Mets GM Omar Minaya talked to MLB Home Plate and said there has been no change to the team’s budget and ability to spend from the time he joined the team as GM to now, and that he is capable of exceeding the current budget if the right player is available, while adding:
“In Montreal, I can tell you, we had a hard number. But, one of the good things about working in New York is that you do have some wiggle room… Every year I have been here I’ve been given the opportunity to go out and get the better players, whether it was a trade
for Johan Santana, or signing Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, and I expect that to happen again. That being said, you want to be able to get a player and feel what you are paying is fair for the quality of that player. I think, at some point in time, we’ll be able to get our players, it just takes a little longer sometimes.”
…people are way too obsessed about the team’s budget… also, i don’t understand why people are so convinced the Mets will not spend this off season… yes, they have not yet spent… but, who has… last i checked, the big-money free agents are all still available…
…the thing is, who cares… seriously… the Mets spent more money than any other team in the National League the last four years, and, despite that, look what it got them, as fans are more frustrated and restless than ever… so, money is not the issue…
…instead, the issue is the decisions they have been making, and how they’ve been spending that money, and the type of performance they are getting in return… i mean, i’d take a smart, effective, inexpensive acquisition over a stupid, ineffective, expensive move any day… why… because it was smart and effective… that’s the goal…
…there is no trophy for biggest payroll… it’s about talent… yes, money can help get the best talent… but, the best talent doesn’t always cost the most money…
Minaya also said Jose Reyes is ‘coming along very well,’ and should be ready for Spring Training, as should Beltran and Santana.
…one other thing, it is amazing to me how much more comfortable and coherent omar is when talking to, say, ESPN or MLB Home Plate, etc., and not addressing his home-town reporters… i have no idea what that means, but it must mean something…
Now, thats what I want to hear,…………yet ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS! GET IT DONE OMAR!
Yup!!!! I also want to know what this pick a guy in the Rule 5 and trade him immediately is all about. I agree it might be part of a bigger deal, let us know.
heh..Mets circumventing rules. It’s against the rules to trade picks, so they just make the pick for the dodgers and sign the player. :-D
YEA, No way Omar gives up a 7 round pick for nothing even if it is a rule 5 pick,…………..he is the “lightning in a bottle king” so for him to flip this guy so easy doesn’t make sense on it’s face.
Except for the fact that a good number of these picks are flipped in such a manner each year. It’s not like this is the first time anyone has done this and it is so outrageous and earth-shattering.
But isn’t that like buying the cow after you got the milk?
Perhaps he was traded just to get him away from the Phillies?
I posted this in another thread but like you said he is getting this player away from the Phillies. Also, where the Braves and Marlins interested in this guy with a pick after the Mets but before the Dodgers? Why not make the pick and trade him to the Dodgers to make sure he’s not picked up and in the Mets Division if he does turn out to be good.
Matt, I agree with you but I think a lot of Mets fans see what the Yankees are doing across town and the knee-jerk reaction is instantly “why aren’t we doing that?”
Doing what? Spending, literally, a billion dollars more than anyone else over the last 10 years, all to win ONE ring, while the Marlins do significantly less and win the same number of times?
I never said I agree with what the Yankees are doing, just that it causes a lot of Mets fans to think we should be doing the same.
Personally, what the Yankees are doing is making a complete mockery of the game and borderline ruining it too.
Hi Brian – You make a very good point.
I would say, with the team in the state it’s in, a move for the sake of making a move at the winter meetings is more of a knee jerk reaction and not productive towards winning, rather than making a calculated move to improve the team. As Omar said, a lot of the time, moves take a while to transpire. I am sure the groundwork has been laid to make major changes to the roster.
I wouldn’t worry about what the Yankees are doing either. While I agree with you that they are the story of the winter meetings, the Mets simply need to make moves to improve their team, and focus on that, no matter how long it takes.
Agreed Michael…you can’t even take the Yankees seriously anymore, so it actually lessens the blow a bit when they win. They’ve become such a complete joke that I don’t lose sleep at night like I did when those (relatively) home-grown teams were dominating in the late 90′s.
Instant gratification is not quick enough for some fans.
Matt, I agree.
I’d rather have the Mets just trade for an inexpensive option like Shoppach and Navarro than overspend on Molina.
I’d rather have them wait until the non-tender deadline to see if they could land a younger, less expensive utility player with some upside rather than spend $2M for Cora’s clubhouse leadership.
I’d rather them not trade Castillo if it means eating a large portion of his contract or taking on an even worse contract, just so they can sign Orlando Hudson, who’s good but not great.
That said, I’d rather then spend money rather than try to find value when it counts. For instance,
I’d rather have them spend more money to get John Lackey – a top-of-the-rotation guy, than sign Jason Marquis at half the price because Marquis is no better than John Maine or Mike Pelfrey.
Veteran clubhouse leadership is more important than you think. In spring training you have so many players doing different drills and a coach cannot be everywhere or give every player 1-1 instruction. So you need a player/coach that players look up to that these young players can talk to and learn from. Would you be happier if they did not sign him as a player and was just hired as a coach at $2 mill? How much is Howard Johnson or Wally Backman making?
I can assure you that neither Backman not Johnson is making $2M. In fact, I’m pretty sure both of them combined make about half of what Cora makes.
Thing is I don’t want to overpay for a role-player to bring leadership to the team. That’s why I pay superstars like Johan, Wright, Reyes and Beltran to do. Role-players are just that.
It’s not my money but if funds are limited I still don’t get the need to give Cora $2M, especially when he’s coming off ligament surgery.
I agree with you Matt, what frustrates me about this FO is their willingness to dish out contracts to lower level players that seem to add up and restrict their ability to go all out after a big time talent. No one can accuse them of being cheap but it seems they are often cheap with top talent bc they have wasted money on subpar talent already. Frankly, there is nothing wrong with having a budget considering they still have the highest payroll in the NL, its just so frustrating seeing HOW they use that money. I still firmly believe that at least half the other GMs in baseball with our payroll in the NL could’ve made the playoffs more than once by now.
If the Mets only have $30M to spend, then they are not getting Lackey AND Holliday. If so, I’d rather them go after Lackey because they need someone to ride shotgun with Johan.
(1) Sign Lackey. Call him a #1, a #2. Whatever. I’m not for labels. He’s a top-of-the-rotation guy and he and Johan would make a very good 1-2 punch. That would then allow you to trade Pelfrey or Maine for a bat.
(2) Sign Mike Cameron to play LF. Is it a sexy pick? No. But it’s solid. Cameron still has pop in his bat and speed. Plus, his defense would give the Mets the best defensive outfield in baseball along with Beltran and Francoeur.
(3) Wait until the non-tender deadline and then see if you can pick up an inexpensive right-handed 1B to platoon with Murphy. If not, then let Nick Evans platoon with Murphy.
(4) Forget Molina. Trade for either Navarro or Shoppach. The Rays are not keeping both and I don’t think they’ll non-tender either, but they should be looking to move one so I’d go that route.
Omar is talking about back loading contracts. Therefore, the Mets could realistically sign Holliday to a 6 year $100 mill deal where the first year is $12 mill. Then they could do the same with Lackey. They’ll have Perez and Castillo’s contracts ($18 mill) gone in 2 years. Ike Davis, Thole, Niese and FMart will probably be on the squad by then at low contracts so you can afford the higher contract at the end.
Look, I don’t dislike the Wilpons. I think they get a bum rap sometimes. People call them cheap, yet they’ve had the highest payroll in the NL that last few years and the 3rd or 4th highest in baseball. They spend money.
That said, it irks me that they allow Minaya to spend it on stupid things like Cora and Julio Franco for 2 years.
It also irks me that the Wilpons sometimes act like they think their fans are stupid. For instance, when Jeff Wilpon was on Mike Francesa’s show a few months back he claimed that the Mets spend money on the draft and that “they went above slot for their first selection.” First off, the facts were that the Mets spend less overall in the draft than any other team. Did Jeff not think that their fans were smart enough to check the facts? Second, the Mets went overslot for Matz, but not by much.
I just hate feeling insulted by the lack of respect for the intelligence of fans.
that’s business talk; they always spin to try and make themselves look good, and I bet most fans bought it.
It doesn’t bother me.
Are the Wilpons the best ownership group – probably not- but they are far from the worst.
They went overslot for Matz. and got him. why should they have given him more? They signed most of their draft picks. They didn’t have as many as other teams, hence the lower overall money spent.
That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not saying that they should have paid Matz more. I’m saying that Jeff Wilpon’s view of the facts are distorted and in a way insults fans’ intelligence.
(1) They went above slot for Matz and got him. The Mets should be commended for that, but Wilpon’s point on Matz signing is that his signing was proof that the Mets go above slot, which is not really the case. Matz’s signing bonus was just a bit above the recommended slot. Also, the Mets saved money by not having a 1st round pick. If they had, they would not have drafted Matz and gone above slot.
(2) The Mets failed to sign their 5th and 6th rounds picks. They were one a only a handful of teams that failed to sign 2 or more picks out of their first 10.
(3) Other than Dotson, the Mets went with safe, slot picks with little upside. This isn’t my take. It’s the consensus view of their draft by mulitple sources that cover the draft and prospects.
Matt
Completely agree with you on Omar.
Even in the week prior to the Rubin meltdown I felt Omar looked and sounded very uncomfortable.
I had hoped with some time to digest the season he would appear his normal pre-dual collapse Omar & unfortunately seeing him on with Carlin he looks & sounds as terrible as ever..
I got queasy just listening to both Omar & Jerry the last few days & it really made me feel (again) like the organization made a mistake bringing both back.
Hopefully my gut is wrong.
I’m not for trading Maine or Pelfrey.
I’m OK with the Mets signing Molina, assuming that the maximum the deal could be worth is 2 years $12 million. The biggest knock on Molina is his lack of plate discipline, i.e. low OBP, but lets also not forget that he’s put up batting averages of .275+ including .292 in 2008 to go along with close to 20 HRs in a big ballpark and about 85 RBI per season during his time with San Francisco. And for all the talk about grounding into double plays, he only does that about 15 times a year. So while he may have had a similar number of GIDPs as Tatis, he had twice as many at bats.
Lackey to the rotation
and then they will get mad 2nd-tier hitters.
Molina for catcher
Corey Hart for Left Field
and Delgado for Platoon at first.
I agree Money is not everything and spending does not get you a ring. It is how you spend the money that counts, the METS, have only gone so far, but, never far enough. We are all happy that we have Santana and K-Rod, but, did nothing to improve the rest of the team. You can’t go half way and stop, you either go the whole distance or not at all. I fear that if we don’t make the playoffs and win the WS in 2010 the window will be closed on this team and it will be time to rebuild. Our rotation has several questions, and we still have some holes in the line up that need to be repaired. I still feel that with a true #2 arm and a big bat, plus, a new player here and there, we have more than a good chance to not compete but to win. We only lost by one game in 07 and 3 games in 08 and 09 was, well, lets forget about 09 :} LETS GO METS !!