Jon Heyman of SI.com lists Mets GM Omar Minaya second on his list of 20 people who are expected to be the real movers and shakers during the Winter Meetings.
According to Heyman, this winter, Minaya needs to fill holes in left field, first base, catcher, the rotation and bullpen, ‘while he is also trying to be rid of Luis Castillo‘s contract, presumably so they can sign Orlando Hudson or Chone Figgins.’
…i love and hate the Winter Meetings… it’s crazy, it’s fun, it’s infuriating, it’s unqiue, and it’s mind-numbing and yet, despite it all, there is that constant possibility that some huge announcement will go down, like last year, when the Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez and made a three-way deal to get J.J. Putz… in the end, i think most people see it as a gigantic tease, which it can be… but, it’s also a place for teams to meet in conference, negotiate and set up action for later in the winter… like i said, it’s crazy, and i can’t wait, as they start next Monday…
Heyman also reports on other news and notes from around MLB, including whether the Tigers are still looking to trade OF Curtis Granderson, and what the market will be for Aroldis Chapman, Jermaine Dye, Roy Halladay, and Edwin Jackson, all of which you can read here.
If we sign Matt Holliday I don’t think we need to bring in another 1B to platoon with Murphy, just let him get his ABs and develop. We’ve seen the strides he can make when Jerry gives him consistent playing time, and he was a rookie last year. I hate when people *cough* Francessa *cough* try to make it seem like he’s come horrible player.
Also, am I the only one who doesn’t mind keeping Luis Castillo? Esp. if we sign Matt Holliday. Castillo will put a lot of runs on the board with Wright, Holliday, and Beltran hitting behind him this year.
Dear MrShines 2me;
As I commented yesterday; Louie is the least of Omar’s problems!
He has much bigger fish to fry.
A hammer and a real starter; that won’t be easy. I actually like Omar and hope he does well this winter; for all our sakes!
how about a real starter named Halladay (Daniel Murphy will fill Toronto’s hole at 3B, hit .290 with 20 HRs and 90 RBI; Pelfrey will win 14 games and tease the Jays’ fans; some one of the real young, high ceiling prospects Mets tout will round it out);
Instead of holiday, how about spending same annual 17M salary, but on 3 hammers for one year contracts each … Delgado at 1B, Uggla at 2B, and Cameron in corner OF spot (75 HRs). Let’s make hard run with old coots playing for the next year’s contracts, while leaving Mets a little money to play in next winter’s (better) hot stove.
Then we leave Fmart, Ike, Havens, Thole, niewenhausen, neise and holt, etc., etc. alone in AAA to get ready for 2011.
Omar had better move and shake and then some, or he’ll be shakin’ his way to the unemployment line.
I also agree that Murphy can stay at 1st. There really is no need to get rid of him. How do you guys like my plan. This time it is realistic since my previous one’s weren’t and since Omar said he has money to spend, I think that is about 40 mill.
Sign Bay for 15 mill or Holliday for 17mill. Sign Sheets for 6mill. Sign Wolf or Marquis for 6 mill. Trade Castillo for bench and bullpen players. Sign Hudson for 5 mill. Get some cheap catcher. Boost the bench and get Biemel or Putz for 2-4 mill.
Total at the lowest: 38 mill
Total at the highest: 40 mill
OMG, I was okay with this at first, but get a load of this: Cora’s deal is for 2 million for 2010, and if he gets 80 Starts a 2 million option for 2011 kicks in! Yikes!
So we are gonna replace Reyes with Cora? Sometimes I think Omar doesn’t think. Maybe he’s constipated.
Did I mention he can earn another million in 2010 in incentives??????? I thought this ” Braintrust ” the Mets put together was supposed to prevent this sort of thing from happening!
Just wondering, where do u get this info from?
MLBTR
thx again.
Agreed that moving Castillo is least of problems, but i do see an opportunity there if Mets can import Uggla. That is an addition of 25 HRs plus upgrade of defense from ugly to merely bad… if non-tendered, he will draw interest, but what does he get, 7M +/- ?? Well worth it for run production.
I don’t think bath to be taken in getting rid of Castillo would be worth it just to replace him with Hudson. (Remember, Hudson lost starting job and has been dumped by LA … shouldn’t that say something?)
Frankly, I think he did something that caused that to happen. I can’t see the O-dog lose his job to Belliard.
1) He was batting 7th and 8th after the AS break for the anemic LAD offense.
2) If he were better don’t you think Torre would have had him in there for the playoffs?
idk. U got me there!
Then why did you say “Frankly, I think he did something that caused that to happen. I can’t see the O-dog lose his job to Belliard.”? And why do you imply he is this Godsend of a 2B?
I said that because you comeback was good and I didn’t know how to respond to that. Also, I just think that Hudson is the best availble FA 2nd basemen out there.
I don’t get the reverence this place has for Hudson (nice player), while Uggla is virtually ignored. Having Uggla in line-up would be Piazza-like in that we would be getting big time power from a position that traditionally provides none.