Daily Archives: January 11, 2010
According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, “In the face of economic limitations, Dodgers working on a way to sign Joel Pineiro.”
Original Post at 8:25 pm
Ed Price of AOL FanHouse believes the Mets and Pineiro are talking about a two-year, $15 million contract.
Last week, in a post to MetsBlog.com, here, I wrote:
“In the end, though I still think they’d prefer to trade for a starting pitcher, I believe the Mets might look to sign a guy like John Smoltz, on a one-year deal, to be insurance for the rotation and bullpen, while also trying to ink a pitcher like Pinerio to a two-year deal… I think this is still possible, but it’s going to mean playing the open market in a very strategic way.”
…i heard from someone connected to the Mets today who said, he believes the Mets are in a great spot to be able to sign pineiro, who does not have many other lucrative options, and, as such, talks between pineiro’s agent and the Mets have been fairly frequent over the last week…
…in any case, be it smoltz and pineiro, Jarrod Washburn, Jon Garland, trading for Bronson Arroyo, etc., it’s pretty clear the Mets have options, and working on things… to be honest, i am not sure what i am rooting for… i’d love to see Omar Minaya figure out a way to get arroyo and Brandon Phillips, but it might come down to the Reds asking for too much, all while pushing to move Aaron Harang instead… and so, if no deal can go down with the Reds, Cubs or Royals, the better move could be the smoltz-pineiro combination, since it is a very short-term solution…
…also, though he will not have Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan over his shoulder, pineiro on a two-year deal, paying him, say, $8 million per year, is a reasonable risk, because i actually believe he will do quite well for the Mets… not well enough to justify a three– or four-year commitment… but, two years is a whole other story… plus, he keeps the ball down, he doesn’t walk many people, and he lets the opposition put the ball in play, which, like i said this morning in regards to washburn, in Citi Field, might work out well…
By the way, Price also says, on Twitter, that the Mets have twice watched Carlos Delgado, who is ‘not moving well,’ while playing Winter Ball in Puerto Rico.
The Dodgers signed free-agent infielder Argenis Reyes to a Minor League contract and invited him to Spring Training, according to MLB.com.
The 28–year-old Reyes hit just .205 in 58 sporadic games for the Mets over the last two seasons, while playing shortstop and second base.
The Reds announced the signing of 22–year-old Cuban LHP Aroldis Chapman today.
Reds GM Walt Jocketty said, though he can’t predict when Chapman will join the team’s starting rotation, he didn’t rule out the pitcher being on this year’s Opening Day roster.
Last week I wrote, here, that, although the Reds are open to trading one of Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang, they are not as desperate to shed salary as they have been portrayed, plus:
If the Reds are going to trade one of the two, I hear they need a comparable replacement, either in trade or from the free-agent market.
The Mets and Reds have been in contact throughout much of this winter, and while I suspect the Mets prefer Arroyo, it sounds like the Reds prefer to trade Harang, and are willing to pick up the bulk of his salary to get back better, major-league ready talent in the deal.
I also believe the Mets have interest in 2B Brandon Phillips, as they should, which would suggest Omar Minaya must be using Luis Castillo in an effort to off-set the incoming pitcher’s money.
This is a guess, but an educated guess nevertheless: It sounds to me like any talks between the Mets and Reds this off season probably involved people like Arroyo or Harang and Phillips; Castillo; a Mike Pelfrey or John Maine; maybe Angel Pagan, since the Reds are looking for a lead-off hitter; and a close-to-ready position prospect, someone like Fernando Martinez.
Again, if I had to guess, it sounds to me like the Reds keep trying to move Harang, in hopes of paying up to get a better prospect. However, while interested teams prefer Arroyo, they also know they might soon be able to sign a free-agent pitcher like Jon Garland, Jarrod Washburn or Ben Sheets, or maybe Joel Pineiro, for just one year, while only giving up money, not young players, to do so…. and so the Reds and interested teams continue to talk, while waiting out the free-agent market.
Jon Heyman of SI.com believes the Mets and Royals have shown interest in free-agent LHP Jarrod Washburn, who received an offer from the Twins last week.
The 35–year-old Washburn was 9–9 with a 3.78 ERA in 28 starts for the Tigers and Mariners last season, during which he struck out 99 batters, while walking just 49, in 177 innings pitched.
…he’s an interesting pitcher, because i actually think he will translate very, very well in the National League, in Citi Field, and with Carlos Beltran in center field… he is not overpowering… instead, he keeps hitters off balance by changing speeds and location as well as any one… but, when he’s off, he gets rocked, because he gets the ball in play… he is also very intense on the mound…
…he’s far from my first choice for the Mets… but, he’s an interesting, inexpensive, option, who i think would do better here than people think…
In 300 career starts, he is 107–108 with a 4.07 ERA, durinmg which he made 117 starts with free-agent C Bengie Molina during their days in Anaheim.
Speaking of the Mets and Royals…
In a post to FanGraphs, Matt Klaassen reveals what he believes must be a Content between Mets GM Omar Minaya and Royals GM Dayton Moore to, as he puts it, “put together a team that might contend in 2005, get fired, or to shatter the blogosphere’s Universal Snark-O-Meter in one fell blow.”
In a post to Sweet Spot, for ESPN.com, Rob Neyer takes a look at seven future Hall of Famers, and wonders what team hat they will wear when inducted in to the Hall of Fame.
Neyer believes Mike Piazza should get inducted as a member of the Mets, adding, “But it’s close enough that his input might play a role, and I don’t have any idea which way he’s leaning.”
…i have heard from people in the Mets organization who feel piazza could one day see his number retired in Citi Field… the team clearly puts him on the same pedestal as Tom Seaver, having the two featured shoulder to shoulder, with no one else, during various on-field ceremonies over the last few years… however, from what i can gather, the Mets are waiting to see what happens with mike and the Hall of Fame… i actually think this is pretty smart… i mean, if they retire mike’s number and then he is inducted in to the Hall of Fame in a Dodgers cap, or, if they have to retire his number after he’s in the hall as a Dodger, given all the Wilpons-Love-the-Dodgers criticism from Mets fans, i’m thinking that could end up being quite awkward for the team… and so, i can understand why they’re waiting, and letting this play out… mike isn’t eligible until 2012… he last played for the Mets in 2005… so, who knows, maybe in 2015, the 10–year anniversary of him leaving the Mets, maybe that will mark a good time to send up his number…
In a post to Mets Today, Joe Janish explains why people are making too big of a deal out of Jason Bay’s defense in left field.
Janish also points out that there was not a single Gold Glove winner in left field during the National League post season last year.
…i never said bay was bad on defense, just that i felt Matt Holliday was better… but, let’s not mistake this argument as one of debating two top defenders… they’re both just OK… yes, i too have seen all sorts of statistical analysis of bay’s defense… but, in talking with scouts who watched him in Boston, as well as Red Sox fans and Pirates fans, i’m told he’s ‘fine,’ he’ll take an odd route or two to get to the ball, but he plays it well off the wall, in the corners, he typically throws to the right bases, he has a decent arm, and, though he will not win a Gold Glove, he’s rarely going to do something painful… in other words, like they said, he’s fine… plus, with Carlos Beltran next to him, and the speed of Jose Reyes to go back on the ball, i suspect bay’s defense will be something we end up talking about on only the rare occasion… i’m more concerned with what will happen when he only hits two home runs in April, because of the winds and dead air, and then he and everyone online, on air and in the stands starts to freak out…
Speaking of Bay…
According to these pictures on Mets Police, Modell’s is selling No. 44 Bay t-shirts.
In a video for On the Black, Kerel Cooper answers a reader e-mail about whether he wants to see the Mets acquire Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, Joel Pineiro or Erik Bedard.
Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League Blog explains why it is important to compare the offensive environment of each league, and how he does it, when working on Top Prospect lists.
Brian Mangan of Fonzie Forever explains why Mets 2B Reese Havens is a better prospect than 1B Ike Davis, ‘and nobody knows it.’
The Onion is goofing on the Mets and Jason Bay.
In a post to Blue & Orange, Will Davidian looks at Omar Minaya’s remaining to-do list.
Lastly, Jeff Walstein of Bleacher Report lists five things right, and five things wrong, with Citi Field.
The Rockies signed free-agent C Miguel Olivo, and, according to the Denver Post, will pay him a guaranteed $2.5 million next season, he also has a $2.5 million option for 2011.
…i talked to a few people connected to the Mets this weekend, and i got the sense Bengie Molina on the Mets was somewhat inevitable, at least in terms of the way they were talking about him… but, that said, where is he… i mean, all sorts of people, from reporters to on-air radio types, to people connected to the team, etc., talk like molina will sign with the Mets, and might even have a deal worked out, yet, he’s still a free agent… this is confusing to me…
…it makes me wonder if the Mets said to him, ‘Sure, we’ll give you a two-year deal, so long as you can prove you have an offer better than the one-year-with-an-option at, say, $6 million per season, that we’re willing to give you,’ and so, they’re essentially allowing his ego the freedom to shop around, because the Mets know they’ll be able to beat whatever one-year deal he gets from some other team… i mean, why else would everyone around or on the team talk about molina in such confident, near-certain terms, all while he’s still unsigned…
According to WFAN, Mike Pelfrey will be be in studio as a guest of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton on WFAN this Thursday between 8:30 and 9 am.
Original Post at 7:45 am:
To listen live, online, go to WFAN.com.
I bet this will be funny interview.
Last season, every time Pelfrey pitched, the show’s producer, Al Dukes, would perform a song parody about his between-pitch obsession with licking his hand.
I’m thinking a good portion of the interview will center around these songs, the hand-licking and the ridiculous notion that Pelfrey is a ‘head case,’ as John Harper wrote in the Daily News.
He did not have a bad season. In fact, he was having a very good season, then either got a dead arm or his team’s defense did him in… or, it was both. He relies on his defense, a lot, as you can more about from Ted Berg, here; Sam Page, here; or Howard Megdal, here.
This is why the Mets are working to upgrade defense at second base. I think with Jose Reyes back at shortstop, a full season with Jeff Francoeur, Jason Bay and Daniel Murphy in the field, and, most important, a full year with Carlos Beltran patrolling center field, and Pelfrey a year older, having pushed through two long, arduous, 31–start seasons, I think he’s prime for a breakout year.
It’s John Maine and Oliver Perez I am worried about, not Pelfrey.
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