Salaries

[Elster88]

This surprised me:

2008 Salaries
RK PLAYER SALARY (US$)
1 Carlos Beltran 18,622,809
2 Johan Santana 16,984,216
3 Carlos Delgado 16,000,000
4 Pedro Martinez 11,813,351


Does Delgado come off the books next year too? Is that almost 28 million for next year? I want Texiera.

[nymr83]

yeah, the mets are shedding delgado and pedro's contracts and considering what those guys have given the mets its not like that same amount of money is needed to replace their production.
i like teixiera but i've reached the point where i'm always worried about a free agent, if the guy is so good why'd his old team not re-sign him? the braves aren't broke (and neither was texas), so if they're letting him go i'm mildly concerned. we all thought dekgado would turn out great too.

[Elster88]

Our recent free-agent signings have gone pretty well, no? I think Pedro was worth it if you buy the "he made other free agents know the Mets were building a winner." Especially since it's not my money.

Texiera:
2003, 23 y.o., 102 OPS+
2004, 24 y.o., 131 OPS+
2005, 25 y.o., 144 OPS+
2006, 26 y.o., 126 OPS+
2007, 27 y.o., 150 OPS+
2008, 28 y.o., 111 OPS+
Career: .285 BA, .370 OBP, .532 SLG, 129 OPS+


And we need a first baseman. Atlanta's failure to resign him to this point is irrelevant

[Gwreck]

This is the place to go for salaries: Cot's Contracts.

Thoughts:
1. The Mets shed Delgado's contract save a $4 million buyout they will owe him. They also lose El Duque, Perez, Alou and Church (another 25 million or so).

2. I too would like Texeira but the Yankees also have a ton of money coming off the books and will also be looking for a first baseman.

3. We'll also need to sign a left fielder, right fielder and 2 starting pitchers.

[nymr83]

i dont buy that argument for pedro.

working backwards and including the last 11 expensive multi-year deals, whether signed by the mets or acquired by the mets (so i'm treating trading for a guy with multiple expensive years left to be the same as signing that deal yourself)

if i missed anyone i apologize, i just skimmed through the transactions on the mets website.

Johan Santana (8 year deal) N/A
Luis Castillo (4 year deal) N/A
Scott Schoenweiss (3 year deal) N/A
Paul LoDuca (acquired with 2 years left on deal) mediocre
Carlos Delgado (acquired with 3 years left on deal) BAD
Carlos Beltran (7 year deal) GOOD
Pedro Martinez (4 year deal) N/A
Mike Cameron (3 year deal) mediocre
Kaz Matsui (3 year deal) horribly BAD
Tom Glavine (3 year deal) mediocre/good
Cliff Floyd (4 year deal) GOOD

i think the jury is still out on Pedro because if he is great the rest of this year and doesnt get hurt again he'll have given the mets 2 good years, 1 average one, and one injured one which i think is a net positive...but if he misses alot more time this year or is ineffective his deal was a bad one.

i feel that schoenweis and castillo will be bad deals when they done and over with while santana will work out.

either way this is a very mixed record of success with free agents, most of whom came in highly touted (if memory serves only schoenweiss didn't)

i don't know what will happen to teizeira, but i'm just saying we have reason to be wary of free agents

[nymr83]

Gwreck wrote: 3. We'll also need to sign a left fielder, right fielder and 2 starting pitchers.

Church will likely be re-signed, possibly before the season is out. Santana, Maine, Perez, and one of Pelfrey/Humber/etc likely means secent money will be spent on one starter not two, with the usual bargain bin 5th starter types hanging around hoping for a chance.

[Gwreck]

Nymr83 wrote: Paul LoDuca (acquired with 2 years left on deal) mediocre Carlos Delgado (acquired with 3 years left on deal) BAD Mike Cameron (3 year deal) mediocre Tom Glavine (3 year deal) mediocre/good

You are undervaluing the Glavine deal, which was a 3 plus option deal originally. Same thing with the LoDuca deal, and possibly the Delgado deal as well.

Additionally, the Cameron deal -- again, perhaps undervalued -- needs to be looked at in light of the fact that we traded away the last year of that deal in quite productive fashion.

[Gwreck]

Nymr83 wrote: Church will likely be re-signed, possibly before the season is out.

Source?

Nymr83 wrote: Santana, Maine, Perez, and one of Pelfrey/Humber/etc likely means secent money will be spent on one starter not two, with the usual bargain bin 5th starter types hanging around hoping for a chance.

Perez is a free agent at the end of this year and a Scott Boras client.

Philip Humber is property of the Minnesota Twins.

[smg58]

Church will be arb eligible for the first time, which among other things means he's three years away from not being under the Mets' control. He's not going anywhere.

The Marlins are covering $4M of Delgado's contract. We did get one very good year from him, at least, and it's really hard to grumble too much about the team we fielded in 2006 in general. The best free agent pick-up, dollar for dollar, has probably been Wagner.

I've got no problems with pursuing Teixeira, although he won't come cheap at all given the competition for him.

[Elster88]

At the end of the day the previous signings should have little to do with this anyway.

[Elster88]

Nymr83 wrote: working backwards and including the last 11 expensive multi-year deals, whether signed by the mets or acquired by the mets (so i'm treating trading for a guy with multiple expensive years left to be the same as signing that deal yourself)

Now now, are you opposed to free agents or to anyone who has proven themselves in the past (thus necessitating big bucks).

It sounds like you're now opposed to signing someone who has proven himself in the past.

[Frayed Knot]

Nothing not to like about the idea of signing Teixeira (except remembering how to spell his name for PotGs) but I've been hearing some classic 'Grass-is-Greener' spouting from Met fans (many of whom are finding a sympathetic ear in Joe Badabingo) talking about how we should get rid of this bum Beltran and get a REAL hitter like Teixeira.


Except that here's a comparison for this season:

	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BA	OBA	SLG
Beltran	201	53	15	6	34	.264	.368	.458
Teixeira	210	57	14	8	40	.271	.357	.452

And this is 2006-2008

	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BA	OBA	SLG
Beltran	1,265	346	86	80	262	.274	.371	.542
Teixeira	1,322	385	92	71	255	.291	.380	.526

That's about as close to a dead heat as you can get.
Plus, one of these guys is a corner infielder (albeit a very good one) while the other is a top-notch CFer

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Maybe its just more apparent than ever but I think its safe to say that Benigno is the biggest idiot employed by WFAN.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Maybe its just more apparent than ever but I think its safe to say that Benigno is the biggest idiot employed by WFAN.

And by SNY , I never watch much of anything on SNY besides the game but all these dumb idiots from the FAN are taking over the place.

[Frayed Knot]

Considering that he became known because he was a constantly complaining caller, then essentially won a contest to become a on-air host, and then is popular because constantly complaining callers identify with his constantly complaing persona ... I'd say his 'biggest idiot' status is pretty much a locked up title.

[Guest MadDog]

AH, COME ON, FK! YOU CAN'T BE CALLING THAT GUY A BIGGER IDIOT THAN I AM? SAY SOMETHING FUNNY, MIKE!

[seawolf17]

Especially if it's a non-playoff year across town, the Yankees are going to throw huge dollars at Teixeira. I'd love to add him to the roster, though... we'll see what happens. He's going to get a big payday either way.

[Gwreck]

smg58 wrote: Church will be arb eligible for the first time, which among other things means he's three years away from not being under the Mets' control. He's not going anywhere.

This past offseason was the first of the 3 arbitration years. He and the Mets agreed to a 1 year, $2M deal to avoid an arbitration hearing. He is still under the Mets control for next year (and '10).

I am glad I was wrong on that -- so therefore our only big holes next year are left field, first base, and two starting pitchers.

[Frayed Knot]

]This past offseason was the first of the 3 arbitration years. He and the Mets agreed to a 1 year, $2M deal to avoid an arbitration hearing. He is still under the Mets control for next year (and '10).

And actually one year after that.
Church was a "super 2" this season, meaning that he was one of those arb-eligible even though he was short of 3 years ML service time. (2 years + 152 days according to that Cot's site)
But FA doesn't work that way - it's 6 full seasons or bust, so he'll be 3+ at the end of this season and still only 5+ at the end of 2010 -- meaning no soup for him until post-2011.

[Guest AG/DC]

Nymr83 wrote: we all thought dekgado would turn out great too.

Nein.

[nymr83]

]Nein.

i'm not disbelieving you, but what did you say about delgado at the time?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

"I'm Carlos Delgado and I'm 34 years old."

[Guest AG/DC]

Nymr83 wrote: ]Nein. i'm not disbelieving you, but what did you say about delgado at the time?

He's past his prime, he's expensive, and the talent we're giving up for him has a future and is cheap.