|
According to Jayson Stark at ESPN.com, the Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, 
Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers, Angels and Mariners have all expressed interest in free-agent OF Raul Ibanez.
In fact, “The Mets, Cubs, Cardinals, Braves and Mariners have him at the top of their position-player shopping lists,” writes Stark.
Stark quotes a team official as saying of Ibanez, “Character. Proven run producer. In better shape than a lot of 25-year-olds. And he’ll play hard every day, every game, every second he has the uniform on.”
Ibanez played in all 162 games this season, and hit .293 with 23 HR, 110 RBI and a .358 OBP.
He has hit at least .280 with 20 HR and a .350 OBP during each of the last four seasons with the Mariners.
In a recent post to ESPN.com, Peter Gammons wrote of Ibanez, “His 338 RBIs the past three years are more than Ramirez, Teixeira, or Vladimir Guerrero; he is a leader, a tremendous person and a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat.”
 |
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Do it and then flip heilman, Church, evans, and other for bulpen help
Id rathe have Church than Ibanez…I would like both….but I would rather have Curch and we go and get a power RH bat.
Ibanez is much better than Church will likely ever be.
alot can happen in 7 seasons.
Ibanez didnt become a full-time starter until he was 30
Ryan Church just turned 30.
Too early to say.
Excellent and very true point….I do like Church, and if he can ever play two full seasons in a row, I think he can be very good.
I just really like Ibanez and think he would be perfect for us.
I like them both. A lineup with a healthy Church and Ibanez would be really, really good in my opinion.
I think we would rather have Church than Murphy
what ajoke. ibanez would be good for locking up second place. raul cant shine manny’s shoes. PLUS IBANEZ IS A LEFTY!
Is he a lefty? Really? And Manny really won’t let him shine his shoes?!?!
Wow, you really are Nostradamus!
the mets dont need another lefty in the batting lineup. get a clue.
Yeah, I will look into getting a clue…..those late 70s and late 90s Yankee teams with lots of lefty bats never won anything….neither did those rotten mid-70s Reds teams. Or the 1984 Tigers. Or the 2002 Angels.
It is a good thing the people making the decisions understand baseball better than you.
and he is old, lefthanded, and a lousy fielder. And getting older isn’t likely to make that last part better!
Just pa-ss on him. Murphy/tatis platoon should come close to hsi production, with actually better defense, without committing 3 years at large $$ to him.
Put the money toward Teix.
they need to have at least one position ont he field where they are paying small $$.
getting older…perfect for the mets..him playing 162 games…i dont know about that, thats not how do things here in NY.
Yea…how would our medical staff earn their money?
That’s fine but how many times do we have to be told that the Mets are interested in him. WE know this already been told this a hundred times already for a month now
Hey, did you know Heilman wants to be a starter? Or that the Mets are interested in bullpen help?
wait..what? really! lets go and make it happen…yes!!! I’m pumped.
IBANEZ??? 36 years old, can’t field, we don’t need him!!! how has his leadeship help seattle get anything done the past few years??? NOOOOOO
Not fair to question his leadership because he plays on a crappy team.
Correct TRS.
He is an excellent player and an excellent person.
Try considering the numbers he has put up for an absolutely abominable team the last few years.
I am fine with Ibanez, as suming 2 things. 1 he cost 10 million or less for no more than 2 years with an option year. 2 we trade for Molina as a salary dump for catcher.
Reyes, Church, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Ibanez, Molina, Castillo is not a bad OF group at all.
Can’t compare him to Alou either, he played 162 games last season. That would take Alou a good decade to do.
lol. Good point. Yes he is old but like matt said he seems to be in great shape as evidance by the amount of games that he plays….i would sign him as well if he asks for a modest contract if anything to give us more stability…but that would mess up omars plan for murphy i would a-s-s-ume.
Why is age even an issue when he hit .293 with 23 HR, 110 RBI and a .358 OBP. last year.
His Defense? Thats why we have the best center fielder in baseball for, we had tatis, murphy and evans in LF last year.
Correct on both counts NY718—-he is in great shape and plays every day, and LF is easily the easiest position where a team can get away without having a gold glover, especially with Beltran and Church in the other two OF spots…..
And yes, the secret is out–I am pro-Ibanez….
Age is an issue if he is asking for more than 2 years. Age is an issue because the Mets have been burned 106 times by age.
Ok i know that age has burned the mets, but at least this time it for a guy who is productive and plays alot. when was the last time the mets singed a productive “older” player that burned them?
And we have The Catch as a defensive replacement in late innings.
Robbie Alomar? I am sure there are others, I just did not understand that one. Castillo is old in body but was productive before last year.
Well, Alou has been an injury risk his whole career, El Duque could be 50 for all we know and maybe threw 5000 innings in Cuba, and Pedro was a smallish guy who threw smoke for years and years and perhaps was due to break down.
I do not think Ibanez’s age is anything like the situation with others we have had troubles with. All signs point to him having at least 2 more good years in him, and he also wants to play in NY.
I agree Kingman
Alomar and Vaughn don’t count to me, because, with the Mets, they couldn’t have cared less about anything other than their paychecks and, in Vaughn’s case, his next 12 pound pastrami sandwich.
I surely did not expect much from Alomar and Vaughn when they were signed. Everyone exept the mets knew they were mistakes waiting to happen.
Not so. Alomar when he signed was widely viewed by baseball to be the best 2b in the game. EVERYONE expected him to perform. Not validating the move for the money at the time, but no one expected him to fizzle like he did.
I guess he spent too many nights at the Copa
Alomar’s year before the Mets signed him was one of his best seasons. It would make Hudson look like Eckencrappy.
.336 BA, .956 OPS with 20 HR, 46 other extrabase hits and 30 SB. That was one of the all time great seasons for a 2B at the time.
The problem is that he’s looking for a nicer deal than 2 years 20 mil. I’d have no problem with him either, except I don’t want to commit to more than two years.
We also than have to worry about where Murphy fits in.
He will be at 2B when Castillo loses his job there due to injury and/or stinking it up.
metsblog has become a website that finds ways to make postings…simply put, the more recycled non-news they update the site with, the more we come here and click and thus they can charge more for advertisers…metsblog is no longer a place where we can get news…its a place where things are sensationalized in order to spark controvery/discussion(Read as: website hits)…perfect example: one posting said: the mets WILL sign either fuentes or KROD…where another posting stated we would be trading for our closer position…the reporting has become a joke…and I didnt even mention the cheap writing style..”From what I gather”, “I get the sense that”…repeated phrases over and over…THE ONLY REASON this site has any worth is because its concentrated on only the mets…if it weren’t for that fact, there is zero value in the quality and unnecessary quantity of the writing.
Would you rather there be no post at all because there is no new news? Blogs do this. Mlbtraderumors does this as well as even ESPN. If you want news, why come to a blog?
while i kind of understand where you are coming from and understand your fustration the reality is nobody knows what the hell is going on and thus the repeats of stories based off rumors and such. Matt just keeps his site more up to date with stuff that he hears than anywhere imo
to be fair: everyone complained about the santana posts last off-season and how there was no way he was coming to the mets.
i’d take ibanez for 1 year (with an option if necessary) then go after pitching: k-rod and cruz along with lowe and garland
garland…yuck.
he’d be one of the best #5 starters in baseball
I also have moved on from Garland thanks to so many of you. It’s the cost and years that bother me. And the fact that in 2010 I expect Niese to be better. Thus I have now moved in the Randy Johnson camp for 2009. The guy had an incredible season last year and would give us a LHP to replace Ollie on a 1 year 5-8 million dollar contract.
1. randy johnson hated ny and forced a trade to leave the yanks not to mention he always injured
2. garland can be traded in two years if niese is ready. you can never have enough starting pitching. garland would bring in some other need down the road.
i don’t love garland, but for a #5 he’d be solid with a strong bullpen. no way can the mets have a #5 who goes 4 or 5 innings per. again.
He may be one of the best number 5 starters in baseball, but we won’t have anyone else that is better than a 3…besides Johan of course. I like depth in the starting staff and I think it gets you places, but I don’t like Lowe as my number 2 starter. Not when teams we will match up with in the post season (if we got there) will throw two aces at us (Zambrano/Harden, Webb/Haren).
Having those 2 aces did not help the Dbacks make it to the playoffs nor did it help the Cubs in the playoffs.
I understand the point and you brought up a good argument about the Cubs and D-Backs. Cubs have choked the past two years in the playoffs. Once again, they couldn’t hit this year. Not saying their pitching was great, but if you watched the Zambrano game (Game 2), it was a comedy of errors and lack of offense that did them in.
Arizona had it sewn up if Manny didn’t become a Dodger. Sure, they couldn’t win, but they couldn’t hit either. Dunn didn’t really help. In any other year, Zona makes the playoffs.
I would also argue that we had a solid rotation from top to bottom last year, but it didn’t help us. Maybe Lowe will be a good #2 pitcher this year, but will he be in year 3 of the contract? How will that $15MM look at that point?
We did not have a solid rotation last season. Pedro and Elduque were slotted to be in the rotation. If it had not been for Pelfrey we would have been in trouble. Who was our #5 most of last year? We had starts from Figgy, Vargas, Armas, Niese……
Give me 5 guys that consistantly pitch 190 innings and I am set.
No way he accepts only a 1 year contract if 10 teams are after him. I’d let him go, and either pursue the trade route or help in the OF internally (i.e) Murphy/F-Mart/Evans as the full time OFer.
Hey Mets1224—-go away, and you will not be contributing to the higher ad revenue Metsblog gets.
And news flash—it is Nov 21—perhaps the very deadest time of the 52 weeks of the year for baseball news.
Hey dude, I need metsblog, he helps me get through a whole day of work.
The mets are linked to many different players and some of them make you scratch your head as to why the doing it.. omar will come trough soon
I’m guessing its because they have alot of needs
Guys, I mentioned this a few weeks ago when we were discussing Ibanez the last time. He can play 1B. He has played 135 games there.
Why not sign him and trade Delgado? Then you can be in the Tex market if you want or Murphy can play 1B/LF and it leaves you money for SP.
Delgado might net you a decent 2B or reliever.
This was the Same thinking with the Adam Dunn talk a week or so back. That flexibility gives you options in a tough market.
This just in:
————–
SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Royals are still shopping outfielder Jose Guillen.
Guillen is due $24 million over the next two years, so the Royals would likely have to take someone else’s bad contract in order to get rid of him. They discussed a Guillen-for-Luis Castillo swap with the Mets over the summer, and such a deal would still make some sense now.
————–
Not sure how Guillen’s personality would fit in NY, but you can’t argue he’s one heck of a hitter. Right Handed and plays outfield.
It’s a no-brainer to me. Gets Castillo off the team and fills a hole. Especially if they would also take Schnieder or Show to even out the cash.
Not sure if you read this yet, but check out the article by Joel Sherman for NY Post. Not a good news for Castillo haters.
From what I understand, GMs are afraid of going after Guillen because of his personal problems. I doubt the Mets are interested where there are lots of options like Dye and Ibanez
But you can’t unload Castillo for Dye or Ibanez.
That’s why i don’t know if it will get done. His attitude/personality hasn’t always worked well with teams.
Maybe he’s what the Mets need. Some fire. Some Emotion. Someone who in the Locker-room will actually yell at someone.
I don’t know. But it unloads one of the guys I want off the team if it’s done. Then there is only Delgado, Heilman, Feliciano, and Show left to go.
Get it done Omar.
Well.. It usually doesn’t work out with guys like Guillen and NY night life. I would hate to see him influence young guys like Reyes or Wright
I don’t think Guillen has a problem with “Night Life” as much as he does being a hot head. Blowing up at Managers and other Players. And Umps. That’s where i don’t think his Personality would fly in NY, ala Randy Johnson.
Also i wouldn’t be worried about David Wright. Jose Reyes maybe, not Wright though. Plus they have been around for some time, this isn’t like Doc and Straw being rookies and a very veteran 85&86 baseball team.
Good point mark.
If Omar brings Ibanez aboard and is unable to trade Castillo, what becomes of Murphy? It would be a waste for him to sit on the bench and get an at bat once in a while.
I would think that Murphy could get 100 games 300 AB’s just being the teams super utility man for 2009.
Not only that, but WHEN castillo slumps and or gets hurt, murphy will be there at 2B.
I just don’t get the idea that the Mets see Murphy as being able to play more than 1 game at a time at 2B.
The problem with being the super utility guy is that Ibanez and Church are both lefties, and so is Murphy. So if one of them is to be replaced for offensive purposes, it would be the right handed Tatis who would replace them. And for defense, that’s Endy Chavez. I just don’t see where he would fit in.
At 2B, 3B, 1B when Delgado just needs a day off, Church has yet to play an entire season.
Yeah, I can see the point about Church. However, Delgado and Wright never take any games off (they both resist when Manuel or Willie tried it). And I’m not sold that Omar wants Murphy to be anywhere near 2B. I could be wrong of course. Omar could be just doing it for smokescreen.
I don’t think they want him there long term. I think him playing there 1-2 games a week would be fine.
I wonder how long of a leash Castillo will get? Imagine if he finishes April carrying a .205 batting average (a real possibility)? Then there may not be much of a choice but to put Murphy there full time.
Imagine he comes out and hits his career average (a real posibility).
Guys we have no idea what to expect from Castillo. Guys that are in their early 30’s don’t just lose it in 1 offseason. Something was up last year. Lets hope it’s fixed for next year.
And god forbid that to happen it would most likely be the same as last season. Easley and Awful Awful Reyes at 2B. Especially if no LF is obtained.
I hope you’re right. Whatever happens, it is imperative that he starts off good right from the start. If he hits .205 going into May, the venom from the fans is going to be super intense, and that’s going to be a problem.
The venom from the fans will be intense during opening day lineups. Once you get to 90% hate, what’s 100%? There is really no where for him to go but up or out.
Ugh, please no Argenis Reyes. He makes Anderson Hernandez look like Albert Pujols on steroids.
He’s also a native NYer who grew up a Met fan, and was a mentor to Beltran in KC…
His defense is no worse than a platoon of Murphy and Evans. He’s a a more consistent hitter than Dye and he won’t cost them talent. And although he’s 36 he’s in tremendous shape, and has been durable for his whole career…
This move would also give them options. Church is probably the best trade bait they have among players they’re willing to part with…he might be your best opportunity to land a reliever…if you get Ibanez you can part with Church.
Also, Ibanez has played at 1B, so if they sign him he could slot in for Delgado after this year (or before if Delgado gets traded)…
Signing him also prevents him and his 100 RBIs and clubhouse leadership from going to a division rival, where he may well end up if he doesn’t sign here…
I would not move Church because of Ibanez. I would move Schnieder because of Ibanez.
I wouldn’t move Church as a first choice either – I’d prefer they keep him. But he may be what is required to acquire a quality reliever, and Ibanez gives them that flexibility…
Why trade Church for a quality reliever when there are so many on the market?
What reason could there be to trade a 30 year old because you have a 36 year old?
Good point in Schnieder. I realize that he’s a great defensive catcher, but he seems like an automatic out when it comes to offense. I really believe that one of the reason the Mets failed is because of lack luster performance of supporting casts like Schnieder or Castillo.
Although I think Castillo maybe hard to move, Schnieder still have some value.
You say Schneider is a “great” defensive catcher? I watched every game this year and to me he really wansn’t anything special.
He did struggle in the beginning of the season, but I think he had a real good influence on guys like Ollie and Pelf.
Towards the end of the season, Schnieder made some good defensive moments.
I regress on my word “great”. I would say he’s “very good”.
I’m just still bitter about that missed ball in that game against Philly when Werth was a dead duck and Schneider just let it go under his glove. A good defensive catcher has to make the play and end the game right there. That was the game when the Phils won 8-7 after being down 7-0. Just for that play (fair or not), I have hated him.
I am with Chan Ho. I think in all aspects—blocking the plate, throwing, calling games, catching tough short hop throws from the OF—Schneider proved to be OK to mediocre, and nothing remotely like a “great” or even very good defensive catcher. He certainly does not provide enough on defense to justify his awful offense. I like Church and still like that trade, but I also like Chan Ho’s trade proposal below.
I agree. I think the Mets need better offensive catcher. But I don’t think this is on their radar at this time.
It does not have to be on the radar to get done. Just trade for Molina and ship out the two we got.
I agree with you there! We do have many far more pressing needs….
I would move Schneider for a pack of strawberry tropical fruit bubbalicious.
He would be a good pickup if they trade Murphy in a deal for a pitcher
Heres’ one for you guys. Delgado to the Giants for Randy Winn and Molina? It gives them the offense at 1B that they want. It gives us a LF that is not LH and a RH catcher with pop. Then you can sign someone to play 1B or go with Murphy.
Reyes, Murphy, Wright, Beltran, Molina, Church, Winn, Castillo?
I don’ t think the Mets will trade Delagado in the first place. But, what do the Mets gain from that trade? Delgado is a force behind Wright and Beltran, which Molina/Winn will not bring.
Not in 1 person no. But adding Molina and Winn instead of just Delagdo (who we have no ide what he will do) does add more depth to the lineup and more balance. Not to mention we would get more picks after 2009.
I really think both Schnieder AND Castro should be traded for BP, or prospects and then trade for Molina. Maybe the prospects you get back for those two get you Molina. Then Cancel would be my backup.
Molina 2008
.292 16 HR 95 RBI’s. That is someone we need at the bottom of the order.
And he had those numbers playing on a really really bad team. I would get him if i could.
mdemaio how did Guillen mentor Beltran in KC when this was his first year playing there?
From afar?
they played 3 years together in KC.
I think he was talking about Ibanez..?
Ya it had to be ibanez
Not Guillen…Ibanez.
They played three full years in KC together.
Yeah, sorry, I meant Ibanez too…I just cannot imagine that anyone would think that Guillen could be a mentor to anyone, except maybe Milton Bradley or Ryan Leaf or the Cincinnati Bengals….
Sure, he played in 162 games last year—for the worst team in MLB. Sure he may be a leader—but how far has he led any team in the post-season. I remain skeptical.
Why is playing 162 games on a bad team a bad thing? It shows he can stay healthy and is reliable and durable. And just cause he did not lead the mariners anywhere does not make him a bad leader. You needs skills along with leadership to go places.
Again, he alone can’t carry anyone to the playoffs. Manny alone can’t carry a team to the playoffs. If you put Manny on the M’s you think they would have made it this season? LOL.
j. santana
m. pelfrey
s. trachsel (j. maine, if healthy)
j. lima
k. benson
What is this in reference to>?
2009 Mets Rotation LOL…
v. zambrano as a long relief
Too many teams bidding on him, we don’t stand a chance with our cheapskate owners.
I love how Mets fan disparage our ownership…do they have any idea how much we spend in comparison to other teams not named the yankees….so dumb
i know…good thing our payroll isn’t $120 million. gimme a break and get a clue – plastic man.
did you not know that the mets have the 2nd highest revenue total of all MLB teams, they had better spend money
of course they do…but it’s really close to Boston’s….But Revenue total and profit are two totally different things. And what happens in they don’t spend ALL that money…you gonna leave?
If you trade church, Murphy plays RF? Not sure about that.
TRS, getting Molina as a salary dump would be a huge upgrade, and answer the need for a RH power bat. Could even keep Schneider as the back up if needed, since he is a lefty.
Not sure about Delgado for Molina and Winn though, since winn isn’t much of a hitter.
Unless, of course, they added Teix as the big money signing.
Imagine this lineup:
Reyes
Church/winn
Wright
Teix
Beltran
Molina
Winn/church
Castillo (sorry, had to do it) or Murphy if he got the job.
Looks like it could do some damage, and really could if they had a 2B that could hit.
Isn’t much of a hitter? While not a power threat Winn had these numbers
.306 BA, .363 OBP. Had 10 HR, 38 2B, 25 SB’s. The guy could hit 2nd or 7th and is a SH. Alone he does not replace Delgado but with Molina replacing Schnieder it does.
The RBI’s statistic is impressive. What can be said is that Ibanez is a healthy player too. He’s averaged to play in 158 games in the last 4 seasons. If the Mets are in serious pursuit of an offensive player and are counting Manny Ramirez out, Raul Ibanez and Orlando Hudson are the Mets best options. A big issue will be where does Daniel Murphy fit in? The truth is Murphy doesn’t have to start regularly next season, but he’d contribute. Because of their unwillingness to move him to 2B, I think they’ll be counting on him as there starting 1B in 2010.
Our owner is really not that ”cheapsteak.” He gave Santana to a six year extension at 23 million per year last season. Not to signing Wagner to a 4 year/43 million contract. And Pedro to 4 years/53 million. Omar’s done a lot since coming here. The only year he seriously revamped the bullpen was prior to the ‘06 season. We had 4 new relieivers going into that season (Wagner, Sanchez, Bradford, Oliver). He has to take that same approach this off-season.
You can’t be serious with Hudson. How is he really an offensive player? Besides a little more power and less speed and more K’s he is Luis Castillo/2007. .300 BA (If lucky) high OBP. No real production in terms of runs or RBI’s.
The problem is that so many teams are interested in Ibanez. So he inevitably is looking at least a three year deal. I don’t think he’s worth more than 2 years. It’s be nice to have him around in 2010 when the Mets likely cut ties with Delgado so we have a reliable hitter. But I wouldn’t jump at him. I’d keep playing out the market. I know Adam Dunn will be considered too. I expect him to go to Washington though. Maybe they can work Abreu down to a one or two year contract at a reasonable price. Or get Jermaine Dye in a trade.
I’d rather bring in Dunn, he’d provide long-term help, or go with a super platoon in left field. I really just don’t see why the upgrade from some sort of murphy/tatis/evans platoon to Ibanez is good enough to justify the money and the draft pick they’ll be giving up.
I agree with a lot of your points. Adam Dunn’s hit at least 40 home runs and 92 RBI’s in all of the last 5 seasons in the NL. The good thing about Dunn is when Fernando Martinez is eventually ready, they could move Dunn over to 1B. The problem is that Dunn’s not known for his defense regardless of the position. If he were in the Mets line up though, it wouldn’t shock me if he drove in 120+ RBI’s a year. It’s all about the contract he’s looking for. He’s still only 29. He’ll be looking to get at least a 4 year deal. He’ll get more money than Ibanez too. I’d guess at least 3 million more a year. It’d probably take 4 years/68 million as opposed to Ibanez or Abreu who may only take 2 years/28 million.
Ibanez’s defense is about as bad likely worse, than Dunn’s. And while Dunn will want a larger contract he’d serve a long term purpose, at first, we’re going to have to spend money to fill it in 09 and the first base options in 09 are kind of horrible. So really you could look at it as replacing Delgado’s contract.
While I agree completely on Dunn, we all know it’s not happening. Don’t know why, but not happening.
I like them both. I think if we added either Dunn or Ibanez to the offense we already have, we would be a serious scoring machine.
AGree, I would still be tempted to trade Delgado if we brought in either.
As long as the price of what we’ll receive in return is decent. Hopefully either a couple decent prospects or good pitching options. I’m thinking the Angels will be interested if they lose out on re-signing Texeira.
I do agree about the draft pick. The Mets should be really concerned there. For that reason I think the best thing could be to let Oliver Perez walk. I’m hoping he goes with the Yankees or another team with a good record so they’re able to get a good pick back. That way it’s like they break even when signing K-Rod or Fuentes. Than turn around and trade for Javier Vazquez. Maybe they’d swap Schoenweis in the deal to make the finances look slightly better. Trading say Heilman and Evans for Street will also protect their picks.
They shouldn’t re-sign Ayala. He’s actually a Type B so there may be a team out there dumb enough to sign him.
And possibly Alou who’s Type B too. One of those two player’s should replace the pick the Mets would lose in signing presumably Beimel, D. Reyes or Rhodes. In this scenario, the only pick they’d lose is an offensive player like Dunn, Hudson or Ibanez they may or may not pursue.
You really think the Mets will offer arbitration to Alou?
Probably Ayala. Not Alou. I don’t even think Moises’ wants to play anymore. He’ll probably just retire.
Ayala should cover who ever they’ll lose in the bullpen though so I don’t believe that’ll be much of an issue. He’d have to get paid less in arbitration anyway if they were to go through with him because of his horrible season. Trading Heilman for a quality set up man closer potential type guy like Street is the best thing they can do.
That’s true. He is a long term option because he’s 7 1/2 years young than Ibanez. Even if he’s able to play 1B, I’m not sure if they’ll believe he’s adequate defensively. Than again though it’s not like we got a gold glove there in Delgado anyway. Unless Murphy were to play 2B or Church (or F-Mart) were eventually traded, this would really be blocking out an opportunity for Murphy in the future. Murphy’s a natural 3B, so he couldn’t be that bad of a 1B. And it’s Nick Evans natural position. I’m all up for signing Dunn, but he might be gone by the time the Mets look to settle all their pitching issues. We’ll just have to wait and see. Manny doesn’t look like he’ll be signing any time soon not even being offered 3 years yet so you never know there either.
The Mets may be able to get Edwin Jackson and Chad Bradford in a trade package that works around Ryan Church. Who ever the Mets will look to replace Church with would be more pricey than the starter and reliever the Mets would have signed instead of getting Jackson and Bradford in a trade though. I don’t expect Ryan Church to get traded because the Mets only have one other completely reliable starting OF going into next season.
Minnesota was equally interested in F-Mart as they were in Gomez last season. If Gomez had stayed, he would have been one of our starting OF’s. And a good 2 hitter. It’s possible Minnesota probably preferred him for those very reasons. There’s a lot of options out there for the Mets. Patience will work in their favor. Unlike the Knicks, who traded their best shooter Crawford for an injured Al Harrington and are going to trade their next best player Zach Randolph for a bag of garbage like Tim Thomas or Jerry Stackhouse later in the day.
Gomez would have been a horrible number 2 hitter. His defense is awesome, so good it almost makes up for his bat, but his bat belongs in like the 10-11 hole.
LOL, imagine a lineup with Gomez, Castillo/Awful Reyes, Schnieder. Might as well get up and get a snack 1/3 of the game.
Spot on Gina. He makes horrible contact and has no patience (142Ks and 25 BB in 577 AB). If he was the #2 hitter next year, Reyes would kill himself.
Gomez is really fast. He’s still a developing player. I don’t expect him to be the star everyone thought. But if he were a Met, he’d be contributing. He would have provided more reliability in the sense they wouldn’t have had to been desperate enough to use guy’s like Nixon and Aguila in the starting line up in the summer.
I honestly don’t believe any of the ”big 3” OF prospects the Mets brought up will even turn out be much more than slightly above players. They got as much as they could have for Milledge at that point which was an alright deal. They pretty much ripped off the Twins regardless of how we see Gomez. They got desperate. Fernando Martinez is just the last of the three. Each one was supposed to be better than the next. It’s all just hype. All three of these guys had to battle through injuries. The only thing they’re doing right with Martinez is not rushing him. The best thing may eventually be to trade Martinez at his high prospect ranking rather than actually believing the hype the Mets put on their offensive prospects. Less hype was put on Murphy and I think he may turn out being more influential to hte Mets than F-Mart.
Gomez lost his starting job with the Twins last year. If he were with us last year, I think Aguila and Nixon still would have been given playing time. It’s great that Gomez can run very fast, but he doesn’t walk, strikes out like a power hitter, and bats .250. That would have been a problem for us last year.
Yes, he’s streaky… And he did lose his starting job. But he’s been in the pro’s for like a year or two. How judgemental were we about Milledge’s incompetence. By the team he actually became alright was after his long waited out injuries… I don’t believe any hype I hear in any of the Mets offensive prospects anymore. The last gifts the Mets received there were Reyes and Wright… Murphy will probably be the next closest thing in the next three years.
They’ve actually done a better job at hyping their pitching prospects like Pelfrey and Kazmir (who they rated high and they should have kept). So if Fernando Martinez were able to pull us off a Bobby Jenks or Joakim Soria even with signing K-Rod, I’d be all up for it considering the obvious needs of this club.
I actually happen to like the Knicks trade…neither player plays Defense and the Knicks get a proven big man out of it…not to mention it clears more space for bron bron
i love those trade for the knicks. clear cap space in 2010 for lebron, bosh, or wade.
z-bo and crawford are not any good.
harrington. lebron. chandler. (front court)
duhon. q rich. (back court)
nate. italian stallion. lee. (bench)
nice little team.
Are the knick going under the cap in 2010?
They should be under the cap next season. They have well over 40 million dollars of expiring contracts.
yes but to get Lebron you need to be about $25mm under the cap…
Sweet
I thought it was that as long as you’re under the cap, you can sign anyone the max deal. Might be wrong though.
Knick don’t care if they pay the Luxury tax IF they sign guys like LeBron or DWade
the knicks are already down to $35.5m for 2010
dealing z-bo brings them down to $18.2m
plenty of room for lebron
And the Nets’ young players should be developed enough so that when Jay-Z coaxes LeBron to come to NJ in 2010, we will instantly have the supporting cast he needs!
Hmm even with all the money coming off the books they’ll only be 6 million under next season, but then they should have Eddy Curry’s 9.8 million coming off and Quentin Richardsons 8.6 million coming off, got damn they have a lot of terrible contracts, so they’ll be close but they’ll be left with like 5 players and Lebron. They need to find someone to take Randolph’s terrible contract off their hands.
But the NBA has a soft cap so they don’t have to be 25 million under the cap. It would just be nice.
Unfortunately the young players would have to get playing time to develop. Something Lawrence Frank doesn’t seem to get. Teams around the league are starting players they just drafted. And for some reason we’re getting Bobby Simmons and Jarvis Hayes 20-30 minutes a night while our young players rack up DNP-coache’s decisions.
Also Lebron won’t come if we’re still in NJ. And with the state of the economy and all the legal crap holding up Atlantic Yard they might not break ground before Lebron retires.
agreed. no way lebron is playing in the swamp.
Yup… Whether or not the Nets are playing in Brooklyn will make a big impact. I don’t think he’ll end up with the Knicks or Nets… As suprising as it may sound, he might just stay in Cleveland.
Yeah, I was partly kidding, but 7 or 8 years ago, who would have ever thought we would have two conference titles and Jay-Z as part owner?
The Brooklyn thing will very possibly never be built, and the arena in Newark, as anyone who has been there will attest, is awesome, and might be their future home, as it should be.
LeBron will go where he gets the best chance to win a title, as he will be worth over 100 mil by 2010, if he isn’t already. I do hope he stays in Cleveland.
And Gina, why Simmons is playing is beyond comprehension…..I pray that Frank just lets Lopez, Anderson, Yi, and CDR (when healthy) play and play and play….we have an interesting nucleus, and Harris is really a player…in a year or two, the trade for him could look every bit as good as stealing Kidd in his prime for the comically overrated crybaby Marbury.
Sources have confirmed the Daily News report that the Knicks have sent Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Clippers for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley.
2010 should be interesting
Big Man??? Are u serious?? He is 6-9 and and does not rebound well, besides they have ENOUGH big men.
How many 7-0 centers are in the league…5?
6-9 is more than enough…this isn’t a bruising type team anyway..run and gun…
Money wise good trade, player skills wise, bad trade
The only Knick that probably had more value than Crawford was Lee who’ll be expensive come the off-season… If they plan on re-signing Lee and Robinson who are two of their best players, that might be enough to prevent cap space in signing LeBron… I guess the Knicks don’t have as much of a ”win now” mentality as I’d like them too. I would have liked a swap involving Curry and Gerald Wallace instead, but I guess the Bobcats weren’t liking that. With or without Crawford, their peak potential is only like seven seed this season. So building to eventually be a real competitor is the smarter strategy.
Bron Bron won’t want to play for the knicks if they’re the ten seed in back to back seasons before he’s a free agent lol Wade and Bosh are on the market that year too though… Harrington’s been hurt. That’s why I don’t like the move. They’ll probably lose the majority of their games within the next week or so. The trade could have been worse though… If Randolph stays though, I don’t know where all these guys fit in.
The knicks trade was smart. They cleared an extra 8.5 million in salary cap, and Crawford wasn’t a very good shooter, he just takes a lot of shots, he shoots at a very low percentage and was overpaid. And Randolph is kind of terrible himself. A big man who shoots 43% from the field, doesn’t play any type of defense or even try to occasionally block shots? If there is a team anywhere in the league dumb enough to take him and his terrible contract off their hands they shouldn’t even think twice.
eveything you just said about crawford is ture, but you forgot to mention that he is the best player on the court for the knicks
Harrington is a career 13ppg and 5 reb per game guy, i would have much rather had crawford. back to the knicks of the isaih era
just because he the best “player” doesnt make for the best team….he’s a ball hog idiot who shot better behind the arc than he did from 2 pt territory…something wrong there…he also took more shots than anyone on the team by far!
Who else on the knicks team can hit a jumper?????? They have no Shooters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He has to put up all those shots.
Now David Lee gets less minutes, and we have no SG!!!!, and we lose all our points!!
The fact he’s the best player just shows how sad he knicks are, so it’s a good thing they’re trying to clear salary and start over. I don’t understand why you would be upset were you expecting them to compete for anything other than a lottery pick this season?
Q Rich can shoot the ball…
What’s sad is the Eastern Conference was weak enough to let a team with Jamal Crawford as their best shooter win six out of their first nine games lol Q Rich can’t shoot…By the way Atlanta, if he could he’d be averaging more than 10 a game. He might get some more opportunities now though… In all fairness to Crawford who was the guy who should have had the last shot of every close game, he was a chucker.
I don’t think Donnie Walsh is thinking of winning this year. I think he wants to clear out as much as he can to “rebuild” the team. If the Knick win this year, that’s a bonus.
I think he wants LeBron in 2010.
Walsh and D’Antoni know the Knicks have to rebuild to win… Rather than attempt to scrape out the seven seed like they did the first year Isiah and Lenny Wilkens. Lebron’s probably not coming here though…
If the Knicks tanked it for the next year or two though, they’d accumulate some better draft picks. I’ll remain skeptical about Gallinarni though when they could have ended up with a good future PG…
Does this mean Eddie Curry will see the court? Ugh.
The kids’ OBP was .296. LOL< 2 hitter. Sound like a no hitter. Maybe he should pitch.
Okay, maybe not a 2 hitter lol Not yet at least. Murphy on the other hand is though… And it can’t be denied that he received probably one tenth the attention Gomez got. His name was rarely ever even included in the long list of prospects Omar Minaya said he wouldn’t trade… If they ever to do trade Murphy without getting a lot back in return though, I’d be infuriated. All that Milledge and Gomez hype will follow onto Fernando Martinez… And than Wilmer Flores. Trust me, it will.
Eddy Curry won’t see the court in any way Spike Lee doesn’t lol Him and Jerome James are the biggest wastes of space.
F-Mart can’t be seen as better than Gomez and Milledge just for the sake we haven’t seen him yet… I don’t know if he will be or not, but the Mets overhyping of OF prospects tends to be move of a move of increasing the value on trading chips rather than using them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it kind of leaves us with false hope sometimes.
While Ibanez would be a great 3-hitter in the short term the only way we’ll see Ibanez in a Mets uniform would be at 1B b/c apparently Murphy can’t play 2nd after all.
although I would only trade Delgado if we got something valuable in return and certainly not for some middle relievers
I think Omar will eventually sign K rod for about 12 per for 3 years with a performance incentive for the 4th. He’ll keep Murphy and tatis in left, obviously murphy will get more playing time because hell hit righties. He sign Juan cruz to a 3 year 15 mil type of deal. Trade Heilman and Nick Evans to the Rays for a Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson. I think he’ll make a play for Lowe, and will get outbid by either the sox or the yankees. (I would probably be happy about this if its a 4 year 65 mil or even 5) Dudes old. I bet he’ll trade castillo for Vasquez. Trade Schneider and some minor prospects for Bengie Molina, or trade schneider for reliever and sign I-Rod. And with the money left over sign Orlando hudson to a 5 year 50million deal.
This isnt exactly what id do personally but it works for many reasons.
1- Murphy plays left for a year(hopefully keeping it warm for F-Mart) then moves to first when Delgado leaves.
2- Vasquez hangs around as the number 5 starter for 1 or 2 years, that way Niese can stay in AAA where he belongs and fill in when ready.
3. Sonnanstine/Jackson are 25 year old pitchers with gigantic upside and who already had pretty good years in the very good AL east. Either will be a #4 starter for many years to come.
4. After getting Cruz and Rodriguez i wouldnt be surprised if the mets picked up a guy like david weathers too.
Lineup
1Reyes
2Hudson
3Wright
4Beltran
5Delgado
6Church
7 Molina/I-Rod
8Murphy. (I personally expect murphy to consistently move up in the lineup.
SP
Santana
Pelfry
Maine
Sonnanstine/Jackson
Vasquez
RP
Closer- K-Rod
SU- Cruz
7th- Weathers/ Sanchez
MRP- Stokes, Parnell
LSp.- Feliciano
Rsp.- Joe Smith
Get rid of Shoenweiss
They won 89 games with a gimp at second, a terrible bullpen, a banged up rotation, and no closer. With these additions I cant see a possible way they win less than 95 games, and they dont even add THAT much salary.
Don’t think they need Ibanez
what is interesting is that they could sign Abreau and then move Delgado for tons of needs like relief and backup Righty bat to platoon with Murphy or Church
of course they could also move Church but I hope he stays and they just get a descent righty bat , I don’t mind that being Tatis too
Whoever loses out on Texeira will need someone especially if its Aneheim