Stan McNeal of the Sporting News previews the MLB Hot Stove season, discussing, ‘Truths and half-truths of free agency and trade talk.’
According to McNeal, “The Mets need a splash.”
…ugh… no… the Mets don’t NEED a splash… the Mets need to get their act together and win games… if they can do this by taking baby steps in the shallow-end of the pool, without creating a ripple, i’ll take it… just get it together, whatever it takes… but, this pretend idea that the team MUST make a splash, for, what, to get the back page from the Yankees, is how the team will get itself in trouble…
McNeal believes ‘some teams need to win in the winter,’ like the Mets, ‘to have a chance next summer.’
He concludes, “If the Mets don’t sign Matt Holliday or John Lackey or make a blockbuster trade, their offseason will be considered a disappointment. And another lousy season likely will follow.”
…really… is that how it works… just like that… so, who was Tampa Bay’s big splash in 2008… take your time… you can get back to me…
…again, it’s about quality, not quantity… make smart choices… cost and hype are secondary… i’ll take a smart, effective, inexpensive decision that leads to winning over a stupid, irrational and costly one that leads to losing any day…
To read more from McNeal, who writes about potential off season trades including Roy Halladay and Carl Crawford; bargain players who can be had; and how the economy might affect it all, check out his report for the Sporting News, here.
{ 26 comments }
It’s not the Mets that need a splash as much as the sportswriters who need splashes so they can fill their columns with something.
So, if it’s about quality, not quantity, then who are the quality players the Mets will be getting that can fill their needs at the front of the rotation and the middle of the order that is not considered a splash? Take your time… you can get back to me.
it just so happens that this offseason making a big splash is what we do need. Because, if so, that means we did acquire one of or maybe two of Holliday, Lackey, Bay, or Halladay. Those are the typer of players we need on roster, the type of quality that is currently missing.
I understand Matt’s overall view, however. The past two years we’ve made the big splash in the winter, but it was always coupled with poor depth re-enforcements. Regardless of who get, or dont get, out of those above four, we do need quality small pieces for the success over the course of the season. As we saw last year, depth killed us, and the year before that, the bullpen depth killed us.
Xavier is more onto it. The Mets will be the offseason topic for most of the writers, especially as punching bags. I am tired of reading how Citifield is the Grand Canyon, especially when the visiting players showed that wasn’t true.
the arguement can be made that the opposing hitters home runs compared to the Mets home runs speaks more about the quality of Mets pitching than about the Mets offense.
the visiting players also had the advantage of facing Met pitching; which had the effect of decreasing the distance to the fences.
In reality it is a pitcher’s park; but it is not PetCo
It’s a neutral park that doesn’t favor the pitchers nor the hitters. It maybe bigger than Shea but the ball carries better than it did at Shea.
The focus should be on building a team that can not only take advantage of Citi Field but also one that can win anywhere they play. Build a balanced team that can beat you in multiple ways.
Yes, this idea of building a team for citifield is ridiculous because what about the other 81 games and God willing road playoff games? Build a good team, good teams win in any ball park. The Yankees wouldve beaten anyone in baseball in a 7 game series whether it was in Yankee Stadium, Citifield, Yellowstone, or Williamsport.
Boston built teams for Fenway for mny years. Those were the lean years
I agree. There is too much attention being paid to the dimensions of CitiField. David Wright obsessed about it so much that he altered his entire approach and ended up having a down year.
Not only the Yankees but the Phillies are built to win in any park hence their great road record in 2009. Yes they have a team that can take advantage of their little league size ballpark but they also have speed and solid pitching.
Shea had horrible lighting which is why power pitchers had success there
The Mets need one big splash from the standpoint of needing something to sell tickets this off season. They don’t need to go nuts but they should make that one big move that helps them short and long term (Matt Holliday). From there they should focus on building a roster 25 men deep. They may not be able to do enough to overtake the Phillies this off season. In fact they should be realistic and approach the off season that way.
Use the model that the Red Sox have used the past 6-7 years which is to make moves that put you in a position to contend year in and year out instead of going all out for one or two season’s.
Matt, you’re losing it man. The Mets dont need Matt Holliday for back page reasons, they need him because David Wright is coming off his worst season as a Met, Beltran is getting older and seemingly more brittle, Delgado is likely gone, and I’m not so sure Daniel Murphy plans on hitting 30 HRs this year. The Mets need John Lackey because after Johan Santana who do you trust to win a game in the rotation? Orlando Hudson and Jason Marquis will not make us a playoff contender. Are you really already making excuses for the Mets doing nothing this offseason? Thats scary.
I agree with your point, but Matt always takes a more general view of things. This particular offseason we need one of those players because they just so happen fill a need of ours. It’s the add-ons and the small pieces that need to be quality for our depth to actually be trustworthy.
oh no doubt, we need some quality pieces for the bench and bullpen. No more tatis’, no more ramon hernandez’s. But we do need to get a Holliday and or Lackey and those guys are “big splashes” thus we need a big splash regardless of why. I just am very disappointed in Matt, you’d think following this team as closely as he does and claiming to be the fan he is he’d be as fed up with the losing as the rest of us and would want top talent when its available. I’m tired of this whole attitude that we have to be the anti-yankees, we have to have “grit” and “heart” and “hustle” and not just buy mercenaries. I say get the best team possible and win some freaking games.
You can make a case for everything. The Yankees made a huge splash last year by signing Sabathia, Teixeira, and Burnett. Look where it got them. As long as it’s a quality splash, then what’s the problem?
Also Matt the comparison to the 2008 Rays is really bad. They are a small market team that had a ton of high draft picks that came together at the same time. They also do not have the opportunity to make big FA splashes. The Mets are a big market team without the top 5 draft picks they had (though we have #6 this year), if we want to be good in 2010 we need to add QUALITY free agents (holliday, lackey). If you are content with “meaningful september games” then marquis (john maine part II) and orlando hudson will be enough to help us fall short for another year.
agreed, unfair comparison…they actually built a farm system…and they had to. only way they could compete. It also didn’t hurt that they sucked for so many years they kept getting elite talent in the draft…thats why there is a draft.
I just typed a post just like yours towards Matt regarding his laughable comparison of the 2008 Rays to the 2009 New York Mets but once I read yours I deleted it cause it would have been repetitive. Good post hit the weights Zeile. I completely agree with you.
I agree with both of you. The Mets need quality, not quantity but his point does make sense as well. The Yankees have made the playoffs something like 14 out of 15 years with 5 titles and a few WS appearances where they lost. The Mets on the other hand have 1 WS appearance in this decade (loss) and 1 LCS appearance (loss). In the years that the Mets brought in Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, KROD, Santana, the fan base was energized and flocked to buy tickets. In the last few years, we have dealt with two monumental chokes and an injury plagued season. As a die-hard, I even lost interest after a while and looked forward to football season.
The Yankees can live off of their continued playoff runs without doing anything for a few years and they will still come close to selling out every game. The Mets fans are not going to buy tickets, merchandise and other things if we continue to put the future of this team in signings like Castillo, Perez, and the like. No one cares. That is why the writer said they need to make a splash. Lets face it. If we wake up to find Lackey and Holliday in our lineup next season, we will be talking contention like we have the last 3 years. If we wake up to Marquis, some mediocre catcher and a 8th inning pitcher that no one knows of, we will be saying what the hell are they doing and how cheap can the Wilpons be.
i was at a charity event last nigh and Bob Ojeda was there. I got an opportunity to speak with him for a bit. First of all, he’s a great guy, really friendly. He said the Mets will definitely do something this offseason for those who are fearful this is all talk and they won’t do anything. Next he said for him, his #1 priority is a catcher. Hands down, they must get a catcher. Second he said would be another pitcher. Third he said would be first base. He was very down on Murphy on being an everyday first baseman. And lastly would be the corner OF. It was interesting to hear his take on things, especially with the catcher statement. The need for a catcher seems to be on the back burner for everyone else, and he said it has to be their first priority.
100% agreed with every word in this post
Apologies if I am just duplicating the same perspective that everyone has been saying as I just saw Matt’s post, which got me so fired up I didn’t have time to read everyone’s comments.
Maybe Matt you need to worry about the quality of your posts rather than the quantity. You did a good job of referencing the 2008 runner up Tampa Bay Rays, but what about the 2009 Yankees. Making splashes seemed to work out pretty well for them.
What exactly about a splah do you have a problem with. Yes firing Omar or Jerry could be considered a splash and that would be making a splash just to make a splash. But what is the downside to getting a Halladay or Holliday.
Yes I agree they shouldn’t make dumb moves just to make moves, but to underestimate the importance of making a splash right is catering to a small and unifluential audience.
There are many season ticket holders like myself who are on the fence about renewing their seats. And the Mets don’t charge Tampa Bay prices. You want to make these “smart moves” like Pinerio or Wolf or whoever it is you consider “smart” that’s fine but that is 4 season tickets they will be down.
I was at a charity event last night and Bob Ojeda was there. First of all, he’s a great guy. Very friendly. I asked him about the Mets plans and he said they absolutely will be making moves this offseason (for those like me who fear they talk a lot but wind up doing nothing). He also said his #1 priority for the team would be catcher. Secondly an arm for the rotation, third would be a first baseman and lastly a corner OF. He is not a fan of Murphy of being the first baseman. It was interesting to hear his comments about the catcher being priority #1. That is usually on the back burner as you just read about power bat and pitching.
You want a splash, that fills a hole relatively cheaply takes headlines from the Yankees and pisses them off, as well as takes little effort so you can still focus on Holliday and pitchers and catchers?
A little controversial, but how about Mattingly for manager? ;-)
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