First Base

[Farmer Ted]

Omar is keeping tabs on Delgado in the winter league.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox just shipped Casey Kotchman to Seattle for Bill Hall leaving Russell Branyan unemployed.

Other current FAs incluude:
Adam LaRoche
Jim Thome
Aubrey Huff
Hank Blalock
Ryan Garko
Chad Tracy

What's your preference for 1B?

[Guest themetfairy]

I am willing to gamble on Muffy.

But this is only a slight preference - I'm not too confident about any of our options at first....

[Guest attgig]

I like taking a look at blalock for a incentive laden one year deal. Played in a good number of games last year, that I have good enough hope that he can get back to playing 140+ games. great power & still relatively young that I also have good enough hope that his average/OBP can return to pretty respectable numbers.

I would say Delgado if he wasn't looking for 5 mil as a base salary. who knows, maybe blalock is looking for the same, but I'd think his asking price would be a bit cheaper.

murph is my last choice. I don't think I'll ever be happy with him.

[Guest attgig]

btw, is it just me or does murph look like keith miller?


(can't get the image to embed for some weird reason. link:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3pH8F1XaEYc/SiDkEUHeN_I/AAAAAAAAFF8/NLp988NdwM8/s1600-h/miller.jpg

[Guest Edgy DC]

Hope harder, man.

Plenty of talented Mets --- Lee Mazzilli, Mookie Wilson, Jose Reyes, Todd Hundley --- were not particularly at the top of their class right away. Time takes time.

[smg58]

I do think they need a supplemental righthanded bat regardless of who gets most of the starts at first, but otherwise I'm flexible. I'd consider Delgado if he'd agree to an incentive-laden deal, but I wouldn't lose sleep if we got outbid.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I do think they need a supplemental righthanded bat regardless of who gets most of the starts at first, but otherwise I'm flexible. I'd consider Delgado if he'd agree to an incentive-laden deal, but I wouldn't lose sleep if we got outbid.[/quote:g8mypdn9]

Garko: .313/.392/.495 against lefties, career, in about a full-platoon-season's experience (485 PAs) against 'em. Should be cheap, too-- should the Mets sign him, and Ike prove to need more seasoning next year, I think he's got another year of arb left (Blalock, on the other hand, made 6M last year and is a Boras guy; also, he's a lefty with a nasty platoon split).

Of course, if he weren't invisible (like the "Sixth Sense" in converse?) to our field manager, perfaps Nick Evans (.320/.382/.490) could fit the bill.

[TransMonk]

I'm kind of resigned to the fact that the 2010 Mets 1Bman will most likely be well below league average no matter what. Either Murphy or Delgado is fine by me. I'm not Murph's biggest fan, but I also don't think he has reached his potential. If we're looking at free agents, I would much rather see a splash made in the rotation than at 1B.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

[batmagadanleadoff]

I like Murphy.... I just think he's the kind of hard-working, hard-nosed guy we like to have around.[/quote:1o6n8xig]

And so long as he hits well enough, he has my permission to be as hard-working and as hard-nosed as he wants to be.

[ashie62]

Hank Blalock

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I think Murphy-plus-Evans for this year would probably be the best, most prudent solution, all things considered.

I'd be lying to you and me, though, if I said I were hoping they DIDN'T sign Delgado. I admire the man, and wouldn't mind seeing him back at all, yanking HRs over the bridge and spraying his bad influence all over the impressionable youngsters in the clubhouse.

[Willets Point]

Kissing with tongues.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Evans. What is his deal?

[A Boy Named Seo]

Barring a creative trade, LaRoche is probably the best option for 2010. Wouldn't wanna lay out 3 years to the dude or anything, though.

Would be just fine with Delgado back at a 1-year, low base thing and hope for the best. Agreed that Murph will get his AB's somewhere over the year, maybe even 1B.

After that, Garko's attractive as a platoon.

Hank Blalock suxxxxxxxx.

[G-Fafif]

Evans. What is his deal?[/quote:3cq99w68]

I know! I mean, they bring you this little bag of Nick Evans on the plane like they're doing you some kind of favor, and there's hardly any Nick Evans in there! I once asked for another bag of Nick Evans, and the stewardess told me I was out of luck -- only one bag of Nick Evans per passenger.

I mean, what is his deal?

[Guest attgig]

Hope harder, man.

Plenty of talented Mets --- Lee Mazzilli, Mookie Wilson, Jose Reyes, Todd Hundley --- were not particularly at the top of their class right away. Time takes time.[/quote:2t7g9bth]

ok, he can develop in AAA, where he should've spent the '09 season. If he has great defense, or runs particularly fast, or has some other aspects in his game that can make up for his lack of power, and pretty cold bats at time, sure, I can understand the best place for him could be flushing. I don't see anything though that screams he needs to start at 1b.

Blalock has shown great power, and good hitting through his career. Injuries have hampered his rise, but he's had a healthy 09, and should be returning to for this coming year, and is still relatively young.

[Fman99]

Murphy/Evans platoon.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Blalock has shown great power, and good hitting through his career. Injuries have hampered his rise, but he's had a healthy 09, and should be returning to for this coming year, and is still relatively young.

[Vic Sage]

Laroche is 30, relatively healthy, and generally produces a .275/25hr/90rbi line, with a decent OPS. Let Murphy play a full season of 2b at AAA. I have no desire to see Delgado make a comeback from a serious injury, at an advanced age, on the Mets dime.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I don't think anyone's signing LaRoche to a one-year deal. 2-3 teams have already made offers, as I understand it.

[Guest attgig]

murphy = little power.
laroche is looking for way too much money/way too many years.
Evans? really looking to sink or swim based on the possibilitiy of a rookie producing who's shown to be nothing but inconsistent? oh, sounds like what we tried with murphy last year.
Blalock is NOT getting a raise, whoever his agent is. if he ends up being more than delgado, then yeah, probably not worth it.
Garko = murphy in a few years. maxing out at 20 hr's a year. I can live with garko, but I'd take a swing at seeing how much blalock/delgado are first.

[Farmer Ted]

I find it interesting that Mets.com has highlighted Carlos three times since he began this rehab stinit in PR last week. I'm guessing if the hip holds up, Carlos is back with an incentive-laden contract; Muffy doing filler time at 1B, LF, and pinch hitting in '10. Don't think they'd try to trade him yet.

[Chad ochoseis]

I don't think anyone's signing LaRoche to a one-year deal. 2-3 teams have already made offers, as I understand it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I find it interesting that Mets.com has highlighted Carlos three times since he began this rehab stinit in PR last week. I'm guessing if the hip holds up, Carlos is back with an incentive-laden contract; Muffy doing filler time at 1B, LF, and pinch hitting in '10. Don't think they'd try to trade him yet.[/quote:3fwv3rnt]
They might. Remember that, if they're not starting Murphy, Chris Carter provides plenty of Murphy redundancy as a benchie.

[smg58]

Let's not forget Russ Branyan (31 HR's last year in hitter-unfriendly Safeco) is still waiting for an offer.

[A Boy Named Seo]

The internet just told me that Adam LaRouche is about to write his name on a contract w/ the D-Bags for 1 year/$4-5 mils. I woulda been all over that shit.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/01/14/laroche.diamondbacks/index.html

[smg58]

The good news is that players like Branyan and Delgado will have to ask for less than that. Wow, I bet LaRoche is sorry he turned the Giants offer down. And I bet his agent is fired the minute the ink dries.

[nymr83]

wow. I'm not a huge LaRoche fan but thats dirt cheap for a player of his ability.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Carlos.
















Beltran.