Last night on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove, host Kevin Burkhardt asked Mets GM Omar Minaya if he still has ‘full autonomy,’ as he proclaimed when he was hired back in 2004.
Minaya said, ‘Yes, I do.’ He acknowledged knowing there has been talk that he doesn’t, but he disagreed with those reports, saying:
“We have a good staff that works well together. The bottom line is, I have assistants who help make decisions around me, but it’s full autonomy and we feel good about working together… So, when I tell you I have full autonomy, I have full autonomy.”
…the thing is, i really could care less who is making the decisions… it’s the actual decisions i am most concerned with… if it takes 100 guys to put their heads together to do what’s right, so be it… yes, i agree that is unlikely to work… but, i think some fans and media get more bogged down in the decision-making process sometimes than they pay attention to the actual decisions…
In terms of spending on free agents, Minaya said he has had no limitations this off season from Ownership, saying, “We acquired the players we wanted,” including Jason Bay, and small pieces that are important for ‘building out the bench,’ such as Henry Blanco and Alex Cora.
“There are certain guys who were able to get certain dollars,” he explained, when trying to describe the talent on this year’s free-agent market. “You have to remember, this year, I think across the board, everybody felt that this was not the best free-agent class, but we focused on certain guys, and one of those guys was Jason Bay, who I’m very happy we were able to get him.”
…i’ll give him that… it wasn’t just the Mets who kept saying this was a weak free-agent class, and the next two off-seasons would likely be significantly better… what’s more, it sounded to me like, he didn’t end up signing Joel Pineiro or Bengie Molina because of budget restraints, so much as he just didn’t feel they were worth spending any more money on than they offered… in other words, they valued these guys where they valued them, and if these players chose to play some place else, so be it… and i think that is the right approach… the problem is, what was the back-up plan…
To see video fo Minaya from last night’s Mets Hot Stove, watch this video on SNY.TV.
Yea, good thing we got Cora and Blanco …
What we should have done was pick up Hudson and improve the range of our 2B. We would instill confidence in our younger pitchers by making more defensive plays. With Hudson at 2B we can use Castillo as a utility, thus no real need for 2mill Cora. Castillo has a bum knee, he ices it every day for hours. If he were on a limited schedule he would be healthier and seemingly more productive. When all is said and done we would increase his trade value and we could dump him off for some pitching come mid season.
Who on Omar’s committee couldn’t figure this out? Why spend 2 mill for Cora?
I agree. He talked about not having enough depth on the bench last year and was able to go out and add a guy like Cora. Am I in a time warp or something? Wasn’t this guy on the bench last year? How does adding someone we already had last year make the depth better?
And as far as Blanco, is Omar really bragging about the depth that he brings to the bench? I can see him talking about what he can do for the pitching staff but don’t brag about what he does for the bench!!!
Great post matt.
The decision making process isn’t a concern, its the conclusions being reached and the actions taken after those meetings that concerns and in truth confuses me. This confusion is the root of my distaste for the orginzation and overall sense that the team lacks direction.
I still don’t understand why they aren’t linked to Hudson at all. did that topic come up yesterday?
woah, hold on there.
Not “What was the backup plan”
What _is_ the backup plan.
The offseason is far from over. It’s still like 65 days until anything matters.
sure, we do have time… I still say a trade will happen in the next couple weeks… there is time to get something done… at least i keep telling myself that. i’m sick of listening to all my yankee fan friends bustin my nads on a daily basis.. im a broken man. and my team, the METS made me this way.
The backup plans are getting ready to head to spring training with other teams…
The trade routes worry me, they don’t have much to offer and if the team gets off to a slow start Omar will be looking out for his job and may make some moves we regret later.
Do you really want Omar making any more trades. Seriously, as inept as he is, do you want him doing anything else? No hope of improvement until he’s gone, and even then with Jeff Wilpon driving the bus there are no guarantees of things turning around. We are stuck, Mets fans.
BP has done a first run of PECOTA projections putting the Mets at 77 wins and 4th place behind the Nationals… ouch, but seems fair.
The main thing holding them back is the lack of a starting pitcher besides Santana with a VORP over 8. Meanwhile the Phillies have four starters with VORPs over 20.
You need a subscription to see the Mets individual projections, but here is the projected standings… and you can look at the Phils and Rays projections only.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/fantasy/dc/
Who do they have in last, if the Mets are 4th “behind the Nationals”?
The Marlins,
And I bet they are going off VORP from last season and not any career average. Otherwise the mets would be higher then the Nationals, and above the Braves and they pathetic offense.
I don’t have a real problem with them not signing Free Agents that they don’t like. The thing is they did like Lackey and he is exactly what they need… a #2 starter. Seems to me they should have been very agressive with him. Since they didn’t get Lackey and they didn’t like any of the other Free Agent starters what about all the trades we were told to expect this winter?
I can even understand liking Randy Wolf but not being willing to go three years that early in the winter, but if they liked Piniero why not go the extra 1-2 mil? That’s a hard one to figure out.
I understand the wanting of Lackey. I wanted him to. But between Lackey and Bay they choose Bay. If we did not have Bay right now we would be in the same boat as last year. Wright in the middle of the lineup with know one around him. Then we all would be on here yelling about how we have no big bat to go with Wright while Beltran is hurt.
Why did they need to choose between Lackey and Bay? Why not get both? Omar said again last night he had the $$ and autonomy to do what he needed to do. If they had gotten Lackey and Bay this would have been a great offseason and the team would be a real contender.
Tough to get the player when the player wants to go elsewhere.
Well maybe like he said about other players he had a value in mind for Lackey… say 4 years 16 per for a total 64 million… Then when Boston offered a crazy 5th year guarantee to a 31 year old Pitcher who’s not pitched more then 176 innings in the past 2 years, they felt it was not worth it..
God forbid the mets out bid that, all the media outlets would say “There go the Mets bidding against themselves and overpaying”… Yet Boston does it and the media all says “There are the out of the box thinking Red Sox again, They had a value on Bay and didn’t go above it and turned and signed another great arm”…
Where to people paying attention they bid against themselves and just gave him exactly what he wanted (Burnett’s contract) without bidding anything. It’s a terrible contact for a 31 year old who has missed starts each of the past 2 years with arm trouble.
I agree I know Lackey wanted to go elsewhere but why is it one or the other with the Mets, they have needs fill as many needs as you can not get one leave one and maybe get to it later if its cheap enough. I know the Mets spend money but come on one year blow everyone out of the water and sign 2 mega free agents at the time, I think hell would freeze over
1 more year is a BIG DEAL breaker in baseball where everything is guaranteed. Lackey will be good for the next 2-3 years, but years 4-5 I’m not so sure about. And that’s what the front office needs to worry about. They don’t want another Glavine or Pedro on their hands, and I for one applaud them. You take the long contract risk for SUPER STARS like Johan, Beltran, Pujols, Mauer, Arod, Sabbathia, etc etc… You don’t take that one for Good or even Very Good players like Lackey.
I agree but if the Red Sox win again in this time and the Mets continue to not even come close, who is really doing it better in the end? I would rather win than make right choices sometimes cause if making the right smart financial choices means not winning than how is that better?
In a time when Oliver Perez is working on a 3 yr/$36MM contract and Randy Wolf gets 3 yrs/$30MM I’m not so sure that Lackey’s contract was a bad deal for the Red Sox.
Just because other teams over pay for mediocre talent doesn’t mean over paying a guy is a good move… Wolf’s contract is as bad a Lackey’s…. Ollie’s was over paying , but at least he was 27 and at the end he would be 30-31… Not 36 turning 37… And Oliver Perez didn’t have a history outside his Tommy John surgery early in his career of missing much time in the rotation. at 27 a 3 year commitment could actually be construed as not a bad investment.
Lackey at 31 getting a 5 year commitment at nearly top starting pitching money is a joke. It was vastly over paying and more a panic move which the Red Sox spun as hey we lost bay, but we didn’t think he would hold up for the length of a 4 year deal even though he hasn’t played less then 145 games every year the past 5.. But we do think another 31 year old who has had arm problems that limited him to 145 and 171 innings the past 2 years will play and be successful for 5 years at a position where the breakdown is 10x as fast as an outfielder. Give me a 31 year old outfielder for 4 years (5th option) over a SP for 5 years guaranteed and MORE MONEY!
Yup that’s a good move. That’s the difference is their front office knows how to spin it and their Media spins it as positive. Ours makes it out to be a nothing signing and the Media makes it out to be they can only do one thing at a time.
whatever media spins what and does what with who that is all meaningless, this is what matters, lets look at it like this Mets sign Ollie Perez and dont win or even get to the playoffs or the Red Sox sign Lackey for that contract and lets say they win another world series, who comes out better answer me that? its nice to say that the front office is not spending money like they use to or like other teams do, but guess what they still dont win, or come close to winning so it doesnt matter, all i want is to win, not have the best contracts work out for the future, or look better than what other teams are doing. The heck with that already. If your argument is the Mets are better off and will WIN cause of who they signed this year and have space to do sign someone next year ok, but if all you care about is media spinning and having better contracts but the Mets still go no where im sorry I cannot and will not ever agree with you
That’s Part of winning. Not getting locked into bad contracts. That’s how Boston has come out on top. Letting Damon walk away at the right time. letting Pedro walk away at the right time…. They have done it very well.
Hey damon went on to have very productive years with the yankees and Won a world series. But boston was better for letting him walk.
well when the Mets actually win I will proclaim you to be right until then while I watch everyone else win and not the Mets im not going to agree that what they are doing is right
But Lackey’s contract is in line with what AJ Burnett got from the Yankees to be their #2 starter and Burnett also has a history of arm trouble. It’s just what the market is for starting pitching now. The only way you’re going to pay less for a solid #1 or #2 is if you develop one from your farm system, then for at least the first 3 years or so will be a bargain.
Totally Agree. Lackey was THE Free Agent for the Mets in this offseason and they wiffed.
I preferred Matt Holiday, to be honest. I thought if they got Holliday, signed Sheets, and made a trade for Harang or Arroyo they could have been in excellent shape.
I too liked Holliday better, but Bay is a good player as well. So i didn’t mind it and I also didn’t mind it when i saw what Holliday signed for. Where is the Media killing the Cards for bidding against themselves and VASTLY OVERYPAYING. 7 years 120 million… WOW! That is just crazy.. Mets got bay at 4 for 66 and a 5th year at 17 mil… so in total it’s 5 years 83 million… not a bad commitment.
I really didn’t want the mets to trade for Harang or Arroyo because I don’t feel either are that good, and i didn’t want to move any prospects of significance.
Sheets i wanted as well, but i didn’t think he would get 10 mil guaranteed. THAT IS JUST LAUGHABLE.
Both great posts – very telling and true.
Bottom line here is: the team does not motivate me to spend big $$ on tickets and that’s what it’s all about for fans
If this team gets off to a hot start, say winning at a .650 clip you’ll be in line (or on stubhub) trying to get tickets…
It’s about winning.
The way this team is presently constituted no more than 84 wins.
And don’t forget Beltran is out until June.
Oh he’s out until June now! I can’t for the life of me remember seeing that posted anywhere…
What I do remember seeing is that as of his surgery date (January 12th) it was a 10 week maximum recovery time, which would land his full recovery at March 16th… So give him 2-3 weeks to get into baseball shape and it’s mid April… May 1st would even be late…
Oh but he’s on the Mets so now he’s out until JUNE!!!! I forgot the most renowned surgeon for knee injuries would completely botch Carlos’ just because he is on the METS….
around this time two years ago the mets traded for Johan and their was no buzz surrounding that move until it happened. I do like Daniel Murpy, but the mets need a 1B. We all know Omar loves Miguel Cabrera and their have been rumors linking the Mets and Cabrera earlier this off-season, so who knows? maybe Omar’s got something cooking.
LET’S GO METS!
and maybe they can toss in Porcello and Schlerith too
I hope you are right.I too can’t think that they are not still exploring some kind of deal.
ZERO chance of getting Cabrera. Now, if he was still a fall down drunk, maybe. But now that he’s cleaned up his life, forget it. “We have a good staff that works well together”? Is he serious? HIs good staff took a useful and cheap player (Stokes) and locked up 2 years of a worthless and expensive player (Mathews) – you could find the equivalent of GMJ if you turned over a rock. Who on planet earth wouldn’t prefer to have Stokes and Randy Winn for 1 year than GMJ for 2? WHO?! I’ll tell you who…Omar and his good staff. This is beyond sad. I bet we finish 4th in the division again.
Unless Albert Pujols were to magically fall into their laps the Mets are not trading for a first baseman who would be locked in for more than 2010. They’ve made it pretty clear they are keeping the path open for Ike Davis in 2011.
I’m pretty sure if the Mets could get a proven Star like Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez or someone of that mold they will gladly take that on.
Ike can play in RF and has a cannon arm. His bat will also play in the outfield. If you trade for one of those types of players then you have a trade chip in Davis.
Omar didn’t want to block him with a mediocre player like Nick Johnson, Adam Laroche and the rest of the crap load of 1st baseman this oddseason.
so you would rather see if Ike Davis will be good than get Miguel Cabrera who Davis will probably not even come close to in offensive production. Even Adrian Gonzalez for that matter, he will probably be available for trade later in the year. You would pass up Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez, who are proven, to try and develop Ike Davis, who could be a bust for all we konw.
Not saying who I would like… just saying they haven’t tried to get a first baseman because they want to use Ike Davis there and have him at a low salary for 6 years. If they were able to get Adrian Gonzalez that would be great and they wouldn’t have to worry about Ike Davis because he would almost certainly be going to San Diego as part of the deal. I would steer clear of Cabrera though… that just seems to big a big pile of trouble and NY probably isn’t the cure for him.
The Mets wouldn’t pass up an option to get a sure fire all-star at a position just because they like a prospect. They haven’t in the past and they won’t in the future. They Have F-Mart who they love, didn’t stop them from signing Bay and trading for Franceour… This isn’t the Padres who we are dealing with, yes it would be nice to have a young player under control for 6 years, but it’s not as if he’s successful he will be cheap. Those arbitration numbers get up there quickly….
Also if you do indeed trade for a guy Ike Davis can play RF or be traded to another team for starting pitching or help else where.
I think you can pretty much guarantee that any trade the Mets make to get a big time first baseman would involve Ike Davis going to the other team so you wouldn’t have to worry about playing him in RF or trading him for starting pitching.
Burkhart did an awesome job here. It was like an uncommfortable job interview. You could tell Minaya was pissed about a few of the questions. Kevin you’re my new hero.
That being said, my girlfreind has no idea who Minaya is. She was watching it with me and she goes “wow, how did a sports network hire a guy that can’t even put a solid sentence together?” I was like “no babe, its worse than that. he doesnt work for the network. he runs the team”
LOL. I think the one thing that Minaya did well was smile after each question. lol
Burkhart did do a good job with the tough questions, and all Omar could do is smile cause he had nothing of importance to say that we believe. I guess I would rather him smile than lie or talk lol
Yes excellent post, and I agree with everyone so far. The only thing I wanted to add, is I agree the pitchers that were available via free agency that the Mets missed out on, were not like amazing pitchers I get that, I really do. But one of them could have helped fill out the rotation. Yes we needed a #2, but when there was none to have we still could have used another pitcher. I do not trust Pelf, Ollie, Maine, and Nieve enough to let them do what they do without an insurance policy. And signing one of those guys would not have hindered them from maybe getting a pitcher next year one has nothing to do with the other. The Mets should be financially solid enough to spend this year and then spend again next year if need be. And im sorry I am not exactly confident that if the main members of the front office who handle free agents, are still in place next year, they will suddenly remember how to do things right and get someone, knowing that many teams will be involved as well. The Mets like players at their numbers, and if next years players pass on what the Mets numbers are too, will the Mets be aggressive and go higher, I doubt it but we’ll see. I guess my point is, I want to be competitive this season and still be aggressive in next off seasons free agency, were NY why cant we have both?
The Mets have a history under Minaya and this Front office of spending money on the players they want. (Beltran, Pedro, K-Rod, heck even Alou)… But they have also now had a history in at least the past 2 offseasons of not spending more money then they think a player is worth and letting him walk (Molina, Pinerio, Lowe).
I know they have signed big free agents in the past, the ones you mentioned except for Alou I was totally on board with. The problem is, like you said maybe its the new way of working, they will not outbid teams and if someone goes over what they feel a player is worth, they pass. Now that works with players who you could have used but can live without, im afraid that its going to come to a player we need, and if other teams get involve the Mets are going to walk away. See the Mets do well when they are the only team involved in the process. They got Bay at their price and there was nobody else involved, Pedro, as soon as they were the only team to add a 4th season he was theres. Beltran could have went to the Yankees if the Yankees wanted him, they went back and would have played for 20 million less, but they got him. No one else wanted K-Rod last year so on and so forth. So I agree its not that they dont get players, its they seem to be aggressive when there is nobody else involved and when there are teams involved they shy away, I dont want to see that the next couple of years
So…Omar is basically saying that when things fail and since he has “full autonomy”…Omar will be the one to get fired. Haha…he just unknowingly took full responsibility.
New post on this subject:
http://rationalmetsfan.blogspot.com/2010/01/meet-ifs-meet-ifs-step-right-up-and.html
“…i’ll give him that… it wasn’t just the Mets who kept saying this was a weak free-agent class, and the next two off-seasons would likely be significantly better… what’s more, it sounded to me like, he didn’t end up signing Joel Pineiro or Bengie Molina because of budget restraints, so much as he just didn’t feel they were worth spending any more money on than they offered… in other words, they valued these guys where they valued them, and if these players chose to play some place else, so be it… and i think that is the right approach… the problem is, what was the back-up plan…”
Well Said matt. Imagine the team actually had a plan not to waste money and throw it away on players not worthy of it…. When other teams do it their media goes out and bashes the players that walked away for more money….(Serious stare at you Peter Gammons) Yet all the mets media coverage is on how everyone doens’t want to play for the mets…. Forget about the mets not deeming these players worth it..
Exactly. Omar said this was not a great FA year….intimating that they felt there were a few guys they had interest in…and at a certain price. He also intimated that they felt the guys (pitchers) they had were just as good as these guys we didn’t sign.They just need to pitch to the level they “already have”! Sounds reasonable to me.
As for Molina…he said they would have had to overpay in “dollars and Years” because Molina really wanted to stay on the west coast. Sounds reasonable to me.
The day Omar starts making changes for the sake of change, without feeling he is making the team better, is the day he should be canned.
I agree with Omar when it came to the pitching this offseason and I have said it on here before. Besides Lackey there was no FA pitcher who was going to improve the Mets that much.
So you make an offer to them for what you think they are worth and if another team outbids you so be it. No reason to spend just to spend. If you are going to overpay do it for a real difference maker like a Lackey. I would not want to be locked into a 3 or 4 year deal for a Wolf or Piniero and miss out on the better talent that will be out there the next few years.
I wanted Lackey as well but I also felt we needed a big bat at either 1st or LF. The Mets choose Bay over Lackey and I really cannot argue that decision. I mean if we did not have Bay right now we would be in the same boat as last year, which is Wright in the middle of the lineup all by himself with no big bat around him while Beltran is hurt.
Guys like Wolf and Pineiro, while they had strong years last year. Them, like most of the other FA starters out there this year, have and up and down careers. Go look at guys like Wolf and Pinero’s year by year numbers and they are no different than guys we have in Ollie, Pelfrey, and Maine. On this site last offseason nobody wanted Jason Marquie even in a trade because he was making 10 last year. Nobody wanted Wolf and nobody wanted Piniero. Then all of a sudden they have one good year and the Mets are fools for not signing them this offseason.
Where I do not agree with Omar is other moves like posters have mentioned on here before. They tried trading Castillo all offseason. They could not do it. Well why not just sign Hudson and Castillo can go to the bench? Why give Cora 2 million? It is little moves like the Cora move that really bother me about Omar and this team. It has been said, the fans just do not like Castillo. The Mets must know this. With that extra money we did not spend this offseason, cut the fans a break sign Hudson and either release Castillo, trade him for some low end prospects and eat most of his salary, or again send him to the bench.
Also it seems to me that Omar is way to loyal to some players. It seems he is always bringing to the Mets old washed up guys who he drafted way back in Montreal or had on his team in Montreal and gives them chance after chance. Gives them these one or two million dollar contracts that after a while add up and when we need to throw in some extra money to land a big time player, we don’t have enough. Like Tatis. And I think they said it on Loud Mouths yesterday. Watch Jerry play Tatis more often at 1st then Murphy. I am not a huge Murphy guy but rather see him playing the majority of the time then Tatis. But it seems Jerry is not the biggest Murphy fan, and we know he must love Tatis because he sure as heck played him enough last season over some other guys like Murphy.
Nice post, I completely agree with the SPing, Castillo, and Cora…
I don’t have a problem with Tatis…. EXCEPT if as you said Jerry is Jerry and runs him out there every 3rd day. I think he became more comfortable with Daniel at 1st as the season went on.
I don’t have a problem with bringing back tatis, especially at his contract. 800k + performance incentives!!! He was realistically the best option for the bench/platoon role out there on the market. I know people will shout Garko, but the dude can only play 1st base, and Power wise he’s not much better then Tatis.. Tatis can also play both Corner outfield spots, 3rd, and in a pinch 2nd, SS, and even Catcher…. He is as valuable a bench asset as you can get.
Here’s the problem: the Mets communication. It’s garbage. I think a good amount of the fan base truly wants to have their cake and eat it too. People want the Mets to build for the future and make smart contract decisions, but they lose out on mediocre players who they would have had to sign to multi-year deals to get here and all of a sudden it’s a quintessential meltdown.
Listen, if the Mets were to just come out and tell you: “Hey, we have some very good pieces (Wright, Reyes, Santana, K-Rod, Bay and eventually Beltran). We feel like we can be a competitive team. But right now, we’re not prepared to add a player that doesn’t fit into our long term future. By not stretching ourselves beyond our means on certain guys, it could free up money both for the trading deadline and beyond.” Would you feel better? Because that’s what they’re doing and I think it’s a fair approach.
Too often, this team’s fans want to jump up and down and anoint the best third starter available as the savior of the offseason and the franchise. But let’s face it, if ownership gives us a song and dance that we can’t pursue Cliff Lee or Josh Beckett next offseason because we’re at our payroll limit because we have 14 million tied up in Pinero and Molina for next season, we’d freak. And rightfully so. Is it so wrong to say that this is an 80 or so win team and we’ll see how many breaks we get/who’s available in July?
I hate to paraphrase Steve Phillips, but not every guy who is going to contribute to your team has to be on your Opening Day roster. And most likely won’t be. Ask the Brewers how they felt about their rotation going into 2008 before acquiring C.C. Sabathia. As I recall, that ended in a postseason trip.
We don’t trust ownership and the rest of the front office, and rightfully so, but there’s way too much complaining for the sake of it.
It’s all the Media Spin… Everyone listens to WFAN and 1050 and all their sports people are killing the Mets to get the crazies to call and complain. Then so are the sports writers… There is not one positive opinion out there to read or listen to because nobody wants to hear that.
This stuff happens every year, and the Mets sometimes get it right (Passing on Lowe) and sometimes get it wrong (Overpaying for Ollie Perez)….. Every team does it. It’s how the Media portrays the moves that make the average fan think it’s a good or bad move.
I just watched the SNY interview. Omar would have a great career working in a barnyard with a shovel. Its tough to be a Met fan.
I agree with you. I don’t think they communicate well at all to their fans. I understand there are certain things you cannot come out and say.
For example, fans on here get mad when earlier this offseason they heard Omar say we are comfortable with Castillo as our every day second basemen. We all know the Mets where trying hard to trade him. But Omar cannot come out and say that.
But like you said, they should come out and be honest about why they did not go out and get pitching after they said they were going to. He somewhat said that last night when he said we feel his guys Ollie, Maine, and Pelfrey are a our around the same level as most of the FA pitchers this year so that is why we did not overpay for them.
In my honest opinion I think the Mets want to win. The fans come out with all their theories on how the Mets front office and ownership don’t want to win and don’t care about the fans. I really do not think that is true. You are always going to have fans knock you, no matter what you do, but if they communicated like you said better, I don’t think it would be as much.
While I do think a good organization has well defined roles and people in decision making positions, at every level, according to the decisions, and a decision by committee doesn’t seem like the best way to run your team, I don’t really care either.
I’m a fan, not an employee. So however they get there is fine with me.
I am done reading and listening to Omar’s comments in the media though. They are all the same and none of them speak more than actually producing.
If he says they achieved what they wanted to this off season, great. I’m happy for you Omar.
Now go win a lot of games.
I’ve got to give Omar some credit this offseason. He hasn’t really made any really bad contract signings this season like several teams have. If he can still get a few guys in the rotation and wherever else, I would sorta be happy with what Omar has done. People want Omar to get a pitcher because they feel he has to get one due to the rotation question marks. The fact of the matter is, with or without a new pitcher, this team is not going to be a World Series favorite. What is the point of overpaying a guy simply because the fans want him and people feel like he needs to get that guy. He needs to do something still, but I think Omar’s offseason is far from over.
I agree that we should be focusing on next years free agent class. It’s clear Omar is bypassing this years weak class and looking toward next years. So I fully expect Omar (or whomever is GM) to be aggressive next offseason and acquire a few impact players, if we have the resources and we definitely should if we haven’t gone all out this offseason.
so keeping the team as is, is better? you really think we have enough right now to compete, not even just compete I want to get to the playoffs and do something there, not just get there. Its nice to say that certain players didnt deserve what they got, well we can pat ourselves on the back for saving money and still not making the playoffs while the teams that spend stupidly are in the playoffs, sorry I would rather be in it than out, not saying the people we passed on were going to get us there but standing pat certainly isnt going to and thats all I care about
A healthy Maine, Perez and another year from pelfrey, all three will probably out-pitch Pinerio, Garland, and every other pitcher not named Lackey or a healthy sheets on the market.
So adding them while it would make the team look better on paper because they are different and healthy, i don’t necessarily believe they would actually be any better for it
I wish I had your optimism, I dont those 3 pitchers havent done anything especially at the same time to warrant my confidence in them