|
|
|
Last night, 43 new players joined the free-agent market after being non-tendered by their former team, including:
RHP Mark Prior, 3B Dallas McPherson, RHP Kiko Calero, RHP Josh Towers, RHP Akinori Otsuka, OF Emil Brown, RHP Chad Durbin, SS Adam Everett, OF Kevin Mench, 2B Aaron Miles, LHP Mark Hendrickson, C Miguel Olivo, 3B Morgan Ensberg, OF Jason Lane and 1B Brad Eldred.
For a complete list, go to MLB.com.
…in several cases, like with prior, there is a good chance he ends up just re-signing with the old team, most likely with a minor-league contract…
In 236 career relief appearances, for Texas and San Diego, Otsuka has a 2.44 ERA having struck out 217 batters through 232 innings pitched.
He finished the year with an ERA under 3.00 during three of his four major-league seasons.
…during last year’s trade deadline, there had been a lot of buzz around baseball linking the Mets, Braves, Phillies, Tigers and Brewers to otsuka…
…otsuka would be an interesting addition to the Mets bullpen, since he is quirky, disciplined and keeps the ball down in the zone…however, his mysterious arm and elbow injury, which is said to be much better of late, is a bit alarming, which is clearly why he was non-tendered…
…he’s intriguing, as is prior, calero, hendrickson, and a few others, though i’m not on board with guaranteeing any money or roster spots to any of these guys, frankly…
I would definetly take a look at prior and otsuka.
I agree… Mench as well. Perfect fourth outfielder, replaces Alou during his one-month sabbatical, platoons with Church. (All of that assumes Gomez is a goner).
The Olivo thing is a bit disconcerting. There was word we were interested in him - but Florida was asking too much. If that was true, and not something a writer just threw out there, we may have misread the market and jumped the gun on the Milledge deal.
I’m sure the Mets were interested in Olivo because of the stabilizing influence he would have on Reyes.
Thank You !!–I’ve been thinkin’ this all week since rumors
of olivo 1st started. Again, O , WTF?– I mean, its one thing
for us, informed fans to “misread” the market BUT O,
your a friggin insider! Frankly, while I like Scheider as a
backstop, I like Oliva more! Plus as we all heard”Hes good friends W/ Jose”. I dont think Gomez is a goner mes
think its Os plan to platoon him w/church. prob., needs a
full season @AAA but O loves the kid! And to all the Willie
bashers again, understand, that carries alot of weight!
Os a meddling type GM as we all know! AND as of right
now hes had another BAD off-season!
Everyone knew that Oliva was going to be non-tendered- this isn’t news to anyone in baseball. And why on earth would you like him more than Schneider? He’s the inferior defender (except perhaps for his throwing arm) and had a 64 point lower OBP last year.
Because the separation of the two is not great and
he(Oliva) would have cosy NOTHING!
Lasto would still be here leaving the door open to
other,bigger,better possibilities!
But hey, I’m not makin’ Oliva out to be Johnny Bench!
But does Omar have a CLUE to whats going on out
there OR is he like these reporters wingin’ it day to day?
yea i agree with that, trading milledge is one thing but trading him that early is what makes it such a head scratcher.
Everyone knew that Olivo wasn’t staying with the team starting at about the mid-point of last season. They’ve been actively looking for a replacement since then and were openly asking for Mathis from the Angels in their Cabrera negotiations. To claim that Omar was suddenly blindsided to the fact that the Marlins weren’t planning on using him next year is absurd unless you’re suggesting that he has less knowledge of baseball personnel than the casual fan.
Olivo sucks.
Okay, Thats one one way of looking at it.
Just once though, i’d like to see that on a scouting
report!
Agreed..Prior and Otsuka are definitely guys to look at..as is Mench and Hendrickson for the long man role
Otsuka and Kiko Calero would be good pickups. Hopefully Omar gets on it.
hendrickson is awful — stay far Omar!
He’s actually not that bad in a RP role: 71.0 IP, 3.55 ERA, 64 K, 20 BB, .237 BAA, and a 1.15 WHIP. Plus he is a tall lefty. He would be worth a look as a RP only. Thanks to my buddy Chris for pointing this out.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story!!
HE’S BAD !–O, STAY CLEAR !
Mench could come as a cheap platoon for Church–career .305 vs. LHP (.314 last year).
I definitely take a shot at Otsuka. Prior eventually will resign with the Cubs. I would also take a chance with Durbin, but I wouldn’t give him a guaranteed contract just a spring invite and see what he can do.
Yeah. Gotta sign Otsuka.
You have to get Otsuka, he only cost money and is a hell of a reliever if healthy. I would also persue Mench, Calero, and Prior. Again, its only money and we have roster spots and money so why not? I am guessing that one of Calero or Otsuka would be healthy and pitch very well next year. As for Prior, its any easy risk. Incentive based 2 year contract. Mench? Its just too perfect. Can play RF and 1B and kills LH pitching?? It almost makes too much sense.
There are certainly a number of very interesting names being non-tendered this year, but I’m concerned about the price tags that the two most obvious big names on here- Prior and Otsuka- might require. As numerous people here have noted over th last couple of days, it makes a lot of sense to bring either or both in on short-term incentive-laden deals, but that makes sense for a lot of other teams too. I suspect that to outbid everyone else, some team is going to have to give them pretty good guaranteed money over multiple years, which just gets very risky. Prior’s health issues are well-known, and it’s not like he’s just now coming back from a single concerning injury- he’s been teasing Cubs fans since his last great season, which was in 2003. With Otsuka, you have to be concerned any time that someone is shut down with serious elbow problems and elects to not have it repaired, but it seems especially concerning that Texas, who has a much better picture of his medial condition than anyone else, has a decent budget, not enough pitching and wouldn’t owe him a whole lot of money (he only made 3 mil last year) would rather cut him than pay his salary. I wouldn’t necessarily be upset if one of these two got signed, but if some other team wants to drastically overpay them, outbidding them has a very good chance of costing us a roster spot and cash better spent elsewhere.
I’ll take Prior, Otsuka, and Lane for 1,000.
Otsuka and Hendrickson make for an instant upgrade in the bullpen over Sele and Mota from last year. Mench also would be a perfect compliment to Church while even spelling Alou and Delgado at times. Calero interests me as well, but Otsuka should be Omar’s primary target. The more people brought into camp though, the better. I really would like to give Prior a shot in the back end of the rotation rather than some of the other options available.
mench is a perfect fit to platoon with church, and im shocked this hasnt been mentioned
It has been over the last few weeks, along with Nady.
They need a good option for BU OF/1B, RH with some pop. Both these guys fit the bill.
I am not that comfortable with Easley serving that role, or having Easley or Anderson playing regularly in LF or 1B if hte need arises again.
And Gomez hopefully won’t be on the big club. He needs to play daily in AAA if he isn’t traded.
In the pantheon of Mets buzz words, “non-tender” belongs right there with skillsets and meaningful games. All because the Red Sox lucked out with Big Papi, the Mets tried to sell the entire fan base that you could build a team with non-tendered players such as Karim Garcia. What a dismal time in Met history. Better lately, no doubt, but still not the team we would like to see on the field.
What if Santana is on the list? Just asking as appearing on the list will have different relevance to different players based on fan favorites, contract status, etc. Odds on Hampton being on it?
I think Wilkerson is probably a better addition overall than Mench, no?
Better player no doubt!, problem is hes a lefty and now w/
both church and endy no room, wont happen.
I believe Wilkerson is LH and would serve no purpose on the bench.
I’m still thinking of including Church in the deal for Johan and bringing in Wlkerson for RF.
Brain freeze . . .
If the Mets are interested in that Jason Marquis for Endy Chavez trade, then they should pick up Jason Tyner from the Twins’ non-tender list. Tyner would replace Chavez in the mix - and they really are the same player (except Chavez has more pop in his bat).
Come on!, Dude!, What ? Did you just copy my posting
from yesterday?
No, if Endy goes he will be replaced with the right handed hitting platoon player out there with Church. If the Mets want one for out there Endy has to go or we eat Easley’s contract. Simple as that.
I’d look at Otsuka, Mench, Prior and Towers out of that group.
And Calero.
Please Minaya at least pick up Mench for righty pitching and Otsuka for our BP that needs serious help as of now
Prior Prior Prior Prior Prior Prior Prior.
Prior?
Prior.
GET HIM.
I like Otsuka’s history, but I wouldn’t want to pay for it, because his elbow is questionable. Actually, it’s more than questionable, it’s very suspect. When a pitching starved team like the Rangers wouldn’t keep him for a lousy 3 million contract, you know something is wrong. This same Ranger team, by the way, that wouldn’t pull the trigger on trading Otsuka at last year’s deadline. And now they just non-tender him? Talk about a red flag. And by the way, Otsuka’s 36 now. I thought the idea for the off-season was to make the team YOUNGER in our acquistions?
If you’re going to take a gamble, make it for Prior or Freddy Garcia. That would be better money spent at the back end of a rotation come June or July than 10 million per year on the likes of a Silva or Livan Hernandez. At least Prior or Garcia can reattain ace status once more, wheras Silva and Hernandez will not turn into aces, period.
As for relievers, I’d target Calero. Even Matt Wise wouldn’t be a terrible alternative, but Calero is better.
You have nothing to lose, except that other teams will want him, and may guarantee him more than the Mets will.
To what extent are you willing to ‘take a flyer’?
I think I’d rather they take a flyer on Garcia in that scenario. Both he and Prior won’t be available until June at the earliest, and that will be just around the time Duque takes his annual one month vacation.
I think Garcia would be relatively less expensive and more durable over the long term (if he turns out to be a nice surprise).
Both big gambles BUT Prior has MUCH higher upside!
the only problem with prior, and i totally agree i think hes a gamble worth taking, he wont be able to go from the start of the season