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According to ESPN Radio’s Andrew Marchand, citing the player’s agent, the Mets will soon make a contract offer to free-agent C Yorvit Torrealba.
In 113 games for the Rockies this past season, Torrealba hit .255 with eight home runs and 47 RBI, while striking out 73 times in 396 at-bats.
…i’m not completely sure what is so compelling about torrealba and why he intrigues Omar Minaya and company so much…torrealba is a career .251 hitter and hasn’t shown much power…plus, he hasn’t been great defensively, committing seven errors and only throwing out 19.7 percent of runners last season, second worst in the nl…
…my hope is that minaya is simply gauging the market at this point, but eventually turns his attention back to Paul Lo Duca…
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…i totally agree, mike…it’s perpexling, to say the least…
…as i have written before, in talking with people connected to the team, i sense ownership and some coaches and players have soured on him, as they feel he was too negative during September, i.e., the team looked to him as an emotional leader, during which he was down and out and depressed - much like you and i…to me, he was probably just reflecting his honesty, which is a good thing to some extent, but i also understand how this can be bad…what’s more, i keep hearing that the team wants a catcher who works better with the pitching staff…
…again, as i have said before, if i had to guess, at this point, i’d say the Mets will pursue other options at catcher, while considering lo duca to be a fall-back position, knowing how badly he wants to return…personally, i’d just re-sign him…i think his heart, pride and intensity is something this club should be built around, but i will understand if they go a different direction…i just can’t believe that direction could be torrealba…
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Multiyears for Torrealba?
No thanks.
my plan for the 2007 mets
1) sign livan hernandez to a 1yr deal with an option. reports say that him and his brother are dying to be on the same team together. (1yr between 7-10 million)
2) Trade with Cleveland. Mets get Shoppach, Cliff Lee and 1 of their relievers betancourt/perez/lewis for Heilman, MILLEDGE and a lower level prospect.
(the indians gave up on lee this past season, schoppach has no spot on the team because of martinez garko and hafner taking up 1b C and DH, and they need an outfielder and they get milledge as part of the package. if they will get our big prospect then the mets can acquire one of their stud young relievers. lee can be the next maine or perez for us)
3) Resign Castro
4) Trade with Toronto. Mets acquire Overbay and Burnett for Delgado, Humber and Gotay (they need a SS and i think Gotay can play short.
(delgado would most probably accept a trade to toronto, toronto gets a left handed power hitter (which they lack) to put in between wells and rios + they get a shortstop and young SP)
5) Trade Pelfrey to Tampa Bay for Baldelli
(risky trade because Baldelli is injury prone but if he every gets it together it would be a steal - tampa would do this because they are loaded with outfield talent and because hes injury prone)
6) Resign Castillo for 2nd base (2 years for 6-7 mil. each)
7) Offer arbitration to Glavine. If he accepts, he will get around 9 million, but very unlikely he’ll accept. If doesn’t accept we’ll get a draft pick for him.
8) Sign geoff blum anywhere on the infield
Roster C- Castro and Shopach
1B- Overbay
2b- catillo
ss- reyes
3b- wright
LF- alou
CF- Beltran
Rf- Baldelli
lineup: reyes, castillo, wright, beltran, alou, overbay, baldelli, catcher
bench: anderson, chavez, easley, shopach/castro, blum
SP- pedro, perez, maine, burnett, Livan hernandez
- with cliff lee and el duque as replacements if any one of them get injured or need to skip a start (burnett or pedro)
RP -wagner, feliciano, betancourt/lewis or perez, smith, duaner sanchez, schoenweis or mota (only can be on the roster next year) padilla, lee and el duque
only the best of the bunch make the roster.
we dont sign any of the free agent pitchers for a ridiculous amount of years and money. it puts us in position to sign one of the big free agent pitchers next year.
How about this:
1) Somehow let Mota go. In any way possible.
2) Sign Linebrink, Castillo, Castro and Lo Duca
3) Either:
Trade Milledge and Heilman for Blanton and sign Fukudome to a 4 year deal.
OR
Trade Milledge, Heilman, Pelfrey, Humber and Gotay for Bedard and Roberts and possibly a little extra, sign Fukudome and start him in right.
OR
Trade Milledge, Heilman, Pelfrey and Humber for Miguel Cabrera. Add Gomez to the deal if they refuse. If the deal goes through, sign Carlos Silva to a 4 year deal.
why would baltimore want to trade bedard.
give it up, the mets wont be able to get any of the big time pitchers or hitters through trade.
the best they can possibly get is oswalt.
whats more realistic is blanton, burnett, etc
Bedard specifically said that he wanted out…
Does that qualify as a reason?
when did he say this?
you have a link?
and if he did want out, 25 other teams have better talent to give up than us.
for now, we have to settle for the blanton, burnett and oswalts
while the sanatana, bedard, kazmir and peavy are unreachable
Bedard is definitely a trade candidate. The O’s are desperate to dump salary. Obviously Tejeda’s on top of the list, but they are going into a rebuilding season after coming off a record setting payroll year in which they spend more than $20 million more than they had since 2000. Bedard’s going into his third arbitration year and is going to get a nice raise. Especially if the Mets could take more payroll of the O’s hands that they really just will look to shed, such as Ramon Hernandez or Chad Bradford, the Mets might be able to get their hands on a stud like Bedard, maybe even Brian Roberts.
I don’t see how you think Oswalt is available. Houston isn’t desperately looking to dump salary, and their in a division where a minor splash this offseason could make them contenders. The O’s however have absolutely no chance of contending, an will probably look to find some cheap, young talent that they can rebuild around.
I’d imagine Bedard as a possibility.
The Yankees are focused on Santana, and an in-division trade is unlikely.
If the Dodgers don’t get A-rod, they will make the deal for Cabrera.
The Rays and Marlins cant afford him
This is leaving Baltimore with very little trading partners. I think that Milledge, Pelfrey, Heilman, Gotay and Humber is a pretty compelling offer for Roberts and Bedard.
why wouldnt the Dodgers look to a trade for Tejada and slot him into 3B?
I dont think the Dodgers will be players for Arod because of the fractured Dodgers/Boras relationship over JD Drew .. Also I wouldnt be surprised if Torre recommends to take a pass..
The Dodgers certainly have the pieces to land Tejada.,
and i agree the yankees are focused on Santana.
Thats a lot of juice for Bedard and Roberts.. probably worth it though.
I agree about Peavy, Kazmir, and probably Santana (although as a rental he’ll probably be cheaper than say Peavy or Haren on the trade market), but the O’s are in a different situation with Bedard. His salary is going to pick up by at least $4 million arbitration or not, probably more. The O’s have no shot at contending in the AL East and should probably just give up on 2008, they may want to drop their opening day payroll by $10 million or more (it was over $90 million last season, a record setting figure by that amount and $20 million more than any season since 2000).
The Twins have a shot at competing, so trading the best pitcher in baseball is a dicey prospect, not to mention they held out on Tori Hunter this year. Its a similar situation with the Padres and Peavy except he’s not just a rental, he’s controlled through 2009. Haren is controlled through 2010, although the A’s will have a tough time competing unless they find some offense. But they’re not out of it before the season starts the way the O’s are. Kazmir is very young and on a team that really just needs a healthy dose of pitching to become a WC darkhorse even in the AL East.
The O’s however may use a stud like Bedard to try and pawn off some of their other expensive contracts. Ramon Hernandez and Chad Bradford both make sense and would fit with the Mets. Sure they’d have to give up some nice players, but the O’s don’t figure to be as desperate as some of the other teams for MLB ready talent. The Mets farm would take a hit, but even if its not in great shape as is, they’d also have a healthy early draft after gaining two picks on Glavine and one on LoDuca before round #2. If they can somehow send a bigger package for Roberts too, they’d get another supplemental pick for Castillo. Thats two first round and three sandwich picks, which could mean a very healthy draft class.
My source is Tim Dierke’s Needs and Luxuries column on his blog mlbtraderumors.com and Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
completely agree the O’s are in sell mode.. maybe the mets can pull off.
Milledge, Pelfrey, Heilman, Gotay and Humber
for
Bedard, Roberts and Bradford.
then wheel Tejada to the Dodgers for three of their top five prospects and they’re back in business.
tejada is not worth 3 out of their top 5
his power has gone down the past couple of years and keeps getting nagging injuries.
i have no doubt that tejada will be one of the guys on the mitchell report
in our case, tejada would probably be worth heilman and gotay
probably not worth that much.. but at a cheaper price he’s a bargain.. he definitely needs a change of scenery… except for his last year in Oaktown and last year hes right up there in production.. PEDs? maybe..
but 13 mil a year thru 09 is good for a 3B with power.. and St Joe can coax him to play.. plus the AL East connex.. I think its a good match for them
last year was injury and apathy
Dude, you are SERIOUSLY OVER-VALUING the Mets prospects. No way in hell the D-Rays trade Baldelli straight up for Pelfrey (even with Baldelli’s injury history)… and you might say throw in one of the OF prospects w/ Pelfrey, except TB is overflowing with OF prospects. It’d take 2-3 young pitchers to get Baldelli.
And Gotay as SS??? Everybody was complaining about his D at 2B, and you think Toronto will view him as a starting SS? So that leaves Delgado and Humber for Overrbay and Burnett — sound like an even trade to you??? This trade aint happening unless Omar takes the Blue Jays GM out for a few bottles of tequilla and then takes some black mail photos of him w/ a couple of farm animals… otherwise, it’s pure fantasy.
WHY!? lo duca can put up the smae numbers or better….better leader too. i rly hate this.
FIRE OMAR!
Certainly not helping his “los mets” mentality
He also put those numbers up in Coors Field…
Ugh. Stupidity.
1. torealba is a better defensive catcher than paul
2. yorvit is much younger and more athletic
i think a castro/yorvit platoon would be pretty sweet, lo duca may have some heart, but he can sure as heck whine alot
LoDuca talked his way out of town. It’s clear the Mets really had LoDuca as a fallback the whole time.
LoDuca isn’t coming back so people should stop hoping. He rubbed Met mgmt the wrong way with the things he was saying and his offensive and defensive skills have faded.
And Torrealba is a God.
lo duca is a punk and omar knows it. plus he calls an awful game. the great collapse started once loduca returned to the starting lineup
im not the biggest fan on lo duca myself, but i’m pretty sure the great collapse falls more on the pen and glavine. plus we had difilice and sandy alomar playing catcher at that time, i think he was better
Krusty, for YOU to say LoDuca whines alot, is like my wife complaining about another womans nagging.
there’s a difference between a metsblog poster saying he whines alot, and the catcher whining to the papers
Point taken
….and another uninspiring prospective deal kicks off our off season - bring back Ben Johnson !!!! :)
This makes absolutely NO sense at all.
If this happens I’ll be extremely disappointed, to say the very least.
Between his inane lust for Posada, and now this, I’m starting to seriously question what Omar is doing.
I found a page on ESPN the showed, of the qualified catchers, Yorvit Torrealba only had 4 passed balls last year, third in the league… LoDuca only had 2.
Yorvit’s Catcher Earned Run Average was 4.12, he was tied for seventh in the league… with Paul LoDuca.
Yorvit caught 15 base runners last year and gave up 61 for a .197 caught stealing percentage, LoDuca caught 22, and gave up 72 for a .234 caught stealing percentage. Both are quite low in comparison (Yorvit is the third lowest in the league in this category).
LoDuca hit .272 throughout the season, Torrealba hit .255.
My basic point, is I really am struggling to see how Torrealba would be any sort of an upgrade over LoDuca. Especially, given that LoDuca can probably be had for fewer years, and an actual UPGRADE may be had.
I can’t seem to make this make sense, and I feel that it’s not true.
Torrealba had a great post season, but it really wasn’t like he broke out and had a Beltran type post season, he was playing on a Red Hot team. I don’t buy this rumor, it doesn’t make sense.
Just thinking out loud, but given the fact that Yorvit played in Colorado (I know that there is a humidor, but it’s still a better hitters park than Shea) and effectively managed a young and upcoming pitching staff and great bullpen, that perhaps he handles a pitching staff better and more effectively than Paulie. If Rockies and Mets ERAs are the same, that’s an advantage for the Rox.
I like Lo Duca, I respect his toughness, but if we put all the blame for our collapse on our pitching staff, can’t the C take some blame as well?
And the Mets rotation an bullpen wasn’t a project either?
You miss the point, man .. the big difference is the stadiums. A Colorado ERA equal to a Mets ERA is a huge advantage for the Rockies … I wouldn’t call them equal as the above poster does.
Also, while the Mets had a few young arms that succeeded - Perez, Maine - their bullpen is full of veteran arms. A Project is different than a young guy. Working with Sosa, Shoe or Mota is not the same as helping Corpas reach the level of success … or all of the young guys in the postseason that until they met the BoSox pitched brilliantly. He worked well with YOUNG GUYS, a key ingredient for a catcher working with Pelfrey, Humber and Mulvey over the next few seasons.
Again, I’m just thinking out loud, but no … the Mets staff was by no means the “project” that the Rox were, and if you disagree, you are just being difficult.
Yorvit is 29. LoDuca is 35. That’s how it makes any sense. Torrealba was hurt wasn’t he? Was it his shoulder? He threw out a better percentage in 06 and 05
can someone please enlighten me as to why torrealba is such a great option at catcher? And for that matter, why is the idea of LoDuca coming back and starting so appealing? Don’t get me wrong, I love Pauly, but look at the numbers. He doesn’t produce, period. Why not resign Castro and make him the starter? He hit 11 homers in 144 ABs last year. I love the idea of signing Castro to a 2 year deal. He put up good numbers (OPS over .800) in limited work, and if people think he can’t handle the full load then fine, don’t give him the whole load and sign LoDuca as his backup and start Castro in 115 games. He will hit close to 20 homeruns in the 8th spot… when was the last time Lo Duca did that? That’s what I thought. Castro puts up better numbers than Torrealba and Lo Duca in his sleep!! He is an easy solution for the short term and allows the Mets flexibility in a couple of years when Pena might be close to ready.
I’m pretty sure almost everyone agrees with you, except Castro has had quite a few years to earn a Starting job and he’s proven to be a great Back up, nothing else.
His injury’s tend to scare people off too. Last year, he had Arthritis in his back. Signing him to a back up role, with a front line starter with him, really is the only way to go.
guys, we resigned castro. thank god. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-mets-castro&prov=ap&type=lgns
ReyesRocks, you have to first give a catcher the opportunity to seize the job. Castro never had that. The only real time was when LoDuca was hurt last year and Castro unfortunately got hurt as well. LoDuca would never accept to be a back up.
The Mets are done with LoDuca. This seems true, and even though I don’t like Torrealba.. they would be getting younger.
In 2005 Castro was the back up for Piazza. Piazza was hurt for an extended period of time. He DID have his chance to earn his spot.
He’s been a back up for 9 years now, he HAS had his chances.
I’ve posted this before, but I want those of you here to give me your feed back on my idea.
Castro as a platoon, because he’s played well, buy he’s got that bad back, plus when Piazza was injured and Castro played everyday, he definately wore out. So, my beleif is to platoon him with a young, MLB ready player.
There are several teams out there, with MLB ready catchers, except they’ve got studs already blocking the path for them. Specifically, the Seattle Mariners. Last year their #1 prospect (this year their #5 prospect), Jeff Clement is certainly ready for MLB playing time.
In September, in the Majors last year, he had 19 plate appearances, and hit .375 with 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 2 homeruns, 2 doubles, 3 rbis, and a 1287 ops. In AAA he hit .275 with 20 homeruns. He’s got definate plus’s offensively AND In 2005, he won the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top catcher, earned 2005 Baseball America All-America First Team, USA Today Sports Weekly All-America first team and Collegiate Baseball All-America first team honors, as well as 2005 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America third team honors. Was a Finalist for the 2005 Golden Spikes Award and named All-Pac-10 for the third straight year.
I think it would take some doing, and possibly some REAL prospects, however, Kenji Jojima is there on the team, and he ain’t going anywhere. I think the Mariners would be open to trading him.
It be a gamble, but so is EVERY prospect. This guys got huge upsides and he’s a big defensive catcher with a plus’s offensively, rather than an offensive catcher with minor plus’s defensively like we’re used to.
I actually heard the exact opposite. That in fact, the Mariners would be more willing to find a trade partner for Kenji Jojima instead. I assume, if the Mets would pick up some of his salary, something may be negotiated. However, I just don’t see this happening .. too much of a long shot scenario in my mind.
Torrealba? Omar is at it again, picking players based on what country they’re from.
He passes on Lidge, which doesn’t surprise me, based on the fact that Lidge is, well, not a foreigner…..
Very true. Its sad, but true…Anyone who doesn’t recognize this pattern is silly.
Maybe, it’s more like ..
We didn’t want to give up Carlos Gomez for an ex-closer, who lacks mental toughness so much that he still is trying to overcome the Pujols homerun back in the 2005 NLCS.
Everything you read suggest the Mets have limited interest, IF that, in Lo Duca. If they wanted him, he’d be signed by now…at this point, he’s only being mentioned b/c he’s the fall-back last resort option.
if Omar & co didnt like LoDuca’s attitude in September I can only Imagine what they think of our favorite cowering bored first baseman Delgado.
shake it up Omar.
Good point. Highly doubt though that Omar would trade Delgado though because Delgado is one of “Omar’s boys”, which is really starting to wear thin….
why is everyone so eager to trade milledge as part of package for blanton. his stats are ok. but when i think of blanton i think of bobby jones.. i only trade milledge as part of a package that brings back a true top of the rotation pitcher. milledge is going to a star. gomez is a dud. alou won’t play more than 90 games.. who is going to play the outfield.
Milledge will only be a star if you consider Milton Bradley a star. I believe Gomez has more tools but I understand those that like Milledge more. Some other teams value Gomez more, and some others value Milledge more. I personally think Milledge is a head case.
Gomez is much better than a dud. Pretty ignorant assessment to label him as that already.
DAVID LENNON AND KEN DAVIDOFF of Newsday write:
Having lost out on Jorge Posada, the Mets are wasting no time in trying to close a deal with Yorvit Torrealba, and it looks like an agreement could be struck by the end of this week.
General manager Omar Minaya, spurned by Posada’s decision to return to the Yankees late Monday, contacted Torrealba’s agent Tuesday with the intent of moving ahead quickly, according to a National League official familiar with the situation.
Torrealba, the former catcher of the NL champion Rockies, earned $1.075 million last season and Colorado reportedly has tried to retain him with a two-year offer in the $7-million range. The Marlins also have shown interest, but the Mets may be willing to go to a third year (or option) in order to fill the only position they do not have an in-house replacement for.
The aggressive push for Torrealba is the result of a thin market for catchers, and the Mets, if backed into a corner, do not want to be forced to pay what they believe is an inflated price for Paul Lo Duca. Minaya had stayed in touch with Lo Duca’s agent early in the process, but those talks cooled once the Mets GM turned his attention to Torrealba.
At 29, Torrealba is five years younger than Lo Duca, who has endured some serious wear and tear during his two seasons in Flushing. Lo Duca had surgery to repair a ligament in his thumb at the end of the 2006 season and he played even fewer games (119) this year because of hamstring issues.
Lo Duca, who is coming off a three-year, $18-million contract, is a .288 career hitter. Torrealba’s numbers were markedly different away from Coors Field. Torrealba batted .296 at home, but .212 on the road.
Defensively, Torrealba is an upgrade, and he was a key figure in the Rockies’ run to the World Series. As a Type B free agent, the Mets would not lose a draft pick for signing Torrealba.
The Mets would miss Lo Duca’s competitive fire in an otherwise tepid clubhouse, and he was one of David Wright’s closest friends on the team.
I think this Torrealba infatuation is a perfect precursor to a run at Arod..
Omar is clearly saving $$ by not moving agressively after the more expensive Ramon Hernandez.. Torrealba is going to come pretty cheap compared to Duca as well
And letting Castillo twist in the wind shows he either has another 2B lined up n a trade or he’s comfortable with Hernandez for defense at second base - or gotay for a cheap filler.
im sick of people calling loduca a leader on this team. he plays hard…i will give him that. but enough with this leadership label. the only thing any of his teammates seemed to pick up from him was his constant whining. he has gotten out of hand with the arguing with umpires and all of the lookbacks when a call doesnt go his way. and that was one of the most annoying things to watch this past season because the whole team was doing it way too often. and then off the field…a leader? this is the same guy who called out a good portion of his teammates out midseason because he got upset with the media.
now lets get a catcher who can catch and throw and move on already.
Does anyone seriously think that the Wilpons aren’t concerned with Duke sleeping with 19 year old girls and gambling. Please, he never stood a chance.
every time i hear that name i hear the old flock of seagulls song but altered as: ‘yorvit torrealba comes in view’
i’m doomed if they sign him
saw Flock of Seagulls at the Left Bank in New Rochelle before their first and only album broke. Good times. Bad hair.
I WAS AT THAT SHOW>. Shhhhhh dont tell anyone.
I threw up in the bathroom.
When people that LoDuca owes money to starts showing up at Shea Stadium looking to collect, management is going to take notice. That gambling controversy, I think, could’ve been much worse.
why do i feel like im the only one that likes torrealba over loduca?
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptBuzz: Mets To Offer Deal to Torrealba? …posted by Mike Nichols… According to ESPN Radio’s Andrew Marchand, citing the player’s agent, the Mets will soon make a contract offer to free-agent C Yorvit Torrealba. In 113 games for the Rockies this past season, Torrealba hit .255 with eight home runs and 47 RBI, while striking out 73 times in 396 at-bats. …i’m not completely sure what is so compelling about torrealba and why he intrigues Omar Minaya and company so much…torrealba is a career [...]
I think its all just smoke. For all we know the Mets just don’t to commit as longterm on LoDuca as another team might want to. He’s still probably the best remaining FA option at the position. He might not want much money, but he might want to stretch it to a multi-year thing. This may just be saying that if the Mets are going to go multi-year on a catcher that they’re going to go younger.
LoDuca tipped his hand by making it so clear that he wants to stay. If he’d endeared himself a bit more down the stretch Mets Brass might be a little more friendly to him, but as is I can’t argue with the tactic. He’s probably not worth it on a multi-year deal.
I still think nothing happens at C until the Mets get a definite ‘no’ from the O’s. Not that Ramon Hernandez is any Gem, but he’s the kind of guy Omar might be able to get thrown into a bigger deal, where the Mets have some nice matches with the O’s. Plus he’s younger and should be an upgrade over LoDuca that can hit in the bottom of the lineup with a little more RBI pop without adding too many Ks. If he’s coming along with Bedard or Roberts and maybe Bradford too its really a pretty good idea. You’d fill multiple holes via trade with a team that won’t be exclusively interested in MLB ready talent and is desperate to shed salary. Then you let your Type As and Type Bs walk (Glavine, LoDuca, Castillo), offer Glavine arbitration (if he’s got his heart set on Atlanta he’ll decline, if not we still get off better than the $13 million option) and collect your five early round draft picks.
Yeah, Torrealba sucks, but it at least fills the C spot for a few years and doesn’t break the bank. Plus, it doesn’t cost draft picks or prospects.
But, if they go with a light weight C, they need to look for more production from the 2B spot.
I still with they could get someone like Shoppach. Maybe he will at least get a C prospect back in some other deal?
There has to be a deal coming someplace. Torrealba for 2 years bothers me less than seeing Castillo hobbling around for 4 more years.
He is like that short kid in little league where the OF plays in the inf, and the RF throws him out at first all the time!
Sign Yorvit, and come up with a legit 2B from someplace, and I am happy with an OF of ALou, Beltran and Milledge.
Delgado for Burnett would be wonderful too if he can pull that one off!
This is what I’ve been saying about the O’s. I think Omar might really have his sights set that way. They’re trying to dump salary, and Omar might think that by showing interest elsewhere on Catchers, he could get Hernandez as almost a throw-in. Sure it wouldn’t be a huge upgrade, but probably more RBI production than LoDuca or Torrealba. I look at his career numbers and I see him almost like a right handed Jose Valentin, except younger.
The O’s don’t have much hope in 2008, so they’d be interested in younger, cheaper players, and not necessarily big league-ready talent. So you hold onto Milledge, put Gomez, maybe Gotay, and a few of our better young pitchers and try to grab Hernandez and Chad Bradford along with either Brian Roberts or Erik Bedard. Maybe even all four for the right price. It wouldn’t even hurt the farm as much as you’d think. Assuming Glavine doesn’t accept arbitration, that would allow us to let all our FA go and stock up five draft picks before the second round. Add that to another Omar signature international class and with a little luck we could wind up better off than we were.
What’s with the LoDuca obsession? He’s 35 years old, not a great arm, and basically a mediocre hitter. I have heart, too. no one should sign me to play catcher.
Omar and ‘Los Mets’ strike again! Further proof that he will look out for his own whenever possible. The Loduca bridge has officially been burned- no way in god’s name he will be back. He is hopping mad, and justifiably so.
Minaya was ready to throw 60 million at Posada (moronically) and they won’t cough up more than 5 million for Loduca…and now they go after solid waste like Torrealba and continue to shun Loduca. Also, why did Omar let go of Jesus Flores? Another brainy move from this genius GM. How does he have a job. And Mota is still here- wonderful. Worst part of the collapse was that nobody was held accountable for it..they wanna bring Glavine back too.
Let’s not forget that his lousy offensive stats were in Coor’s Field at home. They are dissing Paulie and it might come back to bite them in the ass. OK, they guy owns a townhouse in Nassau, as I’ve heard and has local roots. I hope the hometown discount isn’t a ship that has sailed. If we piss the guy off enough he could hit the open market and make it even less attractive to Omar and company. None of us are privy to what’s really going on, so I’ll write that, but it seems from the outside, that Omar is wasting energy on looking for someone else - playing a game of musical chairs with the available catchers, that could be costly. At the same time, that same game is going on with other players - relievers and starters, for example and if management is busy looking for a catcher, they can’t address their “real needs”. Although our catching area could always be improved, some teams covet our tandem of Castro and Lo Duca.
Is this guy gonna be Castro’s backup? Are we switching roles?
What about Torrealba’s problem with the Rockies’ staff during the World Series. Rick Sutcliffe (we got different coverage than you did) said he thought Torrealba was out of line when he started popping off about the Colorado pitching after Game 2. Apparently the pitchers were pissed off at him.
Just a thought before the Mets make a commitment to him.
funny, some of the people crying about torrealba and the los mets things are the same ones who want to move david wright for arod.
arod might be dominican by birth, but he’s as american as anyone else born in the US.
yorvit stinks…so does paulie’s arm
Here’s a reality folks:
The Mets are not going to get much better this offseason, period. They lack the value in trade bait, the free agent market is poor, and the farm system isn’t producing major league caliber stars for this season.
Omar is not going to be able to do much. So, if he signs a Torrealba, it’s because it’s the only thing he can do.
The Mets mentality (and everyone will eventually come to realize this as this offseason goes much like the last trade deadline) is to use a two year strategy that will enable them to field a great team in 2009. They know people will flock to Shea for its last year, and the team will be good enough as is to compete for the division. So, revenues won’t fall off due to a lack of offseason moves. But, folks, here’s a peek at the 2009 FA class:
Teixera
Dunn
Santana
Hudson
Sabathia
Sheets
Peavy (option)
Penny (option)
Burnett
Garland
Harden (option)
Thinking the Mets may sit and wait to land one of these guys next year is not as far fetched as thinking that any GM would be stupid enough to accept any combination of Milledge, Humber, Pelfrey, Heilman, etc. for one of these guys.
When the Mets open Citifield, they will do so with a better team than they will field for 2008, period.
Unfortunately, the timing is not in our favor this year.
Are you kidding…. Torrealba? I can name many other catchers that would that would be a better fit for the Mets. In fact look around the majors there are at least 25 better catchers. Is bringing in a guy who never played a full season as a starter who has a career best avg of .252 a good choice, plus defensively he’s ok but he was 2nd worst in the NL for throwing out runners.
Good One Omar, I don’t know what is more dissapoint the collapse or signing this guy.
Here’s the list of FA catchers, take your pick:
Sandy Alomar Jr. NYM
Paul Bako BAL
Rod Barajas * PHI
Michael Barrett SD
Gary Bennett * STL
Raul Casanova TB
Alberto Castillo BAL
Ramon Castro NYM
Mike DiFelice NYM
Sal Fasano TOR
Wiki Gonzalez WAS
Jason Kendall CHC
Jason LaRue KC
Mike Lieberthal * LAD
Paul Lo Duca NYM
Damian Miller MIL
Doug Mirabelli BOS
Chad Moeller LAD
Jose Molina NYY
Josh Paul TB
Mike Piazza OAK
Jorge Posada * NYY
Kelly Stinnett STL
Yorvit Torrealba COL
Without wasting talent in a trade for a CATCHER, this is the list off which Omar is working. Pretty thin, huh?
I understand the list is thin, however some of the guys on this list have a much better track record than that of Yorvit Torrealba who we are on the hot pursuit over, why I do not know.
Omar can’t use the age excuse. ummmm. Glavine, El Duque, Sandy Alomar Jr., Julio Franco.
well, it is just a rumor after all. we don’t actually KNOW that omar is in hot pursuit of torrealba.
the problem with barret is that he doestn get along with teamates and has a short fuse or something to that extent, but i would much rather have barret or loduca before torrealba.
torrealba had bad defensive numbers and he put up subpar offensive numbers and he played in coors field.
pelase omar NO!!
Guys, you are highly mistaken in your logic …
Did you ever think about how Micheal Barret is a Type A free agent? That’s not even to mention, how Barrett has more or less been a clubhouse cancer everywhere he’s gone.
That’s why you don’t sign Barrett.
Not to mention that he kinda sucks.
Sorry, should say “if Wright WASNT so good or loved” in my above post.
really?? you’re using glavine??
really?
it all started when bernie willaims tricked them into think he’s white with his name!!!!!
jackass
if omar tries to trade david wright for santana…..and sign a-rod or miguel cabrebra? maybe THEN WE CAN CALL THEM.
LOS METS
shouldn’t that be
GET US OSWALT??
;)
lol well there’s always exceptions…to be honest, my step sister and bro are greek and cuban, but they’re jewish!
There are a few problems with your thinking. For one, a lot of your scenarios are dependent on the Mets offering arbitration to both Glavine and LoDuca. The Mets for some reason have been reluctant to take this risk with other players in the past.
As we all know, the Mets haven’t had a first round draft pick in several years and Wilpon has refused to go over Selig’s “suggested” salary slots for players the Mets do draft.
Second, the Mets had a first round pick in 2005 and 2 sandwich picks (still considered 1st round by many) in 2007.
Third, can anyone show proof of the Wilpons’ supposed reluctance to go over slot besides Beato? And Beato was a 17th round pick. Can anyone show proof that any team went over slot for a 17th round pick recently? Can anyone list the instances where this supposed restriction has hampered Omar?
I think the Wilpon excuse is a convenient way to place blame on the Wilpons and deflect it from Omar.