Dodging the bullet

Thank you to Omar for not upping the offer to Barry Zito to the astoundingly ridiculous levels of the San Francisco Giants.

There is no way BZ is worth $18 mil per. The highest paid pitcher in baseball history? You gotta be kidding me. And that psycho in San Fran rationalizes the deal by stating that it gives them a good change to win the NL West--a division where if you're sniffing the .500 mark you're probably 10 games up on the pack. Dope.

So, it looks like we're going with the Glavine, Hernandez, Maine, Perez, Pelfrey rotation (with the possible substitutions of Humber and Co. on the back end). Williams appears destined for the Oliver role. The rest of the pen is kind of a mish-mash which is promising because that's pretty much how I felt it was at the start of last season...

At this point are there any more moves to be made (that would be of any significance or help, that is) or is this the team we go to battle with? Only one man knows--MURRAY HILL!

Closer

Mets apparently interested in Texas closer Otsuka, but Rangers may be demanding too much.

I would love to dump Wagner, I have zero confidence in him in a big spot. That said, we shouldn't dump him at any cost - he's clearly more than good enough during the regular season where one blown save here or there won't kill you. It's not worth what Rangers want at this point.

D-Mat

I love how all the sports press is proclaiming the Sox the big winners in D-Mat negotiations. Sure, if by big win you mean they didn't end up paying $141 M total for one unknown pitcher for 6 years, then I guess they won. But in reality they are paying $103 M for one unknown player for 6 years, which is a little over $17 M per year. Sounds to me like the only winner in all this is the Seibu Lions in Japan, who pocket a cool $51 M for basically nothing.

Welcome to Deadwood--or goodbye, in this case

Finally, Omar does something that actually makes sense. The Schmetties have not offered a contract to Victor Zambrano, severing ties to the horrific reminder of what coulda been with Scottie Kazmir.

In addition, Dave Williams was given a one year, 1.25 mil deal to help fill the void of Darren Oliver's departure to the land of the Haloes (if it wasn't the X-Mas season there might've been a Lidle comment here). Things are starting to solidify as far as the 25-man roster goes but personally I'm still not satisfied at this point.

What will OM be dropping down our collective chimneys for Christmas? Any requests?

And a question--if the BoSox botch the negotiations with Matsuzaka, do we get the next shot at him since we put up the second best offer for the rights?

Pitching still on the board

Here's a rundown of FA pitchers still available, from Eric Simon at MetsGeek.com:

Cream of the crop

Roger Clemens: may follow buddy Pettitte back to the Bronx
Barry Zito: looking for six years, Mets only want to go five

Decent options

Mark Mulder: might not be ready for spring training, but eats innings and is a groundball machine
David Wells: old and fat, but still eats innings and doesn’t walk anybody, which has value
Miguel Batista: poet, can start or relieve, 35 in February is a concern for a multi-year deal
Jeff Suppan: Mets fans hate him. So do Sox fans. Far from terrible, far from great.

Could be worth a shot

Tony Armas: turns 29 in April; might have some potential with the right guiding hand.
Tomo Ohka: far from awful, might be a bargain on a one- or two-year deal
Jeff Weaver: pitched okay down the stretch and into the playoffs, but a definite gamble for more than one year.
Brad Radke: will probably return to Minnesota if he doesn’t retire, but could benefit from the NL; rarely walks batters.

Roster fodder for non-contenders

Steve Trachsel: was far from awful until 2006, when he was just plain awful.
Ryan Franklin: suspended for steroids two years ago, stunk for Philly one year ago.
John Thomson: former Met, former Brave, former mediocre pitcher, currently lousy.
Mark Redman: lefty, will eat some innings.
Chan Ho Park: hasn’t had an ERA under 4.80 since leaving L.A. in 2001.
Ramon Ortiz: could handle a long-relief role, but little else.
Aaron Sele: had some good seasons 50 years ago with the Red Sox.
Jason Johnson: never was good, never will be good.

Flores taken by Nats in Rule5 draft

Jesus Flores, who I'd mentioned back here as the Mets possible catcher of the future, has been snatched right out of A ball by the Nationals. As a rule 5 draftee, he'll either be on the Nats 25 man roster in '07 playing in the bigs, or else they'll have to offer him back to the Mets for $25K. With our luck, I'll bank on him going .250/20/70 in his rookie MLB campaign.

Omar--you're killing me!!!

What is going on here? Now we trade Brian Bannister, a young pitcher who has shown he can perform at the big league level in the top market, for Ambroix Burgos, a guy who s'ed the bed for Kansas City?

This is getting nuts...Burgos supposedly has "a great upside" and can throw 100. Didn't we just unload two pitchers (Owens and Lindstrom) who had similar arms for some other "great upside" guys from Florida who stank on ice?

I despise playing the race card but Omar is getting ridiculous. He is building a resume of trading white players who have shown glimpses of talent or ability for Hispanic players who have the "great upside" label (remember Jeff Keppinger/Ruben Gotay, anyone?)

Minaya is claiming that Burgos will step into Bradford's role next season. How? Bradford worked so well because of his change of pace and ability to strand inherited runners. Burgos tries to throw through the backstop and blew 12 saves last year--great. Why didn't we just shell out the cash to keep Bradford? Is it because his last name doesn't end with a "z?" I hope not but it's sure starting to look that way...

In other related insanity, Omar is now apparently going full-court press on--wait for it--Mark Mulder!

Wait--wha? Huh? To quote Billy Joe Armstrong, "wake me up when September comes..."

A fool and his money are soon parted by Scott Boras.

That is all.

[hattip: Eric Simon from Metsgeek.com]

Coat drive

This is a great opportunity: do something good and get tix in return.