Centerfield

Yeah. I can definitely get behind that sentiment. Especially when we still need more offense.

Familia had a bad month.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: That's the first thing I noticed too. Um. I have some news for you.

Russell Martin? Dude is crazy expensive and old. And not even that good. .733 OPS last year. Falling each of the last 3 years. Let's avoid the worst three years of that contract.

Right. Even 12 days is a little better. Make a starting pitcher disrupt 2 starts at least.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Lefty Specialist wrote: Glad this got done at a reasonable rate and early enough that Sandy can dangle Jay Bruce for the best deal. If those pitchers are healthy, this team will make noise. It should. But, geez. Is anyone a little worried that this could be the same offense that went out there with pop-guns last year? I know, losing your 3 and 5 hitters to season-long injuries was bad but I have to confess to being a little worried that Walker and Cabrera won't have exact replicas and dArnaud and Lagares will. I think one can be happy about the Cespedes signing but still be worried about this offense. At least, I hope so, because that's where I am. Re-signing Ces may be risky, but not nearly as risky as not having him. If he had left, a terrible offense would have taken a step back. At least now, the hope is that you stay the same or move forward. As constructed, I like how much power they have even as you get toward the bottom of the lineup. Bruce, Conforto, Granderson, Duda can all give you pop even if you get through Cespedes. But the needs at the top are still glaring. There is no real leadoff hitter except Reyes, and I have concerns that he can replicate what he did last year over a full season. And the real issue is that there is no 3 hole hitter. You can slot in Walker, but he's not really good enough to hit in that position. And only Conforto looks to have a chance to develop into that type of hitter. Maybe Dom Smith if he's ready. But those are far from sure things, and may not even be likely.

Kinda surprising seeing as how we lost Colon. You'd think a guy like Verrett might be insurance in case we don't add anyone. Maybe they feel we have enough in Lugo/Gsellman. How much did we get?

Gotta be a little bit careful of Fowler. Last year might be an outlier. Has a .788 career OPS, and has played in mostly Colorado and Chicago. I can picture him kinda sucking here. Plus, signing a speed guy for long term, on the wrong side of 30. Doesn't feel like a Sandy move.

I think they will try to trade Bruce now. Mainly to dump money, but also to get some talent back. I think this will leave them with Granderson/Lagares in CF and Conforto in RF. I think that they would only also look to trade Granderson if they were to sign Dexter Fowler, which I think is not very likely. But I think they should kick the tires. The Cubs are out on Dexter having signed John Jay.

Welcome to The Wilpon Appreciation Thread (TWAT)! All of us card-carrying members of PAW would have roasted them if they hadn't ponied up the money for Cespedes. Now that they have, it's only right that we give thanks for living up to their end of the bargain. Sure, Sandy played the situation perfectly, but he wouldn't have been able to do dick without $110 million of Fred's money to back him up. So thank you Fred. Thank you Jeff. I hope you enjoy this TWAT.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: This is one of those situations where I'm already convinced the guy we don't trade will either suck, get badly hurt, or both next year. You called the right guy on Duda/Davis. I think you should make this call as well.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'd put Conforto in that lineup instead of Bruce. I figure he's almost certain to be traded now. I was thinking about that. I'd start Conforto too, but right now Bruce is in the organization, and if he's still here in April, you figure he'd start ($$$) over Conforto. Agreed that he will almost certainly be traded.

Make your best offer for Jay Bruce. Act now! Supplies will not last!

Did not expect at all to have both Walker and Cespedes back next year. 1. Reyes, 3b 2. Cabrera, ss 3. Walker, 2b 4. Cespedes, lf 5. Duda, 1b 6. Bruce, rf 7. Granderson, cf 8. d'Arnaud, c 9. Syndergaard, sp

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I can't help but think that the Tabloid Cover Derby had something to do with this. The deadline for covers to be considered is December 4. I bet they noticed that the covers from Cespedes' return in January didn't make it out of the first round (because of competition from Mike Piazza). Anyway, this is FANTASTIC news! This is almost as good as if we had traded Donald Trump to Venezuela for a president-elect to be named later. Cespedes' new contract expires after the 2020 season, the same year that David Wright's does. A lot of money will be coming off the books then. Has a Met ever been signed twice in the same calendar year? Kinda crazy.

I gave this some thought over the holiday. You know what? I'm ok giving 5 years. Let's get it done. If you can make that fifth year an option, all the better, but he'll only be 35 at the end of his contract. Or, a year younger than Bautista is now. And give him an opt out after 2 years to keep the guy motivated. He can hit the market again at 33 and look for the type of deal Encarnacion is seeking. Good thing Sandy is at the helm and not me. I can picture the Mets' brass conferring yesterday: Should we do it now Sandy? You said after Thanksgiving. Did I? Let's give it 'til tomorrow. He'll blink first.

Does this mean we don't get Stanton?

My word means nothing to you? Jerk. Full no trade clause.

Deal is done. 4 years $110 million. Pending physical.

Still no deal. Not panicked yet, but a little concerned. How about you guys?

Somehow I forgot to vote in this one. Untied. For now anyway.

I gave this some thought over the holiday. You know what? I'm ok giving 5 years. Let's get it done. If you can make that fifth year an option, all the better, but he'll only be 35 at the end of his contract. Or, a year younger than Bautista is now. And give him an opt out after 2 years to keep the guy motivated. He can hit the market again at 33 and look for the type of deal Encarnacion is seeking.

Sharron Zachry, wife of Pat Zachry. Tragic. http://www.wacotrib.com/news/traffic/former-midway-principal-zachry-killed-in-i--crash/article_e0015445-b97f-5f48-813c-5af4b0c83a6c.html

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I think (and hope) that they will work things out. Ultimately I think they will do away with direct draft pick compensation. Meaning, if you sign a FA away from another team, you don't lose your pick, but the losing team will get a supplemental. I don't know if they will keep the QO system, but there has to be a way to rank these FA's. Also, I think there might be something that you can't offer a QO two years in a row. I think the international draft is a bad idea since the foreign guys really have no options. Maybe they try to clean up some of the corruption and work with the spending limits. Not a lot of time left though. Can they vote to extend 1 year and kick the can down the road?

Well, I think it's important to define "competition". An international draft fosters competitive balance between the teams, but reduces (effectively eliminates) competition for that player. Plus international players cannot then just elect to go to USC and bang California girls for a year. So the union is right to hold fast there. I imagine some of the resistance I am feeling is just plain old man stodginess. But I am trying to be open minded. As I ask others to be on far more important issues than baseball. But I think competitive balance is important. And so I think attempts to create a more free marketplace, especially for poor amateurs, many foreign are worthwhile and just, but one should keep balance between the teams in mind. I realize you disagree and I think on that, we will just have to leave it at that, but a league that is even more top-heavy than it already is would be a move in the wrong direction in my mind.