nymr83

But steering this back to baseball for a moment, why were they so hell-bent on not blocking Lagares (and/or Nimmo if you want to logically extend it) with a two year commitment to Span yet they were completely fine in blocking Herrera with a four year, more expensive, commitment to Zobrist? Span could easily have been a health issue that they weren't interested in touching. from a dollars and cents perspective (and cents are the opposite of sense in baseball) Lagares makes good money and Herrera doesn't so its easier to justify blocking him, and this isn't a "cheap Mets thing" its how most of pro sports operates. And would De Aza really have been off the market if they waited until January to see Span work out? I don't think so, not with Cespedes/Upton/Parra/Gordon/Fowler still out there as dominoes that need to fall. i dont really agree with that logic, because not everyone is looking for the same thing. if you wait on him he could sign elsewhere as another team may like the price/1 year commitment. guys dont always sign in the order of talent or close to it.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yeah that's top notch stuff. I hope this guy gets rich enough to buy 2 houses. I hope he gets rich enough to buy two but wise enough to realize he only needs one. don't wanna see the guy on "Broke"

I really can't make up my mind on this one. i think it improves the team but increases the risk of disaster if Syndergaard gets hurt or Scott Boras decides Harvey can't pitch through a hang nail or the common cold. Gwreck makes good points that helped move me to "indifferent" from being a slight "like" what else was available at 2B? we'll see what Murphy gets paid and that will help inform if we got robbed here or not.

i'm so fed up with all this crap from Megdal and his ilk. if the Wilpons don't spend they get to pound the Wilpons all day for not spending. if the Wilpons do spend thats great too because then they can pound the Mets again next year for not spending MORE money while also pounding them for the signings that didnt work out and then blaming wilpon if ANY of those players were not the MOST expensive ones available (see: Jason Bay). Finally, since its their column, they get to never return to the guys they advocated for that sucked a big fat cock - have you seen any writers with a mea culpa for writing about how the "cheap skate Wilpons" should have signed Stephen Drew? nope. what about that HORRIBLE Reyes deal the Mets didn't sign? nope. and you wont see any of them apologizing when the Cespedes/Upton contracts turn to SHIT either. The Mets made it to the World Series, SUCK IT to Megdal!

dislike. a lesser Flores

i like the deal as a stand alone proposition, if not for what it says about the Mets' willingness to spend bigger on other pieces. 31 years old, ~100 OPS+, can play all 3 outfield spots even if some say the CF is below par, i'm happy to sign that kind of guy to a fairly cheap 1 year deal. i'm less happy that he is viewed as the dominant half of a starting platoon, but if Lagares bounces back to his 2014 form or Nimmo turns it on De Aza can be relegated to the 4th outfielder role he is very well suited for.

i like Keith just fine but none of these guys are Bob Murphy, I wouldn't care much at this point if we lost any of them

I really like the guy but wow, we are talking about replacement-level innings here. i get that the other bad free agent pitchers cost money too, but wouldn't we get the same from some combination of Logan Verrett, Rafael Montero, etc? with at least the chance of upside? oh well, glad to have the guy who makes us all feel young and skinny back i guess!

I don't know why he is even still a topic for conversation.

none of those "comps" are even all that close, because its hard to find another player who was good for ~10 years and didn't play longer. Don Mattingly springs to mind as a hitter and Kirby Puckett... Kirby might have gotten in partially on the "sympathy" card and Jackie on the "historic figure" card, and Mattingly isn't in at all.

i barely recognize the name, best of luck elsewhere though!

TransMonk wrote: Got it. Parra's not a great defender because Jeter's won Gold Gloves too. I think my rather obvious point was that Gold Gloves are not really a good indicator of who is a "great defender" and you could cite better evidence,

Not a great defender? He has two Gold Gloves!!! Derek Jeter has Gold Gloves and Rafael Palmiero once won it while playing DH most of the year. lets not cite that award as meaning anything. I certainly remember a time when Parra's defense was being cited as a positive by talent-evaluator type people, I don't really know how those skills have aged.

the article wrote: Clearly New York has some ground to make up in the middle of their lineup if they are to mount another run at a World Series title in 2016. arguably yes, but "clearly"? a full season of Wright, Conforto, & d'Arnaud would already make for an improvement. the article wrote: The Mets would like to resolve these issues before shelling out a boatload of money for a big-bat free agent that they may not even need right now. wait a minute, a minute ago they "clearly" needed the big bat, now they don't? lazy writing.

d'Kong76 wrote: More news from the lobby: Mets not the mystery team in pursuit of Heyward, happy enough with moves made thus far. Plus, they got Cuddyer last year. the terrible signing that keeps on giving!

MFS62 wrote: MFS62 wrote: Incidentally, I saw an interview with Sandy earlier this week on Yahoo sports(it may have been a reprint of an earlier one). Someone asked Sandy if he knew how much, if any, the Mets have received from the insurance coverage of David's contract. He said he didn't know. It's probably none of Sandy's business. When should I stop rolling my eyes? Really? He is the GENERAL MANAGER. He is the one with the budget. He should know how much he has to spend. It IS his business, by the definition of his position. Later Exactly - he should know how much he has to spend. Now, are you really assuming that the Wilpons are "letting him spend" Wight's insurance money? or do you think they pocketed it? I know what I think and I'm not even in the top ten on the list of "Wilpon Conspiracy Theorists" around here.

or more likely, hopelessly guessed at. Lucas Duda (1B only) David Wright (3B only) Neil Walker (2B, maybe emergency 1B) Asdrubal Cabrera (SS, 2B?) Wilmer Flores (SS, 2B, 3B) Ruben Tejada (SS, 2B) Dilson Herrera, Matt Reynolds, Gavin Cechiani starting the year in AAA So what are we missing here? The Walker trade made sense, but did the Mets, the same team that everyone wrecks for not spending, really spend 20 million over 2 years to not start Asdrubal Cabrera? who is seriously hurt? is it Wright? Flores? something is amiss!

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: With Walker, I think you get a guy who's maybe less likely to be game-changing than Zobrist. OTOH, playing for a new contract, not a longterm committment. Muffy & Niese gone! They were longtime sufferers. were they 2nd and 3rd behind Wright in tenure?

TransMonk wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Sherman says this is a done deal Small other matters = checking to see if Niese is crying. Pending Medical review is a big deal around here.

I like the trade in a vacuum, which is not to say it was preferable to signing a different guy

I think someone who is desperate for 200 innings even if they are barely above replacement level gives him a little more cash and yhe Mets justifiably pass since that level of pitching isn't worth more than a minimum flier right now.

MFS62 wrote: I posted this in the Sandy Alderson thread, but its down at the bottom of the page. So, here are my thoughts: Sandy has never ceased to surprise us by doing what everyone thought he couldn't do. While he might not produce two mic droppers, I'm sure he has (cliché alert) planned the work, and he will now work the plan. And I believe the Mets will start the new season with a true platoon centerfielder (maybe a regular with right handed power who can play the corners, too), infield insurance at second and third (Murphy?) and help for the bullpen. And I don't have the foggiest idea who those players will be. But given his track record, in Sandy I trust. I wasn't that thrilled with the prospect of paying Zobrist that much for that many years and I don't think Haywood is the player they really need. Yes he can play centerfield. So can I. But you wouldn't want to see me do it, much less pay me to do it. If they take a run at Upton, I'd be all over that. I still believe, Later I think they should let you do it for a game in spring training like Garth Brooks, it'll be awesome.

He is a better defender than I thought looking at the stats...I think I'd still rather roll the dice with Wilmer Flores while waiting for Cechiani or eventually Ahmed. On the other hand I realize it not an either/or because Flores could be the starter at 2B and Wright-insurance at 3B. Something tells me we'd all be very unhappy with a Desmond-Deal a few years in.

Centerfield wrote: Edgy MD wrote: And folks complained about Alderson's doublespeak and playing close to his vest. Well, this is what plainspeak looks like. Right? I wonder if Sandy is pissed off someplace about how many cards were shown last night. Orhis new plan is to send out Ricco to lie to the press while he negotiates a big deal with Heyward's agent.

obviously he just loves publicity AND is still a dipshit.. why not vote for the best ten? if a bunch get in, you'll be clearing the backlog for next year!