C Rod Barajas is still available on the free-agent market.
Barajas hit just .226 last season, but with 19 HR and 71 RBI, in 125 games for the Blue Jays, while hitting .267 against left-handed pitching.
…from what i can gather, the Mets have talked with barajas’s agent at various times this off season, though they hadn’t been very substantive talks up until now… the Rangers have had interest in barajas this off season, as well… i do think he is capable of cracking 15 or so home runs for the Mets, though he is generally inconsistent at the plate… also, he’ll play significantly better defense than Bengie Molina would have played…
…i believe barajas can be had for a one-year, $3 million contract… if this is true, i’d like to see the Mets acquire him, as i feel he and Henry Blanco would make for a terrific, defense-first battery, with barajas capable of driving in runs, since he puts the ball in play so much… unfortunately, both blanco and barajas do their best offensive work against left-handed pitching, as opposed to Omir Santos, who hits righties not lefties…
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Barajas may not be great, but he’s still an upgrade.
No doubt about it but again here we go.
Instead of playing these games-if they really are interested-why not sign the guy and move on?
What on earth do they keep waiting for?
Well, considering they saved 6 or so million on Molina, I’d assume they could snatch Barajas up if they really wanted him. But now there are reports the Mets don’t have any money left so I don’t just know what to think right now.
I like the idea of Barajas driving in runs and knocking 15 or so homeruns over the fence at Citi in the bottom of the Mets order.
Ehhh, who says they’re waiting?! You’re an ‘optimist’ and a ‘pessimist’ combined!
LOL, j/k ;o)
very true
I agree. He is a fit, especially on a 1 year deal.
As Duke says though, just do it Omar.
well..because they really arent that interested thats why.
exactly, plain and simple.
I think he is a guy that they should have targeted all along.
Agreed. Most bang for the buck, and we need someone that can help out these young pitchers. Look at Toronto’s staff and see how they do. One stud and 4 no-names. And yet they get complete games and go deep all the time. He’s the guy I’ve wanted the entire off-season.
Umm just because you didn’t know them doesn’t mean they were no-names.
Ricky Romero – 1st round pick
David Purcey – 1st round pick
Brian Tallet – 2nd round pick
Marc Rzepczynski – 5th round pick
Also Rod Barajas was only on Toronto for 2008 and 2009… He was on Phlly in 2007, Texas for 3 years prior (who had an awful pitching staff) and Arizona.
They have also had some really good pitchers get hurt over the past 2 years
Dustin McGowan – 1st round pick
Shaun Marcum – 3rd round pick
The only real guy that has come out of nowhere was Jesse Litsch who was a 24th round pick
“Facts; we don’t need no stinkin’ facts”
LOL, you’re a ‘character,’ for sure! ;o)
Yes they have a ton of 1st rounders in that rotation, and yes some of them have been getting hurt, but there are a couple of differences here.
1) We haven’t been drafting much these last few years (thanks again Omar) so almost our entire farm system comes from south of the border via FA signings. It’s hard to compare US Amateur Draft round order to FA signings from Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba, unless your name is Aroldis Chapman. But yes, the talent level of their staff is most likely better than what we have to work with.
2) Almost our whole rotation has been hurt! Maine is almost always hurt. OP is a headcase and they have to come up with injuries just to put him on the DL because “stinkitis” doesn’t work. Santana has his injuries here and there, and we are all okay with that, because we all know he’d kill his grandma just to get back out there. Pelfrey is the only one that hasn’t had to spend any major time on the DL (that I can recall) and we don’t even have a legitimate 5th option, because they’ve all gotten hurt or been really ineffective. Last year, we had Redding, Parnell, Figueroa, Misch, Nieve and Niese all start games for us, and of the bunch, the best would have to be either Figueroa or Misch. Figueroa has been a journeyman who has gotten kicked around from one team to another and is now on his 5th team since his debut in 2000. Misch, on the other hand, was claimed from the Giants last year. So those were our options last year for our #5 starter folks! To make matters worse, those two pitchers started a combined 18 games between the two of them, and yet they were the only two pitchers on the entire staff last year to record CG SHO’s. Not one of the other four pitchers, not even Johan did it.
With that in mind, I guess I will revise my opinion. Yes, Toronto definitely has more to work with in their rotation, and that’s why we need Barajas. He knows what it takes to get these guys to perform. I don’t care if they are 1st round picks, I’ve still never heard of most of them, and yet they pitch deep into games and keep their team in ball games when they should not be able to.
What can he do with our bunch of rag tag misfits then?
And btw, after reading all of this, who here still doesn’t think the rotation needs upgrading?
For this team, the offensive production from the catcher position should not be an issue in determining who to sign/start. Unless you have a guy who puts up real offensive stats (i.e. McCann, Mauer, Posada), the priority should be defense and handling the pitching staff.
Go with Blanco and Barajas.
I don’t see the need to sign him.
U r 100 percent correct. Like in the fantasy world if u don’t draft that top dog catcher, then Þhe drop off is so huge it doesn’t matter and priorities shift. Get a great defensive catcher and call it a day. Right omar, I mean u want speed, pitching and defense; how bout u actually follow your own logic.
Ever heard of the baseball adage “you have to be strong up the middle”. Right now Mets up the Middle consists of :
CF B/c Beltran is Hurt – Pagan/Matthews – medicore at best
SS – Reyes – good SS but coming off an injury
Castillo – a shadow of his former self
Santos/Blanco/Coste –
That’s weak up the middle.
Sign Barajas for 1 year, he also was Halladay’s catcher and could provide some sneaky tips that couldn’t hurt.
AJ Pierzynski is 32, in the last year of his contract, has a World Series ring, is tough as nails, and plays 140+ games a year. The White Sox have a young catcher they want to play. Now is the time for a bold strike. Yes, he has a rep for being a hardass, but so what. This team needs a hardass, like LoDuca was. Let’s trade for him, assuming that Johan puts his seal of approval on the deal. The other pitchers will then fall in line.
Well it’s not as simple as saying Trade for him and Johan putting his seal of approval on him. I like AJ but i don’t know that the White Sox are going to put him up on the market.
If they sign him and need have to figure out who the 2nd catcher will be, its pretty simple to me. The Mets looked at Molina as a big upgrade with the pitchers and behind the plate. Barajas is said to be a defensive upgrade over Molina. If thats the case than they don’t have to have Blanco as one of the two catchers on the team. They should let Santos battle for that spot in ST and who ever shows the better overall game should get it. On paper it makes sense to use Santos.
Barajas and Blanco are really good at hitting left handed pitching but not right handed pitching.
Santos really good at hitting right handed pitching but not left handed pitching.
To me Barajas and Santos just makes the lineup better as well as giving you two catchers with good defense.
Totally with you, Barajas and Santos. But I’d really rather sit tight at catcher and use that $3M to get Hudson at 2B–I think his range over Castillo’s would help the young pitchers way more than a modest catcher upgrade would. That said, with Beltran out, getting some pop out of catcher (Barajas) in a platoon with a decent hitter with doubles power (Santos) would help, too.
But I say it’s all hot air on our part. If the Wilpons weren’t willing to spend a couple more mil to get Pineiro, they’re sure not going to do it for a modest upgrade at catcher.
Your probably right, the Wilpons aren’t going to pull the trigger. I also agree about Hudson and I think the Mets would spend on him if they had a way to get Castillo off the team. The problem is, its going to cost at least 7 million to get hudson and if they can’t dump Castillo they will be paying their 2nd baseman 13+ million. Now I know the Wilpons will never do that!
You’re right, they won’t. But it’s so irrational. Here are their options:
A) Pay Castillo $12M as a pinch hitter who can bunt and slap-hit in the clutch. Not a great bench player, but not useless either.
B) Pay Castillo $12M and have him continue to inhibit the success of your young pitchers, particularly the sinker-baller Pelfrey.
In my book, a $12M player who hurts your team for two years is far more expensive than a $12M player who rides the pine.
I agree, I think fans would be happy w/ O Dog & Barahas, and waiting to get Wang and/or Smoltz later on…
The Mets said yesterday that they are done spending money, which shuts the door on Hudson, who would help them up the middle defensively and be part of a dynamic 1-2 offensive punch with Reyes. So, they don’t have $3 million for Hudson, but they have $3 million for Barajas. Can anyone explain the logic here?
Rod can hit. I do not look at the batting average with catchers. He is a good catcher. I seen him in his Texas Rangers days he is decent.
mets9268 Mets did not get Henry Blanco to play in Buffalo. I see them trying to trade Santos before they put him in the minors. So if they signed Rod i see if they trade or just keep 3 catchers in a rotation. thats another posibility.
I know why they got Blanco I just feel that Santos deserves to stay up with the big boys and don’t like the idea of going with 3 catchers cause that really hurts your bench. Yes Santos hit pretty well last year……for a catcher, not for someone that I want in the clutch coming off the bench to try and get a hit to win a game.
If they use Santos in some kind of trade, I am totally fine with that. I would like them to use him in a package that gets them a pitching upgrade or something on a smaller level and they get a nice bat for their bench.
The Mets would have a TERRIBLE bench to keep 3 catchers on the roster. There’s be absolutely NO speed available. And very little versatility on that bench:
2 Catchers
Tatis (COF, 1B, 3B – GiDP machine)
Cora (SS, 2B)
GMJ (OF – mediocre speed/defense)
And that’d be your entire bench.
I agree, I hate the idea of 3 catchers. The Mets showed us when they carried Cancel for a while how bad of an idea it is.
Mike Piazza / Todd Hundley / Paul LoDuca
they are not signing Barajas. They are going with Santos. Blanco is a very good defensive catcher and I think the team likes Santos. Personnally, without looking at all the stats, injuries etc I would just sign Barajas. But knowing the Mets, if they did sign him, they would carry 3 catchers.
I thought that the Mets didn’t have any more money to spend. Why are we discussing this. It’s not going to happen.
any more money for..Torrealba. this isn’t him.
YESTERDAY THE METS SENT ME WHAT TO ME IS THE CLEAREST OBJECTIVE INDICATOR I’VE HAD YET THAT THEY ARE HURTING FOR TICKET SALES: THEY’RE MARKETING 6-PACKS, SOMETHING I THINK THEY HAVEN’T DONE IN SEVERAL YEARS, SINCE THEY UPPED THE TICKET PLAN TO 7-PACKS, AND OBVIOUSLY INDICATIVE THAT THOSE 15-GAME TICKET PLANS ARE NOT EXACTLY GOING LIKE HOTCAKES. To me, this suggests a rational (if incredibly annoying and short-sighted and fan-unfriendly) explanation for the Mets’ apparently irrational behavior toward free agents this winter. Why did they seem to be in on all these players and then walk away from all the negotiations instead of closing the deals? Basically, I think they intended to sign Pineiro and Molina, but when Beltran went down they concluded they couldn’t compete this year without an expensive upgrade that wasn’t really available on the market anyway, took a good look at their lame ticket sales, and concluded: Let’s not spend another dime. We’ll tighten our belts, ride this season out, and make sure we don’t sign any long-term commitments. My only hope is that they are doing this to position themselves for a big FA push next year, but that’s pure speculation, no evidence.
What they need to do is stop being annoying. I’d love to get what they used to sell, Weekend Packages. I’m not taking off work to go to a Mets game. It’s not happening and i live 45 minues from Shea and work an hour and a half…
ALl i want is Sat games, and they used to offer it in Shea and now they don’t in Citi. I’m not going to waste my purchase getting mid-week tickets. it’s not worth my time to try to sell them, or cut out of work early.
They probably get enough sales on Sat and trying to move weekday tickets. Maybe you could just put the weekday tickets on stubhub.
Ooooo goody! A real cheerie thought two weeks before pitchers and catchers report. We are just throwing another season away, huh. Like Santana a year older, Beltran in the last year of his contract, and Wright and Reyes looking toward arbitration is already got me “excited” over the prospects for 2011. All that and the Mets making a push at signing free agents too.
Pure speculation I am praying!
Let’s speculate some more, shall we. The Mets are obviously making an effort to cut their payroll, while making an extraordinary effort to put fans in the seats. Sounds like prepping a franchise for a sale to me. We will only know if we are out of the race in July and they decide to move Beltran.
Well, they want to get butts in the seats whether they’re selling or not. But we can certainly dream that they’re looking to sell. And actually, that theory is about the only rational explanation for not firing Omar: His and Jerry’s contracts are up at the end of the year, and you want to empty out the FO and dugout for the new owners. It’s like when you sell a house: it’s more desirable to buyers if you first get rid of the loud, smelly, deadbeat rock-band tenants with the ferret collection.
Like it or not, Rod Barajas is a Major League catcher. He is an upgrade over Omir Santos who is currently slated as the team’s starting catcher. Santos was a great story last year, but to me, him being the starting catcher for the NY Mets is not acceptable. Barajas is not much of an upgrade, but he is an upgrade.
BTW, ‘interesting’ username – not sure i want to ‘hear’ how you got it though! ;o)
If the mets could sign barajas then packaging Santos in a deal for some kind of pitcher would be a good idea….Santos’s value is relatively high to his standards on the market…he had a good season to his standards last year so if you would ever want to get atleast a little something for Santos then now would be the time to trade him…maybe putting together a package of Santos pagan neise and evans could land harang from the reds…I know that package isn’t impressive at all but the key is that the reds would save a lot of money while getting young
players that can play in the majors
Replace Nieve instead of Niese – and maybe.
Sounds good to me
Or maybe Perez instead of Nieve, depending where his ‘head’ is at!
Santos wouldn’t Net you anything on the open market. Maybe if your lucky a low level 16 year old prospect who has upside but is 6-7 years away from the big leagues.
I don’ t know what value you see in Santos…
D’oh!!!
Santos has no value.. Catchers either need to be young with upside or old with experience. Santos is neither.
when i put that package together santos wasnt the center piece of the package….its probably neise(unless you substitute him withe nieve) or pagan….im just saying that even though santos has little trade value the fact of the matter is that his value is at his highest as of now due to his performance….and most likely it will go down….so as little as his trade value is, if you want to try and get as much as you can out of it you might as well include him in a package for some kind of pitcher…I think that package is good enough to get harang…Harang is no superstar it wont take high level prospects to get him
Yeah, we can even ‘sweeten’ the deal by ‘throwing in’ Castillo! ;o)
I too have wanted Barajas from the beginning. Even preferred him over Molina, but honestly I have zero faith in this front office right now. I doubt they will do anything. I’m still hoping, but I really doubt it!
— You said it before I could write it.
WHOA! No way u can give up those 4 guys for Harang. Harang has been awful the past 2 years. That’s way too much. I wouldn’t even give up Niese straight up for Harang.
Ok even better then…how about those 4 guys for arroyo????…or if that us still too much then how about those 4 guys for the both of them??? That could really help the rotation
Not happening.. Doesn’t look like the Mets are looking to take on payroll.. With the economy hurting, ticket sales hurting, this might be it.
I don’t think Santos has any real trade value, nor do I think we should hand him a MLB job.
why?
The pitchers don’t like throwing to him.
I dont think barajas has many options out there. i think the mets can easily sign him to a good deal. we’ll see if the mets actually try hard to sign him or not
Curious as to why no one else has signed him yet.
The thing is there were a lot of guys that we could have signed this year to a good deal. There were and still are to a lesser degree some bargains to be had, but we don’t take adavantage of the market. Instead we focus on 1 guy at a time and bring back the same old guys like Tatis. Just does not make sense to me.
the Mets should have signed Miguel Olivo.
I, too, would prefer to see Barajas and Santos.
did you guys know that Blanco is 39 years old? i know it doesn’t matter too much, because he’ll only here for one season. i was just surprised to find that out.
one more thing, Vance Wilson is still around… he hit 10 HR in 204 AB while batting .270 with a .803 OPS. in AA. but still, those numbers are good.
What i really want to know is how the hell he is still catching at that age?!!
I don’t understand why you would want Barajas AND Blanco.. both of home hit lefties while Santos hits righties. So it seems to me it has to be Barajas and Santos or Blanco and Santos.
Blanco, my man, doesn’t hit lefties or righties. blanco just cannot hit.
What is this obsession with trading Pagan??? He isn’t going anywhere while Beltran is out!!!
Relax… we have GMJ! ;o)
Oh he isnt Omar?
The only thing I don’t like about him is his .226 avg, but he has good defense and some pop. If they get him great, if not, I am ok with Santos and blanco
I like the Pierzynski idea. Guy is a walking attitude, which this club desperately needs. He could light a few fires. If Johan gets along with him, I like it a lot. I’ve always liked the guy. Everything I’ve heard about him says that his teammates like him, and the opposition hates him. Gets under your skin a lot. He’s feisty. What’s not to like? Plus he’s a catcher and it sometimes comes naturally with that position, and we haven’t had that in awhile. Maine was talking about that with LoDoca. That’s what Pierzynski is, but intensified, so that everybody knows it. I’d enjoy watching the Mets this year if he was around, because you never know what’s gonna happen.
Plus, if one of your players got it, you know darn well that when their next batter is up and he’s flashing his signs to the pitcher, he’s flashing one sign and one sign only. You can shake that sign off as many times as you like, but that’s the only sign you are gonna get. Hit him and make sure he remembers it.
He’s exactly the kind of player I’d love the Mets to have.
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
vSAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE–SIGN O DOG!!!!!
SAVE SOME FACE – SIGN O DOG!!!!!
Not quite sure how signing Orlando Hudson saves face????
Barajas did hit lefties better last year but actually hits righties slightly better for his career.
Check out some of these splits:
2008 – Vs Left: .204/.239/.352
Vs Right: .270/.318/.436
2007 – Was about even
2006 – Vs Left: .156/.217/.359
Vs Right: .279/.317/.421
Career – vs Left .234/.288/.426
vs Right: .240/.282/.402
So he has the ability to hit Righties while Blanco can play against lefties, and he kills letfies
with beltran out give me the best offensive catcher possible and to me the only possible option is josh thole … you can let blanco be santana’s personal catcher and imo who cares who catches pelfrey, maine, perez & nieve … do you really think rod barajas is going to make any of those 4 pitchers any better … this team can use all the offense it can get and thole is the only hope in that respect
Thole can hit for average but has no power what so ever. So he would esetially be another Castillo in the lineup. Sometimes its better to have a guy with pop who hits for a lower average than a guy who hits .300 but with no xbh’s.
Plus, Thole cannot catch and doesn’t know how to call a game. Thole needs time in the minors.
Matt,
You forgot a ‘fourth option’ for that poll:
“Omir Santos & Blanco (& sign Orlando Hudson)”
ive been saying for the whole offseason that they should sign barajas. you are then putting out a defensive minded catcher that can throw out runners which will ease the pitcher and allow them to focus on the batter. both barajas and blanco call good games and will take some pressure off maine, perez and pelfrey. if you are trying to build defense up the middle barajas is a great way to start.
barajas caught stealing % .348
santos caught stealing % .294
I’m just curious how pitchers feel with two different catchers as opposed to having just one.
What team only has one catcher?
apparently were not interested in him .. come on matt.. stop giving us false hope of guys to only find out a few hours later it couldnt be further from the truth…..