The Trading Deadline Has Passed. I Feel . . .

[Guest Rotblatt]

Let's take the temperature of the CPF. . . I'm trying to look big-picture here.

Please note that Sanchez was not part of the deadline deals, so when I say "upgraded our pen," I mean upgrading a Sanchez-less pen.

[Guest Rotblatt]

I went with indifferent, but I'm borderline relieved. I wanted a young, front-of-the-rotation starter who would be under control for a year or three. But who doesn't? Clearly, I'd have pulled the Milledge-Heilman for Oswalt deal in a nanosecond. Still, I'm happy we didn't "settle" for another mediocre starter who wouldn't have represented an upgrade.

I don't think the Nady deal will hurt us much if at all offensively in the short-term, and I think our pen is moderately upgraded by Robo. I like getting Perez--I think he's the kind of risk we should be taking on a regular basis. In the long term, we might miss Nady, but it depends on what we do next year. Is Sheffield on the horizon for us?

I'm cautiously optimistic for October. We won't have the best team in the postseason, but I think we'll still be the best in the NL. As it's a crapshoot anyway, we're going to need some luck to get through it all, but if a couple of our boys are hitting their strides at the right time, we could do well.

[metsmarathon]

i flutter between releieved and crabby, but spend most of my time in the happier camp.

of course...

Is Sheffield on the horizon for us?

that kind of thing would get me to furious in no time flat!

milledge-heilman for oswalt would've been nice, and that price, tho high, seems commensurate with what you're getting back.

i'm pretty glad that we didnt give away milledge for a rental of zito, despite the fact that i'm probably going to regret that opinion come playoff time.

but really.. what teams out there really have three solid starting pitchers? heck, what teams really even have two?

houston? are they even getting to the playoffs?

i like our chances as is, and i really like our chances for the future.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I'm more bummed that Sanchez is hurt than anything. Seems the Oswalt thingy was 86ed by Angelos.

The next few weeks could bring some more attrition, and with teams like the Red Sox unable to get anything significant done either, there will prolly be some more waiver activity than usual.

I think we could use a LH PH, and I thought Omar would go get a Veteran Proven Reliver with or without the Sanchez thingy, so I expect one each of those are to come.

[Elster88]

metsmarathon wrote: heck, what teams really even have two?

Quite a few, I'd guess without looking.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And probably every team that makes the playoffs, which is what really matters.

It doesn't do much for me if the Mets have a better starting rotation than Kansas City or Tampa Bay.

[metsmarathon]

Elster88 wrote: metsmarathon wrote: heck, what teams really even have two? Quite a few, I'd guess without looking.

lets check the division leaders...

Cardinals?
1 Chris Carpenter 2.93 ERA
2 Jeff Suppan 4.98 ERA
nope.

San Diego?
1 Chris Young 3.57
2 Clay Hensley 4.46
not really...

and the wild card...

Cincinatti?
1 Bronson Arroyo 3.20 ERA
2 Aaron Harang 3.62 ERA
well, there's one...

Arizona 1 GB?
1 Brandon Webb 2.74 ERA
2 Miguel Batista 4.71 ERA
nah...

Colorado, 4 GB?
1 Jason Jennings 3.58
2 Jeff Francis 3.63
3 Aaron Cook 3.79
hey, there's another, and they've actually got three good starters!

San Francisco, 4.5 GB?
1 Jason Schmidt 3.18 ERA
2 Matt Morris 4.61 ERA
nope

maybe Los Angeles 5 GB?
1 Brad Penny 3.53 ERA
2 Derek Lowe 4.29 ERA
there ya go!

the only other team out there that can claim solid pitching are the astros and the marlins. and they're both 6 games out with 7 teams in the way.

in the NL, I like our chances.

[Elster88]

I was thinking more about AL teams off the top of my head.

I, too like our chances in the NL. But if you're going purely off of the top two ERAs on a team, you forgot to list New York.

Martinez 3.59
Glavine 3.97

Not sure that we fit your criteria either.

[duan]

I'm happy, we kept the guys who could be long term building blocks, introduced a low risk - high reward guy to AAA who'll definitely compete for a rotation spot in 2007 and shored up a pen that I was happy with till the auto accident that Duaner Accident.

I'd have liked to see us getting Abreu in a salary dump, but I suspect that the Phillies may not have wanted him to go intra-division but I don't think there was a genuine starter apart from Oswalt out there and if they tried with Milledge and Heillman and didn't get there they played a good strong hand but didn't get the bite, that's all you can expect.

I know flags fly forever and all that, but all of Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Martinez & Wagner are around next year - that's a formidable starting point for a 25 man roster.

[metsmarathon]

glavine has the 19th best ERA in the league. i considered him to approximate the threshold for "solid"

[Benjamin Grimm]

Glavine needs to turn himself around though. His last good start was quite a while ago now.

His ERA from April and May won't help us at all in October.

I think he can do it, by the way. He's figured his way out of funks before. Of course, eventually there will be the final slump that he won't emerge from. I hope that this isn't it.

[TransMonk]

I'm crabby. That being said I don't think a serious move was available to be made...especially after Sanchez went down.

I certainly don't think we are any better today than we were yesterday. And even though we were good enough to beat anyone in the NL and most teams in the AL...I still don't think this team can beat Boston or Detroit in a 7 game series. Even the MFY would be a pretty interesting series.

[Benjamin Grimm]

You know, if the Mets get to the World Series and lose, I'll be disappointed, but unless that loss is to the Yankees, this would still be a great season for the Mets.

[Vic Sage]

i'm crabby... but that's my nature to begin with.

Our rotation makes me nervous, our bullpen just took a hit, our 4th OFer is now a starter, to platoon with an untested rookie, which might be a slight downgrade in our RF production (or an upgrade, but unknown at this point), and we've still got no LHed punch off the bench.

Our #1 starter is fragile, our #2 is in a 2 month funk, our #3 is an adequate #4, and our #4 and #5 are rookies and an old guy.

Will we win the East? Yes.
Will we win the pennant? Possibly.
Will we win a WS? HIGHLY unlikely.
Will we find ourselves in such a good position next year? UNKNOWN AND UNKNOWABLE.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Vic Sage wrote: Will we win the East? Yes. Will we win the pennant? Possibly. Will we win a WS? HIGHLY unlikely. Will we find ourselves in such a good position next year? UNKNOWN AND UNKNOWABLE.

I agree with Vic on all but the last question. I'd put another HIGHLY unlikely in place of UNKNOWN AND UNKNOWABLE.

They may be solid contenders again next year, but I can't imagine a having another huge lead on August 1. Even the 1986 Mets, a better team than this one, didn't run away again the following season.

[Elster88]

I see next year coming down to what starters we pick up. I think our core lineup and bullpen are solid.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Elster88 wrote: I see next year coming down to what starters we pick up. I think our core lineup and bullpen are solid.

I agree that it's all about our starters next year. If we don't resign any of our pending free agents or pick up any options, we're looking at Petey, Pelfrey, Maine, Bannister, Soler/Heilman/Humber/Perez.

That's extremely risky--and extremely unlikely. Figure it's we'll probably pick up Glavine's option (depending on how he finishes 06) and we'll probably try and sign at least one pending free agent out of a pool that includes guys like Zito, Armas, El Duque, Maddux, Schmidt, Weaver & Wolf.

It'll be a pretty weak free agent market for pitchers, making a trade a distinct possibility too. Best-case scenario out of that pool would probably be landing Zito, making our rotation:

Petey, Zito, Glavine, Pelfrey, Maine/Bannister/Soler/Perez with Humber as a midseason call-up and Heilman in the pen.

I'd take that rotation into battle against the rest of the East. Given our payroll advantage, I'd think we'd be able to land Zito via free agency or some other comparable pitcher via trade.

The more I think about it, though, the more I suspect Omar's got his work cut out for him this offseason . . .

[Elster88]

Ugh. Looking at that list and keeping metsmarathon's breakdown of the pitchers (on the NL teams at least) in mind, my guess is that everyone and their mother is going to be trying to sign Zito.

[Willets Point]

Elster88 wrote: Ugh. Keeping metsmarathon's breakdown of the pitchers (on the NL teams at least), my guess is that everyone and their mother is going to be trying to sign Zito.

And Zito will be way overpriced as a result.

[Edgy MD]

You know, zuck Fito.

Trade deadline's passed. Let's go to war.

[Elster88]

You know, zuck Fito.

Unless you're ready to go with what's already Met property, the only other option is the dreaded trade market.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Willets Point wrote: And Zito will be way overpriced as a result.

True that. Still, it's only money. I'd much rather overpay a good starter than overpay a team to get a good starter, if you catch my drift.

I have a feeling there's not going to be a good buyer's market for starting pitching any time soon. Which makes hanging on to our pitching prospects that much more essential, IMO.

Good buyer's market for outfielder's, though, with Bonds, Soriano, Sheffield, Carlos Lee, Floyd, Craig Wilson, Trot Nixon, Torii Hunter, Aubrey Huff, Jim Edmonds, Juan Pierre, Jermaine Dye, Cameron & Alou.

Jesus, that's a whole lot of average-to-good outfielders (I left out the glaringly below-average ones).

[Edgy MD]

Elster88 wrote: You know, zuck Fito. Unless you're ready to go with what's already Met property, the only other option is the dreaded trade market.

Firstly, I am so ready, and secondly, it's August first, and therefore time to focus on the business at hand.

[Elster88]

So says the creator of the 2007 25-man roster thread.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I do think Zito will be way overpriced, but that only helps the Mets chances of getting him. I predict he'll be a Met in 2007.

But, as Edgy said, 2006 is more important than 2007 right now. The only reason we spend any time thinking about 2007 is because there's little suspense in the current season right now. We're waiting for October.

[Edgy MD]

Indeed.

In my defense, that thread's only about snapshotting the future, not in advocating it. At least, for my part. And it sticks to guys currently under Met control.

But yeah, I know.

But right now, Zito's a Met opponent, and therefore just another suspect that needs to be focused on..

[MFS62]

In answer to the poll question, I'm actually just whelmed.(not over or under)
I feel that, based on the last minute implications of the Sanchez injury, Omar had to scramble to do what he had to do.

And, as he has said several times over the past few days, just because the no-waiver period is over it doesn't mean you can't continue to acquire players.

Later

[Elster88]

I'm just hate the idea of making trades when you're feeling scrambled.

If Sanchez had to get hurt, why couldn't it have been after 4 oclock yesterday. Freaking ballplayers are night owls.

[nymr83]

I think i'd take Schmidt off that list before Zito...

i picked indifferent in the poll, because while we didnt get the only thing that would have made me happy (Oswalt, Schmidt, Willis, Zito, or someone else of that caliber) we also didnt do anything we'd regret in the long term (like a kazmir deal, in this case dealing milledge)

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Let the rest of MLB get in a bidding war for Zito. I'd be happy if we could land Jason Schmidt and resign Glavine.

Pedro Martinez RHP
Jason Schmidt RHP
Tom Glavine LHP
Then let Pelfrey, Maine, Soler, Bannister and Perez fight it out for the last two spots in the rotation.