In case you missed it, from yesterday…
The Mets announced Carlos Beltran will not need surgery on his bruised right knee – instead, he will get treatment in New York, rest for two weeks, and then begin a rehab program.
…to me, it sounded like the team hopes he can be back around August 1, but they are not setting any sort of timetable…
Meanwhile, Jose Reyes is in St. Lucie and is scheduled to begin running the bases later this week.
…i actually expect reyes to be back around the same time as beltran, but, again, the team is not projecting any sort of timetable, because they do not know exactly what he’s about until he turns on the afterburners…
Oliver Perez will pitch in a minor-league game this Friday, and could be activated towards the end of next week.
…however, i can’t help but wonder if they’ll skip him one more time through, and bring him back immediately following the all-star break on the road in Atlanta, away from Mets fans, and where he’s had some decent success…
…lastly, from what i can gather, J.J. Putz is finally able to straighten his elbow for the first time in a year; Carlos Delgado is able to grip a bat, but has yet to swing at live pitching; and Billy Wagner may be ready to rejoin the Mets in early August, as opposed to later in the month as the team had been saying…
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That sounds great, except that the season might be over by August 1. I agree that we shouldn’t trade the farm for rental players like Huff, Holliday or Johnson, but the Mets need to make some moves to bring in some better depth so they don’t have to rely on Evans, F-Mart, Murphy, Argenis Reyes, etc.
Problem is I’m not even sure what players that could entail.
Ha! I was just gonna write your first sentence! I don’t think we have enough to get it done, not when afcing a team like the Brewers when they’re at full strength. They have a lot of ways to hurt you and we don’t have the offense to answer when they get it going. This team needs a shot in the arm as in a new player, whether it’s one of our own hurt guys or a new talented face to help lift these guys up. Once the losing starts the whole team can get infected badly, and losing becomes the expected outcome. I can remember very clearly the mets teams in the recent past for whom that was true and it was very difficult to turn it around once the losing starts happening, especially in NYC. We may be buried by the time reinforcements arrive. Just hope the Phils don’t go on a winning streak because we could be 10 games back by the break!
I said they should wait and see yesterday, but if the cavarly comes back by mid august that’s enough time provided they are close to the phils…dealing for a guy like Rios now helps to stay close to the pack leader
Be careful with Rios. He had one or two good seasons. The last few season he’s been mediocre. Reports are that his bat speed is down and his defense has regressed a bit. He is owed a ton of money. If that a risk worth taking? Not sure. Maybe if the Blue Jays pick up 50% of the contract. Other than that, this would be like trading for an ugly contract like Luis Castillo’s.
First off, Alex Rios is not Luis Castillo.
He isn’t having the year people predicted for him, but he is still young, has a lot of offensive talent, and is above-average in the field. He has been 15-20 HRs and over 80 RBIs the past few years with over 15 SBs. Everyone thought this would be his breakout year and it hasnt happened yet.
But he still has upside and even currently, has better numbers than most of our current roster (not really saying much)
If you want to take a risk on a good young, could be better, kind of player…this is the option. Having an ok year with alot of money owed to him, I would like to take that risk….depending on the cost.
I’d showcase Wagner and Putz ASAP and move them in a waiver wire move. Maybe we can get a John Smoltz in return?
Putz and Wagner are more valuable to our team than John Smoltz.
If we want any chance to be winning important games in August and Sept, we need one of or both of them in our bullpen. Last 2 seasons, bullpen has been brutal in September.
I don’t think Delgado gripping a bad is that big of a deal is it….. Didn’t he have HIP surgery not wrist/hand/forearm?
THe others are good news. Stinks they won’t back by the deadline. Because the Mets could have some nice pieces to trade IF they are completely out of it. 2 potential closers, a Slugging 1st baseman, all to go with Sheff Livan etc.
That’s if they are sellers.
To me this is an indictment on Omar Minaya and Tony Bernazard for the state of the farm system. The Mets keep using the excuse that they lack depth because of the Johan trade. Please! 50% of the Johan package was here before Omar got here, so Omar can’t pat himself on the back as if he is responsible for developing the players that went in that trade.
Carlos Gomez was signed under Steve Phillips’ watch and Phil Humber was drafted under Jim Duquette.
The Mets will then state that it’s hard to build a strong farm system without 1st round draft picks that the Mets gave up to sign Beltran, Wagner, etc. – players that were needed to rebuild the Mets. True, but they also gave up a 1st round draft pick for a washed up player like Alou. That is on Omar. Also, the Mets don’t go above-slot. Many teams have proven that if you invest more money in later rounds and sign signability-issue players that you can bring in high-ceiling players into your farm system.
This may be the smartest thing I have read om metsblog ever.. well said sir.
well see thats because omar doesnt seem to like to build from within….remember the colon trade to the expos…..cliff lee, sizemore, brandon phillips and 1 other for colon…3 allstars for 1…so omar doesnt mind trading top prospects for proven players…..but thats why everyone calling for a youth movement probably isnt going to get there wish….omar has never showed signs of being a guy who builds from within….wright and reyes were before omar…and the fact that he doesnt build from within isnt necessarily a bad thing, but if ur not gunna build from within…then u need to make smart FA signings and good trades….not moises alou….oliver perez…castillo….and every other old player who didnt work for the mets he got….julio franco….
I give Omar credit and criticism, but I’m not going to criticize him for the Colon trade that sent Sizemore, Phillips and Lee to the Indians. The Expos were in contention and Minaya was given assurances from MLB that the Expos would be contracted after the season, so there was no need hold on to prospects. Omar made the decision to go for it in the Expos last season to give the fans a winner. That trade proved ill-advised, but only after MLB decided to keep the Expos on life support for a few season after. Had he known that the Expos would keep on playing, I’m not sure Omar makes that trade.
That said, I will criticize him for misplaying the market when HE traded Colon later that summer. The Expos were fading and he had an opportunity to trade Colon for better packages, but he waited too long and misplayed the market and settled for a mediocre package.
Omar has redeemed himself (in my eyes) on this front with the Johan and Putz trades. Look, the Putz trade hasn’t panned out, but what did we give up that we can’t live without? Carp? Endy? Heilman? Nothing special.
Everyone wants to get on OMAR for tons of things. Fact is he’s been here for 3 years. The mets have been contenders the last 3. This is his 4th year and Injuries have ravaged his team, and Most of those you couldn’t have seen coming in Beltran, Reyes, Perez. All three of them had been very healthy the last 2 years and had no signs of getting hurt. Maine you had to suspect would miss a few starts coming off his surgery, Delgado has proven to be a huge Health concern the last 2 years, and Putz had his injury flags. But the Depth he aqquired has actually filled in for those injuries that had been expected. Tatis, Murph, Evans to backup a delgado. Redding Livan, Neise, Nieve to back up losing a starter. Cora to Backup Reyes.
But when you lose all of those there is no coming back. Your backups can only do so much.
On the Drafting above slot. That’s an orgizational decision from the Wilpons. Omar can’t just go oh well i’m doing what i want. You can get on the wilpons for that one, as people have for years.
So what’s he’s done with the draft and the international Draftee’s has been pretty good. His Major moves have all been pretty good. Johan, Beltran, Trading Nady for Perez and Hernandez, Trading Benson and getting Maine. Trading for Delgado (even though i dislike Delgado as a player).
But some of his other moves have sapped the team of prospects and got nothing in return. Bannister to KC for what amounts to nothing. heath Bell to SD for guys no longer on the roster.
So he’s had his Plus moves and He’s had his Bad moves. He’s like any GM. If the team was winning OMAR is a genius like 2006. If the team stuggles he’s a bum. Every GM has mad stupid moves, but you forget them if your team is good.
Why weren’t Putz’s injuries a bigger story when we traded for him?? They knew he had a bone spur.. they knew his numbers were way down?
How could we think we fixed the pen on a guy who can’t straighten his arm (and his pitching arm at that) ??
Don’t get it…
I’m curious about this first time in a year he can straighten his arm. what does that even mean?
Was he not aware of this when he was traded? From what i recall, he said he was healthy when he got here.
When he needed surgery.. they said he knew he had that spur in his shoulder.. and if you look at his numbers from 06/07 compared to 08/09 the drop off was huge…
This one gets kind of a pass because no one misess vargas and carp (although they’ve been decent this year)
But saying a bullpen is fixed by adding 1 pitcher (who can’t throw more then 70? innings) who has a spur in his shoulder? Not really looking like the best plan.
The Mets should offer Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, and Brian Schneider to the Indians for Victor Martinez
I agree that we shouldnt give up the farm for mediocre talent, but this guy isnt mediocre talent and hes under team control through next year, maybe we could work out an extension as well. I dont know if the above is enough to get him, but it would be huge and I hope Omar has kicked the tires with Shapiro on this one
I’d give up Parnell and Niese for him…but I’d rather not trade Fmart right now.
This is a guy we have been grooming for 4 years, and we will need him in the OF for years to come. I’m not trading Fmart for anyone other than Roy Halladay.
That said, I could see Victor being discussed this seasons as the Indians fall out of it.
yea…but if fmart doesnt turn out to be what we thought he would be…or at least what the mets are saying he will be….there was missed opportunities to upgrade the team now and in the future..so to say he should only be traded for roy halladay isnt right…fmart is the top prospect in the mets system….but i believe hes ranked in the 20’s or 30’s for all of baseball…so if the deal is right id have no problem trading him…just dont be a victor zambrano for scott kazmir part 2
I mentioned Roy because I’d rather trade a top prospect for an ace-quality arm. And Pitching wins.
You can’t play the “what if” game though with a top prospect. I understand there are probably more misses than hits when it comes to prospects, but Fmart is very valuable. And although not ready, the kid has shown some good offensive potential if he can get adjusted to the speed and breaking pitches of ML-pitching.
I don’t know, we had this guy for so long, I guess I just personally want to hold on to him and see what we can get out of him.
Let’s all remember that he is only 20 and shouldn’t (and wouldn’t if not for injuries) be playing in the majors yet.
The Indians would want no part of Schneider. they have a very good backup who in fact would be an above average starter in Kelly Shoppach.
I would also be very careful with V-mart. He is a tremendous hitter. But he is approaching 32, he’s not and never was a very good defensive catcher, and isn’t very good at 1st base either. I personally like him, but I think the AL is where this guy will have a future where he can DH regularly and be basically a DH/Backup catcher.
Why trade anyone this year? I doubt the team will still be in contention when Reyes and Beltran come back, let alone when Delgado, Putz, and Wagner arrive. Remember the outrage when Kazmir was traded when they were 6 games out with a crappy team? How much worse will it be this year when they are 6 games out with an abysmal team?
different scenarios though. The Kazmir trade occurred with a healthy horrible team. We have an abysmal team right now but with potentially a good team coming back. That’s alot of assumptions but I’m hoping by the last week of July, we should have a better understanding when and if these players can get back.
That said, I’d rather not rush to make a trade just to make a trade.
Im not talking about rushing a trade, im talking about trading for a legitimate star who is 31and plays every single day at catcher or first, and well at both. We could also sign him to an extension and keep him for the next 5 years and add him to the “core”. I think its worth trading a guy who is rated as between the 20th and 30th best prospect in baseball for someone like this.
To be honest I have more of a hard time giving up Parnell than Fernando at this point, but just like a big market team, we can always buy a closer and an outfielder.
Parnell is a bit over rated. Look at the numbers closely. The league bats very well against this guy even before his slump. I think if Wagner and Putz are coming back healthy, then trade this guy while his stock is high.
forget about august 1, this season might be over after the phills sweep this weekend.
AND again the Mets weren’t exactly lighting it up when everybody was healthy
the mets were 7-8 games over .500 when healthy…and even without delgado for a little they were 5-6 over…if they were either of those right now theyd be in 1st place by at least 2 games or so…
Matt’s post yesterday about how if he was the GM he would pick up Putz’s option and try to trade him got me thinking.
Should he return healthy and the Mets are out of it, do you give him opportunities to get saves to build his value? I don’t mean once and awhile either. How many saves do you think he needs to accrue to reach type A free agent status?
If his value does not rise, he essentially a waste of money and trade because the Mets will get nothing back if he leaves as an FA, and little back in trade.
August????? this is not good news at all. i gotta live through another month of this crappy lineup??? now i know how a Pirates fan feels.
Well, hopefully it doesnt reach the Pirates stage yet, because that would mean we trade away good talent at the deadline.
I was thinking Reyes and Beltran would both be back in two weeks. If both Beltran and Reyes do not play a game in July the season is over.
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