smg58

Soriano is a year older than Beltran to boot. Keep in mind, though, that the league is full of money right now. I wouldn't give him that much, but it wouldn't surprise me if somebody does.

Elster88 wrote: Mota's another one that confuses the hell out of me. He got the everloving crap kicked out of him for half a year and then pitched well for us. You can say the same thing about Perez, although Ollie wasn't as consistently good. The Cardinals will happily say the same thing about Jeff Weaver. Sometimes these things happen. I've got no problem bringing Bradford and Mota back. I'd like to see Owens get a fair chance to compete for a spot, but otherwise I see no good reason to tamper too much with the bullpen.

El Duque could keep a rotation spot warm for Pedro. Otherwise, he'd either be brought back instead of signing somebody younger and better, or he'd blocking Maine or Perez. I'd keep him in mind, but I'm not sure I'd call him a priority.

Going by records, Elster is absolutely right. But October was one of the few months where they had their full lineup in place, so the team that played in the playoffs was better than the team that played the regular season (and certainly better than the one that finished it). That certainly doesn't explain how Suppan and Weaver pitched this month, though. This Cardinals team, even at full strength, doesn't match the Mets or Tigers on paper. But playoff series aren't decided on paper. They were the better team when it mattered most.

So the Cards dominate the NL for two years, and are postseason disappointments. The next year they squeak by with 83 wins, and take the World Series. Funny game, this baseball. To be fair, the Cardinals dealt with injuries all year, and played September without Rolen, Eckstein or Edmonds and spent most of the month with Looper trying to close. Give LaRussa some credit for giving the kid Wainwright the ball in the 9th. Don't ask me what happened to Suppan and Weaver, especially Weaver. They were really the keys. I can remember all the statheads talking about how foolish the Cardinals were for settling for Eckstein at short. He now has two more rings than A-Rod ever will.

Acta's likely to wind up managing, so we'll probably find out.

There's always Clemens...

Frayed Knot wrote: - Seems to me that is was just a year ago that Gary was bitching about the possibility of his option NOT being picked up. I remember that too. If the Yankees can't get a better offer than Shawn Green, I'd consider returning their calls. But that's as far as I'd go, and I'm in no hurry to even go there.

I'm thinking that the $13M could get the Yankees more in free agency than Sheffield will in a trade. He's pushing 40, missed most of the regular season, and he didn't exactly light up the scoreboard in the playoffs. And that's before you consider any character issues. If people are beating the door down to get him, it's their loss.

ScarletKnight41 wrote: You have to figure that Zito being reunited with Rick Peterson would help his productivity. I'm leaning to Zito for the same reason. I also think that even the Zito of the past three seasons (or at least the past two) will do better than 3.75 in the National League.

I'd like to know what happened to Buehrle the second half this year (his ERA was 3.22 at the end of June); he went from good to awful overnight, and so far I've heard no good reason why. I was surprised they didn't tie him up before then, but now the Sox look smart for waiting. I'm guessing they pick up the option because it's not prohibitive, but he's a question mark going into this year. There are two ways of looking at Zito: 1. He's been a good pitcher the past three seasons but not an elite one. 2. The fact that the drop in his numbers came when Peterson left for here is not a coincidence. I'm willing to bet on two, assuming the total asking prices of Zito and Matsuzaka fall into the same territory (the $70M over five years looks about right), which I think is likely. But I'll take either.

We still have control over Endy for two seasons (only four full years in the bigs) unless the new CBA changes something about free agency. We'd have had a hard time competing with somebody willing to pay him to be an everyday CF, but that appears to be a non-issue right now. It's possible that somebody could make Bradford an offer we wouldn't match, but I'd say the chances are good he'll be back too. Glavine will cost us $14M next year, but doing that and going with Pelfrey or Humber in that spot in 08 should save us money over the long term without hurting the staff. If Zito would benefit from reuniting with Peterson (and I'm inclined to think he would), then he's the best pitching option. Matsuzaka is second, but he appears to be capable. Schmidt is option #3, although given how unpredictable pitching can be and that he basically only had one bad year, I find the steroids accusation insulting.

As usual, I don't know how much money the Mets have to spend, and that will obviously affect whther they should go for one big-money player or several. The big difference between now and 1999 and 2000 is that in both those years they lost somebody to free agency that they couldn't really replace, and that's not going to happen this year. I think they do need to get one of Zito/Schmidt/Matsuzaka. The postseason notwithstanding, the rotation is their area of greatest need, and if they have money for just one big acquisition it needs to be a starting pitcher. Lugo's been fine when given steady at-bats, and it's possible that his stint with the Dodgers lowered his market value below what it should be. He's not somebody I'd stretch the wallet for, though. I'd consider bringing Valentin back if I can get a suitable righty bat (Rich Aurillia might be available) to go with him, but that's obviously a one-year fix. I like Alou, but somebody older than and as fragile as Floyd doesn't sound like a prudent investment. Craig Wilson is a better version of Xavier Nady when allowed to play, and he's a proven lefty-masher, so he might be a good bargain. And of course, if the Mets have money for a second big free agent, you have to put Lee and Soriano on the table.

It's a shame it didn't keep the Mets' season going, but I'll remember Endy's catch after I've forgotten everything else.

We could call him YFM, for short.

Thanks to the Mets, and to everybody here. It was a fun ride. Next year is sooner than you think...

I can't really blame Randolph for sticking with Heilman or going with Floyd. They were gut calls, and Willie's gut calls worked more often than they didn't but those two just didn't work out. What kills me about Beltran's strikeout is that Molina was signalling rather vehemently for Wainwright to get that pitch down, but Wainwright hung it and Beltran still looked at it.

I don't see the point in bringing back Floyd. I like the guy and always have, but it's time to move on.

Let's rock.

86-Dreamer wrote: I voted Trachsel for the reasons you state. But if Willie sees something in Trachsel - physically or mentally - that tells him that he is not up to the task, then I trust him. He has proven that he knows his players well. Excellent point. I also voted for Trachsel, but Randolph doesn't like to make hasty changes to his lineup or rotation, and if he does change something he has his reasons. We ultimately have to trust Willie's instincts on this one.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Mets ask for two innings apiece from Perez, Trachsel, and Oliver. Certainly the leash is very tight. I don't see a good reason to start Perez -- it's short rest, and if the Mets didn't score 12 on Sunday we'd be talking about how poorly he pitched, not how well. On the other hand, I'm guessing Willie doesn't want Perez in for long, and that he'd be happy with once through the lineup without a run scored. We don't need six from one guy. Right or wrong, Willie's rep as a manager is likely to be made or unmade tonight. Every move will be second-guessed if it backfires, and he'll be hailed as a genius if things work out. To be fair, none of his options look really good right now, and I hope people remember that.

But at the very least, we'd have to beat what he could get in Japan. So how much is he worth over there?

There's a difference between this guy and Ichiro, in the sense that the Mariners didn't really pay Ichiro a whole lot initially. This guy could command a bigger contract than Zito and cost another $20M on top of it. I don't think anybody over here really knows enough to make a fair judgement on him. Is there a good place online to find his stats? How many innings is he working while running up obscene pitch counts? If he's pitching well upwards of 200, I'd definitely be concerned about his arm falling off. I'd also like to see his peripherals. Kaz Matsui had terrible K/BB ratios in Japan, and a AAA prospect with similar numbers would not have been considered "can't miss" by anybody. So if Valentine liked Ichiro so much, and the 2001 Mets had a big hole in right field and in the leadoff spot, how did Phillips allow the Mariners to outbid him? Was he that high on Timo Perez?

I'm with Edgy and cooby as far as giving Trachsel the chance to start goes. I also think Oliver has to be ready very quickly if Steve runs into trouble.

Hit a home run to celebrate, Jose.