 he had only 9 walks in 59 innings of work. Not to mention, 3 of those 9 came from intentional passes too. He supposedly kept a close eye on how Hideki Okajima fare in the MLB as well, because him and Okajima share a similar delivery.
If you would like to take a look for yourself, I have found this video of him pitching an inning in Japan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKnWxXxFzkI&NR=1
Is that Shinjo they show in the top left corner of that video at the 35 second mark?
Yeah, I think it is and actually Shinjo appears later on in the video too.
i thot shinjo was in taliban
If Cliffy was willing to pick up a 1B mit again, I would be interesting.
On a side note though, I never got the folk-hero worship of Clifford Cornelius. Decent guy. Good when healthy. Played hard. Also opened his mouth, a LOT. He was way too honest and candid about his team’s decisions and chances for someone who spent half of the season rehabbing in St. Lucie (or hell as he called it).
I wouldn’t mind Cliff and Moises sharing left with Cliff spotting Delgado at first. Lethal left-right platoon, even with their fragility.
Of course, if they both went down at the same time…
Left-right platoon in left, of course, not at first.
i would be interested in any japanese player named kobayashi or fukudome.
Just keep any Japanese player named Kobayashi away from the pre-game buffet spread. Especially the hot dogs.
No Cliff. Are we not done with this resurrection of older players?
Why in gods name would we want an aged vet who hit like .20 with declining power last year and could not make it through 100 games? Alou is one thing…he rakes when healthy. Cliff is about 8 years younger and just not healthy enough or productive enough to be considered.
This is a nonstarter for me. I like Cliff floyd but his career is over. This is akin to the guys asking to bring Piazza back to catch 40% of the games. Please stop it.
Focus on the bullpen and starters with an eye on bringing in healthy players not Ben Sheets, MArk Prior or Rich Harden. Great talents who can not stay healthy.
Could just be me, but I would have rather had Piazza than Conine as our late-inning righty bat this year.
If we don’t intend to bring back Green, 1 year $3 mill for Cliff won’t kill us. He’d make a solid fourth outfielder to spell Alou or Milledge. We could then use Endy to spell Beltran more frequently during the early parts of the year, when Beltran isn’t as hot of a hitter.
Totally off topic, but I’m watching game 1 and I have to say that Beckett is flat out sick! This guy has ALWAYS risen to the occasion. All you spoiled, selfish veterans (Glavine) could learn something from this guy.
I would take a guy like Beckett over a guy like Santana any day. He is a gamer and I’m sure his team goes out there KNOWING they are going to have a chance to win.
Was just coming on here to share thoughts after watching every Red Sox post season game and now Game 1…
If you want to use that team as a barometer as to where the Mets stack up with being a WS winning team…..not a WS team, but a WS winning team….man are we along ways away.
The Sox have a flat out stud flame throwing ace. Great power hitters, great hitters in general. They are patient. The dont swing at bad pitches. They make adjustments. Basically the complete opposite of the Mets this year. Literally. Think about Delgado’s AB’s….you could laugh a little.
But from the rotation, to the bats all the way through to the bullpen and closer….man what a club. And the defense is no slouch either.
Our Mets have a long, long way to go until they reach that level. Years away….remember the NL is weak. They could get out of that, but come WS time….we’re going to need some bigger weapons before competing. Hopefully Omar realizes that.
Guys like Mota, Schowenweis, Heilman…we can disect their good and bad sides all we want. But come the nitty gritty times in post season….we all know they arent’ going to hack it. We need some gamers. on this team. Straight up gamers.
Agreed.
MM, you are so correct. Looking down the lineup, Mets have an edge in SS and CF, but the Sox would beat us in every other position. Sorry DWright, Lowell has more pop.
Given the way the Rockies breezed thru the NL playoffs and looking at the Sox now, the Mets would’ve been blasted out of the playoffs by now anyway
I’d take Wright at 3B over Lowell. At worst, I’d call that even. Still, your point is well taken.
That’s 5 offensive spots where the Sox have a clear edge – and at Fenway it becomes six, since they would also get to start Ortiz, who is light years better than whatever extra bat we might use (probably Anderson against a RHP or Conine against a LHP).
Pitching wise, you’d have to give them the edge in rotation simply because of Beckett… the 2-4 starters are pretty close otherwise. And you can’t even begin to compare bullpens.
Unfortunately, we are a long way away from Boston’s talent level right now.
these kind of comparisons make no sense. compare lineups to pitchers. sox are better. you are right about that. we have no beckett.
That’s why I’ve been saying: play for the long haul. We are not one big-time acquisition away from becoming contenders. Keep your future. Keep your costs low; make your big splashes when the opportunity arises. Tread water in ‘08.
Sorry, but Lowell had a career year in ‘07 and was still bested in every category by a very young and still improving David Wright.
Gentlemen, excellent points.
I stand corrected on Lowell v. Wright
Wright: .325 30 107
Lowell: .324 21 120
Wright has the edge on SB and OPS.
So then we got 3 positions over Boston.
Still long way to go, as you both said.
Based on this “compare Boston to the Mets” comments lately, it kinda re-inforces the “get Johan at all costs” mentality. I was thinking the same reading the paper this morning.
Move the farm for him, just get him. The Sox moved Hanlet Ramirez for him, someone whom many compare to Reyes. Granted, his true ability was still uncertain at the time as he was still basically an minor leaguer, but still . . . Milledge, Pelfrey and Gomez/Humber/Mulvey – you do it.
We can replace parts later. Get the Man when you can and try to sign him to an extension once he’s here. Offer him something fair, if not above going rate, to secure his services.
Milledge can be replaced with Fukudome. Silva can be an innings eater type mid rotation starter.
Santana
Pedro
Maine
Perez
Silva
Takes a lot of pressure of the ‘pen.
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Alou
Delgado
Fukudome
Catcher
Maybe Carp can replace Delgado in ‘09. Maybe F-Mart makes strides by then as well, although Gomez may still be here, to replace Alou. Either way, a minor OF signing should handle that position.
That sets us up well going into CitiField I think . . .
. . . . that’s if Milledge, Pelfrey and Humber get the deal done!
Wow. That’s a lot of ridiculous ideas to chew on.
First, I’ll mention the silliness of fantasy lineups.
Then, I’ll say that the disparity in talent between the Red Sox and Mets makes the idea of mortgaging the future for Santana absurd, since even with Santana we don’t win a World Series in ‘08 and it weakens us in ‘09, when we can get a Cy Young as a free agent and have kept our prospects, who will have improved by ‘09. Milledge shows all signs of being excellent, and if two of our other three outfielders Gomez, F-Mart and Maldonado pan out, we can trade two of them for greater value to fill other positions, rather than trade them now when they can only bring back limited value.
Tread water and short term stopgaps in ‘08. Play for ‘09 and ‘10. We are fortunate to have four very young studs (counting our two pitchers) to build around.
Hanley Ramirez had virtually no major league experience when they traded him and Anibal Sanchez was a huge injury risk, as his most recent trip to the DL has shown. The Sox got Becket and Lowell for him. More silliness. Milledge is more of a card now than Ramirez was then. You keep subverting your own arguments.
Hmmm . . I understand the point of playing for the future and not mortgaging the future for a possibly fruitless win now attitude, but what’s exactly fantasy like about the above? It’s not like I’m advocating trading Milledge for Manny and other such obsurdity.
Aside from trading for Johan, with the idea of not letting him hit the open market, anything else noted would seem, at least to me, prudent fiscal use of funds.
Silva – a solid starter to add depth to the rotation. FA which only costs money
Castillo – Solid contyributor. FA which only costs money.
Fukudome – Doorway to the Asian market which will return dollars. Scouted as a solid ballplayer, I’m thinking 80 – 85% the other Matsui. FA which only costs dollars.
That rotation, and lineup should be a force for ‘08 while not martgaging the future. Granted, Milledge, Pelfrey and someone else will be gone, but it does leave us whomever from this list is not included: Gomez, Humber, Carp, Mulvey, F-Mart, etc.
Johan, Maine, Perez and Silva would continue into the future with a 5th starter TBD. That’s not awful . . .
It’s true that I pointed out the worst case scenario, and that my rhetoric was a bit harsh. I apologize.
Trading Milledge for a pitcher and replacing him with Fukudome for the Asian market is interesting. Milledge has shown he can play at least league average in the majors and Fukudome has not shown anything. Milledge is at worst a cheap average RF, and at best a cheap star in the league. Fukudome is at worst an expensive bust, at best Hideki Matsui: an expensive borderline All Star. Still, with the Asian revenue, it’s interesting.
Trading Milledge/Pelfrey/Gomez for Santana-for-rent is just not happening. There is too high a probability that in the long hall, the three combined will be far chaper and more valuable than Santana.
Why not keep your guys and wait on ‘09 when your contracts expire to get a Cy Young. Some will hit the open market. Then you have Cy Young, Maine, Perez, and Silva/Pelfrey/Humber rounding out your rotation. You can bank on Pelfrey or Humber. You also have Milledge and Gomez, with F-Mart, and Maldonado waiting in the wings. If three pan out, you can turn two into a catcher or second baseman, and your costs are low, so you are flexible for free agents in the coming years even if some don’t pan out.
I’m into more risk/more reward long term flexibility. You seem to be low risk/low reward less flexibility. The difference is low reward in my book won’t get it done.
And (forgive me, but every time I read the post I see the next dumb thing) what are you doing counting on Pedro? He’s gone after next year and is an aging injury risk. You’re not even thinking past next year! What about when Delgado and Alou are gone? What if Fukudome does not pan out? Then you have, if you’re lucky, Tex’s contract, Fukudome’s albatross, Santana’s contract (Lord forbid he gets hurt), no left fielder, no 2nd base, no catcher, no right fielder, Beltran’s contract, and you’re short two pitchers. If you don’t get Tex, you have no 1st base either.
Even next year, whom do we have when Alou gets hurt? No catcher; Castillo sucks, Delgado may very well suck, Fukudome may very well suck. That’s Wright and Reyes and Beltran; period. The same situation as ‘07 concerning the Sox-Mets comparison. Santana might get by on it, but he was 15-13 on a good team last year. He’s not invincible. And Maine, Perez, and Pedro are good, but will need more offense than that.
You’ve got your ace, and might as a result be no better in ‘08 than in 07, and have shot yourself for ‘10.
Keep the prospects in ‘08 and you could have twice the team at half the price.
don’t feed the trolls. Good to see MrMet41 has a new handle….
No. But a troll would certainly come into a blog a without instigation start calling people they don’t agree with “losers.”
No. But a troll would certainly come into a blog a without instigation start calling people they don’t disagree with “losers.”
Yep. Absolutely fits. Now don’t you have class to go to and mid-terms to study for? There’s a freezer-burned hot pocket next to my cubicle if you need a “study break” from building your super fantasy team.