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In his most recent report for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal lists the Mets as having a 6–to-1 chance of signing free-agent RHP C.C. Sabthia, behind the Yankees and Angels.
Rosenthal also believes Brian Roberts could end up being traded, if he and O’s do not agree on a contract extension.
Lastly, according to Rosenthal, free-agent RHP Brian Fuentes will likely seek a three-year, $38 million deal, similar to what Brad Lidge received from the Phillies.
Rosenthal also discusses whether the White Sox could trade OF Jermaine Dye, what it will cost to acquire Pirates OF Nate McLouth, and where Orlando Hudson could end up, among other things.
…i think hudson is an absolute must for the Mets…i’ve heard and read many baseball pundits compare hudson’s clubhouse energy and leadership abilities to that of former Mets OF Cliff Floyd…the Mets, in my opinion, have missed floyd’s clubhouse presence the last two seasons and hudson may be able to fill that void…problem is, an old, frail and unproductive Luis Castillo currently occupies second base for the next three years…
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I’m not sure how Hudson is an absolute must for the Mets, unless he can go shut it down in the 7th and 8th innings out of the pen. I thought it was pretty clear to anyone who has watched the Mets this season (with their eyes open) that the only weakness this team had was the bullpen. I don’t know how Hudson helps there, especially with the Murphy to 2nd rumor.
mets need a leader badly
Trade the over rated Teenage Hitting Machine for a closer.
what closer do you want though? you want to trade f-mart for huston street? sherill in baltimore? sorry, i’m not trading our most hyped prospect (even if it’s only hype) for a one year wonder of a closer.
i think we caught a blessing yesterday when the sawx won that game in the 9th. k-rod would have gone out there for the next 2 innings i would say. i don’t want my future closer overworked.
The MEts will not get hudson. The reason behind this is Minaya. Minanya wants to give castillo second chance.
Its very unlikely for us to get Hudson or any other 2nd baseman. As far as I know (reliable sources) Castillo will stay for next year and will start at second.
I would be very surprised to see Castillo (or Heilman) in a Mets uniform come April 2009. Jerry pretty much ignored him in September and I suspect part of the reason Jerry held out on signing his contract was for more autonomy in who he plays. Plus Omar was hinting at making some changes in the clubhouse.
The Mets will eat a large chunk of Castillo’s contract and ship him off somewhere. He still has value.
Jerry’s random ignoring of players, such as Castillo, Kunz, Muniz, Ramon Martinez to name a few could be pointed to as one of the reason the Mets failed actually. He trusted his guys too much, even when Argenis didn’t get a hit for a month or he sent Easley up to pinch hit when he could barely walk.
Don’t bring Muniz into this. The guy really isn’t good. Doesn’t have a plus fastball or breaking ball.
THE ONLY WEAKNESS IS THE BULLPEN?????
open your eyes.
The lack of starters going deep into games causing the pen to be the most overworked in baseball
the lack of a second basemen who can play defense and get on base
the lack of leadership in the clubhouse
the lack of hitting in clutch situations
the bullpen is one of many problems and hudson adds gold glove defense a .290 batting average and leadership
get rid of castillo even if he gets the pavano treatment he is a cancer
Wow, calm down. Open my eyes?
1. The pen is the most “overworked” in baseball becaue it is so severely lacking in quality, Jerry uses 2-3 guys PER INNING. so yeah, maybe they lead the league in appearances but I would NOT criticize the starting pitching for not going late into games. Complete cop-out.
2. Lack of leadership? How on earth do you know who is leading in the clubhouse? A cliche that fans love to spew DESPITE KNOWING NOTHING about the inner goings on of a baseball clubhouse.
3. The 2b D was fine with Argenis, Easley, and even Castillo. Hudson is again and is hurt a lot. I don’t get how you can pretend his “leadership” can help propel this team.
4. Clutch hitting - yes, there were many spots this team didn’t come through in the clutch. But the bullpen repeatedly put this team in a position that they HAD to get the clutch hit.
The bullpen has failed this team repeatedly. I don’t get how anyone can dispute the fact that with anything close to resembling a major league bullpen, this division would have been SEALED a week before the season ended. Sure, the lineup COULD be better and the starters COULD be better but neither are weak. In fact both the lineup and the SPs rank towards the top of the NL.
But when you have the absolute worst bullpen in baseball, you have no chance. Enough with the regurgitation and the nonsense spewing of cliches, they mean nothing. This team doesn’t need Orlando Hudson.
Hudson would be nice but he isn’t a must. And just about every team in the league had problems with the starters not going deep. That problem is hardly unique to the Mets.
30 blown saves people!
Fix the Bullpen!!!
If we would have converted half of those saves we are playing in October…with the best record in baseball!!!
Fix the Bullpen!!!
I don´t think our problem is second base, it´s clearly the bullpen, of course they should get rid of castillo and give Argenis Reyes the chance to take the position, putting Murphy in the LF because his lack of defense at 2B, they have to get rid of a lot of guys like Pedro, O.Perez, Alou, Castillo, and of course must of the guys of the bullpen, get and experience SP like Lowe, a quality Closer like Fuentes (not the more expensive like K-Rod), and invest in the bullpen, guys with quality, just look at the bullpens of the phillies, Rays, Cubs, Red Sox and angels……that´s why they are in playoffs
I heard Hudson has another thing in common with Floyd. He gets hurt. A lot.
That’s what I’m thinking too. I have no idea if Murphy will be able to play 2B, but if he is, I’d like to go the cheap route there and concentrate “O” money in LF. Of course the bullpen HAS to be the priority.
I know people just seem to love O-Dog, but he’s not god’s gift to second base.
The last thing we need is an injury prone veteran, leader or not.
He got hurt just like Beltran and Cameron, or Church. Completely freak accidents! He is NOT INJURY PRONE!
Eric Davis lacerated his kidney diving for a ball. THAT is freak. And Eric Davis was injury prone. Sometimes the freak accidents find those who are most prone.
Yea we’ve all heard of this Castillo guys and no, he doesn’t have to be our 2B for the next three years. I don’t think anyone expected him to make all it through all four years when he signed.
And forget Hudson, let’s get Mark Ellis. Ellis is way better at fielding and a decent hitter, who would be much cheaper than the overrated Hudson.
I do agree with this, Ellis seems like he could be an alternative for less money and similar production. I wouldn’t say he is a much better in the field, but he is certainly stellar out there.
If Hudson is a MUST for the METS where we are gonna play Murph ? LF ,ok and F MART ? oh he is not ready yet,ok but he will be in citifield this year (in the 2nd Half). You know Omar !
nice name
at 1B, after we send delgado to the blue jays with schowenweiss and cash for scott downs.
brilliant, we are going to deal 38 HRs and 115 RBI to the blue jays to get a 32 year old journey man left hander who has almost certainly peaked.
Yes but Murphy might hit 10 HRs, so there’s that which is nice. (yes, sarcasm.)
You meant BJ Ryan, right?
Getting rid of Castillo is a must too. We cannot have him as our starting 2nd baseman it makes a huge hole in our lineup if we have him, Schneider, and the pitcher in a row. personally Id like to get rid of both Castillo and Schneider but ill be satisfied if at least one of them leave ( especially Castillo). Hudson has good defense but not enough pop in my opinion. He could be a good guy in the 2 hole.
Only a real moron would want to replace Schneider. But most Met fans here are real morons who don’t really understand baseball/ starting rooting in 06/ have no idea what you want to get from a catcher. The only way I replace Schneider is if I can get Martin, Mauer, Soto, or McCann. In otherwords, Schneider is not going anywhere.
I am perfectly content with a 700 OPS (with much improved power in the 2nd half) catcher with top notch defense and leadership skills for a young pitching staff. Schneider was a big part of Pelfrey’s progression, anybody who says otherwise is kidding themselves.
Well, I would like the defensive catcher to be a bit more defensive.
One of the biggest overlooked plays of the season is Schneider’s inability to field the throw and tag out the runner, by a mile, for would have been the last out in a win in the game vs. the Phillies that the Mets led 7-0 or 7-1 with Pedro pitching.
That was a tough play but one your “defensive” catcher should make. Hell, AJ Pierzynski made almost the exact same play in the play-in game vs. the Twins.
I agree that behind the plate skills are foremost in one’s list of needs from a catcher. That said, were you really impressed by Schneider behind the plate? I wasn’t.
Lets see, Schneider doesn’t hit particularly well or field his position particularly well anymore.
I’m a moron!
I’m with you mrmax88. I’m not sure why I come on here anymore. These idiots on here don’t know baseball. JR, tell me more about clubhouse leadership. I’ll take your word for it, since you’ve been in the clubhouse for a total of 0 seconds during your lifetime. Get back to your NY Post tabloids
Brian Schneider was good. But I don’t know if his defense made up for his lack of offense. He was in and out of the lineup so much and having Castillo or some other putrid hitter batting before him certainly didn’t make him look any better. If we have a quality 7 hitter, then Schneider isn’t a problem. However, if Luis Castillo is batting 7th, it magnifies Schneider’s offense to the point where his defense (this year, anyway) didn’t seem to make up for it. Don’t think people are being morons because they disagree with you. You are a Schneider fan, but lots of Mets fans aren’t.
I would trade just about anything for Russell Martin. He’s a gamer.
Schneider would be sufficient if he wasnt so overpaid! Too much money for a no offense, mediocre defensive catcher. Nrmax88, you are the real moron when you come on Metsblog and attack Met fans. Go away and dont come back !! idiot
Either Brian Roberts or Orlando Hudson would help this team immensely. Not only from what they can bring to the table, but the fact that they will make Luis Castillo’s playing time disappear faster than a plate of triple layered nachos at John Kruk’s house.
Aww, now I’m hungry.
no thanks, we don’t need another lefty bat, especially then because murph would have to play left and you’d have church, murph, delgado, hudson, and schneider all in the same lineup. yuch.
hudsons overrated, he may be a leader and a great glove but offensively he’s nothing more than an average hitting second baseman whose going to get grossly overpaid
Hudson is a switch hitter.
he hit .305 this year…..he would be PERFECT in the 2 hole.
I like Jermaine Dye alot. He’d be a great fit in Left Field.
he is like 36 years old. no thanks.
I think we have to treat Castillo’s contract as a sunk cost. It shouldn’t stop us from going after the O-Dawg. Look at the Dodgers, who made a much bigger mistake with Andruw Jones but finally cut their losses and put Kemp in center, like they should have done from the beginning.
We need the O-Dawg’s range on the right side, especially if we’re bringing back the immobile Delgado. It would help our pitchers immensely, and the combo of Reyes and Hudson up the middle would be pretty fun to watch.
Stay away from Hudson because of the injury track record. Brian Roberts would be Carlos Baerga and Robby Alomar all over again…let’s stick with guys who aren’t about to hit the wall.
Maybe Manny Acta likes Castillo. He liked Vidro…
Having a competent 2nd basemen would be nice, but I’m not really sold on Hudson. He will be 31 at the start of next season, gets injured often, and will demand a sizable contract.
brian roberts would be an awesome aquisition….he would play a solid 2nd base and could be a great #2 hitter….
fuentes costs too much….go for krod..hes more worth the money
then get a starter like lowe or burnett or someone along those lines….CC is not worth the money - we have johan…we need to improve the pen…a solid pen will get johan 23 wins next year
murphy/evans/tatis/fmart in left
church in right (unless they trade him)
reyes and wright stay
Delgado can stay unless there is a good trade for him.
‘09 Rotation
Santana
Pelfrey
Perez
Maine
Lowe
Lineup
J. Reyes-SS
D.Murphy-2B
D.Wright-3B
C.Delgado-1B
C.Beltran-CF
R.Church-RF
E.Byrnes-LF
B.Schneider-C
Pitcher
Bench
D.Easley
R.Castro
E.Chavez
A.Pagan
N.Evans
M.Carp
Bullpen:
Brandon Lyon
Juan Cruz
Joe Smith
Brian Stokes
Bobby Parnell
Eddie Kunz
+ JJ Putz
Really?
You’re buying into this Castillo for Byrnes craziness?
Not a shot in hell.
23 is a lot of wins.
if it wasnt for the pen he would have at least 20 this year if not more
True, but EVERYBODY loses some wins to the ‘pen. 23 is a ton of wins to predict.
So glad Nichols is not a GM.
NO HUDSON PLEASE !
Lets play Murph in 2b, but we have to decline Delgado’s option,because if those two play at the same time in the same infieldin the same team we are done ! I’ve seen Murph play 2b at Bingy and he dont got range ,he is like Jeff Kent decent ,but Delgado is not. Now with Texeira there is a whole different animal !
you have no idea about that and the reports out of bingo were that he needs a LOT of work to be a competent second baseman.
what would brian roberts cost us???
shot of roids
…a gigger of gin…
Bullpen Bullpen Bullpen and Pitching Pitching Pitching
Followed up by a need for a RH hitting LF
to take care of the hitting side….
Trade Church, plus Heilman and Kunz for Soriano or Holliday to be the LF
FMart in RF with Tatis and Evans as back ups
Murphy at 2b with Easley as backup
Trade Castillo for a can of bait to go fishing with
No need for O Hud.
Find a way to trade for a decent righthanded hitting catcher
This team is too left handed
1. Church, Heilman, and Kunz would NEVER net Holliday. Not even close.
2. F-Mart starting!? He’s not NEARLY ready for the majors. This guy needs at least one more year in the minors, maybe even two.
I can appreciate your comments.
To net Holiday, throw in John Maine instead of Kunz. Church Maine and Heilman for Holiday or Soriano
As to Fmart being ready…who cares if he is a finished product or not. If a 19 yr old can hit in AA…then as a 20 year old…he can certainly participate at the ML level on this team and provide similar production.
He just needs to be healthy. Maybe it puts a premium on finding a decent alternative solution like Juan Riveira or someone like that who is not a type a free agent
that’s not getting holliday. if you’re dan o’dowd and you’re giving up your main attraction in holliday, would you realistically take a 30 year old coming off of two concussions, a pitcher coming off a horrible year who will be 30 years old and may himself have hit a wall and then a 28 year old in john maine from whom you’ve seen flashes of brilliance of but also a lot of inconsistency.
no, no, and no.
holliday will equal murphy (now that people have seen him hit), maine or neise, and f-mart and i’m probably still going to want a bit of a sweetener so i might take heilman based on past years.
if the red sox are involved and theo is serious, he could blow the mets out of the water.
I really doubt the red sox would be involved. After trading for Bay, and since Drew is still under contract, why would they need to trade for Holliday?
you’re right, gina. i forgot about bay. the yankees are another team that will look at holliday. i could see them giving up marquez, melancon, maybe austin jackson to get holliday if push came to shove.
then there’s the braves….who are desperate for a power bat since there are rumblings frenchy may be on the outs.
After the mess that was Mark Texiera I’m not sure the Braves farm system can afford to go after Holiday. They pretty much emptied it for Tex and then got little in return.
Soriano? Yikes! Have you seen his playoff at bats? And his playoff history?
If hit like that in the playoffs in NY he would be run out of town.
Oh wait, he did and he was.
Soriano would be the best LF the METS have ever had in terms of offense. EVER
Don’t get hung up on the simple issue of his playoff performances. Plus I do remember him hitting a go ahead homerun against the DBacks in game 7 of the WS before Mariano flittered it away in the 9th
Soriano is imperfect but so are the METS. His bat and production would help a ton and he is not an aged over the hill type player. Plus the Cubs need a change and Church and Maine will be big helps to that team
I was just being a smart a–. Watching these playoff games and seeing all these chokers I guess has made me crazy. Because according to metsbloggers when you don’t come through with a big hit every time your team needs you you’re a choker.
Alfonso Soriano currently holds the worst contract in major league baseball.
sign me up for Soriano and that ungodly contract right now then. Todays awful contract is tomorrows Beltran contract….meaning it tends to even out over time and become less expensive when other top guys get paid enormous sums
Patrick: if you were a GM you’d rather hold the Zito contract than the Soriano contract? Just sayin’.
the trades you guys come up with are outright hilarious.
How about this we trade the yankees luis castillo for A-Rod. You know what we will throw in Heilman too, they cannot resist that offer.
What do you think?
I’m not throwing in Heilman unless we get Hughes or Joba back.
ROFL at trading for Soriano. I just barfed all over my keyboard. Soriano is GARBAGE. He is constantly injured, swings at everything, is the worst LF in baseball, hasn’t had a playoff hit in like 20 years, cannot produce anywhere but leading off, where is worthless, and he is due to be making 18 million until he is 39. Absolutely not. As for Holliday. No way I touch him. He is overated (as anybody who trades for him/ pays him expecting him to produce like he did in Colorado will find out) and he is a gauruntee to walk in one year. No. If you want a RH LF sign Manny Ramirez. He is infinitely better then both of those guys and will not cost you half your system.
Agree 100%. Manny is an absolute game changer…We have the game changer in the rotation with Santana, have a game changer in Manny in the offense and K-Rod this team would be lethal.
Manny ends up in LA with maybe a 10% chance he goes to Yankeeville to upset the Sox guys
Great hitter who will never be a MET…please move on to options that may actually happen
just curious why do you think Manny wouldn’t happen in NY?
If the Mets offer the most it will happen. The Yankees have a crowded OF as. LA is a possibility as long as the money is there.
Remember 2 things: 1) the reason Manny pretended to be injured was all because Scott Boras doesn’t make any money until Manny signs a new contract. Boras was not Manny’s agent when he signed the current deal so Boras stands to make $0 until a new contract. Thus the fake injury got him traded and a promise that his options are not picked up.
2) Manny follows Boras’ lead. All Boras clients go to the high bidder. If the Mets are the high bidder Manny will be a Met. The only way this doesn’t happen and it is rare is if a Boras client actually has the guts to tell Boras to F-off. Manny likes LA if he is set on staying there he needs to tell Boras he isn’t playing anywhere but LA.
Soriano is a career .218 post season hitter. no thanks……for holliday it would be more like Fmart, Kunz, Heilman, and a single-A guy.
David Wright is a career .216 batting average in the playoffs
Games played???? sorianos been the much muore than dwrights 1 year
Um so bring another 2nd baseman coming off surgey and who is over 30. What happend to all the talk of Murphy going to winter ball to play 2nd base and being there 2nd baseman next season.
Um so bring another 2nd baseman coming off surgey and who is over 30. What happend to all the talk of Murphy going to winter ball to play 2nd base and being there 2nd baseman next season.
castillo will not be here next year.
hudson is another castillo…all this talk about intangibles makes me sick. give murphy the job.
MURPHEY CANNOT PLAY 2B! The right side of our defense woud be murphy and delgado! Do you people realize how important defense is? It’s not just about hitting a ton of home runs you know!
you know he cannot how?
let’s give the kid more than 16 games at Bingo to completely write him off at 2b. see how he does in AZ fall league. he seems to have a great work ethic and just wants to play. chutley wasn’t a good 2bman until he worked at it either.
and this is why Mike should not be allowed to post Matt…
the last thing we need is O-Dog who we have to give a 4/0 contract too….the guy gets hurt every year and every once in a while puts together a stretch where he remembers how to hit…now I would like him on my team but he aint worth the price or the headache, so why not use that money on a SP & pen and sign Grudzy or one of the other 35 FA 2B.
Also Muprhy played like 3 games at 2B…can we be smart and put him in AAA and let him learn 1B so by the time Delgado pulls his version of Alou next year we have Muprhy to step in?!?!?!?! and not some retread, its not like Murphy played well enough that he MUST be on the 25 man to start next season…
Guillerno… I usually agree with you, but no way I put Murphy back in AAA after we saw his bat in August/September. He can hit, and is not a fluke. His patience/discipline/ the ability to hit linedrives all over screams to me that he is not a fluke. We really need his bat. Wherever in the field they want to put him, his bat is too valuable to be at AAA. Let him play 2nd all winter, and if he is even decent, I live with him at 2B. He cant be worse then Dan Uggla or Ricky Weekes can he?
Everyone says that until the guys makes an error that costs the team a game. Then it’s run him out of town time.
and dan uggla’s defense, combined with mike jacobs, takes wins away from his team that his slugging doesn’t make up for. defense is so overlooked by so many people and if you watch great teams you can see how having amazing defense basically saves your pitcher to pitch more innings, saves runs, and frustrates opponents to press more.
But we can get a 2B on the open market for a 1-yr contract…we can get 30 of them that all can hit in the #2 hole, which Murphy showed he can’t…I like Murphy but lets groom him to be the 1B of 2010-2015, not “try” him at a poistion to keep his bat (which wasnt tooo impressive the last couple week) in the lineup, if he were RH I would at least consider it, but another lefty is not a necessity
We brought up Murphy out of desperation and he was a nice surprise he was not a “you gotta get this guy to the majors now” player.
Why can’t Murphy hit in the 2-hole?
well, he was given plenty of opportunities, in september, and he didnt really come through….but other than that, I guess I cant think of any.
He doesn’t have the power to be a first baseman.
I think he’ll hit for enough power to be serviceable, but we’d have to compensate for it somewhere else IMO.
This is the kind of limited thinking that we don’t need. Defensive positions do not equate to offensive results.
First base is not a defensive position. It is all about the pop.
Hudson is only two years younger than Castillo.
I am confident that Castillo is older then they say he is.
True, but Castillo is the oldest 32 year old I have ever seen.
reyes
roberts
beltran
delgado
wright
murphy/evans/tatis (in left)(it did work last year)
church/whoever they can trade for
Schnieder/whoever they can trade for
johan
pelf
lowe/burnett
maine
(another FA)
Krod
Cruz
etc.etc.etc
that is only aquiring two expensive guys…krod and lowe/burnett and a trade for roberts
Who are you giving up for Roberts? Knowing the Orioles, they might ask for Maine back. Then, you’d have another hole in the rotation.
im giving up castillo, elduque, and alou for roberts……..lol i have no idea who i would give up..u r probably rite about maine tho
FWIW - I heard this past weekend, from someone close to D.Lowe, that he wants to stay in LA, or go back to Boston. But at the end of the day, I think we all know money talks
roberts should be leading off
Guys we all are insanely cautious when it comes to prospects and young players and what we think they will do. We are treating Murphy as if he is second coming of Babe Ruth. The guy has 131 career AB’s, 121 of them in which are against RH. He is also 4 for his last 32.
I am personally not ready to just hand any starting job to Murphy never mind in a position where defense is vital and we do not know if he can play it. Lets put it this way, if we can find a legit bat for LF and Murphy cannot play 2b he is the odd man out. Maybe he is a bench player for the season but there is a good chance he doesn’t fit into this team.
Remind me to never take one of your posts seriously again, ok DjDef? Go look at some numbers that matter, and you will see that Muprhy is the real deal at the plate. Look at his LD%, his P/PA, his spray chart, the guy can hit.
First and foremost I agreed with your thoughts of Manny up top so if you don’t take my thoughts seriously then I wonder what that says for you.
Seriously Pitches per Plate Appearance is a stat that matters?
Have you ever heard of a big enough sample size? I like what I saw from Murphy, I like the discipline he displayed at the plate and the poise. I didn’t like how he all of a sudden he went 4 for his last 32. We have had players start off insanely hot then fizzle because they got figured out by the opposing team. I need to see if Murphy can actually make those adjustments before I hand him a starting position from the beginning of the season.
I hope he succeeds. I like his attitude and I like his approach. I just am not comfortable giving a guy with 131 career AB’s and only 10 of them against LH pitching a starting spot.
For the most part I agree with you but why wouldn’t pitches per plate appearance matter. It means he’s very patient at the plate and/or he fouls off a lot of pitchers, both of those are good things especially for such a young hitter.
If you were watching the games you would know enough that Murphy did not just go some weak 4 for 32 with 15 strikeouts and twelve pop ups. On no less than ten of his outs during that strike he hit line drives right at fielders or was robbed by a good play in the outfield.
That is what happens during the course of season.
Yes it does show he is patient but it doesn’t determine if he is a good hitter or not.
My main point is the guy has 131 AB’s. All of besides 10 are against RH pitchers. I am not willing to simply give him a starting position
btw patrick he also struck out 10 times in those 32 AB’s so 1/3 of his AB’s resulted in K’s.
You could see 30 pitches per PA for all I care when you K you do not force the defense to make a play.
good points, DjDef
This offseason is going to be very annoying. Everyday there will be new rumors about the Mets going after this guy and blah blah blah. I still don’t understand why the Mets would go after CC. Again don’t get me wrong I would love to have him in the rotation with Johan. But I don’t see why that makes sense spending 130-150 million on a guy when starting pitching really was not the Mets problem last year. I rather see them get K-Rod, another strong guy for the 8th inning who can fill in for K-Rod and do a fine job if K-Rod got hurt like the Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, White Sox’s, Yankees all have … then go get a big right handed bat to fill in LF for a couple years till F-Mart is ready.
well i think they thought they had that RH bat for LF in Alou. I think the problem is F-Mart isn’t progressing nearly as fast as everyone had expected. Thoughts were he was going to get a call-up in September and then possibly be our LF in 09.
You’re right about that. They are expecting Fernando to have that big breakout season where he hits 300 with 20+ home runs, but it hasn’t happened yet. Instead, he has been doing OK and holding his own. That is not good enough for a promotion however.
and he is injured yearly
true - hopefully he turns out like Reyes, where he outgrows the injury bug. (knocking on wood)
Anybody who would rather spend money on K-Rod then CC has no business discussing baseball. First of all, K-Rod is probably not even among the top 5 closers in baseball. He is not that good. He used to be unhittable, now even his best stuff is hittable. He walks to many, and is in trouble every time he pitches. He has gotten destroyed in the playoffs recently. Any good reliever can get saves. Go sign Juan Cruz and Doug Brocail and give Parnell/Kunz a shot. Resign Ayala. I would rather go after a guy like Hoffman on a shortterm deal and develop/ trade for the future close in the meantime. K-Rod will cost 15-16 mil a year for 70 innings at 2.50 era ball. Sabathia will cost 20-22 mil for 230 innings of 2.50 ball. I take the latter, and it is not even a decision. I was so against signing Johan because of all that money, but now, screw it. If you want to spend 16 million, just spend 20 and get the real star, not the overated closer who got lucky in his walk year by getting a million save chances.
finally you said something intelligent
6-1? Lol where did he get that. I feel like he like loaded up his mlb 2k8 and simmed this off-season a bunch of times and based it off that.
Also if Fuentes wants that much we might as well just go after K-rod.
If Fuentes is going to ask for 3/38 at 33 years old, then I’d expect KRod to be asking for 5/60.
krod at 5/60$ i would do over fuentes….thats not a horrible deal 5/60 for krod
I know. The Mets are not getting either of them at those crazy prices.
Mr. Kunz please work on your command and secondary pitch this off-season.
This is just a random thought but I wonder why teams don’t bring up more future closers as starters. It seems, at least with Kunz, that one of his problems if he doesn’t really have to use other pitches in the minors as a closer.
Lol, K-Rod will want 5/80. No idea where you came up with 12 million a year. It is going to take atleast 15-16
Makes no sense. Since Fuentes wants 3/38, you expect for K-Rod to ask for less then that??
A team should address its weaknesses first, before building its strengths. For the Mets, the biggest weakness is the bullpen; the next is RH hitting; third is the 2-3-4 spots in the rotation.
I can’t say anything about the pen that hasn’t been said already.
Re the RH hitting, the Mets should look at options to upgrade the corner OF spots, 2B, 1B and C (in that order). Yes, I know Church was ok when healthy and Delgado was a monster for the last half — but would anyone here REALLY be crushed if either of them was replaced?
For the rotation, Santana & Pelfrey are definites; Maine should (from all reports) be OK. But I see that as either 1-3-4 or maybe, at best, 1-2-4. Niese earned a solid look in PSL, but didn’t lock up #5 yet. Pedro is a big question mark — I hope he’d be smart enough to see the writing on the wall for his career, but many athletes don’t. If Perez would take $10mm x 3 years, I’d sign him; much more, and I’m not so sure…
Kyle Lohse had a great year for STL; Omar’s scouts need to go find one or two Lohse’s this winter.
And whom exactly would you replace Delgado with? Good luck trying to find someone that can come close to producing a Delgado statline, without selling the farm.
you aren’t going to replace his stats. but by trading him, and upgrading your defense and bullpen, you will have a better overall team, though less powerful offense.
If you take Delgado’s bat out of the line-up I don’t see how we have a better overall team. We kind of need that power, he’s the only middle of the line-up hitter we have.
Is anyone going to recognize that Hudson has on surgery on the exact same wrist two years running?
3rd times a charm?
before anyone comments on orlando hudson and his wrist, please not that he is not injury prone. he got hit with a pitch, and then had his hand twisted back while evading a catcher. he is not moises, or pedro, or duque, or castillo, or sheets, or prior, or kerry wood. he basically had really bad luck on the same exact spot, a la church with his concussions. so please, if you don’t like hudson b/c he doesn’t hit 30 HR, or b/c you don’t care about defense and leadership, or b/c he isn’t going to drive in 100 RBI, then fine. but don’t say he is injury prone or not a gold glove defender.
Its probably much too late to post my potential lineup/off-season in this thread and actually have it read, but here goes anyway.
Jose Reyes
Orlando Hudson
David Wright
Matt Holiday
Ryan Church
David Murphy
Eric Byrnes
Brian Schneider
BN
Ramon Castro
Nick Evans
Endy Chavez
Fernando Tatis
Damon Easley
SP Johan Santana
SP Derek Lowe
SP Mike Pelfrey
SP John Maine
SP John Niese
LP - Brain Stokes
RP - Eddie Kunz
RP -Joe Smith
SU - Pedro Feliciano
SU - Luis Ayala
CL - Danny Wheeler/Brain Fuentes
How do we get to this point?
Sign Hudson
Release Delgado
Trade Beltran in a three team deal. The three teams you ask?
Beltran goes to the Yanks(who are shaving a bunch of salaries, and NEED a CF) Hughes, and Cabrera from the Yanks, plus a prospect of ours like Vineyard(a pitcher with upside) go to the Rockies. Holiday to the Mets.
Let Ollie Perez Walk
Sign Derek Lowe( Ollie is very up/down, and again this is part of an image change for this team)
Its true the Bull Pen would still be the weak part, but its really the best you can do without way overpaying for Krod, who still isnt a shutdown guy. Essentially we bring a bunch of arms in for spring training, and sign either Fuentes or Wheeler to be closer until a guy like Kunz is ready for the role.
Yes OHud and Lowe are both A Fa’s, So is Perez, so we would lose our first and second rounders, then gain another teams first for Perez..
All the moves completely change the face of this team, making it younger, hungrier and more competitive.
that is your idea of fixing the bullpen, really?
Umm who’s playing center field?
Ryan Church is the Center fielder, and position in which he has previously played.
And yes, Release, Delgado and not picking up his option are the same thing. We pay him 4 instead of 12 million, Which is a saving s of 8 million dollars. Thats not chump change. In fact is is about what we are going to have to pay for Hudson(7.5 million)
Delgado is old, and his defense is lacking. His bat was painfully slow for most of the year. He managed to wake up, but he isnt getting younger. I would bank on him deteriorating rather then improving next season. Add in the fact that this team NEEDS a new identitiy. Which means getting rid of some of the high profile veterans and infusing new faces.
As for the Bull Pen. Adding in Fuentes or Wheeler pushes the rest of the guys down the order. Ideally we had multiple new arms to try out in the spring.
Krod is not a whole ton better then either of the two above, but will cost a bunch more. The rest of the bullpen is not going to change a whole lot.
Notic there was no Heilman, or Show. I cant very well predict would would win the BP jobs out of spring so they are the stand ins.
Guys that could compete for a BP job:
Carlos Muniz
Eddie Kunz
Joe Smith
Dan Wheeler/Brain Fuentes
Pedro Feliciano
Dauner Sanchez
Bob Howry
David Weathers
Author Rhodes
Luis Ayala
You think Orlando Hudson would sign for 8 million? I’ll be shocked if he signs for less than 13.
Why would we just release Delgado with his 38 and pay his salary? That’s the stupidest thing ive ever heard. Maybe trade him but don’t release him.
38 home runs that is
Maybe he meant don’t pick up the option? But even then we’re still paying him 4 million, if nothing else might as well keep him and trade him.
Your bullpen is the same as last year.
Let’s see can sign 2 cl-a-ss A free agents + 1 more since ollie’s leaving so that gives us 3 total.
Lineup
Reyes
Hudson
Wright
Delgado
Beltran
Murphy
Church/Tatis
Schneider
Rotation
Santana
Sabathia
Pelfrey
Maine
Niese
Closer- K-Rod
Forget Manny he’s too old and we need to spend the majority of our money on pitching. If we have 2 guys like that at the top of the rotation and K-Rod closing we will be very dangerous despite the rest of our pen.
how many times have I had to correct you regarding type A free agents, slider? seriously come on man!
but isn’t it that we automatically get 2 type A’s then 1 extra for every one we are losing?
I don’t think getting Hudson is a good idea, and Murphy can’t play 2B. If we are really picking up Delgado’s option, i would rather stick with the Murphy/Evans platoon in LF. Find a 2B, 1 SP, and 2 bullpen arms because FRod and Fuentes will be overpaid.
meant to say, no to FRod and Fuentes.
why can’t he? from what has been reported, he spent more time as a 2B than anywhere else, and none of us have ever seem him play the position.
perfect idea to have him get PT in the AFL, to prove he can/cant handle it, and to get back in the groove if he is going to get the job.
The mets have 3 gaping holes on the field (non-pitching). LF, 2B and C. If he can fill the 2nd hardest one to fill, on the cheap, it will be a huge boon for the Mets. So it is a really good idea to give him a solid chance to take the job.
I’m pretty sure Murphy only played 15 games at 2nd. He spent the vast majority of his time at 3rd, then DH/OF and then 2nd.
If they need a leader, hire a bench coach.
Hudson will be a disaster. He really isn’t that good offensively, and is liekly to be Castillo part II. Instead of knees, it is a wrist.
SO, already what, 32? Missed the end of 2 straight years with wrist surgery of some kind? Yeah, that is the type of guy to break the bank for.
he is 30 and had two freak injuries…….he is better than castillo in every possible facet of the game.
Castillo needs to be traded for basically anything and if they have to eat most of his salary, whatever.
You gotta realize that if you get Hudson, you’re basically saying that Daniel Murphy has no place on your team, because you’re gonna want a new full-time OF and you’re gonna want him to be righthanded.
Unless you manage to trade Church also (although I’m not really a proponent of selling low on him) and could get someone like Dye back for, say, Church and a couple decent prospects (i.e., anyone but Niese, F-Mart and last year’s draft picks). Also maybe Eric Byrnes if Dye costs more than that. Then you could have Dye play RF and keep Murphy in LF, maybe platooning with Tatis or Evans. That way you can get Hudson.
Gotta keep Endy Chavez, in my opinion. He is TOO valuable.
And yes, K-Rod for sure, and gotta make some trades for good relievers. Obviously not TOP relievers, I’m not saying they can trade for Marmol or whatever, but definitely some cheap, good-upside arms, look for young guys with good stuff who haven’t quite put it together yet, but you think can, and see who sticks. Rule V draft should be a busy time for the Mets for that too.
Murph has gotta be the second baseman! Plus if we give the leader role to Orlando Hudson, Wright will not develop in this aspect. For left field we sign Manny Ramirez (Type A number one) then we trade Castillo and Evans and others for bullpen pieces while eating a lot of Gimpy’s salary. Then we sign K-Rod or Fuentes (Type A number two). Resign Oliver (doesn’t count as a type A) From there we get a low cost fifth starter i.e, Livan Hernandez, Colon, or Garcia in case Niese doesn’t work out.
Lineup
1. Reyes SS (S)
2. Murphy 2B (L)
3. Beltran CF (S)
4. Ramirez LF (R)
5. Delgado 1B (L)
6. Wright 3B (R)
7. Church RF (L)
8. Schneider C (L)
Rotation
1. Santana (L)
2. Pelfrey (R)
3. Perez (L)
4. Maine (R)
5. Garcia (R)/Niese (L)
Bullpen
Closer- K-Rod
Set-up- Ayala
Smith
Stokes
Parnell
(others acquired in trade)
A great team with only two type A free agents. Happy Metsy Mad 22?
i like it….wright should not bat 3rd….ever!!! hes a #5 guy….i would do more to the pen…it was the biggest problem last year
not a huge fan of the rotation. If only we could sign Lowe instead of Ollie
Yea I know the rotation is a little weak since we don’t know what to expect out of Maine or Niese for that matter. But I used the two type A’s on Bullpen and left field as those are our biggest holes. Any body you think we could snag in a trade Slider?
No, Wright hitting third is really good.
o if only it were that easy….
Yea I was gonna bat him fifth but i liked the lefty righty combo I had going. And yea i think we should cut everybody but those four guys i kept add K-Rod and go from there. Trading the bullpen guys we have and signing from the money we’re losing.
Time to acquire leadership since we have none
Hudson
Rowand
Lowe
Those types.
This is off-topic, but I think that Josh Bard would be a great fit for the Mets. The Pads won’t tender him a contract this off-season, so the Mets could pick him up from free agency at little cost. He could platoon with Schneider, and maybe allow the Mets to deal Ramon Castro for a relief pitcher.
He had a pretty dreadful 08, but he can really hit and could benefit from a chance of scenary. I’d really like to see Omar sign him and platoon Schneider with Bard. Thoughts?
eh, possibly….but whose saying the padres dont just trade bard for a relief pitcher?
Johan L
Johan R
me<3
Pelf
Niese
You wanna talk about a good, clubhouse leader type?
How about Jermaine Dye to play rightfield? White Sox need a younger, more athletic outfield (church) and a second baseman (Castillo). I know it’s not completely sensical and certainly not the most pressing concern, but he’s a good power, decent average, great playoff experience type of guy that the Mets could certainly use.
This would be my ideal and most realistic team:
1. Reyes SS(duh)
2. Murphy 2nd (yes i think he can handle it and doesn’t have a LF’s capable bat)
3. Wright 3rd (another duh)
4. Delgado 1st (whether you want him back or not there is no adiquate replacement)
5. Beltran(no matter how much you swtich up the batting order, flip flop him and delgado w/e…but beltran is not a 2 hitter!! He hits 110+ RBI and 2 hitters dont get that many chances.
6. Church RF( it could happen, but i dont think he’s going anywhere)
7. Brynes LF (atleast i hope so, he’s a solid right handed bat with superb defense to give us the strogest defenseive outfeild in baseball)
8. Shnieder/Castro (almost platoon)
9. Pitcher….der
Bench:
Castro
Hinske(when Marlon Andersen was stickin it up this season I think we lacked a simple go-to left handed bat to pinch hit and his vetern presence could be helpful)
Endy(who doesn’t love Endy?)
Tatis(not a full time platoon but share time w/ Church to fill in at the corners in and outfeild + pinch hitter and believe it or not, emergancy catcher. Yes it was confirmed by Jerry he can)
Felipe Lopez/ Damion Easley( we need a back up middle infeilder for defense + at par bat)
******- I think Nick Evans gets the call next in line if someone goes down. But not permanant comsidering he’d better develop in AAA rather than getting a couple major leage at bats a week
Rotation:
1. Johan Santana (once again a duh!)
2. Maine (idc if you think he throws too many pitches per. inning but he can throw more pitches than the average pitcher anyway. This isn’t Jarrod Wright or Mike Mussina we’re talking about here)
3.Pelfrey (I knew he had it in him :P)
4. Perez/Lowe (I’d much rather Perez around 4/48 + option…but if that doesn’t happen I’d take Lowe but I doubt he’d come here)
5. Heilmen/Garcia/Maddux (Heilmen, yes, HEILMEN!…its crazy I know, but theres a need and I think it’d to him good to trust his stuff and get into a groove more. His value is too low as of now, but I think his potential is too high as well. B/c we all know he can be great when the pressures off. Garcia, mabe if its cheep and people don’t buy that im serious about Heilmen lol…and if he’s willing to pitch for new york wich he most likey isn’t but I accept him. He doesn’t get hurt, he gives you a quality start and doesn’t hurt in the clubhouse.
Bullpen:
K-rod (man i hope…for around 4/58-60 + 17 mil team option (turns to player option if gets 150+ saves as met)
Cruz ( I like his stuff)
Lyon/Lefty free agent/ lefty product of trade (prefiably young)
Smith(he deserves it…i hope)
Sanchez/Alaya(i think they show similar results so I say have only one. I think Sanchez might be back to simlilar(notice i didnt say regular) but similar form from an offseason of rest. And Alaya showed that he can be effective.)
Pedro Feliciano(well he’s not perfect but we all know what he does best)
Stokes (he can serve as like a middle/long relief/spot start but I think most of those will go to Niese.)
****- Heilman if and when someone goes down or gets knocked out of the rotation.
IF HIELMAN IS ANYWHERE NEAR THIS TEAM NEXT YEAR I GIVE UP ON THE METS FOREVER…………………….DID U SEE HOME RUN HIELMAN LAST YEAR????? MOVING HIM TO THE ROTATION WILL NOT CUT IT!!!!!!!HES GOTTA GO!!!!!!!LET HIM GO THE KANSIS CITY AND BE A SUPERSTAR!!!!!!!!!
pms much?
post mets season…syndrom
I dont like the lineup….we need a real bat like Manny if we wanna win the world series not just make hte postseason
MANNY!!
Its very interesting watching the playoffs and watching the relievers come in to pitch the 6th 7th and 8th innings and really see how bad our mets pen was
no one has mentioned jon garland, i think that we should show interest in him, he eats innings and would easily be a number 2 starter while being cheaper than cc and better than lowe
I mention him all the time, no one else seems to like him.
That being said he’s not a # starter with an era in the low 4’s.
I would like Garland to solidify the back end of the rotation. I am not very comfortable with handing Jon Niese the 5th spot for next season. We should learn from our experience in rushing Mike Pelfrey too early and give Niese the proper time to hone his skills at the minor league level.
Garland wouldn’t solidify anything. He’s just a 4+ ERA pitcher who’s past his crappy prime. i’d rather have Niese back there.
there was a time when castillo was the man at 2nd and a solid #2 in any lineup, however, that time has come and long gone.
He has been reduced to a slap hitter with no SLAP, there is not a pitcher in the major’s that is not afraid to blow one right down the pike (with the game on the line ) if Luis Castillo is the batter.
THAT IS AN INDICTMENT ON THE INABILITY OF LUIS CASTILLO.
IT WOULD BE AN INJUSTICE FOR ANY TRUE MET’S FAN TO HAVE TO INDURE ANOTHER YEAR OF EITHER LUIS CASTILLO OR AARON HEILMAN.
Are you officially insane Mike? Out of all the holes we have you think it’s a must to spen 15 million on a guy who is comming off multiple injuries to put up production that is no where near that level?
The answer is pitching. Hmmmm Krod or Hudson. Which one would impact the team more.
And for all of those who were wanting Fuentes, now you see what I was talking about. 38 million for Brian Fuentes, right.
we need to get cc & krod….hands down!!
I think I would rather spend the Type A free agent money on Manny and K-Rod. Then we can fill holes via trade or lesser free agents.
Wichita State must have some good pitchers we should b lookin at??