How To Fix The Mets

CC Sabathia will be damaged goods next year.

I agree with a lot of Ken Davidoff's suggestions. Oliver, Rivera, and Tatis will not be expensive. I don't care about Helms. I'd sign Garland, Lowe, and K-Rod or Fuentes. Let Pedro and Perez walk. They suck.

Perez sucks? Can you tell me a big game he hasn't come up absolutely huge in?

I'm glad the Mets don't seem to be really considering trading Wright or Reyes. Remember: the Phillies underperformed in 2005 and 2006. They didn't over-react by trading Rollins, Utley, or Howard. Would be dumb for the Mets to trade Wright, Reyes, or Beltran (who hit and played stellar defense in September.)

Would the Wes Helms signing be a preemptive move to keep him from keeping them out of the playoffs again? Very shrewd.

Franz,

You're right, that game was a dud. But you gotta admit, 9 times out of 10 he's money in the bank when it counts. The Phillies didn't score a run on him this year until, I believe, his 4th start against them. He dominates the Yankees and Braves. Game 7 in 2006, etc.

Plus he's not an injury risk ala Burnett/Sheets.

Perez didn't come up "big" in the final game vs the Marlins. He is a good pitcher the stuff of a #2 but the mind of a 4 or 5. Plus he walks to many.

Oliver Perez was NOT great on Sunday...he was all over the place, and only went 5.1 innings. That's not greatness. He can go, I won't miss him. He can be replaced.

"Perez sucks? Can you tell me a big game he hasn't come up absolutely huge in?"

Sunday.

That said, he's terrible against the garbage teams. Look at his record against the Giants the past 2 years. Also, look at his BB totals this year. I don't want to watch him for the next 4 years and not knowing how he'll be day in and day out. There's no consistency with him.

TruDru, are you high?

it's hilarious when non-mets fans say the same thing. trade the young core. you would like that, wouldn't you? let me guess and trade them to the team that just happens to be your favourite, right?

it ain't happening, guys, so keep it movin'

carlos beltran goes nowhere.

i doubt the cubs let wood go. he wants to be back there. i believe the same of dempster. omar can't afford to mess around with the bp. go for the sure thing in k-rod and then fill in the blanks.

i said this yesterday about the mets and this is coming from a phillies fan. the way you fix them is break up the wright reyes beltran. you trade beltran for a young starter a bullpen arm and some prospects. this gives you salary relief and if im not mistaken isnt f-mart a cf. you let him play everyday and develope cause the mental stabilty of this team is kinda of shaky considering what happen the past two septembers. you have a nice young core with reyes, wright, pelfrey, maine, johan, murphy. the comment about the phillies not breakin up their core is dead on. what we did to put us over the top was get a new GM. come on how did he get a 4 year extention??

Beltran is too valuable at this point. Fmart lost this year due to injuries so I dont expect him to contribute this year. Put it simply, if the mets had an mlb average pen they would of won the divison by 5+ games. the mets had 29 blown saves this season, league avg was 22. We were just a good team with the worst bp in the history of good teams.

You don't break up the core of the Mets unless they get someone of equal value back. If you tell me that I can trade Reyes and Bletran for Pedroia or Ellsbury and Yukilis then I may consider it. Otherwise you keep the core together.
The Cubs would let Wood go because they have a guy called Marmol. I want nothing to do with Nick Johnson. And the Mets are going to trade Castillo and will eat part if not all of his contract, so they will go after Hudson.

they go after o-dog then what about murphy?

marmol's good but are the cubs really ready to hand him the keys. i would guess that means jeff samardzija would be the set-up man?

http://www.metsprospectus.com

Come here for all your Mets info!

yup.

i cant see us spending all this money on 2b. Orlando hudson is not going to put us over the top. if we eat half of castillos contract and then have to pay hudson 8.5 mil a year thats 12 million a year for a 2b. Just doenst make sense when we can plug in dan murphy at 2b(he cant be worse than uggla) and spend the money on fuentes

you have to understand with the yankees and mets out, he's got nothing to talk about. he doesn't touch hockey, the knicks are pointless, the nets even more so. the giants were off and the jets...are the jets so...it's the mets' choking job. we're just going to have to deal with it this offseason. hopefully the giants continue showing the nfl what's up so it lightens the abuse.

if you actually read my post im saying keep reyes wright theres no need to trade them you have them locked up for cheap. the sixers comments are irrevelant yeah philly knows when we last won a championship it what we are used to hearing in blogs from bitter met fans and that we got swept in three games in NLDS but if you recall they did the same thing to the diamondbacks and they also won 21 out 22 games to but that doesnt matter. but what matters is that we were in the playoffs to get swept.

First of all, I would like to say we have been through this before, and we will get through it. Met fans are strong. We have to be, because the weak one’s don’t remain Met fans for that long. We will get come back and get through this starting about a month from now when free agency starts.

That said, this team needs a serious change. Most of you are by now used to my rants about the flaws of the Mets, and a lot of you probably thought I was nuts, ripping an offense that from the outside looking in, looks very solid. They cannot score in big games. They cannot manufacture a run unless Reyes gets on and steals with 0 outs, and even then there are no gauruntees. Going back to 2006, the Mets offense has come up short in every big game they have played, and in most cases, it is not against a real dominating pitcher. I am not even sure what the change should be, but I think it could involve teading away Reyes or Wright. I know, I know. We can’t trade Wright. He is the team leader. He is the face of the franchise. I know. But the fact is, he is the leader of a team that has never gotten past the NLCS, when it was expected to contend for a world series for 3 years, in two of those years we fell short of the playoffs. He is the face of the franchise, but the harsh reality is that he is the face of a franchise that when people hear, their first thought is chokers. The face of a franchise that missed out on the playoffs the past 2 years, despite holding their largest leads of each season with just 17 games to play. The face of a franchise that for the second time in a rowhas been beaten by the Marlins out of our playoff spot.

I love David, but in my opinion he is more expendable, from a pure baseball standpoint, then Jose Reyes or even Carlos Beltran are. Jose Reyes is among 2 or 3 shortstops in the game that can do what he does, both in the field, and at the plate. There just are not many .290/.360/.460 type shortstops with gold glove tier defense and 50 stolen base type speed. Think about it. How many do you know? And the kid is 25, and locked up with a team friendly deal. Even Carlos Beltran, how many .275/.375/.500 type hitters with game changing defense are there playing CF in the majors right now? There are not a lot of them, trust me.

And the fact of it is, and this is strictly my opinion, we need a drastic change. Something big. And sadly, the answer may be David Wright. People will look to Reyes’ lousy September and put the blame on him, but in reality he was just outstanding for almost the entire season. He was a rock for us this year. I know the numbers will not suggest it, but for the Mets fans that watched every single game, I know that you see the change in his approach. He rarely ever uses RF anymore, and he strikesout a ton in really huge RBI spots, which was never a trait of his. We used to count on him as our go to guy in RBI spots, with runners on 3rd and less then 2 outs, using the whole field and almost always delivering. That approach appears to be gone, replaced by a power stroke, with a lot more holes in it. I fear if he continues trying to hit that way, that his numbers will begin to reflect his new style of hitting, which is not a good thing.

I could be wrong, but I think that putting David’s name out there, and starting a possible bidding war for him could get us a huge bounty. Just a suggestion. If you could get a Brandon Phillips and Johnny Cueto type package from the Reds, do you go for it? How about to LAD for Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw? What about to Cleveland for Grazy Sizemore? To the Angels for Howie kendrick and Ervin Santana? Maybe even Lackey since he is going to be a free agent in a year or two. What about to Texas for a deal based around Ian Kinsler or Josh Hamilton? Not all of these are realistic, but there would be endless oppurtunities to get very good talent back, and where the same is the case with Reyes and Beltran, perhaps even more so, because good CF’s and SS’s are so hard to find, especially in this market, it would be very hard to replace Reyes or Beltran next year on a team wanting to win right now. If we moved Wright, we could sign a guy like Joe Crede, and don’t get me wrong, I know Crede is no David Wright, not even close, but he would provide a good glove and probably 20-25 homeruns, without the OBP of David. You could move Murphy back to 3B, where he has spent his most time. You could sign Case Blake. You could have a platoon. The point is, where you definitely would not get all of the production back that you lose from Wright, you could get some of it back, definitely more then you could get back if you moved Reyes or Carlos Beltran. I am sorry for the rant, I just thought it was something to think about.

I also want to make it clear, I do not just want to move Wright for the hell of it. That is not the case. I do not even blame Wright for what has happened, it was a total team effort. Besides Beltran and Santana, nobody came up big down the stretch for the Mets, nobody. I will say, for the millionth time, that I hate Wright's new power hitter approach, and I think he is lucky his numbers did not reflect the change in his style of hitting. I hope he gets back to what he was coming into the bigs, or else I think his numbers will begin to decline with his new approach. But still, I am not even saying I necesarrily want to move him. I only move him if I can get a very, very good package back for him. Another very good young player, or a package centered around a guy like Kershaw or Cain. Maybe straight up for Grady Sizemore? I don't even know, but it is something to think about. I would love nothing more then for the 3 core guys the Mets have to lead them to a championship, but the last 2 years, we just don't seem to have the toughness that guys like Braun, Fielder, Utley, and Rollins showed in the really big games. I think, if not moving one of the core guys, the Mets need to acquire a good, tough, gritty player who does all the little things right, like Keith Hernandez in the 80's. Somebody that would never let 07 and 08 happen.

disagree. you're already ready to give up on a 25 year old third baseman who's put up some brilliant stats his first four years in the pros. that's like the cards giving up on pujols for not winning it until 2006. you put a better team in place around the core. if you trade them off, you could very well find yourself in a position where they become mvps on another team and win while you're left holding the bag. the mets have been down this road before and i don't think even the wilpons feel like having more egg thrown in their face.

"Joel Sherman of the New York Post: Sign C.C. Sabathia, even if it takes $150MM over six years. Sherman notes this would lessen the load on the bullpen (Sabathia averaged 7.23 innings per start in '08). I prefer this plan to spending $100MM on K-Rod and a mid-tier starter. "

Agreed, without a doubt.

You all know how against the johan contract I was, but my feeling is, if you are willing to spend 15 million for K-Rod, then spend 20 million or a bit more to try to get Sabathia. I know, it would be extremely risky, but I get the feeling that Sabathia is one of these special, old school type pitchers that can throw all day and not wear down. He threw 3 gems in a row to end the season, all on short rest. He is a complete game machine. He has just obliterated the national league. Him and Johan Santana would form the best 1/2 in the world, to go along with Mike Pelfrey and John Maine, who are both young and cheap. If nothing else, you keep him away from the Phillies/Cubs/Dodgers. I say forget about being fiscally responsible, and just go for it. If one or both go down and it costs you down the road, so be it. Go for it right now, because the Mets will not have a window to win forever. Acquiring Sabathia would certainly make moving one of the core guys unnecesarry. That would be a big enough change, and improvement, to really wake this team up. If they still can't break through, then you blow the whole thing up.

So, here is my offseason plan for the Mets, probably the first of many. I will hold off on trading one of the core guys for the time being, atleast until the rumors start and we can gauge the market for them a little bit.

First of all, Dan Murphy plays 2B next year. Agreed with the guy who says throw him out every day, live with his defense if his bat is as it seems.

Resign Pedro, if he is willing to come back on a on year deal for 5 or 6 million with incentives. He will be better next year. I know he will be. He is coming off shoulder surgery last year, and injured his hammy in the first start of the season. He never could get going. When his control returns, which it will, he will be a good pitcher again. People talk about Pedro's dip in velocity, which is just wrong, because Pedro was sitting at 87 or 88 in 2005, when he put up CY young numbers. He is sitting there now, he just does not have the sharpness or precise location back on his pitches yet. He dealt with a lot this year, but even through the struggles he showed he can get guys out. Give the man a shot at redemption.

Let Oliver Perez walk, take your pick(s). This one was tough. You all know I love Ollie. I loved that deal the second they made it, when everybody thought he was finished. But his inconsistency and his high walk totals are just too much to deal with on a start by start basis. Whoever posted earlier has it right. He has the stuff of a number 1 and the mind of a minor leaguer. He just throws. His pitches dont have meaning to them. He doesnt throw one up and in to setup the slider. He just doesn't seem to think, he just throws the ball as hard as he can. This one is 50/50 though, because I would not mind having him back. He wins big games, and I get the feeling that at some point, he will take another step and become a better pitcher.

If you let Perez walk, sign CC Sabathia. Stick him in the rotation with Johan, and with Maine and Pelfey there, that is a dirty looking rotation. If you don't resign Pedro, move Heilman to the rotation and give him a shot to be the number 5 starter before you just release him or trade him for nothing. It couldn't hurt to try. He should eat innings and has the stuff to start. It is no secret that is where he wants to be. I realize Sabathia is unlikely, in which case, move on to Derek Lowe or Kyle Lohse, preferably on a 2 or 3 year deal.

Get rid of Feliciano, Duaner Sanchez can stay or go, but if he stays, it is as the 6th or 7th reliever. Show stays. He faces lefties, and thats it. Bring Ricardo Rincon and Luis Ayala back. Sign Juan Cruz and maybe Doug Brocail. Give Parnell and Kunz shots at a bullpen job during the spring. Let Ayala close games again, and hope that Parnell or Kunz step up and become the heir apparent.

Bring Schneider and Castro back to platoon behind the plate.

Make a serious run at Manny Ramirez. 4 years is not an option. Do anything you can to close him on a 2 year deal. 2 years, 60 million, if you must. He never would have let this offense die out like this late.

Bring back Delgado, that is a no brainer at this point.

SS Jose Reyes
CF Carlos Beltran
LF Manny Ramirez
1B Carlos Delgado
3B David Wright
2B Daniel Murphy
RF Ryan Church
C Brian Scheider/ Ramon Castro

SP Johan Santana
SP CC Sabathia/Oliver Perez/Derek Lowe
SP Mike Pelfrey
SP John Maine
SP Pedro Martinez/Aaron
Heilman

RP Ricardo Rincon
RP Scott Schoeneweis
RP Bobby Parnell
RP Aaron Heilman
RP Juan Cruz
RP Doug Brocail
RP Joe Smith
RP Luis Ayala

That is my first draft. Expect this to be changed many times this offseason.

I very much disagree with Bobo.

"You don't trade Beltran because of his contract. He's not very valuable."

I understand what you are getting at, because most teams cannot afford him, but he is the best CF in baseball, maybe 2nd to Grady Sizemore, he is a true 5 tool guy, and he does everything you want him to do. As a yankee fan who has watched Melky for 3 years, you wouldn't want a .275/.375/.500ish guy with top tier defense and 25-30 SB's?

For my money, Carlos Beltran is the Mets best, and least expendable player.

I don't think the Mets need an impact arm. With Johan, Pelfrey, and Maine locked in, the possibility of bringing Perez back, or if not, signing a Derek Lowe or AJ Burnett type of guy will be a pretty good rotation. Pedro, Jon Niese, or even Aaron Heilman could fill the 5th spot.

"Find a RH hitter to platoon with Church (he has no business playing against lefties). Other OF to look at include Bradley, Rivera, maybe even Abreu if the Yankees don't keep him. The key is to have short-term commitments. Abreu could be had for $30M over 2 years, which is reasonable."

I disagree. Ryan Church can hit lefties, it isn't really a problem. The problem is that his brain got rattled off the inside of his head multiple times in 2008, and he just was not the same against anybody upon his return, righties or lefties. The first 2 months of the season, he was hitting very succesfull against LHP. I think Church might be a problem, but if he is, it is because he has not looked like the same guy since his concussions. Perhaps they need a completely new RF, but right now it is too soon to tell.

"You need offense out of more than 4 positions. 2B, LF, RF, and C are black holes."

Well, LF/2B will be filled by Daniel Murphy, who is anything but an offensive blackhole. He looks like the real deal, and not like a guy who came up and just got hot for a few weeks. In my opinion, his approach to hitting is better then any player in the Mets organization, inlcuding major leaguers.

I like the Cain and Sandoval idea, I actually proposed a similar deal a week ago, involving Wright instead of Reyes.

"Take it from a Yankee fan who now wishes guys like Cano and Cabrera were traded when their value was highest. Reyes has nowhere to go but down, and next year your pitching is going to be WORSE. "

Why does Reyes have nowhere to go but down? He is 25, and we have really just scratched the surface of his talent. He hasn't even come close to topping out, a lot of Met fans feel like wastes his potential. It puzzles me that you think his value is on the way down. I might say that of David Wright after his season, that he has nowhere to go but down, but as far as Reyes goes, I almost feel the opposite.

Melky always stunk, and I don't think you could have gotten much for him. Robinson Cano is a different story. You may, at this moment, be wishing that you dealt him when his value was high, but in a year or two you will also be very glad he was not dealt when his value was low. Robinson will bounce back.

the arizona republic is speculating that the mets and Dbacks can agree to a deal involving byrnes and castillo. byrnes 2 year 22 mil and castillos 3 year 18 mil. Sounds like an option. I would love to make this deal and still sign milton bradley. move byrnes to rf bradley in lf. Church becomes our 4th Of or trade bait. I think church and niese for huston street sounds doable.

raykim, that sounds great. I was thinking yesterday of a deal for Eric Byrnes and Luis Castillo, strangely enough, because of Byrnes bad contract. He certainly has the grit that we have discussed. I am not sure I would trade Niese for Huston Street straight up though, let alone adding another piece. Was never a fan of Street. The castillo/Byrnes thing sounds doable, if Arizona wants to get rid of Byrnes bad contract for another bad contract. Definitely feasible.

"your core has worked so far hasnt it??? Beltran isnt part of your core. your core is reyes wright and johan. i mean keep it together and you will be lookin at the phils again in the post-season"

The fact is that the Phillies are only in the playoffs because they had teams collapse infront of them 2 years in a row. Don't get me wrong, they played well, and they finsihed strong, but the Phillies needed some extremely unlikely help with 2 weeks to play 2 seasons in a row.

I love Wright. But the guy gets away with murder compared to beltran and Reyes.

I honestly cannot see how people have not gotten on Wright all season. He is a homerun happy big hacker all the sudden, where good pitches will get him out everytime. He also never, ever runs out groundballs. Maybe it is because his swing is so much bigger and longer then years past, so it takes him longer to get started, but he really doesn't run hard on the bases. His speed is just average. He is a smart baserunner, but he has been a better baserunner then he was this year. His defense is okay. He makes some sparkling plays, but he also messes up some really routine ones. He doesn't have much of an arm. I love David Wright, it just gets to me how he can do no wrong and Beltran and Reyes are under the microscope, and if one of those guys makes an error it is all over the radio waves for days while Wright just gets a pass no matter what. David Wright 2005-2007 is pretty much untouchable. The 2008 David Wright, not so much.

the reason i move niese/church for street is that it saves us money on signing a closer for this year. I want chad cordero when hes a FA after the 09 season.

NRMax,

Do you think Wright has it in him to become a leader? I'm at a point now where I'm really trying to assess what he's all about. On one hand, I very fondly recall 2006, when the team was dominating, he was the ring leader, and seemed destined to become our Derek Jeter.

But when he just mails it in like he did in that game vs. the Cubs and comes up totally flat in the last series of the year...man, I just don't know. I have an emotional attachment to this guy, and I *want* him to step up, but I'm not sure he's going to.

I'd really like to keep "the core" intact for one more year and see how it goes with a halfway decent bullpen.

metsfan... I am not sure about Stokes. He has good stuff, but I dont know if I trust him. His fastball seems flat, and he almost has too much control. It was an oversight for me to leave him out, but at the same time, I am not sure I would gauruntee him a spot in the pen.

raykim... I understand where you are coming from, I just hate trading away prospects for a relief pitcher. Ambioriz Burgos is another guy I forgot about, who had surgery this year and could be healthy for next year. He is a young flame thrower who had some success with the Mets in 2007. I am not a fan of ever really spending a lot of money, or prospects on building a bullpen.

Sorry for the 3rd post, lol, but the bottom line is still this:

Mets' core achievements: 2006 NL East crown, NLDS sweep, NLCS loss in game 7, one more run scored/one less run allowed from reaching World Series.

Playoff games won: 6

Phillies core achievements: 2007/2008 NL East crowns. Swept out of NLDS by Rockies team who, essentially unchanged, was a non-contender this year.

Playoff games won: 0

When that line changes (and the "core" so much as reaches the NLCS in this decade), we'll talk. The Mets aren't clutch, but the Phillies aren't a dynasty in the making themselves.

"NRMax,

Do you think Wright has it in him to become a leader? I'm at a point now where I'm really trying to assess what he's all about. On one hand, I very fondly recall 2006, when the team was dominating, he was the ring leader, and seemed destined to become our Derek Jeter.

But when he just mails it in like he did in that game vs. the Cubs and comes up totally flat in the last series of the year...man, I just don't know. I have an emotional attachment to this guy, and I *want* him to step up, but I'm not sure he's going to.

I'd really like to keep "the core" intact for one more year and see how it goes with a halfway decent bullpen. "

I hear you. I love Wright, he just disapointed me so much this year. I just wonder whether somebody has talked to him about his new approach to the game, or whether he is not even aware of the way his swing has changed. I do think David can be a leader, but I also think that he feels like he has to be a leader right now, when really, I feel like he should just worry about leading by example and taking over this team as a leader a couple years down the road when Delgado is gone and Beltran is nearing the end. I definitely think some of his problems this year were caused by the pressure of feeling like he was the guy, and he had to lead us into the playoffs, which seems caused him to press, trying to do everything himself.

15 months ago the idea of even considering a trade involving David Wright would have been considered lunacy. Now it seems a lot more realistic. I agree, I give the core one more year together, and try to change up the supporting cast. I absolutely do not move Beltran or Reyes, and would not move Wright unless I really felt knocked over by an offer. My post earlier was no to suggest trading Wright is a necessity, only that if they break up the core, to me, he seems the most expendable, and he seems like the one who would go, being the face of a team known as a bunch of chokers. I feel like Beltran is beginning to take on a leadership role also. I cannot say enough about Beltran.

Basically, I definitely think David Wright is capable of being a leader on the field and in the clubhouse, being the Derek Jeter type player who runs New York, and taking the Mets to the promiseland, but the thing is, we can't wait forever, and he has to do it soon. One more year like this and things will definitely have to change, if things arent changed before next year.

I do. Absolutely. You will have a hard time convincing a lot of people of that though.

Agreed. If anyone has to go, better him than Reyes or Beltran. (Notice how Beningo has changed his tune on Beltran lately?)

But hopefully they can get this thing figured out. It would bring joyous tears to my eyes for Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Johan, Maine, Pelf, and Murphy to open Citi Field with a World Series title. I say, bring in a Floyd/O-Cab/Byrnes type, a few solid relievers, CC, and give 'em one more crack at it.

I'm sorry, but the 11-14 year old Mets fan of 1998-2001 in me would NEVER accept Chipper Jones as a Met. He's sent me to sleep unhappy more nights than the 2008 bullpen ever will. Great player, love the stats, but no thanks.

"I hear what you are saying regarding Larry. I was born in 88, so I was just really getting into the Mets around 96, just in time to watch Chipper destroy them a couple years later almost singlehandedly. That said though, he seems like a good guy and I think that Met fans, while hating him, still respect him. He doesn't run his mouth, he just hits. He is a class act, and I think the Mets fans feel a respect for him and how good he is, and could forgive him for all the bad things he has done to the Mets in the past if he lead us where we want to go. It is an interesting idea, but I understand any Met fan that wants no part of it.

And yes, if David Wright were traded for Matt Holliday, I might just have to kill myself. Well, maybe not. But you get the idea.

Something else that I failed to mention before. Last year was a little bit more annoying, because the Marlins were a weaker team a year ago (before they moved Miggy, go figure), but the Marlins are really a helluva team. Talk about a bunch of gritty, tough, hardnose players that want to win. Uggla, Hanley, Cantu, Hammer, Cody Ross, they really are a good team. Before that series started, I told my dad that the Marlins were the last team in major league baseball I want to be playing for these 3 games. Sure, they have trouble catching the ball and their relief pitching is sketchy, but their starting pitching and their lineup is a bunch of guys to not be taken lightly. Next year looks like Fla is ready to make another run for the playoffs. That team really has some hardnosed guys who want to win games. And oh yeah, they are talented players also, not the David Eckstein type of gritty players. Gota tip your cap to the fish, as much as it hurts to say it.

The ONLY guy in baseball worth trading David Wright now for is Tim Lincecum. Other than that, I'd keep him until next year. Reyes is one of the most underrated players in baseball. Lock him up.

Next year, the Mets need to sign CC Sabathia to a seven-year, $154 million contract ($22 mil per year), and then trade Carlos Beltran and Nick Evans to the Royals for Joakim Soria. Thoughts?

Agreed, he is not a no name guy, but he is not established enough that you consider trading Jose Reyes for him. Think about it, Barroid, I believe you root for the Marlins, but I'm not sure. Jose Reyes and Hanley are different type players, with Jose being a better all around player, and with Hanley being the far superior offensive player, but their similarity is that they are both elite young shortstops in the league. Would you trade Hanley for Jon Danks and Thornton Matt Thornton?

No offense to either of those guys, but I wouldn't.

Wait a second. You suggest they trade Beltran for Soria, then in your next post you say they shouldn't trade Beltran? Well, which one is it?

Not that trading Kunz, Rustich (who is hurt), Nando, Evans, and Owen for Soria makes that much more sense.

"If the Mets had a closer like Joakim Soria this year, we wouldn't be having this discussion. "

They would if Endy Chavez was the everyday CF. Actually, you are right, we wouldn't be having this discussion, because the Mets would have finished like 6 or 7 games out instead of just 1.

I've heard on Metsblog that Eric Byrnes could possibly be available. Theres a guy I would look to add to adress a right handed bat and our left field situation.

The guy I really like for this team is Chipper. There is an option in his contract but the Braves are rebuilding. If they let him go thats a guy the Mets would have to jump all over and sign. He's a veteran leader. A prolific winner and has expressed interest in playing in New York. The hardest part would be getting him to agree to play 1B. But at this point in his career he could realize that is the best option for him.

TruDru22, if you were the Mets GM, I'd poop my pants in fear.

Nrmax Im not saying that Thornton and Danks would be good enough for Reyes(its no where close) but its something to build around especially since Danks is only 23 and is a hard throwing left hander.

And Trudru like you say "Delgado should be moved for new leadership and to get age off this team. the likelihood of him repeating what he did this year is very very low." Its VERY unlikely for a team to resign a player then just flop him in a trade. Plus that isn't a great way of telling future free agents to sign with the Mets. They would recognized and would be afraid of that happening to them.

And crazy idea and I know lots of people will say no way this happens and all but what about this:

Trade Reyes to the Mariners for Ichiro and some others.

Then trade Beltran to the Yanks for Cano and some.

I realize it leaves a hole at SS but I think they could get someone like O-Cab to come play there or Edgar.

TruDru you just don't pick up options and trade the player. Thats straight disrespect to the player. Learn some class.

Beltran has a no trade clause and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to go to the Mariners.

I said Beltran to the Yankees. Reyes would go to the Mariners.

Either way you are trading two of our core players and have not upgraded starting pitching have gotten older left a huge hole a shortstop a lazy second baseman who may or may not rebound and slightly worse at center field.