Peter Gammons of ESPN.com wonders whether or not the Red Sox might consider trading Josh Beckett.
Gammons believes Beckett will travel to Boston in the coming weeks and see how the Red Sox feel about giving him a contract extension.
Beckett, who will turn 30 in May, has a $12 million vested option for 2010, but can become a free agent after next season.
Gammons says Beckett is likely looking for a deal like CC Sabathia signed with the Yankees, i.e., seven years, $160 million.
…i would imagine that Beckett and the Red Sox could be at somewhat of a crossroads here, not because of his performance because he has been outstanding for them, but he is at an age where he will want a long term contract, but his age at the back end of such a contract puts him in some dicey territory, and any team that takes on such a contract has to keep that in close consideration…
…that said, if the Red Sox decide to shop Beckett, i wonder if the Mets might consider getting in on the sweepstakes…Boston will want to maximize the return on their ace and with good reason…he has been one of the best postseason pitchers of our generation and has proven to be a big game pitcher even during the regular season…and it’s obvious that they will not trade intra-division which would help keep the cost in return down to a certain degree…even so i wonder if the Mets have what it would take to land Beckett…
Lifetime, Beckett is 106-68 with a 3.79 ERA, and after a mediocre 2008, he bounced back to go 17-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 212 innings and 32 starts for the Red Sox in 2009, and has won two World Championships and is a 7-3 with a 3.07 ERA in his postseason career.
For more on Beckett and the Red Sox, check out Gammons’ article.
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Beckett is a beast. If he isn’t already, he should be on the Mets radar for this offseason and next…provided he doesn’t sign a contract with Boston.
The comparisons with Sabathia and Halliday with 100+ less innings pitched makes him very, very appealing.
Omar should call Boston’s bluff and offer whatever it would take to get him here.
The Mets should def try and get Beckett. I know that there was a rumor that Boston would offer the Mets Lowrie, Ellsbury, Bucholz and Bowden for Reyes this winter which I’m sure that is nothing more than a rumor at this point with the injury to Reyes. But maybe the Mets can look at deal that offers Reyes and maybe others and brings back Beckett and Lowrie. I would rather have Beckett and Lowrie over Reyes and someone like Garland or who ever they sign this offseason.
Orlando Cabrera is also a free agent and would be a nice fit at SS for the Mets if they use Reyes in a deal.
Now just so you know I am not on the trade Reyes band wagon and if they do, getting Lowrie better not be all that they do. They will than need a lead off hitter and Chone Figgins comes to mind if they can sign him to play 2nd and trade Castillo. Basically I don’t see Beckett coming here if it would take Reyes cause there would be way too much to do on the Mets part for this to make sense and I doubt they will make it happen
I love Beckett. He is a beast. I would so have him over LAckey. Just for the YAnkees, We will have a better 1-2 puch than them. OMar, Please trade whatever it is to get him. Not the core though. The reason why I think Beckett is better on the MEts than Halladay is because he is younger and will cost less players to get him.
Imagine
Johan
Beckett
MArquis/Wolf
Pelfrey
MAine/PErez
Or HAren or Webb would be nice but Beckett out of HAlladay, Webb and HAren is the one most likely to be traded.
Why would you think it would take less to get Beckett? He is every bit the pitcher Halladay is and with Postseason experience to boot, which if memory serves Halladay does not have! I could be wrong on that though because I don’t pay alot of attention to Toronto. Beckett is worth every penny Halladay is. Honestly the Blue Jays should have traded Halladay at the ‘09 deadline when his value was higher, especially because that team certainly did not have a prayer of getting to the postseason.
When it comes down to it the trade market is huge this year compared to most years.
Beckett
Webb
Halliday
Haren
Oswalt
Those would be the big 5 possible thru trade. With so many big names being talked about in possible trades, the demand isn’t as high and you might see one or two of them go cheaper than they should cause they can’t hold the league hostage over one or two arms like Minn tried to do with Santana before over playing there hand and getting the smack down from Omar
As for the Mets if they make a big trade using a lot of their prospects I want Adrian Gonzo and they can go after guys like:
Marquis
Wolf
Pinero
Harden
Sheets
Penny
Bedard
That is just a small list of the many free agent SP’s that would be an upgrade over some of the guys that the Mets have put on the mound the past two seasons
Or they can get one of those big name pichers such as Haren, Webb, HAlladay or BEckett and sign Holliday. I think anyone would want to do that if they could and WE COULD do that. Omar just has to be smart and not trade away any of the core.
I wouldn’t have a problem with that as long as there ans for 1st base is not Murphy. I like murphy but he should not be the everyday 1st baseman. There is not a big market for 1st base this year(power) unless it is thru trade so if the Mets get a big time pitcher and Holliday for LF than as long as they go out and get a Nick Johnson type of player or even give Delgado a 1 year deal I wouldn’t have a problem with that.
The thing is Adrian Gonzo brings a lot more to the team than Holliday will. Holliday will at best give them 30 HR’s and around a .285 BA. Gonzo will blow that at of the water and give much better protection in the lineup which will make Beltran, Wright, etc. that much better. Plus at least for now Gonzo, costs a lot less money which gives them more room to move if they make a trade for Crawford. Gonzo, Crawford and free agent SP’s is far better than Holliday, Beckett and who ever they get for 1st
Why shouldn’t Murphy play everyday? He played his best and hit his best when he played there regularly, especially towards the end of the season. Give the kid a chance he just play a full season at 2 different positions he’d never played before when what should have happened is Murphy spend atleast half a season at AAA probably the whole season! Anybody else available (not named Adrian Gonzales or Carlos Delgado) is a huge upgrade over what Murphy can give the team especially for the money! Unless Delgado signs for a 1 yr to prove himself healthy I don’t see anybody else starting at 1B for the Mets. I feel the money will go to LF and Starting pitching as it should. (You might as well forget Gonzo it aint happening, no way Omar wipes out the farm on one player which frankly is what it would take) if he does he should be fired immediately!
IMO I would want Beckett. Pitching wins games. We then would sign Holliday. We aren’t the YAnkees but we still wan’t prospects to kepp. If we were the YAnkees, yes, we would go after both Beckett and Agon. Right now since there is only one good FA pitcher on the market which isn’t really a good chance of getting him, go after Holliday and BEckett. Your not trading the whole farm away and your not losing all your draft picks.
There are Webb who is staying woth the Dbacks, HAren who is unknown, HAlladay who is older and Beckett who I think is the best.
Maybe we can make a Reyes deal with Boston in a Beckett package… I’m so sick of Reyes…
Two Ex-Met OF (CFers) in the news:
(i) Twins traded Carlos Gomez to the Brewers for ss JJ Hardy.
(ii) Brewers CF Mike Cameron filed for free agency.
I have to assume, even with JJHardy’s poor performance last year, that Gomez was not acquired as a backup or as a tactic to get Cameron to resign.
I know that Gomez has not produced but he still has raw talent. Perhaps a full time chance (which he did not get last year) will allow him to blossom. He is still only 24.
As for Cameron, I always liked him despite him penchant to strikeout. At the time, I was not happy that the Mets went after Beltran, because I thought Cameron was better defensively, and that the Mets at the time should have gotten a RF or LF with a bat (i.e. Ordonez) instead. Anyway that is water under the bridge.
We need speed that will cover ground in the outfield. Cameron has great speed and has power/speed to exploit the field on offense as well. I wonder if the Mets would consider bringing him back. Sure, Pagan is cheaper and has tools, however his blips of common sense in the OF and on the bases is something that Cameron would improve on.
Of course a power bat is more important, but if we are left with secondary choices, I think Cameron would be a nice fit, especially since he actually played well in Queens the first time around.
I like Beckett and it’s worth looking into but i’m not trading Reyes for him.
I would never trade the Mets core IMO (reyes, Wright, johan and Bltran so far) of course
I agree, I think we can probably make one big trade with our prospects so if we sign Holliday we can do it for a pitcher, if we sign Lackey we can do it for a 1B.
YEah I agree with you big time.
LAckey and Agon
OR
Holliday and Beckett
which is better
If we go with the LAckey one and AGON we will have to get Crawford though
Or Holliday and HAlladay
My favorite combo personally is Holliday and Halladay, or if we get a 1B through trade, A gon’s contract is really decent I think we should sign both Lackey and Holliday although I”m not sure if the Wilpons would do that but if money is no object we should get all three, or do Gonzo, Holliday and then another decent pticher who is durable and can eat innings – Wolf maybe?
so you have something like
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Holliday
Beltran
Gonzo
F-Core
Catcher/Santos
P
sick lineup, plus durable rotation
Santana
Wolf
Pelfrey
Perez
Maine
Neise in AAA, Misch to the bullpen
No way. The Mets should definately get another pitvher instead of a hitter. THey could get rawfor for Left too.
I agree that pitching is more important I was just putting it out there that if we don’t end up signing Lackey then we could sign another decent pitcher and with adding both Gonzo and Holliday would increse the lineup so much. I would do all three though, Gonzo, Lackey, and Holliday
I was reading the article again and I must have missed this. “Is it possible that if the Red Sox find they and Beckett’s agent, Michael Moye, are speaking two different languages they would consider trading Beckett? Sure, but it is highly unlikely.” Highly unlikely.This means that HAlladay has a better chance as a Met than Beckett does. Not that I don’t like HAlladay because he is awesome but the MEts are gonna have to get LAckey or trade for a pitcher like Beckett or HAlladay.
If Josh Beckett were traded to the Mets, it would be just as good as when the Mets got Johan Santana. He does have great stuff in his pitching arsenal, but i do agree with MetsFan06 that Roy Halladay has more of a chance (slightly) to land as a Met.
I’d take anyone of them but I doubt it will happen. Just like the Agon rumor. It will be awesome but I doubt it will happen. What should happen is Holliday and LAckey becoming MEts.
Halladay is a better pitcher than Beckett … the only thing Beckett has over him is 3 years of age.
You could probably count on Halladay for 4 years … 2010-2113 … which would require a 3 year extension, if a trade were to happen, maybe add an option for a 4th.
Oswalt is another option, same age as Halladay, but i worry about his frame and his ability to last 3-4 more years …
Lackey, while maybe not quite as good as the above 3, has less mileage even though he will turn 32 next year …. he has been very consistent, and certainly good enough to pitch alongside Santana for the next 3-4 years.
Lackey is the best option, because he will be signed and doesn’t cost any players …. outside of a draft pick.
the only 2 players we should consider trading FOR are either Crawford or Gonzo …
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