Daily Archives: January 26, 2008
In a post to the outstanding Baseball Musings, 
David Pinto takes a statistical look at the Mets offense, plugs in numbers to some fancy calculator, and predicts…
“New York remains a good offense. The interesting thing is that David Wright emerges as the only offensive superstar on the team. Every one else, with the exception of Brian Schneider, puts up good numbers…If the Mets want to move up offensively, however, they need Beltran or Delgado to perform at their highest levels…That would give the team a lot more oomph behind Wright.”
In the Bergen Record, Bob Klapisch agrees with his colleague, Steve Popper, in that Mets GM Omar Minaya must do whatever it takes to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins.
According to Klapisch, while the Mets, Yankees 
and Red Sox remain in the dark, the Twins continue to hope that the Yankees will change their minds and once again offer Phil Hughes.
However, in Newsday, Yankees GM Brian Cashman had the following to say yesterday, while speaking at a lecture with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein …
“My strong recommendation is that we stay with our young pitching staff, keep it in house. I’m married to that process. I want to see that through. I hope our ownership and fans can sit through what might be some growing pains.”
…yes, brian, great plan…keep hughes…sit…now move aside…
According to the report, “The response drew the loudest applause of the two-hour discussion – including a smiling clap from Epstein”
Lastly, in his blog for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark breaks down the Santana talks as well, writing…
“So while the Yankees and Red Sox backskate away from the deals they almost made, the Mets have obviously decided there’s no reason to sweeten this pot. What they’re telling the Twins, essentially is: ‘This may not be what you want – but it’s better than two draft picks.’”
In the Baltimore Sun, Jeff Zrebiec quotes O’s LHP Erik Bedard as accusing his team of a) not trying very hard to trade him, and b) not trying very hard to sign him to an extension.
According to Zrebiec, the O’s and Mariners continue to discuss Bedard, ‘with talks centered around Adam Jones.’
In a post to MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes has a long talk with Royals RHP Brian Bannister, who was traded to Kansas City by 
the Mets during last off-season.
Bannister, on his reaction after being traded to the Royals…
“As baseball players, all we want is an opportunity to play. I don’t know what plans the Mets had for me in 2007 before the trade, but I knew that the Royals wanted me to step up and be in the starting rotation right away, and that’s all I could ask for. The Mets will always be very special to me…I have a lot of respect for the Wilpon family and the way they run their organization, the coaches that made sacrifices for me, and the fans that supported me.”
In 27 starts for the Royals last season, Bannister was 12–9 with a 3.87 ERA, though he struggled in September going 1–2 in five starts with a 7.30 ERA.
…for the record, i wrote the following on the day that Brian Bannister was traded for Ambiorix Burgos…
…i am disappointed to see bannister go…however, the Mets have a lot of bannister’s at this point, be it John Maine, Oliver Perez, Philip Humber, or Mike Pelfrey, i.e., young, very promising starting pitchers…what they do not have is a collection of strong, power-arms in the bullpen, and burgos is just that…in other words, the Mets traded from strength to fill a weakness…and i am cool with that…
…also for what it’s worth, you’ll be hard pressed to find a fellow blogger who was overtly passionate about seeing bannister go…frankly, i liked bannister, not only because he is into photography, like me, but because i always admired his poise and pedigree, two things that can never be underrated when staffing a team in new york…that being said, there is no way to know that bannister would have duplicated his impressive stats from the last-place Royals here in new york, for the Mets, in a ridiculously wild, pressure-packed pennant race…personally, i suspect he would have done fine, but who knows…
…in hindsight, this trade is not helped out by the fact that burgos has been nowhere to be found…he underwent Tommy John surgery in late August and has been off the grid ever since…
In late October of last year, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that Burgos will likely miss most of next season, though it’s possible he could pitch towards the end of the year.
In a Q&A with the Daily Herald in Chicago, columnist Scott Gregor 
writes that the White Sox could turn to signing free-agents Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia.
According to multiple reports, the Indians, Mets and White Sox had been scouting Colon, but all three teams backed off their pursuit in recent days.
…i’ll gladly take Livan Hernandez instead, thank you…if for no other reason than he’ll be ready on opening day and can be counted on the most…i’m not sure he has the biggest upside, but the Mets need to acquire stability, not a gamble, and livan is more stable than garcia and colon…
…in case you missed it…
According to Tracy Ringolsby in the Rocky Mountain News, the Mets are ‘close to a deal’ 
with free-agent RHP Livan Hernandez.
…by the way, i keep getting e-mailed a link that states the same information on MLB.com…please note that this link simply sources the exact same Rocky Mountain News report that started this rumor in the first place…
…as i wrote during the Winter Meetings, there had been lots of buzz coming from Nashville suggesting that the Mets are seriously considering hernandez…
At that time, MLB.com reported that the Nationals might be willing to give a two-year deal to Hernandez, who had been seeking a multi-year contract.
…back around new year’s i wrote that i expect the Mets to sign a guy like Bartolo Colon or Freddie Garcia…i also wrote that Lohse and Livan Hernandez may be severely overblown, unless one of the two pitchers is willing to accept much less of a commitment than they’re demanding…
…so, assuming tracy is correct, the questions becomes: how many years will the Mets guarantee to livan…
The 32–year-old Hernandez has pitched in more than 200 innings during each of the last eight seasons.
However, his total innings-pitched has dropped during each of the last four years.
Last year he was 11–11 with a 4.93 ERA in 33 starts for the D’Backs, during which opponents hit .308 against him.
…the buzz in baseball, for a while now, has been that livan and his brother, Orlando Hernandez, have been wanting to be on the same team for years now, hoping to reunite before one or both of them retire…
Orlando is a free agent after next season.
…at the start of the off-season, i heard some rumblings that the Mets would keep an open mind about switching orlando from the starting rotation to the bullpen, because, at this point in his career, it may better suit his physical condition…if the Mets can acquire Johan Santana, also sign livan, and move el duque to the bullpen, suddenly a whole lot of issues get solved…at least in the short term…and assuming every one stays healthy…
…in case you missed it…
On Thursday, I was a guest on MVN’s The Pitch with Joe Aiello and Brandon Rosage, which you can listen to by clicking 
here.
During the 12-minute interview we discuss the NL East, the loss of Paul Lo Duca, the quest for Johan Santana, and trusting Billy Wagner, among other Mets-related topics.
