|
|
|
According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, Omar Minaya’s top priority is to upgrade his team’s bullpen, followed by catcher, the rotation and possibly the outfield, adding, “Second base is of lesser consideration.”
As such, the Mets have discussed trading for Giants C Bengie Molina, writes Heyman.
In 145 games in 2008, the 34–year-old Molina hit .292 with 16 HR and 95 RBI while batting clean-up for the Giants.
Molina threw out 34 percent of runners attempting to steal against him last season, his highest rate in five years.
He will earn $6 million in 2009, after which he is eligible to be a free agent, though he has talked about wanting an extension.
…i like molina…but, i remember talking to a few people in san francisco, a few years back when he was a free agent, who noted how sensitive he is…he does not take criticism well, from fans and reporters, this person noted…this may or may not be true…however, considering the new york market, this may be something to consider…
…that said, the Giants have a young catcher Pablo Sandoval, who was essentially Barry Zito’s personal catcher down the stretch, starting over molina, so it stands to reason that molina can be had…
…i wonder if a deal for molina and Randy Winn could be struck…
Speaking of catcher, according to Heyman, Boston will offer C Jason Varitek a two-year deal, but not the four-year contract he is looking for, suggesting, instead, they may try to trade for Rangers C Gerald Laird or Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
…if the Mets intend to upgrade from Brian Schneider, it’s going to have to happen with a trade, as the top free-agent catchers include Brad Ausmus, Josh Bard, Paul Lo Duca, Pudge Rodriguez and the 36-year-old varitek, who hit just .220 last season and, as noted above, wants a four-year deal…
Heyman also reports on the Yankees and CC Sabathia; whether Coco Crisp will stay in Boston; the cost of Matt Holliday; Mark Teixeira; and where free-agent Ken Griffey Jr. could end up.
 |
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Molina and Winn… this sounds very plausible in the world of Omar.
I could live with Molina, as he is an upgrade over Schneider. But Winn…I don’t know about him. Anyone notice how Tampa turned it around a few years after letting him go? :-)
He was in Tampa in 2002… how is that at all relevant…
It was a joke. I just don’t think he’s all that good. He is certainly overpaid.
It was a joke. I just don’t think he’s all that good. He is certainly overpaid.
And old…no more old guys…except maybe Manny….
I don’t think Manny will ever get old. Although, it would be funny seeing him in a rocking chair with those dreds.
Yeah, in a few more years, the dreads might get caught under the rocker!
can’t the mets start looking for a player in his 20’s?
Yep, a 34 year old highly sensitive catcher…yep, just what we need in NY.
Hes too old. Unless we are giving up next to nothing for him. Trade prospects for young guys or let them develop.
I like Molina, but was catcher really that much of a problem last season? If I’m not mistaken, didn’t the Mets have the worst productivity from the 2B position in the league?
D Murph!
No Molina. Huge mistake. Why do we need a 34 year old catcher? Saltalamacchia has taken a backseat to Laird. The kid can hit, but seems to be a defensive liability. throwing out 17 of 94 runners isn’t very good. I don’t know how much thios can be improved upon. At best, Salty’s an everyday catcher, at worst, i think he moves to 1B, or eventually DH. Would I take a flier? Yes. I’d offer Heilman. i thnik it’s fair to both teams. risky, but with potentially good return.
Bullpen’s a priority? no crap. I’d prefer KRod, just to take the guessing out of the equation. Dude’s the real deal.
The rotation could be considered 4/5 full, if Neise slots in behind Pelfrey. Is Jon Garland enough? I hope so.
LF, 2B? I think these positions could be filled by non-tenders, and in house candidates.
I’m surprised no one is mentioning that SF doesnt have a 1bman and wouldn’t mind Delgado hitting a few into the Bay to relplace Molina…
SF has a first baseman in the minors that is supposed to provide JT Snow-type defense. They don’t need Delgado.
Can we stop with the older catchers who can’t run?
one thing about this post-season is catchers seem to really bear the heart and sole of their teams, they are steadying forces … Navarro, Varitek, Ruiz, Martin … I can’t say Schnieder really has that.
I totally agree and think this is why Omar is re-thinking the position.
34 year old catcher? Yeah, that’s the ticket!
I’m increasingly getting the feeling this offseason is going to be about change rather than improvement…
Sounds like you are talking about the election
Go away.
GoWrightGo to a political blog with that nonsense man. Seriously.
strike a chord with you sad sacks? It was an attempt at wit, not a legitimate discussion of the candidates. Get a freakin grip please!
Hey, you better get going…Ann Coulter’s waiting in the toolshed….
GoWrightGo - i thought it was both brilliant and accurate.
I agree — I think those that got upset about a joke that didn’t lean either way are a bit overly sensitive.
I prefer molina and Aaron Rowand. we get those two, and our lineu up is set.
Molina and Rowand…now you’re talking. Rowand would be the righty bat we need, with a hard nosed reputation.
Who would they ask for Rowand though?
Yea, get Rowand because you need those hard-nosed guys to win a WS right???? Remember how we laughed that Philly wouldn’t win anything because they let him go….oops, guess we were wrong. Can we please stop with the “this team needs a hard-nosed player” posts. They’re getting old. Hard-nosed is not what wins in MLB, production is what wins you games, and if you really want production out of LF, go get Manny……..as much as I hate to say it.
I’d love to have a catcher that can hit and throw guys out behind the plate. The age thing will be a factor of course, it’ll be interesting to see what Omar does this offseason.
They definitely need a bat, and some offensive role players, and I think Molina can be one of those guys. Certainly bringing in 2 above average offensive players may negate the need to get that one excellent offensive player (read: Manny). In addition, perhaps we would see a spike in power production, with Benjie moving from Pac Bell to Citi….
Personally, I think Molina, and another similar offensive role player would be enough as far as position players are concerned. I don’t think the cost would be very prohibitive either.
I agree, lets get molina and Aaron Rowand, both righties and two of our needs.
reyes
murphy
beltran
delgado
wright
church
rowand
molina
thats a pretty balance line-up
Rowand and Molina for …..
I think that’s the catch (no pun intended). I’m not sure who we can give up. Rowand may be considered more of a salary dump for the Giants.
Heilman, Schoeneweis, Evans, and Schneider?
And Carp??
I don’t think Carp will be on their radar. Word is they are looking at Prince Fielder. Would probably have to give up Matt Cain (that was the report on here this week anyway). I think they’ll be looking for starting pitching and lots of it. I think Heilman, Show, Niese, and Evans could get it done.
Can move Heilman into the rotation and give Niese a year to develop.
Heilman, Show, Niese and Evans works for me; they can even have Schneider too–he is OK, but really can’t hit and just doesn’t seem to be that great in any aspect of catching–pretty good at everything, but not great at throwing, blocking balls, or calling games….
Beltran, Rowand, and Church in the OF with hopefully Tatis back as the 4th OF when Church is feeling a bit lightheaded….
And the Giants can have Fielder; wouldn’t really want him….seems just right for them to get him and sign him to a 7 year 150/mil contract the day before he throws out his back lifting a 30 pound bowl of french fries.
That seems to me like a pretty high cost…The Giants are actually loaded with pitching…its young offense they need. Guys like Evans will be on their radar…Perhaps even Bowman, if he tears up the AFL. Obviously pitching would sweeten the pot, but I’d think that any package offered to the Giants would focus on hitters.
You may be right about the pitching, but I agree with There’s Always that they might be thinking they will try very hard to dump salary, and might be willing to take on some of our lovely bullpen to get rid of two high salaries…and I think the cost may be appropriate…Molina and Rowand do seem to be pretty hard-nosed guys who would be very good fits I think. They would not be looked at to be most of the offense as in SF and their contributions compared to what we got out of C and LF could make our offense awesome.
I like the idea of brining in Rowand, and Molina, but I would never give up niese for that package.
Niese has to stay, while maybe Parnell they should dangled out there.
I think a move for Molina would be a good move that would not be cost prohibitve, they could still get the bullpen back in shape and get a power bat for the outfield, I think the starting rotation is fine as is…this of course means D Murph is playing 2nd.
Santana
Maine
Pelfrey
Niese
Maybe Vargas/resign Perez
Until Maine can show he is effective….I can’t count on him coming off of surgery.
And to just slot Neise in to the rotation is not smart, IMO.
I think the rotation is just as important as the Bullpen for this team, as it has many question marks as well.
Give Niese the oppurtunity. If he fails then so be it, but give him a chance, The Mets have had great seasons that started with a bit of instability at the back end..I don’t think a 4-5 starter is the biggest issue we have right now.
Really? Just as important? Maybe you forgot the fact that the bullpen blew over 30 saves this season! Pelfrey, Santana, and Perez were great down the stretch, and we even got a solid performance out of the kid Niese. To throw a 21 year old into the mix during a playoff race in a testy town is dangerous, but I think what we saw was promising. Mark my words- barring a trade, Niese WILL be in the rotation next season. We would be foolish not to give him the chance.
More impotantly, we need to focus on the bullpen. We did not fail this year because of Schnieder/Castro. We did not fail this year because of offensive production. We failed because we could not close the deal in the late innings.
I wouldn’t say Perez was great down the stretch. Pelfrey was solid until September but that probably had to do with him pitching more innings than he ever had before.
well perez definatly did a 360 down the stretch compaired to his earlier starts wouldnt you say gina. Even ollie himself came out and said “this is the REAL oliver perez” remember….do you know a site where you can find a pitchers stats month by month btw?
Pretty much any sports site. yahoo sports is what I use, but Perez basically had one insane month in July where he had like an era under 2, an up and down August and then he was back to mediocre in September.
thanx. Yea i mean idk if he ran out of steam or what…it doesnt matter because it doesnt seem like the mets are going to bring him back anyway and just take the picks..
Yes, as much of a question. You mention Perez…..but barring Boras allowing Perez to sign with the Mets for cheaper…..he isn’t coming back. Neither is Pedro (not that we’re missing much there). Maine is coming off of surgery.
So next year….
Santana
Pelf
Maine (unknown)
?
?
Not to mention it remains to be seen how Pelf bounces back from his biggest workload of his career. And to just say yes, Neise is your #4 out of the gate……something will have had to have gone HORRIBLY wrong for that to happen.
Molina’s an upgrade over Schneider, but what’s really the point of trading for another aging catcher?
If you want to improve your offense, add a real bat in the OF and see if Murphy can handle 2nd base in the spring.
You can live with Schneider as the backstop if you get actual production out of your OF.
It would be nice if we can have a player that we can enjoy watching, as opposed to telling ourselves “well, we can live with him if…”
i disagree, this is generally the mets whole problem…they think that everything will work if we just change one thing…
Improvment is improvment, if you get a lot more offense out of C you don’t need that big name OF….
Not saying I wouldn’t welcome an upgrade at catcher. Just saying there are bigger issues and needs this team has to address this offseason.
And with limited resources in the way of trade chips, you have to wonder if getting a 34 year old catcher really should be such a priority.
All depends on the price you pay to get the guy, but realistically, you shouldn’t expect more than a year or so of good production out of a catcher as old as Molina.
If you give up anything of real value for Molina, then you’ve weakened your ability to upgrade in the OF, at 2nd base, in the pen, and in the starting rotation.
It ultimately comes down to the pricetag on Molina.
Catcher is the least priority.. Closer, Rf & SP is what we need the most!
Sabathia needs to be priority !
A priority, yes.
Top priority, no.
Yes, the very same Aaron Rowand who signed a 5-year deal with a NTC just a year ago….welcome back to earth, boys.
Molina>Schneider…his solid defense and bat would fit nicely in the bottom half of the order…
Snag Winn in the deal too …Winn would most likely bat second..
Reyes, Winn, Beltran, and Wright the Mets top 4= 100+ SB’s
lots of speed good obp. looks like a good fit..
plus Winn savaged Phillies, Braves, Fish, and Nats pitching last year…absolutely owning Turner Field….
One concern could be power..
Which Carlos D will show up next year?
Will the Real Ryan Church please stand up
after delgado you’ve got molina/church/castillo…its a very balanced lineup..not a murderers row but.. balanced
there’s some shaky power insurance with tatis…fill out the bench and focus the rest of your attention on pitching…
I get the feeling castillo will make it to opening day at least… July 31 2009 is another story…but for that money which will be difficult to unload the mets will most likely see what he’s got and make a final decision in May/June/July…
Does Schneider and the poster boy for this teams failure Heilman (+1 perhaps) get this done..
Does the winn/molina move make sense from a payroll perspective??
Can you have Molina and a Heilman on the same team???
Is Daniel Murphy the second coming of Pete Rose??
castillo needs to go, murphy will be the starting 2B in 2009.
I disagree. Yes, Castillo needs to go, but that is easier said than done. I don’t see Murphy playing 2B for us next year. They have already said that after the AFL Murphy will return to LF for Winter ball. The only reason he’s playing 2B right now is because it was determined months ago that he would do so, and the rosters were aligned around that.
I think we will see Murphy being the starting LF with Evans spelling him. It was rather successfull last season, so why not stick with it? As for 2B, who knows. There is still the outside possibility that they go after Hudson, but Omar has also said he still likes Castillo. The fact that 2B is not of priority to him tells me that as of today Castillo is our 2B for 2009. Of course, everything is speculation until the WS is over.
Actually the poster who mentioned Winn and Molina is on to something.
Winn would be a great short term answer for LF. His OBP is always high and he still has some pop and steals bases. He would be a perfect #2 or 8 hitter.
You lineup could look something like this
Reyes, Murphy, Beltran, Wright, Delgdao, Molina, Church, Winn
Thats a pretty solid lineup.
Is Winn really much of an upgrade over an Evans/Chavez platoon? We’re talking about a .285/10HR/65 RBI guy here…if you’re going to add 12 years and a few million dollars in salary it’s got to be a significant upgrade, particularly when you’ve got a limited supply of trade bait and so many holes to fill…
I just don’t understand how Minaya can consider upgrading the catcher’s position to be a higher priority than solidifying the starting staff, especially when Maine is an unknown, Pelfrey is really only a second-year guy and most options for upgrading via free agency are either too expensive, unwilling to play for the Mets or health risks…whatever trade value they have should first be focused on upgrading your pitching, otherwise this team is going nowhere…
Forget Molina. He can’t take a walk at all. He had a .322 OBP which was worse than Schneider’s .339. His bat isn’t going to be any better. I’ve heard that he is a crappy game caller. His only strength is his arm which is overrated.
Forget catcher. If you’re going to upgrade it, get someone younger and better. We have more pressing needs.
Coming from a guy who preaches OBP, it’s not everything. Molina provides 2 things that the bottom of the lineup needs. A RH hitter and pop. Both Winn and Molina are FA after this season so the comment about getting older does not really apply.
Well, free agent or not, Molina is an upgrade over Schneider. Looking at OBP has helped Billy Beane win how many titles? I don’t think that’s all you can look at. I think Molina has more power and at the very worst, the potential for more power. You would have to be blind to not see that Schneider is a complete liability at the plate.
If we stick Murph at 2B and get a more than capable LF, then we can live with Schneider’s bat. But if LF, 2B, and C are all black holes of offensive production, we really can’t do that again.
Um, that’s why I am for Winn and Molina. Maybe you meant to respond to the original poster.
Schneider is mediocre in pretty much everything he does. Molina’s extra base hits and rbi make up for the slight OBP difference in my opinion.
If we could get him as part of a deal with SF, I think he would improve the offense significantly.
I don’t believe anything Heyman says.
Apart from Molina being 34, who would be his replacement after next year when he becomes a FA? Schneider at least has a few years on him. I don’t see this happening.
If this were to happen would the team carry three catchers or trade Castro or Schneider?
I don’t see why people are all of a sudden so hard on Schneider. I thought he did a good job for us last season. Remember, the #8 hole isn’t exactly a productive hole, and yet his numbers were all above his career averages. He is great with young pitchers and can call a pretty good game. Considering what he had to work with out in that bullpen, you can’t blame it on him. CS % is a tricky stat because many bases are actually stolen on the pitcher. I would not take a Schneider for Molina trade. If we get rid of him, it better be for a young promising catcher. Castro/Cancel/etc. for Molina, however, I would like.
I don’t see why people are all of a sudden so hard on Schneider. I thought he did a good job for us last season. Remember, the #8 hole isn’t exactly a productive hole, and yet his numbers were all above his career averages. He is great with young pitchers and can call a pretty good game. Considering what he had to work with out in that bullpen, you can’t blame it on him. CS % is a tricky stat because many bases are actually stolen on the pitcher.
Molina….wiat a minute here
The whole point of Omar dealing a good young player in Milledge was so he could get the top defensive C he craved in Schneider.
Schneider - NOT Church - was the focal point of that deal.
And now 1 season later, Omar basically admits that deal was a bust and has to spend time and resources fixing his mistake? (Just like he’s gonna have to fix his Castillo mistake as well as well as his bullpen mistakes)
This offseason is already off to a brutal start for the most overrated GM in the game.
How many moves will he make this winter that he’ll have to reverse course on next winter?
So Furioso, is it better he admit the mistake and try to improve the position, or keep Schneider forever??
Maybe a better GM wouldn’t have made that mistake to begin with?
If this is his judgment (Schneider, Castillo, Willie, Bullpen, Flores, Lindstrom) maybe he’s not the man for this job.
And maybe you’re better off writing 2009 off already
Well, his judgment also includes Santana and Church, who is probably better than Milledge, and Maine and Oliver and signing Reyes and DRod to VERY low-priced excellent contracts, so it is not all bad.
I think with a few adjustments—and Molina has some very good clutch batting stats—we are going to be excellent. The Phils are a good team to be sure, but they are no dynasty in the making. And the Cubs and Dodgers are mediocre. We can win the NL next year with a few good moves.
Santana- fell into his lap
Church - Ah….is this really the guy to use? He’s not very good and Milledge is already better than him.
Signing 2 chokers to contracts…..woopee.
Maine and Oliver - eh, blind squirells can find nuts by luck.
His ledger is negative. Much more bad than good. All he can do is spend money and even that he can’t do effectively
santana fell in his lap but there were how many offers on the table…you are just reluctant to give omar any credit for anything but thats okay furioso just keep on hating. Btw it took just about double the amount of games that church played for milledge to finish with slightly better numbers than church….think about that.
Milledge better than Church? Laughable. Let’s not forget Church had TWO serious concussions, which have been the cause of early retirements before, and prior to those injuries he was putting up All-Star numbers. If you have ever had a concussion you know how damaging it is and how it hinders your athletic ability. Milledge is and always will be a head case. I’m glad we traded that guy.
Claiming that Maine AND Perez were both lucky finds is also ridiculous. Maybe one or the other, most likely Maine, but remember he did get rid of the ailing Benson in order to bring in Maine.
I suppose you will say that Beltran, Wagner, Pelfrey, Niese, Murphy, Evans, Humber, Guerra, Mulvey, Gomez, F-Mart, Parnell, Kunz, Holt, W. Flores, etc are all obvious signs of poor judgement as well. Some of those guys have already proven they can produce at the big league level, while others are looking pretty darn good and have high ceilings.
One more small note, he also showed good judgement bringing in Ayala for absolutely NOTHING…he did a pretty good job stepping up into an uncomfortable role in a tough situation.
you are just reluctant to give omar any credit for anything but thats okay furioso just keep on hating
That’s about right actually.
Only winners get credit. What has Omar accomplished that we need to worship him?
Omar has never won anything.
When he accomplishes more than Steve Fricking Phillips, then maybe I’ll “stop hating”
the mets havent “won” anything since 1986….but i could not wait for you to ask
since the mets went to the ws in 2000 the mets finished
2001: 82-80
2002: 75-86
2003: 66-95
2004: 71-91
since OMAR took over
2005: 83-79
2006: 97-65
2007: 88-74
2008: 88-74
nobody i think is worshiping omar but rather we do know that this team is heading in a much better direction than it was in 2004. I believe he is not the best gm in baseball but also he is not the worst. Every year under his tenure the mets finished above .500. I think that is an accomplishment…a minor one to a much bigger goal.
I’m sorry but finishing every year over .500 when you have all the resources in the world is not even a minor accomplishment.
It’s a fricking expected baseline that you better make each and every year.
Some of you are so in the tank that finishing over .500 makes you happy. Well some of us want more thank you. I guess that makes me a “Yankees fan”
And aside from a flukey 2006, Omar hasn’t even improved his team performance! 83, 88, 88 wins.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yeah, that’s an accomplishment.
Steve Phillips has accomplished more than Omar ever has- and that is pretty sad
of course you would make that rationalization about the milledge trade w/o acknowledging of course we had jhonny estrada as our catcher when the milledge trade was done…but i am going to go ahead and as sume you didnt include that to make your point. First off nobody knows if he is going to move schnider..did it ever occur to you that perhaps since castro gets hurt all the time we need a catcher who can stay healthy but provide power. Idk how he plans to snag molina or even if he will at all..but looking at the numbers brian defensivly is still better than molina…molina however is more offensive. If we were to have molina and schnider on the team i dont think anyone would be complaining…..but im not holding my breathe on that one.
Estrada was simply here to get released and save a couple bucks after they dumped Mota.
to get released huh….wasnt he part of the milledge trade??
just to get released….nobody was gonna go to arby w/ that guy
ok so understand or try to understand this. Could it be that omar was able to get a better catcher than the one we currently had(estrada) and get a better player(church) over what we currently had(milledge) in a trade. I thought thats what gms are supposed to do. Granted i doubt omar could have seen into the future and saw church getting hurt so take that out of the equation. We got a upgrade at catcher and RF for someone that maybe good/maybe bad and a horrible or releasable talent in estrada. Where did omar mess up? By not looking into the future?
Omar’s big “plan” was to solidify catcher.
He obviously didn’t do that seeing as the player he coveted (and knew soooooooooooo well from his days there) is now considered in need of an upgrade who was also kind of a defensive disappointment as well.
So yes, that’s a fail.
maybe he should look into the future, maybe he’ll find a plan for the team there
would you perfer estrada…castro…casanova…cancel as your starting catcher furioso?
and btw in YOUR opinion he big plan was to solifiy the cather..the rest of us realize he was UPGRADING cathcer AND RF…..
Furioso, you are also as suming Heyman is correct and the Mets are going after Molina. Fact is, we can live with a Schneider behind the plate…so long as 6 & 7 in the lineup aren’t a black hole of offense.
Big as sumption…..
Schneider wasn’t really a failure. He was just mediocre. Church surprised most of us in the beginning of the season. I don’t think this was a terrible trade by Omar.
Not at all. And Church, in all likelihood, if healthy, should have an good year. I will take .270, 30–40 doubles and his defense over LMilz.
But I do think that Schneider is really, really mediocre in every aspect of the game.
Every aspect? No. Overall he is mediocre, but his defensive ability (other than his ability to block balls in the dirt) was superb. His bat was below average, but his numbers were higher than his career averages. I will take his iffy bat in the #8 hole for 100 games of the year if it means we have a great defensive catcher.
And I totally agree with your point on Milledge. One flashy, over-the-top player is enough.
If anything, Reyes is to blame for making Milledge act the way he did
right because reyes gives high fives to the fans when he hits a game tying hr……..
No, but Reyes did engage in the celebration w/ Milledge that saturday that railed the Marlins up for Sunday…
Its lunchtime….is Reyes dancing again?
That clown should be hobbled like he was starring in Misery
just in case anyone is arguing this point
Lastings Milledge-138games 523ab’s
.268avg/.330obp/14hrs/61rbi/.402slg
Fielding CF
.986field%/ 2.65rf/.864zr
Ryan Church-90games 319ab’s
.276avg/.346obp/12hrs/49rbi/.439slg
Fielding RF
.995field%/ 2.33rf/.887zr
Betcha Milledge out produces Church in 2009.
dude, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and i completely respect that. but if you are so down on the mets, and so negative regarding everything about them, why do you follow them and devote so much time to them?
you do what you have to do when it comes to being a fan, but it seems to me you would be much happier rooting for the phillies or the yanks or the red sox
i betcha santana has a perfect game, i betcha wright hits 100 hrs…again no weight to your “bet”…so i guess its a wait and see arguement huh furioso….seeing as i brought actual FACTS to my arguement…
You seriously sound like a child. If Church is healthy, I’ll take that bet because Milledge tries too damn hard to be a super hero. And I think Church is WAY better than Milledge on defense, which to me is just as important as offensive production considering we play in a pitcher’s park.
Thanks Dirty; good to see this in print…I liked LMilz, but I think a healthy Church can be really good…let’s hope we see it in 2009.
Their fielding could be the biggest disparity….Church had 7 as*ists and 1 error in 83 games in the OF and LMIlz had ONE as*ist and 5 errors in 134 games.
i think we are all just spoiled by piazza and hundley, catachers are there to catch, and bat 8th, they always were, and once guys like hun and piazza started hitting monster shot,everyone wants a 20+ hr catcher, but if you notice teams with a 20+ hr catcher, aren’t in the playoffs….focus on LF, the rotation and the bullpen. and i never saw anyone complaining about paul lo ducas mediocre defense and average hitting, guy had singles power.
Lo Duca hit loads of doubles and was much, much better than Brian Schneider.
they definitely missed the 2006 version of loduca. i think that’s what omar was hoping when he gave that contract to castillo, but we know that castillo su cks.
One of the most important things that omar must do is evaluate the character and leadership qualities of any player he considers bringing to this team. Any new players added must be great clubhouse guys, have displayed leadership in a gritty, tough playing style and must be ok in the ny media spotlight. I don’t think molina fits these categories if we are already hearing that he is “sensitive to criticism”. Let’s face it, this team lacks the fighting attitude that other playoff teams have displayed (I hate the phils but you must admit they are a gritty team). I am tired of the soft, malais, no heart style that mets players play the game with and we need some players to spark this team…Please don’t add more laid back players to this team…..
what i’m about to post might be the most played out thought on this board but nevertheless its something that deserves constant attention.
Fred Wilpon has let Omar Minaya change the philosophy of a 40 year tradition. Omar has changed the mentality of our franchise from one that prided itself on Blue Collar to a team built around flashiness and marketability. Its not about baseball anymore with the Mets its about a designer name brand.
What I don’t understand is how an old school Brooklyn native and dodger fan could allow his franchise to stray from its roots. Doesn’t Fred realize we are those Brooklyn Dodger fans. The Mets are supposed to represent hard work and grit.
This franchise has Lost it way and must be put back on track. The worst part about this situation is that Omar doesn’t understand his fan base. He thinks that we are Yankee fans and demand a winner every year. I think its time Omar had a history lesson about what this franchise was built on.
Maybe you haven’t realized, but baseball in general has changed to this. Don’t blame it on Omar. The rise of Latino baseball studs and the increase of media attention and television ratings forces GMs to put together a good team that people will love to watch. It’s alot tougher than people think. You guys are way too tough on Omar, considering that we wouldn’t have high hopes and expectations every year if it weren’t for him.
You know why every team in the East hates us? Because they know what we are capable of and are somewhat afraid that we will snap out of this rut and start pounding teams again like we did in 2006. Despite what they say, they still think we are the team to beat. Give us a solid bullpen and we will win the East in a rout.
I posted this in the wrong thread… If you want to see what I wrote in response to your post go into the Mets hatred thread.
Varitek wants four years? Is he out of his mind?
What about the rumors that the Dodgers were not that enamored by Russell Martin? They didn’t like his makeup or some crap. A good young catcher from the Dodgers organization is something that has been good to us in the past, and he is feisty. How about Schneider and Heilman to the Dodgers for Russ Martin and a prospect?
“How about Schneider and Heilman to the Dodgers for Russ Martin and a prospect?”
bahahahahah,,, why in gods name would the Dodgers trade a superstar catcher for two of the worst players on the mets team? and you want the dodgers to add a prospect. Wow some of you guys a living in la la land..
Darth,
Did you read the part about the Dodgers not being enamored with his makeup? If true, wouldn’t you start out by offering lesser players or should we just offer Reyes straight up? Did you ever think that Piazza would have been traded from the Dodgers to the Marlins? Do you remember who the Dodgers got back in that trade, cause I sure don’t.
Molina is not the answer…
we need to get younger, faster and deeper
I see castro and molina as very similar players and frankly one is enough
Doubt schneider has high value on the trade market but id love to get someone new… just dont know how to do it
frankly i feel we can win with the combination of schneider and castro and id rather we go out and get winners in the FA market as money is not a problem… i do have trouble giving up players while there are equals in the FA market