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In a report previous for Newsday, David Lennon wrote, “With Minaya’s five-year, $4-million contract set to expire after 2009, it’s a safe bet that he will be signed to an extension at the end of this season, and why not?”
This morning, in a report for the Daily News, citing ‘team 
insiders,’ Adam Rubin writes that Omar Minaya will be GM of the Mets through at least 2009, if not longer.
…the sense i get is that, as long as the Wilpons feel he did everything possible, as a general manager, to get this team in to the post-season, regardless of whether the team gets there or not, minaya be back next season…
Rubin also reports on the future of Jerry Manuel, who is signed through the end of this season.
Get a left fielder. Get a couple of workhorse starters. Fix the bullpen.
Get players with testes.
Hey, excellent call on Easley last night—I will be very happy to say that every day if he keeps performing like that!
Fix the Bullpen First and foremost
The first step to fixing the bullpen, is getting rid of our specialist trio.
One too many, we need another middle reliever who can go an entire inning, so we can use smith/feliciano properly.
exactly. I can’t stand having a bullpen full of specialists with no clear cut set up man.
We got aaron “roll the dice who knows what will happen” Heilman.
We got Duaner “BP” Sanchez…
we got Pedro “I hope my slider is a strike” Feliciano
we got Luis “just got here so use him as a closer” Ayala
we got scott “lets hit lead off batters” schoeneweis
ugh..
How does sitting on his hands at the trading deadline = “Doing everything possible to get this team to the post season” ?
We’re limping to the finish…
Yes because a Corner OF and a RP were just going to fall from the sky. Maybe we should have traded FMart for Demaso Marte? There was no decent trade to be had unless we panicked like previous GM’s and made a Kazmir-Zambrano type swap.
It’s his job to make a deal happen… and he didn’t get it done..
This team needs help.. and we didn’t get it.. how is that doing “everything possible” to make the post season?
tell me who he should have gotten and who he should have traded to get this person
I have no idea who was out there… Marte and Nady didn’t go for a package equal to F-mart and Niese like we were told..
I would of done the Manny deal in a millisecond for F-mart.. we either get a few years of Manny or a few draft picks…
Heck.. how about Eddie Guardado from the Rangers.. way better then Al Reyes or Avaya..
Aubrey Huff has cleraed waivers.. I’ll take him in a millisecond…
The list goes on….
everyone is giving omar flack for signing “injury prone” guys and you want manny?? hes a clean bill of health, now, but hes 36 and not the most athletic player in the league who will have to still play the field. i can only see the state of met fans 3 years from now if manny were to break down and fmart is on the sox in his 2nd or 3rd world series
Fine.. then take him for the stretch run and enjoy another 3 first round picks next year… fine by me.
eal good commentary, ewm. you wanted omar to do something at the trade deadline but have no idea who was available. that’s exactly it’s tough to critique a gm for not doing anything at the trade deadline. you have no idea what was being offered and what players were available the day before who were suddenly taken off the market. this isn’t ps3.
Ok well, if you are going to criticize Omar, then at least have an understanding of how waivers work. The Mets had NO SHOT at obtaining Guardado.
… what exactly does 3 first rounds picks have to do with anything. and more importantly whats wrong with 3 first round picks, are you upset that he let Glavine walk?
would you rather trade for fuentes and cripple our future or have ayala for beans who hasnt given up a run other than when schneider couldnt field a ball thrown right at him?
Your going to blame that on Schneider???
you’re not? hes a defensive specialist (the reason we got him) and would have had werth out by 3 steps, game over.
He does deserve some
I blame schneider for last night’s loss. That throw was right at him on one hop. We didn’t get him for his bat. He is supposed to be this great defensive catcher. He should have been able to snag that and would have had werth by 5 feet. Everyone wants to scream and shout about the bullpen. That play lost the game.
“I blame schneider for last night’s loss. That throw was right at him on one hop. We didn’t get him for his bat. He is supposed to be this great defensive catcher.”
Really? So the starter giving up as many runs as IP was just business as usual? Not being able to score for nine consecutive innings was irrelevant? And if you’re talking about Schneider having an overinflated reputation for his ability to field balls in play, you do realize that he’s only made three errors all season, right? That ties him for the 27th most in all of baseball. Only Mauer has fewer among starters. And even if you want to blame that one play, are you really arguing that Schneider’s job there was easier than Easley’s? You would blame the guy who couldn’t pick it out instead of the guy that threw it?
Kid, shhhhhhhhhhh. Its obvious these guys never played the game. They think its easy catching the inbetween hop. They ignore the words of Keith and Ron who both said how hard it is to catch it. They know more then them. Nevermind that Easley couldnt throw the ball 140 feet on the fly. That he could have at least thrown it on a longer hop to make it easier to handle like a lot of players do. No they just want the scapegoat to be Schneider because they’ve never approved of him being on the team in the first place. So no matter what you, or I, or anyone else says, Schneider is the bad guy.
so by saying schneider has only 3 errors this season you are helping the case that he should have gotten that ball. and please, dont give me the “they know more than the players” bull crap. specially on a bouncing ball right to schneiders chest. if your going to blame easley on that play your showing just how much of a hypocrite you are bc you are doing the same thing.
as for blaming pedro? he left with the lead. yes he gave up 5 runs in 5 innings but he was in position to win the game. im pretty sure you ask any rational met fan what they expect from pedro this year and that will be there answer. schneider had the opportunity to end the game on a routine play and let it go right by him.
How about trading for Guardado? He’s heads and tails better then Avala or Al reyes?
Aubrey Huff has 27 hrs and cleared waivers, think he’s a tick better then Nick Evans?
He’s more than a tick better, but the fact he’s cleared waivers means he’s probably going to cost a bit to trade for.
Why do people still not understand the waiver process? We did not get a chance to get Everyday Eddie. The Twins claimed him.
There was very little available at the deadline. If you want to grill him, do it for what he didn’t do in the off season.
He did everything he could….except fix the pen.
Solid job this year thus far with the johan acquisition the drafting of pelfrey in 2005 which proved to be a wise move and the church pick up. Master of the scrap heap.
That said, he better learn his lesson regarding signing old players who break down during the stretch run and let some kids play.
Other than that, in Omar i trust
The Church pickup has not worked out… he’s played in 70 games this year….
Come on. It’s not like he was injury prone or broke down. Fluke injuries. Cannot blame Omar for that. That’s ridiculous.
Actually he is injury prone…. he’s played in more then 105 games ONCE in his ML career.. and he won’t be adding to that this year.
was that due to injury or just because there was someone better to be a starter?
He just never got the playing time in Washington. They believed Church couldn’t hit lefties, and never gave him the opportunity. He was healthy.
Even if he wasn’t, you can’t forsee the guy getting two concussions within a few months.
He actually injured himself “running into an outfield wall in 2005″
Sound familar?
He plays reckless and is INJURY PRONE.
Ah — yes. The lesson for the Mets this season is that they need to AVOID players who run into walls to make plays. Got it. Right. . . .
NEXT!
They need to avoid players who can’t seem to make it to the plate for 120 games a season…
Most 30 year old baseball players can do this more then once in their career.
I live in DC, and Church not playing had nothing to do with injury. His not playing had to do with people running an organization with less brains than you. Is Pagan injury prone too because he went hard after a ball and hurt himself? Then if he didn’t go after it, he’d have no heart so make up your mind.
Injury prone means I hurt myself making routine plays (see Castro, El Duque, Alou, etc…), not I had two fluke head injuries in one season.
He’s been hurt! And his production is infinitely better than LMilz. In fact, Church has similar numbers in barely over half the at bats!
He’s always hurt.. that’s the way he plays… that’s why he can’t keep himself in a lineup.
Please look at Milledge’s stats and then Church’s and maybe you will understand that it was an EXCELLENT trade.
LMilz looks as though he is Ryan Thompson 2.0.
Ask stillwetsthebed how many times Church has been on the DL in his career.
You are totally clueless. He got 2 concussions and thats Omar’s fault?
All I said was the move didn’t work out.. the goal wa sto give us an everyday left fielder.. and we didn’t get one…
He’s an injury prone player and this year was no different.
so he has had various seasons with concussion ailments then(running into 1bmen in spring training and getting kicked in the head on the last out advancing a base)…You got proof of that?
Church plays right field. Obviously stilltheEWM is a huge fan.
Because a GM should have the foresight to realize that a player is going to have two concussions in the same season? Come on. Give it a rest. Omar has done a very good job. The fact is, there is no formula for bullpen success. Closers are closers, but middle relief is basically a year to year thing. No team really has dominant middle relief, except for maybe the Cubs.
stilltheEWM has apparently had a few concussions himself.
Omar sux and deserves to be fired for failing to fix the bullpen in 2+ years
How do you structure your pen around having a guy with a formerly separated shoulder who hasn’t pitched in over a year be your set-up man. how do you do it?
right because the bullpen was the ONLY problem the mets had in 2+ years….
Sanchez was ready to come back and prior to the injury he had the best stuff in the pen. He was worked into the setup-man role because heilman could not cut it remember.
It was a pretty glaring problem. Maybe not the only one, but a glaring one.
2+ years, I thought our pen was fine in 06. It’s only really been miserable for 2- years.
Not surprising here. Im sure he will be on the hot seat come 09. He has one more year to work magic..Lets see what hes got.
Omar deserves to be re-signed because, on balance, he makes more good decisions than bad ones. There weren’t any good options out there to fix the bullpen (as far as I know), and it takes TWO teams to make a deal.
That said, this team–with its choke-prone bullpen and lack of intensity–is not going to the playoffs this year. (The fans are going to have to acknowledge that at some point.) So a playoff appearance shouldn’t be the standard to judge Omar.
Next year, yes. Playoff or bust for Omar in ‘09!
and if they win tonight?
you are an idiot
You’re just scared of the possibility. These guys need to breathe fire. Where (apart from Easley or Heilman), is our Rollins? Where’s a guy who locks in when he sees a Phils’ uniform on the field? Where is the anger? Indignation after last year’s loss? Where?
schoeneweis baby
He could have traded Aaron Heilman for Brian Fuentes, and he didn’t do it. Fuentes is a closer w/ good numbers, Heilman is just a crappy long relief guy who should really be starting for a non- contending team.
Not true, it would have taken Show and Heilman. I would have done it but I am not sure most would have. Looking at numbers alone, Heilman was better than Fuentes last season and he was a LHRP which we already had 3 of.
They may not make it, true but we are far away from having to acknowledge that as a fact. A possibility, sure, but they’re half a freakin’ game out!!!!!
And he has….Critics will look at this year’s trade deadline and point out that Omar didn’t acquire anyone, but I feel that most knew that
A)The team was out of bullets after the Santana trade, and B)The deadline this year was a sellers market, and it would take top talent to acquire a middle of the road type player.
Of Omar’s bad trades, the real Brian Bannister is coming out, and it will make it easier for young Burgos to justify the deal. The Heath Bell trade will always hurt, because of the state of the Mets pen, but Bell must also be held accountable as he failed to impress on the big stage. Some people point to him losing Jesus Flores, which I think is tough to fault him for. He was an A-ball player, and 99% of the time, a guy like that won’t get claimed in the Rule V, as he had to stay in the bigs the entire following season. Then there is the Castillo contract, but its not as if Luis was signed over a better player.
He has gotten flak over the minor league system, but its tough to build the minors while fielding a competitive team. He brought in our top prospects at the moment, as well as some other guys like Murphy who have contributed at the big league level. He has excelled in international scouting, bringing in talent like F-Mart, Ruben Tejada, and the wunderkind Wilmer Flores.
Of course we all know the good moves: Excluding Beltran/Pedro, he came out ahead in the trades for Delgado and Lo Duca, retooled the rotation by acquiring Santana, while getting Maine and Ollie as throw ins. He drafted and stuck with Pelfrey, when most were ready to give up on him. He brought in Endy, who has secured a place in Mets history, while finding guys like Tatis and Valentin, who enjoyed a rebirth in Queens, and were big factors for their teams. Its fair to say that at the moment, Omar has come out ahead in the Milledge deal as well.
Omar has got some knocks against him on the ledger, but who doesn’t? The talent he brought on (excluding free agency) by far outweighs that which he gave up. He turned the team around completely after coming over for the ‘05 season. Omar deserves to finish what he started and bring a title to Queens.
1000% agree ravi. Well done.
1,000,000% agreed.
its unfortunate that the people dont realize what our rotation would be like without minaya. hes responsible for every one of them.
I’ll agree somewhat but with a payroll like that he could have done better I mean who pays Pedro 11mil in this stage of his career. And why is Beltran ( a mediocre player) making 18.5 mil a season. Plus what about Castillo, that was a huge bust. And last but not least the freakin bullpen from last season is still here.
Out of curiosity, if Beltran is a “mediocre” player, who would be considered “good” and who would be “great”?
Beltran’s deal is a bargain these days.
If Beltran is a mediocre player then he is below average correct? Thus there would be at least 15 CF better than he is, correct? Name 15.
Name 5 that are better including offense, defense and speed?
Name 3?
At the time of his contract, name 1.
Beltran was paid to be the best CF in the league and that is what he is.
people tend to forget the positive things that omar has done. it takes just 2 words for me to feel better about omar: steve phillips
The only two things I disagree with you is the state of the farm systems and the Castillo contract.
1) You can build a successful farm system while competing. Look at the Red Sox, the Yankees, the D-Backs, the Dodgers, the Braves in the 90s. They are succeeded and had a killer farm system.
I think the Mets farm system is better than we thought, but not going above slot has hurt this team. Also, rushing prospect such as Martinez and Pena has hurt.
2) It’s not that Castillo was signed over a better player, it’s that the dollars and years he was signed for were terrible considering the type of player he is. Would just giving the job to Damion Easley or signing a second basemen from the scrape heap been any worse?
The one thing that Minaya does wrong is evaluating the long-term contracts doled out to suspect/fringe players.
I’m not talking about the small dollar deals to Endy and such, because those don’t hurt in the long run.
I’m talking about deal for players like Alou, Duque, Valentin, Castillo, Julio Franco.
Old players that would not have gotten multi-year deal, except from Omar, for more dollars than any other team would have given them.
Sometimes it makes sense just to walk away from those deal.
Don’t forget Showeneweis.
Those contracts did not hurt the team at all.
You’re looking at Castillo’s contract in a vacuum, which really isn’t fair to the decision made here. Six mil a year is not a large chunk of our payroll and won’t prohibit us from signing bigger contracts in the future. And what alternatives were better? Easley can’t play 2B every day- besides the fact that his body couldn’t handle that any more, we came into the season relying on him to back up a number of IF and OF positions. Remember who the other two FA options were at the time? Eckstein and Kaz, who were also asking for multi-year deals in the same salary neighborhood (Kaz is now making over 5 mil a year, and Eck 4.5). Their seasons have ended up being total disasters. Remember that there were also people calling for the internal option of mixing Stache and Hernendez in with Easley? How would that have ended up as a plan? And if you were told before the season that we would forgo any free agent signings becasue a AA infielder named Argenis Reyes would be filling in, you would rightfully have thought Omar was crazy. Castillo was by far the best option, and this is what it took to sign him. If we had offered him less, he would have gone to Houston and we would have been stuck with one of the options above. How is that not worth a couple million bucks more a year?
Kudos, great post.
One additional thought: the only people who REALLY know how much financial flexibility Omar has are Omar and the Wilpons. I’d be surprised if the full financial info even went to Tony B.
Part of Omar’s job is to protect the owners from the reaction of the media/fans (you know, like the people who screamed “why Easley?!?” before last night’s game, and “why Delgado” in May…). One way he does that internally is to steer the attention of the organization in certain directions. So, for example, the Mets have shown an institutional preference for guys like Valentin & Tatis — veterans who were ignored by the market but wanted one more shot — at the expense of using young kids off the bench; that makes the team more susceptible to injuries, but is more likely to give you players who can rise to the occasion better. It also means he steers the team away from more than one big spend per year…
need at least 1 new outfielder.
may need a new 1B.
need at least 1 new starter.
need at least 2-3 new arms in the bullpen.
omar has his work cut out for him this winter.
on a side note, charlie manuel should be fired for his managing after the leadoff double by coste. game is tied and he doesn’t bunt jimmy rollins to move coste to 3rd with 1 out. mets get out of it. if the mets won, it would’ve been all on manuel’s managing job there.
Youre wrong.
disregard, put it on the wrong post.
BTW they love Charlie over in Phillie
dude, you don’t bunt w/ your hottest hitter. Would you bunt w/ Pujols in that situation?
game tied. nobody out. man on 2nd. bunt him to 3rd and let utley bring him in on a sac fly. it was a bad decision.
What has Omar won here to deserve continued job security?
so everyone minus epstein, the cardinals gm, and the white sox gm should be fired?
Kenny Williams (White Sox GM) actually does deserve to be fired. While he has a championship under his belt, he’s a terrible drafter. The White Sox have a poor farm system. They also have a very old team and their window on another WS is closing quickly.
furioso apparently doesnt think so
I agree…in 06, he failed to provide depth to an old pitching staff which left us with steve trachsel starting important playoff games…he also failed to strengthen the bullpen, such as letting chad bradford go and signing shoenweis…he also relied on Moises Alou to start everyday in LF instead of trying to sign another Ryan Church type to man LF… if he goes out and gets k-rod this offseason and makes wags the set up man (since he has blown way too many saves) i will forgive him, but if not then f- him
I don’t like Omar that much, I don’t think he’s that great of a gm probably about average, but given the Wilpons recent track record of picking gms I’d be frightened of who they’d bring in to replace him.
I’m probably in the minority in say this but THANK GOD!
Despite all the criticism he gets, he’s still a good GM. Good, not great. I doubt he’ll build a great dynasty but we’ll have a good span of competitive years.
Also, there are no good GM candidates out there. And if Omar were to be fired, it’s very likely Tony Bernazard would replace him which I doubt anyone wants. Even if you hate Omar, he is the lesser of two evils compared to Bernazard.
“it’s very likely Tony Bernazard would replace him which I doubt anyone wants.”
this is like my greatest, baseball related, fear.
Although Deposta is available, but I don’t he would last very long here.
Minaya is crazy he wants to resign Pedro next season. Yeah Minaya needs to go, he didn’t fix the crappy bullpen from last season, and he’s gonna make us go down the toilet again just like last season. Minaya’s fate should be playoffs or else. I think Jerry Manuel should be back next year though.
I don’t see why people want Manuel back, he’s not much better than Willie.
Manuel at least tries shaking things around when things aren’t work . Willie would have just been like “My guys will come through eventually”. At least Manuel calls out his players and tries to light a fire. Plus Willie always has a tight personality he doesn’t keep the clubhouse loose like Jerry. I think Jerry should be given a full season to show what he’s got.
Funny how last nights post game he pretty much said everythings ok, my guys will be all right, things will be better tomorrow. Just like Willie, same message, different words. Besides the fact I think he’s worse then Willie ever was with in-game decisions and strategy. Like, why take Stokes out when he was shutting down the Phillies, when you know your bullpen has been shaky? Why have Evans and then Murphy pinch hit to lead off that inning when he had Castillo who is better suited to bat in a leadoff position on the bench?
Manuel will be back for sure if we make the playoffs. I would just hope it would be, like, a 1 year deal though. I like Manuel better than I thought I would, admittedly. I wouldn’t mind seeing a fresh face in there not involved in the Willie staff, I’m just not sure of who that would be though.
Willie and Manuel are about the same, IMO. Neither is a managerial genius, but neither is inept.
I have one niggle with Manuel, however, and that is the speed with which he runs through the bullpen sometimes. Perhaps if had stretched Stokes a little more, then they could have avoided using Show altogether in such a crucial spot. Show is useless.
But, the point is this — it doesn’t really matter if Willie or Manuel is managing. What matters much more is how well Omar constructs the bullpen and other parts of the club. I would give him an A- for the rotation, a B+ for the lineup, and a D for the bullpen.
but Manuel has done an excellent job getting the most out of this team…he tries new things and is willing to admit mistakes…he also isnt a conceited prick like willie
brian bannister will be the next maddux…mike maddux that is.
Schneider always seemed like an amazing defensive catcher in Washington, but why can’t he catch the ball? I noticed early in the year that he had trouble catching normal pitches thrown to him. What is up with that? I know it was a tough hop off the throw from Easley, but I still think he should have caught that ball, It just seems like his catching issue is going to come back to haunt us at some point this year.
I think it was Gina who said something to this affect a few weeks back– that while I don’t think Omar is the greatest GM I’m more afraid of who the Wilpons would hire to replace him if he were to be ousted.
Get Buck Showalter!
I like his laid back southern boy yokel-ish attitude.
The Mets will never win a World Series with Omar as their GM. Unless he starts heavily consulting and taking advice from others — including perhaps Bernazard who everyone bashes but who may be more responsible for the infusion of youth lately than Omar.
But even then, I think Omar will always fall short of getting the team to the next level — meaning the WS.
Yes, they can remain competitive and even make the playoffs frequently. In large part, Omar can thank the large wallet of the Mets for that. But to really win a WS, you need to put every piece in place (or at least most of them) and Omar doesn’t do a good job of that. Just look at this bullpen. It was the primary culprit in last year’s collapse and it remains the primary culprit this year.
Just look at the way-beyond-their-primes Alou and El Duque who represent wasted resources and roster spots.
And Omar is totally blind to weak ineffective players such as Show, and he relies on Heilman, someone ill-suited for the bullpen, to be a key bullpen cog.
Omar is a charming fellow and a generally nice person it seems. But he lacks whatever it takes to put together a killer team. And he gives out money and multi-year contracts for the wrong reasons.
The Wilpons are inept when it comes to picking executives to run their team. From Steve Philips to those super scouts who instigated the Kazmir trade to Omar, they can’t get it right.
Mets 2009
1B- Delgado
2B- Murphy ( release Castillo- give him the cash)
SS- Reyes
3B- Wright
CF- Beltran
LF- Manny
RF- Church
C- Schneider/ Castro
Rotation:
Santana
Pelfrey
Perez
Maine
Niese
Bullpen
Fuentes- set up man
Wagner- closer
rest of the bullpen not very important but we need a solid setup man like Fuentes.
No Manny
I like the rotation. Whereas just a little while ago I was on the fence about resigning Pedro, I can now see that likely that won’t be a good move.
But your lineup is not doable. There is no way they pay Manny what it will take to get him on his next contract. And he will be a big age risk. I’m against bringing Delgado back as I think there are enough candidates to replace him. And they will have problems dumping Castillo. I think we’re stuck with him.
As for the bullpen, they need a bigger overhaul there. I’ve been saying this since the end of last season — Wagner can no longer be a full-time effective closer. I’d rather they spend any big bucks on K-Rod. They then try to trade Wagner, and if they can’t, he becomes a setup guy. That’s what Foulke became in Boston after he burned out.
But they really need to overhaul the bullpen big time. I don’t want to see Show back with the team. It’s not only his lack of stuff, but his lack of guts that’s hard to take.
I think Manny’s possible. You’re gonna be dumping Alou, and El Duques salaries. Pedro’s gonna be gone too. So it’s not too far outta reach plus the Mets always pay big on free agents so I wouldn’t be too suprised if they get Manny. Sign him to something like a 3 year 66 million dollar contract, or something like that, he would be a huge addition to the lineup.
So let me see, people complain about Beltran making 18 million and then you want to pay a “36″ year old Manny 22 MILLION a year? Please shoot me now.
Lets see that’s the same that CC would want just more years. CC or Manny, CC or Manny. Or how about this one. You could most likely get Perez AND Lowe for that. Hmmm.
Manny is going to likely want a 3 year deal. We’d be better off spending the money on a pitcher. I definitely don’t think we’d go very far with that rotation.
I want no part of Manny or Tex this offseason. Both scream bad move. Manny is the same type of Pedro, Alou, Elduque signing. Tex is just a horrible contract in general. The guy wants 8+ years 160-200 million. Wow.
As I have said before, I am not an Omar appologist but I do see the posiblity of a plan all along. I will give him next year. I don’ think it’s a coincidence that all of these old men contracts run out this year. Alou, Pedro, Elduque, Delgado (who I think should be brought back for 1 more year) all come of the books the same year we move into a new stadium?
Lets see what he does with all the extra cash. If he goes out and resigns Alou, Pedro and Livan Hernandez then yes fire him.
Who knows maybe he trades for Brian Roberts, dumps Castillo, and brings in AJ Burnett? I have no idea, it should be a fun offseason either way.
I dunno if we really need Burnett if we resign Perez. Niese is almost definitely gonna be in the rotation next year. And we can have Murphy play 2nd base. We should really go after a power hitting corner outfeilder like Manny. Then we’ll have 3 30+ HR guys in the lineup ( Wright, Manny, and Delgado), that will also let us put Beltran batting 2nd where I think he fits best with his speed.
I think we do. We don’t know what to expect from Maine and we definitely won’t know what to expect from Niese. We’d definitely need a consistent at least middle of the rotation guy or else we’re going to end u counting on retreads and having bullpen issues again.
I would rather Niese be the backup plan like Pelfrey was. It gives him more time in the minors and protects us from a major injury. What if Niese is not who we think he will be and the season has already started? Livan here we come.
Get as much pitching as possible. It also depends on who we get.
Say we, not likely, go out and get CC. Then start CC and Heilman and have Niese ready if Heilman can’t start.
If you get Perez then you need an innings guy like Garland or Lowe.
Burnett is apparently inconsistant too. I think we should see how Neise does next week then decide if he should be in the rotation next season. Maine is going to be in there like it or not. But Burnett is a little too expensive in my opinion for what he’s worth. I think as long as Pelf and Santana do as well as they’re right now we’ll be fine with them leading the rotation. But more importantly we need to stabilize the bullpen, and fix up the middle of the order.
So you are going to base next season on how a guy does in his first game in a pennant race? There is no way we should go into next season depending on Niese. That’s just not enough depth.
Burnett isn’t as inconsistent as Maine and isn’t a rookie, regardless I wouldn’t want Burnett I’d want a guy like Garland who can give you innings.
Also are we okay right now with Pelf and Santana, I don’t think so. The bullpen is falling apart, partially because of having to be used so often and we’re still scampering to find starters. Plus IMO, at this point it’s too early to depend on Pelf that much. If we want to contend next year we’re going to need a more stable rotation.
I see next season
1B Reyes
2B Roberts/Easley
3B Wright
SS Reyes
LF Murphy/Evans/Tatis
CF Beltran
RF Church
C Castro/Schnieder
Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, and two of the cast of Perez, Garland, Lowe, Sheets, Sabathia, Dempster……
I really think that if our pen is our demise then we really should focus on an overhaul.
Sign KRod and \rade Wagner to Cleveland. They are looking for a closer. I know he has a no trade clause but if we tell him he will be a setup man then he will waive it.
Trade Heilman, keep Ayala and Stokes. Either Feliciano or Show has to go. Sanchez, I have no idea what to do with.
Either way, I see a lot of big moves. I hope they concentrate on pitching. We have some position prospects and have 1 pitching prospect.
whos at 1b for ya real? i hope you dont mean argenis?
Whoops
Delgado for a year.
Thanks Dirty.
WTF? 1B reyes? Argenis? He’s 5 foot 11 and has no pop whatsoever. There’s no way a 3 way platoon will work in LF. I think Evans could be a good trade in the offseason, could prob get us a good reliever. Maybe Murphy could work at 1B, but there’s no way we can get Roberts. Id say make Murphy the 2nd basemen. Keep Delgado, and sign a free agent to play Left feild ( if we can get Manny). If we can’t get Manny prob either Tatis should be given a starting job or call up F-Mart. Platoons are not gonna work in the long run. It’s also gonna be very hard to trade Wagner, he has the no trade clause and he prob doesn’t wanna leave. Id be totally game if he wants to be setup though. But again how in the world are we gonna get K- Rod? He’s more unlikely then Manny and he wants 16 mil for being a closer.
How is Krod more unlikely than Manny? Lets see, 5 years for 60 million or 3 years for 66. Hmmm..
As for what Wagner likes, I don’t care about that anymore. Tell him it’s either setup man here or closer else where. If he does not like it tough luck.
As for the Reyes thing, if you read I admited I messed up and it should be Delgado.
I do not think we would have a 3 way platoon in LF. My over all point is that we have enough in house to cover it.
As for Roberts, why not? We have the prospects needed. I am willing to bet that if we took a salary dump in return and gave them Fmart and a prospect it could get done. In fact, I could see them taking Castillo and cash as part of the deal.
Why don’t we just make Murphy 2nd base, then you can just have Tatis be your starting LF. Thats not my first choice though, if I had a shot at getting Manny id take it. And for the money it’s a closer v.s an everyday player. 16 mil for a closer is the highest ever. 20-25 mil for an everyday player is a better deal in my opinion. And we still have Wagner to deal with? Also if we sign K-Rod what do we do w/ Kunz?
Kunz would be the setup man. He’s not ready to close for sure.
As for Manny, why would you want an upper 30’s OF who can’t field for 3 years at the same price as 5 years of KRod?
Yes most of the time a positional player is more important than a Closer but what is the Mets biggest need? More offense or more pitching?
Why would I not just make Murphy play 2B? Because he has played 12 games there and committed 5 errors. I have no idea if he ever could play 2B and I sure would not want to count on him next season. I would rather have Castillo at 2B than Murphy for now. Roberts is doable because they will not keep him. He only has 2009 on his contract and they will not resign him. To get maximum value out of him he will be traded in the offseason.
ehh I’m not much of a Brian Roberts fan. He’s more of a leadoff guy if you ask me and we already have Reyes. Realistically I think we’re gonna be stuck w/ Castillo though. Our only change will prob be the bullpen and maybe a couple starters. I dunno about left feild though. I don’t trust Tatis as a full time starter.
Left field will probably be some sort of platoon with Murphy, Evans and Tatis. But as for Roberts he may be more of a lead off guy, although I’m not completely sure what that means, but right now his numbers blow Castillo’s out of the water, and even if we could realistically plug Murphy into 2nd base next year, which just wouldn’t make sense with the limited amount of playing time he’s gotten there we wouldn’t even know if we’d get that from his bat. Right now Murphy, Evans and Niese who was mentioned earlier, are to much of unknowns to get into next season counting on. And I don’t think anyone would be complaining if either Murphy or Evans turn out to be as productive offensively as Roberts is.
Not saying I think we should get Roberts, just that having Murphy isn’t a reason not too. Especially if there’s no true power bats available this off-season.
Check out Roberts OBP, that is exactly what we need in the 2 spot. I think it’s near .380. LOL. He would score as many or more runs than Reyes.
And I hear he can hit balls out of the infield.
But personally if we bring Delgado back I like Beltran in the 2 hole. Although it would be nice to make a run after a guy like Dunn to plug into that 4/5 spot and not have to worry about which Delgado will show up or whether Church’s head will end up in anymore walls.
I think we really need Al Reyes up. Another fresh arm in the pen would help. I know he will be up in a few days but we need him now. Bring him up for Evans. He can be back in a few days anyway. Send A. Reyes and Evans down for the other A Reyes and Cancel.
The bullpen needs an overhaul. Sanchez, No- Show and Feliciano need to go. Pedro sucks.