smg58

Gwreck wrote: Twins will hold firm on their demands (ie. when Washington was trying to trade Soriano) and nobody will bite. Santana will finish out the 2008 season with Minnesota with Cy Young-caliber numbers and become a free agent, and then get several bucketloads of money from either the Mets, Yankees or Red Sox for a long term contract. I'm predicting this, and rooting for it too. It won't help the Mets this year, but if Santana and Sabathia both hit the market the Mets should be able to land one and maintain an intact farm system.

Frayed Knot wrote: Heilman is the first player to jump off the train before reaching Arbtration Station as he signs a one-year deal. I agree with the person for rotoworld who said Heilman is worth way more than $1.2M. That's a third of what Schoeneweis is getting. ]- Oliver Perez is seeking $6.5mil vs the club's proposal of $4.725 The market for starting pitchers is so inflated right now that I think Perez would have no difficulty winning that case if it gets that far.

Jose Valentin gets a minor-league deal from us, Jon Lieber gets a major-league deal from the Cubs.

I've got no problem with insurance. Hell, you already know Moises will hit the DL at some point. And if Pagan does OK this year, he can take a full-time spot on the 25 next year.

Fman99 wrote: I like it... as a Mets fan. He's a CF who doesn't hit for power or steal bases. Aside from his glove he's not much of an all-around player. Hot wife though. You love to see the Braves make deals like this. At least Schneider and Church still belong on a major league roster. By the All-Star break they're going to wish they still had Devine and the draft pick they gave us for Glavine. But wow, her legs...

Fman99 wrote: IMHO this deal is 100% about Rolen and LaRussa butting heads. Otherwise they are a wash, with Glaus having more power and Rolen a better glove. I'd agree with that if I didn't think Glaus was a safer bet healthwise. Glaus is hardly a safe bet mind you, but Rolen is almost as likely as Moises Alou to give you a full season.

Marty Noble has an article at mlb.com concerning Robin Ventura and his ankle replacement surgery. Sounds creepy, but I'm happy to hear he's walking OK.

Centerfield wrote: I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but somehow I'd feel better about adding Martinez if we still had Milledge. I spent all of last year working under the assumption that Minaya signed Alou instead of Soriano or Carlos Lee because he was committed to keeping two of the three young outfielders. The move made no sense otherwise, and now we're looking at the possibility of going into this season with none of those outfielders in the organization.

Bobby Kielty is still available. While he struggled last year with multiple injuries, in the past he's hit lefties very well. He could probably be had cheaply. Ideally we could sell high on Gotay for some pitching help. Anderson can play second and Easley short, so he's expendable to make room for another righthanded bat. Even trading him for a good reliever, assuming the price for starting pitchers continues to be wrong, would be a net plus for the team. Then Pagan can serve as the 26th man, where I think he's best suited.

The issue with Santana for me is that we'd have to pay a really steep price for him twice, not once. If I only had to give up money, I'd open my wallet. If he was already signed for a non-prohibitive salary at a non-prohibitive length, only David Wright would be off the table. But we'd have to empty the farm system, and then make him an offer that would give him no reason to consider testing the market next year. That price is double what he's worth.

Five of our top seven prospects, AND the biggest contract ever offered to a pitcher? Um, no.

Sosa was very effective when he was not overused. As a starter he was doing fine up to the eight shutout innings against Detroit, where he threw 116 pitches (his second highest amount was 104). After that he struggled. His first appearance in the pen came on July 31; between then and August 29 he threw 20 relief innings, boasting a 2.70 ERA in that stretch. 20 innings in a month would translate into 120 innings over the season; by contrast, nobody threw more relief innings overall in 2007 than Heath Bell's 93. In other words, I don't care if you've been starting, 20 relief innings in a month is a LOT, and they took their toll. His consistency vanished in September, and despite a few good outings his ERA for the month was 6.57. So if you acknowledge his limits, I think he can be a big asset for the club. The catch is, the Mets need a dependable sixth starter, AND they need a dependable innings-eater supporting Wagner and Heilman in the pen. Right now Sosa is the best option for both, but they only have one of him. Maybe Sanchez can give us 80+ innings out of the pen, but who's counting on that? Or, do you leave Sosa in the pen and hope that subjecting one of Pelfrey/Mulvey Humber to the New York-New Orleans shuffle doesn't have any residual effects?

Yes. I don't like him as a mainstay in the outfield, but as a first call-up he could be very useful.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Sounds to me as if they just made ND Chavez less vital. It's certainly possible, although I'd much rather sign Kielty than give a roster spot to Pagan should one open up.

And I don't think either guy we gave up will turn into Heath Bell. Not that our pen could have used his 93 innings or anything...

I think Pagan will give the Mets the luxury of having somebody other than Carlos Gomez to call up in case of an injury. I don't see him being much more than that. So it certainly doesn't hurt, but it might not help all that much.

My favorite album of the year was Baby 81 by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

That's a lot for a corner outfielder with an .830 OPS.

The metsblogger took the quotes about Blanton out of context; Nico was surmising possible reasons why Blanton hadn't been dealt yet, and gave a list of possible explanations why GM's might not be willing to meet Beane's demands. I wouldn't part with Heilman. Our bullpen can't afford to lose 86 quality innings. I'd be surprised if Beane is insistent on Gomez given that they just acquired Carlos Gonzalez and have another CF prospect in the system. Having said that, if we can get Blanton for three players then I'd do it. The A's don't have any young infielders of note, and Ellis is a year away from free agency, which is why I think they'd take an interest in Gotay. What do I like about Blanton? Aside from the innings, his K/BB shot up to 3.5 after not exceeding 2 before, he gave up less home runs last year than in the previous two despite pitching 30 more innings, and opponents had a lower OPS against him last year than they did against Haren. He did tend to give up his hits in bunches, but most of his bad starts came in a bad stretch in July that was immediately preceded by a spike in his pitch count. He's not so much durable as he is efficient with his pitches. But as long as you know that going in, I see no reason why he can't be very effective.

I think I'm more optimistic than most people here about Delgado bouncing back to some degree. I also think the bullpen will improve a bit simply because it will be hard to replace Mota and Sele with pitchers who are as bad as they were last year. On the cynical side, I think any improvement we get out of rightfield will depend on finding a righthanded bat to go with Church. That being said, I think AG's premise that we've basically broken even to this point is spot on, and I pretty much agree with everything else.

Spring training is six weeks away. The offseason so far has, at optimistic glass-half-full best, been a break even for the Mets, and breaking even doesn't appear likely to cut it. If you're the GM, what do you try to do given the dwindling list of available players? My to-do list: 1. Focus on Joe Blanton. Offer Pelfrey, the choice of Guerra or Mulvey, and Ruben Gotay. Add Joe Smith if necessary, and be willing to haggle at any rate. 2. Sign Bobby Kielty, a switch-hitting rightfielder who's always been much better batting right. He's coming off an injury-plagued year, but while that makes him risky it should also make him easily affordable. And if Gotay is dealt, there will be an open spot on the 25 waiting for him. 3. Ask the Nationals about Jon Rauch. Even with Blanton, the Mets will still need more innings out of the pen than they can count on from what they have.

Milledge is a much safer bet with the bat than he is with the glove, and the teams with the pitching were all looking for centerfielders. A team looking for a corner outfielder would have probably offered somebody more substantial than two platoon players for Milledge's services. I also think there's a good chance that Minaya values Schneider quite a bit more highly than most people -- they were in Montreal together at a time when Schneider was a better hitter than he's been lately, and Minaya may think that Schneider will thrive again with a change of scenery. I'd still have kept Milledge, though. Santana and Joe Blanton are still likely to be dealt. With Carlos Gonzalez under their belt from the Haren deal, the A's might not want an outfielder at this point. I'd offer Pelfrey, Mulvey or Guerra, Gotay, and Joe Smith and see what happens. Gotay might be worth something to Oakland if they trade Mark Ellis (FA next year). But that might not be enough, and I think Minaya should have done (be doing) more to strengthen the pen regardless of how the rotation shapes up.

Sorry I couldn't get there, but in general I'd be up for something like this again in the future.