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ESPN News is reporting that free-agent 
1B Mark Teixeira is close to making a decision on where to sign his next contract.
The Red Sox recently made an eight-year offer, reports Michael Silverman in the Boston Herald.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times believes the Angels offered $160 million to Teixeira, which is for eight years, the team’s GM told MLB.com.
“The Yankees have re-entered the Mark Teixeira Sweepstakes,” wrote Jon Heyman yesterday to his blog for SI.com.
Lastly, the O’s final offer to Teixeira was for seven years, and roughly $145 million, according to the Baltimore Sun, while the Washington Post believes the Nationals offered him an eight-year, $160 million contract.
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Sure would be nice to see the words “and a mystery team” in reference to Tex.
lol…economy is hitting hard huh lol
YAY!!! some other teams are actually doing something! YAY!!! omar is sleeping!! YAY!!! seriously, omar SIGN MANNY and take us to the world series!!!!
well..i believe now after reading some of the posts matt has put up..we will not go after manny ramirez..lol…i figured it all along however i didnt want to accept it.
Go Angels, and that leaves Manny to us!!!
Don’t give up enterkrod!
I hate to quote Jesse Jackson, but as he said “Keep hope alive!!”
It will on Abreu, Burrell and Dunn. As an excuse. But not on these big name guys. Just like we said.
i tell you this: if omar does not sign a HUGE bat like manny (or tex), it WILL be a second or third place finish for the mets this year. hear me now, believe me later.
hopefully he signs with the Angels as we would then be the only other team besides the Dodgers who could pay him what he wants.
And no Manny is not going to the Yankees. He doesnt have the personality to fit in with the “uptightness” of the Yankee clubhouse…
Omar is sleeping? He has been the most active GM this offseason. LOL.
Honestly, hemming and hawing over a few extra million when your offers are in the 160 range is quite silly. It would be so nice to hear a baseball player, ala Brady and the Pats, take a pay cut to be a part of a preferred team. And in this case it looks like no pay cut would be needed.Numerous teams, including the Yanks and Boston have already offered him more than he is worth. He basically can pick between the two and use the nationals as leverage. All of this Boras waiting around to drive the price up to 164 vs 160 is tiring season after season.
Because the Phillies upgraded their offense? How about their pitching? Their bench? The Phillies have done less than the Mets. That makes no sense.
True I would like to see a small move on offense if we can’t get Manny. But to say that we can’t make the playoffs if we don’t is just silly.
I feel good about this :)
If Tex does sign with the Angels, then the dodgers are the only other team thats serious about manny…I dont believe the yankees are that interested….In any event, Tex signing will cause some of the other dominos to start falling, so things should pick up…
he’s probably weighing offers and comparing them to the teams/cities
i think he’ll go with the angels
Problem is that Tex is a union guy so he will take the largest offer and is bound to try and get the largest offer.
Dunn, Abreu, Burrell do nothing to help the Mets. We need a guy who will get the big hit in the big spot and carry this team.
We have no problems scoring runs in May or July but when we needed the big win, our bats have not come through
Manny is the only solution to this problem. If Manny does not sign here don’t even upgrade LF. Sign Lowe and Wolf/Garland (1 year deal only) and get a 2B to split time with Castillo and thats it
Beacuse I like seeing the pot stirred, I would love to see the Nats give the highest offer.
I disagree Oleo. While Manny is the best option upgrading LF and Catcher to make the bottom of the lineup deeper would still help.
There is no doubt that adding Wiggy and Molina would make the lineup tremendously better.
kingman
i hope so..i hope you are right..IF he signs with the angels then i will have more hope about the mets getting manny…because the angels would be the only other team to compete for him..forget the yankees and boston and dodgers..he has to make a move
We really need to address our rotation before our offense. Our offense is competitive, our bullpen is elite (still odd to say), but our rotation is still in shambles.
IMO we need to try to fill out our rotation as best we can now, without grossly overpaying, and then sit on whatever capital we have left. Come July, there will be teams who overestimate their team’s chances and underestimate the economy, who are going to be willing to take $0.85 on the $1.00.
At that point we can let Omar be Omar, and pull off another schrewd move that will make the difference for us. I’d much prefer this approach to overpaying now, getting someone who doesn’t contribute like they should all season, and not having the option to make a change midseason.
If anyone thinks the Mets are going after Manny then they have not been paying attention or they are on crack.
STOP DELUDING YOURSELVES!!!
YOU WILL ONLY BE DISAPOINTED!
; )
Nostradamus–
Omar is sleeping? We will finish 3rd?
Have you noticed what we have now in the bullpen, with loads of money left to spend and having not traded any of our biggest chips?
the real
“Omar is sleeping?”
yes, when it comes to the offense. the mets NEED a HUGE bat like MANNY. schlubs like dunn, burrell and abreau would make no difference whatsoever in the standings. signing manny (and an SP) will take the mets to the promised land.
only problem is manny will be on a different team by then..lol…actually with how its looking now with him he might not be..lol
also understand that we score a LOT of runs EARLY in games…the #1 problem last year (yes, some clutch hits late in games would have helped down the stretch) was the bullpen BLOWING those leads that our offense had built in the early innings…If the new bullpen blows half of the # from last yr (29) we win over 100 games…And Wright, Beltran, etc having CONFIDENCE in the bullpen is going to make a HUGE difference from last year….Although no one came out and ripped the bullpen, they both said it in not so many words that is was VERY hard to keep fighting back after the bullpen kept on blowing good leads…
my god, boras has the whole world drinking this kool aid.
How can you say that going from the production we had in LF last year to any of those guys would not help? Or going from Schnieder to Molina? Or the fact that if they do miss out on Manny they would have the money to do both.
i just find it very funny…because lowe and perez and manny are all represented by boras…if there ever comes a time when it says omar talks to boras…how do we know who it is about?..lol..wow i am very pathetic..lol..this is how bad i want manny on this team..
Dunn has 40 HR and 100 BB every year for 5 straight years. How many others can match that power/OBP…and he never gets hurt. He is clearly the 2nd best option after Manny. And he can play 1B in 2010.
Nostradamus, do you ever get tired of being wrong?
We scored the 2nd most runs in NL last year, why does not upgrading our offense equate to not making the playoffs? We didn’t make the playoffs this past year because of one thing, PITCHING. Why do you people not understand this? As for the guy who said Omar is sleeping, have you been sleeping? Seriously, wake up. We all nkow it would be nice to add a Manny and what not, but to say that we will finish in 3rd in the division if we don’t is just ridiculous.
If the Mets do not sign Manny, then they should go after Dunn, instead of Abreu. They would be able to move him to 1B after Delgado leaves, and then go after Holiday to fill an OF spot.
I would be shocked to see us get Manny. As much as I’d like to see him here, realism is knocking at the door.
ANd one of the major reasons we did not score late was our terrible bottom of the order. If you add 2 quality hitters in LF and at C you score more runs and kill less rallies.
longisland
EXACTLY..theres nothing else i can say..you hit it right on the head
I know it will never happen but what about signing barry bonds. I hate the meat head but I would bet money that be can still hit the crap out of the ball. Check out his numbers in 2007 and keep in mind that was in only 340 at bats. He would come alot cheaper than manny and you can probably get him on a 1 year deal.
lol..kingman…he will have a change of heart about dunn just like i did..lol
NYCESQ—I hear that knocking at the door too, it may be realism, and DO NOT answer that door!!
I agree on Dunn as right now 2/20 might do it. However, the Mets don’t seem interested. I would still be ok with Abreu on a 2/18 deal. He would be a great #2 hitter and make the lineup that much deeper. I don’t care if he can’t play defense as none of the other options can either. If we miss out on Manny, I will take the cheapest one as they are all about the same to me.
Anyone who seriously thought we were going after Tex, and is actually upset about it, is an idiot. It’s easy to yell at a GM for not signing someone when you have no real grasp on how much money $20+ million a year for one person is to an entire team salary.
Darkstar, it isn’t so much about runs scored. It is about when they are scored. As we are currently set, we face a black hole in the bottom of the lineup, which in turn puts more stress on the top of our order. A batter like Manny will improve all of our players, while a batter like Dunn would probably make us the most offensive team, statistically.
yes, I agree with longisland too…..this pen will never blow half as many as last year’s…never.
trs, last year damion easley got the most AB’s in the 7th hole, going .267/.306/.380.
When Tatis hit in the 7th hole, he went .302/.383/.566.
First step to upgrading this offense is trading Schnieder for prospects then taking those prospects and Castro and trading for Molina.
.292 16 HR 33 2B and 95 RBI from the 7 spot instead of Schnieder? Easy.
Uh, thereal that’s nice and all but where will we get our second and, Jesus, our third catcher from?!
If they give Manny 15-20MM/year than means no front line starter is going to be signed.
Manny is great, but with a rotation backed by Garland and Niese this team wont go far.
They need Lowe rather than Manny.
I think wadehead (#21) said it the best. People here will scream doomsday if omar doesnt get a bat in the offseason, but I think its very pre-mature to do something like that.
i feel confident that we’ll get a combination of lowe, perez/wolf for the rotation, and the extra money (and prospects) we have left will be used at the deadline for whatever need we have then. omar is playing this correctly. Murphy/tatis and Church/Pagan will be an upgrade in the OF from the mish mosh on LF from last year and hurt Church. Evans is there to spell delgado if he production dips. Castillo will *hopefully* have a better year.
id rather omar save some money/chips to work with at the deadline then stand pat and not have any wiggle room mid way through the season when the inevitable injury bug hits.
i personally like adam dunn, sure low average and strikes out a lot, but also hits a ton of homers and walks alot. hmmm…..sounds a lot like Ryan Howard, im sure the phillies are pretty happy to have a guy like that….
And with the guys Molina would have in the 6 spots ahead of him, he might drive in more than 95 with us….
Schneider is kind of getting a pa*s in terms of people not commenting on how mediocre he is…terrible offensively and very mediocre at throwing, blocking the plate, and pretty much every aspect of defense he was supposed to be so good at.
the talks or i should say rumors are back on by the way about varitek
TRS,
Is Molina even available? Yes, that would be an alternative to signing an impact bat, i.e. Manny. If we did that, all we would have left is our Castillo situation.
Best case scenario:
Red Sox get Tex
Yankees get Manny to respond
Yankees trade Nady to Mets
Cancel and Molina can replace Schneider and Castro.
Easley’s numbers are not great at all. That’s a .686 OPS. Tatis’ were great but if you count on that this year you are insane. Not to mention that he would only be in there aganist LH if that.
Reyes, Murphy, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Church, Schnieder, Castillo, Pitcher is how it stands right now.
If not then it’s
Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Church, Murphy, Schnieder, CAstillo, Pitcher.
None of those lineups have a reliable 6-8.
However,
Reyes, Beltran, Wright, Delgado, Wiggy/Molina, Church, Wiggy/Molina, Castillo is much deeper.
Only problem with that is Delgado / Church in the 5-6 holes. Solve that by going Delagdo / Beltran / Church / Tatis (4-7)against LH. And Murphy / Wright / Delgado / Beltran / Church / C / Castillo (2-8) against RH.
Or….get crazy and bat Murphy all the time by starting him at 2B.
what does that even mean nyesq? It is about how many runs you score, bottom line. Obviously adding a player like Manny, we will score more runs. That’s obvious, but no one here can tell me that Manny definitely would have gotten a hit in some clutch situation in a game late in the season, that we needed to win in order to get into the playoffs. Is he a great offensive force/clutch hitter? Sure, but you can’t come through every time, or guarantee that. However, I CAN guarantee you that if we had better pitching, we wouldn’t have even been in the position we were in, late in the season.
cancel is not that good of a hitter…i know he would be the bench catcher but…not a fan…again talks about varitek are back on
It’s not that hard to find a backup catcher. Not to mention that Molina played 145 games last year. That’s only 17 games that you need a starter. Cancel would be fine in that role.
i agree. i absolutely think relying on tatis to be as successful as he was last year is just insane.
someone said this earlier how omar minaya is a year or two behind. he needs to address the offense before it ends up like the bullpen.
Hey Matt now that the Winter Meetings are over can we get the old format back?
real, find someone who wants Schneider or Castro… thats the hard part.
But I do agree, upgrading C and 2B will be a lot more economically realistic than signing a big LF.
Church/Murphy and Molina in the 6 and 7 spots would give deep a well rounded lineup. While still allowing them to sign starting pitching.
it’s not just manny getting a clutch hit. it’s about what he does to the rest of the lineup!
Please don’t start with the Nady to Mets talk. Nady isn’t that good. I would rather have Dunn, Burrell, or Abreu over him.
10:32am: WEEI has a transcript of comments from Karl Ravech of ESPN regarding Tex. Ravech believes “a decision is getting closer and closer to being made.” He says teams are escalating their offers and Teixeira should land in the $22-28MM salary range. You can also hear Ravech’s comments in a video at ESPN.com (upper right corner).
Enderkrod, who cares if Cancel can hit? He is a good enough hitter to be backup catcher when he will only start 15-20 games a year.
manny solves all the offensive problems in one signing.
Murphy can the play 2B with Castillo and play RF with Church. Schneider and Castro in the 8 hole is more than adequate.
Good lord, as much as I wanted Tex I was expecting 8/160. 8/200 now that’s a contract. I hope it’s the Yankee’s boy that would really mess them up for years to come.
oleo,
In order to sign Manny you have to first find a solution to the two holes in the rotation that only costs 10 MM. Any ideas?
Castillo would still be playing 2nd as Murphy is not going to play there and would still be batting 8th. Schnieder 7th and Church 6th. So your bottom of the order would still be very weak.
Don’t get me wrong, I want Manny. But balancing the entire lineup could make just as much impact.
There is a lot of difference in
Church, Schnieder, Castillo
Wiggy, Church, Molina, Castillo.
As I asaid before the only way signing Manny makes sense money wise is to trade Delgado for the #5 starter. We can’t afford Manny and 2 sp.
touchy in here today. I have thought this through.
bottom line, this is a good team (sorry, Nostrodamus) as is. Just have to fill in a few holes to complete it, and it can be done reasonably (and within budget) without spending 25million on any 1 guy.
at minimum, sign grudzilanek, wiggington and Lowe (or sheets). Trade for marquis. And find 1 more LHRP.
pretty simple moves, and it puts a solid teamon the field (better than last year on the field, SP and RP). And last year, with all the problems and injuries, they still won 88 (89?) games.
Beyond this, trading for Molina (if he is really available) for a reasonable cost (in prospects back) would really solidify things.
And, the bulk of the top prospects will still be here to use, call up or trade at the deadline.
I know its not MANNY!, but it is realistic, and most importantly, it addresses the real needs of the team and fills the holes.
That being said I would do it if possible.
Manny and Murphy is better than Delgado and Murphy.
just a thought, but if the April to June Delgado shows up again it wont matter how balance the bottom of the order is…
Manny does solve that one problem, but causes a few new ones. Mainly that he uses up the whole budget.
trading two catchers and a first baseman and getting two legit starters and a loogy in return might be nearly impossible to pull off.
The more i see about the mets the less i think theyre going to do in terms of offense. I think on opening day we will have either Lowe or Perez. a traded 5th young struggling pitcher with a lot of upside, and MAYBE a new catcher. Hopefully its a guy like Molina and not Varitek
Everybody, keep your fingers crossed and pray that the Angels sign Texieria.
Varitek will be 37 on opening day. Molina will be 34. Last year Molina hit 75 points higher than Varitek. Do not understand why they’d even look at varitek
And, if you trade delgado, depending on who replaces his bat, you are going to offset some of the upgrade manny gives you.
Just do my plan (I bet TRS will agree!)
Add:
Wiggington
Grudz…
Lowe
Marquis
Molina
some random LHRP.
Delete:
1 of schneider/castro (if not both)
Just not that hard.
For the BU catcher, I would love to see some AAA type blocked elsewhere getting traded for. He can back up in 2009, and take over in 2010.
Grudz supplies coverage for Castillo if he stinks worse than last year or gets hurt (and can even play FT if he gets traded) Or heck, theer’s always the Murphy experiment.
But,
Reyes
Beltran
Wright
Delgado
Wiggington
church
Molina
Castillo/grudz
Looks nice to me. And no bottom of the order black hole.
Slot Murphy in at 2B and it will be a force to be reckined with.
and, it was cheap!
Nate I would not be trying to get 2 pitchers.
Just 1 #5 pitcher and Molina. That’s it, that would not be that hard to pull off without using any top prospects.
You would still have money to spend on a starter if you signed Manny and traded Delgado. You would only be adding 8 million. And trading Schnieder and Castro is the same as having Molina.
If you could get Sanchez and Molina in a package for Delgado, Castro, and some of our lesser prospects that’s not that far fetched. Even if you had to give them a little cash you could still afford it.
Finally Tex talk will be over!
phil, why should we pray that?
Yes stickguy, perfect. Total cost of that 25-30 million.
You can’t do all of that if you sign Manny. Manny will take up almost all of that.
Mel Rojas, if the Angels sign Texieria, the path is all but clear for Manny Ramirez to be making his way to Queens.
mel,
I was asking the same question myself..
I think Manny has better chance to go to Bronx than Queens
I want to see Tex going to BoSox, so they can beat up the Yanks
Yes our best chance of getting Manny is for Tex to sign with the Angels. I still don’t think even if Tex signs with the Rsox that the Angels will get Manny. They would still have too many OF and would be playing newbies at 1B.
Tex means more to the Angels than ANY other team.
yeah…im starting to think that yankees dont get tex they are gonna go after manny
stop with the delusions. MANNY will not be coming here!
Kistics, I may be wrong but I see no chance of Manny going to the Yankee’s. It does not make sense as they already have 105 OF’s and most of them can’t play defense. It would require them to make a trade. Not to mention he just does not fit in there. Adam Dunn would be much wiser for them.
Phil, I serrrriously doubt mannys coming here. And if you expect them numbers he put up in LA your crazy. He played that well because he tried to. He probably wont try in NY, because thats what he does, not try. He has no concept of work ethic and team. He’ll put up numbers similar to the beginning of the year in Boston. Except they will decline as he gets older. I’d much rather spend 25 million on Derrick Lowe and Oliver Perez than Manny Ramirez. No comparison. Two good SPs and danny murphy in left>>>>>>> Manny in left, freddy garcia jon neise and murphy rotting on bence.
And TRS you think the mets only need a #5?starter?
Omar will make this team fails again if we dfon’t sign manny.. delgado will go back to be a bum.. tatis in left field?? gimme a break!! murphy as much as i and us love him is unproven, church we don’t know which one wil show up (pre or post concussion) castillo ugh, castro/schneider= 240 batting avg.. this team will suffer big time becoz there’s no true clutch hitter in the lineup, beltran, d-wright and reyes can’t do it by themselves, omar needs to realize is not fantasy island, he signed tatis becoz he had a good 2 mothns but fail to see how many gbdp he hit into.. he fix the bullpen but also we need offense, since he didn’t think of the future by getting tex i hope he signed a top line young pitcher (not ollie, not lowe but ben sheets) and get manny ramirez.. he’s asfixiating man crush on delgado made him fire the manager (EVEN THOUGH HE DESERVE IT) and now it will cost him his job..
Jaydh, delusions? Is it a delusion that Johan is pitching for the Mets?
If Manny does go to the Yankee’s I would not mind taking Damon for almost nothing. He would be a good LF and a #2 hitter. He is only signed for 1 year at 13 million. Get them to take on Marlon and Schnieder’s contracts that gets us Damon for 6 million.
And where is all this money supposed to come from? just get over it, you can’t get 2 starters, fix the bench, and then sign manny.
105 OFs? wow that’s a lot of OFs… lol
Yanks can sign Manny and still would lower their payroll from last year. Yanks would have Matsui, Damon, Nady and Manny in their OF and DH. I think it makes perfect sense to sign Manny for Yanks.
Only way that Manny comes to Queens is if he lowers his price significantly, at which Yanks and many other teams will jump in too.
The yankees should sign Manny.
with manny, cano, jeter, damon, etc. defensively they will reseomble a slow pitch softball team.
Even better, after they give him 4/100, in May he will finally decide to go get his knees taken care of, and be out for the rest of the year!
I know that much of his story was Boras BS, but I believe he does have some lingering issues with his knees. And being 36/37, he is certainly due for something to break down.
and remember, LF for the Mets is a graveyard for old players!
actually, I wonder if it is the uniform, or was it just Shea? Guess we might find out.
if tex signs this big contract with the angels…i think that mannys price will be dropping…how about omar just check into what he wants..he wants at least 3 years…give him that..and work with the money with him
NO, the Mets still need 2 starters. I am saying that you only need to get a #5 in return for Delagdo. Then you use that money to get a #2.
Phlly, are you really comparing what Santana brings vs what Manny brings? really? taking into account age and everything else….really? delusional…yes.
Is Alex for real??
I made this point in my last post but just wanted to pose the question in its own question post.
Question-
If the Mets have 25 million dollars to spend to finish off their offseason. What would you rather have
Manny Ramirez 25 million.
or
Derick Lowe 15 million
and
Oliver Perez 10 million.
I understand there are alternatives and blah blah, just say this were the options.
stickguy said: And last year, with all the problems and injuries, they still won 88 (89?) games.
It was 89. This is also the prism through which I look at the 2008 Mets. Not a “choke” as the media and, despite it lessening their favorite team’s accomplishments, Phillie fans like to say.
Relying heavily on guys like Damion Easley, Argenis Reyes, Luis Ayala, Fernando Tatis, Endy Chavez, Nick Evans, Marlon Anderson, Pedro Martinez, Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Brian Stokes and Carlos Muniz this team won 89 games, finished 3 games out of first and 1 game out of the post season. 1 game! Astonishing. An over achievement of epic proportions.
That motley roster has already been improved upon greatly. A few more changes, none as grand as Manny or Tex, are all that is needed.
LIMF:
yes i am…
Mel,
I agree with you that Manny will not come to the Mets. But his work ethic is great though. His intent are wrong but I wouldn’t question his work ethic.
Kistics, you forgot CF and Melky as Damon can’t play CF. Thus you have Nady, Matsui, Damon, Manny, Melky. That’s too many.
plus that brett gardner clown or whatever his name is
TRS i hear you. Earlier on in the offseason I was saying I thought the Mets should sign Teixiera and turn around and trade delgado for a guy like Sonnanstine and bullpen help because it makes them better in long and short run. Now I just dont see that as likely at all.
(100)
do you realize that no matter what a team goes trough, if your up 3 games with 17 games to play and 5 in the wild card and you don’t make the playoffs is a choke!!! i agree, they overachieve but at the end.. they choke.. again!!!!
If Yanks sign Manny, Melky does not see any playing time. I think it’ll be split between Nady and Damon in center.
Having said that, if the Yanks trade for Cameron, there’s less chance of getting Manny for them. Unless they are looking to trade any of their 103 OFs.
OMAR LOVES CARLOS DELGADO!!
“Damon, Nady and Manny” in the OF. My gawd, the pitchers are gonna love that! Especially in a spacious OF. Even slotting in matsui (manny DH) and it is just as bad.
Damon in CF will need 2 cut off men, just like in T ball.
TRS, Damon is actually a better idea after thinking on it (not that I could stand having him on the team). I was surprised at how solid his numbers were offensively last year. He still has some speed and catches the ball, as long as he flips it to bletran to throw back in.
Reminds me of something else. Always expect Omar to do something completely unexpected!
And the biggest reason they choked was the terrible BP, that has for the most part been blown up and started over. I agree some small moves on offense are needed and Manny would be great but it’s not life and death.
The Mets did choke this year. Just look at the last week of the season. Brewers had no business going to playoffs.
alex242, you’re entitled to your opinion and I won’t waste my time trying to change your mind, but I disagree. Had they had their planned roster largely intact at that time of the season I would be more inclined to agree with you, but they didn’t and in my opinion that’s a relevant part of the equation.
I dont know how you can defend the work ethic of a guy whos been playing the outfield for over a decade in the MLB and thinks hes the cut off man in a throw home from CF. Practicing your hitting all the time isnt work ethic, its practicing your hitting.
if tatis is our solution we’ll be in big trouble.. he was out of baseball for 2 years ppl.. 2 years!! how do we know he will have a whole good season??
There is no way you could go with Damon and Nady in CF. Nady can’t play CF and Damon has already said he;s not good at it any more. IT’s either Mekly in CF or Cameron right now.
(112)
i hear you, and in some part i agree with you, but is not the media, they folded under pressure again.. the bulllpen was bad all year, becoz even wagner had 7 blown saves by the all star break and omar failed to see that, with that said we over achieve and i said that many times, but if someone is to blame are the wilpon for giving omar 4 year extension on the verge of another collapse..
Reyes, Damon, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Church, Molina, Castillo. That would be a nice offensive upgrade from last year.
Alex, fine, say they choked. But, they still had the talent to win 89 games. And the pen did the biggest part of that choke job. And what has been mas-sively fixed already? The pen.
some other key upgrades (to avoid the A. Reyes’s and easley in the OF times) and the team will be vastly improved.
anyway, while a player might choke, A TEAM CAN NOT CHOKE! Get rid of the ‘gag” players, and bingo, no more choking team!
Last year is done. Focus on the roster for 2009, based on the players on hand, and stop trying to retoractively change the 2008 team.
gotta project what a player will give you next year, which is the hardest thing for a GM to do. Delgado is the biggest challenge in this. Although Manny won’t be far behind.
It’s not like another GM would have done any better this offseason so far.
I am a little worried about the offense because as of now we are relying on guys like Fernando Tatis, Luis Castillo, Ryan Church, and Delgado. Tatis and Delgdaos numbers should go down not up. Castillo is a gigantic question mark, and im not sure Church’s brain still works. I had the same type of worry last year because of Alou and Castillo, and it ended up being a real problem. With all that said, we have three great players who are reliable for gigantic numbers. Beltran should be about the same. However, Wright and Reyes should continue to improve. So you really are getting better with just their improvements.
With that said, i think the mets could use 1 or 2 modest, but beneficial improvements.
I would trade schneider, maybe for a Lefty reliever or a 5 starter whos got low trade value currently.
Trade for Bengie Molina and sign Wiggy to play second and try try try to get rid of Castillo
The addition of Wiggy and Molina gives you some much needed depth and right handed pop.
stick,
you think mets need to get rid of wright? lol .. j/k
Alex I dont understand the hate for Omar. Look what hes done so far this offseason. What GM in baseball has done a better job? And you cant say cashman, because giving a blank check to a pitcher and automatically giving him whatever he writes down is not difficult.
trs, not bad.
key to me, on offense, is eliminating the bottom of the order black hole. Schnieder/castilo/pitcher is just bad.
So if you aren’t upgrading C (and Molina might be the only feasible real bat) you better be getting a solid stick for 2B.
And that might leave you with Murphy.
STICKGUY:
your points are very well taken, but also look at the season d-wright, reyes and beltran had along with those 2 mothns of delgado.. we do have the talent but mind you that we played in the NL.. where we talentwise are far better than a lot of teams.. plus look at tais resurgence, the good play of murphy, all those things also count.. your right, we’ll see this year, but don’t tell me, tell yourself if your confidence having the same GAG players on offense as well..
alex242 # 116
fair enough. While I was making it in a rather vague, sideways manner, my point originally was simply that this team is a lot closer to very good than it is to mediocre and I don’t think, given the roster changes that have already been made, that multiple $18 million + (annual) acquisitions are what’s necessary to put the roster in a position to achieve greater heights than 2nd place and 1 game out of the post season.
Here’s the problem. Our bullpen was terrible. There is no doubt in my mind we will not lose as many games as last year with the pen.
However, can we expect the offense to perform the say this year? That I don’t know.
Church pulled us through the first half of the year, what will he give us?
Murphy and Tatis are locks for nothing.
Delgado? Who knows what Delgado you will get.
While it’s easy to say “We scored enough runs last year, we just need to fix the pen” That just does not work. We won’t have last years’ offense this year no matter what. It could be better or worse but not very likely that it stays the same.
also, I wold love to see Omar work a trade for Rios. he wills the same hole as Manny (different player, but very solid all around) while being much younger, versatile, and cheaper. Just nto sure what it would take to get him.
TRS’ lineup with Rios instead of Damon looks evenbetter!
Agree on Rios but Damon is much easier to get LOL. Rios would be great but I have a feeling we would have to give up Maine and a couple of lower prospects. Still want him?
guys, i never said that omar should be fire or anything like that, but take a look at the drafts we’ve had while he’s been here, the signing he’s had to make, put all that into account as well, he’s got the upper hand when it comes down to money, why u think players wanna come here? is becoz of money.. and how bad he’s handled the contracts of certain players.. the best signing this year will be manny or tex and he wasn’t even near them.. he is not that good of a gm.. not the worst, but certainly no top 5.. and the bullpen he fixed it this year becoz HE failed to see the problem we ALL saw in 2007..
idk if id say Murphy and Tatis would be a complete nothing. If it is a pure platoon, and Murphy starts against RHSP and Tatis LHSP, then their number will be misleadingly very good. They both hit about .310 against the opposite pitcher. And if your getting that from your 6 or 7 hitter, it should be more than enough. We’re not asking them to be superheros.
Murphy last 17 games:
11 hits in 47 at bats… it was clearly that ML pitchers starter to figure him out, again, we don’t know how he will be for a whole season, i’m hoping great but u also have to be realistic as to what can happen..
Tatis and Murphy are not going to combine to hit .310
Lets be realistic, Murphy will bat around .280 and Tatis will bat around .260
I would much rather see Manny in LF and Murphy getting 2-3 starts a week at 2B and 1-2 starts a week in RF.
then if Murphy shows he can be a productive hitter and a somewhat competant 2B then his AB increase and Castillo’s decrease…
Or he just had a mini slump like all players do. And a .234 slump isnt the end of the world.
What i dont think you guys are getting here is that it is a platoon. Meaning they will ONLY start against the opposite handed Starting pitcher. So outside of Relief pitchers, their numbers will be significantly higher than they normally would be against everybody. For a whole season agand LHP and RHP, yeah maybe tatis hits .260. But he wont hit against rarely any lhp in a real platoon. So his numbers will be ballooned up to probably 280-90. That is the point of a platoon?
it is after you start 32 - 83 for a 385 average.. i’m not ssaying he’s not good but that we don’t knw how he’ll perform..
* i mean not hit against rhp for tatis.
Haha alex you just said Danny Murphy hitting 234 is THE end of the world. Im just busting your chops, but i see your point.
The problem with the New York Mets last year were a combination of two things. One was the fact that we had an atrocious bullpen. And two was that, although our offense was relatively good, we always would never deliver the knockout punch to the opposition to put games away. Manny Ramirez, the greatest right-handed hitter of this generation, certainly brings you the knockout punch. He provides us with a real genuine cleanup hitter, something we’ve lacked since the glory days of Mike Piazza. Manny takes all the pressure of the team on top of his shoulders and goes out dominating single-handedly. It takes a very special player to do that on the world’s biggest stage time and time again. He just changes the entire dynamic of a ballgame. David Wright especially would explode for a huge year having the frame of mind that Manny is batting behind him. In addition, It is only through the bat of Manny Ramirez that you can neutralize the non-production we’re receiving from Castillo and Schneider. And, don’t give me this poor work ethic, bad teammate, defensive liability garbage. Please. Do you want to win a World Series or not? Manny Ramirez is the ultimate definition of winner. Manny garners a lot of attention, but one thing he does not have is a poor work ethic. Much to the contrary, he’s often been noted as the guy seen taking extra batting practice and tooling his game to the finest level of excellence. Also, he is not a bad teammate. The fact of the matter with Manny leaving the Red Soxs rested with him being manipulated by Scott Boras. The bottom line is that he’s been loved everywhere he has played and would be embraced here by the New York fan base. As far as defense goes, remember that under the current plan, we have two converted infielders in Tatis/Murphy lined up for the left field position next year. With that realization in mind, I could certainly live Manny out there instead.
Sign Manny, 3 years, 55 million. Omar can even get creative and add incentives to the contract to ensure that both Manny and Boras are completely satisfied.
Mel:
LOL, i tell you, i am very optimistic and i would love for D-murph to do good, but we also have to be prepared for the worst, him and tatis is just not enuff, now if u say murphy at 2b i don’t care becoz that means castillo will be gone..
Philny:
you couldn’t have said it better… just go and ask david ortiz how much he’s missing manny right about now.. guarantee top 3 in MVP ballot for d-wright or beltran..
ACtually agree Alex. Depending on Murphy and Tatis in LF and not upgrading the C/2B spot is silly. It does not have to be Manny, although that would help. You could get decent production out of Molina Wiggy for not much more than what we currently pay.
BA results in 08 for Murphy is irrelevant due to the small sample size. What does translate, imo, is his approach. Any rookie can come up and hit fastballs and be proclaimed the next coming only to have the inevitable soph slump. But if the approach at the plate is solid, the projections can be more optimisitic. Approach can transcend small sample sizes, because as long as that doesnt change…
BTW, Murphy was 2nd on the team in P/PA (not counting extremely small AB counts like pitchers or scrubs)
if we sign let’s say juan rivera, and we have tatis and murphy at bench we would have a solid lineup and a good bench.. but with the same team as last year it will be just like the bullpen in 2008.. but on offense..
Castillo was 1st in MLB at that.
But yes Murphy’s approach will be what seperates him. I would just much rather not depend on so many question marks. If you get Manny there is no question mark there. If you switch out Schnieder and Murphy for Molina and Wiggy there is less of a question mark.
I just think we would be going into the 2009 season with the same type of question marks we had last year in the SR and BP.
(143) What does any of that even mean?
Man Alex did you copy me? I guess not your’s posted 1st.
It’s not even that we have to get Manny, we just can’t stand pat with 3-5 question marks on offense.
You have to give the kids a shot, somewhere. That’s how you build a team for beyond 09. Murphy has earned a chance to play every day. So, bring in Manny, but then you have to sit Castillo’s 6 MM on the bench.
Yanks ready 2 pounce on Manny…. Forget the Mets getting him…this is unreal…if we just signed Manny and then a combo of Lowe or Perez … and 1 of Pedro/Penny/Sheets/Wolf/Garland…we would win the whole darn thing.
TBlz, no you bring in Manny trade Delgado and start Murphy at 1B. Manny is better than Delgado and makes up for the potential lose of offense with Murphy. However, you stick with Murphy and Delgado you have 2 question marks.
lol, we failed in 2008 that our major problem was the bullpen and didn’t adressed, so this year we’re thinking it was all bullpen and if we don’t fix the offense that can or will be our achilles heel in 2009
I think that is a smoke screen to get the Angels more involved with Tex or to put pressure on the Sox. Manny makes no sense for the Yankee’s at all.
If he does go there, however, I would be heading to the Yankee’s and trying to get an OF on the cheap.
We need (Ideally) one more solid bullpen arm, a #2 starter, a #4-5 to compete with Niese, a big hitting LF, a 2B with some actual use, and a C with some hitting talent (Castro, not Schneider) and durability (Not Castro, and Schneider isn’t much better).
if you do that, there is a specific order is MUST be done, AND you have to do it in on the sly. Getting Manny means Murphy wont play (as is), and a smart GM will see that means an unloading of Delgado so the kid can play. Which all means that we are in a position of weakness when it comes to the trade.
Yes, TRS86. This is all smokescreen to turn up the heat on Texieria. They already have a surplus of corner outfielders and are set at DH as well. Plus, they’re interested in Mike Cameron and even Bill Hall. Trust me, the Yankees are not shuffling their entire roster to get Manny. This Manny to Yankees talk is just all hoopla from Hankenstein to irate the Boston Red Soxs and their fan base.
A thinner, hungrier, more focused Andruw Jones took the field in the Dominican Republic on Friday in his winter league debut. And that could be good news for the Dodgers.
Quick trade Castillo for Jones right now. I would take Jones and Molina as our upgrades right now.
Hmmmm, Andruw in LF and Castillo gone…VERY interesting concept if the Manny fantasy dies…..
I guess that would depend on the Dodgers wanting Castillo and then having a replacement for Jones.
Maybe if we paid the difference in salary?
according to mlbtraderumors, yanks are hot on the trail for manny. that would keep the mets as the second rate nyc team:
Damon
Jeter
A-Rod
Manny
Matsui
Posada
Cano
Nady
Swisher