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According to the Daily News, citing the ‘player’s agent,’ the Mets have had ‘no communication’ with free-agent RHP Scott Linebrink.
…if you recall, yesterday’s poll results proposed the Mets signing linebrink to a three-year contract…it appears, however, that the Mets may have learned their lesson of dishing out long-term deals to relief pitchers…we’ll see…
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…good…as i said yesterday, i have had enough of this team signing relief pitchers to long-term deals, even linebrink, who struggled after leaving san diego last summer…the Mets already have schoeneweis and Guillermo Mota, and that’s enough for me…most all quality bullpens are seemingly built overnight, with mirrors, chewing gum and magic…so, i’d just as soon avoid the big contract, and roll the magical dice on Juan Padilla, Ambiorix Burgos, Eddie Kunz, Willie Collazo, Carlos Muniz, Joe Smith and whomever else finds their way on the edge of the pen…
Here is what I am noticing.
1) Mets are drafting for relievers to help.
2) Mets have to pay a few guys big money to round out the pen
3) No starters in the pipeline except for Humber, Mulvey and Pelfrey who if all three hit their expected highs, none would be an ace.
4) Mets are using the international market and their academy to find very young but potential high ceiling talent that costs less than drafting them
5) These international signings are principally for Starting pitchers and for position players
Is it working yet??
Who knows but I think that is the strategy or at least that has been the recent strategy since Omar took over the reigns.
Matt how can you condone this? Linebrink’s “failures” last year were the ABNORMALITY of his career, not the inconsistency of relievers. You know as well as i do that he’s been one of the better, consistent relievers in baseball over the last few years. If EVERY reliever is inconsistent, howcome there’s not 3-5 NEW relievers on a team every year? While this is common, and relievers’ years are good, good, bad, good, bad, bad etc, there ARE exceptions to the rule, and Linebrink is one of them. A case can even be made for Heilman, who’s been one of our better RPs in over the last 4 years.
Am I saying that he is the KEY to our season next year, and that Byg Linebrink will put us over the top and into the 2008 Winner’s Circle? Of course not, but adding him with a 2 year deal with an option strengthens our pen, while most likely adding Dirty Sanchez and El Duque makes it even stronger. It’s clear BP was our problem last year, then starting pitching. Why not FIX the problem NOW? It’s silly.
I always say “how can you bash the Mets or ANY team for NOT signing someone, when you don’t know if that someone even has a desire to PLAY for that team,” However, to NOT show any interest or offer a contract, FOR THIS TEAM, is questionable.
Matt in regards to your question earlier, I don’t believe you are making too many posts, the more the better. That being said, since the majority of the people that visit this site, visit it often, many times a day, do you really feel the need to repeat yourself on such topics such as Arod, Lo Douca and the team ’souring’ on him and now the bullpen. Honestly, whenever these or another heavily covered topic comes up, you grab exactly what you wrote in previous posts and REPOST them OVER AND OVER again, word for word. It’s getting quite annoying and it’s a lazy writing style. Now pardon me as I copy this, word for word into other three other posts as well.
Linebrink is a Type A Free Agent. The Mets would need to part with our First Round Pick to sign him. It’s the right move not to. Settle for another option like a David Riske who won’t get as much compensation.
i agree matt. one of the worst trends in baseball recently is teams giving out these long term deals and big dollars to relief pitchers. im also not a fan of using high draft picks to draft relief pitchers. id rather a guy like aaron heilman get the chance to prove him self as a starter and then move to the pen when the team feels thats the best option.
id still like to see heilman get a shot to start this year — he just seems like he has the size, strength, stuff and control to be an innings eater. i love maine and perez but with their stuff they should both be throwing 200 innings.
I am advocating the same thing but from the perspective as we can likely not do much better. No good free agent options really out there and our prospects are either needed (Milledge) or simply not productive enough yet to yeild better talent coming back in a deal.
Rotation of Pedro, OP, Maine, Heilman and one free agent at the back side (Silva or Jason Jennnings or colon or Livan type)
Sets up a pen of Wagner, Dirty Sanchez, Duque, Feliciano, Joe Smith, Pelfrey and Shoeneweis
Not awful and certainly competitive
I thought Burgos was done for 2008.
Probably done but it will be a year since the surgery sometime in the middle of the summer (late July). He might be able to fight his way back into the mix though it is really doubtful for 2008
Linebrink is a Type A free agent which means giving up our first round pick for a reliver that gave up a ton of homers last year
Make the season last a little longer “WITH BIG RED”!! lol….thats the chewing gum we need for the bullpen.
sign F Cordero damn it! and let him be the 8th inning guy and “closer-in-waiting”
trade heilman ++ for a legit starter!
You know why that will never happen… because it makes to much sense.
We just say no 3 year contacts; then we say trade for Chad Bradford or Brad Chadford (I can never get him right!) after 1 year gone a 3 year deal. Crazy but true. I do agree building a bull pen is like not a science. More like Lotto.
If his name were Scotorio Linebrinkanillo and he hailed from Venezuela or The Dominican Republic, Omar would be very interested and probably would have extended a 5 year offer by now
Come on. Seriously. Enough.
I disagree with Matt.
I am not opposed to long term contracts with relief pitchers, I am opposed to long term deals for bad relief pitchers.
I do not know anyone who thought Mota and Schoenweiss , was good signing.
Letting Chad Bradford go, only to give Shoenweiss a smimilar contract was bad move.
That being said, I do believe the bullpen will be better this year.. with Padilla and Sanchez back in the pen, and another year of maturity under Joe Smith’s belt.