My apologies, and you may be right if what we’re reading from Klapisch is true, though I do think he is overly prone to exaggeration.

Thanks for your reply, Brad. It will be interesting to see how this ends. I think he’s going to join Zito by the bay.

I just wanted to point out that as much as we hear about other teams, the Mets are going to be players in this, whether we like it or not.

Thanks again!

Your points are well taken. And I agree it would make more sense to move Wright than A-Rod, but I wouldn’t do it. In fact I am just dead set against giving any one player over $25 million a year. That especially includes A-Rod given all his baggage and lack of clutchness in the postseason. Who cares about individual stats or a HR record? Certainly not Mike Lowell who has two rings to A-Rod’s zero.

I would take the Red Sox off the list of candidates for A-Rod. They’ve had too many bad experiences with him — from his fight with Varitek and his slap at Arroyo to his ill-timed WS announcement. I think they’ll pass.

So, I can’t tell from your response if you’re for the Mets pursuing A-Rod or not? Which is it? :smile:

- The article (like most of the work at Bugs & Cranks) is exaggerated to make a point. My point was to highlight just how ridiculous these discussions are, but also to show that if anyone is going to be a player in getting Mr. Rodriguez, we’d be foolish to leave the Mets out.

- David Wright’s fielding is great. His throwing isn’t. I would love to see a soft glove at first and third. If the Mets do sign Alex, then it would be harder to move him to a position on the right side of the infield than it would be to do it to Wright.

- Regarding Matt’s poll – the majority of educated Mets fans don’t want A-Rod (and rightly so). But we’d be fooling ourselves if we thought the majority of casual fans wouldn’t want to see him in orange and blue. I WAS glad to see that the poll indicated the “true blue” are standing firm on this.

- The Delgado move is one I’ll stand behind. AL teams are always on the prowl for a good DH, and given that teams will be looking to spend, perhaps picking up his contract isn’t THAT far fetched. I like Carlos, but I don’t think he’s helping this team as much as he should be. Maybe a break from fielding will help him rediscover his stroke. Would the Mets eat some? Yeah…but not half. Which leads us to…

- No, the Mets pockets aren’t endless…but they’re expandable enough to put them among the top three candidates for A-Rod’s overpriced “services”. The Red Sox, Angels and Mets. Sound familiar? It should, because they’re three of the four teams that every big dollar free agent is rumored to sign on with. It’s no accident…they overspend, and often get burnt. I hope they don’t go over the top this time.

Thanks for the comments, and for letting me chime in. I love this site, and look forward to a lot more discussion in the coming months. Take care!

Wright has enough speed and the reflects and instincts to play the OF, maybe not Gold Glove caliber but I’d have to imagine he’d do it every bit as well as Alou. Good enough arm and won’t have to do the off-balance throws across his body to get the ball across the diamond.

I also think Wright is maybe a little too big to play 2B…look around you really don’t see anyone of Wright’s build playing in that spot.

ARod goes to third, but an added bonus that I’m not sure has been mentioned is that ARod can also spell Reyes at SS since I think Jose got a little gassed by the end of the year. In 2006 he had that injury at the All-Star break that in some ways might have been in a blessing in disguise, whereas this year he played virtually the whole season. On days that ARod goes to SS you simply move Wright back to the hot corner. Don’t get me wrong, I think the defense should stay the same for at least 140-145 games, but I think it keeps some guys fresher or at least alleviates some wear and tear on key position guys (i.e. Beltran, Reyes).

In 2009 you can move Wright to 1B, keep ARod and Reyes as the leftside tandem. Who knows if Gomez or F. Martinez will be ready or even on the team but they can be in LF.

As for Wright’s defense, yes of course his arm is erratic. But he still made less errors than Zimmerman. His ZR was higher than A-Rod’s. And he was #4 in the majors for defensive win shares for third basemen, behind only Lowell, Zimmerman, and Ramirez. That’s nothing to sneeze at and numbers don’t lie. Throwing errors are so horrendous looking when they happen that they stick out in fans’ minds more than a ball not fielded correctly or not fielded at all. Yet both are just as equally harmful. There is definitely room for improvement, but I’m more than happy with Wright staying at third. There’s no reason to move him.

In other words, by sigining the world’s most expensive free agent, they can actually launch a youth movement within the organization. They can laugh at the free-agent market and in the process save some serious money. How much? Enough, possibly, to amortize ARod’s salary down to the $20 million per year range.

A bargain!