NL East

Well, by the looks of it the Mets are going to be in a horse race with Phillies all year. Phils have an explosive line-up, good pitching, and a GM with an excellent track record of doing what it takes to put together a winning team. I'm amazed the Phillies played as well as they did in the 2nd half last year; they were supposed to fold after losing Abreu and others.

In what can only be considered great news

Aaron Sele is now part of the Mets organization. Jose Lima, Brian Daubach and Edgardo Alfonzo now have a 4th to round out their Euchre game.

Where in the world is Carlos Gomez?

Apparently MetsGeek knows, as Alex Nelson wrote a thorough entry on the speedster's ascent through the Mets farm system. Here At SHKs, we've also had a few links to some of the scuttlebutt surrounding this up-and-coming CFer. With 105 SB in the last two seasons, Gomez could be a terrifying sight for opposing pitchers at the top of the Mets lineup, especially when partnered with Reyes.

That said, his BA and OBP have been .275/.331 at class A and .281/.350 at AA the last two years. There's definitely room for improvement, though the trend is encouraging (especially factoring in a jump in the level of competition). Read Nelson's piece if you want an in-depth look at Gomez' prospects. Here's his summation:

Gomez is still a good prospect due to his age. He’s extremely young for
the Eastern League, and the mere fact that he held his production steady with
some minor improvement despite skipping over High A is a big positive. And there
is no doubt that he’s very talented. But he is still a prospect with some
serious flaws, namely his power and his plate discipline. If even one of those
develops, he could become an elite prospect, but he hasn’t shown it
yet.

The Wicked Witch is Dead

Pats are OVER!!!

Pitchers

Looks like Mets are set with their pitching staff, and also they resigned En-dy Cha-vez to a one year deal.

So many question marks for next season, definitely interesting. How will Glavine's arm hold up? Will El Duque have enough focus and discipline to be a #2, show up at every game, and turn in a good season? Will Pedro and Mota return and perform well? Will Reyes and Wright continue their upward trends? Will Alou serve his purpose, add pop to line-up and protect Wright?

And, oh yeah, I still hate the Pats.

I HATE the Pats

Perhaps in the offseason this blog can be devoted to how much I hate the Pats. I'm sick of their just squeaking by. I have never seen teams make as many absurd and stupid mistakes as they do against the Pats. I don't know why the NFL even bothers existing anymore. Clearly Belichick must be the best coach ever, Brady the best QB ever (despite 3 picks yesterday), Pats' think tank best talent prophets in draft / free agency / trades ever, bob kraft best owner ever, etc. If not, why would EVERY team lay down like a bunch of sallies week in and week out and completely suck? How do you have LT rush for over 100 yds, get 2 TDs, force 3 brady picks, and STILL LOSE??? By miraculously fumbling an interception (I can't even remember seeing something like this before), dropping a punt and instead of just sitting on it trying to pick it up and run, telegraphing a pass that colvin easily picks off, and picking up 2 stupid unnecessary roughness penalties.

Pats have all new receivers (except Troy brown), new rookie RB, new corners, etc. and still dominate. The pats should be beaten - they are NOT the team they were in the past. This year they have a lot of turnovers and a lot of penalties. Usually they won in the past because they avoided those things. So will SOMEONE please beat the F'in pats already???

Off Season Open Thread

Have at it.

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.

Bradford

Wow, this is bad news. Loss of Bradford and Mota, with unknown Sanchez, plus Wagner sucking, does not bode well for bullpen next year. I don't know how they didn't go all out for Bradford. Unless they have some super confidence in their rookie pitchers or are planning some blockbuster trade, so far this offseason Minaya's marks are low..

Baked Zito

Andrew Hintz over at MetsGeek makes the case that goofy Barry Zito will not be the worth the contract he commands. And not b/c he's goofy.

Another trade

On yahoo.com:

The Mets did add a pair of young pitchers Monday, acquiring left-handers Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick from Florida for hard-throwing prospects Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom.

Vargas and Bostick are both 23. Owens and Lindstrom are both right-handers.

Here's some info on the incoming hurlers:

Vargas will be 24 at the start of the next season. He's started and come out of the bullpen for the Marlins. Here are his ugly numbers. But we have Peterson!

Bostick's still in the Southern League and has put up some mixed numbers in the farms.

Owens of course was the guy who destroyed double A this year until he came up to the Mets and started walking the park. Lindstrom throws 100 MPH but can't seem to separate himself at the AA level.

Mets sign Easley

According to Mets.com, 2b/IF Damon Easley has been inked to a one-year deal worth $850K. The good news? He's cheap. The bad news? He's old. The reason for signing him? Omar says he can "play all over the field."

The only pertinent piece of information? Easley sucks. He's always sucked. He's a coiled up steaming dung pile.

If the Mets want to continue to sign 30-somethings with no skills for 6-figure contracts, please contact this blogger.

Free agents

Shea Hey Kids
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the free agent market is very underwhelming yet the Mets needs are real so they must trade. Minaya seems to agree: "Minaya said the price for free agents in general and the lack of appealing options is going to force teams to look at trades to solve a few issues. With that being the case, Minaya is actively working trade possibilities to see about starting pitching."

As I also mentioned, the Mets need to move quickly because the Phillies new GM, Pat Gillick, has quite a winning track record also, and is rumored to be moving strongly on Soriano. Make no mistake, with Gillick at the helm the Phillies will be doing all they can to compete with Mets.

I still like the idea of going after Gagne (assuming he passes a medical exam). Then we have the flexibility to package some combination of Wagner, Heilman, Milledge, Valentin, and Green for either a starter, 2nd basemen, or outfielder.

It's also worth pointing out that except for Wright and Reyes (and hopefully Milledge), I doubt anyone's #s in the lineup are going to be as good or better than this year. Lo Duca had an unusually strong 2nd half compared to last 4 years. Beltran had a career year for HR, RBI, and OBP. Delgado might be able to sustain his #s for one more year, but I doubt he'll exceed them. So it would be nice to replace Floyd and get a solid hitter in 6 spot.

Mets make a trade

so sayeth Mets.com.

Johnson sounds like an interesting addition, a speedy outfielder who will be a good bench option for Willie, and could grow into something more.

Adkins has big-league experience and something Bell and Ring didn't have: a chance to be used in meaningful situations. Even in the middle innings, Bell and Ring weren't getting into any late September or October innings. Adkins has been around the block a few times, including a post-season with the '05 champion WhiteSox, and Willie likes those kind of guys.

In other bullpen roster news, the article states:

The Mets have had contact with the representatives for reliever Chad Bradford and remain optimistic an agreement will be reached, though the returns of free agents Roberto Hernandez, Guillermo Mota and Darren Oliver -- who teamed to pitch middle and late innings for the Mets in the second half last season -- appear less certain.

El Duque signed for 2 years

So says all of the internets. Orlando will be, what, 73 at the expiration of his contract?

Meanwhile, this news does not exactly quell my unease about the Glavine situation. Despite the fact that every logical argument ends with Glavine resigning with the Mets, the Duque signing gives me yet another reason to think the Mets are unsure what Tommy will decide to do.

2B filled for '07

Valentin will be back.

In other news, the Mets swung and missed on Matsoozakaka. And, as already discussed, Glavine is going FA (although discussions are certainly not done yet). Guess I might get that 5 young arms rotation yet.

Heilman/Pelfrey/Maine/Bannister/Perez anyone?

Glavine to be FA

As this article points out, Glavine has turned down his contract option for '07, and the Mets will not exercise the club option either. This will trigger a $3 Mil cash-out settlement for Glavine, who will then be a free agent and able to puruse a new contract.

Since the Mets didn't exercise their option, they must be planning on offering him a contract of less than $11 Mil for '07. Any more than that and they'd end up paying more than they would have by exercising their $14 Mil club option.

So if the Mets are planning on offering him 8 to 10 mil for next year, they may actually be indifferent about losing him to the Braves.

That's my take, anyway.

Free Agency Rumblings

From the Newark Star Ledger, the Mets are apparently opening negoitations with Mark Mulder.

And from the Post, two articles of note:

The Mets are planning to bid on Daisuke Matsuzaka, who they grade out as a major-league "ace" caliber starter. The same article says that an unnamed source outside the organization said the Mets are pursuing Zito; an unnamed source inside the organization said they grade Zito out as either a #2 or a #3 guy.

Pedro also is mentioning retirement as a possibility.

If the Mets were to bring in Zito, Mulder, Matsuzaka, and re-up Glavine, they'd be...spending lots of money. That said, I don't think you can be more confident in that group than you could with Glavine, Heilman, Pelfrey and Maine. Mulder was terrible all year and hurt. Matsuzaka is a "?" until he actually pitches in the US. And Zito eats innings, but if he doesn't come up big in the post season, as he didn't yet again in '06, what's the point? A cheap rookie can eat innings and be a playoff question mark just as easily.

Mota

Are you kidding me? This is a serious blow, what the hell was Mota thinking???

Now we've got no Pedro through at least first half of season, no Mota for 50 games, unclear Sanchez, and Heilman who wants to start (if not with Mets then he wants trade). Mets MUST re-sign Bradford and Feliciano now.

Let the games begin..

Free agency market looks to be interesting, see here.

How about going after Gagne and then being able to offer Wagner as trade bait? You could get a lot for Wagner + Milledge. How about picking up Sean Casey as additional trade bait? Or adding Jeff Weaver as a 4th or 5th starter, who we can trade mid-season next year if all of our rookies pan out.

Mets moves...

NY Post article talking about Adam Kennedy, and Heilman still insists on being a starter.

'07 Mets

Interesting Q&A here on mets.com, worth reading through. Touches on many of the points we've discussed in this blog.