In Newsday, Ken Davidoff writes, “The Mets have one more expensive acquisition on their docket. They want to acquire a starting pitcher, either their own free agent, Oliver Perez, or a suitable replacement.”
…as i said yesterday, i still believe the team’s preferred plan is to sign Derek Lowe and either trade for or sign a young, out-of-favor back-end starting pitcher to compete with niese…now, whether that will or can happen is another thing, but i do believe it is the preferred path, as it should be…
Instead, Davidoff believes the Mets will likely sign a ‘retread veteran,’ such as a Freddy Garcia or Eric Milton, to replace Pedro Martinez and compete with Jon Niese.
The Mets are wary of Ben Sheets, says Davidoff, adding that Jon Garland and Randy Wolf are not as appealing to Minaya as are Perez and Lowe, ‘because of the drop-off in quality.’
That said, according to the Daily News, ‘The Mets have expressed interest in free-agent RHP Tim Redding.’
In 33 starts, Redding was 10-11 with a 4.95 ERA through 182 innings for the Nationals last season.
As McCarron points out, Redding was 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA in five starts against the Phillies last season.
Additionally, according to MLB Trade Rumors, the Mets checked in on Japanese free-agent starting pitcher Kenshin Kawakami during the MLB Winter Meetings Vegas last week.
Of course, Kawakami’s agent met with nearly 15 teams during the Meetings, including the Braves, says Roch Kubatko of MASN.
Lastly, 11 teams have shown interest in free-agent starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera, who has been offered a multi-year deal from at least one team, reports the Baltimore Sun.
Yesterday, on XM Radio’s MLB Home Plate, Cabrera’s agent said the Mets have not talked to him directly.
{ 81 comments }
The Mets will absolutely end up with either Lowe or Perez….Lowe is the better option because:
1 – he is the more consistent performer of the two
2 – he logs more innings
3 – better playoff performer (if they ever get there)
4 – Mets get the picks if Perez goes elsewhere
Lowe 3 years $50M
why is omar keep trying to bring any national reject he either drafted or was part of to the mets?????? this guy is killing us with that… stop!
another sp is essential. but so is signing MANNY!
Is there any news regarding John Maine’s recovery? Is it expected he will be %100 come Spring Training, and even if so, the team should have a quality replacement ready if need be.
That said, Omar said he was talking to clubs and agents? interesting, clubs? who
The Mets will absolutely end up with either Lowe or Perez….Lowe is the better option because:
1 – he is the more consistent performer of the two
2 – he logs more innings
3 – better playoff performer (if they ever get there)
4 – Mets get the picks if Perez goes elsewhere
fine, i’ll give you #1, but lets remember the age gap and you never know if ollie could POSSIBLY figure things out..
2. once again, if Ollie figures things out, he can log just as many
3. Really? Ollie has had a couple playoff games in his career
4. And they give up picks if they sign Lowe….your point?
have not heard about Maine, but there never seemed to be any concern about him being ready.
The procedure he had was relatively minor (shaving a bone spur, right?) so you don’t have the recovery time reuired from “real” surgery (ligamnet work, etc.)
but we can all agree, it’s a must to either sign Ollie or Lowe … otherwise we need to make a trade because Garland/Wolf won’t cut it as our big SP signing
4. And they give up picks if they sign Lowe….your point?
My point is that they surrendered the first round pick when they signed Krod….if they let Perez go they get it back from so to speak….signing Lowe they lose their 2nd round pick…Lowe is better, although Perez has the potential to be very good….they better get one of them or the roatation is suspect
Garland or Wolf (or redding or marquis or…) would only qualify as a secondary signing of a guy to be the 5th starter.
This is starting to smell more and more like Lowe.
I’m not really sold on him, but for 3 years, if the money isn’t ridiculous (and no, it isn’t my money, but I am worried about hitting the budget ceiling), then what the heck.
Santana, Maine, Pelfrey and Lowe is nto a bad rotation, and if Pelf continues to develop and Manine is healthy (and pitching like he did before the shoulder issue), it cold be dominant.
Even better, only Miane doesn’t look like he can go deep on a regualr basis. Co0uld be nice seeing lots of 7 inning outings from starters!
how nice to a) upgrade the pen, and then b) not need to use it much!
Oh, if they add lowe, expect a redding/marquis type to be brought in and then competition in ST, which is fine by me.
Or just wsign Wolf if it is cheap enough.
mrose they give up 1 pick if they sign loew and tha twould be 2nd rounder
TWO WORDS: DANNY ALMONTE
lmao Danny Almonte…that’s awesome.
At this point we need Ollie or Lowe, anyone else would cost a lot in a trade but would be required to do if we missed out on both of them.
the idea that Oliver Perez is a great big game pitcher is BS.
he has pitched in 4 big games in his career.
2 post-season games
got 1 win against the cardinals in a 12-5 game where Perez gave up 5 runs. game 7 against the Cards he got a ND but if it wasnt for Endy he would have got the loss
against the cubs this season, blew a 5-1 lead
against the marlins in game 162, 5.1 IP 2 ER lost his command and forced the awful bullpen to have to pitch 3.2 innings
if the mets dont sign Manny, you cant bring in Perez. hes not reliable enough to be a #3 starter let alone a #2
I agree with all of you that Ollie or Lowe needs to be signed. I would prefer Lowe, just because he’s more consistent and has plenty of experiences. As for pure ’stuff’, Ollie has the advantage, but he’s just way too unpredictable.
You can almost view Ollie’s hot streak last year as an incentive to get paid this offseason. So, if he doesn’t have that incentive, he may lack efforts, like Wagner has pointed out before
Theres no chance we can convince peavy to want to pitch here?
“Instead, Davidoff believes the Mets will likely sign a ‘retread veteran,’ such as a Freddy Garcia or Eric Milton, to replace Pedro Martinez and compete with Jon Niese.”
—Boy…i’d rater have pedro than the other 2…milton gives up more HRs than half the league hits individually, and garcia, while i like him and is a gamer, cannot be trusted after those injuries….
any combo of ollie, lowe, wolfe, sheets, and pedro, im happy with
#13:
Ollie pitched lights out in game 7..the only run he gave up was a suicide squeeze. The blam in that game lies solely on the offense.
That being said, I think that Lowe would be the best bet here. Ollie is just so inconsistent, and I think it really affects the rest of the team when he gets wild. He is also a guy that averages just over 5 innings a start, and over the last two seasons, we have seen what that type of performance can do to a bullpen over the course of a season. Lowe may not have some of the “sexy games” that Ollie has, but at the end of the day, he is a better fit for this team, at this moment, then Ollie.
Hopefully Boras gives the Mets both with ‘buy one get one half off’ discount lol
Sign Lowe and Redding. That’s a lot of innings. Redding would be fine in the #5 spot. Yes I know our rotation would only have 1 LHP in it. However, if you sign Perez and then Niese comes on and takes the 5 spot you have 3 LH in the rotation which is much worse than having 4 RH.
And to the person that said well you give up picks for Lowe too, you do not understand how this works.
Sign Lowe and you give up at best your 2nd round pick. And you get a 1st round pick and a compensation round pick.
Sign Perez you get uh nothing.
(18)
LIGHTS OUT IN GAME 7?????
Were you watching the same game i was at?????
If the Mets wanted to rock the NL they should sign both Lowe and Perez and then trade Niese and prospects for Brian Roberts.
Do you guys think Lowe is a legit #2? I think he is.
On the other hand, is Ollie legit #2 or even #3? I think you can make an argument for #3, but you can also make an argument for #4 as well.
Price difference between the two would probably be 4-5 mil and 4-6 wins.
Kistics, look at their 2007 seasons. Then tell me who that season would have been a #2, 3, 4?
They should sign Lowe and Perez and keep Niese at AAA b/c it’s only a matter of time before you need a 6th starter.
Whoever we sign, I hope Omar signs some decent options for spot-starts here and there during the season. Because there is no way, NO WAY, our 5 starters make all their starts, it just never happens.
thereal–
i agree…see, during FA, if there’s a lot of one position out there, and u have the money, i say sign them, then trade that position to shore up another weakness
For example–the yanks have hughes and kennedy, but just signed cc and aj…now they should visit the trade talks with the dodgers again for Kemp, WITHOUT trading cano…CF is bad for them, now with those 2 young starters in their rotation, along with wang and joba, why not trade one of them with another prospect for kemp and shore up their CF woes?
I like niese, i like parnell, but i’d be VERY happy signing ollie and lowe, having them both here for 3, 4 years, and then trading them in a package for a brian roberts…i knw it’ll take more to get him cuz O’s owner has a full blown, heavy duty man crush on him…but even if we did that trade, and we have no pitching prospects, we still have ollie, maine, pelfrey who are young, johan in his prime, and a vet like lowe…whle still hoping brad holt is our next pelfrey AND 3 years to draft more pitching…
jsut SPEND the money, then trade the surplus
and then trading them in a package for a brian roberts
by THEM, of course, i mean niese and parnell..sorry..too much coffee and vikes today, im operating at 110 mph
trs86
Mets would never trade Niese for Roberts, although he would be great in the 2 hole.
although who knows maybe Parnell and Evans could do the trick…
To be fair, it was not Ollies fault or Heilman’s (it pains me to say that) fault that we lost game 7. You need to score more than 1 run in a game to win. Especially against Jeff freaking Suppan.
bottom of the 6th inning, base loaded 1 out? and no runs get scored…horrible.
coffee and vikes? man I feel shortchanged at my work today.
trs,
how do I look at the stats without going through every single pitchers?
Oleo, why not?
How about this one?
Sign Ollie and Lowe then trade Niese and Murphy for Rios?
Eh too much money. Never mind.
Kistics? I am not sure what you are refering to.
I was talking about Perez and Lowe.
It looks like the Angels are now in on Manny. Our chances of signing him dwindle away by the hour.
trs,
oh.. misunderstood. Ollie had better stats in 07, but if you compare rest last 3-4 years, Lowe is definitely a better pitcher.
So, do you not see Lowe as a legit #2?
The only way we were going to sign Manny was if we were his last option and we got him cheap.
No big surprise. I want Manny but we can do other things.
We can still get Molina and Rivera/Wiggy and that depth would make the lineup just as strong.
Man, I would love Rios. I’d say trade Church in a deal for Rios, keep Murphy…that would offset some of the cost. and put Muprhy in RF.
Church, Niese, and a minor leaguer for Rios…theres our RH bat. he is signed for good money next 6 years, but he’s only 27 and an all-around talent and just getting better.
I think Wiggy should be seriosuly considered. He has become a very good RH bat and finished the year playing 30 games in LF. He would not cost that much $$ (2-3 years, 6-8 mil a year) and has played in NY before.
I don’t think they woudl have as much of a need for Church as he is older and nearing FA. Murphy Can’t play RF, I am guessing you mean LF and Rios in RF. Besides they need SP. That was what they originally said when they were talking with the Giants about Linecum.
Scrap Rios, I would love him, but I don’t know if we need him for that cost.
I mentioned trade Church, but I think Church (if healthy) can be a big boost in our lineup. The only problem is (and I don’t believe its overrated) we need a good RH bat.
Rios and Church in our lineup would be very good IMO…that means Murphy would have to be dealt. And unless he’s our future 1B, it might be worth it (w/ Fmart on the horizon anyways)
And Kistics, there is no doubt that I think Lowe is better than Perez and would be a great addition. But to me he is not a legit #2. He is just a great, solid #3. A #2 to me is a guy that does everything the solid #3 does but then 1/3 times is capable of being a #1. Does that sound like Lowe? or Perez? To me neither. I think Pelfrey has potential for that to be him.
I would give Wiggy a Blake type contract right now. Let him start this year in LF and deal with the openings next year. Nothing says he can’t be our everyday LF but then slide in and get Castillo and Tatis play LF that day.
(39) Yea, I agree.
It would take a lot to get Rios though…he just signed big money, he is a big attraction for their team, especially if they want to compete in the AL East, and they need SP now.
I would love him in our lineup, it’s easy for us to say let’s get him, b/c it would not be easy to do.
Sheets?
trs,
My point was that the difference in money between Lowe and Ollie would be around 4-5 mil, which can translate into 4-5 more wins. Considering what Lowe is compare to Ollie, Lowe is more viable option than Ollie despite the fact that he’s older and costs more.
So, if I had the choice to sign Lowe or Ollie, I would sign Lowe instead of Ollie.
Stickguy #13.
That is exactly what i want. And the exact reason i don’t want Lowe at a high cost. Everyone thinks the Mets are cheap, but they are being smart not Cheap. You don’t want to pay a 39 year old like 18 million. Yes this year is fine. But was the Pedro Contract worth it. Year one he was great, years 2-4 he was awful. You don’t want to get caught in those situations.
That’s half the reason I like Garland. No he’s not a top of the rotation guy. But he will for the next 2-4 years depending on his contract pitch to a 4 ERA and give you his 30+ starts and 190+ innings. He has done it every year in the Majors. 2 Times he has won 18 games and had really good seasons. I think seeing him in the NL you will see his stat line get even better. Most guys do, their K/9 increases while their BB/9, WHIP, ERA all go down. He would be a very good #3 Pitcher and on the Mets a very good #5.
starz31
yeah, i tend to mix it up at my work day…nothing like the poor man’s speedball of coffee and vikes to get u thru the holiday season!
Perez has the potential to throw like a #2, but thats like picking cards out of a hat, you just don’t know what you’re gonna get or when you’ll get it. Sometimes you pull the ace, but more likely and often you pull out a bland number card.
Pelfrey has the potential to be the #2, but maybe not yet. I think Pelfrey and Lowe in the middle of the rotation would be very attractive. Especially with Lowe’s sinker ball and our left side of the infield defense.
I think that they realize they really messed up signing Rios and Wells to those monster contracts. They really tied their hands in the SP market that way.
Good point on the back-end of the contract…but Pedro is not a good example. Pedro was needed for many reasons and while it would’ve been great to have him in the 2006 playoffs or 2007 Sept, or 2006-pedro in 2008, but lol, that said, he was needed for as many off-the-field reasons as on field performance.
I too would rather have Lowe than Perez because of the consistancy and the picks lost.
However, I am even bigger on making a solid rotation 1-5. I think the idea of having a true #2 at all cost and a scrap heap at #5 is all wrong.
Imagine how many games a guy like Garland would win in the #5 spot against other #5’s.
A rotation of
Johan, Pelfrey, Maine, Wolf, Garland would not be terrible. You would not break the bank or give up picks. Especially if you used that left over money to up grade the offense.
starz,
I agree. Johan, Pelf, Lowe, Maine, and whoever could possibly be the best rotation in NL.
Except in the likely event Wolf is injured, Garland is your 4 and Niese is your five. And if Pelfrey doesn’t take a step forward he’s got no business pitching against the number twos on good teams such as Rich Harden or even Brett Myers.
Wolf doesn’t stay on the field. He’s a terrible investment at the back end of the rotation. At the back end, all you can ask for is quality innings. He won’t give you that. If you’re going to pay a guy to get hurt, then pay Ben Sheets to give you the upside of a real front of the rotation type guy.
Lowe will be a great #2 pitcher for the 09 and possibly 10 season also. after that he will probably be just a solid #3.
the thing is by 2010, Pelfrey should be a solid #2 starter, Maine should be a solid #3 and Niese should be ready to be a solid #4
in essense your buying Lowe for the 09 and 10 season knowing that he wont be worth the money in 11.
i still think you have to make the move as in 2010 this could be a dynamic rotation.
Santana, Pelfrey, Lowe, Maine, Niese.
With no need to sign any pitchers and Wagner, Delgado, and others coming off the books, the Mets will have plenty of money to spend on a big bat and more
good point oleo.
TRS,
When did you jump on my get good quality guys and not over pay for over-rated guys boat….. I believe Lowe is getting over rated, because of his contract year stats. Yes he has been consistent the last 5 years, but 4 of them weren’t close to as good as last year. He is by no means a #2 starting Pitcher. Ollie isn’t either.
I would rather Ollie then Wolf. Wolf is just an injury waiting to happen.
But i am right with you on signing 2 quality guys. I’d rather have a 1-5 of guys i know will get me 32 starts and 200 innings, rather then a 1-4 and neise (who i believe isn’t ready to start every 5th day). I’d rather have a rotation like you just posted, though replacing Wolf with some other lefty.
Wolf was not that injured last year. That is why he will be cheap. I am not saying give him a 3 year contract. Give him a 1-2 year deal for 8 million a season. For that price it does nothing to hurt you. I am sure you would get more use out of him at that price than you did Elduque at that price.
Besides you missed the key part. IF they are going to upgrade the offense.
Garland and Wolf might only cost 2 years 18 million. That leaves some money open.
Where as Lowe and Sheets would cost 30 million.
Pray that Texieria chooses to sign with the Angels.
Always said that Mark. Now if you could have Lowe for 12 million and trade for Marquis that is fine with me as well.
I just think that considering the years and money needed and the lack of a pick that Wolf is more attractive as a #5 than Perez. And Perez is not a #2 so there is no reason getting Perez and a garbage #5.
I think the Sox are going to get Tex. He wants to be on the East Coast. What happens then? The Angels go full-speed towards Manny. What does that leave us with? Dunn, Abreu, and Burrell…Not very happy with that pool. I’d take Dunn out of those three, but the Mets don’t seem to like him at all.
nycesq
Other than Manny, I dont see the Mets making any changes to their lineup as it seems Omar would rather play Murphy/Tatis then sign anyone else…
big chart, you have the right idea. Sign what the market gives you (high supply) and stay away from whats rare (so gets wildly overpriced)
load up on RP like Omar did when it was cheap. If anything, overload and trade later when teams need it!
Same reason to get tex. He was there.
Lowe will give the Mets at least 6 IP 3R or less almost every single start. Ben Sheets is the only other pitcher available you can say that about…
With the current lineup and bullpen, you can pencil Lowe in for 13 wins at the minimum.
You’re going to have to pay him more than he’s worth but thats what the market is and considering the 5 mil difference per year, that can be made up in revenues generated by 1 home playoff game
Why all the Perez hate? The guy came on strong for the latter part of the year. At $12M he’s a Met.
Oleosmirf,
See, I am not as comfortable with that as Omar is. We definitely need to make an addition to our offense. Not because of our incapability of scoring runs, we were tied for 2nd in runs, but as more of a testament to our core. However, we have a huge drop off in the bottom of our lineup, not to mention Castillo. While I like Varitek, he does nothing for us offensively. They need an impact bat, in order to take the edge off the rest of our big-hitters. They obviously press too much, lately.
Case,
I don’t think we’re hating Ollie, it’s just that if Lowe was available at 16 and Ollie is available at 12, I would prefer to sign Lowe over Ollie.
TRS, getting back to your point,
Wolf and Garland would be slightly less costly than Lowe and whoever #5 is. Lowe will probably cost 16 mil and whoever they sign, Omar will not go over 6 mil (that could be Marquis too). So, 22 mil vs 18 mil (according to your estimate) is only 4 mil difference and you can’t get major upgrade in offense with that
TRS,
I agree Ollie isn’t a #2. And statistically speaking Lowe is far from a #2. A #2 starter to me is someone like Dan Haren. Low 3 ERA, Low WHIP. And Derek Lowe for the life of his contract wasn’t that. Last season (in a contract year) he was. The other 3 years in LA, he had a 3.6 ERA and a 1.25 or worse WHIP. Yet now all of a sudden he’s a #2 starter.
Just because he was the #1 or #2 starter for the dodgers doesn’t make him that on another team. He isn’t worth anything more then 45 mil over 3 years, and i don’t even want to give him that. 3 years 30-36 million is what i would want him at. And he isn’t signing for that.
I’d much rather sign Garland for 5 mil less a year, get similar production, and sign a better player for the 5th spot or spend it on offense.
I’m not excited about signing Lowe. I was before free agency started as it looked like he would sign for about 10-12 million, as soon as his price sky rocketed i wanted no part.
nycesq
but what players available have the ability to take the load of Wright, Delgado, Reyes, Beltran
Manny Ramirez is the only one but regardless of who we sign now whether it be Lowe or Garland, if Manny is sitting there waiting to be had, regardless if the payroll is going to be 155 mil or 162 mil, Manny will be a Met.
Why are the Mets looking over been Sheets. Yes, he have some health issues but with his problems he still clock in 198innings last year. He average about 2 close games a year. He will come cheaper than one of the other over paid (type A) pichers in the market( Perez, Lowe) The Mets might be able to get two for one. The could get Sheets and Wolf for the price of or a little more then what they would get for Perez or Lowe alone. Its the best time to go get him before the other pichers are signed. Also the Mets still have NIese if Sheets decides he needs a mid season break.
The years and money are not important .
The important thing is which starting pitcher gets me closer to a W.S. Ring in 2009:
Perez, Lowe, Wolf, Garland or Pettitte.
My bets on Lowe whats yours?
Pelfrey has more electric stuff, but he is basically a pitcher in the style of Lowe. Not only would Lowe be a good addition to the rotation, he might also be a mentor for Big Pelf.
An ”out of favor” 5 pitcher isn’t what we need.
Eric Milton, Livan Hernandez and Bartolo Colon would qualify as that. Signing Braden Looper, Odalis Perez, Paul Byrd or trading for Jason Marquis. Tim Redding’s not a bad option either. Looper is the best option as a 5. He wasn’t offered arbitration. He’s had 2 solid back-to-back seasons as a back-end SP. 12-14, 199 IP, 4.18 ERA can’t go unrecognized. He’ll probably take about 2 year/14 million.
Two or three of the strongest suitors for Lowe are probably out now. One, the Phillies. They signed Ibanez, re-signed Moyer and signed Park. The Yankees have been mentioned less to him since signing CC and Burnett. They don’t want another long term investment and are turning their attention to Pettite or Sheets. And the Braves just signed Furcal to at least the same 4 year/40 million offer the A’s gave him. That move may eventually lead to trading Escobar or Johnson for Peavy who’ll fill out their rotation and raise their payroll.
The Red Sox just made a huge offer to Texeira. So they’re not that aggressive in pursuing Lowe. Signing Lowe now may be a better bet for the Mets because if they lose out on Texeira (odds say they will with the O’s, Nats, Angels and Yankees all in it), because the Red Sox want to make one impact signing. Outside of the Red Sox though, who is at least willing to give Lowe like 4 year/52-56 million? Maybe the Brewers or Blue Jays?
They shouldn’t be over looking Sheets as much as they have because he’s still a really good pitcher. I can understand their concern for his health though. And his decline at the end of the year. The Mets have enough to worry about with John Maine possibly having arm problems down the road. Oliver Perez, Derek Lowe and Jon Garland are three of the most healthy starting pitchers in baseball. Over the past few years, Wolf and Sheets have been some of the more unhealthy.
If the Mets were actually to sign Sheets, it can’t be for any more than two years. Like 2 year/28 million at most. Garland will probably take like 3 year/33 million so the pros and cons have to be weighed on which deal is better for the team. Lowe’s going to get more than Perez because more teams want him. Boras is insane to think he can get 5 year/70 million. But I credit him for trying. Kinzer originally said K-Rod wanted 5 year/75 million which is pretty similar. And eventually he came down to 3 year/37 million – half the dollar amount of what he wanted. Although maybe not at the same rate because of how many closers were out there, it can be expected that Perez price tag will come down a lot. So my expectation is that the Mets re-sign Oliver Perez to 3 year/36 million with a 12 million team option or a 3 million buyout. I see Lowe going to Boston when they lose out on Texeira (my guess is the Orioles because he’s from Maryland). They may not even need Lowe already having Lester/Daiske/Beckett/Wakefield, but they’ll do anything to keep up with the Yankees and apparently the Rays now too.
Eric Milton?????? Wow.
I wouldn’t mind Redding for the 5th starter’s job. He kills the Phillies.
kistics says:
December 16th, 2008 at 10:06 am
“Do you guys think Lowe is a legit #2? I think he is.
On the other hand, is Ollie legit #2 or even #3? I think you can make an argument for #3, but you can also make an argument for #4 as well.
Price difference between the two would probably be 4-5 mil and 4-6 wins.”
Excellent point. There really is no contest between Lowe and Perez.. And while Ollie was getting knocked around the park, while walking the whole National League, Lowe was helping to pitch his team into first place and into the playoffs with a 0.58 ERA in the final month. Not bad. He also has pitched pretty well against the Phillies the past 3 years (including playoffs, 6 starts, 3 wins, 1 loss, 2 ND, 3.03 ERA, 1.12 WHIP).
For those who want to argue for Big Game Ollie, where was he when we needed him in that Cubs game? Delgado gave him a 5-1 lead with a huge, clutch GS, and Ollie was darn quick to give it all back. Of course we still had the chance to win the game with Murphy on third with no outs. I think most Mets fans are going to remember that moment for a long time, and that game overall for all its twists and turns- and despite it all, despite giving up a 5-1 lead, despite threatening to take back the lead in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings, with men on third with less than two outs in at least two of those innings,yet still failing each time, they STILL had control of their own destiny after Murphy tripled. UGH!!! By the by, that’s why I love the idea of Murphy in LF and batting second. He will be so clutch for us. You think the Mets scored a lot of first inning runs before, keep in mind, they never had a consistent #2 hitter, yet they still lead the world in scoring right off the bat. With Murphy in the two hole, forget about it.
And these early runs will be all the more important now that we have such a strong Endgame with Putz and K-Rod. But who’s gonna step up and pitch the 7th? Duaner? Maybe. Stokes? I don’t think so. I like him more as a floating relief pitcher. Whoever it is, it should be one of our best crossover guys. I’d like to see Omar go after Joe Nelson who could come extremely cheap, or try to bring in Chad Cordero who could sign real cheap as well- low risk, high reward. How sweet would it be to have a former 35+ saves guy in the 7th, an utterly domiant 40 saves guy in the 8th, and the saves season record holder who averages over 40 saves a year pitching in the 9th? Now THAT would be a bullpen.
Cordero wouldn’t be ready for about a month into the season, but I think he would really be worth it. Remember, he’s pitching the 7th, not the 8th or 9th. I really feel that in order for the values of Putz and K-Rod to be maximized, in order for that duo to be able to push the Mets over the top, we need a very strong 7th inning guy, not someone we hope can claim the job, someone who could wind up losing the spot with a few bad performance because he doesn’t have an actual track record. Getting the ball to the Deadly Duo is vital. We can expect all our starters to go at least 6 innings, but not always 7. So, for all those games where the starter only goes 6 innings, or tires out during that inning and needs help getting out of it, we will need a reliable 7th inning guy, preferable a K guy. Of the current Mets, the only guy I would feel comfortable with letting him try to win the role is Duaner Sanchez, because it’s possible he can still get his old form back… Stokes is a maybe, but like I said, I think he would be more valuable in other spots. We will still need relievers in other types of games. Other than Sanchez, maybe Kunz, but we don’t know if he can handle it yet, and he doesn’t intimidate ML hitters yet, though given his height, if he does well, he could be quick to gain that kind of recognition. I don’t know who else I would be comfortable with on the Mets. Like I said, Chad Cordero or Joe Nelson could be great in that role, especially since I think either can be had for a small amount.
I can’t help but feel concerned with Omar’s plan for the #5 starter. He’s talking about the dregs, reclamation projects, kids like Niese, and so on. Yikes.
Now, I can get on board with a guy like Jason Marquis, although if we sign Lowe, which I really hope we do, then I think we could use a lefty in the 5th slot to help balance out the rotation, especially given the way the Phillies lineup is constructed- afterall, it did work this year, as Santana, and especially Ollie, did extremely well against the Phils, and helped key us to a 11-7 record against our rivals.
I really think Randy Wolf would be a great complement to a Derek Lowe signing. Now, Wolf occasionally gets hurt, but I think this is when Niese can make his starts and get familiar with the major leagues. There you go, it all works out. Otherwise, let Niese pitch in the pen. He would give us a second lefty.
But please, Omar, you have done so well so far, and if you get Lowe, I will be so psyched because I think we would have a rotation that stacks up with anybody’s, even the Yankees, but please Omar, have a care with the 5th spot. That spot could be the key that unlocks this whole rotation, and thus the team as a whole. Think about it, every four days, we could pound out four good to great starters in a row with Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, and Lowe (remember that stretch right before the all-star break, when we got 4 consecutive 3 hit games given up by the pitching staff, and then the 5th game giving up only 1 hit! How amazing was that? I thought this feat deserved more credit and more attentionthen it got. But that’s our potential, not literally of course, but the talent is there). So, if we have an actual 5th starter who can win 12 or so games like Wolf can, while at least giving us a chance to win most of his starts, then we would be so damn good. We could have numerous winning streaks, and just streak through large chunks of the season, simliar to what we did after Manuel took over. When we were winning so many games, winning just about every series, winning 9 games going into the break, winning 4 of 6 at home against the Phils and Cards (and should have swept them both, ah, but that bullpen), then after a poor road trip through Florida and Houston (again, bullpen, plus weak offense), we came back home to win 4 of 7, with a another blown save, then a 6 of 7 on the road, the home again going 5 of 7, then 6 of 8, then the collapse, with the bullpen killing us… point is, we were tearing up the NL for a while there, and our starting rotation was a huge reason why, as they kept is in just about every single game.
You can do it Omar, you can do it!
The dropoff is from Lowe to everybody else that is left, with maybe the exception of Sheets, if – a huge “if” – he could stay healthy. To put Ollie in the same tier or even sentence as Lowe is a huge insult to Lowe. This illustrates why it’s important to get Lowe, because this post is painting a very grim scenario – one in which Omar overpays for Ollie (LOSES OUT ON THE 2 DRAFT PICKS!!!!!) and signs another scrub like Redding, Garcia or Milton (are they kidding?). Nice way to start things in their new stadium. Not that there are a ton of options, but they need to make a full press for Lowe and not try and be too cute, like I was hearing a few days ago, thinking they could get in a strong bargaining position now.
Lowe/Perez and Redding/Looper and we’re pretty solid. That would leave us with one of the two best options left available and a #5 that can win atleast 10 games and throws in the low to mid nineties.
I say that the mets should be trying to look at ben sheets, Lowe and Wolf and that is all the mets need to finish up their bullpen, unless they try to get Perez back and if they try to get Kenshin Kawakami, I mean C’mon you saw that guy pitch he was actually pretty good, BUT however he is in the late 30’s so we dont know how long he can go on being that good.
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