|
According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN 1050, citing an executive 
with knowledge of the team’s thinking, the Mets plan to pursue free-agent RHP Francisco Rodriguez, but are ‘unlikely’ to bid on CC Sabathia.
…this could not have timed out any better for this kid…not only is he the best free-agent closer on the market, and one of the best pitchers in the game, but, at the same time, one of the wealthiest teams in the league, the Mets, who need to overhaul their bullpen, just happen to also need a closer…so, if these two are not at least linked in rumors this off-season, something is very, very wrong with the Hot Stove…
Last week at SI.com, Jon Heyman wrote that the Mets are ‘hesitant,’ with regards to giving Rodriguez a five-year deal.
Heyman also writes, “The Angels don’t seem as gung-ho to retain Rodriguez as one might think,” a notion that also written by the team’s beat reporter, Mark Whicker, in the OC Register.
…as i wrote last week, this is a bit of a red flag to me, since the Angels have the money to bring him back…and so, when a team with money turns its back on one of its own a player, a player they know better than any other team in the league, it raises my eyebrows…or, they’re just playing coy with the market…
Nevertheless, according to a recent report in the New York Post, the Angels continue to be Rodriguez’s first choice.
 |
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
crap
nah — i think it’s them playing with the market. They aren’t going this route and figure they should raise the prices on closers. That’s essentially what they did last year with Posada. Never real players.
I believe the market for Krod is in the Mets favor this year. Of the large market teams – only the Tigers and Dbacks need a closer. Who else is in need from a large market? Dodgers? Doubt it. The money that’s being thrown around is not what he’s going to get. Not with the openings available on the teams in play and with the current economic situation. I’d be surprised if he got more than 4 years and 50 mil.
I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: Closer – overrated, bullpen arms that can throw two plus innings effectively – priceless.
The reason they don’t want to give him the big contract is they have a strong bullpen already and a kid named Arredondo who may be better than K-Rod.
Why pay $15 million a year for production you can get from a 23 year old for less than $1 million? Angels are wise to let him go.
Stay away from K-Rod Mets… please stay away. This guy will be throwing 88 mph in 3 years.
They also will have to bid big to retain Teixiera, who was a big boon to them, AND they are rumored to be interested in CC, which also factors in to the decision.
Additionally Krod’s velocity and K rate was down this year. Not a good sign. He’s still a great pitcher but for the money hes going going to get?
You’re right that with Arrendondo developing spending on Tex and CC would be smarter investments for them.
I am happy with a starting rotation of Santana, Maine and Pelf, plus some young arms. I am NOT happy with the pen, except Smith and Ayala, ALL MUST GO !! We need a set=up man and a closer. If we do not get a closer dont bother watching the team loose again. We need to know that if we hand off a lead to the pen we have a better chance than not of keeping it and getting the W. My wish list would be a secind baseman, LF and catcher , but the PEN and CLOSER are a must.
i do not understand this love some fans have with ayala… he was just as bad as everyone else in the pen. i’d much rather see Stokes back then Ayala.
lmao i love the offseason
1 week we say hell no to frod next week we say we are going after him…
let the hotstove begin
oooh the suspense is killing me. LOL
He is very not worth it. You’d end up with another Wagner on your hands, while still having Wagner on your hands (so to speak). I’m not even a Mets fan and I hope Minaya is smart enough to stay away from this.
haha..I think we all know Omar is def not smart enough.. this is what he does best.. write a big check.
Wagner was much older but to be fair to Wagner he did give us some good years in the regular season.
except against the phils and stros……billy is the antithesis of a pressure pitcher. still like the man though.
And he blew game 2 of the NLCS let us not forget…. Wagner has the same problem as Pedro.. no signature moment.. he never delivered on his promise.
Blew the playoffs in 2006
Was Awful in 2007
And is now hurt and done halfway through 2008 and for all of 2009
Not bad for 45 million
Pedro had no signature moment? I seem to remember seeing him throw down little old Don Zimmer to the ground. That’s a signature moment if I’ve ever seen one. Also he won a World Series.
I think he might have meant no signature moment as a Met, which I totally agree with.
Except maybe crying in Pittsburgh or dancing when the sprinklers went off….
We cannot judge the success of our pitches on signature moments. If you want to win, the best thing to say is SCREW SIGNATURE MOMENTS, I WANT MY GM TO MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS.
For the most part, Wagner was a good decision. He gave the Mets 2 5/6 seasons of sub 3 ERA pitching. The issue here isn’t “Let’s not get another Wagner.” The issue is “how much is a closer really worth? Is it two draft picks and a gargantuan salary?” or “will this guy be as good or useful as he is now by the end of his contract?”
Some Mets fans are too short sighted.
Such the wrong way to spend 60 million, not to mention give up our first round draft pick
agreed. We should definatly look at other options before krod.
Our first round pick is going regardless. We’re going to sign at least one type A free agent. That’s not really a reason to not go after K-Rod.
And we’ll get a first rounder back in all likelihood when Oliver Perez goes somewhere else.
Exactly It’s not like Omar is going to stay away from ALL type A FA because of the draft. In fact it is more likely that we sign 2 just not both major ones.
Something like Krod AND Lowe or Krod and Juan Cruz.
I love it.. the same group of you guys who scream at the thought of trading away our prospects willingly throw away our draft picks..
pick a side gentlemen
I don’t like to give away picks but I am being practical. We have to spend money on the bullpen this offseason. It’s pretty much a given. Did you even Darren friggin Oliver is a type A free agent this offseason?
How exactly can we rebuild our terrible bullpen without signing a Type A free agent?
We don’t have a bunch of depth in our system, so I don’t see it happening exclusively through trades.
When have you ever heard me scream about not trading our farm? I did not want to trade Fmart for an old Manny but in the right deal? Bye bye.
The Mets can’t worry about every draft pick. They are going to sign a type A FA 3/5 years. However, as long as we are big players on the international market that’s ok.
The old Manny that hit 17 home runs in less then 2 months.. and hit .571 in the playoffs?
That old Manny?
oh.. and we had 1 international signing this year…
You only got 3 more years probably of mannys services…what do you do then when manny becomes too old if we gave away our replacement to get him in the first place…that is btw if we could have afforded to keep him for 09..because if that were the case get this we would have traded fmart, gotten manny and lost him via FA, we would have no LF for 09 and your arguement would probably be we got a draft pick but its not like that talent will help us in 09 or 2010….so i see reals point in that with the right deal fmart is gone but manny i belive was not the right deal in the long term…you can maybe make a case in the short term but again my point is they can score 100 runs a game..doesnt mean anything if the bullpen gives up 101…
Exactly, you give me a deal last year where Fmart was traded for a young closer and 2B then you have a deal.
1. The mets can “afford” anyone… who are we kidding.
2. Who says you have to resign him.. take your 2 first round draft picks.. and your playoff apperance.. and be on your way.
I’d say K-Rod and Joe Beimel for the bullpen, then focus on Man Ram.
the mets cannot “afford” everyone when you got holes in other places(SP,Bullpen) which have higher priorities…you say we should trade prospects to get talent well in this reality you just traded your best prospect for manny so how do you address the other holes in the lineup….the 2 draft picks arent going to help next year or the year after that..
I still don’t think you trade away your top prospect for a rental of a luxury. Our offense was not the problem. If you could have traded him for a young under team control closer then by all means.
If you could have built a package around him for Street and a few other pieces then I could see a case.
It’s all moot because we have no idea if Pitt would have taken Fmart and the other Mets prospects over what they got.
so to sum up
1) we would have to sign FA to fill holes but your against that because we would give up draft picks soo…
2) we would trade….oh wait we dont have anybody to trade that would give us anything of real value in return. We would need to do 6 player trades to get one or two guys which would kill the farm system even more…
Its called sacrifice your cant win either way but stratigic sacrifice is what the mets have to do because we are in a big market stage and need to put competitive teams on the field…not like the rays or marlins who have the luxury of rebuilding periods..
agreed real thats the point ive been making..yes manny is an awsome player but in reality we would be renting the guy for roughly 3 years…when manny is all said and done, fmart would be like 22-23 on another team..and what people fail to realize is we have alot of holes in 09 that we dont have the money to address all of them…
Im not against signing guys that make sense.. but those of you who won’t trade a F-mart to make the playoffs .. now just throw away draft picks without thinking?
Completely hypocritical… that’s all I’m saying..hence my original comment.. pick a side.,
And thereal.. really? We couldn’t sell the pirates on F-mart? What did they get? The next Andy Marte? With Pedro Alvarez less then a year away at the same position?
Give me a break. the offense easily cost us 4-5 games down the stretch, despite the bull pen.
No free agent we sign this offeason will have the impact Manny would of had for us in 2008.. period.
You do know that even at the time that all scouts had your “next Marte” ranked ahead of Fmart?
And the pitching prospect that they got in return would have had to have been Niese, Parnell or Kunz as we don’t have anyone to match up there either.
So you would have traded away Fmart and Niese for 3 months of Manny in which we would have maybe made the playoffs and lost anyway because our bullpen would have still stunk.
Wow.
how many games did the bullpen cost us?
Actually they didn’t.. baseball america had F-mart higher to start 2008 then LaRachoe…
And I’m pretty sure after he continued to not be able to break that .200 mark in the big leagues.. his stock was falling faster then Lehman’s Brothers..
And yes.. I would of appluaded Omar for actually getting us to the playoffs… that’s the whole point… to make the playoffs and try to win the world series..
Then I would of taken my 2 picks and gotten my next f-mart. who will probably make his way to the big leagues before our f-mart ever gets there…
And Dirty.. yes you’re right.. the pen was terrible.. do I wish Omar had made moves like a Chad Bradford and Aurther Rhodes, and Eddie Guardado.. yes.. I do.. no arguement there.
bottom line if you want to make a case the offense did not come thru at the end of the season..you can also make the case that if the bullpen came thru or have been half way decent ALL YEAR we wouldnt even have been in the situation we were at the end of the year…
Did not get the chance to get any of those guys off of waivers if I remember correctly they all were claimed before we had the chance.
As for your all or nothing approach to the playoffs, do you really think it would have mattered with our pen?
And it has been shown on here many times that numerous scouts had LaRoche ahead of Fmart. You have no idea if Pitt would have taken it or not. Maybe they wanted a guy that could contribute in the next 3 years instead of waiting on Fmart.
Yes the pen was terrible.. but what’s the bull pen equivilant of Manny Ramirez?
Soria?
Riveria?
Whoever it was.. they weren’t sitting there for the taking at the deadline like Manny was….
I agree with you he could of and should of gotten guys to help…
They have Pedro Alvarez who they gave a record bonus too.. or they have a guy who has a career batting average of .186 in 300 plus at bats..
I wonder whom they covet more???
Alvarez will be the starting 3rd baseman by July…
And they have this thing called a trade deadline.. where you don’t need the waiverwire..
Those are 3 guys I mentioned that would of cost peanuts to get.. and all3 of them would of been huge upgrades for us…
Man even when I agree with one of you guys (dirty) I still get attacked.
we still had our closer at the deadline..
The Mets are going to pick like #26. There is NO WAY in hell they get a prospect at that number that is better than Fernando Martinez. No way.
Fernando is a top 5 in the American draft overall type of talent.
If I remember correctly wasn’t that kid holding out at the time as was unsigned?
Not all of those guys were available before the deadline.
look im not attackin you ewm we are debating(i hope that you know this)…real is debating his point and i am mine. I enjoy our debates(believe it or not) even if at the end we may have to agree to disagree.
David Wright was taken after pick #26…
So was Joba
So were about a million other guys you’d be surprised to know.
No one is attacking you. It’s ok to disagree.
And good point Danny. Even with the 2 picks Manny netted us there is no guarantee that either would amount to anywhere near Fmart. For some reason you think that ALL 1st round picks are good. Most STILL don’t make it.
Yeah and Mike Piazza was taken 10,999, 999 x3
Why can’t you admit that there are many more first round flubbs than locks?
Alvarez never held out.. they were still within their signing period…
It was only AFTER the contract was signed that they tried to dispute it… the folks in Pittsburgh had every intenion in this world of signing Alvarez.. and they DID sign Alvarez..
They have no use at all for Andy LaRachoe.. they can’t even move him to 1st beause his bro is there.. they will probably trade him.. and he’ll really be the next Andy Marte then.
Yes there are.. but 1st round draft picks are valuable.. they are what lead to prospects that you guys covet.. that’s my point… and honestly.. as scouting gets better and better.. it;s getting a lot closer…
Look at the 2005 draft… Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Tulowitzki,Pelfrey…
I mean you can seriously improve yourself in a hurry if you draft well
You can’t be AGAINST trading prospects… but be FOR giving up your draft picks…
It’s the same cookie jar..that is my point here… that’s all I’m saying.
2008 Reese Havens SS Univ. of South Carolina 22
2008 Ike Davis 1B Arizona State 18
2005 Michael Pelfrey RHP Wichita St 9
2004 Philip Humber RHP Rice 3
2003 Lastings Milledge OF Lakewood Ranch HS 12
2002 Scott Kazmir LHP Houston, TX 15
2001 Aaron Heilman RHP U. of Notre Dame 18
2000 Billy Traber LHP El Segundo, CA 16
1998 Jason Tyner CF Texas A&M U. 21
1997 Geoff Goetz LHP Tampa, FL 6
1996 Robert Stratton OF Santa Barbara, CA 13
1995 Ryan Jaroncyk SS Escondido, CA 18
1994 Terrence Long 1B Millbrook, AL 20
1994 Paul Wilson RHP Florida State U 1
1993 Kirk Presley RHP Tupelo, MS 8
1992 Christopher Roberts OF-LH Florida State U 18
1992 Preston Wilson SS-OF Bamberg, SC 9
1991 Alfred Shirley OF George Washington U 18
1990 Jeromy Burnitz OF Oklahoma State U 17
1989 Alan Zinter
Well, as you can see 1st round picks always work out. If we had signed Manny we might could have gotten the next Ryan Jaroncyk and Kirk Presley.
So which one are you for? You were for trading our farm for Manny but against signing FA’s and losing them?
Or it ges us the next Scott Kazmir and David Wright (who was drafed in the sandwhich round)
Like you.. I am for doing it when it makes sense..
I’m hard pressed to see a free agent (other then maybe CC or Texiera) that would have the impact on this team that Manny would of for 2008…
But CC or Tex or others impact the team MUCH longer than 3 months of Manny. If it was for 3 years at a logical price then maybe.
Oh and about Alvarez, he was still very much a hold out and on the restricted list at the trade deadline. There were many threats that he would play international ball the next year and reenter.
Point is STill that the draft is very much a crap shoot. It is much different than having a guy like Fmart already in hand. Would you trade Fmart for Davis and Havens?
If we had lost in the first round after netting Manny in a trade and then did not resign him and got guys like Davis and Havens in return would it have been worth it?
If I wad drafting we’d have Tim Melville and not Reese Havens…
Look how many teams are getting better via the draft.. baseball is changing… you know and see a lot more 1st/Sandwhich Round talent in the majors then you EVER saw before..
Scouting and player development is getting better.. and the attrition rate is less…
Manny probably gets us intot the post season.. no more choke talk.. no more collapose talk.. then he stays.. and keeps hitting… or he goes.. and gives us 2 valuable picks..
I just don’t see a downside.
That down side is that we still don’t win really anything and are Fmart less and are gambling on those 2 picks coming even close to the Fmart and Parnell/Kunz/Niese that we traded away.
Of course guys after #26 will end up being good, but the market for these guys at the time they are acquired via draft or IFA are so different. The Mets can only get top 10 type talents through international free agency. I don’t want to throw away picks, but as long as the Mets re-allocate the money for picks lost in the American draft into the international draft, it’s not a huge deal.
the downside and the problem is that offense was not the biggest problem. Like ive been saying and i cant be clearer that the bullpen gives up as many runs as we put up. It would not matter the offense manny brings if the bullpen cant make it stand up. At the time of the trade deadline we just fired willie and were on a win streak and we had our closer still…
The downside is now..if we didnt make the playoffs(theres no guarentee manny gets us there) how do we sign him back AND address SP and bullpen…..we dont have enough for both…so we lost fmart for nothing….
ok real.. for a guy who makes his living by saying you can never know..
you can not say we don’t win anything if we don’t get to the post season…
ANYTHING is possible.. that’s why it’s so important to get there.
agreed danny but the mets then need to become more agressive in that market…from what i hear we only signed one guy on the international market this year…is that right?
Only one guy above 6 figures, that is right. But we also had 2 first-round picks and a sandwich pick this year.
I thought we should have signed more IFA guys, but we have done so in past years where we didn’t have any first round picks.
And we’re still getting a first round pick in all likelihood for Perez.
1 6 figure signing:
3B Aderlin Rodriguez, Dominican Republic, 16
Right, lose that pick and the say goodbye to the next Ike Davis!
Oh, god, we won’t be able to draft a 1B out of college who fails to hit a single home run in 58 games in low A ball? SWEET GOD, what a tragedy!
That was my point, Andy boy. That’s called sarcasm.
Or a David Wright whom we got from Hampton’s draft pick?
I think we can all agree wie had that draft pick…
The draft is a crapshoot. Look at Mike Piazza. He was only drafted as a favor to Lasorda.
Look at Evans and Murphy. Neither were 1st round picks but contributed more than 1st round picks from the same draft year.
We had 3 first round picks last year anyway.
You shouldn’t not sign a Free Agent who can help your team because you want to draft a college kid whose future is incredibly uncertain,
While it’s true that there is uncertainty in the draft, and while a known quantity is (like a bird in the hand) often a surer bet, the example of Piazza is an extreme one.
That’s like saying “sign up one handed pitchers — Jim Abbott was good.”
And can we please stop using Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy in the same sentence? Nick Evans really showed little besides maybe the ability to be a platoon player somewhere. Murphy showed much more promise.
And Look at guys like BJ Upton, David Price, Evan Longoria, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza…
Shall I continune?
The mets dont beleive in going over slot, which means no bonuses past round 1.. so that’s pretty much our only chance for high ceiling talent.
I’m not saying don’t sign a guy who can help.. but its the same folks on here who never want to trade for help either.. and really.. it’s all taking from the same cookie jar
And Free Agents aren’t a crap shoot?
How did Pedro Work out? The sox seem pretty happy with Clay Bucholtz (already has a no hitter?)
How did Mike Hampton turn out? (Are you happy with David Wright)
Two great examples of compensation draft picks.
“How did Pedro Work out? The sox seem pretty happy with Clay Bucholtz (already has a no hitter?)”
-and you want to rag on everyone…clay bucholtz was drafted by the red sox in 2005…you know the same people you want to trade away to fix the team….
Clay Bucholtz was drafted by the red sox with the METS draft pick we gave them, for our signing of Pedro Martinez…
Which is why I find it funny everyone is willing to throw away our draft picks..
Who would you rather have right now? Pedro.. or Clay Bucholtz?
Don’t you think there are 100 other examples that went the other way. Where a team let a guy go and got a guy that never even played in the majors?
NOW its ez to say clay
but my question is who then would have won you 15 games with a 2.80 era in 2005…..
Just don’t tell me 1st round draft picks don’t matter.. The sox’s entire team is pretty much built on them:
Lester
Papelbon
Pedroia
Ellsbury
And coming soon:
Bucholtz
Lars Anderson
Ditto the Rockies last year and especially ditto the Rays this year.
Diry who cares about 2005? What did we do in 2005?
And what did Pedro do in his biggest start of 2005? We were chasing the Phils for the wild card, and pedro had a start against them at home, on 8/31 and he gave up 5 runs in 7 innings…
I am sure in 2005 a lot of people did.
Again just because you get a draft pick does not automatically mean the guy will work out. For every 1 guy you can name there are 100 guys that did not.
and you keep mixing it up ewm…lets say we didnt sign pedro and kept our draft pick and kept clay…clay didnt contribute to boston until 2007…tell me what happens to us during 2005 and 2006…its easy to judge that now but at the time because omar didnt have your crystal ball….pedro was the best pitcher of a generation and has a huge reputation. Our main guy was tom glavine…..
pedro went 16-9 in 2004..glavine went 11-14 in 2004
Or if they did not pick Clay and picked one of the many guys that will never make an impact on an MLB team.
right. Its ez to analyze this now but in 2005 we just came off a season where we went 71-91…..
I don’t mind them going after Krod as long as this isn’t Omar’s “one big move of the offseason”, and he lets everything else remain in poor condition that is. (i.e. the rest of the bullpen, a starter, and possibly a hitter)
Agreed. I’d like to see them try to make a deal for Putz first. Maybe move out Heilman in the deal. Although I wouldn’t mind having Krod on this team. Imagine how many more games we would have won this year with him. I was never comfortable with Wagner in the big spot – he was never good in the post season and I don’t think he was the answer for us anyway.
If other options fail, then a contract for Krod would certainly be a good move – just make sure they check him over really well medically before putting pen to paper.
While watching David Price close out the Bosox for the Rays, I couldn’t help but think of what a Bobby Parnell might do throwing 97 mph for us as our closer.
can he throw that fast?
David Price was the top overall draft pick last year… he has many things working for him other then speed of his fastball.. that’s not fair comparison to Parnell at all…
Yeah, typical.
Parnell had a 8+ ERA in college and hasn’t had an ERA under 4 in his last three minor league seasons, and had a 5.40 ERA as a reliever for the Mets down the stretch.
In his first year, number one overall pick Price was 11-0 with a 1.87 ERA in the minors before being called up to AAA for a couple starts and then the majors and has been lights out.
Not a very good comparison.
So, you’re telling me that Parnell stinks? Geez, I’d like to put up all the posts during the season on this site about bringing Parnell up to be our closer. And then there were all the posts about making Kunz the closer (and idea I never liked).
Putting all that aside, Parnell doesn’t just have a great fastball, he also has a tight slider, which is head and shoulders above Mike Pelfrey’s or Aaron Heilman’s sliders (and I know Sliders, trust me). I’m not saying he’s David Price, I’m just saying we have a young pitcher in our organization with great stuff who is capable of handling that role. Maybe Parnell doesn’t have the control or the right attitude to be closer, but he certainly has the stuff. If he doesn’t have those other intangibles, then you’re right. And if that’s the case, maybe we should just trade him. But I think he’s got potential and that trading him would be a big mistake.
Easy there tiger.. all I said was he was a long ways from David Price.. and it’s not a fair to compare the too.. that’s all…
Parnell is not even close to being on Prices level.
Stokes throws that hard too. It ain’t only about the velocity, folks.
it certainly helps. i’ll take the 97 mph flame thrower with a few control problems over the 86 mph “finesse” guy when it comes to the bullpen. this year, we had no one that could come in and get a strikeout for us (like carlos marmol, etc.) in a tight situation.
I will take the flamethrower, too. The point is, throwing flames alone is not enough. Kyle Farnsworth, anybody?
Or how about Burgos. He threw fire and couldn’t do anything with it.
Does anyone know whats the market for Krod..like what teams have a hole at closer and may make an offer?
Tigers and D’Backs, but I doubt either of them get serious.
thats the point here, who can think of a team with a fortune of money who also needs a closer? I think the ball is going to be in the Mets court to a certain extent here. Ive said it before, I wouldnt be suprised to see something along the lines of 4 years/$50 million or even 3/40 with an option here.
EXACTLY what I’ve been thinking…
The Angels have the money but not the need. They have a deep bullpen that can sustain the loss of Rodriguez and allow them to re-allocate those resources to other places of need.
Jose Arredondo will be a nice, cheap option at closer for them while Scot Shields will remain one of the best utility relievers in the game.
Omar showed his patience last winter in order to get Johan, and now he’ll have to show that same patience again. I really think the market favors the Mets here instead of K-Rod. Other than maybe the Tigers, I cannot find a single team that will be in serious pursuit of him. Omar will stand firm on his offer and play hardball. In the end, though, Francisco will be on the Mets and rightfully so.
If K-Rod does become a Met, I sure hope it plays out the way you have described.
philnym you are exactly right, he will come back to us and the price will be right, no one will have a right to complain about the signing because it will be reasonable.
I agree to an extent. I think both teams will budge and meet in the middle for a nice contract. There just are not many teams that want to add that contract AND have a current need. It’s nice to bid on a guy when the Yankee’s, Sox, Cubs, Angels and really the Dodgers are all out of the mix.
Sadly, outside of the Yankees, the rest are out of the mix and into the playoffs. Meanwhile the Yankees missed their first playoff berth in 15 years.
That says something strong about having a reliable pen. I know it’s pointing out the obvious, but it’s still nauseating when you think about what could and should have been in the past 2 years had the pen not been so terrible.
Tigers have too many problems and need to cut payroll. The Rangers may go after K-Rod. I recall reading that K-Rod is “LA, NY, or bust”.
Forgot about the Rangers. Good call.
There’s no red flags. It’s been documented that he has lost 3 miles off his FB and his change is not as good as it once was. He has a violent motion and is succeptible to injury. He makes the game interesting…he is NOT a shut down closer. What else can be said, but let the buyer beware.
What are our other options? We don’t have any in-house at the moment. Sanchez could have been that guy but no more – and our other fireballing prospect is going to go to jail.
Plus its been WELL documented that the reason he lost the MPH off his fastball was because he changed his motion to take less stress off himself to reduce risk of injury.
I’m not advocating him, id rather see some creative options for closer. I know his K rate is down and BB rate is up. Krod did blow saves last year, he did put men on base, sure he got a boat load of saves, but they werent without their “mets-esq” drama….
90% save rate doesn’t typify your run-of-the-mill closer.
That’s elite.
What about Jason Vargas? Out of the box suggestion.
We’re trying to have FEWER blown saves, not more.
He’s looked real good in the AFL. Maybe he’s just not a starter.
That’s interesting because every time I’ve seen him, he stunk. Maybe we can trade him to the AFL??? : P
Yes, he’s been awful as a starter in the minors and I’ve never understood why anyone wanted him, but sometimes guys are thought of as starters and fail, and then a clever GM puts him in as a relief pitcher and he’s pretty darn good.
There are not perfect examples (yes, reread that line before jumping down my throat) but in the Mets history, we let both Dotel and Izzy leave and both were excellent relievers — especially Izzy.
I don’t know if Vargas would fit the mold, but he was highly touted at one point, so why not see if he can do it an inning at a time instead of 6-7 at a time?
Well Izzy is available as a FA this year – maybe we should sign him?
Agreed, he has said he would be willing to take an incentive based contract. Bring him in.
His change is better than it used to be. But it’s probably accurate to state both his fastball and slider are not what they used to be. Although K-Rod’s slider is still a good pitch, just not quite as filthy.
His changeup is actually BETTER than it was based on all accounts. He himself has actually said that he has worked on decreasing velocity to improve control and motion on his pitches. Along with a delivery change to lessen stress.
Matt, this isn’t a red flag. The Angels may have money but they are stingy. They also need to extend Lackey and Guerrero. They also will want to pursue Teixeira. They also have Jose Arredondo to replace K-Rod as their closer next year.
The Angels not wanting to keep him is NOT a red flag.
That’s what I said above. I completely agree.
Should have read before I posted. This is exactly what I said below.
To say this is a red flag is just to completely ignore facts. In fact to me it shows bias towards what plan you think they should follow and making up excuses as to why they should not. If you want to say that ANY longterm contract for a reliever is a bad idea then great. But to say I would not sign him because the team that has him does not want him at that price is silly.
I don’t want Johan because the Twins want to trade him.
I don’t want Manny because the Redsox who have money traded him.
Screw it. Get Fuentes.
Why? If you are going to go cheap and average why not go much lower than the silly 12 million a year that Fuentes is going to wan’t. That’s an even bigger mistake. Go with a scrap heap guy or trade for one before you sign Fuentes.
correct TRS
Fuentes wasn’t even the Rockies full-time closer. He shared those duties with Corpas.
Oh yeah, he LOST his closer’s role all together in 2007. You pay for consistency and K-Rod has been the definition of consistent…
Exactly, guys like this can be had for little value on the trade market. Go sign Brandon Lyon for 4 million if you want an average to below average closer.
imagine how much complaining and talking rollins is going to do with all the “antics” Krod does after a save. will brad lidge point to the sky and comfort jimmy after a save?
Right. I hate that shyat. Don’t we already have enough players that make the Mets the most hated team in the league … the team everybody loves to beat?
Won’t matter if the most hated team wins the most games, i.e. 1986 WORLD CHAMPION New York Mets.
That’ll take a lot more than someone on the back end of your bullpen to fix. Like, a new bullpen.
Yea. They will definitely get upset about that. I’m so sick of the way they preach about playing the game the right way. For not grandstanding or showing up other teams. I could nitpick all I want and find things they do that are annoying. For instance, Phillies fans and their players forget how Jayson Werth did the same thing in the first game of that series vs. the Mets. Hit a homer (albeit a big 9th inning one…I think it was the 9th or extras) and put a “1″ in the air as he rounded first. The only thing Jayson Werth is #1 at is a tie for 1st place with Spiezio as the biggest weasel with the ugliest flavor saver. I hope they lose this series and the fans of Philly can be exposed for what they really are when they flip cars and riot. For those of us that have seen Borat, this is for you.
The Phillies are such a professional team pause not.
As I posted last time this was brought up, there is no red flag here with the Angels. They just have a very good setup man and need to spend that money elsewhere on Tex or another starter. Yes they have money but with Vlad’s option, Garland as a FA, Lackey has an option, and having traded their starting 1B away, Closer they think is a luxury. IF they could have him and get all their other goals then I am sure they would keep him.
I’m very wary of K-Rod. I like Fuentes, but I’m not sold on him either. They’re both obviously very good, but I’m not sure spending a boat load of money on a closer is all that wise, when the team has other needs in the bullpen and starting rotation.
if we dont spend a bout load of money on him and get fuentes instead, then which team is gunna spend the money on him???
Not to mention what is that 3-5 million that we are saving really going to do for us? The Mets? We should not care about 3-5 million.
Fuentes is an average to below average closer at best that is going to rake in the cash because he is the alternative to Krod. If you are not going to get Krod then stay away from both of them. Get you an average closer for 6 million instead of 12 million for friggin Fuentes. Guys like him can be had in trade all the time. We could have had him last year for Heilman and Show.
Agreed. K-Rod or bust.
You sure about that thereal. They probably should have and would have made that trade.
I am sure. It was December and the Mets offered a straight up trade of Heilman for Fuentes and the Rockies wanted Show and cash to be added. We declined.
Dammit!
FYI, Fuentes has a much better K to BB ratio than KRod, and if you drop 1 inning of work by Fuentes 1/3 and 2/3 of an inning where he had poor showings his ERA drops to 1.50 in 2008. Put Fuentes on the Angels last year and you can add alot more saves to his total. Fuentes 3 years 30 to 36 mil, KRod 4 to 5 year 60 to 75 mil, I take the 3 years or obtain closer through trade.
Why not look at his career numbers or the fact that he lost the closer role 2 times in the last 3 years?
Besides based on your logic it’s only 3-5 million a year extra? You are only paying for the extra years which is not a big deal considering age of the players. At the end of a 4 year deal for Krod he will still be 2 years younger than Fuentes is NOW.
Ironically, Fuentes is 33 now (what Wagner was when we signed HIM).
He’s also nowhere NEAR the type of closer Wagner was at the same age.
i dont understand who else is willing to give him 5 years at whatever the price is??? y is his cost soo high??…i think the mets are really the only team who desperately need a closer..i think the mets should go for him but offer 4 years at around 10-15 mil per year….i dont think any other team in the mlb will go higher than that…i mean this guy is good and is only 26 years old..i say yes to him…if we do get him, id like ot see a guy right behind him to pitch the 8th…cruz?
then u stil have smith as specialist. could use stokes as a long man, parnell i see very good out of the pen, and i can also see vargas out of the pen as well….we just have to let hielman, scho, feliciano, go…i mean they are all decent pitchers but i dont think they would be successful if they stayed next year…..maybe feliciano can stay but hielman and scho GOODBYE
I like that because we would get to keep Duaner Sanchez. If he returns to form, our bullpen would quickly become one of the best in baseball. If he doesn’t, well then, it’s no loss.
Come on. Anyone who has paid any attention to how the Mets operate knows they aren’t going to pay Billy Wagner and another high priced closer at the same time. Just isn’t gonna happen.
yes they will…Omar will sign krod in a second
If past precedence is any indicator, there is no way Omar will be allowed to spend 30+ million on the closer position.
You have to look at Wagner’s money as sunken cost. I am sure that after the BP was blamed for 07 and 08 that he will be able to spend as much as he wants on it. It’s about the overall budget not about the position itself.
I know how it should be looked at. But the Mets never do things this way. They’ve already come out saying they’ll probably find a “creative” solution for the closer role.
If it were up to me, I’d spend gobs of money on Manny and starting pitching/MR and make Maine the closer, a guy who is dominant first time through the order and has yet to have a complete season as a starter (didn’t start 06, close to 6 era in second half in 07, hurt in 08)
So your idea is to spend “gobs of money” and rely on a guy who has never closed.
Nice.
sure is. hey i’d take k-rod too if there’s no limit to spending, but not only does he have declining peripherals, but how much further did a top of the line established closer get the mets the last few years?
many top closers were originally SP (rivera, gagne, papelbon). maine has endurance issues and is nasty first time through, he’s a natural fit for a relief role.
the mets would be better off signing starting pitching, a big bat, and middle relief. a closer should be 4th on the list of priorities.
Agree to disagree. After the pen costing us the last 2 years we have to fix it first. The offense did not cost us last season as a whole.
If you loose Maine then you really need 3 SP unless you think Niese is ready. Even then you need 2 decent SP and that will not be easy to get this offseason.
i can’t count on maine as a sp. he’s a potential SP, and potentially good, but has yet to finish a full season as one. his best value is in the pen. if you don’t trust him as closer then have maine set up, that’s a hole too. signing k-rod for a long term deal with the way he throws with maximum effort and with his declining peripherals is a risky proposition. there are plenty of good FA sp options this year (lowe, sabathia, sheets, burnett, garland, perez, wolf) and a lot of middle of the road pitchers out there too.
I would today offer Krod 3/45 with easy player options for 2 more years and another 36 million total. Give him a deadline and move on if he does not take it.
He’s not taking that. I’d be very surprised if he took that. He’s definitely getting the 4 year deal with an option.
Then who will give him more years and money? He can wait it out but he might be signing a 1 year deal if he does.
sign k-rod. give a little extra cash per year for fewer years
joba, criminal
Exactly, 3 years with easily obtainable options for 4th and 5th years with much more money.
3/45 with 2 option years worth 36 total. That’s 5 years 81 million. If that does not work then move away quickly.
I wonder what jersey number Francisco will be wearing once he signs here? #57 currently is occupied.
my money’s on 75
i’m sure he wears it because of santana. they’re both from venezuala…what are the odds they’d wear that random #
Excellent. Because Omar is unable to develop a closer from within, they need F-Rod.
He’s not as slam-dunk a closer as Santana is a starter, but F-Rod is still top notch.
And if anyone thinks a closer is overrated, look at Papelbon, Lidge and Rivera. All 3 have been absolutely essential in helping their teams go deep into the postseason.
I agree that Papelbon, Lidge, and Rivera have been huge in helping their teams go deep into the postseason.
I’m exempting Rivera from this discussion since the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs this year, but look at the setup crews that Papelbon and Lidge had.
Papelbon has guys like Okajima, Masterson, Delcarmen, etc. to bridge the gap between the SP and him. Lidge also has a great set-up crew behind him, who bridge the gap. The Angels have a great set up crew as well, in Arredondo, Shields, and Oliver. K-Rod on the Mets won’t have a good set-up crew, which diminishes his number of opportunities.
And, I saw Papelbon pitching before the 9th inning (i.e. in a non save situation, and not a tie game) in the playoffs. And, I’ve seen him do multiple innings in the playoffs as well, on multiple occasions, and do it well.
You can tell how much confidence Sciosia had in K-Rod by looking at his usage in the playoffs. In the Sox’ clinching game at Fenway, Sciosia chose to use Scot Shields in the 9th inning of a tie game over K-Rod. That is an absolute must-win for the Angels. You put in your best reliever when the season has come down to one inning.
No, you can’t exclude Rivera because the point is, Rivera was probably the #1 reason the Yankees won those 4 rings since 1996 — NOT Jeter, NOT Williams or Posada. NOT Pettite or any of the other juiced up Yankees.
And the point is, a good closer makes the rest of the bullpen much better. He takes pressure off them and pitches in the big spots that many very good setup men can’t even handle.
Sure, K-Rod may be closer to a Billy Wagner type than a Papelbon, but that is still an invaluable commodity. And the Mets can afford him, being a big market team.
Get K-Rod PLUS fix middle relief and the Mets will make the playoffs next year.
Don’t go crazy with the money for him, but I would at least be very generous.
Of course Rivera was a HUGE part of the Yankees’ equation for their rings. I was just excluding Rivera because I didn’t know about what kind of set-up help he had. .
If K-Rod is obtained AND middle relief is fixed, the Mets bullpen will be nice. But, I have a feeling it will be one or the other.
There are plenty of arms available to fix both imo
Huh? .. Rivera had good setup relievers when they won those rings as well as good position players and good starters (and some players on PEDs) but the point is, those teams probably don’t win those 4 rings without him. He was essential, even with good setup men.
There is no reason why the Mets can’t BOTH fix the closer and middle relief positions. There is close to $30 million coming off the books.
Just eliminating Show and Heilman from the pen would go a long way toward fixing things. Then you open those spots up to an internal competition PLUS maybe one free agent middle reliever PLUS a few scrap heap type guys.
b/c even if the Angels had gotten a lead, the next inning they’d need to save that lead, thus having the closer ready. it was a gamble.
Exactly, morechoco. Sciosia was making the right call in using Shields in that spot. It definitely was not because he was untrusting of K-Rod. That is the biggest stretch of the imagination.
What about Delcrapo to Toronto for Ryan with Kunz setting up in the 8th and being groomed as the new closer when his contract is up?
Wasn’t it Klaptrap who said just a week or two ago that the Mets would pursue Sabathia? Or did he say that they wouldn’t pursue K-Rod? Or both?
Whatever, he was wrong and has one of the worst track records when it comes to reporting on the Mets.
yea……lets all remember last year with Johan…..only that reporter from the Minnesota paper seemed to get it right
And Matt who all along said he thought the Mets would get Santana.
Um, Matt even scooped the Tribune reporter who had initially discounted the Mets along with every other reporter.
Matt was literally the only one in the country writing that the Mets were in on the Santana deal.
He was all over the place with the Santana rumors like most people, having Martinez included, etc.
Plenty of reports had the Mets in on Santana. And they got him because everyone else backed out.
That’s not how I recall things. Every single media outlet — national and local — had said that it was between the Yankees and Red Sox and the Mets were basically out of it because the Twins didn’t like their farm system. Every single media outlet said that the Red Sox or Yankees were going to get him.
Only Matt correctly reported that the Mets were not only NOT out of it, but that they were very much in it.
As for predicting exactly who was in the deal, that is a secondary and minor detail compared to whether or not the Mets were actually in contention.
That’s exactly how we need to get K-Rod. Nobody else wants him, so we pay only what we need to in order to get him here. No insane contracts, just enough to get him here and no more. No bidding wars!
I think the way you have to look at it is in terms of resource for the club. The Twins spending a quarter of their payroll on Joe Nathan is silly since he pitches only 4% of their innings.
A good closer is a luxury. However, it is a luxury we can easily afford. I am not going to be devestated if we get KRod. 26 year old kids that have 4 or 5 years of closing experience do not exactly grow on trees.
And we all know the saves record is a BS thing. Tons of those save situations were spots that were created from the ineffectiveness of both Spier and to a lesser degree, Shields.
Still….I will feel an infinite times safer in the 9th with Krod coming in then Ayala, Heilman, Schoe…etc…
jose reyes dances after an hr
joba gets drunk and puts our lives in danger after going to a strip club
Coupla things:
-The best thing would be to trade for an AL closer, and have less commitment to them……BUT, we don’t have much to necessarily trade and who is really worth? Putz? Ryan? And if we miss out on them then what?
-If you ARE going to hand out a multimillion dollar multi year contract, it better be for the younger, more talented, pre-prime, better closer……ie Fuentes should NEVER be an option. If we gotta spend the cash might as well spend 3 extra mil on KRod.
- the tigers are the only big market team without a closer, and their priorities are not going to be with the pen. basically the angels would do the mets a HUGE favor if they dropped out immediately.
oh and one more point:
there is a japanese free agent reliever, a lefty, named Iwase or something. doesn’t cost a draft pick, and would be a nice option for a setup man.
KRod (CL, R)
Iwase (SU, L)
Parnell/Kunz (SU, R)
Sanchez (MR)
Joe Smith (roogy)
feliciano (loogy)
Hitoki Iwase is definitely an interesting idea but he could end up just being an expensive set up man and we’d still be without a good closer.
we’d be signing KRod to close, Iwase to setup…..
between smith, parnell, kunz, feliciano, and sanchez, cost is kept down.
Who knows how much Iwase will command, but he is a lefty closer from japan with a deceptive delivery a la Okijima.
Though comparing price to parnell is not fair, I think we can see how brad holt can contribute for the mets this coming year. He’s got that type of speed and has a baseball mind to boot. If the Mets organization is smart they have to give him a shot late august. I’m ready for your insults now.
Mookie, I am really high on Holt’s prospects, but that’s asking a lot from a guy we just drafted. He needs to develop his secondary pitches, yes, even as a reliever.
Dirty will most likely throw something at me as I have posted this too many times.
IF you don’t get Krod for that 3/45 with 2 option years then go cheap and outside the box.
Sign
Juan Cruz (type A but well worth it as suming we sign another type A. Take time to look at his numbers) 4years 12 million.
Everyday Eddie (Closer experience, LHRP that can get RH out) 2 years 5-6 million with an option year.
Izzy on an incentive based contract. He said he will be ready by ST and expects that kind of deal. 1 year 2 million with easily obtained option year.
Trade Heilman, Show and Feliciano
New BP
Cruz/Eddie as a double headed closer
Izzy
Stokes
Parnell
Smith
Sanchez/LOOGY
By the way, net increase in cost of my new pen 0. Show, Heilman and Feliciano all stand to have a salary very close to my additions as suming you can unload them all.
I don’t love the Cruz idea because of the compensation (type A), but I like the thinking TRS86.
What are your thoughts on Beimel? He’s a type B, and while I don’t look at him as a closer, I think he could be a good (and cheap) option. Perhaps better than Guardado, perhaps in place of Izzy.
In all probability, the Rangers along with the Tigers would be our main competition in the K-Rod sweepstakes. Maybe more so Texas, considering Detroit has major budget problem to tackle this winter. The stars really have aligned perfectly for the Mets and K-Rod.
Take this for what it’s worth, but their was a report last month the Tigers wouldn’t be going for KRod and will instead be cutting costs.
That’s why Magglio is rumored to be on the block..
This is one “sweepstakes” Omar should lose.
Krod will be hitting that DL with something bad very shortly into his contract I have a bad hunch
Oh, come on, Furioso. The kid is 26 years old and has never been on the disabled list ever in his career. He has made it this far without any problems and he’s even taking strides in enhancing his delivery. These were the same sort of allegations people were making against signing Vladimir Guerrero after the 2003 season.
I don’t know why you all are hating on Furioso’s posts-
while I don’t agree on many of his points, they have been very entertaining.
especially the threads it creates
Foul Bunt Strikeout, I understand where Furioso is coming from. Though, I do think that it is important for people to realize that going after K-Rod is not like going after your traditional mid-30s, free agent closer. This is a 26 years old kid, entering the prime of his career, without any record of injury, and a solid 4 years of closing experience under his belt on a big market ball club. These kind of players do not come by easily and, for the Mets, to have this enormous opportunity in front of us, we should be thankful, not scared.
Hopefully you’re correct and if they get him he’s healthy (and money) for the length of his contract.
PENIS!
Shane Victorino -” Where?!?!?!?”
Moises Alou – “Hand wash dispenser!”
Pat Burrell: “Mind if I finish this off myself?”
Is there any reason why both Krod and Fuentes cant be signed? Krod in the 9th and Fuentes in the 8th with a crew of sanchez, smith, parnell, stokes, ayala, feliciano, etc., supporting them?
becuse fuentes wont sign as a setup man…he will demand to be a closer
Why would
A) Fuentes agree to come to the Mets to be a setup man with no potential of being the closer.
B) Mets spend 12 million dollars on a setup man.
A) Fuentes has lost his job as a closer and *might* not find another job as one. set up man might be a good position for him
B) Please refer to 2007 and 2008
Do you honestly think that a guy that is seeking 12 million a year for 3 years is really hoping to be a setup man. Just because the Rockies did not want him someone will. I am guessing the Tigers.
There is a difference between what he wants, and what he can get. its been outlined in this thread that there arent many big market teams in need of a closer and the tigers are looking to shed payroll.
what happens if they dont want to pay him 12mm? what if he gets a lucrative contract to be a set up man? you dont think he will take it if no one offers him what he wants?
Krod (R) clos.
Cruz (R) set.
Smith (R) sp.
Biemel (L)
Feliciano (L) sp.
Parnell (R)
Vargas (L)
That is 3 free agents
then we would need 1 or 2 starters
and maybe one more bat
Not bad, I would keep Stokes in the pen. Is that Jason Vargas? I don’t think we will see him in the pen this season.
And I want no part of Feliciano again. I don’t want to see him Heilman or Show anymore please.
ur right about stokes…vargas has been very hot in the winter league and if we dont get feliciano back then we would need another lefty specialist and that would mean we would have to sign one more reliever
I am fine with that. Trade Feliciano, Show and Heilman.
Sign Everyday Eddie to be the Loogy if you like. There are other options out there.
Yes thank you for saying that. Back the truck up for these guys please.
testig
Doesn’t work. Sorry. You may as well stop posting now.
TYPICAL METS, MICKY MOUSE FRANCHISE AT THERE BEST, WONT PURSUE CC WONT GO AFTER KROD, WONT EVEN GO AFTER MANYY
CANT WAIT TILL OMAR GETS ESTEBAN LOAIZA, LUIS AYALA, MOTA, SIGN MOTA TO A 3 YR DEAL, SIGN JULIO FRANCO TO A 5 YR DEAL AND EVEN TRADE JOSE REYES FOR MARK GRUZILANIK TYPICAL OMAR TYYPICAL METS!
you are not a mets fan, get a life!!
LET ME TELL U SOMETHING, IVE BEEN A METYS FAN SINCE 1986, DOMINICAN BOY, LOOKS LIKE UIVE BEEN A FAN SINCE ONLY 08 YA PROLLY DONT EVEN REMEMBER GUYS LIKE ROBIN VENTURA DO YA??? STOP DRINKING THE BLUE AND ORANGE KOOLAID
JULIO FRANCO 5 YR DEAL! PUHLEEZE
so you started rooting for the team when they won the world series
I dont care when you became a mets fan, just stop hating..
I RELE AM NOT HATING JUST SPEAKING THE TRUTH, 22222222 STRAIGHT COLLAPSE IN A ROW ALL WE GOT TO LOOK FOWARD TO IS JULIO FRANCO AND ROBIN VENTURA COMING BACK
Charlie Andre,
I wish your “test” didn’t work.
You are obviously not a Mets fan. Disturbing thing is, it’s tough to tell if you’re a Yanks or Phillies fan. I hope you’re a Yanks fan because at least like us, they have nothing going on this week. If you’re a Phils fan, you’re a loser.
THE METS NEED GUYS WHOVE BEEN THRU THE WARS, THE PEN COLLAPSE LAST YR SINCE TYHEY WERE ALL NEW YOUNG CHICKENS, SIGN GUYS LIKE MIKE TIMLIN OR RUSS SRPINGER WHOVE BEEN THRU THE TREACHEROUS BATTLES OF A PENNANT RACE AND SUCH, LAST YR THE ONLY VET WAS SCHOENWEISS AND HE STUNK
Timlin is done. Don’t touch him. He needs to call it quits.
LARRY FLYNT LARRY FLYNT LARRRY FLYNT!!!
LARRY FLYNT LARRY FLYNT LARRRY FLYNT!!!LARRY FLYNT LARRY FLYNT LARRRY FLYNT!!!LARRY FLYNT LARRY FLYNT LARRRY FLYNT!!!LARRY FLYNT LARRY FLYNT LARRRY FLYNT!!!LARRY FLYNT LARRY FLYNT LARRRY FLYNT!!!
Ok Charlie. I told you not to play with the group home’s computer without asking first.
I CAN HAZ CHEEZBERGERSZ
Now, that’s actually a little funny.
Now Charlie be a good boy and hold still. You’re going to feel just a little sting….
Charlie is obviously a Yankees fan who cannot take any more Joba publicity.
ap – AS OF 2;59 OCTOBER 212008 OMAR MINAYA HAS SIGNED 1B/OF/MENTOR/GOODGUY TO A 10 YR DEAL ALONG WITH A 2205 YR PLAYER OPTION FOR A TOTAL OF 200 MILLION DOLLARS HE WILL BE THE AGE 890 BY THE YEAR 2205
HAHAHAHAHHA TOLD YALL OMARR IS GOING FOR THE OLDIES??? M,AYBE HE LIKES IT ANCIENT? WHAT A SICKO LOLL
FORGET TO SAY THEY FORGOT JULIO FRANCOS NAME IN THE REPORT
(crickets)
I love it when someone screws up the punchline to their own joke.
NOT MY Fault its THE APS
The guy is 26 years old!
Right handed and a sure fire 3 pitch player.
He is worth more to the Mets than ANY other team in baseball.
He will get 6 years, 85 million EASY…and he should be a Met.
Anyone who doesn’t agree wasn’t watching the last month of the year.
Finally, PLEASE stop if you think the Mets can’t afford him.
They sold out 62 Million dollars worth of luxury boxes (revenue that does not count towards attendance sharing with other teams) and they will draw over 4 million next year.
The mets have tons of money.
MONEY IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR THE METS RIGHT NOW.
Securing the future by signing Krod and a 4th and 5th starter is the key.
PITCHING, PITCHING AND MORE PITCHING…LOOK AT THE RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How much of the Rays’ pitching is free agent.
Developing young pitching, i.e. Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, etc. would be more in line with what the Rays are doing.
And, look at their bullpen. Percival was a declining cheap sign at 4MM/yr and their “closer”. Nobody else really is a big-name guy. Howell was a failed starter converted to reliever. Balfour was picked up off waivers.
LETS SEE
CATCHER – MIGUEL OLIVO
1B – JULIO FRANCO
2B – ENRIQUE WILSON
3B – JOE RANDA
SS – REY SANCHEZ
LF – RAUL MONDOSI
CF – IDK ANY CRAPPPPPER MANAYA CAN COME UP WIT
RF – TACO
SP – BARTOLO COLON
SP – LIVAN HERNANDEZ
RP – JOSE MESA
RP – ANTONIO ALFONSECA
THIS IS WHAT WE HACE TOO LOOK FOWARD TOO WITH OMAAAAAA HIS LITTLE GUUYS HE SIGNS WHO ARE TATIS/VALENTIN PROJECTS R VERY RARE CAANT COUNT ON THAT!!!
BTW I THINK OMAR LIKE THEM OLD!! HAHAH WHAT A SICKO HE HAS A FETISH FOR OLD MEN!
Crazy as it is, I would take Miguel Olivo on my team. Don’t know if he could co-exist with Jose or Jose’s human shield, Sandy Alomar.
DID I SAI MIGUEL OLIVO I MEANT SANDY ALOMAR JR!
Sandy Alomar Jr. may be a better fit because he probably wouldn’t punch his dad, like Miguel Olivo did after Reyes pushed him in the way.
Joe Randa is not Latin, you complete and utter idiot.
And yes, I know, U R JERRY AND JERRY IZ U.
DID I SAY JOE RANDA WAS LATIN??? U RACISIST PIG I NEVER MENATY TO SAY OMAR HAS A COMPLETE AND UTTER ALLIANCE TOWARDS LAT IN PALYERS
Yes, you certainly meant that, and you certainly thought Randa was Latin, as the entire idea behind that moronic post was that every player would be Latin.
You are the one basing your idiocy on race, while I am pointing it out, pathetic one.
And what exactly did “TACO” in right field mean??
Kingman, Taco hit .387 in winter ball last year with a .483 OBP and .634 SLG. Not bad.
OK, but what were his stats with RISP and two outs before Furioso chastises us both?
LOL
Not good. He’s not a RISP taco, in fact he’s a soft taco.
Depends… can the Taco hit?
Perverted quote of the day:
Imagine Taco batting on Mother’s Day. :-)
The Mets have announced a 4:30 press conference where they will introduce their new right fielder, a Taco.
“We look forward to having the Taco meat the fans at this press conference and lettuce dream about the playoffs next season,” said Minaya.
Reporter: I hope this guy is off the sauce.
That… I… words fail me. Well done.
“We look forward to having the Taco meat the fans at this press conference and lettuce dream about the playoffs next season,” said Minaya.
That is GREAT SovereignR!
I worry about Taco at the end of his deal, I feel he’ll be a shell of his former self. (Last one, I promise)
The only thing that worries me about signing Taco is, if people are worried about K-Rod falling apart before the deal is up, there is no chance Taco doesn’t fall apart. I mean, one bite and he’s done.
Then you have to eat him with a fork and that’s just no fun. (Seriously, last one, I promise)
We’re going to need a crapper in the outfield if there are tacos out there too. Mexican tends to run through me…
Is your plan to go forward with 2 SP and 2 RP all year? Or did you run out of players names you could remember?
here’s a quote from matt stairs sure to bring a smile to any mets fan’s face:
After hitting his game-winning homer in Game 4 against the Dodgers, a reporter asked him about his teammates’ reception for him after he’d circled the bases: “Getting your [butt] hammered by guys, there’s no better feeling,” Stairs said.
here is the URL:
sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keri/081021&sportCat=mlb
LOL!
Thanks for brightening up this thread!
Matt Stairs has more post-season RBIs this year than the 2007 and 2008 Mets combined.
But he still thinks getting your butt slammed by guys is the greatest feeling in the world. I don’t have a problem with the gay community at all, but all I’m saying is, if Mike Piazza had a press conference a few years ago…I think Matty Stairs needs to step up to the mic and straighten this one out. To sum it up….eeeeew.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…..
…and in a way, I wish it was that little bug eyed creature that lives in the rainforest trees during the offseason and plays CF in Philly during the season.
I want to see Kunz and Parnell both in the bullpen next year from game one.
I understand the whole not wanting to give K-Rod that much money. But I mean he is still really young and you can agrgue he one of the top 3 closers in all of baseball. We are a team where money is not a real issue. I would not want to give him a 5 year deal but I don’t think there is a team out there that will give him a 5 year deal. I can see the Mets getting him for a 3 year deal with an option year.
I mean like an earlier post said. Why give Brain Fuentes 11 million a year. Rather give a couple extra million two the guy who has pitched in and has big game experience. K-Rod could handle NY.
If the Mets and there fans want them in the playoffs next year go with the sure thing.
great post sinker…….i want to see Parnell and Kunz in there as well, a long with J. Smitty, Feliciano, the lefty japanese closer Iwase to set up, and then KRod.
As for starting pitching, I think you go with Johan, Pelf, Perez, Maine, and Neise. Maybe take a flyer on Mussina, Pavano, Prior, Burnett, Sheets, Garcia, and Lowe.
K-Rod can easily. Easily, be the next Benitez. Struggles in big games, dominant in the regular season, although puts up TONS of baserunners. Check out his numbers and compare with Armando’s.
while I agree with your points, Benitez would have closed out at least 2 games this year that the team didn’t close out, and they’d have been in the playoffs. Same with KRod.
K-Rod is one of the best pitchers in the game? That is laughable to say the least.
K-Rod turned up awful clutch in the playoffs.. I mean, wow, I half-expected him to tear his Angels jersey off on the mound to reveal a Sox shirt while “Sweet Caroline” blared over the sound system and Jim Ross had an aneurism screaming “no! no! It can’t be!” in the booth.
Learn from history…
or it will repeat itself.
Slightly off topic, but here’s 2 things I really want to see the Mets do this offseason to shore up their offense:
- pursue Brian Roberts for 2B. This guys is extremely good and only 30. This past season he hit .296/.378/.450 with 40 SBs, and though his homer numbers have gone down the last few years (from 18 4 years ago to 9), he hits a ton of doubles (51 last year) and plays great defense. Plus, he’s the type of guy fans love.
- Sign Pat Burrell for left field. No, he’s not a great player, but he’s pretty good and you know what you’re getting from him: ~.255 Avg., 30 HRs, 100 RBI, and over 100 BBs. Plus, he’s killed us in the past, so getting him helps us and hurts the Phillies. He’ll also be a lot younger and cheaper than Manny Ramirez or Mark Teixeira, or any other offensive upgrade. And he’s a proven winner now.
Both of these moves would significantly upgrade the offense without crippling the payroll, and would give the team plenty of flexibility in looking for some bullpen/rotation help.
1. Cost for Roberts? Backup plan? Yes, it’d be nice to have him, but not at the cost of Niese or F-mart or Murphy or Flores.
sorry.. didnt finish..
2. Pat Burrell’s a solid sign… But what are the odds that he comes to the Mets at a reasonable price?
Burrell is going to want at least $12M a year.
theres always jj putz. and jason grabow and juan cruz.
Grabow is a good sign if we get him low, Putz is a putz and Cruz is not worth his Type A status.
I’d rather sign K-rod than Cruz at this point.
i wouldnt mind seeing pat burrell in a mets uniform but we need a closer.
pat burrell is possibly the last type of guy we need on this team: an all or nothing, overpaid, terrible defensively, low batting average, quiet guy……and he doesn’t pitch….NO THANKS.
and remember this team always seems to wait for a player to get old before you trade him[which means no value to another team.] we should trade players before this happens and were stuck with a player that cant hit[degado?]
delgado isnt going to last much longer trade him while we can.
STAY away FROM K-rod!
The TMDUP Final Plan:
1. Pick up Delgado’s option
2. Trade Carlos Delgado to either A) the Giants for Brian Wilson, low prospect, B) To the Rays for Edwin Jackson or C) to the Angels for Jose Arredondo should they re-sign K-rod
3. Sign Derek Lowe to a 3 year contract
4. Check the availability of Rickie Weeks. Milwaukee doesn’t seem to hot on him and have a wealth of hitting. Perhaps Eddie Kunz and a lesser RHP prospect (Rustich? Olmsted?) could land Weeks, whom we could control for another few years. If not, sign Orlando Hudson to a 3 year contact
5. Sign Manny Ramirez to a three year contract with option if possible, otherwise trade Nick Evans for or sign Brian Giles
6. If Jackson is acquired, shop John Maine, RHP prospects and prospects like Carp and Evans (if kept) for a potential LF (Ethier maybe) or 1B (Derrek Lee possibly)
7. If John Maine is kept, sign Rafael Soriano and/or Dan Wheeler and/or Derrick Turnbow to tryout for bullpen
8. Trade Schoeneweis and Castillo (not together) for crap.
9. Sign Rocco Baldelli
10. Re-sign Tatis
Lineup:
SS Reyes
2B Weeks or Hudson
2B Wright
CF Beltran
LF Ramirez or Giles/Baldelli
1B Murphy or Murphy/Evans
RF Church
C Schneider/Castro
Bench:
OF Baldelli or Baldelli/Giles
1B/OF Evans or Evans/Murphy
C Castro/Schneider
IF/OF Tatis
OF Chavez
Rotation:
Santana
Pelfrey
Lowe
Maine or Jackson
Niese
Bullpen:
CL Jackson or Wilson or Arredondo
SU Wheeler or Soriano
MRP Joe Smith
MRP Duaner Sanchez
MRP Bobby Parnell or Derrick Turnbow
LHMRP Nate Robertson
LOOGY Pedro Feliciano
EDIT:
1B Murphy or Murphy/Evans or Lee
LF Ramirez or Giles/Baldelli or Ethier
CL Jackson or Wilson or Arredondo or Soriano
delgado is going to have to be sold to an AL team as a DH. if he is on the trading block, he instantly becomes the best DH candidate in the majors, and could seriously net us something of value.
i love the edwin jackson idea. the guy throws nothing but RIDICULOUS heat, and is only 25.
brian wilson is a terrible closer sorry. Soriano’s been hurt and isn’t all that, and I want no part of wheeler. the worst thing the mets could do is sign FA middle relievers.
trading john maine is neither good for the team nor good timing, as we’d be selling low.
I don’t really like Soriano as a closer option either, but he may come at a low price that the Mets should take advantage of. As for Wheeler, he’s just a solid hurler whom we should get for a reasonable price.
With the current state of bullpen, why not sign some low cost, high pontential guys?
b/c those guys arent reallt low cost and unless they are cool with one year cheap contracts then it’s going to be a similar situation.
Is This Possible
Reyes
Hudson
Wright
Manny
Delgado
Beltran
Church
Schneider
Santana
CC
Garland
BIG Pelf
Maine
and add Fuentes and Lyon
Only if they want to spend $70 mil in the offseason (just for 2009)…which they don’t. It’s going to be half that at most.
i wouldnt look into too hard why the angels arent willing to spend all that money, its really no red flag. same thing was said about johan and why the sox and yankees didnt pursue him harder. its just teams trying to make statements saying one player wont make or break them. with that said, mets need to sign this kid. i know they wont regret it.
is every1 here stupid i wouldnt might singing k rod the reason we failed was cuz of our bullpin and wagner aint comin back anytime soon