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In an article for Newsday, Mets beat writer David Lennon writes, that while everyone is focused on the Yankees and Johan Santana, the Mets are quietly and actively pursuing A’s pitchers Dan Haren and Joe Blanton.
According to Lennon:
“Plenty of teams also will be after Haren if Beane chooses to move him. But it is Blanton, according to a person familiar with the Mets’ thinking, who should be easier to get. The A’s aren’t thrilled about the possibility of going to arbitration with Blanton, and at the moment, they have no plans to sign him to a long-term deal.”
…it seems that the Mets and A’s rumors will never end until omar deals Aaron Heilman and/or Lastings Milledge to oakland for one of these two pitchers…if it is true that the yankees are actually going to get santana, haren and blanton would be a good consolation prize, but at what cost…
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Heilman and Milledge for Average Joe Blanton is a horrendous deal. Milledge plus anything for Blanton is a bad deal.
I don’t like acquiring Blanton one bit. Great, another guy who doesn’t strike anyone out and is a good bet to be around league average.
I do not mind Blanton but not for Milledge and Heilman. Milledge straight up or preferably Gomez straight up so we can have a rf next year without doing another trade or getting some free agent loser
I would be surprised if Blanton posted a sub-4 ERA for the Mets next year. Does he add some value? Sure. He will eat up innings and be about league average. That is valuable. He will also probably be the 4th or 5th best starter in the rotation. The price it will cost to acquire him is not commensurate to that.
I think people overestimate the effect that moving these A’s pitchers to the NL will have. The A”s pitchers pitch in the offensively challened AL West and in the second-best pitcher’s park in the league behind San Diego. Oakland’s home park was significantly more pitcher friendly than even Shea Stadium last year.
Blanton is not that good. He won’t be that good for the Mets. He’s simply not worth a top prospect, even just one of them.
And he really stunk 2 years ago, right?
Heillman in the rotation = Blanton basically, so why trade Milledge + Heilmann to get him?
Take him sure on a lower level deal, He is basically a younger, signed version of Silva.
Heilman + 2 extra pitches and the proven ability to start 30+ games and 200+ innings a year = Blanton
Heilman + Milledge + Pelf + Mulvey + Gotay would be a nice package for Blanton AND RICH HarDen
Rich Harden won’[t pitch so that package for the two would be horrendous.
So far, it seems that
A) The Yankees want Santana, but aren’t prepared to part with Cano, or 2 prestigeous pitching prospects
B) The Dodgers may be willing to part with major prospects a la Kershaw, Kemp, Abreu etc. to obtain Santana.
C) The D’Backs would certainly top a Mets offer for Dan Haren, if they wanted to.
D) Omar wants to do something big to obtain a pitcher better than Carlos Silva
So…
The Dodgers and Yankeesare front runners for Santana.
The D’Backs and Yankees are front runners for Haren.
So…
Either….
A) Hope that Santana is actually traded, and to the Dodgers, so the Mets are front runners for Erik Bedard
B) Hope that the D’Backs aren’t giving away the farm for Dan Haren and go for him.
C) Hope the Delmon Young-Matt Garza falls through and push for Garza with Gomez and Gotay. Certainly enough.
D) Give away Milledge and Heilman for Blanton, who will probably consistantly give us around 200 IP and a 3.50 ERA.
At this point I’ll take either Haren or Blanton, just not at an astronomical price, otherwise we may as well go after Santana.
But this is such a typical Mets move, getting second rate players, while the Yanks get the best. I feel like the unwanted second child.
Did I miss something?
Did the Yankees aquire Santana? Did the Mets trade for a “2nd rate player?”
How about we wait for something happen before we complain about it. Jeze….we’ve been on the “verge” of acquiring Blanton for the past 2 seasons according to the media……..calm down.
I agree. I don’t think Blanton is a bad pitcher. I remember him dueling with El Duque on a Saturday in June in a 1-0 Mets win. Blanton went 9 innings and made us look silly at times. I think he could be pretty good in the NL. If we could acquire Blanton, Haren, and Travis Buck for a number of our prospects, I would be all for it.
And if G-d played baseball I’d like to get him for prospects but that’s a stretch.
You’re right. The Mets will not trade for Blanton/Haren. They’ll just sign Livan. Forget 2nd rate, that’s just a dream. We have to settle for 4th rate players.
Seems to me like you haven’t been Mets fan for long. Maybe all of two years?
Nah, I actually have been a fan for one year and 150 games. I bailed on them the last two weeks of last season.
Why don’t you buy a clue before you come at me with front running b.s.? Did they get a 2nd rate player when they signed Beltran? How about Pedro? What about trading for Delgado? Was he not a very good player? Wana go further back? Bonilla was very coveted as a free agent, who landed him? How about Saberhagen, Viola, and Alomar? It’s not a matter of getting 4th rate players. It’s more, would you bet your last dollar (which is what it will take to acquire Santana) that this is the move that puts the Mets over the top? Not sure about you, but I wouldn’t. You either prosper from it, or you suck for the next 7 years.
You need to have a few bullets left for the trade deadline or for depth, so we don’t have to see David Newhan get 100 ABs again this year.
You bailed at the right moment.
As for the Santana trade, if the Yanks/Sox don’t give up a ton for Santana, then Omar didn’t do his job. Besides, worst case scenario, Johan turns into the current Pedro, and EVERYONE seems to love Pedro.
As for our prospects, they all suuuuuuck. How is it possible that all of their stocks dropped as they got more exposure? People here need to wake up; there are way too many who drink the cool-aid. There’s no ace nor MVP among them.
So you ask, would I send the farm for Santana? Hell yea!!! It’s a no brainer. I’ll take 8 years of sub .500 ball for 1 WS!!! We gotta go for it. We can’t aim to be average for 10 years, we need to get that championship.
We can replenish our farm by drafting someone in the 32nd round or pick someone up from a foreign country.
And seriously, if you don’t know that the Mets have a history of second rate players, you haven’t a clue.
Your listing those players just makes my case stronger. Viola? Bonilla? Saberhagen? Alomar? Come on. You can do better.
btw it should go w/o saying but, when I say the Mets get second rate players, that doesn’t mean all of their transactions are for second rate players. Do I really need to say this?
How quickly you forget that the Yanks wanted no part of Beltran. Bonilla? He wasn’t the guy. It was Bonds. In fact, Van Slyke was better. You name some decent players, but getting them in their declining years is, yes, getting second rate players.
Yankees wanted no part of Beltran. How did that work out for them? Would you rather have 3 years of Damon and a year of Bernie, or 7 years of Beltran?
I know those players that I mentioned weren’t exactly in their prime when we acquired them, but they weren’t showing signs of decline either. Bonilla looked like a good move at the time. Granted, Bonds was better. Saberhagen was OK. Alomar was an excellent player.
I understand the sentiment that the Yanks always get their man and we get the remains. I agree with that in full, but it’s not like we get garbage. No other team would spend $1/2 Billion in an offseason. By doing so, they are able to unload their prospects. The problem right now with the Mets is this….Hughes, Joba, and Kennedy are more attractive to other teams than Milledge, Pelfrey, and Heilmann. I have to be honest with you, aside from Joba, I’m scratching my head.
I know that getting Santana at all costs would look great going into Spring Training, but getting Haren shouldn’t be looked at as a failure. Especially if you consider Alou and whoever winds up in right field will need to be relieved at some point. Not to mention, chips at the deadline.
To be fair, what we accomplished last season did not seem very “average” :)
First of all, this has less to do with it being a “typical less move” and more to do with the Yankees having one of the most highly thought of pitching prospects around baseball: Phil Hughes. And if they are willing to part with Cabrera or Cano those are two young players with MLB experience who can contribute on good teams. I know, I know… Cabrera isn’t THAT good, but he has shown to play a good CF and is good enough with the bat to play CF.
And if the Mets end up with Haren, how is that second rate? He’s a bit younger, under contract, and cheaper than Santana. Plus, he shouldn’t cost as much. So if the Mets get him, they will still be in a good position to make further improvements.
Haren vs. Santana. hmmm
Is one clearly better than the other? hmmm tough choice.
Haren has had one very good half-season.
Haren vs. Santana. hmmm
Is one clearly better than the other? hmmm tough choice.
Haren has had one very good half-season, in his career. Santana’s accomplishments speak for themselves.
You mean when the Mets got Pedro and the Yankees got the Big Unit?
Or when the Mets got Beltran and the Yankees stuck with Berine and then signed Damon?
Or even when the Mets were the second highest bidder for Dice K? Yes, even higher than those big bad Yankees.
Get that Yankee monkey off your back dude. Wait until something actually happens before bemoaning the Mets’ front office.
Actually, I’m not comparing the Mets to the Yanks, YOU are. I’m comparing the Mets to everyone else.
Yeah, we got Pedro at the right time, right? What has he done for us so far? 27 wins for 39+mil. We needed to get him in ‘97, not ‘05.
I’ll give you Beltran, but we needed to overpay him b/c we were foolish not to sign Vlad and his supposed bad back, which earned him an MVP already. How many MVPs do we have? Oh yea, as many as we have no hitters.
Dice-K? Didn’t want him, but thanks for proving my point. 2nd to the Sox.
Get the monkey off my back? You’re the one with the Yanks on your back.
Oh I’m sorry. I guess I misunderstood you when you wrote: “But this is such a typical Mets move, getting second rate players, while the Yanks get the best.I feel like the unwanted second child.”
I don’t know how I could have infered that you were comparing the Mets to the Yankees.
Sorry for the confusion. When I wrote that, I meant this case. When I wrote Mets get second class players, I meant in relation to everyone.
trading away our entire farm for johan isnt practical. IF we’re gonna trade L-Millz, Heilman, Pelfrey, Gomez, we should try to acquire 2 pitchers (Haren and Garza, Blanton and Garza, Haren and Blanton?)
The obvious problem after that is a hole in the ‘pen with Heilman and an even BIGGER hole in RF (which i been sayin i’d LOVE to gauge Andruw JOnes’s interest in playin RF for us, hey, Ted Dibiase said it best, “everybody’s got a price! hahahahahaha”)
Love the million dollar man reference…
I think Heilman is more replaceable than RF. But you could find a nice platoon situation for RF thought could be productive. Even if you went with Chavez/Gomez in a worst case scenario.
i just read on mlb trade rumors that Xavier Nady might start being dangled by the Pirates…if L-Millz were to go, i wouldn’t mind seeing him back, with say, Damaso Marte?
If my screen name is not indicative of my thoughts on this potential move let me say: woo hoo!
Naturally, I would LOVE to see X back with the Mets. The guy was perfect in the 7 hole and could hit lefty pitching well.
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Alou
Delgado
Nady
Estrada
Dang!
What if Andruw Jones agrees to it, then pulls a Virgil (another Million Dollar Man reference) and jacks up Beltran so he can move back to CF? Just a thought.
I would be all for parting with Pelfrey, Milledge, Heilman, and Humber for Blanton and Haren. Think they can get it done. Plus, going after Andruw Jones wouldn’t be a horrible idea. Except the last time we had 2 CF’s in the outfield, it was bad news.
HAHAHHA awesome WWF reference.
yeah, but you’re TNA Mr. Jarrett
lol, this is true…but the greatest singer, entertainer, and without a doubt the worlds greatest wrestler spent plenty of time in WWF……. Thats J A double R…………..
Ain’t I Great!?
Jarrett sucks. He never should of been a Horseman.
I just hope the Mets dont undervalue their own guys, Heilman and Pelfrey. Pelfrey is still young anough to be considered a top prospect. He is 24, throws very hard and has natural sink on his fastball. If Peterson is so good at his job then it should only be a matter of time before Pelfrey learns to be consistent in the strike zone and develops another pitch.
If they can get Haren for a package that includes one of Pelfrey or Heilman then I would take my chances because Haren has been successful in the majors (AL, too) and could combine with Maine and Perez to anchor the middle of the Mets’ staff for years to come. But I wouldnt swap either of these guys to get a guy like Blanton.
Though I like Milledge and Gomez I am less reluctant to trade these guys because a rich team like the Mets will always be able to acquire OF bats for money and lesser prospects. Young front end pitching is incredibly tough to get since the Kazmir trade has changed the landscape.
Here’s a thought. Why not trade for Blanton and Harden?
Haren will most likely cost us, but we could probably use another arm in the rotation. Why not roll the dice on Blanton and Harden for a cost slightly higher than Haren alone?
Think about it. The A’s don’t want to go to arbitration with Blanton and Harden is an enigma. Plus, they get a nice group of prospects in return while keeping Haren, who is signed to a favorable deal. Getting Blanton protects the Mets from gambling on Harden alone and gives them a guy who will probably be a #2 in the NL and give them 200+ innings. Harden is a gamble, sure, but with Pedro, Ollie, Blanton, and Maine in tow, you could gamble on Harden. If he fails, Duque can slide back into the rotation.
You could offer: Milledge, Heilman, Pelfrey, Humber/Mulvey, and then let Beane pick from some of our role players/second tier guys.
This move would give the Mets a similar rotation to the ‘05 White Sox. It would be solid top to bottom, with a chance at some nice upside. Pedro, Maine, Perez, and Harden could all potentiall emerge as big time pitchers. Pedro/ Harden if they stay healthy, and Maine/Perez if they make “the leap” as Bill Simmons likes to call it. Otherwise, you just have a solid rotation with no glaring weak link.
I think the Mets are more in need of answers than more questions. The existing Met starters are a bit unsettled, thus the crying need for a Haren (or someone of this calibre): Pedro is older and recovering from injury, Perez is a model of inconsistency and Maine is still young as are (obviously, Humber and Pelfrey). While I’d love to take a shot with Harden (or Prior) it would not obviate the need for someone like Haren.
That’s kind of the point of trading for Blanton and Harden. Blanton is the “reliable” work horse type pitcher, with Harden potentially being lightning in the bottle.
I personally don’t view Perez and Maine as question marks (but I see your point). Perez still won 15 games and probably should have won more if he had some more run support in some games and better defense/bullpen support in others.
I think you read my mind (see post below). I think that is a great idea and would not even cost as many prospects as you suggested. I am sure that Beane would love to unload Harden’s contract.
Can someone explain to me to me why would the A’s deal two starters in one deal. If this would go down, (I doubt it would considering Omar and Bean past history), it would be a mega-deal.
They would not unless it was a Harden, Blanton deal for major prospects. I would do that one. Milledge, Heilman and Pelfrey for those two? Done. I know that Harden has injury risk but is flat dominant when healthy.
Pedro, Harden, Blanton, Maine, Perez? Perez as a #5? Ok Harden gets injured? Elduque to the rescue. Plus you still have Humber and Mulvey as well. If I did this, I would also sign a Colon or Garcia as back up plans.
Great minds. I also like signing Garcia and stashing him in the minors on a rehab assignment with an idea towards him helping in the second half.
A trade for Blanton and Harden would lock up the rotation and allow Minaya to explore an upgrade at catcher and possible OF insurance (as Milledge would most likely go).
Keith Law identifies Matt Murton as a possibility. I would love to bring him on board.
I think I would rather let Gomez earn his stripes and get a LH power hitter such as Huff but either way I would trade for Harden and Blanton in a heartbeat.
If Blanton could be had for a reasonable price, I’d much prefer to see him in the rotation as opposed to Livan or Silva. Pedro, Maine, Perez, Blanton, Pelf-duque would be fine by me!
Bland-on, huh? Even the rumors surrounding the Mets are boring. Maybe Billie Tongue Wagger was right. Third place here we come. Can Beltran cover center and right? What misfit RFer will the Mets end up with this year.
Well assuming that you don’t trade Gomez and Milledge, I would assume that the left over would have an inside track. Then you go after someone like Huff from Baltimore to be the LH hitter that can play the OF and IF.
X GONNA GIVE IT TO YA! i miss nady….
can one of the bloggers please do a piece on available free agent outfielders to fill a potential need in RF?
you guys are crazy if you think 4 of our “top” prospects will acquire Haren AND Blanton. we’d have to trade the farm, which i’m not at all opposed to since we’d be acquiring 2 PROVEN starting pitchers making the AL-to-NL switch. it’s not like our prospects are the next coming of prince fielder and fausto carmona.
I agree that’s why you target Blanton and Harden. We do not want to trade Milledge for just Blanton. Beane wants Milledge and Heilman. So that should just about do it.
Blanton is good. 230 IP is above average. 4.05 in the AL is good, not average.
He’s not Haren or Santana.
He easily replaces Glavine.
He will benefit from a move to the NL.
He’s better than Silva, Livan, DTrain, or Colon. Colon is the only guy who I think could have a better year than Blanton, but age and injury are against him.
Please scratch the idea of Harden AND Blanton from your heads. The A’s arent giving up thir two best pitchers. I have confindence that Omar will land this Ace he’s been talking about. Forget Santana. The price for him is exorbiant. Giving up more than half of our chips for this guy is going trigger happy. Has anyone given the mere thought of what id this guy gets injured in his second outing. Now we’re royally $crewed. Give Beane the guy he has dreams about in Millidge along with Heilman. Pick up Andruw Jones. I think last year was a fluke. He’ll rebound and go after Chacon and Dotel for the bullpen. Oh and ofcourse pray for Duaner Sanchez.
Please excuse the mispelling of HAREN. Also.. Go after El Duque’s lil bro Livan as your 5th starter. May sound corny but I think him reuniting with his brother could do some good.
Haren
Pedro
Maine
Perez
Livan
Looks pretty good to me..
The Mets are in a very difficult position. They obviously need pitching, and they are dependent on a trade due to the weak free agent class.
Yet, any deal they could make now, which would inevitably involve milledge and heilman, would seriously hurt the depth of the current team.
The bottom line is if Phillip Humber or Mike Pelfrey had developed as the Mets projected, we would have been depending on them now or would be using them to trade for better established pitching. You can’t have the 3rd overall pick in 2004 (Yankees drafted Huges at 23), and the 9th overall pick in 2005 (admittedly a pitching weak draft) and come away with basically ZERO tradeable commodities. That’s why we’re in a zero sum game situation where we have such a lack of depth.
Therefore, instead of overreaching for mediocre talent (read: blanton) and further depleting our system, it might be prudent for the Mets to start making trades to stockpile picks for next season and rebuild our organizational depth. What trades are those? I’m not smart enough to know that, but it will probably involve eating large parts of contracts like delgado’s.
Here’s why Beane may trade Harden and Blanton. It would save him 10 million dollars this year.
The thing is, that the A’s aren’t going to trade both Haren and Blanton in one deal, they would maximize their value better by moving them seperately (If they did move both).
Really though, a guy like Haren is exactly what this team needs. An Ace pitcher that can eat innings, is young, and probably wouldn’t cost us the ENTIRE farm. He’ll be pricey no doubt, but a Milledge, Heilman, Pelfrey package is something that we can live with, assuming we then replace Milledge and Heilman (And being that Haren is cheap for the next 3 years, we’d have enough money left over to do so).
“haren and blanton would be a good consolation prize”
AND?
has any rumor ever used the word ‘AND’?
I’m sure this should be an ‘OR’.
we’ll be lucky to get one.
+1
good idea to grab Blanton AND HarDen .. Blanton - while a little portly, eats innings as well as burritos. Hes good for 210 plus innings
Oaktown would get rid of him b/c he is arb eligible and will start to earn bigger $$ ..
if they are rebuilding Beane hasa history or dumping multiple pitchers for prospects
HarDen .. while a bit of an injury risk is downright filthy when on .. 100mph fastball and unbelieveable splitter..said to be like no other pitch in the league .
he signed for 08 and is owed 7 mil of 09 so beane would be inclined not to have to pay that if he is rebuilding
– maybe at some point HarDen turns into a closer. and Jacket loves both these guys
Although I don’t think it will happen, I like very much the idea of HarDen AND Blanton. With a guy like Blanton, you can risk taking on Harden. And as biggie said, Harden has electric stuff. Blanton is a solid 3 anywhere. I think he’d be a 2 in the Mets rotation. Perez for all his wins, is not a reliable starter.
HarDen might be closer material since his body breaks down, every year.
Here’s a question: Can these guys hang in NYC?
Exactly in Heilman and Milledge he could get MLB talent for 1 million while unloading over 10 million. I would guess he would be even more inclined to do it if we included Mulvey and took Swisher or Kotsay.
Oh man, this is going to be a very frustrating offseason. Omar is damned if he fails pull of something huge. Omar is damned if he overpays for a blanton. Omar is damned if he trades half the team for santana if the mets don’t win everything.
For the first time, I truly think Omar is in serious trouble here. He has to make the perfect move or the heat is on for good.
And rightly so. Last year he traded Bannister and Lindstrom for virtually nothing. Mistakes are tolerable but the GM of the Mets, with all of its considerable resources, ought to be able to put an excellent team on the field. Its easy to take salary dumps like Omar did with LoDuca and Delgado, its much harder to obtain a guy like Sanchez (for Seo!!!) but Omar has to consistently make good moves as he will be judged each season by the success or failure of the product he puts out there. A WS victory would buy him some time to reload; an epic failure goes the other way. Its just the way it is. Last year cost Omar some credibility.
I had no problem with the Banister trade last year. Burgos has an electric arm and is very young. He could be Wagner’s replacement, as long as he doesn’t develop Armando/Jorge Julio syndrome…and can recover from Tommy John surgery.
The Lindstrom deal is a head scratcher. Maybe Omar believed he was getting superior talent. Anyone else see this guy Vargas pitch? Like hitting off a tee.
Guys,
Haren & Harden are two different pitchers on the A’s (I get them confused myself)
Haren has been linked to trade rumors, and from what I understand Harden has not.
Haren would be a very good fit in the rotation; at least a #3 starter and the potential to be an ace, 27 years old, under contract for another 3 years.
A potential problem that most have over looked is that if we were to get one of the A’s pitchers, our starting rotation will be heavily right handed and force Omar to almost certainly acquire a left handed starter as our #5 guy.
Actually, the fact that people are getting Haren and Harden mixed up is makes this thread good for one hell of a laugh if you look at some of the trade proposals….
HarDen has been linked to the Mets for a while. He would be the easiest to get because of his injury risk.
This is from their mailbag on 11/19/07
“As a New Yorker, I’ve been hearing a lot about Rich Harden going to the Mets. Is this likely? What will the A’s get if the trigger is pulled on such a trade? Thanks.
– Kate V., Staten Island, N.Y.
Well, it seems like the A’s have been in talks with the Mets about outfielder Lastings Milledge forever, and the name of pitcher John Maine frequently comes up in said discussion, too. If GM Billy Beane could get both of those guys and didn’t pull the trigger, I’d think he was crazy. Milledge is a five-tool talent and only 22 years old, and Maine, 26, is coming off a 32-start season in which he won 15 games with a sub-4.00 ERA.
That said, Mets fans might want their GM, Omar Minaya, institutionalized if he pulled the trigger on that deal. It’s way too much for a guy with Harden’s injury history, no matter how talented the guy is. Harden for Milledge, straight up, is a lot more realistic, and even that might be a little scary for Minaya.
Of the A’s starters whose names I’ve heard in rumors this year, Harden seems like the one it would hurt Beane the least to give up. The other side of that coin is that Harden also is the A’s starter whose trade value should be the lowest. I’ve heard Dan Haren and Joe Blanton rumors involving the Mets, too, but I have a feeling that Beane is just throwing those names out there to see what other teams might be willing to part with in other deals down the road.”
We cannot afford to take a gamble on an injury risk pitcher. Even if we were to get him just for Millage (which I can’t see happening) he is our best chip right now, and I would include other prospects and even Heilman to get Haren.
If you give up Millage, the centerpiece to any trade is gone and I can’t see the mets trading for anyone of importance after that.
I think Haren is the way to go over Blanton (or HarDEN, even though I have not heard any recent activity surrounding him). Then you go out and get a free agent Silva/Livan to round out the rotation. And it would be extremely beneficial if that FA pitcher is a lefty so we don’t get clobbered by left handed hitting.
PS. I really wouldn’t call Kate V. from staten Island a reliable source that the mets are after HarDEN.
AS I said this is from their mailbag site answered by beat reporter Mychael Urban.
Also, everyone that has posted in favor of Harden was commenting on getting BOTH Blanton and Harden. Blanton fills in as your innings eater and Harden if healthy can be an ace. Blanton alone is not worth Milledge but Harden and Blanton are worth Milledge and Heilman.
That a nice dream. But no way is Beane going to trade two front line starters for an unproven Center Fielder & a wanna-be starter who is a reliever.
HarDEN is a huge ionjury risk and makes decent coin.. He’s hardly considered a frontline starter in the same breathe as Balnton - hes all potential.
The deal would be more than MIlledge and Heilman.
And Heilman - given the money Cordero just go would be a super valuable chip in any bullpen as a closer
You are prob. right. I think you have to look at it differently. Would Beane do a Blanton for Milledge and a prospect? Would Beane trade Harden and the money owed for Heilman and a prospect? Harden is not being counted on by Beane and you know he can’t stand paying 6 million+ for a starter that may not pitch 10 games. As for the Mets, he is worth the gamble to find that ace we need. Of course only if we get Blanton to give the guarnteed innings.
I understand your thinking. But it is based on too many unknown and unlikely factors like: Will Beane trade two starting pitchers to one team? My hunch in No. There are many teams out there that need SPs. As stated in another post, he could get more if he splits them up. Also, I don’t think the mets have enough chips to make such a move. Most of these posts are grossly over-estimating the value of our chips.
But Hey, if Omar can trade Mota and get more than a ham sandwich and a bag of sand in return, then he should have no problem elevating their value. But personally, I think if they are to land anyone from Oakland, it will be just a single Starting Pitcher.
I am sure the Mets have enough to get HarDen and Blanton but not Haren and Blanton. It would be a good middle ground. Discussion COULD go like this.
Omar: “We are interested in Blanton”
Beane: “We would only trade him for a major league ready OF and a prospect.”
Omar: “How about Gomez and Humber”
Beane: “I really need that OF to be more MLB ready, how about Milledge and I don’t really like Humber so what about Mulvey.”
Omar: “There is now way I trade those two for just Blanton but if you included Harden I would do it.”
Beane: “Harden has a lot of talent and we could slot him in the pen. If you give us Heilman to take his place then we have a deal”
Again, who knows?