In a post to Bats, the baseball blog for the New York Times, Jay Schreiber opens the suggestion box, and asks what you would do if you were Omar Minaya.
…well, honestly, i’m not sure i’d want to be Omar Minaya right now…
Rich Coutinho of 1050 ESPN Radio lists five reasons why he should do nothing.
In an e-mail to MetsBlog.com, Ryan G asked:
“If you were the GM, not Omar, but Matthew Cerrone, GM of the Mets, and are in this exact scenario, what would you do? What could you do?”
…i would not trade my best young talent for a rental player…
…first, i would create a long-term goal upon a strategy that fits Citi Field, i.e., pitching, athleticism and defense… and i would be sure all of my moves, be it for this season or beyond, support that goal, which would be to build around my captain, David Wright, with young hitters and experienced role players to create a Run-n-Shoot Offense for baseball, like the Rays…
…for instance, i’d keep Alex Cora, because he’s the definition of a smart, experienced role player, who can suit up at multiple positions… i’d look to trade for a player like Mark Teahen from the Royals, who would be useful on the infield this season and next season, and who will not cost a lot in trade because he’s about to start earning more money through arbitration… in the off-season, i’d pick up his option and look to trade J.J. Putz to a team in need of a closer, in an effort to make up for the prospects minaya gave up to get him in the first place… i’d also cut Luis Castillo and his $12 million in the off-season, and finally bring in Orlando Hudson to bat second, a move that should have been made last off season… i’d consider trading peanuts for 28–year-old OF Alex Rios and his five-year, $60 million contract, because he has a strong 
arm, he’s fast and sprays the ball around the field… i would not trade any of my young pitching, like Mike Pelfrey, Brad Holt, Jenrry Mejia, Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell, because i do not trust that the free-agent market for starting pitching will offer much over the next decade…
…lastly, i’d have to think long and hard about what can be had for Jose Reyes, whose ultimate potential i am starting to lose faith in… last month, Boston talk-radio host Danny Picard suggested on his blog I’m Just Sayin, that, in the off season, the Red Sox should offer RHP Clay Buchholz, top prospect RHP Michael Bowden, OF Jacoby Ellsbury and SS Jed Lowrie to the Mets for reyes… this would be super tempting, to say the least…
…i’d then look to wrap these players around a young, aggressive manager, who values statistics as much as his gut…
…for now, though, i’d hold tight and hope my injured players return from the disabled list, all while keeping that long-term goal in mind, without doing anything drastic… so, if this means acquiring a player like OF Ryan Spilborghs from the Rockies, rios or teahen, fine, but i’m not trading a ton of talent to get Matt Holliday, who will never sign a deal to play in my pitcher’s park… then, if i have little faith of making the playoffs in August, and guys are not returning from injury and performing and nothing is going as i hoped, i’d look to get something small in return for a player like Livan Hernandez, who can moved through waivers…
…and then i’d wake up, and remember i’m a blogger, not a GM…
im not so sure the park will influence a guy like hollidays decision…hes playing in that huge park out in oakland and hes hitting ok….and also with scott boras…money talks
You are right money does talk with Boras, and how much money would he lose on Hollidays next contract if he signed to play at Citifield and his numbers continued to decline like they have in Oakland? I just have a hard time believing that Boras would point him in the Mets direction. It’s not advice I would give Holiday if I were his agent even if I am a Met fan.
I think this is the first post Cerrone has ever made where I agree with every single thing said.
Especially the trade Reyes part. If the Red Sox offered us that deal we would be stupid not to take it. Jacoby Ellsbury is Jose Reyes, with slightly less power potential. Clay Bucholz has front-of-the-rotation potential. Lowrie could play shortstop, and I don’t know much about Bowden but it can’t hurt to add more young arms. This is a no-brainer on the Mets part.
I’d be happy with Bucholz & Lowrie
100% agree. I doubt they would even offer that.
I was in total agreement as well. But I’m still sick about watching another season go down the drain, especially considering all the tickets I have left.
hahaha I said the same thing below with my post. It was one of the first posts I agreed on everything Matt said
Jacoby does not equal Jose Reyes. For starters, the position difference is a huge factor. Reyes gives us great value for a SS. Yes lowrie is an up and coming player, but no guarantee he produces like Reyes.
Reyes gets injured one year, and now everyone wants to get rid of him?
I understand trades should be considered and if it improves the team then you cant get attached to certain players, it is a business.
I guess I feel like Reyes has a lot more to improve from, and I would love to reap those benefits. Money-wise, I guess I can understand it. Reyes will warrant a huge contract when he hits F.A. in 2 years.
Not bad Matt, not bad….
I don’t get the love affair with Teahen or Spilsborghs, but we all have our favorites, and as long as they’re bench players and not starters, we’ll be okay.
O-Dog for a couple years at most should be okay, leaving the door open for the day Wilmer Flores busts through.
Thanks for backing off Holliday. He’s a Coors hitter.
Reyes has a world of talent, and I’m not sure he’s getting the most out of it. If he’s going to be this version, let someone looking through rose colored glasses take him off our hands.
I agree, some pretty well thought out decisions Matt. But like Agee I would steer away from a Teahan or Spillboros in favor of a Rios who while he is due some salary he is also locked up for 5 seasons and his hitting style, speed and defense are perfect for Citifield and who knows what a guy like that would cost in 3 years let alone 5 years when he can probably be had for close to nothing now!. That’s planning for the future.
Some lese agrees with me. is the moon in the seventh house?
LMAO!
I am in support of all of the above and have been posting the same thought for the last 48 hours. I think the above person has been reading my posts or shares my brain.
When I think of Reyes and all of his speed, I think he should bat lead off. When I look at his gap power and his Bill Madlock approach to hitting, I’m wondering if Jerry is denying his own genius. Reyes looked good in the three hole those first couple games of spring training. Maybe if we asked him to steal less and just take advatnage of the skills he has, we would get better production out of him. Reyes in the three hole is easily capable of driving in 110 runs
That’s true Agee, but……..Reyes is also capable of driving in 80 out of the leadoff spot as he did in ’06. That to me is more important considering A) the lack of a suitable replacment for Reyes in the leadoff spot and B) Beltran our current 3 hole hitter when healthy already drives in over 100 runs. If we had a suitable replacement leadoff guy than sure, the move makes sense, and might even prolong his time with the Mets, but untill that point I just don’t see anyone other than Jose (not Argenis) Reyes batting leadoff.
I agree 1000%. Reyes has tremendous Gap power and with his speed can stretch singles into doubles, to still be in scoring position while getting an RBI. His numbers are consistent across the board with Runners on, None on, 2 outs nobody on, 2 outs people on, RISP about a 285-290 average.
People are enamored with his steals ability and if he gets on to agitate a pitcher. He will still have those opportunities. As a #2 or #3 hitter or #5 hitter he can hit his 40 doubles a year his 20 triples and 20 homers and instead of driving in only 70 or so he will be upwards of 100+ with around 100 runs scored depending on where he hits.
Now how about this for food for thought? WHat do you think it would take for the Dodgers to part with Juan Pierre to take over leadoff and then slide Reys down to #3 when Manny comes back?
Oops that’s REYES not reys. PUre Speculation on my part, but I thought about it when Agee mention Reyes to 3 hole.
no to juan pierre. Yes, he has had a decent year this year, but I don’t want another player who’se best years were with the Marlins.
For the right price though, I’ll keep my options open to it.
I dig it, Matt. I like keeping the core and the talent that you’ve suggested. Wright, Beltran, Santana, and Pelfrey should be on this team.
As for Reyes, I would have to evaluate what he’s like when he comes back. I love Wright and Reyes as the core. Yes, some is the nostalgia over it all — 2 young guys coming up in our farm system. (Maybe I just miss having a farm system.) But if he’s healthy, I’d probably keep him. And even I’d be tempted by a BoSox package like that.
Yeah, Jerry should go after this year unless there’s some corner turned. If he does something to earn another year, keep him another year. But I wouldn’t keep him because it’s not his fault for the injuries.
And yes, concentrate on pitching and playing to the ball park. It may be a more NL team than the team that last made the playoffs, but I dig a team like that.
i wish matt had never posted the article on rios….now everyone is just mentioning rios as the #1 target and omar has never even been connected to him
at least with dunn, huff, johnson, holliday, spilborghs, derosa..omar had been rumored to have interest and talk deals….rios is just his speculation now everyone is talking like hes most likely
True. And we really do not have any idea what Toronto would want for him.
The specific name of Alex Rios is actually just symbolic of the type of move that Omar might just be able to pull off- taking on a salary/bad contract, which not a lot of teams can do. Rios’ contract is actually somewhat bearable in terms of $-value, not so much in terms of length. I’m warming to the idea. Considering it’s a dump, what would it take to get him, Church and 2 minor leaguers not named Niese, Mejia, Holt and Flores?
I don’t ever see us matching up with Beane on Holliday– better chance of making a run at him when he is free agent.
yea, but Omar has never traded for a player in his prime that was already signed…albeit to a bad contract. Ryan Church maybe…but he was never a consistent starter before he came here.
I actually agree almost 100% with Matt. ALthough I am not sure if Hudson would be a great idea, but it better be for 2 years max.
As to Reyes, I would move him if it helped rebuild the team (fill multiple holes), but I somehow doubt you will get that much for him. Especially if he doesn’t come back this year 100%.
Part of the Reyes plan would be his replacement. If say Tejada was setting the world on fire, and you thought he could take the job, maybe.
I also liked the idea of putting him down the line up. Let him hack and drive in runs. You can certainly still utilize the speed in the 2 or 3 hole.
Oh yeah, Jerry has to go. That is a given.
And I was on board with gettin gRios the last 2 off season, whenever his name was mentioned. If they can get him now by absorbing his salary and ponying up some Dillon Gee level talent, it is a worthwhile move.
He is better (at least for the Mets) than any of the FA OF options (or 1B for that matter) likely to be there in the off season.
And if they luck into another OF, no biggie. Move Church.
I’d like to add Rios, but I doubt we have enough payroll for his salary….although with Delgado off the books, if he is replaced with Murphy, that would cover it. we’d only have to carry both salaries for 3 months.
When they divide Madoff’s assets, I hope Fred gets enough back for Rios
Let me just say if the Redsox were crazy enough to offer us that deal, I do not think even Omar would hesitate.
They wouldnt make that trade primarily for the fact that Reyes will be a F.A. in 2 years. The talent they could absorb, but not for a player that will warrant close to $80-100 million.
If what Omar has said is true, I’m sure he’s had feelers out to both the Nats and the Jays. What is also true is that we won’t hear anything from Mets camp until something official is close to happening.
Let’s be straight here, we don’t want to trade away the young talent and the future for a rental player? After 2006, 2007, 2008 and, soon to be 2009, do we have a future? A rental player, like Mike Hampton, he got us to game 5 against the Yankees in the 2000 World Series, thay kinda rental? At this point we want to win, period. When does the future become the past? When does soon become now? At what point is enough enough? I say right now! No more stories and excuses, just get the pieces we need and win! Every year that passes, Santana get older, Beltran and his knees age, Reyes and his legs..ect. We cannot afford to wait, we need to win now. The longer we wait the less likely we are to win. The Phillies won, the Red Sox won, when is it our time? Why wait any longer? This fan base is ready to jump off a bridge. Omar , PLEASE, do something.
You asking for Omar to make a trade for the sake of making a trade. You also assume he can pull of a trade for someone significant like a Hampton. Surprise!! Dunn and Rios are not that type of player. You can’t scream for Omar to make a deal that he can’t make. Carlos Lee would fit the mold if he was available
I agree that there is not much out there, but, to do nothing, I feel, is to stamp 2009 a bust. Like 07 and 08 where, without the collpase at the end. We cant assume that Beltran will be back or that Degado will be what he was in the second half of 08 and Reyes has not been looking good of late. We cannot assume these guys will save our season. Do do nothing is a RIP flag. This team is slwly sinking and before the ASB we may find ourselves in third place, or, even fourth, if the Braves catch fire. We need help, that is all Im saying. nI dont know from where or who, but, we need it.
A rental is fine, if yo are short 1 piece, and otherwise right in the race.
It doesn’t make sense when you have 5 gaping holes, and can only get one rental.
otherwise, yo ustill miss the playoffs, and are even farther behind the 8 balll next year.
Matt I gotta tell you I disagree with some things you say but I think you hit the nail on the head. I am in 100% agreement of everything you said especially picking up Putz’s option. We lost some talent for Putz and got nothing out of him. Picking him up for the 9 million and trading him is a great idea and should be done.
I would like to see Rios come this season and Orlando Hudson BETTER be here for next season. Lets be honest Castillo looks healthier but for God sakes the guy is hitting .275 with 13 rbis and 0 home runs! He still stinks!
and I have and will never have faith in Castillo with RISP. When that situation arises, and it has a plenty, my reaction is usually something like “ahh @$%&”
Oh and as for a manager – I hope you are referring to Bobby Valentine!
Obviously since the above makes sense the Mets wont do any of it lol
I still believe the Dunn could help this team now and for the future. He can play 1B for the time being and move to LF when/if Delgado comes back, and Sheffield can move back to the bench and be a power bat and spot start like he was signed to do. It gives the team a middle of the lineup bat the desperately need.
does anyome care that Dunn is reportedly an absolute disaster at 1B? Remember the Piazza experiement, or Hundley in LF?
one thing this bad stretch has pointed out is you need good defense. At least that doesn’t slump.
Dunn is better at 1B than he is in the OF, he makes the plays right no him, he doesnt have any range. But I would be willing to sacrifice a little D for some power and a guy that gets on 40 percent of the time.
Matt, I gotta completely disagree on Reyes. First off, I don’t think the Sox would give a haul like that. If they did, yeah, I think you have to do it, ’cause Buchholz has a Cy Young in his future and Ellsbury is a very good replacement for Reyes at the top of the lineup (although his lefty/righty splits are not so pretty).
Lacking a ridiculous haul with two future all-stars like that, I can’t see trading Reyes. I don’t see you you can say right now that it’s starting to look like he won’t realize his potential — the guy’s hurt, what do you want from him? I know it seems like he’s been around forever, but he’s just 24 and is coming off a season in which he OPSed .833 while stealing 56 bases. I think he’s only gonna get better as a hitter, and he probably has a batting title in his future.
You are actually completely agreeing on Reyes…
Well, I’m partly disagreeing, haha. That trade would be great, but at the same time, I’m not losing faith in Reyes’ ultimate potential, as Matt is, and I wouldn’t pursue a trade. If someone came to me with a ridiculous offer, I’d consider it, but I certainly wouldn’t shop Reyes.
I guess you missed those last few sentences.
He just turned 26 btw.
Nope, didn’t miss anything. Just making a tongue-in-cheek reply. And thanks for pointing out Jose’s age…it’s pretty relevant to the comment.
Let’s get silly . . .
Blockbuster deal for Crawford (Martinez, Niese, Evans plus young talent?) maybe AND get Rios????
Crawford
Rios
Reyes
Beltran
Wright
Murphy / Delgado
Santos/Schnieder
pitcher
Castillo
All for trading Reyes. He is much easier to replace then an arm like Buchholz. Plus his legs will always be an issue. He is too soft. Yes, he has a ton of potential but seems to be a guy who will never truly reach it.
too soft? umm..not sure where that’s from.
The guy has missed 15 games combined in the 4 seasons before 2009.
His kind of talent though is not easy to replace. He is a SS…not every SS can field, run, and hit, all at an all-star level. He has a lot of value b/c he is a SS.
Then show me the near .850 OPS shortstop that you are going to pull out of your hat for the irreplaceable pitcher that Boston has been happy to keep buried in AAA?
I would trade Niese for Dunn right now. I would even throw in Angel Pagan since the Nats need a CF’er. Dunn is the power bat we need inspite of his lack of defensive ability.
Going forward I would trade Ryan Church too.
The thing that gets me is how many Met fans this guys fools into thinking he’s great. He teases you with flashes. 4 hits last night (all singles)and throws a dart to home plate to nail a runner. Yes he’s a nice fielder with a wicked arm, but that’s it. He’s not clutch, can’t hit lefties, swings at bad balls in the dirt all day, every day.
And my biggest complaint is that he’s playing a power position (RF)and has 2 homers and 18 rbis’ in half a season.
That’s UNACCEPTABLE for RF. I will argue with any Met fan to the death on this guy.
Well I don’t want to lose my life over a blog post so i will agree. :-) I like Church but he is a role player, not an everyday Right Fielder. He would fit in if we had power other places, but he has never hit better than .285 or more than 15 Hr’s in a season and he is about 30 and will not be on the upswing.
There are too many missing pieces right now for any one trade to make a real difference. That being said, to pick up players with upside, like Rios, for middling AA prospects because other teams need to shed salary makes sense. It won’t turn the season around but is compatible with long term plans and doesn’t involve any front line prospects. If that just isn’t possible, we should just stand pat and pray for the best, expect the worst and get ready for next season. Also, stop putting Tatis n the lineup, or putting Argenis Reyes anywhere beyonf the 8th spot, and give Murphy and Evans alot of playing time to see what they can do. Jerry has to stop trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Be consistent with the lineup you put out there every day.
By the way, there’s no way that Omar is trading any premium talent for Dunn when he could have had him in the offseason without giving up any prospects. He will look inept (I know many here think he already does but this would confirm it).
At some point it would be interesting to see Mets fans who for largely mythical reasons love David Wright and seemingly loathe Jose Reyes get to see the Mets without Reyes for a while and just how undynamic the Mets offense is…
OH WAIT!
i understand your point, but I for one, do not discredit one over the other. They are both very valuable to our team. And while you still believe in myths and fantasy, I do believe in the reality of David Wrights impact.
That said, I will agree in that I do not understand the sudden Reyes trade block. I know we should listen to offers, but Reyes gives us tremendous value at SS.
When someone defines for me in real terms, not the imagined leader myth why Wright is so much more “captainy” and valuable than Reyes, I’ll listen.
To date all I have heard is platitudes and hope.
I don’t want a freaking “captain” I have no need to pretend we are a mini-Yankees, I want good ballplayers who play hard and succeed, Wright and Reyes for both of their shortcomings are okay with me.
We need not look more than down the turnpike to imagine, what if the Phillies gave up on Jimmy Rollins when the fans wanted to run him out of town prior to his bold and then backed up we are the team to beat.
there is no way the sox would offer those 4 guys for reyes and if they did i would drive jose to fenway myself
sorry jose
Why would you look to trade Reyes and not David Wright?
contract status imo
Folks have moved on to other threads and no one will read this, but….
there’s a good chance that we’ve seen Jose’s ceiling already. He really hasn’t taken a step forward since 2006, and based on what I saw this year, he’s regressing a little. Better to move him when other clubs think he still has room to improve. The danger is missing out on that long-promised potential, that mythical 40-2b, 25-3b, 25HR, 75-SB year—the one where he goes .330/.420/.530. Anyone think that’s still on the table?
Now, I’m actually a fierce critic of David Wright at times, but I feel that Wright at his current level (2006-present) is a franchise player, and I feel that he’ll improve as he hits his late 20s.
Reyes? I worry that he’ll spend his whole career teasing fans with the “What if”s. What if he actually worked on a consistent approach to hitting? What if he worked on a level swing, instead of going golfing for 6-8 weeks at a time? What if he actually learned how to steal/run bases, instead of relying solely on speed?
You lost me at Alex Rios Matt. 5 years and 60 million for this guy? He’s barely a 5 million dollar a year player, not 12 million, and he’s a problem child to boot who is known for his lack of hustle. That contract is untradeable.