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…as i noted yesterday, there had been more and more buzz coming from Nashville suggesting that the Mets are seriously considering Livan Hernandez…
Later in the day, citing ‘a source,’ MLB.com reported that the Nationals may be willing to give 
Hernandez a two-year deal.
Last night, according to the New York Times, and today in the New York Post, both Minaya and Hernandez’s agent have met while in Nashville.
Meanwhile, this morning in the Daily News, citing ‘educated speculation,’ Adam Rubin writes that if the Mets ultimately ‘fall short’ of Erik Bedard or Dan Haren, they may instead ‘focus on signing a free agent,’ perhaps Hernandez or Bartolo Colon.
…educated speculation…i think that was a song by Hall and Oates, wasn’t it…anyway…
According to Rubin, ‘Hernandez is expected to get a multi-year deal,’ while quoting Hernandez’s agent as saying, “I would characterize the Mets as being very interested in signing Livan.”
Lastly, in the Star-Ledger, Dan Graziano reports that the Mets also have inquired about free-agent RHP Freddy Garcia, as well as Colon, ‘thinking they might be able to get them on the cheap because they are coming off of injury seasons.’
However, according to Graziano, ‘at least a half-dozen other teams have the same idea, which could drive up the price on both free-agent pitchers.’
…as i wrote the other day, i recalled hearing a day or so ago that the Mets may be the front runners for garcia, who will not be able to pitch until mid-season, but they are holding back until they know what may come from pursuing other markets…
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pas, pass. pass. Stiffs. Livan will not make you forget Chan Ho or Brian lawrence at this point.
Instead of him, might just as well start Sosa. he can’t do any worse.
Stick….
I have come slowly around to the reality we are not improving the rotation through a meaningful trade. I started the offseason thinking no way do we want to get a FA pitcher of this level of mediocrity. But here we are with nothing on the trade front likely and slowly falling out of the FA pitching market (at least with Kuroda according to reports)
The top 3 in the rotation are strong enough to build confidence (Pedro,Maine and OP. Conceivably 45 – 48 wins with just them. A good rotations starting 5 have roughly 70 wins on a 90 plus win team.
I think Duque (if he remains a starter can get us 10 wins). I also believe that Pelfrey can possibly get us 10 wins. I do however have some confidence that Silva can get us more than 10 wins.
What is the better choice here (especially when considering the devaluation of the pitching prospects we have)? I think there are realistically 3 options available to the METS with pitching, maybe a fourth which I will bring up in another post
1) Sign Silva and have Pelfrey, Humber and Mulvey all working to get better at AAA and having them as reserves for injury in case Pedro has a setback or Duque gets hurt…which he will
2) Move Heilman to the rotation and trade for or sign a middle reliever (Maybe Dotel? not sure who and what it would cost)
3) Deem Pelfrey the 5th starter and sign no one for the pen or the rotation (Riskiest in my opinion)
4th option I will post seperately below
A 4th option could be to do another trade of the type we did for OP. Trade an outfielder prospect of current guy for a teams decent middle reliever and a failed top prospect (similar to Maine or OP). Then sick the Jacket on him.
I don’t know baseball well enough to know who are the failed prospects like apparently the world thinks of Humber or Pelfrey. But they exist on almost every team. I’d target them in a deal. Guys like Zach Duke…or was it Zach Day from the Pirates who was all world for half a season then can’t get anyone out. Capuano is in the same boat from the Brewers. I’m sure there are others but as I said…I am not that connected to know who they are. I think this is a valuable route to go if the other direction fails.
Going out for us could be a Humber and Gotay plus one of the remaining outfielders gaining some steam like Church who just got here or Caleb Stewart. Maybe I am giving up too much actually for a ML reliever with a 4.00 era and a failed pitching prospect.
It is a 4th option and seems to be where Minaya has done his best work in the past….at least with us
Failed offseason. Yet again. Fire Omar.
We don’t have to give up on the offseason just yet. We could conceivably improve by getting a Vasquez or even Contreras whose peripherals were better than his record and whose BABIPwas completely out of whack last year in that horrendous season. But the White Sox traded Garland already so maybe they are not interested in moving another pitcher
We can trade for Hampton too. He might be ready to pitch by 2011.
I love the way my stomach currdles this time of year when nothing comes to pan out at these productive winter meetings. Atl least try to get someone with upside instead of guys who continue to be overused every year and wear down..
Danny Cabrerra … Lets go get another projuect who at worst will due what these clows for $10 mil + are getting
Yea… I wouldn’t mind making a move for Cabrera or someone like Zach Greinke from the Royals. They both have good talent, and maybe the Jacket can “fix” them like he “fixed” Ollie.
Agreed, but if there is a rergression from Maine or Perez, then this could become a problem.
At this point, we know we’re probably not getting an ace. So we take the best we can get. Getting someone like Cabrera or Greinke or even Zach Duke from the Pirates doesn’t guarantee a WS or even a playoff berth for this year, but it helps us to build for years to come.
I personally, am ok with building for the future by adding potential aces if a current ace cannot be had this offseason.
Missed your post because I was posting above but I have just said essentially the same thing. This is a realistic 4th option available to the METS and is where in the past at least with us that Omar has done his best work.
wont be sexy when the deal goes down but maybe its our best recourse for the long term future since our own prospects seem to be falling into the failed category.
I really don’t mind signing Livan Hernanez. Granted, it’s typical Mets. They miss the boat on the top tier players/pitchers and then tap the secondary or undesirables market.
I think Livan would be a solid addition though. Colon? I really want no part of that fat slob.
Garcia? Meh. I wouldn’t overpay for him.
I wouldn’t mind Livan either … if it was for one year. But he’s going to get 2, probably with an option. That I have a problem with. Mets won’t get him for one year … no thanks.
Let me once again post my comments about Livian until everyone, including hopefully Omar Minaya, understands how bad this guy is.
First of all he barely cracked 200 innings last year. Then look at his game log and see how many times he was shelled for 5 or more runs. Then look how poorly he pitched the last 2 months of the season.
There is no upside with him, only downside. Just like Glavine. You know he peaked long ago and the only place he has to go is down.
He also had about a 1.59 WHIP, which is even worse than Glavine’s 1.41.
I agree Colon is a bad choice. Garcia can be worth a gamble at the right price.
What do you mean there is no upside? He and El Duque will be so happy to play on the same team … that’s all the upside we need! hahaha
No but seriously … if no trades are made I’d much rather see Pelfrey, Humber or even Heilman in the rotation rather than this guy. If it’s Livan for one year as a stopgap … fine … but that won’t happen. So just go with the kids if there is no trades made.
I’m sure everyone here could have gotten bedard, santana and haren for our “prospects”
Of course. Didn’t you know all of the best scouts and GMs reside on the “internetz”.
Anyway…what can ya do? Nothing. It is what it is.
Exactly. Plus the upside to signing FA is that the kids get to demonstrate their skills this year. Hopefully they do well and can become either great additions to the team (ala OP and Maine) or raise their stock for next year when we need a LF and 1B.
thoughts?
Oh definitely. They could have also gotten Cabrera and Willis, and we’d have a 7 man rotation!
Ugh, no Livan or Colon, please. If Garcia is healthy and it’s just a matter of rehab (like with Pedro), I’d rather risk a 1-year contract on him. But no more than 1 year.
please no livan… i actually believe the main reason we are really interested is because of omar and his past relations with livan, plus that we know he will come here because besides playing on a contender, he will be with el duque. any other pitcher is a better option in my book….
I think now that the Dodgers, Angels, and Red Sox will fight over Johan, Haren, and Bedard, so Mets better change their steez and get creative. Trade with the A’s for Blanton AND Huston Street. Trade with the Twins for Joe Nathan. Sign Livan/Silva and Freddy Garcia (who can be our “mid season” pick up when he’s ready to picth)…If we can’t get the ACE, we can strengthen our bullpen while making our rotation MORE THAN SOLID one THRU five, which most teams cannot say. Really, I ask you Mets fans, would you be UPSET if we were to have a staff of:
Pedro, Maine, Ollie, Blanton, Livan/Silva with
Wagner, Street/Nathan, Duque, Sanchez, Feliciano, Show, Sosa?
I feel VERY comfortable with that staff, 1 thru TWELVE.
Now if we can just somehow aquire Nady to help out in RF with Church…
It’s time to give Heilman a shot.
Absolutely. At least put him Heilman the mix. Let him duke it out with Pelfrey, Humber etc for the 5th spot in spring training. If he doesn’t make it, put him back in the pen. Or trade him. But give him the shot.
And sign or trade for at least 1 solid reliever. Nathan would be great. But Riske, Mahay etc etc would also be a good use of resources.
Forget about El Duque in the pen. There is no way he goes there without kicking and screaming. He’s never relieved before (for long-term). And he makes $6M a year. That’s mismanagement if you’re paying your long man $6M/year.
I have seen this coming for 2 years. You just knew that at some point Omar was going to go after Livan. Which I really dont mind. When healthy and in shape he’s an effective innings eater and good 4th starter. I’m not big on Colon anymore. I want no parts of Freddy Garcia. I always thought he was overrated.
Jeees, That Hurt !!–Almost broke my arm tryin’ to pat-me on
the back !
Called this one mid-season ! Livan’s on his way for 3yrs+an
option for 40+Mil$ AND Bartolo ain’t far behind !!
Wake-Up people, this was the plan all along !!
Another nice retirement package given to a couple of D.R.homies of The Great One.
Vamos!–Los Mets!!!
I do agree. I think this was the plan.Omar had to front like he was going for the the big one when he really knew that he was going to sign these past their prime pitchers all along. Omar the Spin Doctor! I know he said he didn’t know that Dontrelle was available and that may have been by the Marlins design. But I am heartbroken that he’s going to the Tigers. I wanted D-train on this team. He really would have been a great fit.
Are you kidding me??? Garcia, the bum who was the biggest bust in Philly who MAY be ready by mid season is the guy the Mets are aggressively inquiring about??? Ive been patient long enough but all this hype by Omar has made me lose alot of confidence in the guy. YOu heard what he said the other day? He feels confident that the guys we have on board currently are better that the ‘07 team. You know what that means right??? Its gonna be a long, DEAD winter in Queens.
i think we should also start to start to change direction…
i would trade church and heilman/humber to the giants for lowry and then sign rowand to play right…
I think the mets should just sign Livian. Even if it is for 2 years, who cares? Duque will be gone after next season. This gives the mets time to see what they have in Humber and Pelfrey. Let these kids battle it out in spring training. Winner gets the 5 spot, the other to the bullpen. The mets have to start letting kids play. See what they have. It worked very well for the phillies (kendrick). I am tired of the mets screwing around with these kids and destroying there trade value. If willie wants to just play veterans, then he should be fired. Period.
Yeah, It’s Willie’s fault. Of course !
Livan, Age?–Who knows ? Weight ? Who knows ?
BUT
We do know, on a very good D-Back team 332 baserunners
in 204 innings AND a 5ERA.
BUT
He’s a winner AND DUQUE’S Half-Bro SO it’s O.K.!
It’ll work out fine! I’m Sure !??
After-all We know how clutch Duques been for US, Right?
Well I think it is Willie fault that the mets collapsed last season.
Yes!! Of Course it was!–See, He had so many options
pitching-wise and wow too many guys to play in the
outfield AND of course it wasn’t like his GM and Ast.GM were meddling in clubhouse affairs OR that
our GM was freaked because HIS SPY-Acta was not
around anymore so he had to create a situation i.e
Rickey where he could get another ear in the house.
no,no,no,no, this made for a great situation for
Willie to lead us to Victory and he just failed.
Yeah, thats it!!!!
I wasn’t aware VCarver had created another screen name for himself…
Omar is more responsible for the kids not getting opportunity than Willie is. There were numerous times during 2007 they could have called up Humber to make an emergency start. Instead we got Park, Williams and Lawrence.
keep pelfrey and make him your 5… and hope he get everything back in order. What thirteen starts ago he was a projected as an ace? He was rated as high as garza 13 STARTS AGO!! Espn ranked him the best rookie to pitcher to breakout in 2007. WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE SUCH SHORT MEMORIES?I dont know who it is (the media, the fans), but why is everyone so down on him, while guys like ANDREW MILLER AND HOMER BAILEY pitched just as bad as he did but people still feel they can be great but not pelfrey. they are young, and will strugle. Look at haren when he was pelfrey age, he wasnt a dignified ace. the guy (pelfrey) hit 96-97 during games pretty consistently . Just give the guy a chance next year. That one thing i commend omar (despite the fact that i do feel he has done a lousy job), is that he is very reluctant to trade pelfrey, and that why humber name is thrown out more. But we will trade pelfrey for crap (like blanton, who by the way plays in the second best park to play in home run wise, behind petco) like we did for lastings, and see pelfrey turn into a solid 2 or 3. Then just like how we did for banister, cry and moan how omar let that guy get away Banister was “ehh” to most mets fan because mets fan have some insane standard that if there era is not 3.50 or something in their first 10 big league, then they are failures. AND WE WILL BECOME MONDAY MORNING QUATERBACKS AGAIN. MAYBE IT A LOT PRESSURE ON A ROOKIE TO BE A SAVIOR 2 STARTS IN HIS CAREER.
Last year at this time, people were predicting that Pelfrey would have a breakout season and perform comparably to Verlander from the year before. The potential is still there.
I agree, put Pelfrey out there and see what he can do. Let him throw the heat and by midseason, his trade value will be back up again.
Thank you ALBAN… I was afraid mets fan were suffering through amnesia last year or something. The kid does have potential. He is a little stubborn though, but hopefully after this year he will work it out
for the love of god dont get livan, He had an era of 5.00 this year and the year before close to 5.50. I dont need to pay 8-10 million to get 200 innings of crap.
NO,NO,NO, NO, Wait we just don’t understand!!
It’ll be O.K., Livan can move over to North Bergen and be
surrounded by fellow Cubanos AND Duque AND He’ll be
comfortable. Then He’ll pitch-better!! Really !!!
I’m sure thats it ! Omar, must have a plan!! right !!!
Hes a Baseball genius AND all that stuff !!
Hes knows THINGS the other GMs don’t. Right!!??
And then we’ll get Bartolo and it’ll be all good.
yahooo!!! Vamos!!! Los Mets!!!!
After this season and offseason, it is clear the Mets are going in the wrong direction. I’ve been an Omar supporter, but now he needs to go. Last offseason was idea that there was nobody out there, but this year, people are available but the Mets keep falling short (just like the last week of the season). Well, its time to shake things up.
Omar and Willie must go!
I realize this is pure speculation at this point regarding Livan, but i would have to assume the Mets scouts/Omar were paying attention when Livan was giving up 7 runs in 3 innings against the Mets and getting no one out in the playoffs last year. Sad for us, but another great Cuban refuge story to rehash for the Mets.
Random thoughts:
1) Livan stinks. Pass, please
2) some people are looking at the worst case scenrios (what if Maine and Perez regress, Pedro’s arm falls off, a meteorite hits, etc.) Well, pitching is of course risky, and of course weird things can happen. Still, there is no reason to suspect that Maine and Ollie will regress, any more than Bedard or Haren will.
3) Hielman to the pen is looking more and more logical. Teams have to deploy their players to best help the team, and for a pitcher, that means rotation, pen or trade. If they can find some more live arms for short relief (Duaner?), then Heilman could potentially be more valuable in the rotation. And way better than Livan!
4) this is still a good team, and can easily win 90 wins with some minor holes plugged of course (5th starter, BP arms.) Also need a BU OF/1B (Nady/mench), and probably a real MI glove (A Hern?)
5) they were 1 win off the NL lead in wins last year, even with an amazing finish that probably can;t be replicated, and they also suffered a tremendous amount of injuries. To still win 88 games was pretty darned good overall.
6) Unlike some people like to say, this isn’t a 70 win last place team. They wtill have one of the strongest lineups (although Alou’s healther and what you get from Delgado are wildcards).
7) Finally, how many teams have actually done anything so far, never mind something big?
The Tigers mad a big pick up. maybe the phils with lidge? Everything else seems like minor shuffling, although there has been plenty of talk. Beyond that, some teams have resigned FAs (including the Mets), and the majority of teams have done nothing.
[...] Serious About Livan? I didn’t see anyone freaking out about this so figured I’d post it. From METS BLOG: [...]
Seroquel xr….
Seroquel xr….