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Matthew Cerrone

inGame: Minaya On-Air during Game
By Matthew Cerrone - Mar 26, 2008 2:17 pm

Mets GM Omar Minaya joined Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling and Kevin Burkhardt in the booth during today’s broadcast on

According to Minaya, the decision regarding his team’s fifth starter will likely come down to the weekend, and be between Orlando Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey, Jorge Sosa and Nelson Figueroa.

By the way, Hernandez and Pelfrey will both pitch in tomorrow’s exhibition game against the Orioles.

Minaya is excited to see Joe Smith throwing the ball well and being aggressive, looking like the young pitcher did in the early part of last season.  Whether or not Smith makes the team, explained Minaya, may have a lot to do with whether Sosa is used as a starting pitcher.

Regarding the bench, Minaya sees Fernando Tatis as a ‘utility guy,’ who can play first, second, third and outfield.

Meanwhile, Minaya described Brady Clark as, ‘a pinch hitter who can play the corners.’

In the end, Minaya says that he values versatility on his bench, and puts additional value on any batter who hits right-handed.

100 Responses to “inGame: Minaya On-Air during Game”

  1. chicagometfan says:

    Based on what I heard from Omar I’m betting that Tatis makes the team

  2. NPerez says:

    What really stood out to me was when he said Pelf is “not over the hump”. Seems to me like an indication that he doesn’t feel he’s ready for the job.

    • RIPmurph says:

      You’d have to be blind to think that Mike Pelfrey is “ready for the job.” Good to know Omar still has his eyesight.

      • chicagometfan says:

        Note to Pelfrey Watch Parnell pitch and learn something

      • NPerez says:

        Oh, I never said that I personally thought he was ready, but with all the buzz stating it’s between Duke, Pelf, Figueroa, and Sosa, I think it’s safe to say Pelf is all but officially off the list.

  3. vitto79 says:

    I did’nt see or hear Omar but by the tone of the report it looks like to me that

    Smith is going to make the pen (which I am cool with)

    Sosa is going to get the 5th spot

    Pelfrey will head down

    Tatis will make it as the Righty bat 1B/RF

    But of course they could sign Vargas and deal for a Murton or Waiver pickup………………….Regardless Let’s just play ball

    • ravi3 says:

      Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurton!

      • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

        i really wish they would go after murton, too bad his name isnt murtinez.

        • therealsince86 says:

          Why do we keep with this crap? Is Clark, Schnieder, Church, Maine or Wagner hispanic? Are they not all acquired by Omar? Wait I remember they did switch ethnic groups right before coming to the Mets.

        • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

          geez, calm down its called a joke.

        • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

          you also forgot drafting eddie kunz and joe smith who also had to change their ethnicities before being signed. oh yea and billy wagner, he was a little harder to convince but in the end money talks.

        • therealsince86 says:

          It’s just an old joke, it’s not funny anymore. Why not talk about the Mets super prospect that throws 120 miles an hour? They are both just as relevant.

        • metzelaar says:

          What a tasteless, boring joke.

          Church, Wright, Schneider, Maine, Wagner, Wise, Schoenweis, Heilman, Smith, Clark, and possibly Pelfrey will make the opening day roster. Wake up.

        • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

          tasteless? your on a blog. its a joke, name one good joke that has ever been tasteful. you want intelligent debate go watch meet the press. some of you just take yourselves way too seriously, just use the mouse and scroll down.

        • Lightweis says:

          I’ll give it to HTWZ, Murtinez was funny because it sounds like Martinez.

          That and he’s a regular poster who contributes to this site daily. Everyone chill out.

  4. nyleetch2 says:

    values versatility and RH bat……unless his name is ruben gotay i guess (though its probably just willie’s preference and minaya is trying to keep him happy)

    Tatis over Gotay? look i know you sounded really skeptical matt, but we traded melvin mora, a guy who couldnt field great but had offensive potential for bordick – a guy with solid fielding and some decent hitting in his career. Bordick went on to play fine defense and not hit particularly well for us. Mora went on to be an all-star. Now we’re letting Gotay go (true, he might get through waivers, but what if he doesnt? The Nats carried jesus flores for a full year just to get him through the rule 5 there are more than a few bad teams…) and we’re gonna put in Tatis? It just seems awful familiar. Just like with Mora, Gotay doesn’t have to become a hall-of-famer for us to feel pretty stupid about this move.

    • StuckinGA says:

      Melvin Mora was/is juiced.

    • gowrightgo says:

      love the name leetchie

      Still got to disagree with you on Gotay. He may be sent out in the waiver wire and gone but we are not losing a world beater and this is nothing like the Jesus Flores thing which was just shocking. By the way…we are not in the position with a $140M payroll to simply keep a guy on it who can not solve needs for the team.

      I like Gotay and if we did not have Marlon Anderson and Chavez and Easly…I would be very unhappy. But the production we are likely to get from all of them is very good frankly and if Tatis is the guy who ends up taking Gotay’s spot…I will not lose sleep since he is RH and has pop in the bat (even if he K’s far more frequently than Gotay would)

      Free Gotay.

      He should have a chance at 25 to make a roster and be a starter if he can. I am pulling for him. But as a utility guy (25th man) on our roster…I am not going to lose any sleep if he is gone. ALso remember that Castillo is the 2nd baseman for the next 4 years so there is really no chance to for Gotay to find a starting role here.

      If he were able to be traded for anything…I am sure Omar looked to do that first. No takers means we waive him I guess.

    • Gina says:

      I’m pretty sure they can stop him from being picked up on waivers. I forget the actual terminology but waivers aren’t permanent at this point. I’m pretty sure they just put him on waivers because he’s out of options, so if he clears they can send him back down, and if someone does try to pick him up they can pull him off, and possibly work out some sort of trade if the other team is willing to give up something for him.

  5. Nate W. says:

    The Mets aren’t playing the Orioles tomorrow. They are going to Orlando however… sounds kinda similar I guess

    Thurs at Braves in Orlando: Oliver Perez? he wont be facing them opening week so I guess there is no reason to hide him…

    Friday at Orioles in Ft. Lauderdale: Duque and Pelfrey

    Sat against White Sox in Memphis: Maine

  6. paumanok says:

    I can’t believe Tatis is going to be on the Opening Day roster. Yet another former Expo to join the ranks of Schneider, Chavez, Pedro, etc.

    • chicagometfan says:

      Nothing wrong with Martinez or Chavez. so lets hope Schneider and Tatis do as well

    • sylvan says:

      He’s not all that old (33), his resume includes a superstar-type major league season (1999), and he obviously has some pop left in his bat because he hit 21 HR in AAA last year. Seems like exactly the type of scrap-heap guy you take a chance on.

      • MudvilleNine says:

        Didnt someone mention when we were talking about Humber that the PCL is a hitters league? That it has a lot of small ballparks which inflate a pitchers ERA. Wouldnt these same parks give hitters inflated numbers as well? I dont think we should give any credence to his New Orleans numbers.

  7. Nate W. says:

    man this Jorge Cantu guy is good… if only he had been available at some point in time…

    • MacD81 says:

      Cantu stinks. He had one good season like 2 or 3 years ago. Hell, he couldn’t even hold on to a starting job in Tampa Bay.

      • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

        no but the guy is right handed, can play 3 IF positions, and is alot closer to his last good year than tatis is…although thats a ridiculous statement bc tatis NEVER had a good year, he had 1 good inning.

        • Another Matt says:

          That’s a rediculous statement.

          R: 104 RBI: 107 HR: 34 BA: .298 OBP: .400 SLG: .553

          That’s a good year. (537 AB in case you can’t be bothered to look it up, which I’m sure you can’t or you wouldn’t be spurting BS like that)

  8. 7-train says:

    Tatis, seriously? Don’t Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley do all the things he does? I don’t understand taking him over Gotay.

    Gotay could be the Latino Tim Teufel. Pop off the bench, play second on Sundays and for the couple weeks Castillo will be on the DL.

    Why risk letting a guy like Gotay out of the organization? This is an old bunch of guys. Let the kid stay on the roster.

  9. stickguy says:

    sad as it is, for a spare part on the bench/RH PH/ 1B/3B/OF utility guy, with a bit of pop, Tatis is probably about as good as they are likely to find on the scrap heap, and he comes free. Might just work out, if Willie uses him the rigth way, and he is healthy.

    Only reall worry is not having a viable MI back up, but I guess Reyes will just have to be an iron man, and hope that Easley can handle a few spot starts.

    SO, Tatis is the 3B guy, Marlon/Easley/Tatis all play 1st, Easley 2nd, Easley 3rd, and plenty of OF guys (Pagan/Clark/Tatis).

    At least with Tatis, Easley, Endy, Castro, Anderson (assuming Clark or pagan starts, and the other goes down) , the bench has some versatility, I just don’t like the idea that Easley is going to be counted on to play the field that much.

    Man, if Tatis has some kind of rennasiance year (think Valentin in most of 2006), that would certainly help a lot.

    Of course, getting Murton would help a lot more.

  10. bigchart333 says:

    Joe Smith stinks

  11. Tim in LA says:

    Is Murton available? I must have missed that. He’s a guy I’d be happy to get rid of a lot people for. Any and all of Gotay/Sosa/Show/Smith/Pagan/Any-Minor-Leaguer-But-Fernando! Can he be had for any of that?

  12. mackey_sassers_arm says:

    What about putting together a really strong package to get a guy like Salty from the Rangers. He seems like we could play him 40-50 games behind the plate, 40-50 games at 1B this year, and next year have him take over one of those two spots full time.

    I know we would have to give up a lot to get him, but perhaps omar can look into it.

    • Saltzy23 says:

      You called…

      OH….you mean the one who actually plays the sport, gotcha…..

    • therealsince86 says:

      Fmart, Neise, and Pelfrey.

      • mackey_sassers_arm says:

        That seems a bit excessive… especially since The Machine is a better prospect than Salty is.

        How about something like Heilman, Neise, Kunz, and Carp?

        Would that be enough, too much? who knows.

        • therealsince86 says:

          No the Rangers view Salty as a super prospect it would take at least Fmart and Neise. Salty has proven himself in the ML’s and the only reason that he is not making the team out of ST is that the Rangers have Laird.

        • Gina says:

          They essentially traded Mark Texiera to get him. It would take either a package including either, an every day player, Martinez, or every player in our farm system not named Fermando Martinez.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          dude, if your career path is being blocked by gerald laird, how high can your team be on you?

          (like when milledge couldn’t unseat the immortal shawn green last spring when green couldn’t buy a hit)

        • therealsince86 says:

          The Rangers are paying Laird a lot of money. They will try and trade him if Salty hits well in AAA.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          Laird in ‘08 will make $400,000… in ‘07 he hit .224 with 9 HRs and 47 RBIs. He sucks.

          It seems that they demoted salty because they don’t like him for some reason.

          Has he recently released a rap album or high-fived fans in teh middle of a game?

        • therealsince86 says:

          Laird will make 1.8 million and the Rangers feel that his defense is valuable. They also do not want to just dump him and have had him available all winter but have not gotten the offer they want. I am guessing they will hold out a little longer. They did not like Salty at 1B and see him as the catcher of the future and want him catching everyday which is why he will not make the opening day roster.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          I may be wrong about the salary, I am just going by cbs sportsline. Either way, 1.8 mil isn’t a contract that would burden a team of Texas’ payroll.

        • therealsince86 says:

          You are right, it would not be a major loss. However, they don’t want to have him on the bench when they feel that he has trade value and someone will take him. Plus I don’t think they think Salty’s defense is ready yet. Either way I would think Texas would really be looking for pitching more than anything else and that is something we just don’t have.
          Of course if we could get him next season to play 1B for Heilman, Neise and a prospect then of course but I just think it will take much more than that.

    • Gina says:

      I don’t think there’s anyway we could get him without opening a hole somewhere else.

    • djm212210 says:

      He was the main piece in the Mark Teixera deal, it would take the whole farm system to get him and the Mets were reluctant to give FMART to the Twins for the best pitcher it baseball. That isnt going to happen

      • therealsince86 says:

        I don’t want to, I was just answering what it would take.

      • mackey_sassers_arm says:

        you may be overvaluing salty.

        • therealsince86 says:

          He was traded for one of the best 1B in the league. What in our organization do you think it would take? Neise and a bunch of nobodies. In our system they would ask for our #1 prospect and a pitcher with potential at least.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          prospects can gain or lose value quickly at this stage of their careers… Last year’s trade aside, you don’t think that Heilman, Neise, Kunz, and Carp would be enough?

          Tex was traded partially because they knew that they wouldn’t be able to lock him up long term.

        • therealsince86 says:

          Carp would not be needed, Kunz who knows and Heilman maybe. If you were the Rangers and knowing how difficult it is to find a young catcher who can hit, why would you not demand a team’s best prospect?

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          if you had a 24 year old catcher who you viewed as your catcher of the future and your team is not built to contend this year, why would you let gerald laird stand in his way instead of letting the kid cut his teeth in the bigs? That doesn’t make any sense to me. They weren’t afraid to play him last year, but now he is starting the year in the minors? that doesn’t seem right.

        • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

          i agree with both sides on this, i think it would take an awful lot to get him. but i also feel like if he was that good theyd find a way to get him on the big club. its not like they have pudge in his prime behind the dish. like someone said how good are you when a guy like laird is blocking you. im sure they could easily trade laird tomorrow if they wanted to just dump him and let salty play. theres definitely something up.

        • therealsince86 says:

          They don’t think his defense is ready, Laird is hitting better than Salty right now and they want to increase his trade value without having Salty sit around on the bench. They expect him to take over as catcher during this season but see no reason to rush him. Why not try and get a decent pitching prospect for Laird when a team’s catcher gets injured. As far as catchers go Laird is decent.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          oh come on… laird is garbage. he is probably on the same level as casanova, cancel, our bad molina, and the rest of these bums we have fighting for at bats in New Orleans.

          Nobody is giving up a prospect of any value for gerald laird.

          How about Joe Hieptas for Laird?

        • therealsince86 says:

          Laird is comparable to Schnieder really. A good defensive catcher with some pop. Has a good price. Like I said if they can’t get anything for him then they will dump him and Salty will be starting by the Allstar break

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          lets all settle down on this gerald laird bandwagon. last year was his only season as a starting catcher… 12 errors, 9 passed balls to schneiders 6 errors and 5 passed balls. Also had a .278 OBP… Just look at it this way, he was bad enough for his team to trade away thir only chip to find him a replacement.

          he is garbage.

        • therealsince86 says:

          You are right, he is not great but there are some teams that have worse. Besides, I think they envisioned Salty playing 1B this year and his defense was not good enough. Why make a big deal out of it. The Rangers value Salty incredibly high and as a 22 year old they are willing to let him develop defensively and be ready to be the starter by July.

      • Ryn5 says:

        Elvis Andrus > Saltalamacchia

        He was ONE of the pieces.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          alright, I am sold… let’s go get salty.

        • therealsince86 says:

          And then your pitching depth is who?

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          Basically the same as it is now. The ‘08 season will not ride on the arm of Neise.

          Plus, by letting salty play 1B in ‘09, we save boatloads of money and can use that to spend on pitching depth.

        • therealsince86 says:

          I am talking about the future which is when we would really need Salty. He needs to play every day so what would you do with Delgado or Schnieder. If you say just release them then this discussion is over with because you must be incredibly naive. If you did not use Fmart then it would take Neise, Parnell and Knuz or something to that effect. Do you really think that he’s worth it? I would love to have Salty but we are just not that good of a fit at all. Besides the Rangers could have put Salty at 1B but said they did not think his defense was good enough to play there and they wanted him to focus on catcher.

          You are just about impossible to ration with so, go ahead you go out and get Salty.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          The reason I am impossible to ration with is because you are making things up and passing them off as widely accepted facts.

          Like I said to begin this, Play Salty 40-50 games at C, and 40-50 games at 1B. What Texas thinks of his defense is irrelevant. Atlanta thought he was a decent defender at 1B. I would trust their scouts over Texas’ scouts based on past performance.

          You probably also thought that the mets couldn’t aquire Santana without trading The Machine. Every trade doesn’t have to include the top prospect. Some organizations may be more interested in aquiring 3 or 4 quality prospects over one huge prospect.

          But no, I will continue to be impossible to ration with as long as you continue to tell me that Gerald Laird is a viable option at Catcher.

        • therealsince86 says:

          Nope, completely different situation. The Twins had to trade Santana and obviously Santana wanted to be a Met. But because of the players we traded for Santana that does not leave us with much to trade besides Fmart. Completely rational thought process.
          And you want Salty a 22 year old to come here and play half the games at 2 different positions while the rest of the time he sits on the bench?
          Look, if you want Salty and the Rangers still have him in AAA then he would be someone you can try and trade for next season but for this season he would cost too much.

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          How many games to “every day” catchers play? 120-125? My strategy has him playing around 100.

          The twins didn’t trade johan to the mets because that’s where he wanted to go. he was traded to the mets because the twins liked the mets package better.

          Also, johan is perhaps a little better than salty.

          What am I missing here? Why don’t we need him this year? Don’t we need someone to spell Delgado and Schneider? Or should we just empty the farm for Nady or Thames?

        • Gina says:

          They liked our package better because the only other package on the table was the rangers, or the astros, one of those texas teams, and Johan told them he wasn’t very enthusiastic about playing for them, and since any trade would have required Santana to sign a long extension we were practically the only option.

          And you’re basically saying we should trade the few arms we have left in the minors for a player who wouldn’t play every day. Do you not see how that’s not rational at all.

          And if Atlanta thought he was decent at 1B, why wouldn’t they have just called him up rather than trading him for a rental at first base?

        • mackey_sassers_arm says:

          Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein have both been on record saying that they had offers for Santana at the time the twins decided to send him to the mets.

          Salty isn’t a short term fix. He can help this team in ‘08 and for several years to come. And yes, I would rather have Salty in the organization than any 3 or 4 arms we have in the minors.

          Salty was up when he was traded. The reason the braves made the trade was that they thought they had a chance to win last year and went for it. It didn’t work out. As mentioned by someone else earlier, Salty wasn’t even the centerpiece of the deal.

  13. runnin rebel says:

    I have heard nothing about Tatis, but by the positions that he sounds capable at, he’s by definition a true utility player (not to state the obvious) but many people take the word “utility” and throw it around these days like some bs player with no identity.

  14. andyglass1 says:

    Tatis doesnt make much sense to me… he had one good year, many, many many years ago….. bounced around team to team…. Ruben has speed; Damion, Marlon, Stache & Fernando do not…. none of them will win many games with the glove, (although Stache did perform quite well at 2b). Being only 25 there is hope Ruben can further develop and improve defensively. The others will not. Does anyone expect Damion, Marlon, Stache and or Tatis to be capable of contributing 2,3,4 yrs down the road ? Ruben can be a guy who contributes for several years. Maybe he can develop a bit of pop. Melvin Mora turned into a nice player. Giving him up for an overhill defensive whiz who contributed almost nothing to the team was a waste.

    • darkstar73 says:

      ok, so you want to keep Gotay because he’ll be more useful down the road. So what about this year? So many Met fans have been clamoring that this is a win now team, we have to make up for last year, Willie will be gone if we don’t win, blah blah blah, all of it adds up to, win now. How does what Gotay projects to be 2-3 years down the road help with how we win this year? I like him as a player down the road, who knows what he’ll be, but at this point, he doesn’t fit on the roster. He can’t hit lefties, doesn’t play good D (and can’t play SS at all), and no, he doesn’t run well. He hits ok, and had an a great stretch for him. Who knows what he does this year coming off the bench, there’s absolutely no guarantees, and for a team that wants to win this year, you can’t have that question mark around. You want guys with some experience on the bench (and guys who can touch lefties). Now, if we didn’t care about this year and we’re looking forward, I agree, youdon’t expose Gotay, but that’s not the deal here. Either way, I expect him to clear waivers and all of this grumbling about it to die pretty quickly.

    • therealsince86 says:

      Ruben has very little speed, look at his minor league numbers very few SB and watch him run.
      Gotay will not win any games with his glove either.
      Do you really think that Gotay will be on the Mets in 4 years and have a starting position?
      So you want Gotay to take roids?
      Look you put Gotay on waivers, you see if a team wants him bad enough to trade a part that we can use. If they do not then you dl Gotay and cross the bridge when he is healthy. You try and pass him through waivers right now while he is injured and out of options. I don’t think another team will take him right now.

    • zen says:

      gotay was more of an illusion than a reality last year. the team was struggling to hit for two months when gotay happen to get into a hot streak. it was the only 2 months of his career (minor leagues included) that he hit in that manner.

  15. vitto79 says:

    Matt Murton did’nt make the Cubs………….so go get him…………..I mean poor guy had a good 06 and they just did’nt play him……….Reminds me of Chris Shelton in Detroit

    Anywho I noticed Figueroa, Smith and Sanchez all gave up runs today wooooo,haha

    Man just give the 5th spot to Peflrey or sign Vargas

    Let Duque and Sanchez stay in extended spring training

    Give Stokes the spot till Sanchez is back

    Get Smith in Figueroa in the minors for depth

    Tatis makes the team unless they get Murton

  16. metzelaar says:

    How can anybody in their right mind argue for keeping Fernando TATIS on the roster over Gotay?

    • therealsince86 says:

      He can hit RH and play more than one position.

      • Another Matt says:

        He also hit .276/.359/.485 in AAA last year, which is better than Gotay has ever acheived at any level above rookie ball.

  17. vitto79 says:

    What I meant by Murton did’nt make the cubs is that they decided to go with other options for the 25 man…………he still has minor league options but the word is he will be dealt………..he’s too good to toil away in the minors

    and he’s a good fit for the Mets…………better than Tatis…………..should’nt cost them much, do it

    • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

      if they can do it for gotay and or a reliever not named feliciano, heilman, sanchez or wagner i think you have to do it.

    • therealsince86 says:

      Maybe the Cubs would want Gotay, Smith and Show for Marquis and Murton?

      • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

        well they want to dump marquis salary and we want to dump scho so i dont know if that would work. but id definitely do gotay smith for murton.

        • therealsince86 says:

          Marquis makes a lot more than Show and they are looking for a lefty reliever was my thought process. If you are going to pay money it might as well be for something you need. As for Smith and Gotay for Murton I would do that too if I could not get Marquis.

        • Hit The Weights Zeile says:

          the problem is i dont know how the cubs value murton. this could all be moot if they think he still is worth something good in return like a starting 2nd basemen (which gotay frankly is not). i mean i would of course trade gotay and a reliever but the cubs may just laugh at that. you probably would have to expand the deal so maybe including marquis could make it work.

        • therealsince86 says:

          Just for more discussion. Marquis is still on the hook for 15 million while Show has about 7. That would save the Cubs quite a bit of money and protect us in case we still need a #5 next season.

  18. vitto79 says:

    Errrrrr not a bad made up deal,hah

    Murton makes sense for the Mets………..just not sure what the Cubs would want……..Smith makes some sense

    Marquis could be our 5th but would the Cubs Take Schoenweiss

    I guarantee they atleast discuss this one

  19. stickguy says:

    Marquis and Murton coulad actually fill 2 holes for the Mets, and even possibly holes coming up bigger in 2009 (rotation spotw and LF).

    I like Murton, he is just at the right age to finally have that break out season everyone is looking for. And if he does, a FT gig in 2009 would be filled.

    He would get pelnty of time this year filling in for ALou, spotting CHurch, and PH/defensive guy when Alou is back.

    Way, way better than Clark or Pagan, plus he balances the lineup.

    If nothing else, he is a legitimate starter, not a spare part/temp guy like the others.

    If something like Gotay and Smith get him, you have to do it. And I would take Marquis too as a salary dump to save on talent going back. Then let him be the 5th starter, Pelf gets a year in AAA, and DUque can just grow tomatoes or something.

  20. chew13 says:

    Not to live in the past, but I wish Omar had put more of a value on right-handed hitting outfielder Lastings Milledge. Who by the way is having a nice spring and staying out of controversy. I still don’t like that trade. I suspect that he’s gonna kill us for years to come.

    08 Spring Training
    PLAYER AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI
    L Milledge .340 14 47 10 16 26 5 1 1 9

    Pretty consistent with his previous career stats @ various levels. He reminds me of a young Sheffield.

    • therealsince86 says:

      How would that help things? Church will be a better hitter this year and we would still need a catcher and an OF. Now we only need an OF to replace Alou, something we would have needed either way. I

  21. vitto79 says:

    Hmmmm Marquis is owed quite a bit but the Cubbies would eat some of that I am sure…………..and it would get them a lefty reliever and get Schoenweiss away from the Mets pen……….

    Does make sense………….and Murton makes big time sense

    Now I may be on crack thinking about his but if Marquis makes 15 million under his contract ……….the Cubs could take Duque and Schoenweiss back for Murton and Marquis

    That is my dream trade,hah

    • slowhand422 says:

      If you want Jason Marquis, especially with 2 more years at 7 million a year, you are completely insane.

      Murton I’d take, but as far as Marquis goes, try again.

      (Getting Murton and Marquis would be your dream trade?)

      I can think of 20 pitchers than can be had that we would want before Jason Marquis.

      Urgh…yikes. Give me Sosa, El Duque, Pelfrey, a prospect, hell, give me Steve fracking Trachsel over Jason Marquis. (did you know he had the highest ERA in the national league in 2006 and was left off the postseason roster against the Mets…just like he is every year.)

      • Another Matt says:

        Jason Marquis has had an ERA+ better than 100 for 3 of the last 4 seasons, including last year.

        That makes him a league average pitcher. Not a league average 5, a league average 1-5.

        Steve Trachsel’s ERA+s for the last three years have been 99, 88 and 94. If you’d take Trachsel over Marquis, it’s a very good thing you’re not a GM.

        Also, for 2006, not only did Marquis not have the highest ERA in the NL… he didn’t have the highest ERA of Cardinals starters (Marquis 6.02, Mulder 7.14)

        Last year he had a 4.60 ERA pitching half his games in the second most pitcher-friendly ground in the Majors.

        Last 4 years, Marquis has averaged 201 IP a year.

        El Duque’s owed very nearly as much as Marquis this year, and has averaged 110 IP over the last 4 years.

        Duque + Show + cash for Murton + Marquis would make a ton of sense for this club, even if we throw Gotay in too.

        You’re nuts.

        • metinDC23 says:

          Trading for those 2 guys sounds good- but do people seriously think anyone would want Duque? No way. If we trade for Marquis Duque’s gotta retire or be waived- no ones taking him for more than a bag of cherios.

        • therealsince86 says:

          I would offer Elduque the Sele role. If he does not take it then time to go. He should know that chances are if he takes the Sele role then there will be times that we have to use him as a starter.
          I still think the trade is Gotay and Show for Murton and Marquis.
          The Cubs need Show and would save 8 million dollars. Also they are looking for help at 2nd base after the Roberts deal fell through.

  22. vitto79 says:

    Haha,,,,,,,,,it was more of addition by subtraction if we dealt Show and Duque for Marquis and Murton……….really Murton is the only one of value there

    But in all seriousness they don’t have to do a thing…………they have a great top 4 and Duque is not dead…………let’s see what he does tommorow and oh yea Pelfrey is not horrific either folks………..if he blows in the yr then talk to me

    Sosa is a good option aswell……………he filled in nicely last yr

    I would expect Vargas to come in………..it’s a Omar move…………….and Murton makes alot of sense…………he needs to get the heck out of Chicago, they don’t give him a fair shot