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According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, in an interview with WFAN yesterday:
- The Mets will pick up Carlos Delgado’s option.
- They will not trade David Wright or Jose Reyes.
- The Mets are thinking about Manny Ramirez, who will want a three–or four-year deal.
- They think they need to go out and get a catcher.
Later, the show’s host, Mike Francesa, said he has been told that Ryan Church ‘hated it here,’ while adding, ‘I know for a fact that he didn’t like the team, he didn’t like the city and he was not a happy guy here.’
Heyman said he had not heard that Church ‘hated’ New York, but added, ‘I think the Mets believe that he’s not a fit here, and may be better off some place else.’
…before people go bananas ripping church, my advice is to always take francesa’s ‘facts’ with a grain of salt…this is not to say he’s wrong, i just can’t trust that he is fully right…to say, ‘i know for a fact,’ should mean church told francesa this first hand, but somehow i doubt that is how it went down – and if so, since it’s ‘fact,’ why wouldn’t francesa just state his source…
…i’d be curious to hear what a beat reporter has to say about this, speaking as some one who is in the clubhouse with church…
Church is eligible for arbitration each of the next three seasons, and can be a free agent after 2011.
To check out Heyman’s entire interview on WFAN, during which he previews the MLB playoffs, click here, and to read Heyman’s work go to SI.com.
If Mike Francessa said he knows for a fact…then it must be true.
He was dead on about the Twins taking nothing less than Reyes for Santana…
And that Keith Hernandez wanted to be the manager of the Mets.
And that Johan Santana preferred to play for the Yankees, and that the Yankees would get Carlos Beltran, and that Jose Reyes and David Wright were no name prospects the Mets should have dealt for Alfonso Soriano and Randy Johnson respectively.
Honestly, he should stick to football, for all his baseball watching, he knows JACK about the game.
I love it.. what waste.. replacing both the guys we “got” for Milledge…
We won’t get Manny to help us make the playoffs this year.. but we’ll take away all his motivation and give him a 4 year deal and THEN sign him.
Anyone else wonder why we can’t win the division??
Truly, a modern-day Nostradomus.
Truly, he puts the “No” in Nostradomus.
I really think they need to start over after the last 2 years….
start off with delgado, reyes, wright, and beltran, johan, pelfrey, maine and smith and thats it….fill in the holes with free agents or trades…i would trade castillo in a second for byrnes who could fill one of those holes in the corner outfield….i think they could also trade for holliday to play the other corner….i dont care what prospects they use, they need to do it. 2nd base can go to murphy….then the bullpen needs to start all over..joe smith is the only one that stays
I think everyone who says “Murphy can play 2nd” are being a little bit too rosy. The guy has always been described as a hitter who cannot field. After watching him bungle a few plays in the outfield, how confident can you really be about him playing second base?
Can’t be but it’s worth a shot. Send him all winter to work on it and try and unload Castillo. If you have to start the season with a guy like Ramon Martinez and Easley until you find a solution then so be it.
Well hopefully he can hone his skill at 2nd base in the Arizona Fall League. As someone alluded to, Murphy is not skilled at his glove, but I am willing to take him over Castillo (past his prime) anyday.
I agree. I don’t Murphy as a 2b, but its worth a shot. He needs to work his butt at 2b all offseason for this to have even an iota of a chance.
I will deal with him running some rough glove anywhere on that field to see him hit in a met uniform.
people say they will deal with ramon martinez and easley platooning, but when ramon martinez starts to look like luis castillo, i doubt that will be ok.
i don’t think murphy will be even an average 2b. the question is, can you deal with his glove at the cost of his bat? take dan uggla for instance…the guy hit over 30hr this year, so in my mind his bat is worth his lack of glove (but of course he morphed into a gold glover whenever we played). will murphy have the power to be considered worth the lack of a glove? if so, i wonder if he is a sell high kind of prospect. we know the guy can hit, but i wonder what we could get back for him? do we see him joining reyes and wright as the under 30 core of the team? omar has some tough decisions with murph, but i have trouble seeing him as a long term solution at 2b.
also remember if you have a subpar second baseman in murphy, it only exacerbates the weakness on the right side with an ever older delgado at first base.
Like everybody else, I love Daniel Murphy and want to see him with a permanent slot on this team. But I have to say I’m really skeptical about him playing second base.
I don’t think Murphy is really quick or nimble enough to play that position. It’s not his fault — I just don’t think his body is built that way. I’m not saying that Murphy is slow — he’s not — but can you see him out there turning double plays smoothly? He doesn’t really seem to have the fluidity of motion to do that well.
I’m actually kind of surprised that he came up as a third baseman, and maybe I have a bias here against him as an infielder because I’ve never seen him as one. But I can’t help it — he just looks more like an outfielder to me. And I think he’s getting better at left field and could easily develop into a decent, perhaps slightly better than average player at that position.
I don’t know, maybe I’m out of my mind here. It’s quite possible. But Murphy at 2B just seems unlikely to me. We’ll see…
Can the guy get more 150 AB’s in MLB before we anoint him as a starter? It is not like he was a top prospect. He caught us by surprise and hit well early on. But he was 3 for his last 30 or so. I am not comfortable giving him a starting job and relying on him
The only people he caught be surprise are the people who are only enamored with long balls from minor league prospects, he has incredible plate discipline, shows absolutely no fear, read situations well and knows when to to swing early and when to drive counts, hitters like that are not accidents.
Murphy as been improving at every level as he went through the Mets system.
You go ahead and not be comfortable.
It was a loud 3 for his last 30. I agree with you, it was a small sample size. However, his approach at the plate and patience makes you believe he can be very good. Makes solid contact. He seemed to hit into bad luck in that 3 for his last 30. Lots of line drives.
Isn’t that what they said about Jeff Kent?
Steamboat Willie
Did you say to Mike that Church doesnt like playing in NY?
Again…I don’t know if this is true, but if it is Church certainly hides it well.
For somebody who claims to be friends with Minaya, Mike Francessa knows crap about the Mets.
LOL Church does not fit in here. LOL. Here’s Mike trying to make a story out of nothing again. I guess the Reyes Wright thing did not take hold so why not make up something else.
This is the biggest bunch of crap I’ve ever heard. I’d love for Church to call in and shut Fat Man up.
It was an utter disgrace, how long he’s spent trying to convince Mets fans one of Reyes & Wright need to go.
The WFAN needs to be called out on it. A proposition that ridiculous can only be construed as one thing: jealousy.
Re Church is certainly possible, but anyone who claims to know another person’s thought process “for a fact” probably dosen’t.
He seemed to be doing just fine at the beginning of the year, when he was he team’s best player.
Although I guess I wouldn’t blame him if he was unhappy in NY, after two concussions and getting jerked around by the medical staff for several weeks.
well if they trade Church and Schnieder I sure hope they get more than Lastings Milledge in return…
so now we need a LF, a RF, a 2B, and a C? yikes!
and a bullpen.
and 2 starters…
If they really want to trade Church, then maybe they can get quality bullpen arms in return, and personally, I wouldn’t mind giving Tatis a shot in right field.
Tatis, maybe in LF, but I’d rather him be a bench player. Tatis-Ed!
Juan Rivera is our answer
The one thing about Manny Ramirez that you can’t say about too many of the Mets hitters is that he is clutch. He never goes into lengthy slumps and has been to the postseason numerous times and always seems to come up big. In a big spot, there is nobody else in baseball that you want at the plate than him. It has been said that the Mets don’t necessarily need offense, just clutch offense. Manny would provide that. He is the master of getting the “big hit”.
The thing is…I don’t know if Manny wants to come back to the Northeast. Obviously I don’t know him like Francessa knows Church, but from what I’ve read Manny did not like the media scrutiny in Boston. He didn’t like that after losses he had to be accountable. In L.A. he loves being able to not worry about the press and fan pressure after losses…Its much laid back there.
Of course, 3 years and $60 million might change that.
True, but he is from Washington Heights, so it might be more like a homecoming for him. Sure, it would be risky since he could lose interest and pull his crazy antics, but the upside is huge. He is an absolute monster for the Dodgers and he will likely do the same in the first year of his new contract.
The going to H.S. in NYC could be a factor…although he did grow up a Yankees fan (supposedly)
A-Rod grew up a Mets fan, didn’t help us.
That’s because they never offered him a contract. If they did, he’d be here.
I read he grew up a Blue Jays fan because they were among the first teams to heavily incorporate Latin players onto their team. It’s part of the ugly unmentioned truth about the Yankees that they tended to be behind the times when integrating their rosters. It took them 8 seasons after Jackie Robinson to play Elston Howard.
Its highly doubtful Church hated being a Met, especially given the support he had from the fans this year and the fact his prior team was the Nats who lost 100 games again this year. Gimme a break!
I agree. I think this is just about the most outrageous thing Francesca has ever said (and he’s said a lot). I see absolutely no evidence of it at all. I mean, not even a little.
I think he (and Heyman, who has also been way, way off base many times) are out of their minds on this one.
Manny Ramirez? COME ON. Have we not learned anything the past few years by just bringing people in, throwing them money, and then watching them crash and burn?
Why on Earth would Manny be looking for a three-four year contract? Nobody is going to give him more than a year because of his antics in getting out of Boston.
If Minaya makes a move for him, this is just another prime example of how Minaya’s trying to stock up his own personal fantasy team. After that, we’ll just get to say, “Well, that’s just Omar being Omar.”
Manny will get a 3 year deal with an option year from someone. I just hope it’s not us.
He’s the best free agent hitter on the market…someone will give him his money.
You do have to be careful with Manny. He’s almost 37, and may not have the drive and motivation to stay focused for 3 years. First year…he might be fine…But the 2nd and 3rd year, as his pockets are already padded, whose to say he doesn’t get too comfortable…and starts playing cards during games in the dugout?
True, but if he brings us over the hump and to the world series in year 1, and decides to slack off the second and third year, it will be OK. Knocking the Phillies out of the division title would be worth it.
I couldn’t agree more. The fact that they won back to back is sickening.
Isn’t that what we said about Pedro? Worked real well huh?
But I wouldn’t mind bringing Pedro back for another year, especially since he’s a good clubhouse guy, a hard worker, and a proven winner. Manny’s one of those things – and it’s not like he’s not going to mail in the rest of the season when we’re fighting for a playoff spot, especially if he’s in the first year of a new contract. What does he care? He has his money. He has nothing to prove.
I simply think it’s a mistake to bring Manny Ramirez to the Mets, especially since there are other viable candidates out there that can play LF and aren’t going to bring a ton of baggage with them either. What about Eric Byrnes? He’s a hard worker and a good defender, and if we can get him for Castillo, that kills two birds with one stone.
I don’t see a need to throw money at a guy like Manny, when it can be used in other areas – like making a play for someone like Sabathia in the offseason to shore up the rotation, so the bullpen doesn’t have to be gone to early on in every game.
Real, the circumstances were different with Pedro. They weren’t coming off back-to-back chokes. The 2009 situation is more dire. They need to do whatever it takes to make it over the hump and back into the postseason.
bringing pedro back will amount to nothing more than wasting a roster spot and hiring the game’s first male cheerleader. He’s had a wonderful career but it’s time to admit he no longer ML adequate; not for a team expecting to win 92-95 regular season games.
Omar likes the “less years, but more money per year” to make up for it type of deals. I think that’s all well and good, but when a guy is looking for his last contract, I’m not sure this strategy is going to work.
Crash and burn?
Pedro 2005: 15-8 2.82 since then not so good
Beltran 2005: not so good; but since then who else do you want in CF everyday?
Delgado (not a free agent but he was just “brought in”: 3 years 100 hr’s, 316 rbi
Johan: I won’t say any more
Did these players bring us a championship? No. But to say they crashed and burned isn’t exactly accurate.
Maybe Church could be used in a trade to get Holliday. I like Church but I guess it’s a possiblity that you could build around Church and Heilman for him.
very interesting idea. I don’t know though. Church is great defesively, hits for power and is cheap. Also, we’d still have a hole in LF.
If you get Holliday, you can put someone like Endy/Tatis/Evans in Left and play the matchup
I think a deal packaged around Church/Heilman might get it done if you throw in another prospect.
The trouble is you only have Holliday for a year, and then you have to resign him. Church is a guy you can control for a few years and be very comfortable with him manning RF for you.
church/heilman and a prospect for holliday? surely you jest. dan o’dowd would be fired for making that deal.
Except that Endy/Tatis/Evans would be batting in the 6 hole when they should be batting 7th or 8th.
Beltran,
Holliday has one more year left on his deal. The Rockies would be getting two guys with big upside that they would control for 2-3 years.
I think Church has a lot more value that we’re giving him credit for. You put Church in Coors field and he could come pretty close to replacing Holliday’s numbers.
As I said though, i would be more inclined to hold onto him for as long as possible.
Tatis has shown enough this year that he can hit 6th in the lineup. The other guys however, I agree with – they should be 7th or 8th.
Depends on who the prospect is. If the Rockies could net Niese or Fmart in that package I am sure it’s a done deal. Of course that might be too much for a rental of Holliday. Thus if you could settle in the middle with Heilman, Church and Kunz?
Then you go out and sign a RF from the heap.
So
1) Sign Krod 5/75
2) Sign Lowe 3/33
3) Sign a guy like Garland or trade for a guy like Jason Marquis. Whomever the guy is has to average 6 innings per start.
4) Sign a guy like Juan Cruz for the pen
5) Sign a scrap heap LF.
That’s where the Brynes-for-Castillo deal comes into play (if in fact that has any shred of credibility).
But I doubt the Rockies would trade Holliday for such a meager pacakge.
Holliday in RF w/ Byrnes in LF, till F-Mart is ready would be very interesting.
Sign Manny or Vlad and I’m buying season tix now.
Vlad is a free agent? I forgot about him. He can flat out hit, just like Manny.
Vlad has an option year. Could be available. But how are you guys going to trade for Holliday and Bynes and sign Manny? I don’t think 4 OF will work?
Thought Byrnes is a 4th OF.
Angels resign Vlad for sure.
By which I mean pick up his option.
I honestly think the whole Church thing is a big case of fan tampering. With the media the way it is nowadays if Church had really said something even remotely close to what Mike said we would’ve heard it by now.
MANNY! MANNY!
Seriously Met fans. We HAVE to have Manny. This team needs a cocky, brash and great player. Manny is that guy! He isn’t soft and he definitely changes the atmosphere. He is a must sign and a perfect start to changing the complexion of this team.
Get Manny Omar! I don’t care his age. This man doesn’t take crap from anyone and that’s EXACTLY what the Mets need.
Go ahead and rip me but he is the PERFECT player right now that the Mets need.
Just wondering, can he pitch?
No but he can hit and hit in the clutch, which is half of the reason Mets didn’t make the playoffs last few days of the season. I know the bullpen needs some work, ALOT of work but bullpen arms are very iffy, especially trying to spend too much on arms that are not a sure thing. Plus, there are always trades too.
Amen! Someone that can hit in the clutch. How sweet would that finally be.
I think you would all be surprise how much more confident a hitter can be when they don’t feel like every at bat is the weight of the world.
I agree Pat. This offense still scored the most runs just scoring in the first part of the game. They are the same hitter in the last part. They are just pressing because of our god awful pen. Start by remaking our BP and signing 6 inning+ pitchers.
It’d be pretty hilarious to see the comments Jerry Manuel comes up with about Manny.
“There’s gangstas and there’s pimps. Manny is a pimp.”
LOL! The combination of the two in Mets blue and orange would be the talk of the town. :-)
Manny is definitely one of the guys we need to get this offseason. We have about $30Mil coming off the books. Sign Manny, K-Rod, and make a few trades. Payroll shouldn’t be much more than the $140MM of this year.
Manny would take up 22 million of that money. It’s just not worth it. Go out and get Holliday and you can still afford Krod.
Well, Holliday is just a one-year band-aid. Boras is going to ask for the moon after next season. I would have been all for getting Holliday at the deadline this year, but unless the asking price is significantly reduced, I wouldn’t do it.
How old is Manny? Are we going back to that “aging guy with a great past reputation syndrome” that has left us shaking our heads the last few seasons?
Not this time. This team needs attitude and Manny brings you that! Bottom Line. I am tired of the Mets being soft and Manny changes that the minute he is signed. I can’t wait to see him pose after a homerun at Citi and then when he gets knocked down the next at bat I can’t wait till he goes after the pitcher. WE NEED ATTITUDE!!!!!!
Manny is a great bat the Mets could use. To argue Mannu brings the “attitude” they need? That’s flat-out silly. Someone who doesn’t hustle half the time and works on his own schedule, yeah, great !
Worked for years in Boston? Manny is his own person that does what Manny wants. The Mets need that kind of free spirit and he would finally change the complexion of this team. Not one guy on the Mets is wacky, cocky and tells it the way it is. Manny does all of this. When he drives in 130 runs next year and bats .330 with runners in scoring postion I doubt anyone will have a problem.
I’d say Jerry Maneul fits your bill…but he doesnt step in the batters box…so Manny would be that guy.
i’d be all for manny if they somehow cold get him for a 2 year deal….but i just don’t see him accepting a short term deal.
Before Mike F. opens his mouth and says strong things that could potentially hurt his career in New York by saying that guy “hates it here” he should go right to the guy and ask him point blank because last I heard, Manny Rameriz said himself he wouldn’t mind playing here.
Perhaps we could pilfer Ryan Doumit from the Pirates since they seem to enjoy being fleeced in trades?
Maybe offer them Heilman and hope they are still too blink to know what talent is and take Doumit and one of their young starting pitchers. lol
NO joke.
How awful would it be to be a Pirates fan…*ugh*…
Could you imagine being a Pirates fan and have a guy like Jose Reyes on your team and the team couldn’t sign him because they were cutting payroll and had to trade him. That’s a reaccuring nightmare with Pittsburgh fans.
Nate McLouth is pretty good…Jack Wilson too. No question…its hard.
Jason Bay must be thanking god everyday.
Manny wanted out of Boston b/c he couldn’t just pack up and go home after the ballgames, the media and fan frenzy had worn on him.
Makes sense he’d wanna play in NY now.
I know…thats what I was trying to say before.
And how would the Boston fans react to Manny in Mets orange and blue when he visits Fenway next summer? That would be “wicked”! LOL
If true about Church, it’s bad news. One guy on the team that would run through a wall, was a true professional, wants out perhaps? That’s just super. I wonder who it is on the Mets that makes other teams loathe us so much, as well as some teammates!
Francessa ia a moron. Posters above stated the obvious…hernandez wants to be manager and only reyes could get santana from the twins. That said, i know nothing about Church and it could be true. While i like Church alot, the fact that he is under control for so many seasons makes him very valuable on the trade market. I also heard some crazy rumor that francesa likes inge.
haha lamo….Inge!!!
After the Milledge trade last offseason, Mike and the Dog spent WEEKS talking about how Ryan Church would amount to NOTHING as a Met and that is was an awful trade.
In the meantime, they went on and on and on about how Brandon Inge would have been a better move. Brandon Inge!
In short, they’re morons. and when they’re clearly proven wrong just a year later, if you call them out on it, neither of them will ever admit it.
I don’t get this, of all the players on the team, I think Church was the only one that was getting a “get out of jail free card” pretty much every at bat. Met fans love Church and I don’t think I ever heard Church get Boo’d, not even after his golden sombrero in the most important game of the season.
Well its b/c everyone knew he just wasn’t right…and hasn’t been since his two concussions.
And what’s to say he will be?
I think he’s healthy…its just that he had trouble getting back into the swing of things…and he had to do so quickly and on the fly. I think with an offseason of rest he can come into ST on par with the rest of our starters.
He said in Sept, it felt like ST to him. He just needs to start over.
As great a player as Manny is and has been, he is 36 friggin years old. Have we not learned our lesson about signing guys in late career. How can he possibly be this productive at ages 37, 38 and 39 and in an option year at 40?
I don’t know, ask Mike Mussina.
or barry bonds. spare me with the steroids. they don’t help if you don’t have the talent to hit the baseball to begin with.
He may not be, but this is a win now team. If he is productive in 2009 and 2010, you bite the bullet on the last year.
Well, Alou could still hit, even at age 40. However, his injury history started well before he was 40. Manny doesn’t have an injury history (knock on wood, in case he happens to play against the Phillies in the playoffs because us Mets fans will need him).
The problem is still how much money it cost and how many years it ties us down to that money. 22 million is a lot and would for certain mean no Krod or big name SP.
I won’t rip on Church even if the rumor is true. The guy played his heart out for this team, regardless of how he felt. I hope he likes NY and wants to stay but if not, Godspeed Mr. Church.
As far as Manny goes. Would I welcome him? Sure. But lets not forget about pitching. Our bullpen and pitching are issues, more so than anything else.
And why the heck do we need sign Manny and then go after a catcher? That’s stupid. If we were to sign Manny we should be content with Schnieder and Castro behind the plate. I saw a rumor somewhere that we may look at Ivan Rodregieuz??? Spare me…
I would take Ivan if he was say 10 years younger when he actually HIT and knew how to throw runners out. Now he’s garbage and would be worst than Schneider hitting.
God no to Ivan Rodriguez. He calls an awful game, can’t hit anymore and is apparently awful in the clubhouse.
Maybe we can get him some juice?
Fatcessa is spinning absolute bull**** again.
Fact: Church is one of the most popular guys in the clubhouse, everybody talked about how much they missed having him around.
Fact: The Mets are the team that traded for Church, as a bench player, and told him that he would have the starting job in right field from day one.
Fact: Fatcessa has openly admitted to liking Church, and sees him as a Paul Oneil type player.
My Conclusion: Fatcessa is trying to get Church traded, or create a rift between him and the fans, so he can end up on the Yankees.
Agreed. It’s just fan tampering.
sounds like fatcessca that large creature would try something like that…i hate him on the ‘mets’ radio station…
BULLPEN!!!!!!!!! BULLPEN!!!!!!!!! BULLPEN!!!!!!!!!!!
seriously, everybody is so focus on position players, did they see the 08 bullpen at all, or they are just blocking it out from their memory?
The only position player we need is a left fielder, and it damn sure doesnt need to be a blockbuster signing.
Rowand or Byrnes. I would bring Alou back to be on the bench, just not in a starting position that we would depend on him to play, because hes guaranted to be injured.
The pen: Krod and fuentes. Pay em both. We need that lefty/righty 8/9 inning guys, and fuentes can close if Krod gets hurt.
Keep Smith and Feliciano. Parnell and Kunz go back to the minors. Trade Heilman and Show for prospects/other relievers. Re-sign Ayala. SIgn Darren Oliver. Give Duaner Sanchez another shot in spring training.
THats all I got
Signing Manny will not impact our ability to revamp the bullpen. For the most part, relief pitchers (aside from closers) aren’t going to break the bank. We can sign a guy like Kyle Farnsworth for a year and maybe $2Mil (I would personally give him a shot), a guy like Darren Oliver for a year and the similar money. Manny should and I think will be a Met. Omar has coveted him seemingly forever and now he has a chance to get him for nothing but money, at a time when the guy is completely mashing and not seeming to slow down. If no other moves are made, just think of a lineup of:
Reyes
Murphy
Manny
Delgado
Wright
Beltran
Church
Schneider
Pitcher
Then, who cares about Schneider’s bat? I think he needs to focus solely on the pitching staff and his defense. This lineup will score some runs. I just hope Murph can handle 2B…which I’m not sure of.
Who is going to close and who will be your starters? You can’t go out and spend 22 million on Manny then 10-15 on a closer then 15 more on a #2 SP then another 10 million on a #5 then more on more BP help.
If you get Manny, you can live with Maine,Pelf, Lowe, Niese as your back end of the rotation. Sign K-Rod. Changes in the bullpen can be made without breaking the bank.
That’s 37 Million just in Krod and Manny. Then another 13 or so for Lowe? That’s 60 million. It’s not going to happen.
If Lowe will cost $13Million, I would just as soon re-sign Ollie. He is younger and entering his prime.
Not to mention, I can’t see Manny getting more than $17MM per, and K-Rod in the $15MM range. That is the money that came off the books right there. You would think we could add around $10-20MM in payroll with the new stadium. I don’t think it’s too much of a reach.
get varitek and manny…even tho varitek isnt great he is a great leader and i think would fit well with the mets and is a tremendous defensive catcher and would work well with the rotation…manny would provide the clutch hitting the mets need…murphy to second byrnes for castillo, byrnes to right…offensive is done
rotation needs one decent starter
bullpen needs a defined closer and a setup man…then fill in the rest with free agents
to be honest, i wouldn’t mind having manny because let’s fact it, the guy can still rake. i wouldn’t do it for four years. manny would be the perfect stopgap and f-mart will have no pressure and can focus on honing his skills in the minors.
My take on Francesa with the “no less than Reyes for Santana…”
I believe that Omar was using him to manage expectations and build up his own reputation when he knew all along it would take less to get Johan.
Aside from that, Mike is a blowhard, know-nothing moron (except when talking Football).
Francesa is the sports equivalent of Miss Cleo. Church missed 2-3 months of the season, went from the team MVP to a guy can’t even make productive outs, of course he’s not happy the way things ended. I like Church, if he didn’t have that second concussion, things might be a little different for this team.
Francesa is the sports equivalent of Miss Cleo.
Really funny, haaaa
a) Delgado should NOT come back.
b) Reyes and Wright SHOULD be traded.
c) Manny SHOULD be on the Mets next year.
LOL
wow
You are a tad insane.
Are you guys confident that this offseason omar will go out and make any if not 1 big splash this offseason .. whether its a trade or a free agent. what do you guys feel re we just talking for nothing or do you think we can actually turn this team around fully
this is omar minaya we’re talking about. you’d best believe there will be at least one big splash this offseason. my money is on it being k-rod.
K Rod is a definite. There won’t be too much competition because all the big market teams already have closers (Boston, Yankees, Dodgers, etc). If Omar really wants him, he will get him.
I just hope Mike says that he knows for a fact that the Mets will not go after K-Rod…Once I hear that, he’s as good as on our team.
I already ordered my K-Rod jersey.
Changes will be made. Definitely.
Typical of the fair weather fans to give up on their homegrown players at age 25. What a disgrace
yup.
Mike Francessa knows nothing about the Mets. So I won’t even discuss him. Frankly, (based on nothing more than his performance) Ryan Church flat out disappeared. If he truly wants out good riddance. If he does not I would have him back and hope and pray that his season ending performance was a result of his concussions. He flat out stunk down the stretch.
Lastly, any thought of trading Reyes and Wright is ridiculous. Everyone is available. Of course, that means someone would have to blow us out of the water with an offer that made sense financially as well as on the field. No one here has proposed anything that comes close to reality.
I spent 25 years of my life living in Boston, so believe me when I say this: The Mets do not need the circus that is Manny Ramirez. It’s not worth it.
Manny plays great when he feels loved and embraced. LA is the perfect place for him, because people will respond well to his celebrity and forgive his antics, because they’re amusing.
Manny would last in New York right up until the first time he had a streak of bad games — and don’t fool yourself, he will, because every player has slumps. At some point, Manny will have a bad month and some dumbsh*t fans will boo him, and he will not like that, and that will be the end of Manny in NYC.
For the love of all things holy, do not sign Manny to this team.
I spent 19 years there through mid ‘06, and I second your thoughts. Just say ‘no’ to Manny.
i could see that
as another met fan living in boston the last few years, i second that. the guy can certainly hit when he’s on, which truly is most of the time. but, he would not do well here. believe us… say no to manny.
Church/Heilman/B Prospect for Brad Hawpe and Jeff Baker?
Actually heard today that it’s a possibility that Jake Peavy will be on the trade market, with the Padres looking for some major-league ready stars, I’m certain. Apparently they’re looking for a Dan Haren-type deal, who was traded for six players to AZ.
To be honest, package Parnell/Niese, Evans, Church, and somebody else and ship ‘em out.
Have a great time in San Diego, boys.
To be honest.. peavy isn’t going anywhere.. and if he is that package wouldn’t get you his jock strap….
All I’m saying is that it was discussed as a possibility this morning on 1050 ESPN, and it had been discussed before the trading deadline, with Kevin Towers stating that a deal for Peavy would be addressed in the offseason.
Put Fernando Martinez in there as well, I don’t care. We need pitching – somebody that can go deep into games.
And that package would you get something; we traded less for Santana, and at least these players have shown they can play in an MLB capacity.
and then what do we do for outfield depth? you saw how well that worked out for the mets towards the end. for what it would it take to get peavy, it’s not worth it.
Outfield depth? Just because the Mets didn’t have an everyday piece in LF (which they didn’t have to begin the season anyway), they got along just fine platooning people. A team wins 89 games and fights for a playoff spot with two holes in the OF and people like Fernando Tatis filling in. Hell, the OF was good by the end of the season that Endy Chavez didn’t even have a spot – and he’s usually referred to as the 4th OFer.
It’s worth the risk, in my opinion. Especially if Byrnes is brought in. You’re getting a workhorse starting pitcher who is signed through 2012 at a reasonable price. What isn’t there to like?
Look for starters if that package could get you Peavy you do it and screw outfield depth.
Here is the problem, Peavy is an arm injury in waiting the guy puts wicked strain on his arm and with him signed fairly reasonably through 2012, you have to wonder why would the Padres be willing to deal him?
Checkmate. He had arm problems this year, but I’m likely certain that a trade wouldn’t go through without a physical to check out what could potentially happen to his arm.
White Bread, interesting that you mention those particular names because depending on how their careers unfold, Church and Evans ARE Hawpe and Baker.
nah, hawpe is younger and already much better than church.
lets get Church so far out of here we wont have to see someone strike out 5 straight times at the plate with runners in scoring positions
Airfeet, you can’t make decisions on a player based on how he performed in 5 ABs after a season full of injuries.
If the Mets were in Citi Field, that long fly ball he hit to end the last game might have gone out and these conversations would be very different.
actually, the power alleys are considerably deeper in citi field. current RF alley is 371, in citi field it’s 383
why would we keep a guy on our team who hates our team and hates our city…why dont you gimme a good reason
Because you’re being manipulated by Mike Francesca, and none of that is true?
i dont think Mike would just MAKE SOMETHING UP…its prob blow a lil out of proportion but im sure theres information like that that is somewhat true
You guys just don’t understand the media. Of course he would make something up if it sold more. Church might have said this place is tough and to have to fight back through injuries when you are in a pennant race is even tougher. To Mike= Church does not like NY. LOL.
Ryan Church was the only guy on the team who could hit consistently up until his second concussion. In fact, he continued to do so after the concussion, until he was finally pulled and put on the DL.
It’s true that he did not come back well after that, but he’s more than earned the right to play on this team for at least another half season. We owe him (and ourselves) that, at least.
thank you very much….
I concur that Francesa is a blowhard and that if he’s ever right about anything it’s just a matter of a blind squirrel finding a nut. However, given how absolutely abysmally the Mets handled Church’s concussion(s), I can well believe that he’d want to put a lot of distance between himself and that staff, regardless of how he might have liked playing in NY.
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement.
I have never seen a medical situation handled worse than Ryan Church’s concussions.
IDEA FOR A CATCHER …. BRING BACK LO DUCA LOL HAHAHAHAHA JUST KIDDING
Did Lo Duca even play any games at shea this year? I don’t think he did. I wanted to hear the Paul Lo Juicer chant lol
He was on deck in the bottom of the 8th/top of the 9th I can’t remember on 9/26 and I started a “where’s your needle chant”
Here’s the secret to the BULLPEN. Hold the fort. If there’s nothing that free agency has taught me, it’s that last year’s bullpen stud will be next year’s bust. Look at Lidge, buy low; turns out high. Get me the worst trash out there and they’ll fly high next year. Oops, we already have them (Add Mota to be sure!)
Am I the only one who notices that most (if not all) of the trades suggested by…well I’m going to use the term ‘fan’ lightly, reek of fantasy baseball? Most seem to act like teams will easily accept the worst trades in order to craft that near All-star team we all want. Not a lot of people discuss the smarter, smaller moves that could be made. The only legit swap I see is that Brynes/Castillo one since it benefits both sides: Mets get a bench player/occasional outfielder while dumping Castillo’s contract and Dbacks get salary relief and get their 2B hole filled. THAT is what a good trade looks like, not “Here’s a bunch of players I don’t care for and give me Holliday”.
No kidding. You have to give up something good to get what you like. People don’t seem to understand that.
Fernando MArtinez and Ryan Church for Holliday is not a terrible offer
Are you serious? Matt Holliday has inflated numbers from Coors Field.
Look at what he’s done outside of there (albeit good, but not what we see as Matt Holliday now) and then tell me if it’s worth trading your apparent best prospect and a good RF for who apparently “doesn’t like NY.”
dude u ever hear of the Humidor…news flash..Colorado isnt even top 5 offensive parks in mlb these days
Fmart is not even regarded as our top prospect anymore. AND If you resign Holliday then Fmart has not spot on the team. That’s not a terrible deal.
No Airfeet you are right but the players still have HUGE gaps in home and away production. Holliday’s is actually one of the least. A guy like Atkins has an incredible gap.
You mean the box of cigars? Yes, I have. And tell me – what are the top five offensive ballparks then? I know Philly must be up there, what else?
i know that is true but Holliday will still give us better numbers than a byrnes, church, or anyone else out there other than Manny
Come on Airfeet read. I said Holliday was the least of those. I have no problem with Holliday in LF.
yeah i know i was talking to the other guy
so the reason he is batting over 300 is because he plays most of his games in colorado??
When a guy hits .370 at home and .300 on the road, I’d make it a safe bet that he’s a good hitter, but not nearly as good as he’s made out to be.
The only good thing about not making the playoffs is that the team can be improved, can you imagine going into 2009 with the same team (except for the bullpen of course).
Hey Mets there was a time when you could have had Manny Ramirez without a long term deal, wasn’t Boston begging teams to take him when he was on waivers?
I don’t mind signing Delgado to a one year deal, he deserved it.
Church hating New York, that’s okay I mean not every player has to kiss the ground they live on. New York is a tough place to play, and I don’t really believe he hates it, Francessca is probably trying to stir up mets fans.
Am I the only one that thinks church bites?
Forget about Vlad. The Angels will pickup the option. But there is another Angel outfielder who has a club option that might be available. Garrett Anderson, who plays left field, might be available if the Angels decide to keep Texiera. He’s 37 but he’s still capable of giving you .280-.290 25 HR 85 RBIsand he’ll cost you less than Manny will and without the baggage. His option is for 14 Million with I believe a 3Million buyout. Failing that, Pat Burrell is a free agent. Don’t know if the Phillies will resign him. His production did fall off at the end of the season.
I am not sure they will pick up Vlad’s 15 million dollar option. They have Garland, Krod, Tex, Anderson, Rivera, Lackey all being FA or options to pick up. I think they may chose to resign Rivera at a much cheaper price and let Vlad go. In fact I could see him putting pressure on them TO do that so he could get a long term contract, something they most likely won’t do.
The Angels will be an interesting team to watch this offseason with all the free agents/options on their roster. How they do this postseason will probably determine the path they take.
One fear I do have with the entire Manny situation is if we don’t sign him the Phillies will. That would be the ONLY reason I would look into it. The Phillies have Burrell’s contract coming off the books and it would not be THAT much of an increase to bring in Manny.
Manny Ramirez ? Will never happen. It’s a well know fact that Manny wants to stay on the West Coast AL or NL. He definitely doesn’t want to come to NY because of his family sitch.
Everyone will be going after Sabathia throwing pretty much the same amount of $$ at him. The rumor is that CC prefers the NL and he also prefers West Coast. So that being said unless the Mets or the Yanks throw the bank at him he probably go to the Angels, Giants or Dodgers.
We have to be realistic and try and resign Oli or go after AJ Burnett
I want no part of 5 inning Ollie. Lowe and Burnett would be my targets.
manny will follow the money.
remember Los Mets are a very popular place for Latino Players (i’m sure its part of the reason Church was uncomfortabe i mean i would be too if most of the team spoke mostly spanish). Omar is latino and he always has the edge in bringing in Latino players.
Omar and Manny have a very strong relationship and Omar loves Manny.
That’s why he traded for him the numerous chances he has been given. We have no idea if Omar “Loves” Manny or if he was just playing the media.
I could have sworn I saw an interview earlier in the season where Church talked about how much he was enjoying playing for the Mets as opposed to the Nationals. Granted, that was before the concussions and whatnot, but could he really have had that drastic of a change in opinion?
His offense slowed down when he came back, but the guy is a hell of a fielder, and if he can be a .270-.280 hitter with 20 HR and 30 double power, he’s still a bargain. I see no reason to get rid of him.
As for the bullpen, I’d like to see them bring back Smith, Stokes, Ayala, and either Feliciano or Sanchez, get rid of the rest of them, and bring in 4-5 more guys and use spring training to sort out who stays and who goes to AAA.
while i want to keep him here, you can’t ignore the fact that the same exact thing happened to Glavine.
back in atlanta glavine used to go golfing and hang out with Smoltz and the other guys but in NY i highly doubt Glavine and Jose Reyes were hanging out together.
If you are an older white player, i could definately understand not wanting to play for the mets although church isnt that old
by that logic though, there wouldn’t be a single clubhouse that a black player would enjoy being a part of.
The Mets/Latino thing is overblown. Wright, Schneider, Church, Maine, Pelfrey, Smith, Heilman, Wagner, Schoenweis, Murphy, Evans, and Stokes are all white. Except for Wags, Show, and Schneider they are all fairly young. And then there’s Marlon Anderson and Damian Easley, who probably have more in common with the white players than they do the Hispanic players. So even if there is an American/Latino divide, should it really impact the players that much? The clubhouse is divided half and half, it’s not like it’s 24 Latino players and Church is the only white guy.
no it shouldnt cause problems but it cant be overlooked plus it did affect Glavine but he was older and his closest friend on the team was schoenewies
yea, but let’s not ever forget that Glavine blows goat balls.
boycott the smugcesa show. if you’re a mets fan just skip it.
that’s the only way to get back at him. he’s been hurting our team for years without facts
honestly all you had to do was look at church, heilman and glavine and its easy to see they were unhappy here
when players get annoyed by the media or give them short answer the media goes after them.
re: beltran can’t play in nyc or isn’t tough. total bs
re: willie (not that he should be fired, but how early it started when the team was in first.
re: manuel and omar get zero blame b/c they’re full access and loved
re: wags never got slammed even though he coughed up tons of big games
good points
His ranting the last two days are going to keep me from tuning in for the foreseeable future. As much as I hated Dog, at least the show wasn’t a complete snooze-fest when it was the two of them.
This is from the Daily News, 8/23/08, byline Adam Rubin:
“Church revealed that his wife Tina was driven to tears by the standing ovation the Shea faithful gave before his first at-bat in Friday’s 1-for-3 return. The hard-nosed Church said the fans’ embrace cemented his desire to spend the rest of his career in Flushing. He’s even open to signing a long-term contract now to wipe away his arbitration years. Church won’t be a free agent until after the 2011 season.”
Mike Francesca is a clueless idiot.
Thanks. Can someone send him a copy of this because you know he does absolutely NO research.
I think someone may have to read it to him.
But the funny thing is after he is enlightened by these facts he will state, “I know FOR A FACT that Church wants to stay here!” lol.
all i’m saying is that Ryan Church and especially Aaron Heilman look miserable every game whether they actually feel that way is a completely diff story.
this team has no emotion. they look the same whether they win or lose. Believe it or not the tag team of Manny and Pedro would make the clubhouse always more cheerful
Church can’t hit a lefty if they threw him a beach ball.. He will be traded and it it the right move to get rid of this guy while he some kind of value left…
Go figure, I am telling you buddy Church will be sending your wife back any time. It’s nothing personal.
What is the love affair with these cluefless Met fans on Church??? The guy had a hot 2 months in the beginning of the season and he’s being praised like one of the players from the 86 team.. The guy is what he is… Look at his career stats and please tell me he’s good… LOL>…
Jesus christ will you stop with the Church career stats thing? You mention it in every. Single. Post.
I agree
Year Tm BA
2004, MON, .175
2005, WSN, .287
2006, WSN, .276
2007, WSN, .272
2008, NYM, .276
right, b/c pure batting average is the ONLY way to judge a player. Hey ma, look, we’re back in 1956!
What is that??? What is your point dude… the guy is a lifetime 272 hitter so you want to crown him??? The guy couldn’t PLAY IN WASHINGTON NATIONALS FOR THREE YEARS…….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHA MET FANS ARE TRULY RIDICULOUS…
Thats funny,if we went by pure batting average and not by how u help the team and how u PLAY THE GAME beltran wouldn’t be making 16 million now would he? Similar batting averages eh?
maybe b/c his career OPS+ is 112 and he plays Gold Glove caliber defense?
Ok.. Gold GloveCaliber… and poenital 300 30 100 Caliber player too right??? When he actually does it please tell me then.. The guy is 30 years old and has done JACK NOTHING… END OF DISCUSSION..
Church jot na moet hae shi bal… Church jot bab seki juh ri jja juh ra e shee bel nom ah….
If your 30 years old and have Church’s career stats that would make him officiall NOT A VERY GOOD/PRODUCTIVE PLAYER.. Unless he is just coming around and has not reached his peak yet until 30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dude, Church is not the problem. I happen to like him and how he played this year under trying circumstances. I am not ready to throw away a guy who had TWO concussions.
Now, if you want to get a nice platoon going, I have no problem with that. But again, Church is not the problem.
If you have some sort of crazy deal AFTER and only AFTER the bullpen is completey overhauled then maybe.
you are giving church a little too much credit…im not saying throw him away but if he doesnt want to be in new york you gotta look to get rid of him…hes really not THAT valuable of a player at all
if you sign Manny Ramirez, Ryan Church becomes the mets 6th or 7th hitter depending on how well Murphy plays.
if church stays healthy there is no reason to believe he can’t realisticly bat .280 with 20 HR and 70 RBI
also lets not forget he has one of the best arms in the game and plays well above average defense
I just checked….
Daniel Murphy had 131 at bats last year, therefore not eligible for rookie of the year in 09. >.<
how about seeing if atlanta would trade jeff francouer since he had a bad year 239 11 hrs 71 rbis and sign brian fuentes and try for a jon broxton trade?
either way the bullpen needs an enema.
Its time for pedro to say goodbye… hed only be holding up a roster spot to someone who could be learning how to pitch like niese,
Please do NOT pick up Delgado’s option.
For crying out loud one half doesnt mean he’s back and he’s sure no clubhouse leader. Dump him and put Murphy at first.
If they sign Manny I am rooting for another team.
No way I want that canker sore of a man on my team.
Awful idea.