Daily Archives: November 16, 2009
The Mets will play their first Spring Training game on Tuesday, March 2 against the Braves in Port St. Lucie, Fla., the team announced in a press release.
Tickets for Mets Spring Training games will go on sale at Tradition Field Saturday, January 23 at 10 a.m. Tickets and information are available online at Mets.com or by calling 772-871-2115.
The Mets will open the regular season on Monday, April 5 at 1:10 p.m. against the Marlins at Citi Field.
To view the full Spring Training schedule, go to Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News, here.
Last week, the New York Post and ESPN said the Tigers are shopping OF Curtis Granderson, who will earn $26 million over the next three seasons.
Last week, Buster Olney of ESPN.com said, while teams like the Cubs, Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Orioles and others might look in to the possibility of making a deal for Granderson, “it’s unlikely that anybody is going to hand over a couple of big-time prospects for 
him because of his lefty-righty splits.”
Nevertheless, Matt Pignataro of Seven Train to Shea believes the Mets could look to trade Fernando Martinez, Ruben Tejada and Brad Holt to the Tigers for Granderson.
…i have no idea if that rumor is true or not… but, it got me to thinking about fernando, and whether i would be dissapointed or releaved to see the Mets trade him… on one hand, i have been pumped for of hype on this kid for years now, so, whether he will or will not be a star, i have a hard to giving up on him… plus, he’s only 20 years old… i mean, at 20 years old, David Wright was batting .250 in the Single-A Sally League… this year, in his fourth professional season, fernando hit .290 with 26 extra base hits in 45 games for Triple-A Buffallo… of course, he struggled with the Mets, then had season-ending knee surgery… on the other hand, he’s seemingly always injured, and how long will the Mets wait for him to get it together, for fear that his stock keeps dropping…
…frankly, right now, being that he hasn’t played since summer, where he struggled in the big leagues, if wonder if the Mets could even trade him for full value, assuming they wanted to…
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Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes the Yankees are not interested in signing free-agent OF Matt Holliday.
According to Olney, “They’ll talk to Scott Boras to keep other bidders honest, but corner outfield is not a priority for them.”
Meanwhile, last week on SI.com, Jon Heyman said Omar Minaya is extremely interested in Holliday.
… like i said last week, i still keep hearing teams intend to offer around $80 million over five years… this is not to say they refuse to pay more… i just don’t think teams think they have to… yet… also, i don’t think what people say about the Yankees, or what people report they may or may not do, i don’t think any of it matters… they’re omnipresent… it’s like, they’re always there, hanging over negotiations… because, who knows, like with Mark Teixeira, it would surprise nobody if, at the last second, holliday signs some absurd deal and ends up in the Bronx… so, report on buster…
Last week, in a post to his blog for the New York Post, Joel Sherman explained why he believes the battle for Holliday will come down to the Mets and Cardinals.
…in the end, i believe that if either of these two teams steps up, guarantees a sixth year and pushes the contract’s total north of $100 million, the deal will be done… but, with boras, we are miles and months away from that even being allowed to happen, i would think…
To read more from Olney, check out his Twitter page, here, where he also writes about interest Craig Counsell, Brandon Lyon and Rays OF B.J. Upton.
This past weekend, WFAN’s Evan Roberts talked to Jon Heyman of SI.com, who definitively said, ‘Yes,’ when asked if the Blue Jays will trade Roy Halladay this winter.
Heyman said he believes, as of now, Halladay would like to sign a contract extension with the team he is traded to, as opposed to exploring free agency the following off season.
…heyman said this, but i am also hearing more and more buzz around baseball suggesting the Blue Jays will trade halladay to the Yankees or Red Sox, because they don’t necessarily see themselves as competing with these two clubs… technically, they’re competing with them, plus every other team in the American League, with regards to the Wild Card… and, the Jays would have to more to lose in terms reducing the number of teams who could bid on him, than they would lose in directly trading him to Boston or New York, with whom he might only pitch against them two or three times in a season…
Heyman doesn’t see how the Rangers could afford him, in terms of a contract, nor be able to pull off such a trade while the team is in the middle of bringing in a new owner. Similarly, he doesn’t see the Phillies adding an additional $20 million to their payroll, in any way, shape or form, not even for Halladay.
He also believes Halladay wants to sign his next long-term contract with a team that trains in Florida and plays on the East Coast, noting, ‘The list I heard last summer, for him, did not include the two Los Angeles teams.’
…the Mets have all of the above going for them, in terms of trying to trade for halladay, plus the following: 1) they have the money and talent to get him… and 2) i believe the Red Sox would prefer to trade those top prospects to get Adrian Gonzalez, while the Yankees are believed to be done giving out those sort of six– or seven-year deals, like they gave to CC Sabathia, and like halladay is going to want… the problem is, from what i can gather, the Yankees are willing to trade Phil Hughes to get halladay, and i’m not sure how the Mets compete with that…
In the end, though, Heyman just doesn’t see the Mets locking up $46 million in two pitchers, i.e., Halladay and Johan Santana.
…in short, in reading the tea leaves here, just guessing based on the above, if halladay wants an extension from the team he goes to, and the Red Sox are more focused on gonzalez and San Diego, i’m thinking it could be Mets vs. Yankees in the race for halladay…
…at the very least, these two teams could use a chase for halladay as a way to lower the asking price of free-agent John Lackey…
To listen to WFAN online, all day, click here; and to read more from Heyman, follow him on Twitter, here, or read his Daily Scoop column for SI.com, here.
In a report about the Arizona Fall League for Baseball America, Ben Badler profiles Mets 20–year-old pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia.
According to Badler, “Mejia’s fastball is a swing-and-miss offering, not just because of its velocity but because of its outstanding movement.”
…there has been a lot of talk this off season about the Mets maybe moving mejia to the bullpen… i have had other minor-league gurus tell me it is too early for such a transition… however, they all see how he could one day be a successful closer, especially with his small frame… they say, typically, he has very good command, and, in short relief, could be very successful using his three different fastballs and change-up, getting lots of strike outs and ground balls with me on base…
Mejia is 1–3 with an 11.91 ERA 11 innings pitched this fall, during which he has struck out 13 batters and walked 11.
To read a review and see video of Mejia’s last appearance in the AFL, go to Mets Minor League Blog, here.
To read more on Mejia, as well as other news and notes about players in the AFL, check out Badler’s report, here.
Speaking of young pitchers, to read a profile of Aroldis Chapman, who is still a free agent, check out Jeff Passan’s report for Yahoo! Sports.
Last week, the Cincinnati Enquirer asked Reds GM Walt Jocketty if he would trade 1B Joey Votto, and he said, “Oh God, no.”
Nevertheless, in a post to the Bleacher Report, Nick Adamo explains why, “Omar Minaya better make an attempt to bring Votto to the Mets.”
Votto, 26, who hit .322 with 25 HR last 
season, will earn the league minimum salary next season, he is eligible for arbitration the following three seasons, and cannot be a free agent until 2013.
Meanwhile, Kevin, the Pessimistic Mets Fan, makes the case for acquiring Carl Crawford.
The Mets need pitching, according to the Real Dirty, and Andrew on Hot Foot believes the Mets could use Chien-Ming Wang.
Inversely, the Mets Citi Blog lists six free agents the Mets should avoid signing, such as Benjie Molina and Nick Johnson.
Lastly, Brian Costa of the Star Ledger asks four Mets bloggers to weigh in on the state of the team.
“The Reds have re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez to a one-year contract,” report 
Ken Rosenthal on FoxSports.com.
…i was never able to determine if the Mets would have shown interest in hernandez, had he become a free agent… nevertheless, in the end, the penny-pinching Reds will probably end up saving a a few million dollars on next year’s payroll by declining his option, like they did, then re-signing him to a new one-year deal…
The 33–year-old Hernandez hit .258 with five HR and 37 RBI in 81 games this season, missing nearly nearly half of the year with season-ending knee surgery.
The Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones have officially named Wally Backman as the team’s new manager.
“I am thrilled and grateful to be coming back to the Mets organization,” Backman said in a press released, issued by the team. “The greatest days of my professional career were spent here in New York, and I have always felt a special connection to the city.”
…i will not lie, i did not believe backman would ever be brought back in to the fold by the Mets… people from NY Baseball Digest, Joe Janish of Mets Today, Playing for Peanuts, Brooklyn Met Fan, etc., all insistented otherwise…
…i’m glad i was wrong… i like knowing backman and his attittude and style of play, for better or worse, will be able to influence the team’s younger prospects, while doing it in New York, where these kids can get an idea of what their future could possibly hold…
In a weekend report for the New York Post, Joel Sherman wrote the following about Mets GM Omar Minaya:
“Rival executives and agents described a man not fully in charge of baseball operations regardless of what Mets ownership says. One NL official said that lag time between discussing business with Minaya and the time it took him to respond suggested he had to run the information through a committee.”
Sherman quotes an agent, regarding Minaya, “He looked old, beaten and without a plan this time.”
…this idea of a lag time when dealing with the Mets is something i have heard from all sorts of people around baseball, be it from other teams, reporters or agents… the thing is, i do not know 100 percent if it’s a bad thing… i’m not saying it’s good, i’m just not sure it’s the end of the world, either… for instance, some of these same people, some of whom work for the team, have said previous administrations were more controlling, more focused, and more slow, because everything, be it a press credential to a trade, all had to go through one person… and so, things were slowed down, just as much as they may be slowed down by too many people being involved… the way other people in baseball have explained it to me is, the Mets do not come across as confident or certain in what they’re doing, and that, more than anything, is what may be slowing things down… in short, they explained, it’s not the quantity of decision makers, its the quality of the decisions…
…in the end, these sort of things are meaningless if the ends up being better next spring than it is now… so, instead of blaming what hasn’t happened yet on the assessments of others, i think i’d rather see what the team actually ends up doing, and then judge it all when i can see the final Opening Day roster…
This past weekend, WFAN’s Evan Roberts talked to Jon Heyman of 
SI.com, who said it is doubtful the Mets would be able to acquire 2B Brandon Phillips from the Reds, because they will have to trade Luis Castillo first.
In the end, he said, it might be easier for Omar Minaya to trade Castillo and then sign a free-agent second baseman. In the event Minaya can trade Castillo, Heyman said, the Mets are more likely to sign Hudson than Chone Figgins.
Speaking of Castillo, Heyman was sure to point out that trading Castillo to the Dodgers for OF Juan Pierre, which he wrote in his last column, was pure speculation on his part, and, as far as he knows, not something that is actually be talked about between the two teams.
In terms of the outfield…
Heyman believes the Mets are focused on putting a power hitter in left field, and they prefer free-agent OF Matt Holliday to Jason Bay. He says the team feels Holliday could also play defense in left field in Citi Field better than Bay, plus, Minaya believes Holliday would be ‘great in the clubhouse.’
Lastly, Heyman said he has not heard yet whether the Rays will look to trade Carl Crawford.
To listen to WFAN online, all day, click here; and to read more from Heyman, follow him on Twitter, here, or read his Daily Scoop column for SI.com, here.
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