Read: Free Agents and the Mets Off-Season
Joel Sherman, in a report in today’s New York Post, wonders if there is any General Manager in baseball that could succeed in the Mets current structure and says “the problems at Citi Field are bigger than Omar Minaya’s job title.”
Sherman also wonders how it was possible the Mets couldn’t land Bengie Molina, Joel Pineiro, Doug Davis, or Jon Garland when their current rotation has “Johan Santana and The Yips”.
…honestly, while i have the same questions Sherman has, i’m glad the Mets didn’t overpay for any of those guys…i thought committing two years to a mid 30s, overweight catcher like Molina would be doomsday for this team, and it would’ve also stymied the progress of Josh Thole, who many believe should be ready by 2011…i definitely think Molina would’ve provided a big boost to the lineup in 2010, and he undoubtedly would’ve helped the pitching staff from behind the plate, but beyond this year i really feel they would have been stuck with another Luis Castillo in that he would soon become a big contract with declining skills that’s a detriment to the team and is unmoveable…in the end, the Mets made the most lucrative offer to the player, he wasn’t comfortable with it, so he went back to where he was comfortable, so good for him…
…in regards to the pitchers Sherman mentioned, Garland was always destined for the west coast, unless of course a team like the Mets blew him away with an offer, but i think people would’ve been equally as critical if they had done that with Garland or Davis, because neither are talents any team should overpay for because neither talents can transform a franchise…the Mets were in on Pineiro but ultimately, the Mets wouldn’t increase their offer, and for a guy who i believe will not succeed outside of St. Louis, i’m not going to jump on Omar Minaya for that either…
…the one move from a pitching standpoint i couldn’t understand was why their wasn’t a stronger push for Jason Marquis….here’s a guy who has been in the postseason every year he has been in the big leagues, he has posted 11 or more wins in each of the last six years, is from the New York area and expressed a desire to pitch in flushing, yet they apparently never made an offer to him…i personally think he was the best option outside of John Lackey, who, to be fair, the Mets were supposed to hear back from his agent but were shunned, and the next thing we knew, signed with Boston…
…i do think free agents this winter saw and heard about the communication problems this organization had in 2009, and the horror stories regarding injuries could certainly be a deterrent for potential recruits…but i think the biggest problem the Mets might have is the fact they haven’t won, and 2009 was a really bad season, so they have that much more of a hard time convincing late 20s or early 30s talent, who want to win now, to come to their team…i know they need to transform their roster in order to fix that problem, but that problem is not solved by replacing mediocre talent with mediocre talent, which, for the most part, was the only thing available this winter…even so, nobody out there, whether it be via free agent or trade, has the ability to help the Mets win if Santana, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran aren’t healthy…
For more on Sherman’s take on the Mets’ off-season, check out the New York Post here.
