Daily Archives: December 21, 2009
Update, 7:57 pm:
According to Brian Costa of the Star Ledger, a Mets official has denied the report that they are interested in bringing back Pedro Martinez.
Original Post:
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com believes the Mets have discussed bringing back free-agent RHP Pedro Martinez, who is seeking a deal similar to the one Brad Penny signed with Cardinals, i.e., one-year, $8 million with plenty of incentives.
…i’d much, much rather give a bit more money to Ben Sheets, who is looking for a similar deal worth around $12 million guaranteed…
By the way…
Stark also says the Mets, Angels, Cubs and Rays had been in talks about a four-way deal during the Winter Meetings, which could have sent Milton Bradley to Tampa; Luis Castillo to Chicago, who would have needed to find a home for Pat Burrell; all while Gary Matthews Jr. would have ended up on the Mets, who would have moved to sign Orlando Hudson; but the deal ‘fell apart.’
…a four-team deal… ya gotta love it… that said, i can’t help and wonder if the Mariners will step in here and wiggle back between the Mets and Rays, regarding burrel and castillo and bradley… because bradley does not seem to fit in at all with what the M’s have going on…
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Buster Olney of ESPN.com says the Nationals and free-agent RHP Jason Marquis agreed to a two-year, $15 million deal.
…i don’t know… i like marquis… i don’t love him… to me, he’s a one-year pitcher… i never thought the Mets should give him a multi-year deal… but, that depends on who they end up acquiring… they need a starting pitcher who they can count on… they would have been able to count on marquis… but, i get the feeling they are looking for a one-year guy, and are more than content to let the market shrink, in hopes of getting someone on a one-year deal… however, i do not see Joel Pineiro settling for one year, and so that might only leave Doug Davis or Jon Garland, both of whom i actually prefer to marquis… there is also the Eric Bedard- or Ben Sheets-gamble, and, of course, Chien-Ming Wang, who has said he will not be ready to return until May 1…
…if you haven’t done so, take the poll at the end of this post…
Original Post at 2:26 pm:
The Nationals will sign Marquis, according to MASN.com.
…from what i understand, the Mets discussed a two-year deal with him… but, he had been seeking a three-year deal, similar to the one Randy Wolf signed with the Brewers a few weeks ago… and so, if he was able to get it from the Nationals, more power to him, since i would have most certainly mocked the Mets had they signed him to a similar deal… the thing is, i have a feeling his deal with DC might be for two…
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Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com believes the Braves have talked to the Marlins about acquiring 2B Dan Uggla, who they would put in left field.
According to Rosenthal, because the Braves interest in Uggla is ‘mild,’ “A trade for the Yankees OF Nick Swisher or the signing of free-agent OF Johnny Damon might be preferable.”
…hmmm… you know, the Yankees are looking for a pitcher… i wonder if they might be interested in trading swisher for Derek Lowe, who is due $15 million each of the next three seasons… or, to keep playing mock-GM, how about the Yankees get lowe, send swisher to the Marlins, who can move Chris Coghlan to second and then send uggla to Braves… all while the Mets keep waiting for Jason Bay…
Rosenthal says the Giants and Marlins continue to have on-again, off-again talks involving Uggla, who is no longer of interest to the Orioles, since they signed Garrett Atkins.
The Indians will get right-handed reliever Mitch Talbot from the Rays, as the player to be named later in the deal that sent C Kelly Shoppach to Tampa, according to FoxSports.com.
The 26–year-old Talbot allowed 12 runs in nine innings for the Rays in 2008.
…i believe talbot is out of options… he’s an interesting pitcher… i have heard people say he’s a sleeper-type relief pitcher, because he has a strong fastball and a wicked change-up… but, i have to think, if the Mets wanted shoppach, they had to have had someone in the farm system better than talbot… which would suggest they didn’t want shoppach… which would suggest a much larger concern…
The Rays now have two catchers, Shoppach and Dioner Navarro, both of whom are 25 years old, both will likely earn roughly $3 million next season.
Updated at 2:38 pm:
…SNY’s Ted Berg just told me talbot would be like the Mets giving up Jon Niese, and talbot might actually be better… which, if the case, would be a lot for shoppach… good for the Indians…
In a conversation on Twitter, Joe DeMayo of NY Baseball Digest said the the time has come for the Mets to give free-agent OF Jason Bay an ultimatum, to which Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post agreed, writing, “The Mets need to start calling these guys’ bluff.”
But, what does that even mean?
The Mets obviously want Bay. So, if they want Bay, how exactly do they call his bluff?
In order to effectively give an ‘ultimatum,’ the Mets have to be willing to move on without him – otherwise, if they’re not, and I’m not sure they are, he’s just as likely to call their bluff.
In other words, it’s hard to call a person’s bluff if you have no other cards in your hand. So, instead of suggesting the Mets give orders, I’m just hoping they have done their due diligence and have another attractive, effective path to go down should Bay or Matt Holliday sign elsewhere.
By the way…
The Yankees are working on another ‘big acquisition,’ from what I have been told by people close to their front office. I have no idea who it is, or if it’s close, but, for the Mets sake, I’m hoping it’s a trade. I can’t even imagine what will happen to the Mets if the Yankees sign either Bay or Holliday. Yikes. That could force St. Louis and Citi Field in to an absolute scramble for whomever the Yankees didn’t sign… and so, I wonder if that is what Bay and Holliday are holding out hope for.
Last week, Buster Olney of ESPN.com said free-agent Mark DeRosa is seeking a three-year, $18 million deal.
However, DeRosa has reduced his asking price, Nick Cafardo reported yesterday in the Boston Globe.
Today, in a post for NBC Sports, D.J. Short explains why DeRosa is not a good fit for the Mets, while also pointing out that the Mets are not a good fit for DeRosa.
The 33–year-old DeRosa had surgery in late October to repair a torn tendon sheath on his left wrist. He hit .250 with 23 HR, 23 doubles and 78 RBI in 139 games for the Indians and the Cardinals.
…like i said before, and like d.j. argues, i just don’t see derosa settling in to be a back-up or platoon partner… though, he could probably get a full season’s worth of at bats, should the Mets use him against left-handed pitching at first base, then against right-handed pitching in left field, assuming they went with a left-field platoon as well… but, i suspect the Mets are looking for a more permanent, more-powerful solution in left field, as evident by their pursuit of Jason Bay… but, it’s a decent fall-back position…
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