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In the San Francisco Chronicle, Bruce Jenkins speculates that the Mets must now have interest in A’s RHP Rich Harden, who is 1–0 with a 0.82 ERA in his first two starts of the season.
…no need for harden…it has not come to that, considering the A’s will almost certainly demand Fernando Martinez…
Harden has missed roughly 60 percent of his starts over the last three seasons due to injury.
Of course, during his last 38 starts, Harden is 16–7 with a 2.95 ERA, having struck out 197 batters through 200 innings, while opponents have hit just .193 against him.
The 25–year-old Harden will earn $4.5 million in 2008, after which his contract contains a $7 million team option for 2009.
At his blog for ESPN.com, Buster Olney recently wrote that it will take at least six starts to show he is healthy before team’s seriously consider trading for Harden.
Previously in the Chronicle, Susan Slusser wrote that the Yankees have expressed interest in Harden, who would likely cost them Ian Kennedy among other pitching prospects.
…jeez, just when i thought the off-season was behind us, here come A’s rumors again…ugh…
However, in the Daily News, Adam Rubin reports that, because Mets officials believe Pedro Martinez will back by mid-May, “they’re not inclined to seek any outside pitching help now.”
…in other words, since Nelson Figueroa will only be needed for one start before Orlando Hernandez can return from the disabled list, the Mets are comfortable advancing with el duque, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Johan Santana from mid-April to mid-May, when pedro is expected back…
Although the Mets appear willing to wait, like Rubin writes, according to David Lennon in Newsday, citing the player’s agent, the team has been in contact with free-agent Claudio Vargas.
Last night at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark wrote that the plan for Vargas would be to simply add him to the team’s inventory in Triple-A, joining Brian Stokes and Tony Armas Jr.
Lennon also reports that the Mets have interest in Rangers RHP Robinson Tejada, who was recently designated for assignment.
Stark, however, writes that the team has no interest in Tejada, nor David Wells or Jeff Weaver.
…my bet, based solely on speculation and past behavior: the Mets will look in to Freddy Garcia, who will reportedly be ready in June…if you recall, the Mets and garcia talked in the off-season, and he’s still a free agent…he could sign a minor-league deal, rehab with the team, and if el duque or pedro suffer a set back, garcia would be ready around the same time…
“because Mets officials believe Pedro Martinez will back by mid-May, “they’re not inclined to seek any outside pitching help now. “
…in other words, since Nelson Figueroa will only be needed for one start before Orlando Hernandez can return from the disabled list, the Mets are comfortable advancing with el duque”
THAT is NOT a good plan. even when they come back, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE BOTH EL DUQUE AND PEDRO LAND BACK ON THE DL!
Yes it IS a good plan, because they need to wait and see before they overpay for someone like Harden or trade for someone else’s dead weight.
that wasn’t my point. i wouldnt rely on el duque or pedro…period. but i would plan on using figgy or niese.
The “plan” you were criticizing was to not seek “outside pitching help.” Figueroa and Niese are not “outside” help.
yes, but my POINT was to criticize any reliance on the AARP club.
“and if I claim to be a wiseman, well, it surely means that I don’t know…”
kansas?
carry on my wayward son, they’ll be peace when you are done.
Yes, Kansas, but Kansas wasn’t really the point. The point was that the first poster’s name was “wiseman” and I didn’t really (and neither did toomanyuniforms) agree with him. and the lyrics just popped in my head, so I posted them.
I hate explaining jokes, but I’m sure not that many people are going to read this thread since there are now 5 or so new ones.
this is the guy we were supposed to trade milledge for
And Pelphrey implodes!
I’d love to have Harden, because I think he’s going to avoid the DL and have a bounceback year. However, there are 2 BIG reasons why it’s not gonna happen. 1) It’d cost the Mets an arm and a leg (and probably a few more arms) and 2) the last thing the Mets need right now is another injury prone pitcher (their DL is gettin’ crowded). And as much as I believe in him (Harden), I wouldn’t bet on him.
I don’t think that it would take Fmart. However, I would guess it to take Heilman, Neise and Parnell. Prob. too much for an oft injured although dominant pitcher. Still have to remember that the A’s prob. have no intention of renewing his contract next season so it’s a use it or lose it situation. They will most likely trade him before he gets injured again.
Meant to say Neise or Parnell not both. 2/3 of those should do it.
Matt - did you read the article? At the end, the writer says “If this was an audition, you figured the Mets, Yankees, Cardinals and Tigers (among many others) were somewhere in the audience.”
That’s the extent of the Mets “buzz”…it’s a throw away line of speculation. Hardly worthy of mentioning by you, IMO.
I was thinking the same thing. Amazing that no one else picked up on this.
Personally, I think this is a blow to Cerrone’s credibility here.
Yeah must be a slow news day. This post was pure rubbish. I figure the Mets may want to get Johnny Cueto…. can we get a post saying the Mets have interest in him too? Maybe name some prospects to make it sound like something is really happening.
Why? Because he read an article, noticed the mets were mentioned and threw out his opinion on it? Isn’t that what a blog is about? It’s what he does every day. He mentioned several other articles/blogs where people have mentioned this same rumor, so I guess it’s a blow to every one of them too.
I think you are wrong about this being mentioned in other articles, it’s the first I’ve heard of this. If you are talking about 3-4 months ago that was a backup plan if they couldn’t get Johan.
They can write about whatever they want here, it’s up to them. But there is a big difference between “the Mets being interested in” and “you figured the Mets…..were in the audience(scouting). Teams scout other teams all the time, that’s what they do.
Upon a second reading, Cerrone chose his words very carefully, but it was still quite sneaky and very much unlike him.
No need to make up news when the season has just started.
I totally agree. There was no “BUZZ” here. It was Slusser guessing (i.e. “you figured”).
definitely a speculation and logic article, but I don’t see how that affects matt’s credibility. mornings after off days in april are tough
Of course its speculation but it is not Matt’s. It is Olney and the San Fran Chronicle writer who assume Oakland will be out of the race by the deadline an then throw out the 6 highest pay (and most competitive) teams as interested cause they always are.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! It is not time to freak out and move F. Mart.
On the other hand if this is just a way to leverage some free agents into accepting a Minor league deal instead of asking for a ml deal..then I am all for rumor creating….
Or to push the Yankee’s into making a mistake.
thanks, but no thanks on Harden.
and thank you for not making this a rumor to follow. I don’t think I can take any more Minaya/Beane rumors for trading a young pitcher to the Mets.
You know I would be terrified that the Braves get into this one. They have the prospects to trade. That rotation would have incredibly dominant potential
Hudson, Harden, Smoltz, Glavine
Not good at all…. Maybe we should get into the mix.
Exactly what I was thinking. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Braves were interested given that they basically have their own Carl Pavano in Mike Hampton. The question is do they have the money to bring in Harden’s contract while getting no relief on Hampton’s.
However I don’t think that we need to get into the mix with this. Our rotation will be be fine. I’d prefer to just look on with quiet concern and nothing more.
THis is funny, the minute Pedro went down my brother called me and said “Watch, here comes the Harden rumors.” Sure enough, two days later, here we are.
Sidenote: The last remaining undefeated team in MLB is the Kansas City Royals, who would have been joined by the Washington Nationals had it not been for an extra-innings loss last night. I know it’s not exactly Mets-related, but it’s certainly worth noting. If I had a time machine I could make a LOT of money on that…
You and Marty McFly…
“I wish I could go back to the beginning of the season and put some money on the Cubbies!”
Uh… I’m interested in Rich Harden. You can sign him up to be on my team ANY day. Of course, if he’d cost us Niese or F-Mart, no.
Yeah I hear you. I want a Porchse in my driveway, but not if I have to spend more than $25. That’s just too much.
Well, if I’m any judge, Harden’s injury history will cause teams not to offer their very top prospects for him. Heck, if the Mets didn’t have to give up their top prospect for SANTANA, why would they for Harden?
It’s more like “I want a Porsche in my driveway, but not for $120,000. If you’ll knock that baby down to, say, $50,000, since it’s got a few dents in it and 30,000 miles on it, then we’ll be in business.”
I hope we don’t make any panic moves now to improve a rotation that doesn’t look that bad. It looks better right now than last year. I know the offense might not be as strong, but the first few games has made me question that theory.
Granted, I don’t think Pedro is going to have a healthy year, and anyone banking on El Duque being healthy all year is crazy. Here are a couple of random thougts…
Heilman can be moved into the rotation. I know Willie and Omar have said no before, but he looks strong right now, and I think he still wants to start. Sanchez is on his way back and could be a nice replacement to Heilman, combined with El Duque moving to the pen as well. Joe Smith and Sosa have looked good so far as well.
I guess all I’m really saying is - work with what we have and don’t panic yet. Our farm system is not that strong and if we ended up getting rid of FMart or Neise, then it really looks weak. Oh yeah and “Go get’em FIGGY!!”
Can we please stop with the Heilman to the rotation stuff? It’s not going to happen. He’s the most dependable piece in the Mets bullpen. As a starter he’s a completely unknown quantity. The Mets have enough pitching to weather the storm. Go out and sign guys like Vargas and Garcia to minor league deals to provide some depth as Pedro and Duque spend the year bouncing from the rotation to the DL. The key to this whole issue is how Pelfrey performs. If he’s able to be a .500 pitcher, we should be in decent shape.
Thank you KEEP HEILMAN IN THE PEN END OF STORY!!
heilman is certainly a cog in the pen, no way he’s moved now.
Anyone ready to overreact to Pedro’s injury should totally read Tim Marchman’s article from yesterday’s NY Sun (I would link to it, but for some reason every time I try to put in a link, my post never shows up; I’m pretty sure Matt linked to it yesterday).
Basically, Marchman contends that Pedro’s absence will cost the Mets 2 losses at the most. And that accounts for him being gone sometime in June. And amazingly, he uses statistics to back himself up (shocking!), rather than using the usual sportswriter weapons of panic, fear-mongering, and baseless rumor.
I don’t believe anything unless it’s chock full of fear-mongering and baseless rumor.
FYI, the Mets are interested in Harden.
Really?!?!? Well then we NEED him!!!!!
well, name a team that is not “interested” in Harden.
then let Beane give his asking price and see how amny teams are left, including the Mets.
anyone who thinks Beane is going to give Harden away because of injuries is crazy. the Mets no longer have the chips to get a player like Harden unless they give up FMart, which they clearly won’t do.
it’s time to move past this. it is not worth discussing.
I think everyone, or the media, needs to relax a bit. We’re not even a full week into the season and people are already calling for trades? Are you kidding me?
Newsflash, we made it 3/4 of the season last year without Pedro and we did pretty well didn’t we? (prior to the collapse)
So we now have the same rotation but we’re subbing Santana for Glavine. I’d say that’s pretty damn good.
Our core of Santana, Maine and Perez will be fine. Signing a guy like Vargas would be great to do b/c it would offer us some fall back in cases like this.
The sky isn’t falling. No trades need to be made. We’re fine. And besides, who do y ou propose we trade? FMart? NO thank you!
What makes you so sure the interest in Harden is related to Pedro’s injury? Frankly with or without Pedro I think this team would be looking at Harden. He is one of the premier pitchers in baseball and can dominate an opposing lineup any day of the week. IMO the Mets would be remiss to not investigate trading for him if he becomes available, whether or not Pedro is healthy, as long he is. Also if it takes F-mart to get the deal done it is something we have to consider it is much easier to find a left fielder than it is a dominant right hander.
I would agree that Omar should inquire about Haren. However, to even consider trading F-Mart at this point in time is nuts, especially for another picther that can’t stay healthy. The thought that we can just go out and get another left fielder is short sighted. If outfielders were that easy to come by, Ryan Chruch would not be playing everyday in right field (that’s not meant to be a knock on Church, just stating a fact). We all know that pitching wins, but with the cost, age, and injury concerns of some of the guys in our lineup, F-Mart is as close to untouchable as it gets.
I’m not saying we can just go get another left fielder. To get someone of the caliber that Martinez could eventually be would be difficult and may also require a trade. However, a pitcher like Harden, IF HE’S HEALTHY, will always require a trade and a big with very few exceptions ie. Sabathia
I’m not saying that Omar wouldn’t call up Bean, he’d be crazy not to. But, ultimatly, it’s a dead end. Any conversation had w/ Oakland would surely end with “…and FMart”. If we didn’t trade him for Santana, it’d be foolish to believe he’d be included in a trade for the often injured Harden.
That being said, aside from FMart we don’t have the players to accumulate a trade with any other team at this point. Schneider and Church certainly aren’t going to be the center of any trades. And our minor leaguers wouldn’t be either.
If Claudio Vargas was good enough to crack the starting rotation (or for that matter occupy any of the 6-8 bullpens spots on a given major league roster), then why isn’t he on one by now?
I wouldn’t consider a guy who has been in the majors five years and never won more than 11 games a “premier” pitcher. He definitely has talent, but hasn’t stayed healthy. His best year was four years ago when he won 11 games.
Ok, I’ll take the bait (and the criticism). Don’t worry about Harden, if fans think that Omar will move his most prized (and hispanic) prospect for Rich Harden, then they haven’t been paying attention. I’m not racist, I love all ethinicities, but I’m also a big believer in history showing the way.
i don’t see why ethnicity/race has to have anything to do with it. harden is injury prone and fmart is our #1 prospect. if THM is too good to include in a trade for the best pitcher in baseball, then why would ethnicity/race be the reason omar would hold back from trading fmart for a pitcher not nearly as good or reliable as johan?
that’s like saying he got santana and not zito because he’s hispanic.. fact is, zito sucks and santana’s good. Players are players, and a lot of the good ones are hispanic and latino.