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Update, 10:33 am:
In his blog for ESPN.com today, Buster Olney writes, “The Dodgers want the Mets to take Jones… and the Mets want the Dodgers to take Castillo… But both sides have kept the porch light on, so to speak, in case the other side blinked and was willing to make their version of the trade, which is not unusual.”
Original Post:
Marty Noble at MLB.com reports that, while the Mets once had talked with the Dodgers about trading Andruw Jones for Luis Castillo, ‘nothing is ongoing, and nothing is going to happen,’ according to a person familiar with discussions.
…based on all three reports below, from olney, heyman and rosenthal, it’s pretty clear that the Mets and Dodgers talked about jones and castillo, not Juan Pierre, during the Winter Meetings, but the Dodgers had no interest in castillo and so that was the end of that…
However, at MLB.com, Los Angeles reporter Ken Gurnick reports the Dodgers would still like to trade either Jones or Pierre, while signing one of Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu or Adam Dunn.
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oh well…it looks like we are back to the same old boring Lowe conversations for the rest of the day.
Yeah, fun isn’t it? I have a feeling this is just a lull before the new year starts. I’d like to hope we start hearing some interesting things next week. We’ll see.
Is Buster Olney ever right with his “scoops”? They always come weeks late and half the time are completely untrue anyway.
this is an accurate point. Buster is a real nice, more llkeable guy, but he isnt in the same stratosphere on breaking news, as say Gammons and Rosnthall.
In football, Mortensen and, believe it or not, Jay Glazer, are regarded as having he most reliable and accurate sources.
man nobody wants castillo…..
Man he would make a terrible hostage.
LOL
Cop: ‘Ma’am, it’s your case of Wonka Bars or your husband’s life’.
Woman: ‘How much time will they give me to decide?’
“This is the Peoples Liberation Army. We are holding Luis Cast…hello? Hello??”
LMAO!!!
As to Jones, call me crazy, but I think he will have a rebound year. he did hit 41 HRs 2 years ago.
Supposedly he dropped a bunch of weight and is hitting well in winter ball. So maybe the problem last year was him being too bulky, starting bad, and just not being happy/comfortable?
Not crazy to think that he could dedicate himself to getting back into playing shape, and if he feels “loved” on a new team, rediscovering some of what he used to be?
He really isn’t that old, and AFAIK never had any notable injuries, so something had to explain the huge decline last year.
I would still rather have Andru for 1 year than Pierre for the next 3.
Not saying the Mets should get him at all costs, but if the Dodgers eat a ton of contract (and esepcially if they take Luis!), he is an intriquing 1 year option.
if we were talking about the andrew of 2 or 3 years ago hell yea..but frankly the amount of money he is making for the performance he has put out last year and the year before…..he is reaching luis castillo level imo
The common theory is steriod testing changed things for him but obviously there is no evidence on that.
Even going off roids wouldn’t explain this kind of decline. Maybe his power declining, but to completely forget how to play?
Besides, didn’t he get bigger last year? That seems counterintuitive!
Whatever. i doubt the mets get him, but IMO it would not be surprising to see him have a rebound year, and become at least mildly useful (but not likely worth near what he is getting paid!)
He is the same kind of hitter as Pat Burrell.
Throw him a breaking ball or slider and he looks like a has been hitter.
do you know who has an equal chance of a rebound year, knees aside? our friend louie C. I’m not a big castillo fan obviously but castillo is a safer bet to return to his old form, and would cost several million less, depending on how much of jones’ salary the dodgers would eat.
he’ll probably not return to being the old speedster he was but i think he is much more likely to have at least average production in 09 compared to andruw
Playing for Aguilas Cibaenas, Jones is hitting .188 through five games with three singles and eight strikeouts in 16 at-bats. Jones has twice struck out three times in a game and has yet to collect more hits than strikeouts in the same game.
See, that’s what you get for listening to Jim Duquette! I had on MLB morning show on XM today, and I’m pretty sure he made the comment that Jones had lost weight and was hitting well in winter ball.
” He seems to be in better shape physically, but his swing hasn’t improved. ”
Duquette was always half right that’s why he is on ESPN not a GM.
I just read an article over the weekend about Jones. Yes, he’s lost some weight. Yes he’s playing Winter ball. But no, he is not doing well. As of this weekend, he was 3 for 16 with 8 K’s. That’s terrible. Between his batting average and his contract, I want nothing to do with Mr. Jones…nothing. 3 for 16…8K’s.
He’s not hitting well in winter ball. His 2008 misery has continued. Someone yesterday posted his exact stats, and they were downright ugly.
There is no reason to think that a bounceback season is in the works.
This is old news.
Why don’t the Mets just sign Hudson and write off Castillo as a mistake (or a means to entice Santana to waive his no-trade clause to come here if it makes them feel better)?
As of now, with all raises, signings and trades factored in, the Mets are still $15million short of their 08 payroll- add Wagner and they are $27million short. They are also getting an annual $20million payment from Citigroup starting this year.
Is just signing Hudson for 3/$21 in a pro-owner, buyer’s market and just releasing Castillo asking too much of this organization? If they want to win, this is a move they should be making.
Spending much of the off-season trying to move an unmoveable part is something that might leave them with holes in 09, just like the Santana pursuit distracted the organization long enough to leave them short on talent in 08.
I am a rational fan, but I am starting to get frustrated with Wilpon. They are one of the most valueable franchises in sports, they should now be spending more now that they have increased revenues from Citi and SNY- not keeping the same payroll (or maybe even cutting it slightly!!!).
I’m in the “hudson will be barely better than Castillo, and with a worse contract” camp at this point.
I suppose if they can actually trade Castillo, and Hudson comes in for no more than 3 years (2 being preferrable) and 7 million a year, he is worth the risk.
4/40 might make you wish you had Castillo back in another year!
If they have a budget (and I’m sure they do), then that money should be spent elsewhere.
Unfortunately, though, they DO have to pay Wagner his due. And those payroll figures don’t include the 1-2 SPs we’re planning to add, and the 4-5 others (MI and 1B/OF bench slots, additional relievers) we’ll need to fill out the roster. Most of the “free money” you’re hinting at doesn’t really exist.
But, don’t forget that you can subtract the salary for the guys that are being replaced (Ollie if he goes, easley if they get a new MI, etc.)
I did factor in both Perez and Easley already. Wagner should not count as a player salary in my opinion. If they do that, they are essentially LOWERING their payroll for 09 by over 10% while raising ticket prices.
I understand he must be paid, but he will not be contributing one inning. Reallocating that money back into the team, increases the chance of an extended payroll where they more than make their money back. You can still spend a lot and be cheap- the Mets are a perfect example of that.
Rational fans do not pay Hudson 16 million a year. Which is what you would be paying him after you eat the Castillo contract.
His numbers are just not that good. You are better off seeing what you can get out of or for Castillo and bringing in Grudzy who puts up about the same numbers as Hudson.
Orlando Hudson is a leader- that does not translate in his statistics- he led a team of no namers to the LCS in 2007, where he was unquestionably the driving force on a team with incredible chemistry.
You number crunchers never get that its more than just the numbers and we have lost due to hubris, overconfidence and a clubhouse with negative chemistry.
Also, I don’t know why we as Mets fans are apologists for Wilpon, who has the ability to spend more and doesn’t. We are going to be paying 4 times more in ticket/concession prices, why isn’t Wilpon not obligated to increase payroll in your opinion?
Your first two paragraphs are just empty rhetoric. Hudson did not lead his team anywhere. He was a valuable player on a NL team with a dominant bullpen. Moreover, they outperformed their pythag record by 11 wins meaning they basically were lucky.
The failure of the Mets the lats two years is not due to a lack of leadreship, but rather tangible things like, you know, a crappy bullpen.
You would be one of the irrational fans TRS was talking about,
I think bringing Andruw Jones back to the East coast, to a division he is comfortable with, will bring his numbers up. I would also like the idea of having two lefty bats (murphy and church) and two righty bats (jones and tatis)- in the corner outfield spots.
There is some value to this type of arrangement that you suggest. Sometimes you can get a lot out of an outfield that can switch lefty to righty and everyone is capable of playing on any given day.
That being said, the Mets will have to probably look for another option as this story seems cold.
Its a good thing Buster does not work for the CIA otherwise he would of has us going to war with Canada
LMAO!!!
buster olney is horrible at rumors, all this espn guys are garbage, ed w is the same and mortensen is a knuckle head who always try to cover up his mistakes!!
Buster’s still looking for WMD in Iraq.
He’s a Stankee fan so he probably loves reporting stuff like this that makes the Mets look bad…or at least gives the fans something to argue about until a real move is made.
I wouldn’t be opposed to Jones as a corner outfielder, but he has a center fielder’s mentality along with a huge ego. What’s to keep him from clashing with Beltran? or crashing into Beltran like Cameron did back in San Diego? I agree we need Big Bats, and if Jones is back to being the Jones who used to crush us, then maybe a year with an opt for a second. Will the Met faithfuls welcome him and give him a chance, or will they boo him out of NY if he doesn’t step it up?
Jones, unlike Cameron, played extensively in RF during his first few years with the Braves. So THAT, at least, won’t be the problem with bringing him here.
(Anyway, though… moot point, apparently.)
That was a freak accident. There’s no rule that states two centerfielders playing in the same outfield will bash heads.
Unless is for castillo i do not wanna see another brave who used to kill us in a met uniform ever again!!!
I agree now that I think about it again. Glavine was never comfortable with NY fans and I have to admit the feeling was mutual. Jones will possibly have the same experience here so I say look else where.
Never bring a guy in here from Atlanta because the great Tom glavine wasn’t comfy in NY. Thank goodness you arte not a GM.
Hey Dopey, did you not read what I wrote? I say look else where. Read before you say something stupid.
Yea, why don’t we bring in Larry while we’re at it. I don’t think Met fans would take kindly to Jones, especially if he gives us no production. It would be a bad move to bring him here. Completely agree too about him being a CF with and with the decline he’s shown it wouldn’t be worth it.
I wouldn’t be opposed to Jones being a hot-dog vendor at Citi, as long as he is not working anywhere near my section.
*CF with an ego
i think that is obvious that he was a product of steroids.. he’s only 31 he shouldn’t had dropped off like the way he did so early without any major imjury related… again, if is to get rid of our jinx that i’m all for it… otherwise NO thanks… why would we help the dodgers clear payroll? that would be stupid as it is..
Bringing Larry here would be AWESOME. He would mash and would be loved by us fans.
So, nothing seems like its going to happen until after new years at this point. Could be good if your in the Manny camp. Gives Omar more time to persuade the Wilpons
I’m pretty sure I could bring myself to cheer for Chipper– guys who OPS 1.000 at his age AND get the Shea vibe like him (he didn’t name his daughter sheerly as a taunt) have a pretty good shot at winning my affection, Brave or no.
I don’t get why we would be interested in Jones unless the trade was for Castillo. There are too many other OF that are better that because of the market will be cheaper. I would much rather have one of the Dunn, Abreu, Burrell than Jones for the same price.
It sounded like the Mets were never interested per se. Only that the Dodgers and Mets talked and the talks never went anywhere. My guess is because neither side really had any interest in what the other was offering.
I just read an article over the weekend about Jones’. Yes, he’s lost some weight. Yes he’s playing Winter ball. But no, he is not doing well. As of this weekend, he was 3 for 16 with 8 K’s. That’s terrible. Between his batting average and his contract, I want nothing to do with Mr. Jones…nothing. 3 for 16…8K’s.
So, is Buster Olney’s journalistic integrity in question (seriously)? It’s pretty clear that he pretty much took an old story that had zero merit in present and ran it. I will never (I know most here already feel this way) take another thing that joker has to say seriously again.
And this site and us fans ran with it also.
Anybody who wants chipper jones here is crazy, let alone ANDRUW jones!! this shouldn’t even be discussed.. i rather have dunn.. hell even pat burrell before getting this guy on a trade for anybody other than jinx castillo..
thankfully, alex, no one of import wants either jones at citi.
I really hope so.. having castillo in our team is bad enough.. let alone having 2 half a-s-s es guys in the team would be idiotic
you seriously wouldnt take chipper on your team?
two44″:
Honestly, you may not believe me but no.. i respect him as a player and i think he’s one the best switch hitter to ever play the game but no.. not now at his age.. maybe at 27 then yeah but not now
Did anybody read this at MLB trade rumors:
“the Red Sox made a play to re-acquire Marlins superstar Hanley Ramirez after losing out to the rival Yankees for star free agent Mark Teixeira.”
if that would’ve happen would’ve been sweet for us, that will give us less teams or superstars to worry about in 2009… being that are hated and don’t retaliate or nothing.. regardless of what we do i think we’ll be a playoff team.. by default..
They’d have to give up a ton of their young pitching to probably pull that off and maybe even Ellsbury, but the Fish have Cameron Maybin who looked really good at the end of the season last year.
If I’m the Marlins GM I start the bidding at a minimum of Lowrie and Lester and maybe even Masterson.
Yeah, it also said they listen but they have ti be overwhelm for him.. and i agree.. he’s the best offensive shorstop in the game..
TRS, agreed you’d probably get any of the other “all bat, no glove” corner OF’s for much less than Jones, unless you factor in the money that LA would eat in order to rid themselves of him.
I still think it makes sense to bring in an established righty for LF and at the same time use that as a hedge against Church’s supposed inability to hit LHP. Turn Tatis into a supersub that can play the corners in the OF and the IF.
Will it hurt Murphy to lose playing time?
Maybe, but pinning some of their offensive hopes on having a platoon in LF of a resurrected journeyman/small sample sized youngster and someone I don’t feel 100% confident can regain his superb form in RF is not the greatest idea.
Not forgetting to mention if Delgado gets off to another slow start next year and the middle of the lineup lacks power, it will help to have options to start out the season.
The thing Jones has over Burrell, is that you can bring him in for one year, while Burrell will probably get a 3 year contract.
At this point Burrell does not have anything and at most will get a 2 year contract. If it’s 3 years its for 21 tops. There is just no market for him.
There’s no reason he can’t/won’t get a similar deal to Ibanez. I don’t know what kind of inside information you have about what Burrell has but Ibanez set the market for these second tier outfielders and Burrell is younger and hits for more power.
Maybe he’d sign for 1 year with the Mets just to stick it to the Phils. Considering he’s not that old but still needs to be subbed out every game for D, he’s much better suited to be a DH, but he’s a known quantity, can give you 20+ HR, 80+ RBI. His BA is poor and he’s very streaky, but I wouldn’t be suprised if that aforementioned production is better than anything the Murphy/Tatis platoon puts up.
Dang it. I was so hoping we could swap Castillo for the outfielder version of himself (Pierre).
Brining in Pierre and Hudson for Tatis/Murphy and Castillo might even make the offense worse much less better. Not to mention how much more it would cost.
He was joking.
Indeed I was.
Pierre would be SO useless. He basically has no place on any team.
Offensively, he’s basically Castillo with a much lower OBP and many more stolen bases.
“Hello? Is this Mark Cuban? Hi! It’s Fred Coup…I mean Wilpon. I’m not much of a sports franchise businessman and I know you were looking to buy a baseball team not long ago. Still interested?”
“Sign Manny. Sign Lowe. Dump Castillo. Then we can talk. OK Fred?”
Lol, wow, the manny lovefest continues!! i hope omar and fred get this done as well.. but i guess we’ll just have to wait
It’s still so confusing to me what Billy Beane did trading for Holliday. Is he really planning on resigning him? Can anyone think of a single contract Billy Beane has signed with Boras?
It’s an absolute pipe dream, but imagine if we stand pat for this season, then come July we go to Beane and make a deal for Holliday that didn’t invole FMart. (Maybe something like Church, Flores, Marte, and Niese). Then sign Holliday to an extension.
Matt Holliday is one of my favorite players, who unfortunately benefited a great deal from Coors, but still you cannot discount his ability. Just imagine this line up in 2010.
SS Reyes
1B Murphy
LF Holliday
CF Beltran
3B Wright
RF FMart
2B Castillo
C Whoever
P Whoever
Incidently, I think many of us (myself included) take for granted Delgado’s presence. He is a legit LH power hitter (when healthy/has his “timing”). When he is gone after this year, we no longer have a big LH bat anywhere in our lineup…
Something to think about before we run the guy out of town.
Really? You would trade that much for a 1/2 season of Holliday? MAYBE Church and Evans.
Come on, now that I read that and see you included Flores? Seriously?
Yeah, wade, flores for holiday?
we’ll see how much of a player he really is whene he plays in that big ball park.. he must’ve been mad when he find out that in his contract year insted of playing at coors he has to play 81 games at OAK coliseum!! and delgado.. next year please don’t let the door hit u on ur way out, never liked him after he dis-sed us in 2005.. and quit on the coach until 2 months of ‘08..
After the top 5 spots in that VERY hypothetical lineup I see an unproven FMart, a terrible Castillo, an unnamed catcher, and a terrible hitting pitcher.
That’s the lineup that excites you?
Holliday is another boras client who will want 20 millions.. i rather give manny 22 than even 17 to this guy.. he is not that good for the money he will be asking.. unless he proves me and a lot of us wrong
I have a good feeling the Yanks will make a big run at Holliday. They’ve got Matsui and Damon coming off the books next year. That might be a reason why the market for Manny is so depressed, big market teams are staying put in LF for this year in hopes of getting Holliday next year. I know Holliday isn’t Manny but he’s almost 10 years younger and doesn’t have all the perceived warts that Manny does.
That lineup stinks.
Yeah man, not a good deal. I think Ide like to see the first half Holiday puts up in Oakland before even thinking about trading for him.
Whatever else happens, Omar can’t have
this team reporting to spring training w/o
getting a legit RBI corner OFer. Not after
2yrs(&20mil)wasted on Alou AND Not with
This crop of FA OFers available.
Manny,Abreau,Dunn,Bradley,Burrell,Anderson
C’mon, With This group we’re gonna go into
a season “trying” to Win w/a combo of
Church(if healthy),Tatis(can he do it again),
And Murphy(knock-off version of Jeffries?).
I also find it interesting that so many people in here often want the Mets to get younger but at the same time advocate for signing aging and/or unathletic players like Burrell, Abreu and Dunn rather than playing younger and more athletic players like Murphy and Church.
Sure, Murphy is a risk and Church has had health problems, but none of these other guys come without risks too.
Wanny i agree with u but also u have to take into the fact that these guys are unproven, i wouldn’t want any body who’s older than 35 if is not manny.. but i think we’re doing the right thing by developing our young players in the field unlike the yankees… that’s how #7 and d-wright got good.. murhpy can do the same and if we give f-mart the chance he might become really good with us..
met fans need to understand though that Murphy is nowhere near as good as Wright or Reyes
In the meantime, This team is built to win Now And its best players are in their prime.
And ITS BEEN ALMOST A QUARTER CENTURY since we’ve won. And while I too
hope, We dont know what Murphy willbecome
(Again,i think maybe Greg Jeffries). And what
exactly is Ryan Church as a player even if healthy?No,I want no part of Burrell or Bradley
But with the options out there,Omar has no excuses.Too bad he didnt take the wait and see tact last yr when he rushed and well
overpaid on Castillo and Alou.
That’s fine. I have no problem with trying to win now.
But there has to be a balance between almost every fan’s stated interest in getting younger and trying to win.
You never know if a young player is going to be good. But if you don’t play them you’ll never find out.
All I am saying is that for years Mets fans have wanted to see younger players. Now that we have some, people want to sign guys like Dunn and Burrell, who are decent offensive players but are guys who would nto age gracefully in Citi’s big outfield.
if the Mets dont get Manny then letting Murphy play almost every with a little Tatis mixed in is probably the best move…
Oleo:
agree, but how do we really know how good he can be?
we were ready to ship reyes out of here before 2005.. murphy can be a good complementary hitter for reyes and wright..
I’m not terribly against the idea of bringing in Abreu. He would be a very solid number two hitter behind Reyes, and would probably be had for a relatively cheap contract. He’s also perhaps the least bad defensively of all of the FA outfielders, not that that’s saying much. Not ideal, but I wouldn’t oppose it.
the only thing abreu isnt that good of a fielder
I’ve said this for weeks.While Abeau is not
much fun to watch in the OF, In the 2 hole
this would be a very nasty line-up even w/
7-9 not being very strong.
dunn is 29…not old.
besides, in today’s fitness tech, at what age is old?
Have you seen him move now? He’s practically a statue now. There’s no technology in the world that will help this guy age gracefully.
Lmao, check the last post in MLB rumors:
“ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Dodgers and Mets “have kept the porch light on” in case some version of a Jones-Castillo swap can be made. He talked to a source who believes the Mets’ chances of trading Castillo before the season are 50-50″
That 50-50 is split this way:
50: the mets wanna trade him
50: the other 31 teams saying NO THANKS!!
dodgers need him
jeff kent is gone!
they need an older 2nd basemen
they have a youngster…
And Dewitt is a 3B converting to 2B.
lets get a starter and takes things from there
derek lowe and ollie
everyone needs to forget about Castillo and just let him be the 2B for 2009. He’s nt a great player, not even a good player, but he will be a average player playing an average amount of time. What Omar needs to focus on is:
1) SP
2) a stronger bench
3) if time and money allows LF
I would love to see Manny in LF but the team needs a stronger bench which was one of the down falls of this team in the past few years in addition to signing aging players with a track record of injuries. Actually f they sign Manny (or even Dunn) pushing Tatis and Murph to bench helps.
But Castillo is not the problem (not a solution either).
wilpons dont want him but omar does
remember murphy last year patient his count was always 3-2.
he batted 302
hes not better than reyes or wright
but he can be a great player in the future.
oh and they should bring up fernando martinez
What in the world makes you think fernando martinez is ready to contribute at the big league level now?
And where do you propose to play him, especially given your preference for Murphy to play regularly? Is it in a 20 year old’s best interest to sit on the bench, rather than to play and develop in the minor leagues (where he has yet to make it through a season)?
FMArt will for the 3rd year play @Binghampton
Like I’ve said over and over , Having seen
him about a dozen times the last two seasons,Hes not even close.
Do we even have guys go to AAA or do they just consider Binghampton the best place for guys to develop
Many teams consider AA the best place to develop because the best competition is usually there. Since the top players often skip AAA, you’ll find the better players in AA while AAA is often stocked with organizational depth type players.
If Castillo has his healt, you dont have to
worry much about the bench since you have
6 or 7 guys who youre never gonna PH for
anyway. Sign Manny and make it 8.
OUR TEAM OUR TIME OUR NEW YORK METS
nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/docs/images/manny.jpg
the answer :)
Oh yeah, The Magic is Back!
i’d rather have manny and castillo then dunn or burrell or abreu or andruw jones and hudson
agreed!
Seriously, does any1 really want andruw jones? i mean he hit .158 in 75 games last year. R u trying to tell me that having him is better than having Tatis and murphy platoon in Left. With Beltran in Center and Church in right? And we can deal with castillo untill he gets hurt a week into the season, at which point Murph goes over to 2nd….
Andruw Jones would be just another Omar disaster.Like the 40y/o non-steroid taking,
injured his entire career, Rabbi Alou.
It seems though one must be broken down,
aged and from the carribean to peak
Omars interest.
It seems like every year omar makes 1 or 2 GREAT moves followed up by 3 or 4 disastors
I have yet to see anybody mention the fact that Andruw has a no-trade clause, which I have a hard time seeing him waive to come here.
Not that I’d really want him anyway.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the only way you can neutralize the non-production we’re receiving from Castillo and Schneider is through the bat of Manny Ramirez.
that is 100% accurate
Y the hell aren’t we going after manny?!!!!
Plus, What Manny does for the guys around
him in the line-up cant be matched by almost
any other player in the game. Can you imagine having the opposition pitchers
thinking about Manny while pitching to
Reyes, Wright, Bel-Tron,Delgado.
i’d also take a serious look at wiggy. he could provide insurance for church in RF, castillo at 2B, and delgado at 1B.
Again, Wiggy makes perfect sense for
this team which of course is why we wont
see him here But omars likely to give Cora
3yrs after no one else bids more than one.
Lol, i agree and disagree.. omar has done good things and bad things, i just think that the wilpons are the biggest morons, they spend money on players they should say no to instead of the ones they should invest in.. (i.e mannyy)))
wigginton is a starter
the guy hit .285 23 HR 58 RBI in less than 400 AB
he’s not going to come to the mets as a backup, he’ll go to a team like the Marlins and play everyday…
also if Manny isnt coming here than Wiggy would make a great platoon with Murphy Castillo and Church
true, he had a big year last year, but his home/away splits were not that great and he hasn’t gotten a deal yet. maybe he would consider coming here as a super-sub. he’d get 400 ab’s here as well.
Wiggy will get a deal to be a starter/regular somewhere. I highly doubt you want to see his defense at any position on a daily basis, anyway.
Les_Gomez:
good call, don’t forget about wiggy playing 3B either to give wright a few days off too.
If we sign lowe, it wouldn’t matter who’s our #5 if we sign manny ramirez.. our lineup will be deep.. our rotation will be set.. and i’m sure we’d be odds on top 3 teams favorite to win world series along with the yankees and red sox..
it does matter who your 5 is. because if your 5 is a scrub then what happens when your 3 or your 4 gets hurt? You’ll have two scrubs.
Wanny, agree but i think we’ll be able to outscore teams, and opur bullpen hopefully will shut the doors down..
I still take Andruw for a year, if it means no Castillo for 3 more, and the possibility of bringing in Hudson for a couple. Again, who knows, Andruw is great defensively, and look out if he regains his stroke…..
To be honest at this point i’d take a case of sunflower seed for jinx castillo.. i could care less what we get in return or what we do to get rid of that bum.. get him out..
alex, can we take it easy with world series talk, please? Let’s make the freaking playoffs first.
LIMF:
with the team that we have and how other team have weakened don’t you think that we are gonna make the playoffs?
and if we get manny don’t u think we will be the favorites at least in the NL to go to the world series?
alex, yes and no…As a met fan, NOTHING is a sure thing….Last offseason when we got johan, I’m sure a lot of us thought that we were a lock for the playoffs, and ‘07 speaks for itself, especially after how good we were in ‘06…I think it became kind of a given that we would be in the playoffs, BUT after the past 2 seasons, I would think it is not wise to start talking about world series…Like I said, lets get back to the playoffs 1st…And what teams weakened?? Did I miss something? The phillies are bringing pretty much the same team back this season, the one that beat US for the division, and went on to win the WORLD SERIES….Not sure who you think “weakened” that would make it easier for us to get in this year…
Uh.. didn’t milwaukee lot the guy who took them to the playoffs.. i see only phillie as a treat, and again, if it wasn’t for our bullpen falting again we would’ve shown how much better than them we were.. and look honestty the only guy who didn’t see that 2007 the major problem was the bullpen and the coach was omar minaya.. he watied 70 games to realize the coach was garbage, and waited almost 2 years to get legit guys in the bullpen.. so i think that even with jinx castillo at 2b we will be a much better team than a lot of others contenders.. believe me, and the WS talk was me saying if we get manny.. and after last 2 years i agree wit u we should be quiet, but if we get manny i’m sure it’ll be a different story aroun NY..
Alex, don’t make the same mistake I did last year when we got Johan. Even if we got Manny, there is no reason to pick against the Phillies until we win the division. I really don’t care about the World Series this year. It would be nice, but if the Mets win the NL East, it’s a successful season.
Any thoughts of the Phillies weakening should be tempered by the fact that Jimmy Rollins had a bad season and Brett Myers did not find himself until late in the season.
Utley’s injury works in our favor and the likelihood of Moyer going on forever are slim.
Still, the Phils won’t be going anywhere.
wanny, LIMF, you guys honestly believ phillie is a threat year after year like the braves were??
honestly i don’t.. at all.. the got lucky last year in the playoffs by not facing any of the teams that were favorite to win it all.. wit the cubs, angels, red sox eliminated they have no one really deep enuff to compete with them, yes they won the world series but i see them more like the 06 cardinals than a team we should be very afraid of.. guys, hoenstly, let’s say our bullpen is fix.. and we have the same or more or less equal offense u don’t believe we will win the division by at least 5 games?? this team won the division last year despite us having ALLL kinds of bullepn problems, injuries, lame duck coach.. come on guys.. is time to have faith.. i believe that NOW with the team we have we ARE better than the phillies..
Rollins didn’t have a bad season, he had a rollins season. his avg matched his career avg, his SBs were the same as were his BBs, OBP and SLG %s… I think ‘07 was a farce with rollins and ‘08 is more of the player he really is. and they won’t have a closer who goes perfect and save opportunites and their bullpen won’t perform nearly as well either. I’m also not so sure they improved with ibanez over burrell, another lefty is gonna hurt the middle of the lineup.
Alex, listen! Don’t pick the Mets!
Where’s the faith guys?
it took a closer to have a perfect season for them and 29 BLOWN saves from us, injuries in our entire corner outfield, 70 games wit a piece of s**t manager for them to win the division in the last week of the season!! and only 3 games!! guys, they are not gonna be better than us!!
NYMG:
LOL, as darth vader would say:
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
(1) Lowe
(2) Manny
(3) Wolf/Redding/Marquis
(4) Dennys Reyes/Eddie Guardado
(5) Aaron Miles
Marquis is an infinitely better option for the fifth spot than Wolf/Redding. He’s the same crap but for only one year.
And please, no more LOOGYs. Feliciano is a LOOGY. We don’t need to bring in another guy who can only pitch to one batter at a time. If you must bring in a guy just because he throws with his left hand, then Will Ohman is a better option because at least he can pitch a whole inning.
But I’d much rather not sign someone just because they throw with their left hand. Juan Cruz (Type A is a problem, though) can strike hitters out on both sides of the plate.
I said that last night! Great wish list. I’d throw in Will Ohman and Brian Shouse as options for number 4, but I think Miles could end up starting at second (he hit .317 in a significant number of at-bats last year and is a switch hitter).
This is a drag. Is this really going to be the only story to talk about today…
true.
let’s talk about the Jets…
Steady eddie”
what is there to talk about the jets other than they choke like another team in NY..
I wonder if the Mets sign Endy Chavez to return back home after this year. He’ll be a free agent.
It doesn’t matter how good our team looks or how bad theirs looks: we’re only better if we actually win. We haven’t won anything in a few years now. And until we actually have a set rotation, I’m not confident about anything.
I want to see what kind of final product we have before the season starts before making any declarations about how our season will go.
Yeah,It is Amazin’,Amazin’,Amazin’ THAT
given the money spent by Omar the last
few seasons, We approach the new year
w/3 SP, A Hope in LF and a Prayer in RF.
Not to mention a Black-Hole at Second
AND No Bench.
Alex, I never even said whether I agree or disagree with you…I happen to be of the belief that by fixing our #1 problem BIG time (bullpen) we improved our chances exponentially…I always point out that if the offense stays the same, and the new bullpen blows “only” HALF of the games from last year that we wind up with 103-104 wins….If you read my comment, I simply said that being a met fan, you should know ALL TOO WELL to take it easy on the world series talk…Lets make the freaking playoffs 1st….And besides the brewers, (at that point you’re looking at going wild card) I meant the division, and more importantly, the PHILLIES!!!
LIMF:
i know waht you meant but with that said i believe that we will prevail this year, i didn’t meant like u were neglecting my comment, but the way we are portraying the phillies is as if that team is unbeateble and they have the glavine, maddux, smoltz and avery of the 90’s for the braves.. they’re good but they’re not that MUCH better than us..
i think aaron miles would be a great pickup for this team…i can actually see him being the starting second baseman….check out his stats..last year he hit .317 in 134 games…maybe we could get someone like damian easily back and have him as the backup or share the time
yes he would.
They really need a MI back up (as-suming castillo is still around and starting) that can step in and play 2B FT, with respectable output. You have to plan for Luis going down (injury) or being benched, and playing a guy as bad as Argenis again is not a good idea.
Not to mention he’s a switch hitter. I absolutely love Aaron Miles for this team. Let’s get Miles, Lowe, Manny, a fifth guy and a LOOGY and we’re set.
That’s exactly what the plan should be.
MAYBE IF THE METS DO GET JONES =( THEY COULD TRADE CHURCH TO THE BLUE JAYS FOR ROY HOLLADAY BECAUSE I HEARD THE BLUE JAYS HAVE BEEN HAVING MONEY PROMBLEMS.
i got it…lets trade flores and fmart and niese for hanley ramirez
then we can put him at second and we would be UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hanley ramirez is projected to be the best player in baseball in a couple of years if not sooner..i really dont know what it would take to get him but it would be sick
reyes, hanley, wright, delgado, beltran, church, murph/tatis, schnieder
Ummm…no. The Marlins would never trade him to us.
y not?
Uh, we’re in their division? I know they traded us Delgado, but that’s because they were in fire sale mode and we had Mike Jacobs to offer. There’s no way we can get Hanley. Martinez, Niese, Holt and Church would probably do it.
“There’s no way we can get Hanley. Martinez, Niese, Holt and Church would probably do it.”
1. that doesnt really make sense saying we cant get him but those guys can get him
2. those players would not be able to get him
3. if the mets gave them a good deal they wouldnt care if we were in the same division
Piazza, LoDuca, Delgado, Al Leiter, Dennis Cook, Vargas, Bostick… all traded from Florida to NY.
Martinez and Flores for Hanley would be an interesting deal and the Mets could play Hanley in LF or RF, if not 2B.
gonna dream, at least dream big.
But if they are going to empty the farm, at least go for a young guy who will be around for a while, and might actually get better!
and u dont think hanley ramirez is young and going to get better?
I think Fernando Martinez and Wilmer Flores are both young and are both going to get a lot better. Besides, is Flores even elligible to be traded?
i dont see y he wouldnt be elligable
No, I meant that ramirez is the type of young guy that you would trade a ton of talent for.
No doubt. You trade the farm for that guy and plug him in the lineup anywhere you can.
Alright guys. We all know we need Lowe, a 5th starter, an utility infielder, a 2B, LHRP, and a LF. We also all know that not all of those will be filled. What is our priority and what do you expect to be filled by opening day?
1 – Lowe (we get)
2 – #5 (we get)
3 – LHRP (we don’t get by opening day)
4 – Utility infielder (we get)
5 – LF (we don’t get by opening day)
6 – 2B (we don’t get by opening day)
i think we will get
1. lowe/ollie
2. redding/wolf/marquis/#5 guy
3. cra-ppy LHRP
4. decent utility guy
5. murph/tatis are in left
6. slappy at second
as much as i want an upgrade offensively i really dont see it happeneing
1) Lowe
2) Redding
3) some non-roster invitee like Ricardo Rincon
4) Miles
5) Manny
6) Miles/Castillo/Murphy platoon
I think that is a very reasonable and makes our team that much better
Aaron Miles is worse than Luis Castillo. His career line of 289/329/364 indicates less power than Luis (believe it or not) and little ability to get on base.
miles is very good utility infielder and considering he’s started the majority of games the past 2 years for LaRussa says something
Yes, it says LaRussa doesn’t mind having a powerless middle infielder in his lineup, who plays average defense and doesn’t get on base to an acceptable level unless he hits well over .300
He’s everything Castillo is, except Castillo gets on base fairly consistently. Even this season, his OBP was about the same as Miles.
Miles was non-tendered wasn’t he? So I would say it means LaRussa/the cards front office got a hold of some advanced stats and realized he was terrible.
hey check this out..
mannyramirez.com
This doesn’t sound like a guy who would be happy in New York:
Manny on LA: ‘I want to stay here’ – … “I want peace,” he said. “After the game [Friday night], I went out to dinner and nobody bothers you. In Boston, you go from the stadium straight home. That’s what I’m talking about. Some people recognized me, said congratulations, that’s it. I could go to the movies with my family. I’ve got nothing against Boston, but this is what I’m looking for. The game is supposed to be fun.
If you want to get lost in the crowd, NYC is the place to be
What about Sosa and bonds in leftfield?? I know they are old and haven’t played in a year but they has some real good numbers in 2007. Bonds had 28 homeruns in under 400 abs. Sosa destroyed lefties. I think he hit over 350 against them. I would love a guy like manny or dunn. But I just don’t think that’s gonna happen. What would it cost to at least give these guys a shot.
Jones is owed 22.1 million more, the signing bonus was paid out over 3 years, which is weird since the contract is only 2 but please don’t ask me why, so if you subtract Castillo’s 6 million we’d still be paying 16.1 million for either a defensive replacement or one of the worst starting outfielders in the NL.
This is one of the few trades were I would say I’d rather keep Castillo.
Also why would the Marlins trade Hanley when they just locked him up long-term pretty cheaply? And besides all the player they traded to us where either crap, Lo Duca, or older than dirt and expensive, Delgado. Why would they trade us an all-world player not even in his prime yet under control for well under market value? If you want to get Hanley you better be offering someone like Grady Sizemore, not minor leaguers who are 2-3 years away.
It was just fantasizing. No one thought it to be realistic.
But Piazza and Leiter were hardly crap or older than dirt.
They were traded over 10 years ago. I don’t think trades that happened nearly ten years ago are a good way to evaluate what a completely different front office would do. Not to mention Leiter wasn’t signed well below market value, and they were both in their early 30s weren’t they?
I don’t understand why you’re so upset about some fantasizing on a slow news day.
Obviously, Florida is not going to trade Hanley. But if they were, I’m sure they would trade him to the highest bidder, like they always have.
The Marlins just traded (really gave away) two decent players (Willingham and Olsen) to Washington. If they’re worried about players coming back to haunt them they wouldn’t have done that. Olsen has real potential to hurt them if he gets his head screwed on straight.
They traded them because they have much better players in the minors who are ml ready.
And I’m not upset. I answer everything like I sound angry it’s my natural inflection.
My understanding is that those guys were traded because they were arbitration eligible and due for raises.
Whatever the reason, those guys could have been traded outside of the division (and since both have been tough on the Mets I wish they would have been).
As to your last question, Piazza was still in his prime and Leiter proved to have plenty left.
Gina:
great potin i didn’t even comment on it coz i KNOW that for us to have him we better have jose reyes and a package for him.. reyes is better defensively but hansley is a monster!!
they’d be more likely to trade uggla then hanley, I would imagine…and although he has a nice bat, he’s pretty crappy defensively..
if we’re gonna keep jinx castillo we better sign a guy like grudz to play with him and leave that jinx to rot in the bench until grudz needs a rest.. we cannot go into 2009 with this guys as our starting 2 basemen.. is bad enough we have to see him in a met uniform..
Was Castillo a jinx in 2003 when Florida won the World Series?
And if he put up a line this year of 296/371 /372 would you complain?
That’s what he did in his time with the Mets in 2007.
check the mets record after he came aboard then come talk to me… and please don’t come with this bullpen stuff again.. he’s the METS jinxed to me and thats’it..
a jinx? you sound like a 10 year old
Well, that’s my belief.. if the red sox had a “CURSE” why can’t we have a jinxed..? is not far fetched ok.. Oleo!!
of course he wasnt a jinx wen he was 5 years younger with fresh knees.
Is amazing how bad we were last year and in 2007 when we got him.. even though he hit “well” in september of that year i still think he’s the jinxed of this team.. before he came back last year we had a strech run of 31-14 when he was on the dl, after he came back…. 12-16!!!!!!!!!
how about the fact that we had Ollie, Pedro, Knight and Niese were starting for us, our bullpen was a mess, Tatis got hurt, Maine got hurt, Wagner got hurt, Easley got hurt, Castro got hurt and cancel, Ramon Martinez, Argenis Reyes, Nick Evans were starting for us when they all didnt even belong in the MLB
Funny, with “awful reyes” as some ppl call him here we were winning, i know all of that i to me the bullpen was the #1 problem 2 years straight, but honestly i think that his arrival has for some reason demoralize the way the mest play when he’s on the field.. there’s that we’re gonna lose aura when he plays that’s it man.. i can not for the life of me stand the guy..
whoa slow day!
I know. Should Omar already have faxed his offers to Boras’ office yet?
man, i cannot take it much longer. i want something baseball related to start soon. give me something, spring training or WBC.
after the two mets collapse, waiting for baseball season is just painfully slow.
Btw, now that u mention the WBC, the DOMINCAN REPUBLIC seems to have the BEST team put together!!
yea all i want is for the mets to have a productive season.
im not a WS or bust type person but can we at least get a consistant playoff team year in and year out
well whatever…………..Castillo may be stuck here and if so sign Cora ASAP
hopefully the Starting situation is set by new yr
No news, bad news? Why is nothing going on? Sheesh. I’m almost resigned to just getting Lowe, a #5, and a utility infielder between now and spring training.
hey guys i’m heading off.. i would like to wish every body a HAPPY NEW YEAR and that everybody’s goals for this upcoming year get accomplish.. Good luck to everybody and LET’S GO METS!!!!!!!
Hey Cerrone !!!! WAKE UP !!!!!
Geez……give the guy a spot on a sports network channel and he starts slacking off on what got him there !! ;-)
C’mon Matt…..make something up….put out an opinion…a poll….SOMETHING, ANYTHING !!!!!
The silence is killing me !!!!!!!!!!!!
rumors or baseball news are slow today. everything is about the jets right now.
the only baseball news are:
chris synder (catcher) agree to a three year deal with the D-backs
marlins and pirates interested in Derrick Turnbow
Well, Olney did say the porch lights are still on. hey, if we can get rid of a bum like castillo and get a bum like jones in return, why not? I mean, maybe we can fix him. all of a sydden, he just stopped hitting. he could probably start hitting again just as fast as he stopped. plus it would open up a hole to sign o-dog. we need him to compliment delgado’s defense on the right side of the infield.
Let’s hope not. Jones is owed 22.1 mil. I wouldn’t dump Castillo’s contract just to eat that one.
I think AJones is shot. With a weak bench in 2009, would Castillo be of value if he can stop-gap at short and 3rd with some training during spring if we get an Orlando Hudson type? Reyes and Wright are exhausted at year’s end because they’ve had no legit or healthy backups the past few years. Castillo, for all his faults, can reach base, can advance runners, and does have baseball smarts. OK, he’ll be an expensive spot starter and pinch hitter, but we may have no other choice.