2008 25-Man Roster

[TransMonk]

OlerudOwned wrote: ="Grote15"]Is'nt LoDuca the best option at catcher?....You have Mota and heilman back..I'd be surprised if either are back... Not while Castro is an option.

Ugh.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

TransMonk wrote: ="OlerudOwned"] ="Grote15"]Is'nt LoDuca the best option at catcher?....You have Mota and heilman back..I'd be surprised if either are back... Not while Castro is an option. Ugh.

You can't deny that he completely outplayed LoDuca this year.

[TransMonk]

In limited duty...no I can't.

I have major questions about his durability.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

TransMonk wrote: In limited duty...no I can't. I have major questions about his durability.

Certainly the same must be said about LoDuca, at this stage of his career.

[TransMonk]

Nope, I wouldn't say with any certainty that the same could be said for LoDuca. He had the 5th most games of any catcher in the NL last season. At any rate, I'm less advocating for LoDuca than I am against Castro.

I have no problem with not bringing Paulie back. But if Castro's the #1 we better have a better backup plan than Mike DiFilice. I believe that if Castro is asked to produce on an everyday basis next year that he is as strong a candidate to spend time on the DL as Alou.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

What is the status of Juan Padilla? Is there any possibility of "Goggles" returning and being in the mix for a bullpen spot in 2008? If I'm remembering correctly, I believe he had some arm problems that required surgery late in 2005.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think the time is past to push the Castro-over-Lo Duca agenda. They're both looking at the open market now, and the issue isn't Castro vs. Lo Duca, but rather Alomar vs. Ausmus vs. Bako vs. Barajas vs. Barrett vs. Bennett vs. Casanova vs. Castro vs. DiFelice vs. Fasano vs. Gonzalez vs. Kendall vs. LaRue vs. Lieberthal vs. Lo Duca vs. Miller vs. Mirabelli vs. Moeller vs. Molina vs. Paul vs. Piazza vs. Posada vs. Rodriguez vs. Stinnett vs. Torrealba vs. Valentin vs. whoever is available by trade.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Current catcher depth:

#1	#2	#3	#4
J.A. Reyes	Arroyo	Nickeas	Alen
Age: 23 Club: BIN League: EAS G: 42 AVG: .214 OBP: .284 SLG: .325 OPS: .609	Age: 24 Club: STL/BIN League: FSL/EAS G: 33/22 AVG: .210/.203 OBP: .303/.309 SLG: ..257/.254 OPS: .560/.563	Age: 24 Club: STL/BIN League: FSL/EAS G: 26/65 AVG: .208/.217 OBP: .378/.281 SLG: ..299/.278 OPS: .679/.559	Age: 24 Club: WIN League: NOR G: 82 AVG: .333 OBP: .396 SLG: .453 OPS: .849

As you can see, those first three guys are offensively indistinguishable in their 2007 ineptness. Is Reyes on top because of his major league experience? Is Nickeas, because the Mets thought enough of him to send him to Arizona? Is Arroyo, who the Mets called up to New Orleans for the playoffs over the other two? Does it matter?

A good spring could bump Alen past them all. As could a showng by Brooklyn star Jason Jacobs.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is a good indication of how badly the Mets need to acquire a major league catcher this winter.

I can't imagine any of those guys getting the starting catcher job for 2008. (Maybe one of them could win a backup role, but even that seems unlikely.)

Mike DiFelice is more likely to be the starting '08 catcher than any of those four.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Action already underway.

Re-Signed to One Year Deal	Option Picked Up for 2008	Removed from Projected Roster
Infielders	Outfielders	Infielders	Outfielders
Easley	Alou	Kiger	Gomez

[Guest sharpie]

I think Carlos Gomez has a better chance of going north than Ben Johnson.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Really? Johnson is out of options, and the Mets don't want Gomez rotting on the bench. I'm guessing he'll be up, and passing Johnson, soon enough, but not until there's a role for him.

[Guest sharpie]

It doesn't seem like Willie has much faith in him. When the Mets were hurting for outfielders and he was on the roster he didn't get a long look and he wasn't brought into a September game (unlike Gomez). My guess is that he's gone before ST. Yes, there's a chance they keep Gomez back to give him at-bats in New Orleans but with the possibility of a wide open right field there's also a chance that both Milledge and Gomez get early season chances til one wilts.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Johnson's season ended with an ankle injury in August that required surgery.

Gomez hit .118 and OPS'd .318 for the Mets in September.

[Guest sharpie]

Didn't know about the end of Johnson's season.

Did know about Gomez's lack of production in September but Willie kept trotting him out there.

Could go either way.

[smg58]

The Mets may opt for a lefty bat in that slot too (i.e., re-signing Anderson or Green.) And what about Chip Ambres? Do the Mets still have him? I'd probably call him up for a bench spot ahead of either Gomez or Johnson.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We're only counting signed guys.

I think Ambres goes down as a minor league free agent, though I'm certain Johnson is currently ahead of him on the depth chart under any circumstances.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Re-Signed to Two-Year Deal	Removed from Projected Roster
Infielders
Anderson	A. Hernandez

[MFS62]

Williams released.
Newhan, too. (BTW - where was Newhan on your list? Did I miss a prior change you made?)

Valentin's option not picked up.
Later

[Valadius]

Castro's officially back. He passed his physical.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Peeps push and push.

No announcement at Mets.com, no roster update.

[Valadius]

Torrealba's been signed. And it's on Mets.com. Same with Castro in the same article:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071114&content_id=2300099&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

[Guest Edgy DC]

"The club has announced neither signing, but announcements appear to be all but formalities at this point."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Re-Signed to Two-Year, $4.6 Million Deal	Removed from Projected Roster
Catchers
Castro	Arroyo

OK, now Castro's in the fold. Arroyo's dream took him further than mine ever did. And he's still in the game.

I'm also adding Newhan to the free agents.

Your 2008 Mets
Starting Pitchers
O. Hernandez	Maine	Martinez	Pelfrey	Perez

[metirish]

Did Victor Diaz lose weight and change his name to J.A. Reyes?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Signed Away by Atlanta

Starting Pitchers

Glavine

This may work out nine ways to Sunday for the Mets ---

1) They get out of a $13 million obligation to a player in decline.
2) He gets signed away before the arbitration deadline, so they can be compensated without the risk of offering him an arbitration hearing that he may just accept.
3) The pick we get as compensation looks to be as good as such picks get.
4) Hopefully, the division rival gets the brunt of his decline.

Thanks, Tom Seaver!

Your 2008 Mets
Starting Pitchers
O. Hernandez	Maine	Martinez	Pelfrey	Perez

[Valadius]

According to MLB.com, Chip Ambres was signed as a free agent by San Diego.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/transactions/index.jsp

[MFS62]

LINK: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=644

New York Mets (26)
Righthanders: Joe Hietpas, Brian Lawrence, Clint Nageotte, Marcelo Perez, Corey Ragsdale, Jose Santiago
Lefthanders: Ricardo Morales, Raul Valdes
Catchers: Edwards Guzman, Jose Reyes
First baseman: Andy Tracy
Second basemen: J.E. Cruz, Jake Gautreau
Third basemen: Brett Harper, Vince Harrison, Fernando Tatis
Shortstops: Jason Alfaro, Wilson Batista, Mark Kiger
Outfielders: Ender Chavez, Ambiorix Concepcion, Elvis Cruz, Jesus Feliciano, Chad Hermansen, Luis Matos, Miguel Negron

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

That list is minor league free agents, al though it's goofy in that it seems to have some of the guys listed by the position they were originally scouted as. Mark Kiger splits time between second or third. He plays short, depending on the team's needs, but he's no shortstop. Brett Harper hasn't played third for years.

Re-Signed for Four years $26 Million	Trans-ferred from the Infield	Removed from Projected Roster
Infielders	Outfielders
Castillo	Anderson	Johnson

Re-signing Castillo bumps Marlon Anderson into the outfield and Ben Johnson into a position of fighting for his big-league life.

Say what you want, but it's not even December yet, and this team is close to something you can go to war with.

Your 2008 Mets
Starting Pitchers
O. Hernandez	Maine	Martinez	Pelfrey	Perez

[MFS62]

Looks like you can now bump J.A. Reyes for Estrada.

Later