Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times says the Mets and Braves have shown interest in Rays OF Carl Crawford.
…this shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering he is one year away from free agency and a perfect fit for their hole in left field…
According to Smith, the Rays are interested in working out a long term extension with Crawford.
…i just don’t think the Rays can afford Crawford in the end and I do think at some point, probably in July, he will be dealt…I can see the Rays being interested in prospects and major league talent that would be under team control for a long time…
For more on Crawford and other rumors surrounding the Rays, check out Smith’s article here.
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omar needs to get creative. i do not think that a signing is the best move for LF. Crawford, Markakis, Either are guys we should look into and overwhelm whatever team for. Crawford is basically the perfect fit for the mets though and I would much rather make a deal for him and sign someone like wolf then trade and pay doc halladay
He is a fine player, but far from a perfect fit, the Mets need more power in the lineup, especially if Delgado isn’t resigned and Crawford just does not provide enough power to get the job done. Now if the Mets were to trade for A-Gon then Crawford makes alot more sense,……but there isn’t a snowballs chance in you know where that they beat out the Redsox for his services.
There is no way that we trade for both Crawford and Gonzo….
I agree, that’s why I’m saying Crawford isn’t the perfect fit.
I like Crawford, but I don’t know if he is the perfect fit…say we did trade for him, where exactly is power going to come from on this team? Beltran will be healthy, and Wright has nowhere to go but up, but I just don’t see this team being able to score enough.
Carl Crawford is overated. When will you people begin to realize this?
Also, why do you want to rely on 2 key guys(Reyes and Crawford), whose whole game is based on their legs? Playing with fire.
Another thing. I know most of you dont know this because you have never actually watched Crawford on any kind of consistent basis….hes not what you would label a “smart” player.
Crawford is a waste of time. Instead of posting how the Mets are going to peny pinch their way back to 2nd place how about showing more of a demand for them to go above and beyond the call of duty.
If not, sell the dam team. Im tired of the Jermain Dyes, Jose Guillens, Pinieros, Wolf, etc etc etc etc
Crawford certainly isn’t overrated but, the problem is, if we were to trade for a guy like Crawford our line up would still be lacking in power. Where do you make that up? The only bats with pop in the FA market are LF’ers.
He’s overrated if you look at people on this site calling him the “perfect” fit. Crawford is a fine ballplayer, no doubt, but his career OBA is too low, especially for a guy ho relies on his speed. Last year it was .364 which is okay, but only okay.
People on this site go gaga for the Crawfords and the Hudsons of the world when there’s little to go gaga over.
I couldnt have said it better myself. Good post swingers, especially about ownership. I too am sick of hearing how Mets ownership are going to look at the second tier guys available because everyone else is too expensive. Its pathetic.This is New York – If you can’t afford it than sell the team!
I would first go after Holliday and Bay before pitching. Then go after Harden, Sheets or Bedard to be your #2. So far that is like 22-25 mill spent. Then get a catcher. Barajas is great and is cheap. Him or Molina should end up on the Mets. So far that is about 25-30 mill spent. Get another cheap pitcher like Wolf or MArquis.That should be about 30- 35 mill spent. Trade Castillo and sign Hudson. Now thats about 34-39 mill spent. Reign Cora. That’s 35-40 mill. Noe lastly, resign Putz or get Biemel. That’s about 39-44 mill spent in an off-season.
how does this relate to any discussion about Crawford?
By saying that the Mets shouldn’t get him because they have to fill other positions too. It wouldn’t make sence by trading for a guy that wouldn’t fill the roles that you need.
That’s a stretch. Where is there any mention of Crawford and of his +’s and -’s and how they fit into the Mets’ needs or don’t fit?z
I didn’t know I was in English class! Well here’s your “evidence”. Crawford is a very good LF, maybe one of my favorites but I don’t think that he is a perfect fit for the MEts. Here are the +’s and -’s
+”s: Very good defensive fielder and has a ton of speed. If he hits a line-drive into the right-center gap it will probably be an inside-the-parker.
-’s: Doesn’t have a whole lot of power. Probably will hit 15hr’s in 2010. Rely’s on his legs too much. He’ll probably get injured just like Reyes did. The Mets need power so he isn’t a perfect fit. If we already had Agon at 1st, then why not.
This is why I don’t think Crawford is a perfect fit.
That’s better. I like Crawford. If they can get a 35+ he guy at first he is a good fit. But you have made your point quite well.
Thx. That is why I got an A, in English.
You actually got an A [comma] in English? Why the comma?
I don’t know why. Why not?
Curtis Granderson fits with the Mets like a glove
That’s your opinion but IMO, he doesn’t. He strikes out too much and isn’t really a power guy. Although, I think he plays terrific defense.
Maybe he does strike out some, but not a ton…
He is actually a good power guy, hit 31 homers in a PITCHER’S ballpark, probabley more so than Citi…
He also hits a ton of triples and doubles….
This guy is the answer for LF… I don’t know what it will take to acquire him, but Omar and the gang should be heavily pursuing this guy.
Crawford?
Granderon.
Check out his RH/LH splits, and then tell me if you still feel that he is the “perfect fit”
I hate the righty, lefty bullcrap… its all just fluff…
I don’t know about you guys but I think trading for Agon and sign Lackey is a huge improvement that will only cost us 20 mill. Do you think it is better than getting Holliday or Bay and one of Sheets/HArden or Bedard.
I couldn’t agree with you more that is my offseason wish
I agree 100 percent too. Only thing is, who plays left field…. you wont have fmart to play there because he would be shipped to the padres. im not content with pagan as my starting leftfielder
Agreed on A-Gon but instead of Lackey i would do 2 of Sheets/Hardin/Bedard and definatly go on Wolf. Then sign Cameron for LF as he is a great fielder with speed AND power. I say 2 of those guys because we would amost definatly would have to trade Maine for A-Gon along with others. Any comments thougts?
I prefer Hardin and Beddard over Lackey. Beddard’s injury was not as bad as was feared and he did very well last year. Hardin is not a major injury risk if you limit him to about 25 games. Lackey has missed starts the last two years.
Given the questions I don’t think Maine is a major piece. Pelfrey, Davis, Parnell, and Holt should get you close.
I never thought about Shhets and Harden or Bedard instead of LAckey. If you think about it, the cost will probably be the same. And for Cameron, no thank you. Maybe Ankiel and that would be a terrific outfield.
Ankeil wasn’t the same after he hit the wall. Nobody is losing sleep here in St Louis about him leaving. I’d think again about putting him full time in LF. He would make a nice platoon and late inning replacement.
Who else would be good for LF then. We don’t have a lot of options if you really think about it.
And this may be a dumb question but if we trade for Agon, would we sign him for an extension because I would absolutley do that.
no brainer on the extention
Regarding LF: not sure about Granderson’s salary but a platoon of him and Ankiel is open to discussion. You can’t go hog wild because you’ll see a spike in salary after two years (AGon from $5M to $20M). I don’t think it would take both FMart and Davis so you still have FMart possibly mid-season so a stop gap may be a good idea. I don’t think FMart will be a Beltran. But he should be as additive as Drew is for the Red Sox, just with a different set of skills. In that case Pagan and a platoon may hold the fort until then. With AGon you really just need someone on a a JD Drew / Swisher level
Who do you think the Mets should go after for LF? I was stuck on Ankiel bu then you backed up the reasons why not to get him and now I’ll say no thankyou.
If he is cheap enough I say get him. But not as an everyday player. See elsewhere about LFer
You’re getting good at this.
sheets may be cheap (guaranteed money wise) since he missed all last year. I wouldn’t rely on him as a #2 though
Not sure Ankiel is as good as people think, granted i haven’t watched him much but he kinda fell off last year and not sure he’s better than what we already have.
I live in St Louis. He has the skills of Roy Hobbs. Unreal fielder with a rocket launcher. Great range. Great power. He seemed to have gotten it together in 2008. Last year he got off to a slow start the dove for a ball, slid across the warning track, and rammed his head into the bottom of the wall. He really wasn’t the same afterwards. I think the fa a here have been through a lot with him; the falling apart as a pitcher, the HGH, the …
He may be cheap and a good platoon with Francouer, spell Beltran, late inning whomever plays left, and be a power bat off the bench. Relying on him for fill time is probably unwise.
So i guess with all our other needs we really can’t use him. Thank you for filling me in Sylow59, much appreciated.
The Mets will kick the tires of almost every available free agent and investigate every possible trade to upgrade their roster.
Endless possibilities…
If that wasnt sarcasm I want whatever you’re on.
I hate these posts. Really? The Mets “showed interest?” Amazing. It’s such a vague term.
The Mets would be interested in Mr. Rogers at this point if he could play LF. It’s space filling speculation.
In the name of speculation, Crawford to the Mets has it’s ups and downs:
The Rays are not a struggling team looking to shed one expensive player and rebuild. They have Crawford for next season and will be looking to make the playoffs. TB has loads of prospects on the verge of the majors, ready to replace him but Crawford is reasonably priced at 10.5M for this year meaning he will not be cheap. The mets would need do give up a blue chip prospects to land him for 1 year. As for his fitting team needs, he is not a power bat LF so that means 1st base would need to. Also Crawford has only touched 30 doubles twice in his 8 year career, not the gap machine a lot of people imagine.
Despite this he gives energy, defense, speed and a fresh face to Mets lineup that could use it. Someone above mentioned relying on his legs as a liabilty combined with Reyes but there is that old sports adage, “speed doesn’t slump”. Crawford been consistantly healthy and averaged 45.5 SB/per season in his career. That speed with Wright, Beltran, and Reyes atop the lineup could be deadly for opponents. Also that speed allowed him to have a UZR/150 average of nearly 20 in LF for his career. Range like that with Beltran in CF would make the gaps and corners of the CitiField Outfield feel much smaller to opponent hitters. That would be a fun OF to watch go turn balls into flyouts that look like they should drop in for doubles off the bat.
For conversational purposes, Crawford is a quality player (2009 WAR – 5.5), but is he the best fit for the Mets at this point? I would think not, the prospects and money could be allocated better other places. Crawford is more of the icing on the cake type of addition; maybe at the deadline or FA signing next year type thing if at all.
I agree with some of the earlier posters that pointed out that crawford might not be quite as great as some others seem to think.
Good fielder, so from that standpoint, it would help the pitching staff.
but, he was horrible in 2008 batting (an OPS below what Castillo put up in 2009), and he has never, in his career, put up an OPS as high as what Pagan put up this year.
and at 31, how many years does he have left before he loses that step and becomes another castillo?
also, not really cheap, if it means taking the money that could go to a SP upgrade, and the prospects required to trade for one.
and, if they dont sign a long (and expensive!) extension, he is a 1 year rental. And if they do sign him, he will be a very expensive mid-30s OF with no power very soon.
Pass unless he comes way cheap, and that wont happen most likely, since the yankees probably would then jump in, or the rays will keep him until the deadline, or all the way and get the arb picks.
Crawford is the perfect two hitter for citifeild he plays good defense and is a gap hitter. The power they are missing in left us replaced by the power hitter we uhave in center. Sign Delgado, trade for crawford and you have the best defensive out feild in baseball, and a better lineup than in 2006.
Reyes
Crawford
Beltran
Delgado
Wright
Francoer
Thole/ Santos maybe free agent
Castillo
5 of the eight guys can steal 20 + bases and 3-6 can all hit 20 home runs
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