Roster

Roster getting closer to completion. Joe Smith is in as a reliever, and it's been speculated that he's the person to whom Minaya is referring when he keeps saying he expects someone will step up big this year.

Also, rotation will be glavine - duque - maine - perez - glavine - duque.. Pelfrey to be brought in as #5 later. I like this idea, it gives us glavine and duque against los bravos. We need to F the braves early and often.

I like signing of Fernando Tatis. Although he might never be healthy or live up to his potential, he possibly gives us some slugging potential that we can bring up from minors during the season if necessary..

War DC!

Dark Commenteer called. From his 12/29/06 post:

So, it looks like we're going with the Glavine, Hernandez, Maine, Perez, Pelfrey rotation...

It was far from settled at that point. Would Humber or Mulvey jump up to grab a spot? Would the Metties trade Perez or slot him for the pen as several other ML clubs (i.e., Padres) wanted to? Would Pelfrey be needed to shore up the late inning crew?

Luckily, Shea Hey Kids has our very own prognosticator. 1st place for the Mets this year, DC? What say you?

Sanchez

Great, so Sanchez is basically done for at least the first half of the season. Plus Heilman's got tendinitis, and El Duque could fold at any time. If this pitching staff makes it until Pedro / Sanchez / Mota's return it will be a miracle. At this point I have a hard time seeing how we won't need to trade Milledge for a legit starter, but who knows.

Not resigning Bradford for 3 years at $10 M total is still a mystery to me. Why in the world would you let go one of your best guys from last season, for relatively small dollars?

Looks like we'll need to be driving in 6-7 runs per game this year.

Park headed to the pen; Pelfrey the 5th starter?

From NorthJersey.com,

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Chan Ho Park had finished off his third straight perfect inning when he got back to the dugout expecting a pat on the back and instead got the word that he was done for the day. What he wasn't told was that those three innings were his last as a starter.

Confused and disappointed, Park found himself waiting around and finally heading into Willie Randolph's office to meet with the manager, pitching coach Rick Peterson and general manager Omar Minaya. Behind closed doors, the Mets tried to appease him and convince him to accept this role.

And without any official announcement, this likely means that the role that Park hoped for was decided -- although the Mets kept a straight face on the worst-kept secret. Mike Pelfrey almost certainly will be the Mets' fifth starter, a spot he has earned with a stellar spring training and the potential that even the aces of the Mets' staff no longer possess.

Park made 38 relief appearances in 1996, his first full season in the major leagues, but has been in only five games out of the bullpen since then. And he did not seem pleased with the prospect of doing it again.

"To be honest, I feel more comfortable as a starter," Park said. "That's who I am. I've been here 13 years. Yes, I have experience as a reliever and have had some success with it. But I signed with the Mets looking for a job as a starter, that's for sure. If they ask me to be a reliever, honestly, I'm unhappy. I'm not happy."

Not happy, but willing at least for the moment, Park will head to the bullpen.

Spring training

Brief look at spring training so far:

Nice upside surprises:
1. Lastings Milledge, leading the team in BA (.375). Tied with Reyes for most hits (15).
2. Most HRs: Jose Reyes (3), who is also #2 in RBIs (7), #2 in avg (.349), tied for #1 in runs (9), easily #1 in SBs (7), and tied for 2nd most BBs (4) with only 2 SOs. If spring training is any indication, he will have an even more impressive season this year than last. I expect a big improvement in his OBP, something Rickey Henderson has really been stressing with him.
3. David Newhan: .273, 6 R, 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 9 RBIs
4. Glavine (1.29 ERA), Smith (2.16 ERA, 8 Ks to 2 BBs), Perez (3.86 ERA, 13 Ks to 3 BBs)

Disappointing:
1. Beltran (.216), Green (.190), and LoDuca (.154)

As expected:
1. Wright (.316, 1 HR, 4 RBIs). Looks like he'll have a solid season, hopefully build on 1st half of last year.
2. Alay Soler blew, Chan Ho Park still can't pitch, Burgos still has zero control despite great velocity and nice Ks (10) to BBs (3) ratio, and Humber still requires a lot of work.

Alay Soler...

...we hardly knew ye, and now we never will with the Metties releasing you. What little time we had together was too long anyway. As we predicted last season, when he had that atrocity of an outing at Yankees stadium while Minaya was at the game, we knew he would be buried so deep in the minors it would be years before he would resurface again, if ever.

dirty sanchez

Not the best news about sanchez here, apparently his work ethic is causing problems.

Mets Acquire Roberto Alomar

Not again, mind you. This post has a recap of the magical trade that brought Roberto to Flushing five years ago. The author's conclusion: the teams exchanged dung piles to no one's benefit.

Offseason training

Well, you have to like what you've heard from Mets players in offseason. Pedro's put on muscle and is dying to get back to his old form. El Duque just said he wants to pitch at least 180 innings and have a solid regular season, not just post-season. And now Lastings Milledge might be trying to turn things around and become the player we all hope he will be. Wright also saying it's WS or bust. Hopefully Glavine and El Duque can hold together long enough for Pedro to return.

#1 biggest disappointment in offseason: not re-signing Chad Bradford, at $10 M for 3 years. I still don't get that.

I miss this guy

How great a Met was Ty Wigginton? Turns out he moonlights as an O.B.

He's a guy I'd love to see back in NY. Hey Ty, can you play second?

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Just as an aside, while I'm mentioning guys I miss, I still miss Murph. It just doesn't quite sound like a Mets game without him.

Tix

Click here to go to mets.com for online entry form for a chance to win tix to Opening Day or subway series. Drawing closes 2/18/07, so move quickly..

Pedro

By all indications Pedro continues to exceed his targeted comeback, certainly great news. If Pedro indeed returns with the physical and mental focus he claims, and one of the young pitchers has a breakout season, we're all set. I think Glavine and El Duque will be up and down in regular season due to age and El Duque's infamous difficulty remaining focused, but come playoff time we should be a force. I'll take Pedro - Glavine - El Duque - ?? (Maine/Humber/Park) and our lineup.

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..