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.
{ 23 comments }
Cerrone I just want to say thanks for the great work you do on this blog. I’ve been on the knickblog a little recently and its pretty brutal. Its just one opinion after another. The sole purpose being that the reader knows the blog owner is “in the know”. You on the other hand run a top notch blog, keep doing what your doing it works
I’d like to echo these sentiments, and also add that Matt works harder than any blogger out there. I’m not trying to be negative on the other bloggers in this community, but if you compare this site to any of the other major teams, be it the Knicks, Mets minor league, Jets, etc…there just always seems to be fresh new reading material everytime I hit refresh.
Aside from the fact that Matt is ruining my professional and personal life all at once, he’s doing a great job. Thank you.
I think the fact that Matt is ruining our professional and personal lives shows just how good he is.
Hot Stove and Trade-deadline are some of the best times of the year for Metsblog.
I’d want Figgins over Hudson.
Thanks. I’ll let Omar know. Is there a reason that I should pass along to him, or do I just tell him “because Elastic said so…”?
lol @davidus! ahh, I would just skip Omar and go straight to the Wilpons, you know cut out the middle man! lol
yeah im in stats class right now.
Thanks cerrone, now i know nothing of statistics
Why are you being such a rude tool?
Brandon Phillips is a stud 2B. He is an absolute luxury at the position. Above average defense, and he has average 22 HRs and 86 RBI over the last 4 seasons including hitting 30 HRs and having over 90 RBI twice during that time.
You name the price, I’d be hard pressed to say no.
I’d pay ALL of Luis Castillos contract and give them a Brad Holt type of prospect (i.e. a top prospect, but not top 3) in exchange for Phillips and a big contract like Harrang or Arroyo. I won’t walk away from the deal just because its Harrang we take back and not Arroyo, even though Arroyo is the obvious preference.
If we did this, we could still afford a Matt Holliday, though not too much more. Also ownership would have to sign off on the sunk cost and basically say “Look we’re getting Brandon Phillips, so lets just eat the Castillo thing and not let it kill our budget…lets stick to the offseason plan”
I’ll pass this on to Fred Wipon during cocktails on Friday. What’s your real name so I can have Freddie send you some tickets for such a great idea.
I am concerned about Hudson as to why he did not start in the playoffs for the Dodgers? I just wonder about how much more he gives the Mets that Castillo does. Phillips and Figgins are both better than either one of the others so why does Omar want Hudson?
Well for starters Hudson would be cheaper than both those guys ( be it prospect or cash cost) Secondly, Figgins isn ‘t even a true 2nd baseman, Hudson certainly has him beat there! That said, Phillips is the ideal choice if it coul be done. Honestly I think that if they could trade for phillips the Wilpons would have no problem eating Castillo’s contract if he couldn’t be moved.
I think there is a mythical nature concerning Holliday’s power. He doesn’t have much. He hit 24 homers last year, hitting behind pujols alot of the time. So in Citi Field, in this lineup, He might not even hit 20 homers. Are you guys really willing to give the guy almost a million dollars for every homerun he hits? Hes a good, not great, player.
Yes, but he was also on pace for 40 HRs while in St. Louis. All while batting over .350 and driving in a ton of RBI.
Also its not just about HRs. Matt Holliday hits for an incredible average and drives in a ton of runs. In fact he’s very much like David Wright when comparing the stats, just a notch better though.
Matt Holliday would be a dream acquisition for this team. Unfortunately though it will cost a lot, but if things work out and the economy has hurt the competition enough (and left us stable enough) we could probably get Matt for a contract that is reasonable to both the fans and the player.
dont get me wrong, I’d take him in a heartbeat. I just wouldnt want to overpay drastically for him.
from baseball reference:
HR RBI
Home 37 138
Away 20 85
BA SLG tOPS+
Home 0.351 0.632 125
Away 0.284 0.454 74
Career stats converted to 162 game seasons for Home and Away. Since Citi is not Coors (the major bulk of the home stats) and is a slightly better pitcher’s park then the Away stats are what you should expect. I fail to see where you get this offensive juggernaut of which you speak.
Also, StL: 13HR / 63G x 162G = 33HR so where does this 40HR pace come from???
for the record Jason Bay’s Home / Away seasonal notation splits:
HR RBI
Home 27 110
Away 38 104
BA SLG OPS
Home 0.282 0.507 0.893
Away 0.278 0.532 0.898
Bay’s away stats are clearly better then Holliday’s away stats.
plus, last year 21 of his 36 HRs were on the road. Bay is also a pull hitter whereas Holliday is not. Thus, Bay will less impacted by Citi’s CR – RF dimensions than would Holliday.
Expecting 20 from Holliday is reasonable, expecting 35 from Bay is reasonable. For clean-up power bat Bay is the clear cut choice. Holliday, as a Met, is a disdaster waiting to happen/
you are correct, see my posting below.
yeah the problem is Holliday wil get carlos beltran money and he isnt half the player carlos beltran is
Put him into NY as the power bat for anywhere near 7/$17 then producing 20HR and you have yourself a feeding frenzy and it will handcuff the Mets for several years to come.
We dont need juan pierre.If we get him we are giving up so many great free agent outfielders.Oh yeah,figgins over hudson
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