Daily Archives: January 27, 2010
Oliver Perez threw a successful side session in St. Lucie today, on the final day of the team’s three-day mini camp.
“I’m excited,’’ Perez said this morning, according to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. “I feel very good. Next week I will do two bullpens in Arizona and that will be my routine until spring training. I feel good being here with my teammates.’’
Kernan says the Mets are working with Perez to get a full extension when he throws, putting more weight on his front foot, which will help eliminate, as Kernan described it, ‘that nasty pirouette he does so often when he loses control of the pitch and control of his head.’
To read more on Perez’s side session, as well as what Jerry Manuel and Dan Warthen had to say about him, and Johan Santana, check out Kernan’s report for the New York Post, here.
Here is a video I did with Meet the Matts, recapping my recent interviews with Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Daniel Murphy:
The Yankees have signed 35–year-old, free-agent OF Randy Winn to a one-year deal, probably worth around $2 million, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
…well, good for the Yankees, who kept saying they would only spend $2 to $3 million on a fourth outfielder, despite free-agent OF Johnny Damon asking for $5 million or so… the Yankees had a budget, and stuck to it… and now damon and his agent, Scott Boras, will need to scramble… i wonder how long until they come crawling to Omar Minaya…
Winn has played the most games of any active player, who has never appeared in the post season, Buster Olney of ESPN.com said while on air in New York.
…the word in baseball had been winn was seeking a starting job, but Michael Kay on 1050 ESPN Radio says he will be a platoon player for the Yankees, or a fourth outfielder…
Winn hit just .262 with two HR, 51 RBI and 33 doubles last season for the Giants, though he averaged roughly 12 HR and 60 or so RBI, while batting around .300, the previous two seasons.
…so, the Mets could have had winn and Brian Stokes, for $2.5 million, as opposed to no stokes and Gary Matthews Jr. for $1 million… got it…
Neil S: Matt, I think people are missing the obvious when it comes to Ben Sheets. Why would an injury-prone player even want to come to a team like the Mets, who’s medical staff is suspect at best? I am also sure that Sheets looked at the recent he said-she said drama over Carlos Betran’s knee surgery and decided he wanted no part of this team. Who can blame him?
Matthew Cerrone: I know on pretty good authority that Sheets would have signed with the Mets, because he hoped to stay in the National League, where he knows the hitters best, and he’d have been in a pitcher’s park. But, the Mets never made an offer, because they knew it would have cost them more than they were willing to spend, which, from what I can gather, was around $7 million. In the end, he signed for $10 million.
You know, I wonder if the A’s see Sheets as a $5 million starting pitcher; figuring, if he begins the season, say, 8–2, and they’re behind in the race – in what is a very, very competitive division – they can trade him for prospects and only be in for half his salary.
That said, I’m sure they trust he’ll be healthy, and the team will be successful.
It’s an interesting gamble.
The worst-case scenario would be he gets hurt in April, and that’s that.
Actually, the worst-case scenario would be he’s awesome, the A’s stink and trade him for prospects to the Mets, who are hovering around .500, and then he hurts himself.
I will be guest speaker at Social Media Week in New York City on Feb. 5, talking social media and sports alongside Gary Vaynerchuk from VaynerMedia; the NBA’s Jalen Rose; Tyler Kepner of the New York Times; and Michael DiLorenzo, Director of Business Communications for the NHL.
…i had the following chat on instant messenger today, with Alon Rothschild, a Mets fan, and a long-time reader of MetsBlog.com…
Alon Rothschild: You know, I thought 2002 to 2004 was the real low point for this franchise… the point where ownership finally said, ‘We are going to stop meddling and let the baseball people we trust make the decisions,’ and now it seems like that’s over with and they are back to meddling… I almost feel like a Pirates or Royals fan entering Spring Training… not to be a Debbie Downer, but I almost feel like they have no shot this season.
Matthew Cerrone: Nah, come on, that’s not fair, those teams would kill to have Johan Santana, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and K-Rod, just to name a few. The Mets are right when they say this team can win if healthy. I agree that is not a wise strategy, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
Alon Rothschild: For each of the past four seasons, the entire baseball world felt that if the team was just healthy they should be the favorites for at least a playoff spot, is that accurate? There is no such feeling anymore, and I’m usually not a pessimist by any stretch.
Matthew Cerrone: So, what are you saying, there is no point in watching this season? I mean, I’m as skeptical as the next guy, believe me, but I still have hope the players will pull it together. I believe in the talent they will put on the field… it’s the Front Office that make me nervous.
Alon Rothschild: I’m just saying, I don’t have a good feeling at all coming into this year… of course I’m gonna watch and root and hope, because that’s what we do as fans. But, I feel like this is the steepest uphill climb we’ve had in a years, and the front office mess leaves little hope that, if there is a problem that needs to be fixed, they have the where with all to fix it.
Matthew Cerrone: I hear you, I just don’t think it’s that steep, or any more steep than in years before. I think we are all still a bit shell shocked from last season, and very, very worn down by the endless string of off-field issues, and the constant up and down of being a fan of this team. But, in the end, this season was always going to be about Wright, Reyes, Perez, Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay and K-Rod, and the continued development of Mike Pelfrey, Jeff Francoeur and Daniel Murphy… front office decisions, off-field silliness, or hot stove rumors aside, 2010 belongs to those players, and the Mets will only go as far as THEY take them. And so, I guess what I’m saying is, if you believe in the talent the team has, right now, today, they should be supported. Now, what happens beyond them, at the deadline, if injury strikes, next off season, etc., well, that’s a whole other story.
Alon Rothschild: But, just right there, those guys leave us such a slim margin for error. Who is on the Mets bench right now? Where is their supporting cast?
Matthew Cerrone: This is why, to much criticism, I suggested in December abandoning guys like Bay, Matt Holliday, Bengie Molina and Joel Pineiro, and instead spend roughly $20 million on Jarrod Washburn, Rod Barajas, Orlando Hudson and Randy Winn, who would have provided a reliable, known supporting cast. To me, a lack of elite talent was not the team’s problem the last three years. Instead, their problem was depth. Plus, by starting with, what I called ‘Plan B is Plan A,’ the team would not get bogged down in multiple long-term, expensive contracts, which would make long-term improvements more difficult in subsequent off seasons and at the trade deadline. So far, either by accident or on purpose they’ve done this. The problem is, that’s all they’ve done.
Alon Rothschild: I agreed with that wholeheartedly, those guys are still there for the taking at bargain-basement prices… yet from what Omar Minaya was saying this week in St. Lucie, it sounded like what we see is almost the finished product. I don’t know, I just hate having my team come off like they don’t have a clue. It really reeks of pre-lockout Rangers and the pre-Donnie Walsh Knicks.
Matthew Cerrone: I understand, and I feel the same way, but those examples are those examples, and it doesn’t necessarily mean the Mets will end up the same way, for better or worse… To be honest, I’m trying to hold off losing my mind until Memorial Day.
Alon Rothschild: Me too. This team needs a fast start, like Jerry Manuel said, or else people are going to look at their ticket stubs, and at the money they paid, and think about their savings accounts that aren’t doing too well, and the anger is gonna go through the roof.
Matthew Cerrone: I think you’re right, and I hope you’re wrong. Support the Players, Let’s Go METS.
“The Mets are contemplating making a run at Jarrod Washburn,” according to Andrew Marchand, in a post to his blog for 1050 ESPN Radio.
…no rush, guys, take your time… contemplating… i love it…
Last night, John Paul Morosi of the FoxSports.com said Washburn would like to play for the Twins and Mariners, as both teams are close to his off-season home in Wisconsin, “and the list may not be much longer than that.”
In early January, Jon Heyman of SI.com said the Mets and Royals had shown interest in Washburn, who, according to the Star-Tribune, turned down a one-year, $5 million deal from the Twins.
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.
Keith Law of ESPN.com ranks the Mets at No. 15 in his list of the league’s top farm systems.
According to Law, “It’s fashionable in New York to bash their system, but productive international scouting continues to bail out their draft efforts, which are repeatedly hamstrung by Ownership’s refusal to exceed slot in the first few rounds.”
He feels the Phillies now have the seventh-worst system in MLB, after trading a large number of prospects to get Cliff Lee, and then Roy Halladay.
He ranks the Nationals at No. 23, and the Marlins at 12.
This morning, in a report for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal explained why, ‘Little will change for the Mets until they change the way they operate – from ownership on down.’
Rosenthal was a guest earlier today on WFAN, and talked in more detail about the report, which you can listen to at WFAN.com.
he Mets operate differently than other teams in MLB, in that 1) their GM does not have a budget, which makes it difficult to put together an off-season plan, and so they lunge from one move to the next, which 2) means they’re not limber, and they’re unable to ‘move on a dime,’ making them less efficient than they need to be.
In comparison, Rosenthal points out that Brian Cashman, Theo Epstein, and the like, are thinking ‘one, two, three steps ahead,’ and the Mets do not operate this way.
“The Cardinals appear unlikely to engage free agent John Smoltz about a possible return,” writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Original Post at 10:29 am:
Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record believes Smoltz is leaning towards the Cardinals, for whom he was 1–3 in seven starts with a 4.26 ERA.
Yesterday, both Ken Davidoff of Newsday and Adam Rubin of the Daily News said the Mets are still in talks with Smoltz, who would prefer to be a starting pitcher in 2010.
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