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In his latest report for SI.com, which is full of Hot Stove information, Jon Heyman writes, “The Mets are trying to swing a deal for White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks before doling out free-agent riches to Brian Fuentes or Francisco Rodriguez.”
Jenks, 27, completed 30 of 34 saves in 2008, with a 2.63 ERA in 61 innings pitched, during which opponents hit .230 against him while striking out just 38 times.
…jenks has been a pretty good pitcher since joining the league in 2005, to say the least…what’s more, he is under contract for the next three seasons…so, he’s going to cost a decent number of prospects, should the Mets work to acquire him…
Earlier in the off-season, in Newsday, Ken Davidoff wrote, “The Mets believe they have enough minor-league talent to trade for a closer, such as M’s RHP J.J. Putz, O’s LHP George Sherrill, Royals RHP Joakim Soria and Marlins RHP Kevin Gregg.”
…the thing is, if a team like the Indians and other teams are going to trade for a closer, as reports continue to suggest they will, i still feel the Mets best chance to get a closer will be through the free-agent market…





So many options…this is painful!
There’s only one option ,and it starts with 62 saves !
I’ll take Jenks,Dye and Vasquez. It would fill alot of holes.
What are you offering?
the trade talks for jenks starts with fmart so not really sure if its worth it..this guy has been an elite closer 2 yrs running..we dont have the prospects to get this deal done
It depends who we have to give up. I’d say no to Fmart, Niese or Murphy.
Jason Vargas is pitching very well in the AFL (a major hitters league)- maybe someone’s interested in him…
I would trade Fmart, I like Jenks, then u can use the money on a LF and a 2B, and bullpen help.
Fmart probably won’t be a superstar but even if he’s average I think a lot of you guys underestimate how valuable he’ll be (cheap and undercontrol). We can get a closer without trading him.
I don’t know have you seen his numbers over the winter in the Venezuelan league. He’s in the same league as Tatis and he’s hitting 40 points higher and has an OPS of 1.014 which is nearly 200 points higher then Tatis. Tatis is a professional Pro hitter, that’s why I chose him.
This kid has battled injuries early in his career. I know another MLB superstar on the Mets roster who people were going to give up on that did the same.
Jenks always boggles my mind how he is so effective, i mean a .230 BAA and 38k’s in 61 innings isn’t impressive. But he doesn’t walk anyone so that’s always good.
It depends who the prospects are. Also, don’t forget that signing one of the FAs will cost draft picks.
Only prospect who i believe should be untouchable is Murphy.
so you would rather keep Murphy over F-mart and Niese?
Yes, Murphy to me is more valuable that Fmart and Niese. Murphy’s bat is priceless.
Murphy has proven he can be a star in the short time he has been here. Remember we held on to Lastings Milledge because he was our next star. Fmart, like you said probbaly will not be a superstar player, I do think Murphy will be a superstar though. I would center a package around niese, and evans
Don’t get me wrong, I like what I have seen of Murphy so far, but the sample size is way too small…he does not have a position, which is a big problem for an NL team…Martinez is 20 years old and projects not only to be a better hitter than Murphy but heads and shoulders above him defensively…that being said, if Murphy or Martinez are not dealt, Martinez stands to be the LF for the Mets in 2010, which leaves Murphy without a position again
1B? No Delgado after 2009…
I like Murph too, but let him prove that he can handle lefties over a full season before we attach the S-word to him.
Now that he has the league’s attention, scouts and pitchers will be working any weakness he shows at the plate. It will be the adjustment he makes to this which will determine his ML future.
why trade talent for a closer when we can just buy a closer and keep our talent :(
Two reasons, Amount of money and length of contract.
see: Luis Castillo.
touche…
On guard!
To compare Castillo with K-Rod is ludicrous…
I like jenks but I wouldnt trade f-mart,holt or murphy for him. everyone else is available in my eyes.
evans,parnell,kunz and niese for jenks? I dont think they will take this deal, but I wouldnt give up more than that.
Having seen them all the last 2 yrs, I’d alot more hesitent to
move Niese or Parnell then Martinez.
Get Jenks. Get Dye. Sign Sabathia. Sign Cordero(AS SETUP FOR JENKS). Sign Cruz.
Yessir…anyone else? Trade Castillo for Pujols maybe?
They should throw in Yadier too…
Totally Agree, With the money you save from signing a closer, 13-15 mill per season, had about 5 million and you got yourself CC.
add ab 80 million
Think about it this scenorio is possible
We need K-Rod !
so we have enough minor league talent to trade for Jenks or Soria? hmmm, pa-ss that stufff over here.
Why wouldnt we? We had enough to get the best Pitcher in baseball 10 months ago.
It was a different situation. Johan had to be dealt. I also think that the Redsox and Yanks didn’t go after him very hard. I also think that the Twins did not want to send them to the Yanks or Redsox without getting the moon because they are in the same league. But that is not substantiated.
I do feel that the White Sox don’t need to trade him and they have him under control for three years.
We have talent in the minors, but we can’t part with them in exchange for a closer.
Holt, Flores, F-Mart are not going anywhere.
I am not sure the rest of the league is crazy about Niese and Murphy as we are for them.
We have very good (untouchables for me) prospects in Brad Holt,Dan Murphy,F-Mart,Wilmer Flores and Jeffrey Marte.
I’m pretty sure you can’t trade players drafted less than a year ago so Holt can’t be traded anyway. Players as far down as Flores and Marte are never traded either.
The only players to really talk about are the ones that have completed at least a year of A+ (and even thats low).
Im sorry but i was preeeety scared when the other day Omar said that teams are interested in our farm “all the way down to Rookie ball”. SCARY HA !
mets should consider taking a look at Manny Corpas of the rockies.
another thing the mets should do is to change the bench core. trade Castro and Endy to the Reds along with Eddie Kunz for Homer Bailey and another prospect.
then sign Javier Valentin to a one year 1.2 million dollar contract as the back up catcher who can come off the bench. he is much more flexible in terms of hitting, he is a switch hitter with some power off the bench. also he is a little more faster than castro on the base path.
what on earth makes you think the Reds would do that?
they already have Micah Owings, arroyo, cueto, volquez, and harang ( hope i spelled it right).
well, it would certainly take something better than a bunch of backups to get Bailey
Did Cincinnati hire Steve Phillips?
Now why would the Reds give-up their best homegrown
Pitching prospect for a couple of average back-ups and
a young questionmark of a closer when they already have
one? C’mon man! think!
ARE YOU ON DRUGS!!??? LOL… homer baily for endy, castro and kunz!!!!???? lol…. wow..
here is an idea both NY teams should consider:
Kei Igawa to the mets for Luis Castillo to the yankees. the yankees can now move Robinson cano in trades, also they have a player that can now bunt and fit giradi’s approach.
Not bad ,BUT we dont trade between each other !
I think we can get someone slightly more useful than Igawa. How many years does he have left anyway?
he signed a 4 year contract of $20 million in 2007. so two more yeas left i believe.
I firmly believe you don’t trade for what’s available in free agency! We need to save our farm.. That means.. We can’t trade Niese (which we’ll need next year), FM (which we’ll need in LF or RF in a year or two). Murphy which we’ll need at 1B in a year. What do we have left after that? Nothing. If we trade these guys now, we’ll need to fill those holes in the future. We’ll end up having to sign 3 FA instead of the one that we could have signed now. What sense does that make?
Agreed. But being a long time METS fan and knowing Omar i am almost 100% sure that F-Mart will be this year in the big show ! BTW i dont think that Murph will play 1b anytime soon !
am I the only one who can’t read the posts you have because of the nickname? You may be the smartest man on this site, but i can’t take the nickname seriously
maybe it is actually willie randolph
LOL… I dont like it either !
It would be “whom we need.” “Which” makes them sound like objects rather than people.
Closers and left fielders are people and not objects? Whaaaaaaaat?
You know, I’d rather spend just money too, but… How long is FMart going to be untouchable. If there’s ever a time to trade him, it’s when his value is high. So far, he hasn’t shown much of anything in the minors. Is this a “win now” team or not?
What do you mean he’s showing nothing? Don’t forget he’s only 19 years old! He’s holding his own against players that’s 2-3 years older than him. The Mets are agressively pushing him. If he’s hitting above .250 and working on his other skills (cut down on Ks, walks, steals) he is doing great.
Yoo
Omar isnt gonna trade for jenks, this is wut gm’s do. Omar knows if he shows interest in Jenks then k-rod and fuentes wud have no choice but to get nervouse and drop there demands.
jenks, dye, and vasquez for fmart, evans, hielman and castillo?
no.. FMART will not go anywhere as long as omar is here.. you should know this.. i’ll say niese, evans, kunz, castillo and heilmann sounds better.. scott s(&^$# weis for nate roberson from the tigers.. he can be our long relieve guy..
I promise next season we wud have K-rod and Manny on our teams, Daniel Murphy is gna be simialr to chase Utley meaning he’s guna be a bench player until the right time comes to start him.
Im your #1 fan , great post !!!
But no Manny PLEASE !
Whether the interest in Jenks is real or a smokescreen, it’s something that Omar has to do. First of all, as several posters on this site have said, he can’t just have a Plan A for a closer. So Jenks may be a Plan B. But, more important, the more serious the trade talks with the White Sox become, the more flexible the agents for Fuentes and Rodriguez might become, because they know their richest or likeliest buyer is thinking of going elsewhere.
If Omar didn’t trade FMart for Johan, he’s not going to for Jenks–unless he’s come to believe that Martinez isn’t going to live up to the hype. And remember, just because there are talks going on doesn’t mean they’ll result in a trade. Last year, the Mets missed out on the Erik Bedard sweepstakes, and I doubt anyone regrets that.
I’m with those who say, Save the minor leaguers. But as others have pointed out, the White Sox have more than one player we coul be interested in. So it’s worthwhile pursuing the thought.
jenks, dye, and vasquez from the white sox,sign ollie get cruz then bielmen, trade delgado and get TEIXEIRA now see this lineup:
REYES
MURPHY
BELTRAN
TEIXEIRA
WRIGHT
DYE
CHURCH
SCHNEIDER/CASTRO
SUPERMAN
PELFREY
OLLIE
MAYNE
VASQUEZ (possibly can be our #2)
JENKS
CRUZ
everybody else…
Or Get Pujols, Utley and Manny.
Check out THIS lineup:
Reyes SS
Utley 2B
Pujols 1B
Manny LF
Beltran CF
Wright 3B
Church RF
Schneider C.
OR get McAnn from the Braves, and look at THIS lineup:
Reyes SS
Utley 2B
Pujols 1B
Manny LF
Beltran CF
Wright 3B
McAnn C
Church RF
OR get them plus Vlad from the Angels!!!!! Check THIS OUT:
Reyes SS
Utley 2B
Pujols 1B
Manny LF
Beltran CF
Vlad RF
Wright 3B
McAnn C
WOW!!!! This is getting AMAZING!!!!!!!
LOL, your sarcasm just reach my knees!!
All-Star team in NY :o amazing!
Ridiculous. You are on drugs. How can you POSSIBLY put McCann at C when Russell Martin is available? Jeez.
ugh…Eddie Kunz is getting smashed in the AFL :( but who’s this Scott Shaw guy who has a 1.91 ERA in 28 innings pitched and is 22 years old, 6′5”, 230 pounds :o
sounds very intrigueing
i’d spend money if it does not cost the mets the 2009 draft for a 1st rounder.
i think it is time for Omar to decide, start Fmart in 2009 or trade him for something because the guy is losing his value very quickly with the injuries.
he’s 20 years old… relax.. remember who used to be like that too…. #7..
Could not have put it any better myself. I think people are over valuing FMArt.
I hope this is just posturing……we need to DEVELOP the system….we’re never going to get good and STAY GOOD if we keep giving away the future !!!
Yes! There is zero excuse for this team’s farm to be this paltry. Zero.
what would jenks cost us?? fmart only? and why are they trading jenks?
that’s what i said b4, the fact that they’re trading jenks is a lil bit of a red flag to me.. he’s young AND cheap.. something is not right here..
Yeah…..he is pretty heavy, and his strikeouts have gone from 80 to 38 in 8 less innings over the last three years…seem like a couple of big fat red flags to me….
Matinez is guna be out right fielder next yr.
In Omar WE TRUST
I mean 2010
Only 38 strikeouts for Jenks in 61 innings? That doesn’t sound right for a guy that supposedly throws 100 mph. Could he be losing his stuff which is why the WS want to unload him on us?
Exactly….and I just posted above he had 80 K in about 8 more innings in 2006….something wrong there….
Velocity doesn’t equal strikeouts. Look at Pelfrey… He throws 95+ but only has around a 5K / 9 IP.. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Jenks is losing velocity. His K to IP has always been low. It just means that he hasn’t mastered command of his other pitches.
No one said velocity equals strikeouts. And his K to IP has not always been low; actually his first two years it was VERY high….check the below numbers:
Jenks:
2005—39 IP, 50 K
2006—69 IP, 80 K
2007—65 IP, 56 K
2008—61 IP, 38 K
He clearly has lost something, most likely “stuff” as Slider says….
Sorry! Long work day. I was looking at the wrong columns..
That is correct.. It is a very disturbing drop the last 2 years!
Hey, no problem!
When I first saw the Jenks post, I was intrigued, but was pretty shocked when I checked his stats at the drop in Ks, which must be part of why the Sox want to get rid of him….plus, his weight is not good either…seems like an injury waiting to happen….
I checked out his stats as well. What’s interesting to note that as his Ks have gone down, so has his ERA and home runs allowed. Maybe he’s becoming more of a pitcher and less of a thrower. I like the direction of his ERA over the last three years. But can he handle NYC?
Great points…the hits, walks, and runs allowed have gone way down…thanks for pointing this out….
Manny N K-rod r guna be Mets soon. So Imagine a bench wit tatis n daniel murphy wow dats pretty gud so far
My 3rd grade English teacher is mad at me just for reading that post.
Lol!
Corrected: “Manny and K-Rod are going to be Mets soon. So imagine a bench with Tatis and Daniel Murphy. Wow! That’s pretty good so far.” See? Not all that hard to write an English sentence, using punctuation, spelling, and actual words. It makes it much easier for your reader to understand your point and agree with it, as opposed to believing you’re a third-grade dropout.
So the official free agent signing begins on the 14th right?
yep, 3 more days to see what can omar come up with..
Yes Sir !
Jenks is awful. He throws 99mph and can’t strike anyone out.
Can someone please explain to me why the Mets need Bobby Jenks when they have Lights Out Luis?
Why wouldnt you get Jenks! Wasn’t there something wrong with Lidge and I’m not gonna even mention how that little project turned out. By the way Dye is an ideal fit for this team, right handed bat, quality fielder, hits for power has won championships and hits in the clutch…
CAREFUL WITH THE “CLUTCH” WORD AROUND HERE.. some folks are iffy!!
CAREFUL WITH THE “CLUTCH” WORD AROUND HERE.. some folks are iffy!!
the only reason is iffy is because there isn’t a player on the roster whoc an be attached to the word. YES I SAOD IT. NO ONE.
delgado was pretty clutch for us for a large part of the year…
Amen to you brother, totally agree. But i could not imagine what they would want in return for both dye and jenks
The thing that was wrong with Lidge was he was 100% ineffective for 3 years and he was getting older (32). 2 years ago his ERA ballooned to over 5 and last year he was removed from the closers role halfway through the year…. Sounds a-lot like Fuentes to me if you want an accurate comparison.
I would rather sign K-Rod and lose the compensation picks then trade guys away who are a more Known prospect.
But if he can be had for out bottom of the barrel guys then go for it. But that won’t happen.
Why would the White Sox trade Jenks??
Every week Heyman chooses a new obscure guy the Mets are going after and then nothing comes of it.
Every week…
Heyman is the best in the business right now. I’m not saying the Jenks deal is gonna happen but why would he lie and make up a rumor like that?
Dont let me go and fetch two years worth of baseless rumors just to prove a point. When the guy farts, people smell it. His Jenks rumor is already viral in the sports blogosphere.
he didnt say the Mets are getting Jenks, he said the Mets are looking to get Jenks.
there is a big difference.
Martinez’s stats in AA have been less than stellar. For someone dubbed the teenage hitting machine his .287 8 HR 43 RBI are nothing special
why wouldnt we go and get jenks and vasquez for prospects…jenks is ours till 2011. we save ton of money and we can then go out and get a manny or even a c.c
Bobby Jenks is about the last person on my list to close games… My order of preference in terms of closers are the following: KRod, Putz, Fuentes, Soria (which will cost you an arm and a leg), Street and Jenks.
For the bullpen, I would actually sign Cordero but not to be the closer. Rather the 7th or 8th inning guy for whomever the closer will be and hope he rebounds in 2009.
For catchers: Either Taylor Teagarden or Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Rangers; Chris Ianetta (most likely untouchable and a long shot) of the Rockies; Kelly Shoppach (Indians); Bengie Molina (Giants) followed by two free agents: Pudge and Varitek who for those two, I wouldn’t go beyond one or two years.
I am intrigued by Jermaine Dye as well as Javier Vasquez. However, question is what will it cost the Mets to give up? Obviously Aaron Heilman is one… Probably Mike Carp, Luis Castillo and Bobby Parnell. The Mets should make a run at a certain 19 year old Cuban defector who plays third base and was recently declared a free agent by the name of Dayan Viciedo. He could be flipped to play first in the minor leagues and if he is as good as they say, even better.
Should the Angels not be able to resign Texeira, it would mean Kendry Morales takes over or entertain talks with the Mets for Carlos Delgado which I would say would need to net the Mets a first basemen somewhere (I doubt it will be Carp). Otherwise, I expect Delgado to be in a Mets uniform in 2009.
I am just wondering, not that the Rockies will trade him although I’m sure they will entertain the thought: what would it take for the Rockies to flip the recently acquired Carlos Gonzalez who can play both Center Field and Right Field?
Jermaine Dye would be a great pickup and a perfect #5 hitter. One year left on his deal with 1 million dollar buyout next year he would be a great stopgap until F-Mart is ready in 2010 or 2011.
Dye is turning 37 batted .292 34 HR 96 RBI, The ChiSox are trying to move his salary so I would offer Evans, Heilman and a pitching prospect not named, Holt, Niese, Kunz or Parnell.
Heilman could get a fresh start as a 5th starter, Evans could be a depth outfielder and everybody needs young pitching.
How can you have Jenks listed last as guys who you would want to close games for the Mets? He is the only player on your list might I add who has won a world series as the primary closer…and hes only 27
Jenk’s K/9IP has been declining sharply since they won the world series.
That is usually a big sign of arm problems and lower velocity but not always
I mentioned below an earlier post that something else to look for with Jenks is that while his K rate has gone down, so has his home runs allowed and his ERA. In the year of his highest strikeout total, he also had his highest ERA, which has been declining ever since. Might he becoming more a pitcher and less a thrower?
All the good things you can say about Jenks, you can also say about K-Rod. K-rod is the man. I know it. We all know it and him and his agent know it. lol. Wait it out Omar. He’ll come around.
true that
If Jenks were a free agent, I would go after him. However to raid the minor leagues again for a guy that could get injured is risky. The way I look at it, cash is cash. As they say on wall street, if you want to make money you have to spend money. I say go after KROD. I am not a fan of Fuentes. He played in a laid back town and wasn’t even the closer last year for the Rockies. He doesn’t throw that hard. The closer needs to be a guy that can bury you with a fastball and change speeds with a slider or changeup. KROD can do that. I don’t like the fact he wants 5 years but if you can get hm down to 4, pay him. Our bullpen is terrible and we can’t screw around for a third year in a row. And if we are lucky, Wagner might be ready towards the end of the season/playoffs and could be a setup man
Dye doesn’t turn 37 in January; he turns 35. The proposed deal of Heilman, Evans, and a minor-league pitcher who isn’t a top prospect sounds all right to me, but I’m not the White Sox.
I’m very open to the idea of trading for Bobby Jenks for a couple reasons.
1) It won’t cost us a first round draft pick. It’s true that it’ll cost us Fernando Martinez in the deal but that may as well be the equivalent of a pick. The Mets will lose more picks when they sign a SP. It’s possible they’ll get one back when losing Ollie though.
2) It saves the Mets money. They can use that money on signing a reliable set up core. Like a Dennys Reyes or Joe Beimel. And a Juan Cruz or Russ Springer. They’d still have plenty left over. Jenks is arbitration eligible for 3 years.
Jenks is a power closer. He’s young. He’s more apart of the category of Papelbon, Lidge and K-Rod than he is Street or Sherrill. He’s reliable, young and affordable. The Phillies got it done by going via trade so maybe that’s what we need to do. This time last year people weren’t thinking Lidge was one of the best closers either.
If anyone were to be included in a deal with Jenks it’d probably be Vazquez. Not Dye. The White Sox are looking for a team to dump him on without paying a penny of it. They need to get him out of there because of what Guillen did to him. He’s really not that above market value. He’s a reliable 3 pitcher. A deal of Fernando Martinez, Aaron Heilman and a mid-level prospect like Bobby Parnell can probably get us Jenks and Vazquez.
I am not a fan of Fuentes either because he’s a 33 year old pitcher who wants a 3 or 4 year deal just like Billy Wagner who was 34 at the time. Signing him would look good for a year or two but it’d backfire. Why not just sign K-Rod? You’re losing the same draft pick. K-Rod is a much more shut down closer. The NL hasn’t even seen him yet.
Fuentes was knocked out of the closer’s role in July ‘07 when he had four consecutive blown saves. Doesn’t that sound Billy Wagner-ish? I know that was likely just a fluke because he’s only had 24 blown saves in 8 seasons, but his age is the clinching factor. Sign K-Rod or trade for Jenks. Or Putz but something tells me Seattle’s more of a pain to trade with.
Jenks is the same age as K-Rod. I’d take K-Rod over him because he’s better. It’s really that cut and dry. K-Rod is awesome. He more saves than Jenks and Fuentes put together. I know it’s inflated because of how great the Angels were during the season. But it doesn’t mean K-Rod doesn’t get it done. I still don’t see K-Rod getting 5 years because our competition for him doesn’t have big market teams. The Angels are out. Cleveland, Milwaukee, San Diego & Arizona who are all in need of closers won’t even try. Detroit’s locked up with too many bad contracts. It’s really just the Mets and Cardinals. And maybe Texas.
Jenks and KRod had the same save percentages: Jenks 30/34 and KRod 62/69. Jenks had half as many walks and a WHIP that was 0.19 better than KRod, and you’re saying KRod is better because he had more saves? Not buying it, sorry. I like KRod, but I don’t believe pitchers should ever get deals worth more than 4 years, especially relievers.