Daily Archives: November 29, 2007
Mets COO Jeff Wilpon took a group of area writers and team executives on a tour of the quickly progressing Citi Field today.
Don Burke of the Star Ledger reports on his blog that the Mets will open the 2009 season on the road to insure that everything is ready for the home opener, but will likely play an exhibition game at the new stadium before the regular season begins.
Adam Rubin of the Daily News provides some nifty pictures of today’s tour at his blog.
Meanwhile, at his blog for Newsday, David Lennon adds detailed insight of the tour.
…by the way, any guesses on who made the crack about where Manny Acta‘s office would be…too funny…
In a chat with ESPN.com today, Scouts Inc. senior baseball analyst Keith Law said the following regarding the perception that the Mets don’t have enough to get a top starter this offseason…
“Ridiculous. I’ve seen that mentioned in some NY papers, and it’s absurd. Carlos Gomez is very highly-rated within the game. Fernando Martinez (who seems to be their one untouchable) is still one of the top 10-12 prospects in the game. Pelfrey hasn’t even turned 24 yet, and he’s still mid-90′s with plus sink. I have no idea why it’s fashionable to bash the Mets young players, but they have plenty of assets to go get another starter. Whether they choose to part with them or not is the question.”
As Jordan posted earlier today, Martinez is ranked as number 17 on MiLB.com’s top 50 prospects in baseball, as voted by 20 members of the scouting community.
Tagged Mike Pelfrey |
In his recent Rumblings & Grumblings column for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark lists the best trade proposals sent in by readers that he dubbed the ‘one-week-only blitz of inspiration that we’re calling So You Think You Can Be a GM. Huh?’
Here are suggested trade proposals concerning the Mets:
Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber for Johan Santana
Milledge and Humber for Dan Haren
Milledge, Pelfrey and Ruben Gotay for Erik Bedard
Pelfrey or Humber and Fernando Martinez for Roy Oswalt
Stark describes the proposals as having ‘no chance,’ however if the Mets engage in talks with the A’s regarding Haren, he believes the discussion will now start with Martinez and/or Carlos Gomez.
…i don’t know where to begin and end with all of these trade proposals but i am in favor of the Mets and A’s finally getting together here…seriously, would it be possible to televise on pay-per-view a face-to-face trade negotiation meeting between Omar Minaya and Billy Beane…
Tagged Philip Humber, Ruben Gotay |
…by the way, and i mean no disrespect to the kid, but i am very impressed with the percieved value of Carlos Gomez…teams seem to really like him - and more than Lastings Milledge…one independent scout recently told me that people view gomez as capable of becoming Jimmy Rollins in the outfield one day…and rollins just won an MVP…yet, to me, gomez is a younger version of Endy Chavez, at best…of course, i’m not a scout, and i’m only going on what i saw of him at the major-league level, which is very unfair…
In a report for the Pioneer Press, citing ‘a little birdie,’ Twins columnist Charley ‘the shooter’ Walters writes that the Red Sox have become the favorite to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins in exchange for OF Coco Crisp, SS Jed Lowry, LHP Jon Lester and RHP Justin Masterson.
Buster Olney, at ESPN.com, is essentially reporting the same thing.
According to Walters, “The Yankees don’t have the prospects available 
who the Twins figure have a reasonable chance to play in the major leagues by the end of 2008.”
…well, if the Yankees do not, then they certainly feel the Mets do not, which must be where all of this silly Jose Reyes talk is stemming from…by the way, from what i understand, from people connected to the team, to people connected to jose, the Mets are not trading reyes…it’s that simple…people in ‘mlb circles’ can talk about it all they want, and i may consider it too, as may you, and Mr. Met and the hot dog vendor, but that doesn’t mean the Mets are considering, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day…
…there is more and more buzz out of Oakland suggesting that the A’s will not seriously field offers for Dan Haren until the Twins make a decision on Johan Santana, which is probably the smart way to go…once santana is set, the A’s will first consider moving haren, but oakland may look to acquire a pitcher more like John Maine, instead of Mike Pelfrey or Aaron Heilman, because they want a semi-established, zero-to-three starting pitcher…
…by the way, from what i understand, the same can essentially be said for Erik Bedard, who the O’s very much want to re-sign…
…at any rate, if haren gets no real bites, oakland will next consider moving Joe Blanton, who is still arbitration eligible, and essentially the type of pitcher they hope to get, not trade away, in a deal for haren…
…personally, as a Mets fan, i’m tired of being teased by Billy Beane, who has seemingly dangled more players in my face than i can count, from Johnny Damon to Tim Hudson to Barry Zito…seriously, it seems like he requires at least two full years of rumor before actually going through with a deal, and since it has only been six months worth of haren, i’ll believe he is trade bait when i see him actually traded, frankly…
Buster Olney of ESPN.com, ‘citing sources,’ reports that the Devil Rays will sign RHP Troy Percival to a two-year contract.
Percival, 38, will reunite with former Angels pitching coach and current Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon.
After coming back from a brief retirement, he recorded a 1.80 ERA in 40 innings with the Cardinals last season.
MiLB.com is unveiling their top 50 prospect list, based on the voting of 20 members of the scouting community.
Mets OF Fernando Martinez checks in at number seventeen.
Here’s part of their scouting report on Martinez:
When healthy, Martinez has tremendous potential with the bat. He should eventually hit for both average and power from a corner outfield spot. He has the ability to play decent defense and isn’t a bad runner, but all his skills are still on the raw side… Starting the year back in Double-A might be the way to go, but even if he begins there, it’s unlikely he’ll finish the season at the same level.
…despite his injury induced struggles, and some doubts from scouts, the fact remains that martinez handled himself as an 18-year old in double a ball, no small feat…assuming he’s still a met when the dust clears on this off-season (no safe assumption), he could vault himself into discussion as the top prospect in baseball if he stays healthy…
Tagged Minors |Adam Rubin writes in today’s Daily News, citing ‘speculation in MLB circles,’ that the Mets are considering sending shortstop Jose Reyes to Minnesota in a package for Johan Santana.
Rubin insinuates that, while the Twins are also looking for young starting pitching, Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey may not be enticing enough to the Twins, who will be gunning for Philip Hughes of the Yankees or Clay Bucholz and Jon Lester of the Red Sox.
Rubin echoes a growing school of thought, which as Cerrone would say, involves looking to the Bay Area, and not Minnesota, to make a deal for a top starter.
…to me, it seems that santana is slowly beginning to slip away…if the red sox or yankees are serious about getting him, which it now seems they are, there is no way the mets can match their offers, especially if the two al east rivals get into a bidding war…
…perhaps it’s…better to pull out now, to avoid disappointment, and to pre-empt any trade of santana with a deal for either haren or blanton, as the cost for either (especially haren, whom the mets prefer) will probably increase once minnesota deals its ace…
Then again, according to Ken Rosenthal at FOXSports.com, today, making at trade for one of those two may not be so easy, either:
What’s more, the A’s are no longer as interested in Mets outfielder Lastings Milledge and right-hander Aaron Heilman as they were when they tried to acquire both in a package for left-hander Barry Zito before the non-waiver deadline in 2006.
Travis Buck and Nick Swisher since have emerged as starting corner outfielders. The A’s need a long-term answer in center, but consider Milledge more of a corner player. Heilman, meanwhile, has been the past two seasons pitching entirely in relief, reducing his value.
Rosenthal also says the Mets recently made Oakland an offer, which the A’s considered more appropriate in exchange for Blanton, not the more accomplished and more highly regarded Haren
…rosenthal depicts the mets as “scrambling” and honestly, a bit desperate… billy beane must smell blood in the water…
…i’m getting the sense that the Mets are no longer big-time players in the race to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins…
…three things happened yesterday, first) Newsday’s David Lennon ran a story early in the day stating that the Mets may be better suited targeting Dan Haren and Joe Blanton, instead of santana…second) the Twins traded RHP Matt Garza to the Rays for OF Delmon Young, meaning minnesota may no longer seek an outfielder for santana, instead they’ll probably want to replace garza, which the Mets cannot do…and lastly) the word from the twin cities suggests the Red Sox are the front runners to get santana, not the Yankees, with the Mets a very distant third…
…all combined, like i said earlier in the off-season, if the Mets want to acquire a starting pitcher, they should aim towards the bay area, not minnesota…
…thanks to blogs like mine, newspapers and vague quotes by the team, my big concern is that fans will be painfully disappointed if the Mets only end up acquiring, say, blanton and free-agent Livan Hernandez…which, though probably enough to help for next season, is not enough from a public relations perspective…in short, it’s like our collective expectations have been raised so high, that anything short of acquiring the best pitcher in baseball will be viewed as a colossal disappointment, which is crazy, yet totally understandable…
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