Daily Archives: January 15, 2009
Update, 7:27 pm:
According to a team spokesman, David Wright was not on today’s plane that crashed in to the Hudson River.
Original Post:
I hate to post this, but I have been sent several emails from people in a variety of tri-state area newsrooms, including SNY and CNN, suggesting all are following up on an “unsubtantiated rumor” that David Wright may have been on today’s airplane that crashed in to New York’s Hudson River.
In any event, all reports indicate that each passenger survived the crash, which is great news.
Again, they are following up a rumor, which the Mets are working to confirm or hopefully deny, I am simply relaying that activity.
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic believes free agent Jon Garland recently rejected an offer from the D’Backs.
According to Piecoro, “The Diamondbacks are believed to have about $4 million left to spend for 2009.”
…so, from this, it’s safe to assume garland is not interested in at least a one-year, $4 million deal… from what i can gather, garland has been on Omar Minaya’s radar, but i have no idea to what extent he is willing to pay…
…earlier in the off-season, garland had been looking for a two– or three-year deal, worth around $10 million per season, though i am not sure he can expect to get that today…
By the way, according to Piecoro, the D’Backs also have interest in free agents Ben Sheets, Pedro Martinez and Jason Jennings.
According to Andrew Marchand, at his blog for 1050 ESPN Radio, free agent Freddy Garcia will sign with either the Mets, Yankees, Rangers or White Sox by the end of next week.
“They all have their pros and cons,” Garcia’s agent told Marchand.
…also, there are pros and cons to garcia… jeez… if garcia ends up choosing the Mets, and they end up bringing him in, i hope it is only for a minor-league deal…
Marchand also provides audio from his Marchand Report, during which he talks about the Jets coaching search, and says the Mets did not have interest in Ben Sheets at the start of the off-season.
Mets GM Omar Minaya will join Gary Cohen and SI.com’s Jon Heyman as special guests during tonight’s Mets Hot Stove, 
live at 7pm on SNY.
Meanwhile, in a column for SNY.tv, Ted Berg asks, “Is Omar Minaya using team’s resources in most effective way,” adding:
“Yes, Minaya has put together competitive teams, and for that he should get credit. But he’s put together competitive teams with monstrous payrolls, and too often he’s misread the markets or missed the big picture… Take for example the recent acquisition of Alex Cora… It’s $2 million, so you’ll tell me it’s a drop in the bucket, and to some extent, that’s true. But what if that $2 million is the difference between signing Ben Sheets and not signing Ben Sheets? Is it still a drop in the bucket then?”
Berg will be interviewing Minaya prior to tonight’s show for a video that will air tomorrow on SNY.tv.
Tagged Omar Minaya, SNY, Ted Berg |The following video, courtesy of SNY.tv, is of my recent phone conversation with Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, during which we talk about the market for Manny Ramirez, Oliver Perez, Ben Sheets and others:
Yesterday, in the New York Times, Tyler Kepner talks with Mets executive Vice President Dave Howard about the 2009 Citi Field Inaugural Patch, which has been getting made fun of all around the Internet, as you can see by clicking here.
“Everyone has their own point of view,” Howard told Kepner. “Taste is very subjective, and we understand that and appreciate the passion of Mets fans.”
Nevertheless, on AOL Fanhouse, the subjective bloggers from the Dugout post a hypothetical conversation between David Wright, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana and Omar Minaya, among others, about the design, while 
offering up several delicious alternatives.
In all seriousness, as you can imagine, I have been sent several original designs as well, in hopes that the Mets might reconsider their original effort.
The one displayed in this post was sent to me by T.J. Harley, a reader of MetsBlog.com.
If you have any designs you’d like to send in, go for it – I’ll try to post some of the better submissions next week – though I am not sure it will ultimately matter, it may convey to the Mets just how useful crowd-sourcing and Web 2.0 can be.
In the end, Kepner concludes his story in the Times by writing, “The Mets do have an alternate inaugural season logo that features the windows of the distinctive rotunda at Citi Field. But Howard said that logo would be available only on merchandise sold at the ballpark. He added that the team would not change the sleeve patch, which will be used for all home games.”
The Dodgers are expected to release OF Andruw Jones today, according to MLB.com and SI.com.
…among people in baseball, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that jones will end up back on the Braves, probably on a minor-league deal…
In fact, according to MLB Trade Rumors, several eyewitness claim that Jones attended the Duke-Georgia Tech men’s basketball game last night, and was already wearing a Braves hat.
Speaking of outfielders…
During the Winter Meetings, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News reported Jermaine Dye had been traded to the Reds, which proved to be incorrect.
Earlier this week, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the Angels had interest in acquiring Dye.
However, the next day, Angels GM Tony Reagins said, “No truth to that rumor,” according to Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, according to the Daily Herald, White Sox GM Ken Williams denied rumors that he is looking to even trade OF Jermaine Dye, adding, “I’m tired of responding to every blogger’s idea.”
…ah, yes, those pesky bloggers, like ESPN’s Jayson Stark, FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal and SI.com’s Jon Heyman, all of whom have mentioned dye, the White Sox and Angels in the last week… i mean, with bloggers like that in the fold, i too fear for the future of journalism… ugh…
In a report for the Daily News, Christian Red travels to Puerto Rico to talk with Carlos Beltran, who seems to suggest the Mets bring back Pedro Martinez, stick with Luis Castillo, and keep an eye on Manny Ramirez.
Beltran, on New York, and the future, as quoted by Red:
“It’s been great here… We haven’t been able to accomplish our goal as a team. Last year was a tough year for us. The year before was tougher. But that’s how it is… At the same time, my hope as a player and my wishes, I do believe we can win a couple championships in New York… We have to win. We have to prove that we’re a good team. We have to prove to every team in MLB that we are a great team and that we can win also. I believe we have the potential to win a championship…
“I was thinking about that couple days ago. I was saying, ‘Wow, I already have five years with Mets. Two more to go.’ Hopefully I can finish my career in New York. That’s not in my hands. That’s something the organization will decide, but I would love to finish my career there. I don’t want to move to any other city… My wife (Jessica) loves being in New York. We have a beautiful house. I have a beautiful daughter (Ivana). I don’t see myself playing in any other city. It’s like, you play in New York, where you going to play now?”
Beltran also discusses the Phillies, and remarks by Cole Hamels that the Mets are choke artists, among other things.
To watch my latest MetsBlog Mailbag, during which I answer questions about the Mets acquiring a hitter, and how much Oliver Perez might be paid, click play below:
Instead of signing Oliver Perez to what could end up 
being a four-year deal, possibly worth as much as $12 million per season, I suggest the Mets use a ‘Basket Solution.’
Yesterday, I asked readers of MetsBlog.com what Perez was worth, and the more-than 4,400 people who voted essentially said he should get a four-year deal, which pays him roughly $13 million per season.
“He’s possibly one of those guys who can win the Cy Young award every year,” Billy Wagner told New York Post yesterday, when asked about Perez. “It’s just, which Ollie is going to show up?”
From what I can gather, free agent Randy Wolf is likely to sign for between $7 and $10 million, but the Mets are unlikely to offer more than $5 million – the same can most likely be said for free agents Jon Garland and Pedro Martinez.
Meanwhile, people around baseball believe free agent Ben Sheets is open to accepting a one-year deal, for roughly $6 million with major incentives – such as Brad Penny and John Smoltz accepted from the Red Sox.
However, Sheets is also a Type-A free agent and was offered arbitration by the Brewers, which means a club would lose a draft pick if it signed him.
The Blue Jays have been listening to offers for Roy Halladay, but there is no evidence they are seriously open to trading him – unless the deal 
included a top-flight pitching prospect I would assume.
Lastly, the buzz in San Francisco suggests the Giants will move Jonathan Sanchez or Noah Lowry, but will likely require a major-league bat in return.
Nevertheless, John Maine, Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey will be counted on to make 90 or so starts for the Mets in 2009, leaving 60 or so starts to come from other pitchers.
However, don’t forget, Maine is returning from shoulder surgery and Pelfrey is entering only his second full major-league season – not to mention Santana had knee surgery in October. In other words, nothing is a given in the current starting rotation. So, the Mets need to be very careful with how they structure those 60 other starts.
The Mets should use the same money it will cost to keep Perez, and instead sign Sheets and one of Garland, Wolf or Martinez, or a pitcher acquired by trade, who, with Tim Redding and Jon Niese, will be more than capable of filling the missing 60 starts, and also can be called upon in case Maine, Pelfrey or Santana ever become unavailable.
Tagged Oliver Perez, Randy Wolf |
