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During an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter last night, ESPN.com’s Tim Kurkjian said that, while it is still a three-team race, he believes that Johan Santana will eventually be traded to the Yankees, ‘since they have made the strongest offer.’
…well, i certainly hope the Twins trade santana to whomever makes the strongest offer…i just hope they eventually see the 
Mets as having such an offer…
…that said, it is amazing to me just how quiet things are on the santana-trade front…
…honestly, i have not heard much, nor asked much for that matter…i find that when things get down to it, and real dollars are on the line, comments from insiders are even harder to interpret than usual…so, it’s often easier to just sit back and let the narrative play out…
…however, if i had to make an educated guess – emphasis on the word guess – this is what i believe is going on…
…the Twins want to trade santana before spring training, and santana would like to be traded before spring training…the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets have let the Twins know what they are each willing to part with…however, the Twins would like to acquire a ready-for-action, major-league player in the deal, such as Jon Lester or Phil Hughes, a) because they’d like a semi-instant return on the deal, but b) because it will be easier to sell the fans on parting with johan if such a player is starting for the Twins next season…
…the problem is, a) the Yankees no longer want to trade hughes, b) the Twins are not all that enamored with the Red Sox package, otherwise they would have sent them santana by now, and c) the Mets do not have any major-league ready talent to trade, which is why adding Fernando Martinez to their rumored four-prospect package is no guarantee to wrap this up…i keep hearing people say, “Just add Fernando and be done with it,’ but adding martinez will not get the Twins any closer to that major-league ready player…which is why we keep getting radio hosts and random reports suggesting Jose Reyes must be involved…because, if the Mets want to drop the hammer and end this, that’s what it will take, i.e., a major-league ready player…of course, as we know, that’s never going to happen…
…however, at some point, the Twins will have to make a decision…especially if santana forces the issue…
…and so, the Twins are in hiding as they take one more look at what the Mets are offering, and decide whether they absolutely must get that major-league ready player or if they can live with and sell a collection of minor-leaguers…at the same time, santana and his agents are quiet, as they decide how best to encourage a deal, while getting him the most money from his new team, all while helping the Twins get the most back in a trade…meanwhile, the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets have made their case, some more aggressively than others, and they’re sitting quiet while waiting for the Twins to call…
…lastly, the Mets are hoping santana calls the Twins and says, ‘Trade me now, preferably to Queens,” as it will give the Mets all the leverage in a trade, and more or less guarantee they do not have to part with Fernando Martinez…
…again, the above is a ‘guess,’ but it’s a fairly educated guess, and i would not be surprised to learn i am more right than wrong…
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What are the odds that this thing is wrapped up one way or another by Feb. 1st? I mean, that would give the guy two weeks before pitcher’s and catchers.
it’ll probably play out AFTER the super bowl. It’s the biggest sporting event in the world, and a story lik Johan comin to NY would be pretty big too. Plus since the NY giants are playing in the world’s biggest event, if they lose, it’d be a nice back cover distraction lol
I doubt Omar or Smith care much about this being overshadowed by another sporting event, and I don’t see Selig being able to keep a lid on any deal that could transpire at any time.
I don’t buy into this whole “major league ready” crap. Millege was the major league ready talent and according to these same sources he wasn’t going to make a difference for the Santana trade. What are they looking for? Jose is not “major league ready” – he is a prennial all-star. If the twins are looking for an all-star, that’s another story – simply “major league ready” is not the case. They are simply evaluating talent, and some have a higher ceiling than others, nothing more nothing less.
CHurch is probably the closest thing to what they mean by ML ready. Still early in his career, so relatively cheap and under control, but not yet a “star”
Unless they really mean a prospect that should be in the show, like Milledge. And Lester, Ellisbury and Hughes are all no more ready (if even as proven) as Lastings was.
I dunno, the trade for Gary Carter was announced during the Superbowl, so you never know.
Didn’t a player announce he was becoming a free agent during the World Series once?
Yes…I seem to recall that. Who was that guy? Some scrub I think.
exactly, and if the yanks try and surprise us and make the trade, dont be surprised if hank does it on sunday, to dring attention to him and not the giants
In other words, look for Santana to open the season on the mound for the Dodgers.
ding ding ding!
We have a winner..
Just the like no one will pay Zito more then us right?
You don’t think some team is gonna wake up and be like wow.. we can have the best pitcher in the game today??
Nope.
I’m with you. This is really primed for another team to fly in and get Santana, and from what we here the Dodgers have a bunch of major league ready players in their system. So, one is laying low in the weeds ready to pounce on and make a deal. Just look at the Marlins and Tigers. Tigers came out of no where to get Willis and Miguel Cabrara. Cabrara was rumored to be going the Angels by almost everyone.
We are all set up for that to happen, if something doesn’t happen soon.
I truly hope it doesn’t, but it is beginning to take on that feel.
Make a move, Santana make the call, something go in our favor.
You guys are forgetting that Santana has a 100% no trade clause. He has probably provided a very short list of teams that he will agree to be traded to. There will be no last minute swoop in. The deals that are on the table are the deals that are on the table.
Maine and Gomez for Santana: Would they take it?
Would you give it up?
No … I don’t think I would b/c Maine, while not as good, will be much cheaper.
On another point, I know he’s going to be solid, but doesn’t this come down to Hughes being better than Gomez? I mean, I’m not sure Hughes is really any more “major-league-ready” than Gomez and Pelfrey. Gomez will hit about .250 and play great defense and steal about 50 bases and score 75-100 runs and look like a future all-star fringe player if he starts, and Hughes will have about a 4.5 ERA and look like he’ll be a future franchise pitcher stud. It’s not the he’s more ready – it’s that he’s better.
I mean, with the Mets’ deal, the Twins could literally land a 4 and 5 starter (Mulvey and Humber) a starting CF and a stud pitching prospect. Three guys on opening day. That’s pretty major-league ready to me.
AMEN! More sense than I’ve seen or read anywhere all off season, thus far.
I think it comes down to Hughes being a pitcher and Gomez being an outfielder more than who’s the better prospect. Like everyone in here has been saying it’s easier to find a outfielder in free agency than to find a stud pitcher.
- No
- Yes
ugh. Cerrone. come on now. The yankees do have the better offer. At this point, you have been running the same article for 3 months now. Either the Red Sox or the Yankees are providing a package that includes major league ready talent. One of the most respected baseball analysts has said so…in fact, pretty much every baseball analyst has said so. While I respect your bright eyed optimism, it is getting a little old. Also, when the pitcher himself, Santana, has come out and said he has no favorite team to be traded to, why do you continue to run op-ed pieces that say that Santana wants to be traded to the Mets. This is all getting a little sad.
Well, he has his sources, and so forth, but I agree that the chances of Santana actually going to the Mets are neck and neck with John Maine’s chances of hitting double digit home runs.
OK, not that bad, but I will be very surprised if we reel him in. As fans, we have to assume we’re headed into battle with no further reinforcements.
Santana hasn’t publicly stated a preference, but he’s been very safe in his public statements. He also said he’s fine with opening the season as a Twin, in which case, why didn’t he just sign the extension the Twins offered him last year?
He doesn’t want to hurt Minnesota’s ability to get a good package for him, which he would if he said “trade me to this team and only this team”.
“He also said he’s fine with opening the season as a Twin, in which case, why didn’t he just sign the extension the Twins offered him last year?”
Because opening the season as a Twin and making his $13mil or whatever for 2008, then signing a lucrative contract on the open market, say 7 years for $140 minimum, would mean one year with Twins and 7 more with his new team (of choice!) for a total of 8 years, $153mil.
Signing the extension the Twins offered gives him $80mil over 5 yrs, and he has to stay in Minny the whole time.
I honestly think either Santana wants to go to the Mets, or the Sox and Yanks are not truly interested in Johan so much as they want to keep him from going to their rival, or both.
I would think that, if the Yanks or the Sox were aggressively pursuing Santana, we would be hearing about them constantly. Instead, there’s been absolutely no news from either team on that front since the Winter Meetings (other than Hankenstein opening his big fat mouth every other week).
If the Mets being in the mix is merely a ploy to get either the Sox or the Yanks to bite, it hasn’t worked. Neither of them has given any indication they want to step to the plate on this.
I could be wrong, but if Santana was going to either the Yanks or the Sox, I think he’d already have been traded by this point.
If / When he ends up in a Yankee uniform, I can only imagine what this site, the newspapers, etc are going to be like. Mets fans will be enraged and depression will sink in.
Hope it doesn’t happen…
No, I will just root for him to spend 1/2 the year giving up gopher balls, then have to go in for TJ surgery!
Your right…they have the offers from the Yanks and Sox, they are just waiting for one of them to take the bait and offer one more player. This can be done by allowing them to think the mets have a good chance at this which that in itself may only happen if the mets get desperate and offer the farm.
I think if the mets did offer a 5 player deal with Gomez, Fernando, and Guerra at the top, the Twins couldn’t turn it down. No way. The prospects are better than in the other deals, they just dont have that one stud (Hughes, and Lester, but I can’t call him an ace)
Its a game of chicken, and the Twins are praying someone buckles…but they may be forced to buckle first.
How do the Yankees have the best offer when all accounts from Hankenstein indicate they have no offer on the table at all?
These are all phantom offers. This is the same article over and over. Wake me when the something actually happens. This is like watching grass grow.
I love watching grass grow on my frozen lawn.
even as a positive mets fan that last quote is a pretty dumb thing for ppl high in the mets to hope for. im convinced nothings changed in a while, we’re just spinning our minds differently around the same junk. they probaly should’ve taken the hughes, tabata, etc. package when they couldve, now it looks like that offer has diminished. sox barely seem to care. any deal with guerra and fernando in it should do it IMO
With all the attention being paid to the Santana-Bedard trading options, it’s surprising how little discussion has taken place as to how the Mets have gotten themselves into the box they’re in – their lack of major-league ready young ballplayers to trade for firmly established talent. Just looking back to last year’s off-season provides a real insight into the Mets’ current weakened status. Had Omar retained Bannister, Bell and Lindstrom and had they performed during the 2007 season in any way comparable to the way they did with their new teams, the Mets would be standing in a far more advantageous position than they a re now. They would have young, major-league proven players, including young pitching, which would give them far stronger bargaining in dealing with teams like the Twins, Orioles, and A’s. In short, Omar’s flawed moves last off-season have had a direct negative impact on their ability to compete during this off-season.
IF Bannister, Bell and Lindstrom all performed well on the Mets last year as they did on their new teams than fans would be killing Omar if he traded them to the Twins and chances are we wouldn’t have had the collapse we did and possibly could have won the world series. If we win the world series than fans would be happy with the current team and tell Omar to keep the prospects, we don’t need Santana to win. But we’ll never know how Bannister, Bell and Lindstrom would have performed on the Mets, they could have continued to be mediocre and the Mets would still be in the same position!
The problem with those trades is not really that Banniser finished 3rd in the AL ROY voting.. that Bell was dominant in the bullpen, and that Lindsdrom/Owens were productive…
it’s that omar got NOTHING back from them..
Burgos won’t pitch until 2009 and when he was pitching he stunk..
Vargas and Bostick have been unproductive..
and we cut Ben Johnson and Adam Bostick.. so there ya go…
It’s the fact that he didn’t improve the team, while trading away usuable players, that makes those deals so regretable.
Maybe Omar needs to borrow a crystal ball from someone here !
Here’s a shocker for ya’………..even the BEST GM’s have made their share of bad deals !!!
I think if you look at what Omar has done with this franchise (not just the major league club) on the whole you’ll find that he’s been pretty successful…..yes, I know he got to throw a bunch of money at Pedro and Beltran…yes, I know he’s made a few bad trades but he’s also brought us some very good players (see Endy Chavez, Sanchez, Ollie, Maine) who, although are not superstars, are the types of players that contribute to winning ball.
As for Santana, you can’t force the Twins to trade him to us….you can only entice them with the best package you are able to offer THAT FITS WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR. If Omar is indeed playing a game of chicken with Bill Smith by holding Martinez out of a potential deal then I agree 100% with him…I think the parts we are offering them are substantial and we should not part with any more than is necessary to get this deal done.
Just my opinion
Vargas and Burgos are young.
Vargas is younger than Humber and Pelfrey; Burgos is younger than Joe Smith. Vargas absolutely dominated AA-ball, though he’s had trouble since then. At every level, Burgos was among the youngest players–if not THE youngest–in the league.
I’m not saying they’ll be good, but can we agree that the jury’s still out on these two?
Wow.. easy there fella.. I was just saying you can’t use those trades to compare to Santana, because in the Santana trade we’re getting back a usuable piece.. if one of those stinkers had worked out.. or given us something to use.. well people wouldn’t be all over him..
He also didn’t help his cause with the Milledge trade which made us the laughing stock of the off season..
If you wanna debate Omar’s record.. all you can hang your hat on is Maine and Ollie.. who he tried to trade the same day he got him..
Sure Endy is nice.. Sanchez pitched a good half of season.. but over all the jury is def out on his work…
If he’s playing a game of chicken.. all we need is a 4th team to come along and take Santana…
I personally think he’s being very foolish.
I agree with everything you said, except the last part. If the rumor about F-Mart putting the deal over the top is true you have to, at this point, figure something out. Whether that means getting a lesser prospect back, or exchanging Guerra for Jon Neise, something where Smith comes away looking like the winner, getting his man, but we are actually meeting halfway. Then if that doesn’t work I’m, afraid to say, we should be the one who blinks.
Meal Ticket.. sure.. the jury can be out.. but I’ll counter with.. how the heck are we not trying to win a world series in 2007…
So why are we trading away guys who can contribute very well NOW like Banniser, Bell, and Lindstrom.. for guys who we have to wait to contribute..
I think Omar though he was getting at least a few good pieces for 2007.. not beyond…
Omar buys a lot of lottery tickets and once in a while hits, because he has a decent nose for talent. However as a GM he gambles a bit too much on penny stocks, giving up low ceiling guys like Bannister (who let’s be fair, will likely not progress much further) for a guy who could have been a superstar, but was more likely a dud. It was almost the same thing with Benson — he got back Julio and Maine — two lottery tickets. One hit and now he is a genius.
I guess some mathematician should come up with a value system on low ceiling guys vs high ceiling risks and figure out how Omar has done with all his $1 longshots.
Baseball America would disagree with you about Bannister.. and after the endless march of back end starters we put up in 2006.. I think he might made up for those 2 games were short.. compare his record to Vargas, Dave Williams, heck even Pelfrey.. all we needed was 2 games…
The Royals top 10 was posted today.. here’s their quote on Bannister:
“Four rookies who should be cornerstones for their future successfully made the transition to the big leagues in 2007. First-round picks Billy Butler and Alex Gordon had steady debuts and should anchor the middle of the lineup for years. Brian Bannister, stolen from the Mets in a trade for Ambiorix Burgos, won 12 games, while Joakim Soria, a Rule 5 draft coup, earned 17 saves.”
So.. one of the top talent evaluation sites in the world just called Brian Bannister a corner stone.. that’s a pretty far cry from a “low ceiling guy”
I know the crux of your arguement is that every GM misses.. and yes of course… but it’s kind hard to argue that Omar seems to loose a lot more then he wins.
And really.. someone find me proof that John Maine was the guy Omar wanted for Benson.. he wanted Julio.. he wanted Julio so much.. he traded for him twice.. except his name was Burgos…
Sure he says now Maine was who he targeted.. but I don’t remember that being the case when the deal went down…
But since this is a moot point.. Omar gets credit for Maine and Ollie.. and that’s really his legacy… he hasn’t “won the lottery” since
You obviously did not understand my post.
First of all, being called a cornerstone of the Royals organization and then stating he won 12 games hardly is a disagreement that he hit his ceiling (and I stated that he likely won’t progress much further).
Secondly, Maine was a lottery ticket. Yes, Julio was who he thought was more likely to hit, but Maine counts too. Do you think Omar included him in the trade because he didn’t think he could hit his higher ceiling?
Lastly, what I meant by figuring out a value system was to take the few hits Omar has made (Ollie, Maine, and Chavez, Duaner to a lesser degree) and value it out over the course of all his moves. Obviously you feel it’s not measuring up, which is fine.
“Brian Bannister, stolen from the Mets in a trade for Ambiorix Burgos”
This says it all. He was STOLEN!
As someone said, what was so bad about Omar’s trades last winter was the little value he got back for the players he traded. It was a net deduction of talent from our farm system.
And I completely agree with Mr. Metster who wrote:
Had Omar retained Bannister, Bell and Lindstrom and had they performed during the 2007 season in any way comparable to the way they did with their new teams, the Mets would be standing in a far more advantageous position than they a re now.
This is an important point. And that doesn’t even include Flores. We would have had a lot more chips for whatever trades they wanted to do if they had not made those bad trades.
Overall last winter was terrible for the farm system in that it got considerably weaker with the outflow of talent without any comparable inflow.
Because of that the organization really took a step back last year.
The trade with Baltimore was on hold because Omar insisted they include Maine. The trade for Julio would not have gone thru if they didn’t include Maine so Omar gets credit for stealing him the Orioles. And Peterson made Julio a prospect again in which we traded away for El Duque who was arguably our best pitcher for stretches last year so I think he gets 2 check marks for that trade! Burgos is a hard throwing closer type pitcher, you can teach a guy to pitch, you can’t teach him to throw it 100 mph. If he didn’t get hurt last year he would have been called up in september and would have a chance to make the team this year. Nobody knew Burgos would need to miss the next season because of an arm injury, if Burgos turns the corner in the next couple years under Peterson’s guide and becomes the successor to Wagner as a closer than everyone will say that was a great steal for the Mets!
Metsrule, that’s revisionist history. Omar has always loved Julio and was prepared to make the Julio-Benson straight up. But when work leaked out of that, he got a lot of flack in the press. Many were saying that was an awful trade. So he went back to the Orioles to ask for more and Maine is what he got back.
But the point is Omar was prepared to do that trade straight up for just Julio.
And the Mets are close on Erik Bedard. Don’t believe everything you hear.
Does anyone think that Milledge would have made a difference here seeing that Minny wants a “MAJOR LEAGUE” ready player involved?
I think its hard to argue, that keeping a talented player on your roster.. instead of trading him in for 2 bench players would certainly help overall…
I can’t see how selling low on a guy like Milledge helps the Mets effort to do anything…but I don’t know if there’s a direct link to the Twins and Santana.. probably not.
Im wondering how the Yankees have the strongest bid. They didn’t add Hughes so who must be in the deal. Wang?
I’m guessing that Kurkijan is referring to the Yanks’ deal that would include Hughes, but who even knows if Hughes has been offered. There are so many conflicting reports on what the various teams are willing to give up.
If the Twins had a deal that included Hughes, why haven’t they taken it yet?
My point exactly (see above).
exactly. Twnkies are probably are hoping the Yanks throw in Kennedy along with Hughes and Melky to maximize the value of Santana. But the Yanks won’t throw Kennedy in considering how expensive Santana would be when taking the luxury tax added to their payroll. That luxury tax may be $8 to $10 million more on top of his $20+ million salary.
With the added luxury tax the yanks payroll is going to be $220 + million if they bring in Santana.
Kurkjian is best left to his silly, random anecdotes. He’s more miss than hit with his rumors and such.
If he said he believes the Yankees offer is better, it doesn’t mean anything, IMO since the Twins are more interested in the Mets package.
If the Mets don’t wind up with Santana, the Mets will not be very good next year. Here comes another lost season.
Lost season, we had the best record in the NL for almost the entire year. Yes we collapsed but we haven’t gotten worse! Church and a healthy Chavez is better than Green in RF, Schneider is better defensively and only slightly worse offensively than Lo Duca, Pedro takes Glavines place at the top of the rotation, Alou had a fluke injury and missed 2 months, sure he’ll be on the 15 day DL this year but you can’t say he’ll be out 2 months again and when he played he hit and our bullpen gets reshaped with Sanchez coming back and we got rid of Mota. There is no reason we can’t win the East with the current roster!
see Sept 07
Wow, a refresing optimist on MetsBlog other than Cerrone? I thought there wasn’t any of us clear thinking people left. Do we all forget how good this team has been for the last few years? One good year and people turn into Yankee fans who expect to win the World Series every year or turn on the team.
How bout we get excited about the fact that baseball is a few weeks away from starting, and we get to watch and follow our team again?
you contradict yourself, man.
you say this is a good team and we should have optimism. you also say we’re like yankee fans because we expect the team to be good. you can’t have it both ways. the team is either good and you have the expectation that they will play well, or the team is mediocre and you have no expectations that they will be good or bad because they could be either.
now, i make the point with stats below, but come on, this team was not good last year. they had two good months (the first two of the season), and then they were mediocre (2 games under .500 from may to september).
last season was so brutal, i’m not that excited to watch this season begin if the results will be the same (and, really, what has the team done to give us hope that the results won’t?).
world series?
world series?
what world series did I miss?
thank you #41!
when you win four championships in five years, that’s something. when you (perhaps) over achieve to a 7th game of a NLCS, then have a mediocre follow up year, it hardly constitutes as prolonged success.
Charlie: We won 88 games last year, the phillies and Colorado came on during the last week and won 89 and 90 games respectively. Arizona had 90 wins and San Diego had 89 wins. Considering the Mets meltdown and yes they were very streaky but you can’t deny that they had the best record in the NL for almost the entire year. Here’s some stats for you, on Sept 11th, the records were:
Mets 82-62
Arizona 82-64
San Diego 78-65
Phillies 76-68
Colorado 75-69
Well looking at those stats the Mets had the best NL winning percentage out of the teams that finished a game or 2 ahead of the Mets in wins. Looks to me like the Mets were the BEST team in the NL. The two months that Alou missed are when we played .500 ball, we were above that when he played so optimism sets in saying if alou doesn’t miss 2 months, why is it impossible that this team could have the best record in the NL on sept 11th this year too?
Well, we must have been watching two different teams last year. Respectfully, you couldn’t be any more wrong. The mets were not even very good last year; they were mediocre for the majority of the season.
But, I won’t just criticize your comments without backing it up:
1) The mets were 16 games over .500 after two months. then, from June to September, they were a very average to below average 2 games under .500 (June: 3 games under; July: 1 game under; Aug: 2 games over; Sep: .500 even). So, to say that they were the best best team (i.e. best record) in the NL for almost the entire year is false.
2) Endy is a nice 4th outfielder, he’s not the messiah. Don’t expect much more than that from him.
3) Church and Endy will both struggle mightly against left handed hitters, so they probably won’t do much platooning in right field, so don’t expect them to produce what green did. In fact, Church’s numbers are just mildly better than Green’s (Church: .272 / .348 / .462 / 15 HR / 70 RBI; Green: .291 / .352 / . 430 / 10 HR / 46 RBI). Personally, i would have prefered to see what Milledge could do.
4) You make the error most make when sizing up Schneider’s offense, you forget the on base percentage comparison (BS: career .232 vs. PLD: career .338). Duca gets on base and Schneider, well, doesn’t. It’s as simple as that. Defensively, yes, he’s better, but how much better? We’ll see. But to say we haven’t taken a step back with Schneider is unfair – he’s an atrocious hitter.
5) Pedro is taking Pedro’s place. No one is taking Glavine’s place. To be fair, Pedro is taking the place of whoever took the 5th spot in the rotation, which on paper is a huge upgrade. But, the issue is, we don’t know what kind of Pedro we’ll have and for how long. You can’t go into the season banking on his health, so you can’t just assume he’ll replace Glavine’s 200 innings. And, while we are at it, who will replace Glavine for real? Right now, the answer is Mike Pelfrey. That could be a wonderful thing, or it could suck. Certainly doesn’t engender confidence.
6) Alou played 98 games in 2006 and 87 games in 2007. He played 123 games three years ago. He is a great hitter and a decent left fielder, but he IS injury prone and last year was NOT a fluke. You can ABSOLUTELY say he will be injured for two months again (and maybe more).
7) Yes, Duaner Sanchez coming back to form and staying healthy will definitely improve the pen. Can’t argue there. But, can we at least have a bit of healthy skepticism until he makes a meaningful pitch in the regular season before saying the pen is improved?
You better check your stats. Schneider’s career OBP is .323. Not .232. Where did you get that bizarre number from?
At any rate, his career OBP is not far off from LoDuca’s. Further, it was BETTER than LoDuca’s last year. Further, using career numbers to compare the two is useless given the fact LoDuca’s much older and his skills are fading fast and he’s no longer taking steroids.
At worst, Schneider is a wash with LoDuca offensively. I predict they will have comparable years next year from an offensive standpoint.
Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if Schneider ends up with a higher OPS than LoDuca in 2008 given LoDuca’s declining skills.
Schneider has also been pretty consistent with his OB% over the years, while Lo Duca’s went south last year and it makes sense that it is not a fluke. I’d rather have Schnedier in the 8 hole for 2008.
If Schneider can throw out base stealers or make teams hesitant to steal, than the amount of runs he saves on defense will compare to how many rbi’s or runs scored Lo Duca would have had on offense. In addition, the less runs scored the less runs this offense needs to get to win games so his defense is way more important to the overall success of this team than worrying about what production we will get out of our 8th hole hitter!
vcarver, have you never made a typo in your life? clearly that was typo.
i’m not advocating for lo duca, but to say schneider is going to be better is insane. come on, please.
Charlie, I make typos ALL the time. But the reason I didn’t think yours was a typo (I think you just misread it) was because of this: “Duca gets on base and Schneider, well, doesn’t. It’s as simple as that.”
From that it seems clear you think there’s a wide disparity in their OBP … so if you really meant to type .323 then saying that wouldn’t make sense. Because their career OBP is really just about 15 points apart.
At any rate, LoDuca is much older and is in decline. So yes, it’s easy to see where Schneider may end up with a higher OPS in 2008 than LoDuca.
Don’t forget 162 games with Castillo/Gotay/Stauche instead of 50 and 112 with just Stauche/Gotay
The same crap we’ve heard over and over again. Why does anyone think Santana will pressure the Twins to do anything, and why do we think he prefers to play in Queens? And even if he did put pressure on the Twins, why would that force them to do anything. He works for them, not the other way around.
I’m tired of hearing all this, it’s all nonsense. Please just let us know when something happens.
When a player has a full no-trade clause, and is angling for the biggest contract for a pitcher in the history of the game, he holds all the cards.
The fact that Johan hasn’t demanded anything yet with the thousands of rumors, and no long-term deal is a testament to his character.
I couldn’t agree more.
You make a decent point about Johan’s character (I would counter, though – What does his asking price, in terms of a new contract, say about said character?), but the no-trade clause really isn’t an issue here, because we all know he won’t nix a trade to any of the three teams interested.
My point was just that they don’t have to trade him, and if they do, they can choose any of these three teams without protest from him.
I give him credit for his patience – he’s apparently got more than I, though I suppose I would be more inclined to be patient if I knew that at the end of the road a HUGE payoff was in store.
Lets just sign Odalis Perez to a 5 year, 90 million dollar contract and be done with it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Given the way Young Hankenstein has been this offseason, they will acquire Santana… They will ante up, offer Huges and Melky (the Great) and get Santana… They’ll give him the contract he wants as well, they don’t give a damn about the Luxury Tax or anything… they just want to WIN…
I don’t trust them and I hate them but I see this all playing out in their favor, as I have since Day 1…
Remember, they were never going to talk to A-Rod if he voided his contract…
In retrospect, did we unload Milledge too soon? Could he have satisfied the “major league ready” criteria? Or, had his value dropped that much last year that he became a non-factor in the Santana deal?
BINGO!
I thought I remember reading the Twins like (liked?) Church better than Milledge on MLB Trade Rumours back in the fall.
Forget this one man starting rotation;
Sign Loshe and Livan and offer OP a grand extension.
Let’s get with it and stop daydreaming.
As much as I like Kurkjian, it’s mostly for his comments about games and players on Baseball Tonight. He never seems to have any real insights on trades, ala Gammons. So, I don’t give him one bit of credence on his statemen, especially since we have all seen the dilly-dallying of the Yankees with regard to Hughes (personally, if I were them, I wouldn’t trade Hughes.)
I agree with what’s been posted above about the Yankees and Sox dancing a preventative dance. I think Omar is playing this well- wait them out until they get antsy, then you can get him for a decent package, but not the 5 player package (meaning FMart) we’ve been hearing would “clinch” the deal. Personally, the Gomez/Mulvey/Humber/Guerra package would be fair value, given the quantity of pitching we’re giving up and potential. On the Mets side, we retain Pelfrey, FMart, Heilman and others.
I really do think we are going to get him. If so, I believe this makes us the team to beat in the NL East, and perhaps the NL as a whole. Plus, I like the “team” we have for ‘08— Schneider and Church are real team players, and are good fits for this bunch. I look forward to watching the Mets again, and if a certain #57 is patrolling the moung every 5th day, I say, “Watch out!”
MIght it be possible the two year deal with Endy could give the Twins the “now” centerfielder? Throw in some $$$ to cover that contract, along with Gomez, Guerra, Humber and Mulvey. We now have Angel Pagan as depth to replace Chavez…….
Endy is a nice player, but be honest, would you be happy if you were a Twinkie?
If your theory is correct….seems to be a very risky strategy for Omar…to sit and wait like he is….My guess is that we will wind up with either Livan, Bartlo or Loshe….which hardly inspires confidence going into 2008….after the biggest choke of all time. Maybe we can sign Jared Lorensen….he has a strong arm and totes around a few extra pounds….
Why dont the Mets just deal Fernando Martinez to a smart team willing to give up a more major league ready player, then the Mets could turn around and deal that Major league ready player to Minnesota to satisfy the Twins.
If the Twins want to sell tickets so badly and dont have interest in taking on a potential superstar, let another team have him instead. Just give us back a “major league ready” Outfielder who isn’t as good.
Wow, a three-team deal really would be great here. Who could that work with? Maybe SF, Fernando for Lincecum and then remove Guerra and trade Lincecum, Gomez, Humber and Mulvey for Santana. The Giants are said to have been looking for a power hitting OF in exchange for their stud, Lincecum. Although, if we can acquire Lincecum that easily, why not just trade Martinez for him andkeave it at that. that prepares us for the future and for now. I like that. Get on that trade Omar!
If I can get Lincecum for Martinez, than to hell with Santana. That puts this whole thing to rest. Lincecum is nasty and younger.
Pitching prospects are harder to secure than outfield prospects….ergo, the high ceiling types are much more valuable
wow, your one of those guys that calls into the Fan with unreal trades…
Martinez is a year or two away from the majors…Lincecum showed promise already…no way they make that trade without another prospect at least
We could not get Lowry straight up for Martinez.
That would be stupid on San Fran’s part.
They are extremely old, have no young hitter, and Martinez has a world of upside.
Their rotation has solid young arms, plus Lowry is garbage. a 4 era with 87 Ks to 87 BBs. Don’t know which of those numbers sucks more.
1 or 2 of 3 Things are Going on Here:
1) The talent is fine. Our prospects are plenty good enough. In fact, I’d take ours over Boston’s and think it’s comparable to the Yanks’ offer if you ignore the time to the major league of the players involved.
The problem is the extension. Johan wants to me a Met. We want Johan. The Twins want our prospects, or some combination of our prospects and a 3rd team (my guess is the As here).
The problem is Omar does not give more than 5 years. Johan surely wants more. Omar and the Mets brass is trying to be as creative as possible, while NOT providing a Zito-esque contract. Omar has great discipline when it comes to this.
2) A deal is already completed, and MLB is waiting to announce it during the Super Bowl, to steal headlines from the NFL, while also keeping all of us talking about baseball as we hope to score the best pitcher in the game.
3) The US government is using the steroid scandal and Johan sweepstakes to keep us distracted from the fact that we are currently in a corrupt war for all the wrong reasons and are about to spread this corrupt war to another country for more of the wrong reasons.
I kinda was thinking long the same lines as #3 with a slightly different spin. Twins are waiting until Clemens’ sits in front of Congress to trade Santana. It will be a nice distraction for the Twins when not receiving full value.
do you truly believe #2? I completely do not…
You need to get over 2 things -
The Mets offer is more quanity than quality. Their best prospect is years away in their offer. It’s really not a matter of opinion. And if I were the Twins, based on the over-evaluation of Milliege and his subsequent unloading for spare parts, I wouldn’t touch someone so interally hyped.
There is no evidence to support Santana wanting to be a Met – it’s just your hope. And even if it was true, it means nothing unless every deal hinges on working out an extension.
I predict this portrayal of being “involved” in talk without actually doing anything will backfire and cost Omar his job.
Oh well. Kris Benson is available.
Deolis is a 6-5 200 lb teenager who jus jumped in velocity from upper 80s to mid 90s. His best pitch is his change up, which is extremely rare for someone his age. Slider is a work in progress. Its not just Mets scouts raving about him. His reputation is growing throughout baseball. This was a highly touted prospect becuz of his projectability before he was in the mid 90s.
EVERYONE says Fmart is a stud. Omar discovered Sosa, Juan Gone, Pudge and Reyes. When he says Fmart is the real deal and signs him to a big bonus, people listen. Fmart has been injured. The couch GM looks at his numbers and are disappointed becuz they want to see 87 HRs, a .480 OBP and 135 SBs in double A at 18 yrs old. The rest of baseball stil thinks this kid is a stud.
Gomez has a great glove already and 80 speed. His hitting nad power are all projection right now.
Mulvey is solid. Nothing more, nothing less. I think everyone agrees on this.
Pelfrey is still a star caliber prospect. The casual fan doesn’t think so, but there are teams and scouts that still DROOL over his potential. As The Rick told us, once Pelfrey starts pounding the bottom of the zone consistently, we have a star on our hands. I say he turns into a Carmona/Wang type of pitcher.
FMart, Deolis and Pelfrey are VERY HIGH quality prospects.
Agreed on all points.
If we can get Johan without trading Pelfrey, I’ll be thrilled.
agreed…once Pelf gains confidence and trusts his stuff a bit more, he could be a stud along the lines of a Webb or Roy Haliday.
it’s george bush’s fault!
Omar 21… Please talk more about politics that you don’t understand you stup!d liberal stooge. Can you please also explain to us how Bush stole the election and that the US helped bring down the twin towers to spread war and facism. Do us all a favor and k!ll yourself. This is a blog dedicated to talking about baseball, more specifically, the Mets. There are plenty of other outlets for your drivel.
Sorry recoton,
first santa claus and now this. this world is not what it seems young man.
Seems that Omar21 made a joke… you seem to be the one talking about politics you don’t understand.
right, its SO CRAZY that the govt would fuel a war for the wrong reasons. THATS never been done before.
plus, YOU are jus the person to be able to identify the flaws in this hypothesis. like YOU know exactly what is going on in this war. U know things that bilions of people would LOVE to know but don’t, yet u decide to spend ur time on metblog.
see… he wasn’t joking kookie.. he’s just a mor0n… Omar.. talk about baseball, not politics. I have my opinions on the situation.. as you obviously do, I just choose not to spout ideology on a g0ddamn baseball blog.
Dude, i know all about the war… it’s an imperialist war (in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as any other country that threatens US hegemony), all about resources and subjugating the people of the third world to the whims of US policymakers and multinational corporations.
I only though you were kidding because it seems silly to think that people who are concerned about the war and such things could be distracted by something in professional sports as (relatively) inconsequential as steroid scandals and Johan are.
I’ve been an antiwar and anti-capitalist activist for some time, but I’m not distracted by baseball – I’ve got a better attention span than that.
Well, Heilman and Gotay are both major league players. Throw them in! Instant upgrade.
This whole leverage thing is tough to pinpoint. Sure, Santana has the leverage to block any teams he doesn’t want to go to.
But, as soon as a trade is nailed down and Santana says OK, let’s negotiate, it then becomes basically the same situation as Dice K last year.
The trade (posting fee) is between the 2 teams. The player is only involved with negotiating a contract. But, there is no FA competition. So, the player has 2 options. Take the deal offered, or go back to his current team.
I know there will be PR issues, etc. to face. But if the team says 6/120 is maxing them out, Santana’s team can’t hustle 7/150 out of some other team.
Not exactly. Dice-K had to accept or stay in Japan. Johan could conceivably nix a deal with one team and then negotiate with another one, if that other team was able to meet the Twins’ criteria.
True, but can yo uimagine the Twins GM actually pulling the trigger on 2 different deals?
Where has it ever been reported that Santana himself wants to go to the Mets?
Wow, the rich get richer. It looks like he’s going to the Bronx after all. It will truely be a great organizational coup for the Yankees to get Santana without giving up a single piece of their projected 2008 lineup. Well played Brian and Hank.
Omar, please wake up and make this happen….i am dying over here….how about heilman, gomez, guerra, mulvey, martinez and humber to twins for santana, nathan and a low level prospect…sell the farm, win now
yikes…don’t see that happening, but interesting
What makes Jon Lester so much more major league ready than Mike Pelfrey? It’s not like Lester has exactly lit it up for the RS.
Exactly. What we’re witnessing is simply media bias towards to the two most well known baseball teams in MLB.
If the Yankees had Chien Ming on the table that would be a totally different story. But Phil Hughes? Jezuz. What happens? You put on a Yankee cap, you have two really good games and suddenly you’re a baseball god that would induce the Twins to trade Santana? What am I missing? Someone please help me understand.
have you ever looked at their respective stats? you might find your answer if you do.
Whose repsective stats? Chien Ming Wang and Phil Hughes? Yes, I paid attention to both all season. I have a ton of respect for Chien Ming and no real opinion on Phil Hughes other than my belief that it is grossly premature to call him a star.
If the Yankees were offering Chin Ming and Melky, I’d say yes, they have the best offer for Santana. But they’ve only ever offered Hughes not Wang.
No dude, I was responding to the Jon Lester vs. Mike Pelfrey comment by metsrbest above your post.
Okay….I”m confused. If the Yankees are no longer willing to trade Hughes, then what is their offer?
Kurkjian seems to think he will end up with the Yanks, and I do to, but for who?
Wait…You think the Yankees will still get Santana even if Phil Hughes is off the table???
No – I am just saying what Matt is saying, and that is that Hughes is off the table. I think he goes to the Yanks because Hughes will be part of the deal eventually. Once the Mets make that push and add another player, the Yankees will spring into action. And it has more to do with spite then anything – or I’m just paranoid. I still believe to this day that the A-Rod pick up was done to embarrass the Red Sox, and it did….until they won the WS. Remember, A-Rod was a high paid short-stop, not a 3rd baseman. If the Sox did not try to pursue him first and fail, the Yanks would have been less interested. They had fun sticking it to the Sox, as they will sticking it to the Mets.
Of course….I hope I’m wrong.
go g-men
I think the Yankee’s are much more concerned with the R-Sox right now than they are the Mets. I think we concern ourselves with the Yankee’s much more than they do us.
I just have never bought the argument (or hype) that somehow Phil Hughes is an ‘08 all star, completely ready for prime time player that Twins fans would love to have instead of Santana. In fact, I’d bet that if you ask Twins fans whether they’d like a contingent of hot young prospects to rebuild with or a so-called star like Phil Hughes their response would be, “Wait…who’s Phil Hughes?”
Sorry, but outside sports columns, blogs and NYC, the world just does not revolve around the NY Yankees. Just because the NY based media has proclaimed Phil Hughes to be the new Roger Clemens, doesn’t make it so….
Put it into perspective. The kid had an impressive post -season game and a near no hitter in the regular season before injuring himself. His ERA for ‘07 was well above 4. This is not yet the stuff legends are made of. Let’s see what he can do for a whole season before we elevate him to “star” status.
Long story short: Mets have the best offer on the table.
I will pitch for the Mets for free. I LOVE NY!
Doesn’t everyone on here bash Jon Heyman? Anyways, for what it’s worth, I just read his new Daily Scoop article where he states, but also goes indepth, about how the Mets are the new team in the lead for Santana..along with other factors that will make the deal work to bring Santana to Queens..
Matt’s on track – but I don’t think he has the Twins perspective quite right…
Twins are building around Morneau, Mauer, Delmon Young and maybe Cuddyer and/or Kubel. They have plenty of young starters, headlined by Liriano (if he’s healthy) and Baker (if he gets more consistent). Boof seems to be headed to the pen, since he has trouble lasting 6 innings. He could be the next closer.
They’d love to keep Johan and have offered him $80 mil for a 4 year extension, but that wasn’t enough. They don’t want to commit more payroll to one player, as they want to keep salaries at 50-55% of revenue. Revenue will go up in 2010 with the new park, and they’re in good shape this year after losing Torii Hunter.
Only Mauer has a long term contract. They will go after Morneau and Cuddyer once they know what’s going to happen with Santana. If they were ready to throw in the towel on Johan, they’d get Morneau extended before his price goes up. He said recently that his interest in a long term deal depends on how he views their competitiveness long term. So if they trade Johan and don’t get much back, they essentially forfeit Morneau in a few years!
If you were Billy Smith, what would you do? You really can’t take a lowball offer. You can try harder to re-sign Johan and hope you can afford him. If he gets too expensive in a few years, you trade him then, while he’s under contract. He’ll be expensive and you still have limited taker options. You’d rather he go to the NL, and he loves to hit (career .257 BA, pretty strong for a guy who only bats a few times each year).
You could also wait for a major injury to a contender’s ace, which might happen. Or see who really needs him by the trading deadline this summer. In any case, he never walks as a free agent (my opinion).
You might also bundle him. Joe Nathan is probably available for the right price – anyone want one of the best closers to go with their new ace? Rincon can be had, he’s getting too expensive. But forget about Neshek or the other good, low price pitchers – that’s what they want to keep.
The Twins started out trying to fill holes at CF and DH, and improve offense. Then they created a hole at SS when they got
Young. They filled that with the best defensive SS but a weak hitter. 3B and 2B are adequate but could be upgraded. Plenty of corner OF. Still need a CF and maybe DH, and they’d like a proven starter to match with the kids (especially since they lost Silva, if Santana goes).
If they can’t get the CF and SP, they have to get a great group of prospects – or lose Morneau. Then there’s not a lot left to rebuild on, expect a few young pitchers.
I won’t talk about the Mets needs and wants – you all know those. The real question is whether this is the year we have the best shot at winning it all. If yes, get Santana. Otherwise, keep the kids and try again in 5 years!
I haven’t read all 100 comments, so this may have been mentioned.
The Twins put individual game tickets on sale this Friday night. I don’t know how their season ticket sales have been moving, but certainly the Twins fans have heard nothing but talk of Santana leaving.
Any chance that the Twins make a move shortly after the initial surge of individual game tix go on sale?
Hypothetically, what package would it take to get Johan if the following were in it?
Maine? Would something like Maine, Gomez, and Mulvey be enough?
Perez? Would the Twins even want him? I think his trade value would be lower than his value to the Mets this year.
Heilman and Chavez? Would that take the place of Martinez or Gomez? Heilman, Chavez, Gomez, Mulvey, Humber?
Church? He can play CF for them this season and could platoon with Cuddyer in the future. Church, Gomez, Mulvey, Humber?
I am not saying I would do any of these but would any of them increase our chances of getting Santana? I do not think that the 5 for 1 is a good deal for the Mets. Not when you could most likely make 2 trades with 3 prospects each and get 2 midrotation starters.
Here is an example
What if you could not get Santana but you make the following 2 trades
Blanton for Heiman, Gomez, Mulvey
Lowry for Humber, Neise, Smith and a prospect?
You would still have Pelfrey, Guerra, and FMart.
Rotation
Pedro, Maine, Perez, Blanton, Lowry would easily be the best in the NL and woudl have 4 young pitchers for the future assuming we resign Perez. Plus the fact that those 4 pitchers would be incredbily cheap compared to market value. Perez would be the only one making market value, thus you could go out and get a #1 if you needed after the season. Pelfrey could mature in AAA and would most likely be needed to spell Pedro some.
I could live with opening day Citifield being Maine, Perez, Blanton, Lowry, Pelfrey?
I could live with those, or even switching out one of those guys with an Ian Snell or Matt Cain. I’m hoping Omar is in trade talks with other teams and the front office doesn’t have the same Johan or bust thinking a lot of fans seem to have.
Matt,
Do a story about the fans who constantly b1tch on this site, like every other team in the league is out there signing up aces left and right. Remind these fools that it wasn’t that long ago that Bobby Jones was our ace, Mo Vaughn was our 1B, Derek Bell was our most feared outfielder, etc.
All we’ve gotten the past few years is the best CF in the game, the best pitcher that ever lived, 2 26 yr old STEALS via trade in our rotation who are both HUGE fan favorites, the best young 3B in the game, the best young SS in the game, the best lefty closer in the league, an all star 1B who is one of the most respected personalities throughout the game, Moises Alou, the top 2 international prospects of 2006, Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Gomez, Duaner Sanchez, Endy Chavez, a new stadium, a new television station, a new broadcasting team which ROCKS, a 300 game winner, the 1st NON-Atlanta NL Eastern titel in 15 yrs and a great coaching staff.
Don’t forget other fan favorites for real Mets fans like Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano and Xavier Nady.
Any fan who complains about the current state of the Mets, is basically waving a flag that u are a noobie Mets fan. The rest of us that toughed it out during the 90s, are ECSTATIC about where the team is right now.
It ROCKS to be a Mets fan right now.
WOW.. all I can say is Bravo. This is obviously the most over the top true blue mets fan that every lived. Can we see Jose play one full season greatly before we proclaim him the messiah? Can we make the playoffs in back to back seasons for the second time ever before we anoint Omar and Willie the kings on Queens? Is the state of the fan base so miserable that we can hoot and holler for an organization that has the worst collapse in the history of the sport and then raises the ticket prices while shedding payroll and not making any aquisitions? Can we act like a big market team and not keep scratching lottery tickets trying to piece together a winner and actually just acquiring ML talent? Despite what you were taught, losing doesn’t build character.. it builds losers and you certainly are the proof of that. Take off the Mets glasses and drop the Kool-aid, its embarrassing.
All things considered, you’re right on most of these things. We reserve the right to demand better than last year, but compared to where we were during the lonely 90’s, going with what we have now at least puts us in contention. Even if we go with Pelfrey as our number 5, and no Johan trade is made, I still think we have the best team in the NL East.
But tell me… when did the Mets get Sandy Koufax?
Mtt, keep up the great work…we love this blog….let the haters hate (prob a bunch of pent up yankee fans, anyway) …..
now back to the discussion……..it doesn’t really matter what we think, but to set few things straight: JOHAN is the one with the most leverage in this mess. the GMs ultimately cal the shots on whether or not to consumate the deal, but the deal never reaches preliminary status without JOHAN’s blessing….he has no trade clause and could just say “eff it! I want to test free agency next winter” and thus veto any trade. Until he tightens the screws we will all be wondering what deal would get the twins to bite….once he asserts where he is willing to play, he will set a deadline (prob prior to ST) to have a deal done or he will just wait it out…..if it gets to july, he will be compelled to veto any deal and file for free agency (of course there could be a three month rentaloption ala randy johnson to astros, but i doubt that)…why go to a new team for three monthws????
i would love to have johan as much as the next guy but maybe bedards the better option here… comparable numbers,bit cheaper in the long run, and i dont get why the mets are offering gomez, guerra,humber, plus others but we only offer gomez ,humber, heilman for bedard
I don’t trust Bedard to stay healthy enough to pitch a few full years in a row. At least Johan has the hopes of doing that.
Just keep this in mind…
The New York football Giants are in the Super Bowl with a team that “experts” said may go 5-11. Sometimes sports surprises you, sometimes teams click, sometimes what you think wouldn’t be enough in fact can be. Now I’m not saying the Mets will win the NL East or that the G-Men won’t be the next sacrificial lamb to the juggernaut Patriots, but I say if we don’t land Santana, so be it. Let’s let the kids ride it out and let the “chips” fall where they may. If a projected 5-11 team can do it, then so can our beloved Mets.
Go Big Blue and Go Mets!
Santana has 2 Cy Young awards. Bedard has none. They’re similar in age.
Omar has made this off-season’s goal acquiring an ace because that is what this team needs. Bullpens are a crapshoot and he has developed an extremely well balanced lineup. IMO if Omar can swing this deal it makes the Mets NL favorites and points towards a great World Series with the Sox.
Why do you continue to read what you consider “garbage?” Just skip ALL Santana posts and their comments from now on. Are you a masochist?
Obviously, many of here don’t feel the same way you do and appreciate Matt’s frequent updates. We want him to continue to provide them.
The Twins would have much rather have had Young than Milledge and would not want both. I am sure that Omar checked in on these issues and I would be that the O’s nor the Twins wanted Milledge.
WOW! Matt is the bad guy here? The proof that he knows what he is talking about is that: THE DEAL HASN’T BEEN COMPLETED YET…………….DUH.
What is this HOSTILITY about? Frustration? Yankee-ism? Anti-Met vitriol?
Thanks Matt for a great blog that makes my day every day. Ignore the negative chatter. A vast majority recognize the great job you are doing.
“I wonder how you will spin it when Minaya fails to land JS and the Mets enter the new season without making a singler major change or upgrade whilke at the same time throwing away Lastings Milledge on junk?”
Right, because every other team in MLB is just scooping up the aces and former Cy Young winners left and right?
All we’ve gotten the past few years is the best CF in the game, the best pitcher that ever lived, 2 26 yr old STEALS via trade in our rotation who are both HUGE fan favorites, the best young 3B in the game, the best young SS in the game, the best lefty closer in the league, an all star 1B who is one of the most respected personalities throughout the game, Moises Alou, the top 2 international prospects of 2006, Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Gomez, Duaner Sanchez, Endy Chavez, a new stadium, a new television station, a new broadcasting team which ROCKS, a 300 game winner, and a great coaching staff.
Yep, the Mets brass SUCKS!
Am I a masochist? I am a Mets fan.. isn’t that synonymous?