smg58

I don't see the logic in paying $10M to a backup catcher. I'm guessing the writer didn't know the arbitration rules.

They might soberly take Cameron for Delgado. Or Cameron and Trachsel, which would still save them money. If their rookies perform well and Lowell rebounds (I'm assuming they'll have to play him on account of him being impossible to deal), they'll be in better shape than people realize. Then again, the Marlins wouldn't be the first team that MLB allowed Jeffrey Loria to systematically dismantle...

I was dismayed by the first round picks from 1996-2000. Wow, that's a bad record.

I forgot about this thread. So the organization has at least some interest in seeing how Jacobs cuts it as a catcher. Good. Keep the options open.

I agree about blown saves being part of the territory. I don't think Hoffmann did nearly well enough in an extreme pitcher's park to make me think that he's even equal with other older options like Wickman, Jones, or Gordon who would come much more cheaply. But that has nothing to do with how he pitched in one game in 1998.

I agree with Rottblatt where Heilman is concerned; if we can stick with him through the lean years, we can hold on to him when he starts to realize his potential. We should be talking to people who want Trachsel or Zambrano, not Heilman. Burnett will not be worth anything close to his price. Do the Marlins want major league or minor league help for Delgado? Or both?

duan wrote: Would you do it stick or twist? I'd offer Kris Benson, provided Thome could pass a significantly more rigorous physical than the one we gave Mo Vaughn.

I agree. I'd be tempted, if I were the Phillies' GM, to see if Thome remembers how to play third, because the Phillies might not get value for him even if he's healthy. It could get ugly, but if they think his bat will be back in 06 then giving him away could be worse.

If they want an experienced major league starting pitcher, I'll talk to them. If they want an experienced major league starting pitcher and Brian Bannister, I'd still talk to them. If it's Milledge and/or Petit or else no deal, it's no deal.

I agree with nymr83 here; the problem is that we're in no position to even guess about Jacobs' defensive ability. We only know that until his injury he was a catcher in the Mets' system. I think that offensively, a Jacobs/Castro platoon would give us as much as any other catcher out there, so as long as Jacobs can field the position at all (and I'm sure we could get into a long discussion on the definition of "at all"), he'd be a net asset and allow the Mets to divert their resources to other positions.

That depends on what the D-Rays want in order to make this deal work. The previous GM asked exorbitant prices when dealing players (and, alas, got it once). One of these years they might consider trying to compete, too. I'm all for keeping options open, but I'd hate to think the D-Rays finally brought in a new GM just to give guys away more cheaply than the last one did, especially when they're finally on the verge of having enough talent on the major-league level to actually win some games.

And after 30 throws at a dartboard: 1 A.J. Burnett - SP - BOS 2 Kevin Millwood - SP - CLE 3 Jarrod Washburn - SP - LAD 4 Billy Wagner - RP - NYM 5 B.J. Ryan - RP - NYY 6 Trevor Hoffman - RP - SD 7 Bengie Molina - C - NYM 8 Ramon Hernandez - C - LAA 9 Brad Ausmus - C - HOU 10 Paul Konerko - 1b - BOS 11 J.T. Snow - 1b - NYY 12 Kevin Millar - 1b - SF 13 Mark Grudzielanek - 2b - STL 14 Tony Graffanino - 2b - NYM 15 Bill Mueller - 3b - MIL 16 Jose Valentin - 3b - BOS 17 Joe Randa - 3b - MIN 18 Rafael Furcal - SS - CHC 19 Nomar Garciaparra - SS - CLE 20 Alex Gonzalez - SS - FLA 21 Johnny Damon - OF - NYY 22 Hideki Matsui - OF - NYY 23 Brian Giles - OF - STL 24 Carl Everett - DH - TEX 25 Ruben Sierra - DH - NYY 26 Erubiel Durazo - DH - OAK 27 Mike Piazza - DH - LAA 28 Bernie Williams NYY 29 Sammy Sosa retirement 30 Raphael Palmiero retirement

Centerfield wrote: If Vlad were here there would be all this talk about how he can't handle playing in New York because of his struggles in the post-season. "I can't describe it man, it just takes something extra to handle the pressure of playing in New York and this guy clearly doesn't have it." But that would mean we were actually IN the postseason! Give me some idea how healthy Thome is and I'll tell you if he's worth pursuing. Given how the Phillies didn't return our calls when they shopped Schilling, I'd be nervous if they were eager to talk to us here. I'd be a lot less nervous about Thome if they also start shopping Ryan Howard, but I consider that a very remote possibility. Dunn's home/road splits aren't quite as scary as Soriano's, but they concern me enough that I wouldn't consider emptying the farm system, or even giving one of Milledge or Petit, for him (.221 BA, 14 HR, .805 OPS on the road this year; .230 BA, 46 HR, .835 OPS on the road from 02 to 04). He could turn into Burnitz (with more walks being the only difference) very easily.

The Manny rumors won't go away until he's actually dealt somewhere. The price suggested here is too steep, but if the Red Sox are that desperate to deal -- and so far, I can't trust the accuracy of anything being reported -- the price should come down far below this level.

I remember reading somewhere that the Dodgers agreed to foot the bill for the buyout when the trade was made, the way the Red Sox did with Mintkiewicz. If that's true, just let him go. If not, he could conceivably be worth more as trade bait or as a possible LOOGY option. Either way, it's hopefully likely he's started his last game with the Mets.

This is from the Newsday column Yancy quoted in the "gather the wood" topic on Nov. 5: One person familiar with the situation said Friday that Wagner could push for as many as four years, at a minimum of $10 million per year.

I like Wagner too, but there are too many other relievers on the market to justify four years and $40M, if that's what it takes to get it done.

Lefties had a higher OPS against Eischen than righties did (.700 to .675), and the 19 walks in 36 IP concerns me. He's had some good years, but I wouldn't block Ring or Hamulack for him.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: He's a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. I can't argue with that, but I'm guessing that an AL team will take a chance on him as a full-time DH. If it's the middle of January and he's still available and would settle for anything at that point, you could certainly do worse. I would wager that the White Sox at least would make him some sort of offer before it came to that.

What is Ishii's contract status? I don't see him on the FA list, but I was under the impression the Mets had an option on him.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: From Newsday:One person familiar with the situation said Friday that Wagner could push for as many as four years, at a minimum of $10 million per year. Wagner has the benefit of supply-and-demand in his favor, but there are few clubs that will push that envelope. Count the Mets among them. What makes this so bizarre is that Wagner DOESN'T have supply and demand in his favor; yes he's the best reliever on the market, but the market is glutted with pitchers that have closing experience. Rivera makes $10.5M per year, and Gagne makes $10M per year, so it's not unprecedented. But Wagner doesn't have Rivera's reputation or a Cy Young in his pocket. Plus, Gagne shows the risk involved with committing that much to a closer. I would pass on four years and $40M.

Thomas hasn't played 100 games at first base in a season for ten years. Pass. As far as Kendall goes, he's badly overpaid as a catcher, and putting him into the outfield full time would have been a disaster. Getting to Edgy's last post, say Jacobs has an .800 OPS. That would be great for a catcher, but mediocre at best for a first baseman. The question for Jacobs as a catcher would be if his defense there hurts the team more than his hitting helps. Which we can't answer right now.

I'd only see the need for a righthanded bat if Victor Diaz is involved in a trade. That's certainly possible, but the idea of one of these guys coming and taking playing time away from Diaz concerns me. I hope the Mets show a bit more caution in how they court a Japanese player this time around. Like doing enough homework on the guy so that they know that his throwing arm cuts it on the major league level and won't necessitate a position change in a year before telling us how wonderful his defense is.

So scratch Guardado from my previous list, and add Bob Wickman, Tom Gordon, Tim Worrell, Todd Jones, and Ugueth Urbina. Damn, that's a lot of relievers. The Mets could probably land Scott Eyre and any one of Farnsworth/Dotel/Wickman/Gordon/Jones/Urbina for significantly less combined than Wagner will cost. That would still give Heilman a fair chance of winning the closer role either in March or at some point during the season, or allow a year or two to give Soler or perhaps Heath Bell time to grow into that role. There are a lot of ways you could go with this.

Sounds like both teams were making room for younger players by moving mediocre veterans. I think Lawrence has a bit more upside. If Castilla needed Coors Field to put up big numbers, he's not going to like Petco very much.