Mets Won't Bid On Sabathia

Melvin thinks they're overbidding

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My understanding was that the Mets were never actually thinking of getting in on the CC sweepstakes, but they were simply saying that management was waiting until it played out to make their next move on pitchers. Which makes sense: until Sabathia is determined, the musical chairs on Lowe, Burnett, Perez, etc. likely won't start.

They also have a hole or two in the pen...

I believe the Mets and GM Omar Minaya will bid, but bid merely to up the $$ amount on the Yankees. That way, they have a better chance at signing Burnett, Lowe or Sheets. The more money they throw at C.C., the less money they will have for other free-agent starting pitchers...

23.3 million per season is over bidding for Sabathia, he's worth a lot, but not 23.3 million.

But the Yankees are under pressure to get some pitching for this season, look at how brutal their pitching staff was last year with guys like Ponson, Ratner and so on.

But signing Sabathia doesnt ensure a post season for the Yankees. They have a LOT more work to do free agent wise.

Felt this way all along, the Mets should have their sights on the second tier of pitchers (Burnett, Lowe, Perez, Dempster, Sheets) and make sure that they come away with one of the above, preferably Lowe or Perez.

If there is enough money left over (Which there might be if their plan is to go Pitching, Pitching, then Pitching like the rumors have it), then I would consider another lesser starter to plug into the #5 spot in the rotation. I'm personally intrigued by Koji Uehera and Freddy Garcia.

Minaya would have to REALLY hate his job a lot to go through the offseason without beefing up the bullpen significantly.

There's some good bullpen talent on the market, I would gather he will grab 2 if not 3 guys for his pen.

"There's some good bullpen talent on the market, I would gather he will grab 2 if not 3 guys for his pen."

Yeah but bullpens don't work that way. I would hope that at least one if not two of the guys is someone I've never heard of, putting up good numbers with the stuff to back it up on a in the minors or pitching the 6th inning on a smaller market team.

The closer will be someone more established, but the way to build a the rest of your pen is to evaluate young talent and buy low.

A couple more Mets thoughts:

If K-Rod doesn't happen because he demands too many years, I'd rather have Kerry Wood than Brian Fuenetes. You still probably need to sign another high end reliever with Wood like Affeldt or Cruz, but Wood could be that shut-down dominant closer.

The only way I see Daniel Murphy as the opening day second baseman for this team, is if somehow Mark Texiera is the opening day first baseman. That doesn't mean it can't happen down the line for Murphy if you find another quality glove to play first, but I just don't see the Mets setting themselves up for a porous right side for the sake of more offense. I'm sure Omar has had this thought, and for this reason alone might pay closer attention to Mark Texiera than CC Sabathia. I still don't think its Plan A though. Maybe Plan D.

I completely disagree. Dan Uggla's a terrible example. If the Marlins weren't such an atrocious defensive team, they'd have been a legitimate contender last year. A big part of the Mets successful run in the second half was outstanding defense. I know Luis Castillo wasn't anything special out there, and its obviously not worth getting zero offensive production from Argenis Reyes, but its something to to address, and I don't think putting Murphy there is the answer.

The Mets and Phillies were tied for second in the league with runs scored at 799, and considering park effects, its easy to say the Mets were the second best offensive team in the NL. How many extra runs will having Murphy at 2B get you? Especially if LF is just going to be a Fernando Tatis + [insert generic left handed bat] platoon anyway? I doubt its many more than you'd save with just one solid defender on the right side, scooping grounders for Santana and Pelfrey all season long. Turning double plays, picking throws out of the dirt, saving runs here and there.

And no, I don't think it will cost the Mets a play or two a game, but it will cost them a handful of runs over the course of the season. Aside from just my opinion, I just see having a really weak defensive area going against the philosophy of the organization, whether that's right or wrong, its my impression of how Omar and his regime operate.