Monthly Archives: December 2008
In a post to MetsGeek, Mike Newman takes a look at Mets minor leaguers Shawn Bowman, Dylan Owen and Josh Thole, and asks if they are ‘prospects or 
pretenders,’ since, ‘the likelihood of any of these players becoming more than role players is slim.’
It does feel like the term prospect is thrown around a lot. I mean, they can’t all be prospects, as that would defeat the purpose. In reality, most of these guys are just minor-league baseball players, who may or may not sniff the big leagues one day, let alone become big-time players.
This is why I tend to only put stock in to elite prospects, and do not typically concern myself with every player in the system, because it inevitably will just not matter.
For more on Thole, check out Mets Minor League Blog, where Toby Hyde talks with Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus about the young catcher.
The Angels have signed free-agent closer Brian Fuentes to a two-year, $17.5 million deal, with a third-year option, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
Meanwhile, the Cubs signed infielder Aaron Miles to a two-year, $4.9 million deal, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Cubs are also close to sending infielder Mark DeRosa to the Indians in exchange for three minor-league pitchers, reports ESPN Radio in Chicago.
…hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors for the information…
Last night, according to multiple reports, the Mets offered Derek Lowe a three-year, $36 million contract.
“Lowe recently told a friend that the Red 
Sox have never showed serious interest in him,” explains John Harper in the Daily News, who believes, ‘more and more,’ it is only a matter of time before Lowe signs with the Mets.
According to ‘the friend,’ the Mets and Lowe exchanged contract proposals before Christmas, like the Boston Globe suggested last week.
Harper’s right, it is feeling inevitable – in the same way the Johan Santana Trade was starting to feel inevitable one year ago.
Similar to the Santana situation from last year, the competition is minimal, and the marriage makes sense – keeping Lowe in the National League, while returning him to the East Coast on a team that is built to win now.
In the end, I do not believe the Mets intend to guarantee a fourth year to the deal, and would love to keep the price below $15 million per season, which, if they pull it off, will be impressive, considering only a month ago he was seeking a ‘Zito-like Deal,’ according to Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com.
In case you’re thinking it…
In the New York Post, Mike Puma writes, “A Mets official termed it unlikely that the team would sign more than one starter from the group that includes Lowe, Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf.”
According to Jack Curry at the New York Times, the Mets have made a three-year, $36 million contract offer to free-agent RHP Derek Lowe.
Curry writes, ‘The Mets are not willing to offer Lowe more than a three-year deal,’ though he is reportedly seeking seeking a five-year, $90 million deal.
…i can only guess that this is where the negotiations begin, so i wouldn’t be surprised to see either the years or the dollar amount change…but since i’m an optimist, hopefully this is where the negotiations also end…
Last week, the Boston Globe wrote, “The Mets appear to be closing in on a deal for Lowe,’ believed to be four years in length, or three years with a vesting option,’ and worth roughly $14-16 million per season.
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
According to MLB Trade Rumors, Steve Phillips of ESPN.com is reporting the Cubs are close to trading RHP Jason Marquis to the Rockies for RHP Luis Vizcaino.
In early December, Jon Heyman of SI.com reported the Cubs and Omar Minaya had been discussing a trade that would send starting Marquis to the Mets.
According to published reports, the Mets rejected a deal from the Cubs during the Winter Meetings that would have swapped Marquis for Aaron Heilman, who was instead traded to the Mariners for J.J. Putz.
The 30–year-old Marquis has won at least 10 games and pitched at least 190 innings in each of the last five seasons, while posting a 4.58 ERA, during which opponents hit .261 against him.
Update, 5:36 PM:
The grey jersey mentioned below is a fashion jersey sold by Majestic, and is not an official team product, as you can see by clicking here – also, the jersey has been on sale since July.
…thanks to the 20 or so people who sent in the above link during the last hour or so…it is appreciated…
By the way, someone should tell Adam Rubin of the Daily News, since he a post about the grey jersey on his blog as well.
Original Post:
The Sports Authority in Forest Hills, NY, is 
selling what appears to be an official home jersey for the Mets, in grey, with no black, and an orange and blue stripe along the collar – as you can see in the picture to the right, which was taken and sent to MetsBlog.com by Jothar.
On December 5, here, following a tour of Citi Field, I wrote how I did hear a rumor that the dark, dark grey from the stadium’s interior could eventually replace the modern black in the team’s uniform color scheme – or, could be removing the black altogether. Perhaps this photo is it, though I am still skeptical this is actually an official jersey.
According to Jothar, ‘The color is skewed brown,’ because he used a 
cell phone to take the picture. ‘The original is a lot closer to dark grey, although it does have a brown tone to the grey.’
The letters are pretty busy, too, with a grey shadow, as opposed to black.
If this is the new alternative home jersey, I’m torn. I’m fine seeing the black disappear, since it strayed from tradition. However, I always viewed the black as part of a new tradition, from the late-90s, Mike Piazza era, which I enjoyed.
The thing is, grey is not part of the team’s tradition either – though it is part of Citi Field, so I get the connection.
The more I look at it, if worn with white pants, it’ll probably look pretty cool. I wonder what color hat they’ll wear?
In the end, though, I’m far more concerned with how the team performs, than the clothes on their back. I mean, I’ll take a World Championship in grey, as opposed to a third-straight collapse in white, you know what I mean.
…it’s a pretty quiet day, so check out the following if you’re looking for something to read…
In a post to Mets Fever, Ed Ryan makes a case for signing free-agent Kevin Millar to fill a role on the Mets bench.
…the question is, ed, will the Mets feel the ridiculous need to carry three catchers again, while only using two, like last year…if so, there is no room for millar…if not, and i hope 
not, then millar is a good fit for a variety of reasons, though i think they like Alex Cora…
James at MetsGeek argues in favor of acquiring another left-handed relief pitcher, such as Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes or Joe Beimel.
…i used to think the Mets would sign a guy like this…however, i get the sense they are pretty excited about Sean Green, who they acquired in the J.J. Putz deal…i have heard a few people connected to the team as saying green can be used as a mid-inning, late-game ground-ball machine, who can come in to the sixth or seventh, get a double play, and let putz and Francisco Rodriguez close the door, with Pedro Feliciano and others serving in specialist situations…and, at this point, given some young arms, drifters on the open market, the Rule V picks, and other options, it may make more sense to use those financial resources in other places…
Lastly, in a post to Kiner’s Korner, Gene explains the need for ‘Knockaround Guys,’ like Todd Pratt and Lenny Harris.
Update, 10:33 am:
In his blog for ESPN.com today, Buster Olney writes, “The Dodgers want the Mets to take Jones… and the Mets want the Dodgers to take Castillo… But both sides have kept the porch light on, so to speak, in case the other side blinked and was willing to make their version of the trade, which is not unusual.”
Original Post:
Marty Noble at MLB.com reports that, while the Mets once had talked with the Dodgers about trading Andruw Jones for Luis Castillo, ‘nothing is ongoing, and nothing is going to happen,’ according to a person familiar with discussions.
…based on all three reports below, from olney, heyman and rosenthal, it’s pretty clear that the Mets and Dodgers talked about jones and castillo, not Juan Pierre, during the Winter Meetings, but the Dodgers had no interest in castillo and so that was the end of that…
However, at MLB.com, Los Angeles reporter Ken Gurnick reports the Dodgers would still like to trade either Jones or Pierre, while signing one of Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu or Adam Dunn.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes the Mets and Dodgers have been in talks about OF Andruw Jones.
Jones will earn around $15 million in 2009, after which he is eligible to be a free agent.
The Mets intention, Olney explains, would be to play Jones in right field.
I know you’re thinking it, so…
According to Olney, “It’s unlikely that the Dodgers would have interest in Luis Castillo, because they have a young second baseman in Blake DeWitt, and Castillo does not play a lot of different positions.”
In early December, Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com wrote, ‘‘The Mets have shown interest in trading for Dodgers OF Juan Pierre,’ which Omar Minaya denied the following day.
SI.com’s Jon Heyman later acknowledged the Mets had been in talks with the Dodgers, but did not specify who was involved.
The 31–year-old Jones hit just .158 with three HR in 75 games for the Dodgers last season, after hitting just .222 with a .311 OBP and 26 HR for the Braves in 2007.
…i’m confused…if this is accurate, how can the Mets be interested in jones, but not Manny Ramirez…i mean, if castillo is involved i get it…i totally get it…but, if not…i’m super confused…
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com says the Dodgers have been in contact with free-agent OF Adam Dunn, who has also drawn interest from the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners and Orioles.
According to Stark, “The Cubs had believed to be Dunn’s top choice before the Dodgers entered the mix.”
…this is interesting…because, if the Dodgers end up with dunn, what happens to the market for Manny Ramirez, since, as of now, the Dodgers seem to be manny’s only suitor…
…again, like i said this morning, if the market for manny crashes, and he’s open to a one-year deal, i don’t know how the Mets will justify ignoring him…
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