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Marty Noble of MLB.com believes the Mets will make offers this week to at 
least two starting pitchers, if not three, from a group consisting of Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf.
According to Noble, ‘the Mets still view Wolf as a fall back alternate to the other two,’ with Lowe still the team’s top priority.
Noble also reports on the team’s plan for the bullpen, which does not include Joe Beimel, and may not include an additional left-handed reliever, according to Omar Minaya.
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Omar: if you don’t get manny, you MUST get lowe and ollie!!
I agree you can’t have too much pitching & there $$ are going to start to drop now..Go get em both Omar!!
sign lowe. stay away from opez and wolfie. THEN SIGN MANNY!!!!!!!
send delgado to the jays for b.j. ryan, move the murphy/tatis platoon to 1B, then sign manny!
Because The Jays are really keen on a Ryan for Delgado deal.
Ah, no.
Why would the Jays make that deal?
Better question….why at this juncture would the Mets trade possibly there biggest power threat for another closer to slot in the 7th inning?
the Jays top 5 in homers in 2008 had 20-15-15-11-11. delgado hit 38.
yeah, they wouldn’t be interested in him
So why dont the Jays sign guys like Abreu, Giambi or Burrell? Why trade their closer for Delgado when they already have Overbay at first but a weak OF?
Why Mets need BJ Ryan?
even though delgado finished the year on fire, any potential trade suitors would be wary of how poorly he played at the beginning of the season
i don’t think the mets would give up their biggest power bat just to ‘lock up’ the 7th inning. there are so many more priorities for the team right now than another closer in the bullpen
The Blue Jays probably wouldn’t want to trade for Delgado, since they can get similar production from available free agents. Furthermore, they certainly wouldn’t want to trade their closer for Delgado, since that would indicate that they are not remotely connected to reality.
Yeah, that will really help the Mets offense.
their=there
I really do believe that Manny would help this team
that being said
I think we should give up the dream of Manny, leave the platoon and then sign Ollie and Lowe because that’s a really solid rotation and that’s really what we need.
Give up the dream??? Why? Met fans have been brainwashed to dream about signing guys on their way down. We love to watch the Wilpons pay for what they did vice what they will do….
Speaking of pitchers, does anyone know if Johan is in NY this week? I work on 6th and 52nd and just came back from getting lunch at a gourmet deli on 51st just down the street from SNY studios and saw a guy that I swore was Johan. He had the same goatee and everything. I doubt he’d be up here so soon after Christmas, but maybe he’s meeting Omar/Wilpons? Didn’t have the nerve to ask the guy if he was #57.
Next time you go to lunch order yourself a sack… whats the big deal you should have asked him..
hahaha
That was pretty funny.
I feel pretty confident that the deal fro Lowe will get done. My only hope is that they find a way to address the situation at second base. I remember hearing something about the possible availability of Michael Young. I’m sure he wouldn’t come cheap, but it’s a better long-term solution to the team’s lack of pop (real or perceived) than Manny and would give us one of the best hitting infields in the league sans Schneider.
will these contracts be offered some time before April????????????
They will be offered when the prices drop down enough
And they will be signed when Boras says so.
i’m resing to the fact that the mets will sign lowe, i don’t think he’s that good but omar and the wilpons love him.. with that said i think that if we don’t get manny we will have enuff money to go on and get BEN SHEETS!! and i think that we should.. having a 5 of SUPERMAN, sheets, pelfrey, lowe and maine will be devastated, and we can have maine go to the bullpen in the playoffs to be maybe our 7th inning guy..
That would be sick if we get Lowe and Sheets and when Sheets goes on the DL we can have Neise slide in the 5th spot but when Sheets is healthy with Lowe that is a nice rotation
Not too shabby. That’s where injury-risks belong, at the bottom of your rotation, not the top or middle.
Mets should sign Lowe, then offer Mark Mulder a cheap deal. He can compete with Niese for the fifth spot in the rotation, and if that doesn’t work out for him, he can be another lefty in the bullpen for us. He would come cheap and it’s possible that he’d regain his great form this year.
Mark mulder?? i rather heve wolff or capuano.. they are gonna get hurt like mulder but unlike mulder they won’t be out for the year after it happens..
Capuano had one good season, Wolf had maybe three, but Mulder had five GREAT seasons. If Mulder can regain his ace form then this could end up being one of the best signings. Capuano’s and Wolf’s best years don’t even compare to Mulder’s mediocre years.
Why not resign Pedro. He will suprise everyone. The man is a competitor.
Niese is not the answer yet. Maybe in a year or two.
Pedro is more of a help in his presence than anything, but i think Omar has done the right thing in letting go of some of the key players responsible for this team’s demise the last two seasons…it’s time to move on without guys like Pedro, Alou, El Duque, Wagner, etc…
niese needs another year in AAA. he looked downright terrified in 2 of his 3 starts
Mulder has thrown 106 innings in the last 3 years, with 93.3 of them being in 2006…I hate to burst your bubble but Mark Mulder is done. I just don’t see him regaining his form at all, or else more teams would show interest in him. If we sign Lowe (which seems imminent) and re-sign Perez, we’ve got a very good rotation top to bottom…and it doesn’t include Niese which means he can become more experienced in AAA if needed. Santana, Lowe, Perez, Maine, and Pelf is an awesome rotation, IMO.
how about christy mathewson? if he repeats his ‘03 season, he could be the ace we need.
like santana isnt our ACE now
does this guy even know who christy matthewson is? lol
Not including Beimel makes sense, but no other lefties? That’s just silly.
I think the big thing may be no “name” lefties.
ie- don’t force a signing, the way Show was previously.
I didn’t think Lowe was all that good either, but if you look at his stats, he really is a very solid number 2 starter. His last 4 years he has had an ERA uner 4 every year (last year 3.24) and a very good WHIP- 1.26 or lower. More importantly he has averaged about 210 innings pitched and the only time he was under 200 he had 199 and a third. Johan and Pelfrey were the only starters to pitch over 200 innings for us last year (and Pelf just barely). Though Perez was close (194) neither he nor Maine have ever thrown 200 in a season. As big a problem as the bullpen was last year, just as big a problem was the starting pitching never going more than 6 innings and too often not even going 6.
Look what Lowe did in his last 10 starts down the stretch…
6-1, 1.27 ERA, 1 CG, with batters hitting .195/.234/.248 against him
That’s just filthy…
Not bad. We could have used someone other than Johan pitching well in September last year. If anyone of our starters other than Johan had a last 10 starts like that we win the division by 4 or 5 games.
Mets absolutely need another lefty in the bullpen. What happens if Feliciano gets injured or is ineffective??
Will Ohman is a good fit.
no they don’t need another lefty!!! say on a typical night the starter goes 6 innings (not much to ask at all). looking ahead, you have Putz in the 8th and K-Rod in 9th (both crossover guys who can get 3 outs no matter the matchup). that leaves just the 7th inning, and that is where you play your matchups. Feliciano vs the lefties, Green vs the tough righties or Duaner when you just need outs since he’s typically a crossover with that devastating changeup.
they don’t need another lefty…and to those saying that the trade of schoeneweis was stupid-that trade will most likely give us 2-3 extra wins at the least. schoeneweis was a negative who only hurt the team when he came in. he’s a magician…he can get outs only in garbage time. when there’s a big batter coming up (no matter if he’s L/R), he always walks him or gives up a hit. the pen is fine the way it is…maybe sign some interesting guys to minor league deals in ST to duke it out.
three words for people who say we don’t need another lefty: howard, utley, ibanez. other than johan, no one in our rotation can be expected to go 6 every single start. and with putz’s injury plagued 2008 and krod’s max-effort motion, no one should be surprised if one of the two spends some significant time on the dl. maybe you’re feeling confident that feliciano will have a bounce-back year, but neverthless i think i’d feel a lot better with another solid lefty
I don’t think we absolutely need another lefty since most games will be 7 innings long anyway…but if Feliciano goes down (which I think he has yet to do) I think the team can manage just fine for an inning or two. If it’s a long term injury, no doubt Omar will either bring somebody up (Niese?) or sign a short-term solution off the scraps list. I’d love to have Will Ohman, but I think Minaya is more focused on signing two of either Lowe, Perez, or Wolf.
I don’t get Omar’s interest in Alex Cora, at least go for Aaron Miles, or maybe even Juan Uribe who could provide some pop off the bench.
I am ok with Lowe but Perez needs to go….
Why does he need to go? If his price drops considerably due to the market, why not bring him back where he is comfortable and let Warthen continue to work on him? He is still very young and has some of the best “stuff” in the MLB…I don’t see why some fans hate this guy
I agree. If we get both Perez and Lowe, Perez becomes our 5th starter. His downside is that he would be one of the best 5th starters in the league. His upside is that he can be as good as any of our starters other than Santana. If it’s between Perez, Wolf or Neise, it is a pretty easy decision.
i agree with both of you. Getting Lowe and Ollie would make me very optimistic about our chances to regain the NL East title. I dont get all of the hate for Ollie either. He is inconsistent but at least he is durable and has solid stuff. There isnt too many lefties i would rather have outside of Santana in the NL, unless you can get Johnathan Sanchez from SF in a trade. As a #4 or 5 starter, Ollie would be perfect for the rotation. If the market drops enough, he might require only a 4yr/40 million contract.
We’ll probably see Eddie Guardado as our second lefty in the bullpen.
Omar’s need to get Manny Ramirez and Lowe plus a one year to Pedro Martinez, i still think that Pedro will help. Then i will renew my season account.
I agree. A true Mets fan with sense!
pedro is done what did he do last year that should covince anyone to sign him…and as much as i would love to get manny everyone needs realize that its not happening and get over it
I just do not see Lowe in a Mets uni…I cant ..idk why…I think however if we do miss out on Lowe it will increase any chnce we have of getting Manny , bcuz then I think we sign Manny and trade Murphy/Evans/Kunz 2 of 3 for a SP (Snell/Padilla type) and then sign a guy like Wolf…. I wouldnt mind Ollie coming back, but not for the price he wants.
If this team is asking me for $15,000 for a 40 game plan, for 2 seats, well i need then to get after Manny Hard!! another Lefty starter and maybe more piching but, they need to go after Manny Ramirez
AB / RBI Ratio
All Time Leaders
‘Top 100′
Name Percent (Raw) Rank
Babe Ruth 26.35 (26.3484) 1
Lou Gehrig 24.93 (24.9344) 2
Hank Greenberg 24.57 (24.5715) 3
Ted Williams 23.86 (23.8645) 4
Jimmie Foxx 23.63 (23.6292) 5
Mark McGwire 22.85 (22.8544) 6
Manny Ramirez 22.67 (22.6675) 7
WOW great link Philnym31, thats what i keep saying about Manny Ramirez been a met
More history of Manny ramirez
On Base Plus Slugging
All Time Leaders
‘Top 10′
Name OPS Rank
Babe Ruth 1.164 (.16364) 1
Ted Williams 1.115 (.11550) 2
Lou Gehrig 1.080 (.07977) 3
Barry Bonds 1.051 (.05118) 4
Albert Pujols 1.049 (.04887) 5
Jimmie Foxx 1.038 (.03757) 6
Hank Greenberg 1.017 (.01686) 7
Rogers Hornsby 1.010 (.01027) 8
Manny Ramirez 1.004 (.00436) 9
its pointless to look at career stats of a 38 year old. w/ your logic we should sign Sammy Sosa to start in left because he is top 10 in HR’s?
Sosa? Why not just sign Bonds.
“its pointless to look at career stats of a 38 year old. w/ your logic we should sign Sammy Sosa to start in left because he is top 10 in HR’s?”
Um, your logic is stupid trying to compare him to Sosa since Manny hasnt missed a beat last year and isnt a cheater. He puts up a 1.000 OPS every year, regardless of his age. He is an offensive beast and would transform this lineup and has always hit in pressure situations unlike the “chokers” we have.
do we need another lefty? probably not, but i think it’d be nice. The reason we don’t really need another lefty in the bullpen, is that we have 2 guys at the end of the game now, that can get ANY one out. So that reduces the need for as many matchups leftty and righty, as we’ve seen the past couple years. However, I think picking up another lefty would be a good idea, he just has to be an overall improvement from anyone else they were thinking of including in the pen. Don’t just get a get because he’s a lefty, get him because he’s good.
this is the same strategy omar used with the closers. hopefully the agents are dumb enough to fall for it again
after boston sign penny and the phillies sign moyer lowe has noone but the mets to rely on.. he’s not getting more than 14 a year.. not that i would’ve paid more than that anyways.. man has this off season played out real good for the mets or what??.. now or is left is for the dodgers not to sign manny and him wanting to come over here for a 2 year deal at 24 mills.. man i’d be estatic!!
(www.nj.)(com/mets/index.ssf/2008/12/)(mets_silly_to_rule_out_manny_r.html)
Remove the parentheses in the link above.
It’s a new article from Dan Graziano on Manny and the Mets. Good read.
nice link man, right on point….Manny Needs to be a Met
OMAR, JUST SIGN LOWE AND BE DONE WITH IT! GO GET A BACKUP INFIELDER AND GET SHED OF CASTILLO OR BETTER YET, SIGN O HUDSON AS YOUR BACKUP BECAUSE YOU KNOW CASTILLO WON’T BE PLAYING MUCH ANYWAY. YOU KNOW HUDSON WANTS TO BE A MET. GET R DONE!
uh.. so your gonna sing hudson to maybe 10 millions a year to be a back up of castillo of all people?? get off the pipe man.. castillo will be here becoz no other team wants him and omar knows it.. every team he’s contacted has LAUGHED in his face.. we are stucjk with this parasyte for 3 more years!!!
Wow, MLB Trade Rumors saying Dodgers are interested in Adam Dunn. Now, can we please go get Manny and bring him home?! Fred, Jeff, and Omar, are you listening?
Yep…they check this site every morning after they go and get bagels.
OK-Repeat after me
Manny is not coming to The Mets.
Now that we know that is not going to happen lets concentrate on scenarios that can happen
Repeating:
I really hope the Dodgers sign Dunn! Oh man, we could be set for Manny. I don’t think it will happen, but how could you let it go if you’re the only suitor?
Jmiles:
how do you know that?
the way things are shaping up for the mets i wouldn’t be surprised if we do get him.. plus i’m sure if it happens u will say this:
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jayson Stark from ESPN excerpts ….
Apparently, the Dodgers aren’t going to sit around all winter, waiting for Manny Ramirez to beg to come back. They now have Adam Dunn on their shopping list.
The Dodgers contacted Dunn’s agent, Greg Genske, over the holidays, according to an executive of a team interested in Dunn. And that creates an intriguing option for both parties.
Dunn has also drawn interest from the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners and Orioles. But adding the Dodgers to that mix gives him another contender to consider. The Cubs had believed to be his top choice before the Dodgers entered the mix.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, need to infuse power into a lineup that finished 14th in the National League in home runs last season. And with no certainty that they can re-sign Ramirez, they seem to have decided that Dunn represents their best alternative.
There isn’t a logical fan in here that wouldn’t want the power he brings to our lineup, especially if its for a really cheap deal. However, I think the most important thing to keep in mind here is that if Manny doesn’t get the contract he wants, Manny isn’t happy. And if Manny isn’t happy, Manny doesn’t play.
That’s my biggest fear.
I have heard from many circles that The Wilpons absolutely do not want Manny on The Mets under no uncertain circumstances.
I didn’t say Omar-I said The Wilpons
I’m just reporting what I hear.
Like the cabby in Queens and Joe’s Deli on 59th.
But omar can persuade them into getting him.. i understand why they must be nervous, but if he cones at a 2 years they might think otherwise once they know we can be world series favorite entering the 2009 season..
Dodgers Express Interest In Dunn
By Tim Dierkes [December 29 at 1:46pm CST]
According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Dodgers contacted Adam Dunn’s agent over the holidays to express interest. If the Dodgers sign Dunn, Manny Ramirez could be in a really bad place. Other teams showing interest in Dunn: the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, and Orioles. All five teams have surfaced in prior reports, with the Brewers also getting a mention while they were mulling a Mike Cameron trade.
I hope they sign Dunn quickly……I would LOVE to see Manny be forced to take a short term contract and to see Omar swoop in and scoop him up…..let him play with US for another contract !!!
Why do they not need a LH reliever again…the Phillies lost Burrell and got Ibanez, leaving them with lefties as their 3-4-5 hitters…a LHP should be top priority
More important than signing Lowe and/or Perez? I don’t think so. Feliciano is great against Utley and Howard…I don’t think he’s faced Ibanez but one guy isn’t going to cost us the season. Sanchez, Putz, and K-Rod are all crossover guys more than capable of retiring whoever they face late in the game, and while I do not expect them to be perfect this season, I think they will be our backbone.
I believe they will find another LHP for the BP, but don’t look for a top name guy like Ohman or Beimel (who isn’t even in the picture anyway, I was just using his name as an example).
While Manny would surely cure our desire for a right-handed power bat in the line-up, I’d like to see us get Orlando Hudson to replace Castillo at second base first. Then if we can do a deal for Manny, great.
I’d love to see them sign both Lowe and Ollie. I know I’m in the minority here but I always wanted Ollie back. I know he’s a head case but young, lefty, no history of injury as yet. I think this year is going to be his defining year – meaning if he can settle down and be more consistent he’s got a fine future. I know it’s a chance but I’d be willing to take it.
As far as getting Manny – I think it’s a pipe dream but man, wouldn’t that be just sweet……
And yeah, we need a utility infielder. We’ve got no backup for SS and Murphy’s the only other one I know who has at least played some second. B/c we all know Castillo isn’t going to play the whole season…..
Wouldn’t it be great if Wilmer Flores was 21 or 22? Haha, I kid, I kid…
Tatis has played some 2B and even some SS. I don’t think he could tackle SS anytime soon though.
Hmm….didn’t know Tatis has played some SS. We need someone decent at second though more than SS. Baring injury, we all know Jose is going to play all but a handful of games. I think Castillo is on a short lease though. Injury aside – which could be very likely with him, I think if he doesn’t return to some semblance of his former talent, we’ll see a new second baseman by the trade deadline in July….
You no what starting pitcher would come cheap with HIGH upside… sigh… Carl Pavano. (Flinch) I would be okay with it asuming we got Lowe as well i Think a rotation of
Santana
Lowe
Pelf
Maine
Pavano
(waiting in the wings Niese)
With Niese as a backup for when Pavano gets hurt it might not be that bad.
Worst case scenario Pavano gets hurt his first start the mets have neise in the rotation all year.
Best Case Scenario Pavano goes back to his 19 win form that he had with the Marllins and we stick it good to the Yankees.
I think any NY fan more than flinches when they hear the name Pavano…I’m sorry but the worst case scenario just happens to be the most likely scenario, so why even bother?
I no but what if you bring him in on a minor league contract and also sign redding. Redding goes down hill and pavanos somehow healthy…
Not saying Omar go do it just some food for thought
I was thinking the exact same thing about Pavano this weekend… talk about risk/reward! He’s not going to take much to sign, he looked pretty decent at the end of ‘08, and if he’s got any stones at all he’d LOVE to stick it to the Yanks and their fans for hounding him all these years.
I can’t see the Mets signing 2 starters to long-term (3 yrs or more) deals. It’s a lot of $$ to commit, esp. when there are + upside young arms at all levels of the system.
They project Niese (starting 2009 in Buffalo, probably) as a starter in 2009, for part of the year (he’s too young to throw enough innings for the full season). They also project Parnell & Holt (starting 2009 in Binghamton, I think) as ML starters, with Parnell probably ready mid-2010 and Holt in 2011.
Meanwhile, Pelfrey is under their control for another 4-5 years, IIRC (1-2 years pre-arb, under an existing contract I think, and then 3 years of arb) and Maine for another 3 years of arbitration eligibility (this winter, and 2 more).
To me, that adds up to (a) EITHER Lowe or Perez, for big $, but only for 3 years, plus (b) someone for a 2-year deal at sub-$10mm per year.
That leaves Niese as the 6th starter, but they still need a possible 7th (especially if they sign Sheets to a 2-year deal). Given what we saw from Stokes last year, I wonder if he has the arm strength to start the year in the pen and stretch himself out (over 3 weeks) to start if needed. (Maybe by having Figueroa in AAA to fill the hole? Or, if someone gets hurt and Niese gets called up to fill the rotation, then Stokes goes to AAA and works up to 100 pitches?)
Parnell doesn’t project as a starter he projects as a reliever, he’s already 24, has one plus pitch and a decent off-speed pitch and has had little to not success above A+. And Niese projects as a back-end, middle of the rotation at best, type of pitcher. We’re not really talking about plus arms here. Holt could be an ace but he’s 2-3 years away, there’s no reason to pa-ss over sure things right now for something that could happen in 2 to 3 years, especially if you’re team is trying to compete right now. In the time frame you’re talking about almost all of our position players will either be long gone, Delgado and hopefully Schneider and Castillo, or at or near the end of their current deals, Church, Wright, Reyes, Beltran.
Gina — lots of public statements by Omar et al about Parnell call him a starter. And, even if Niese is a 4/5, with the top-$ signing (Lowe, my preference) and Pelf & Maine, isn’t that all the 2nd FA would be anyhow?
My point was that giving a 3rd year (or longer) to more than 1 top FA is unlikely.
Here’s another idea outside the box. Sign Redding (R), Lowe (R) and Wolf (L) to give us 6 starters. Then trade Maine and Limpy as a package, Maine being the bait to have someone take Limpy without us eating the contract. We would in essence be spending Limpy’s money on Wolf and Redding instead of him. That leaves us with a gaping hole up the middle which Omar is desperate to fill with O-Dog. Add Hairston for some infield depth and we are ready for war.
Thoughts?
Excerpts from Dan Graziano of The Star-Ledger….
The Mets can talk all they want about how happy they are with their offense, but the fact is Nick Evans was batting fifth and playing left field in the must-win final game of 2008, and there’s a pretty good chance that, had Manny Ramirez been there, they’d have made the postseason.
At the time of the trade, Ramirez was a .296 hitter with 20 home runs and 88 RBI in 133 games. If that’s the way he hits when he’s not trying, you could do a lot worse than to have a player like that on your team.
A scout I talked to last week said this about Manny Ramirez: “All you hear is about all the problems the Red Sox had with Manny. Well, it looks to me like they did a lot of winning with Manny. I know a lot of teams that would have traded their problems for Boston’s over the past five or six years.”
It’s not as if the Mets have some kind of delicate clubhouse chemistry Ramirez would upset here. The best thing you can say about the Mets’ clubhouse is that it’s businesslike. Guys go their own way. There are cliques. There are people who like each other and people who don’t. It’s not 25 guys who go out to dinner together every night. At this point, it’s not a room that would be especially upset by the arrival of a flaky superstar. There are quite a few players in there, in fact, who might not mind adding a guy who would draw as much media attention to himself and away from them as Ramirez would.
Plus, Ramirez isn’t going to come to New York and dog it. Even if he did, he’d still produce more than a Murphy/Tatis combo is likely to produce, but he won’t. He is driven, friends say, to get to 600 home runs (he has 527). He likes that he’s building a Hall of Fame resume and wants to add to it. He has two World Series rings, which is half as many as the entire current Mets 40-man roster has.
what a great article…
I really like the upside of Maine. I think you’re doing a good job of thinking outside of the box though.
upside of Maine isn’t that Canada? (Da-Da-Ch)
I lol’d
ty
Manny Ramirez singlehandedly carried the dodgers where he batted .396 17 HR 53 RBI in 52 games as a Dodger with absolutely no protection in that lineup
while expecting that type of production is crazy imagine what the middle of our lineup could look like
Beltran: .285 30 HR 110 RBI
Manny: .320 35 HR 125 RBI
Wright: .310 32 HR 125 RBI
Delgado .260 30 HR 105 RBI
now add in Jose atop the lineup, a rotation of Johan, Lowe, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding and our new bullpen that is an amazing team.
Exactly Oleosmirf, he makes everyone better on this team. It all makes just too much sense for us. I’m still holding faith that Omar is going to swoop in. I refuse to believe that we’re not interested. Given the circumstances, how could anyone not be? After we get Lowe on board this week, I’m sure we’ll see things open up with us considerably the Manny front.
I like Maine’s upside as well, but he seems to be tapped out at 6 innings and unless the injury makes him better, I don’t like where this is heading in the future. I know we all like to bag on OP in here, but he had a lot to do with killing our bullpen as well. If there are mediocre starters out there on the FA market and he can rid us of Limpy and help bring in Hudson, should we not be thinking about it? Is Maine that much better than Redding? I know all the blind Mets fans out there are going to say yes, but is he really? Is Maine and Castillo better than Redding and Hudson? Just asking.
Two years ago prior to the AS break there were tons of Mets’ fans asking if Maine was an ace. Expecting him to win 20 games. While that is a bit much, yes I do think he’s better than Redding. Maine is a 3 or a 4, Redding is more of a 4 or a 5. Comparable, but in a battle I want Maine.
Would you trade that to dump Limpy and bring in Hudson and Redding?
i’d rather have Castillo and Maine than Hudson and Redding as our #4
Wow…that’s tough. I want to say it’d be a moot point if we got a real slugger in LF, but that’s not what you’re asking. I think I’d take a chance with Maine and Castillo. There’s a (very) small chance Castillo can do something this year.
How did Brad Penny slip through our fingers?
I had a similar initial thought, but really this works out well for us. If we end up with Lowe and Wolf because of it we’re better off.
I like Ohman because he has even splits against lefties and righties, so he’s not a one out guy like everyone else in our pen not named K-rod or Putz. Or if they’re willing to give up a 3rd rounder I like Juan Cruz, also has even splits and insane k rates and I think he’s a bit younger.
Gina:
I’d prefer Cruz over Ohman. The concern with him reportedly is that he does not have the makeup to pitch in NY. However, he wouldn’t be pitching very many late inning situations with Putz and K-Rod in front of him and can easily pitch two innings.
When necessary, Cruz would allow the Mets to shut the game down after 5 innings (which may be necessary is Niese or Pedro wind up in the 5th spot).
In any event, he’s the type of guy that can come in the 6th inning with the bases loaded and get a strikeout and then stay in for the 7th.
Normally, the Mets would go through 4 pitchers to get those 4 outs, and one may not even throw a pitch if the Mets engaged in gamesmanship with pinch hitters, etc.
Cruz would also make Sanchez a great trade chip if he proves healthy.
Ohman is okay, a little better v. lefties than righties but not really a shut down guy.
Also as for trading Maine it would depend on what you got for him. I imagine coming off an injury/poor season his value isn’t as high but if he starts the season well it could sky rocket considering he’s under control until 2011.
How can you be too cheap to pay a lefty reliever 2 or 2.5 million per year? Sell the team.
Tim Redding stinks. He’s never had a major league season as good as Maine’s worst full major league season. Last season was Redding’s best season and he was downright awful in the second half while pitching in a premier pitcher’s park (admittedly in front of a terrible defense).
There’s no way I sacrifice the strength of the rotation to bring in Hudson.
And Wolf is more of an injury risk than Maine.
I know that I am in the minority, but I say lets sign Sheets and Garland. We have Neise in case or bring in Pedro as the number five back-up plan.
Imagine a rotation of Santana, Maine, Sheets, Garland and Pelrey.
An Andruw Jones trade? Oh my…Jones is finished. I really hope that we don’t make a move for him.
Even if the Dodgers were to give us $20 mil Jones would just take up space on our bench. And to play right??? Where is Church going?
I think if Manny will take 1 yr deal 20 mil..with 5 mill inincentives MVP/HR /RBI stats.. would be good all the way around..he will play hard to make the extra cash..and for a new contract ..he will mash everything… then just sign lowe and pedro (i think he would help keep manny focused and who knows maybe he pitches well…trade castillo somehow and sign a guy like Grudzy…add a cheap lrp ..and maybe cora/uribe …and maybe take on a mulder / garcia proj… anyone disagree??
hmmm…
Reyes
Beltran
Ramirez
Delgado
Wright
Church
Grudzy
Castro/Schneid
You talk about balance??? Now thats a line-up…
Johan
Lowe
Pelf
Maine
Pedro/Niese/Garcia/
Def not the best 5 in the NL..but an upgrade from last year…
Pen…already sick no need to fill in…
anyone else have trouble with this team??
Oh yeah the Wilpons…..
Even if the Dodgers were to give us $20 mil Jones would just take up space on our bench. And to play right??? Where is Church going?
Hmm..not sure what to think about getting AJones. A lot of potential upside. Why play him in right though? Not left field? I guess they might swap Church’s position.
Omar should stay away from Manny….unless they can get him for 1 year. If they sign him for longer than that…at much less than Manny expected, then he’s gonna be more trouble than he’s worth because he’ll be unhappy with his deal, like in Boston.
I still would like to see Burrell in left, and a platoon of Tatis and Church in right. I’m still suspect on Church being the player he was before his concussion. Castillo deserves to prove us wrong, and come back with a solid season. I’m sure he’s working on doing just that….
Omar definately needs to get another lefty for the pen. Feliciano was not very good most of the year, and he’s our main bp lefty. The Phils have 4 potent lefty’s in their lineup. We need another lefty option for that reason only. They are our main competition in the East.
If the Mets could swing Lowe and Ollie….then there’s no way we don’t win the East by at least 5 games, and probably more. Their pitching would be outright FILTHY!!! That would be sweet! Can’t wait to spring training!!
K rod and Putz in the eighth and ninth. Healthy sanchez and youngsters to fill in the blowouts. Green and feliciano tandem in the seventh (much like the bradford feliciano combo of 06) Everyone keeps saying we need anorher lefty to beat the phillies. Whwn would he pitch? Howard and utley aren’t going to come up every inning, and if we would even think about giving beimel the call in the eighth over Putz we just wasted 7 players in a bad trade with Seattle. Enough with the match-ups we have arguably the best 2 closers in the game. Let them pitch.