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« Odds and Ends: Johnson, Ponson, Nady | Main | Rumor Royalty: Geoff Baker (Mariners) »
Olney On Bonds And The Mets
ESPN's Buster Olney makes a pretty strong case for the Mets signing Barry Bonds. Bonds is a lot like Moises Alou, only a better hitter with more baggage. Jeff Sackmann only saw six teams as possible fits for Bonds; the Alou injury might make the Mets the seventh (although Alou missing a month of the regular season was a given). The Mets could get a ton of value from left field if they somehow kept these two from being injured simultaneously.
Olney argues that Bonds is the one available impact bat who can be acquired for only money. And the Mets haven't been terribly concerned with a few steroid-linked players coming through town. I agree with everything he's saying, and I think New York fans wouldn't mind so much if Bonds helped them win a World Series. However, Omar Minaya mostly dismissed the idea of signing Bonds or Sammy Sosa.
A more likely option is Marcus Thames, though Jon Paul Morosi believes Jim Leyland's fondness for him might preclude a trade.
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I not totally against siging bonds but that would leave the bottom 4 of our order with delgado, bonds, church, and schneider and theyre all lefthanded hitters. And you lose draft picks if u sign bonds to which i would rather have seeing how thin the farm system is.
Posted by: Superman | March 07, 2008 at 10:09 AM
That Mets lineup would be out of control. As a Cubs fan, I really hope you don't sign him...that would be very, very scary.
Posted by: Aduncaroo | March 07, 2008 at 10:11 AM
I would certainly like Bonds in LF, but I'm not sure if Minaya or the Mets organization will be down with that -- they did trade Milledge because of a rap CD, I'm sure they wouldn't like Bonds saying anything negative about NY.
Posted by: moebarguy | March 07, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Isn't there some sort of deadline for receiving draft picks? Or we could sign him to a minor league deal with big incentives if he is added to the 40-man roster.
Posted by: moebarguy | March 07, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Bonds in the 2 hole would be frightening.
Reyes-Bonds-Wright-Beltran
He would have to see fastballs with Reyes on base.
Posted by: kinghenrik | March 07, 2008 at 10:18 AM
as a braves fan, i do not want bonds to sign with the mets. as a braves fan, i do not want bonds to sign with the braves. as a fan of baseball, i don't want him to play ever again. oh, the dilemma. go to japan and juice up all you want melonhead.
Posted by: ryan c | March 07, 2008 at 10:20 AM
I'm a bit confused. Did the Giant's offer arb. to Bonds? Because if they didn't, would they still get draft picks? Hell, I'll take a stab at this and Tim or who ever can correct me if I'm wrong:
Giants didn't offer arbitration, or Bonds wouldn't be out of a job right now. Which means he's just a free agent and that signing him wouldn't cost anyone draft picks.
Posted by: Darin | March 07, 2008 at 10:23 AM
No they didn't offer Bonds arbitration so no you wouldn't lose any draft picks.
Posted by: Guitar Hero | March 07, 2008 at 10:27 AM
I no the Blue Jays aren't considering him, but I really think he could make them a better team.
Posted by: Guitar Hero | March 07, 2008 at 10:28 AM
He wasnt offered arbitration so there would be no draft picks given up.
The Mets wouldn't put him in their bottom 4 either. It's pretty obvious Castillo would move down the order. Maybe they could even move Beltran to batting second with Wright third and Bonds fourth.
And even if they did have four lefties in a row, it wouldn't be bad because isn't like 70% of starting pitchers righties? Having four right-handed hitters in a row would be more detrimental than four lefties.
Posted by: jza1218 | March 07, 2008 at 10:29 AM
I think I'm missing something on this whole left field deal with the Mets. First off, we're talking about Alou being out anywhere from a week to a month at the start of the season. The Mets clearly planned to be without the guy for a portion of the season, which is why they re-signed Endy Chavez and traded for Angel Pagan. We've also seen Marlon Anderson and Damien Easley play some outfield. Between those 4 players, the Mets can get by for a couple of weeks or a month.
The Mets real problem is 1st base. Delgado is hurt with an injury that may be permanent and progressive and he's 36 and he's coming off his worst season. Most alarming is that the Mets have little to no depth at 1st. Again, Marlon Anderson and Damien Easly have played there, but it's not the same as having a guy like Chavez to plug in where at least you know you get great defense and some speed. To me, if the Mets are gonna go out and trade whatever prospects they have left they need to do it for someone who can play first. If he can also play the outfield, even better, but I think first is a much bigger priority for them.
Posted by: BigScooter | March 07, 2008 at 10:40 AM
yes 1st base seems like the mets big need. dan johnson out in oakland can be had. barton is up and coming and johnson has potential(thats another way of saying he might suck). do the mets still have heilman? johnson for heilman seems like fair value to me. also the As wanted heilman back when milledge almost went to them. the As could sure use the pitching and hes only a middle reliever in new york. makes sense to me.
Posted by: Joelcards | March 07, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Dont forget they also have Brady Clark. I love that dude. OBP machine!
Posted by: jza1218 | March 07, 2008 at 10:53 AM
This makes an awful lot of sense. Bonds wants to win a World Series. The Mets already have a team that could potentially reach the World Series. Adding Bonds would help them dominate in the NL East. As well, if there are any teams that can handle baggage, it should be the New York teams, as they've got heavy media 365 days a year already. How much could Bonds's baggage really matter?
As for whether he's going to jail or not? I don't think so. In any case, they could just write a clause into his contract about it. But he's not going to jail, they just don't have much of a case.
Clemens, on the other hand, is totally screwed.
But a platoon of Alou and Bonds makes a lot of sense.
Posted by: lrs77 | March 07, 2008 at 11:06 AM
joelcards- I don't know if Dan Johnson is a perfect fit because the Mets would prefer a right-handed bat, but he's not a terrible idea. Although I think the Mets would be crazy to give up Heilman for Johnson's sub-.800 OPS along with his tenuous status on the A's roster. Still think Marcus Thames is the perfect fit, RH and plays OF and 1B, but not sure what the Tigers would want.
jza1218 - good call on Brady Clark
Posted by: BigScooter | March 07, 2008 at 11:38 AM
I wasn't aware of not losing draft picks. This looks like a potentially good signing all of a sudden
Posted by: Superman | March 07, 2008 at 11:43 AM
why would you consider a .358 career obp an "obp machine". i mean, it's good, but it would be like saying a guy who averages 20 homeruns a year is a "homerun machine".
Posted by: ryan c | March 07, 2008 at 11:55 AM
I was obviously joking around in regards to Brady Clark and overexaggerating for effect.
If you want to get into a discussion about it though, I think that he has shown the ability to get on base at a .370-.380 clip given steady playing time.
Posted by: jza1218 | March 07, 2008 at 12:21 PM
360 OBP is like having a 290 career average....since 260 is league average BA and 330 is leage average OBP...all roughly speaking. 290 career average is not too shabby at all.
Posted by: Guitar Hero | March 07, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Apparently the Mets are keeping an eye on Reed Johnson, who I think could play 1b and all OF.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/baseball
Posted by: Guitar Hero | March 07, 2008 at 12:40 PM
fair enough. .370-380 would be an above average obp. btw, mike hampton just removed himself from a game after 1 1/3 of an inning. will he ever pitch again?
Posted by: ryan c | March 07, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Well, I guess we know what Giants Blog Olney's been reading:
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/comments/2008/3/5/214956/7777/10#10
Posted by: nostocksjustbonds | March 07, 2008 at 02:38 PM
The Media jumps back and forth between extreme bias and realistic on the Bonds thing, I really don’t believe much of the things I hear about him anymore… BUT Onley did a good job here; it’s the right thing to say!
Posted by: darkstar1661 | March 07, 2008 at 06:41 PM
"As well, if there are any teams that can handle baggage, it should be the New York teams, as they've got heavy media 365 days a year already. How much could Bonds's baggage really matter?"
...If anything, the "baggage" and attention Bonds brings would take attention away from other players. If Church is struggling, I dont we would be hearing much about it with Bonds putting 3 over the wall in 5 ABs and all the steroid talk heating back up because it somehow would seem relivant to the media at that point. Bonds in NY/Bos/Chi/LA is like a dream ~ it takes some of the the probable negative attention away from undeserving guys and gives it to the medias #1 target anyway. In a small market with a ton of youngsters this could also be the case, they wouldnt be as pressed to perform if one guy was taking all the slack in the press that would be reserved for them anyway.
Posted by: darkstar1661 | March 07, 2008 at 06:56 PM
Not only would a LF platoon of Bonds/Alou be fantastic, but think about interleague play, and more importantly the World Series...Bonds at DH or Marlon Anderson?
Posted by: moebarguy | March 07, 2008 at 07:05 PM
“Not only would a LF platoon of Bonds/Alou be fantastic, but think about interleague play, and more importantly the World Series...Bonds at DH or Marlon Anderson?”
…And alou can still play RF from time to time, meaning Bonds & Alou can both be in the lineup during NL games. And with AL games allowing all of Beltran/Bonds/Alou/Church to be in there… well, that’s nice for a team that doesn’t employ a full-time DH…
Posted by: darkstar1661 | March 07, 2008 at 07:36 PM
Not to mention 3 guys for 2 OF spots would do wonders keeping Alou and Barry rested at all times.
Posted by: nrmax88 | March 08, 2008 at 07:15 AM