Wilpon will likely not want to spend the money, but could you imagine if the Mets signed Alfonso Soriano in the off-season? Imagine this lineup (w/2006 stats and another month to play):
S(R) Reyes (.300/16/70, 55 SB)
L Chavez (.314/3/33)
R Wright (.299/23/101)
S(L) Beltran (.286/39/112)
R Soriano (.292/43/84)
L Delgado (.268/34/96)
R LoDuca (.319/4/41)
L Green (.279/11/56)
While we're at it, and with no disrepect to the great job Endy's done, let's talk about the "perfect fit" in LF and in the lineup: Carl Crawford. Great contact bat, decent pop, gold glove fielder, great base stealer, only 25 years old. Why would the D-Rays trade him? Who knows. But maybe an offer of Lastings Milledge and a young pitching prospect (not named Pelfrey or Maine) would get their attention. Humber and Milledge, for example, would save Tampa 3 and a quarter Mil in '07, 4 and a half mil in '08, and 7 and a half mil '09 before either of the young players they were getting back would get a real salary bump. If they graded Milledge & Humber as possible standouts, maybe they'd go for it. They'd be getting two potential stars and $15.25 Mil for one established star. Of course with Crawford the Mets wouldn't need Milledge, and they have a lot of quality young arms. I could part with one of them for an All-Star who is only 25. Let's take a look at Crawford's current contract:
Signing bonus: $500K
2005: $500K
2006: $2.5M
2007: $4.0M
2008: $5.25M
2009: $8.25M team option vs. $2.5M buyout
2010: $10M team option vs. $1.25M buyout
The Mets would have Crawford locked up through 2010 but the team can opt out of the big back-end payments ('09 & '10) or renegotiate. Of course, he may well be worth $10 Mil in 2010. What would the Mets '07 lineup look like with Soriano & Crawford?
S(R) Reyes (.300/16/70, 55 SB) Age 24
L Crawford (.309/16/67, 45 SB) 26
R Wright (.299/23/101) 24
S(L) Beltran (.286/39/112) 30
R Soriano (.292/43/84) 31
L Delgado (.268/34/96) 35
R LoDuca (.319/4/41) 35
L Green (.279/11/56) 34
That's just silly.
And BTW, the farm would still look good. We'd still have potential young starters in abundance: Maine, Pelfrey, Bannister, and possibly Mulvey, O. Perez, Soler and Heilman. Carlos Gomez would hopefully be ready to slot into the outfield in '08 or '09 for Green. Jesus Flores looks like a possible catcher of the future around '09. And Mike Carp bears some watching as a 1B down the line.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Pickup of soriano or crawford would be awesome. Top priority should be a vet pitcher though, I think, like willis. Pretty much everyone doing a trade with us will want milledge or pelfrey, so we'll have to be selective.
Jose, Endy and Lo Duca are on fire for the past month or two. Wright's looking way out of slump.
It will be interesting to see who randolph chooses as starting staff headed into postseason. Pedro and glavine are locks. The way they've been talking so is trax. But it has to be open between el duque, maine, and williams. I assume bannister and pelfrey are out unless they start pitching in september. I think at this point I'd go pedro, glavine, maine, williams or duque, then trax.
Willis, it's painfully clear now after the Marlins trade-deadline waiver stunt, is not available. The only pitcher "like" him (in terms of past success and relative youth) is Zito who, IIRC, will be 28 next year. But he's got a lot of miles on that left arm already.
Schmidt will also be available and is a top-tier talent worth looking at, but he's clearly on the far side of 30.
So the question becomes, invest 8-10 Mil in Glavine or Schmidt or 12-14 Mil in Zito for '07--or--turn the rotation into Pedro and 4 youngsters (Heilman / Maine / Pelfrey / Bannister)and save the cash for Soriano. Take a look at what the Tigers were able to do this year with a great lineup and a very young and talented rotation.
I think Pelfrey needs to be retained under all circumstances. Milledge I'd be willing to hear offers on, and not b/c his first dip into the ML pool was a little underwhelming. I trust the talent's there. I question, based on his observed behavior (head drooping and lazy play in response to bad plays, base running blunders resulting from lack of mental focus, shameless showboating after HR's, bizarre flashy jewelry that shouts "look at me" instead of "I'm one of the team", etc.), if he's professional enough to maximize his ability. I also wonder how he'll wear in the clubhouse.
If the Mets keep him, I hope I'm proven wrong and he has a long and successful career. I might just be inclined to try and ge a proven commodity back for him, though.
BTW, with the 5 starters listed above, there'd still be pitchers like O. Perez, D. Williams, and A. Soler in reserve. These are guys who have question marks but have had some success on the ML level. They are there should there be an injury and we needed a back-of-the-rotation for a few weeks or months.
Post a Comment