Odds and Ends: Sabathia, Pavano, Penny, Burnett

I'd be thrilled if the Yanks didn't bring Pettitte back. Still think they will, tho.

I could still see Omar going after K-Rod despite having a year left on the Wagner contract-- yeah, it's insane to spend $20M+ or whatever on a closer, but it's even more insane to let Luis Ayala or Eddie Kunz try to close out your games. The Mets peel a lot of uselss salary off the books in '09 (Pedro, Alou, El Duque, for starters) and don't have too many glaring holes other than the one obvious one: the bullpen. And of course they're moving into a shiny new stadium.

"yeah, it's insane to spend $20M+ or whatever on a closer, but it's even more insane to let Luis Ayala or Eddie Kunz try to close out your games."

Wrong. Totally. This is not Joe Nathan, this is not Jon Papelbon, this is not Mariano Rivera. I will take Luis Ayala closing games for a couple million over K-Rod doing it for 15mil per year anyday.

"Ben Shpigel says Billy Wagner's $10.5MM for '09 is not covered by insurance, making the Mets unlikely suitors for K-Rod (hat tip to MetsBlog). "

I consider this wonderful news.

"hes 26. hes about to break the saves record. what else do u want?"

Dont give me this garbage. I always took you for a knowledgable fan, but that is just crap. Wins, Saves, RBI's, Runs, I thought we were all in agreement that these numbers have no value at all, and don't mean a thing. If the Angels had a dynamic offense and smoked other teams, this save record would be irrelevant. If there was a guy capable of pitching every 4 days instead of 5, he would win more games then everybody else. K-Rod gets the most save chances, therefore he gets the most saves. Do answer your last question, about what else do I want, the answer is this. I wan-t K-Rod on any other team besides the Mets in 2009. That is what I want.

"the dodgers organization is so stupid i wouldnt put it past them."

That same "stupid" organization told countless teams to piss off when they demanded Andre Ethier: he of the .889 OPS, the top tier outfield arm and excellent glove. That same "stupid" organization that traded 2 former top prospects that have shown absolutely no worth at the ML level (LaRoche and Meloan) and have picked up 2 major parts of their offense (Manny and Blake). The Dodgers have gotten hosed on some injured signings (Jones and Schmidt), but they have traded, and not traded, very adeptly.

As for Penny, I think the Dodgers were smart in waiting to pick the option up. I think they were waiting to see if they could resign Lowe (we don't know yet) and if Kershaw would be MLB ready (he has proved so). Also, if he can't come back to full health next year, there is no reason to pay a setup man, and that is what he would be, $9.75 million.

"calling furcal a great signing is definitely stretching it. he was good for them when healthy. he wasnt a bad signing but hes making 13 mil a year. like i said no other shortstop makes more other than jeter."

Furcal was a great signing, and he is one of the very best at his position, on both sides of the ball. Why the hell shouldn't the guy be the second highest paid guy at short (if he really is), especially considering the guys you can point to as potentially superior (Hanley, Reyes) are still under team control? He is a better player than Jeter at this point, particularly on offense. Also, you know why the yearly total is high on him? Because the Dodgers got him to take only 3 years.

"the andruw jones comment is so ridiculous i cant believe u typed it. andruw jones has decided to swing for the fences every time up."

Hey, I thought the Jones signing was stupid too. The Dodgers would probably be 8 games up at this point if not for Jones.

"manny is the guy who should be kept but hes the only free agent of the 5."

Kemp and Ethier should be kept as well. At this point, I think the Dodgers should look into collecting the insurance on Jones. As for Pierre, why not look into doing a salary dump?

joel... just because most Met fans complain about Wagner doesn't mean they are right about him. Most Met fans also would have told you that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran should be traded away. That Mike Pelfrey was a bust. They boo everybody and want all the best players, even though they are hard on superstars. I hated the Santana trade, but what a bunch of idiots would actually boo the guy after his first 5 starts, if it was even that many. Most Met fans are idiotic, too put it frankly. The fact that most Met fans hate Wagner does not mean they should spend a gillion dollars on Frankie Rodriguez.

I couldn't care less if you like Ayala or not. He has been fine closing games for us. He has a great track record outside a couple months in 08. The Mets bullpen has been widely criticized, and they are still in great position to win their division. I would rather fix up the rest of the bullpen and have Ayala close then sign K-Rod and leave the rest of the guys blowing games. The actual closer spot has not been much of a problem since Ayala came in, or before Wagner got hurt. Its been getting the game to the ninth. I just don't want him on my team, not for 75 million dollars, I don't care what anybody says. Same as I always say with Teixeira. The guy is a good player, but he is overated and 1B are not that important to pay huge dollars too. Same thing with closers. I always said the only guy I would even consider giving 20 mil to play 1B would be Albert. The only guy I would even consider giving 15 mil to for closing games is Mariano. And no, K-Rod is not the best closer in the league and he is not in the discussion. I stick by my story. He is not in the league of Mariano, Pap, or Nathan. The numbers speak for themselves.

Ayala could be a nice part of the bullpen, but his career K/9 number of 5.77 doesn't inspire a lot of confidence that he can close successfully. K-Rod's career K/9 mark is 11.75, which is more than double Ayala's number.

I don't think the Mets have a viable in-house option to close games in 2009.

I love the moron on the Metsblog Wagner article who commented that Pelfrey should be converted to closer. And the fact that nobody ripped him for that.

melonis... people come up with stupid shyt like that all the time. They think they are being innovative or something. AA.... since those guys all have the same save percentage... I would say that the other 3 are better then K-Rod, seeing as how the save percentage is equal and the others have better era and whip by a landslide over K-Rod. You think people go to the games to see guys like K-Rod and Nathan? I don-t. I go to see Hanley Ramirez, Chase Utley, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Chipper Jones, and Jimmy Rollins. I couldn't possibly care less if the closer is Jon Franco or Jesse Orosco. People don't go to games to see a closer. Maybe this year for the Angles, since K-Rod is breaking records it is different. But I dont know anybody that goes to a game to see a closer.

They go to watch closers in LA? They leave in the 7th inning in LA. If anybody is going to events in LA to watch a closer, I guess it would make sense. They are some oblivious and not so intelligent fans, especially the Dodgers. Not all of you. A lot fo you. Whatever. You win. K-Rod is the best ball player in the history of the universe and any team should be willing to pay him 45 million a year over 12 years.