Daily Archives: November 27, 2007
At his blog on ESPN.com, Buster Olney dissects what it will take to acquire either LHP Johan Santana or RHP Dan Haren.
To get Santana, Olney writes…
“You could back up your organization’s truck and offer two Grade A prospects and a couple of Grade B prospects…convince Santana to waive his no-trade clause…that would cost you merely the largest salary for any pitcher in the history of baseball: six years, $150 million.’
In the case for Haren, who is under a very reasonable contract until 2010, Olney believes an organization can offer only three or four prospects with ‘no strings attached, no no-trade clause.’
The 27-year-old Haren was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA in 222 2/3 IP last season, meanwhile Santana, who will be 29 next year, went 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA in 219 IP.
…i was full throttle on the santana train, however olney convinced me to think otherwise…the combination of a lesser package of prospects and control of haren looks like the best direction for the Mets…also, and i know this is a long shot, but let’s say the Mets pull off a deal for haren, and santana actually becomes a free-agent after the 2008 season…Citi Field could potentially open up with the 1-2 punch of santana and haren - then i woke up and Steve Trachsel was signed to a one-year deal…ugh…
…posted by Matthew Cerrone…
…like brandon says, olney makes a compelling case…i would love to have santana on the Mets…however, i would also like to retain a few of this team’s better prospects, if possible, who could grow in new york or be used for a seperate deal, as well…plus, i would finally be witness to a Billy Beane-Omar Minaya agreement, which, frankly, given all the teasing and rumor mongering over the last few seasons, is something i believe we all deserve…
…through the course of the day, i plan to introduce you to three new bloggers, who will help out from time to time here at MetsBlog.com…
Jordan Zakarin will be keeping tabs on the Mets minor-league system.
In fact, later today, Jordan will run a Q&A with 22–year-old Mets RHP Brant Rustich, who was recently ranked as the organization’s sixth-best prospect by Baseball America.
Jordan is a soon-to-be graduating senior at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications, and has spent four years in professional baseball; three with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League and one interning with the Mets.
He co-founded and authored a Mets prospects site, FlushingsFuture.com, during 2006. Before that, he spent four years covering the Mets and New York sports at NYFansOnly.com and later Yahoo! Sports.
…i have known jordan for quite some time, going to back to his days with flushings future…he is very thorough, and does a ton of research before making a post, and i am very happy to know he will be contributing minor-league content to MetsBlog.com…
…as i have written before, from what i recall, the Mets had mild interest in dotel during last year’s trade deadline, as well as two off-seasons ago, when they considered giving him a one-year, incentive-laden deal…
The Braves acquired Dotel at last year’s trade deadline in exchange for RHP Kyle Davies, only to put Dotel on the 15–day disabled list with a right shoulder strain just 10 days later.
He was was 2–1 with a 3.91 ERA in 24 games for the Royals before being traded and getting injured with the Braves.
Speaking of the free-agent, relief-pitching market, in USA Today, Paul White makes a great case for not signing relievers to long-term deals, noting, “The eight setup men who had 30 or more holds in 2007 were paid an average of $1.2 million, less than half the $3.1 million average annual value of last winter’s reliever contracts.”
…based on what Mets GM Omar Minaya has done or not done since joining the team, and his actions – or lack of action – so far this off-season, and considering the last few years and the potential future of this team, i ask…
[poll=25]
Tagged Omar Minaya, Poll |In today’s New York Post, citing ‘a person with knowledge of the club’s thinking,’ Mark Hale writes that the if the Mets are to try and trade for Twins LHP Johan Santana they will a) not include David Wright, Jose 
Reyes or Carlos Beltran in a deal, and b) will require a 72–hour window to negotiate a new deal with the pitcher.
Last night, on a conference call, Yankees Senior VP Hank Steinbrenner told reporters that his team has started talks with the Twins about acquiring Santana.
…i know some Mets fans are going to freak out over this…don’t…to me, the news here is that the Twins are talking, not with whom they are actually speaking with…if the line to minnesota is open, i believe it is safe to assume the Mets, Red Sox, and others are calling and talking, too, they’re just not broadcasting it through a conference call…
By the way, at his blog Dugout Central, Mike Pagliarulo gives Twins GM Billy Smith a bit of advice on how best to trade Santana, concluding…
“The Twins need to pull off a deal like the one that sent Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Cliff Lee to the Indians from the Expos in exchange for Bartolo Colon.”
…funny you mention that, mike, because it was Mets GM Omar Minaya who was GM of the Expos during that notorious trade…
Tagged Omar Minaya |
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Braves GM Frank Wren has confirmed that LHP Mike Hampton injured his right hamstring in the first inning of his first start in the Mexican Winter League last week.
…the sun rises, the sun sets, and hampton hurts himself…
Hampton has not pitched in a major-league game since 2005, when he was just 5–3 in 12 starts for the Braves.
…for all the jokes we make about Steve Phillips, i’ll say this, the man was slick enough to acquire hampton in a trade, he capitalized on it quite well, then decided not to re-sign him, thankfully, and then used the draft pick from houston, as compensation for hampton, to draft David Wright…all in all, this series of moves could be the single-best thing that phillips did…
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