Mets Roundup: Madoff, Catchers, Jauss

Bernie Madoff proves that baseball is NOT recession proof. thanks bernie, hope your 100 year prison sentence is going well, thanks for screwing up pretty much everything

Yeah, now we might have an answer of why Wilpon said the mets have all the money they want to spend this off season. Cause he may have gained 50 million to spend. This could be a non-issue, but it could become a big issue. Who knows?

Phillips didnt trade Kazmir... plus this isnt the first time Phillips has been involved in a sex scandal. He was involved in one when he was with the Mets as well.

People said their off-season plans would be affected by Madoff last year and they weren't. I've yet to see a report come out that gives a concrete number as to how much they lost. It's all speculation.

"He mentioned Rod Barajas specifically, who seems like the best fit for a team that could use some offense from the position, too."

Howard, man, this is just some bad analysis.

Barajas can help offensively? Are you looking at his 19 HR and 71 RBI, or his .282 wOBA, second-worst among MLB catchers with 300+ plate appearances?

Because if someone wants help offensively behind the plate, then Rod Barajas is one of the last guys that the Mets should to.

I say that the Mets should go after Gregg Zaun, a solid defensive catcher who's consistently posted a solid OBP over the years.

Out of sheer curiosity, why does it seem that both (some) Mets fans and their front office are convinced that Omir Santos is a quality major-league player? A career minor league journeyman is now getting significant playing time for one of the highest payroll teams in baseball. Just doesn't make any sense to me.

The mets catcher is a serious issue. I can see them bringing back Schneider. Lefty, knows the pitching staff, pitchers apparently enjoy throwing to him, and he suffered a horrific BABIP in '09, although his .300 wOBA potential is atrocious, at best.

"Out of sheer curiosity, why does it seem that both (some) Mets fans and their front office are convinced that Omir Santos is a quality major-league player? A career minor league journeyman is now getting significant playing time for one of the highest payroll teams in baseball. Just doesn't make any sense to me."

Huh?

You're surprised that a guy who posted OBP's of .328 and .278 in his first two stints in AAA in 2007 and 2008 and a .296 OBP in his first MLB stint, all the while closing in on his Age-29 season, is getting everyday playing time for a big-market team that expects to contend?

I'm trying to figure it out, too.

Are they trying to offset all of that extra offense that Piazza gave them at the position a few years back?

Either way, the Wilpons should still sell. They've already held this team hostage for too long.

Has anyone entertained the possibility that the Wilpons knew what Madoff what doing for all these years?

why would they non-tender francouer after he hit .311/.836ops? first priority for the mets should be upgrading the rotation and bullpen if they let putz go.

Because, if they tender him a contract, chances are he will get around 4 mil. A guy who doesn't walk and only really looks like a decent player when he gets insanely lucky.

He's way overrated defensively, has zero plate discipline. He really ain't a 4 million dollar player, anywhere close.

"Out of sheer curiosity, why does it seem that both (some) Mets fans and their front office are convinced that Omir Santos is a quality major-league player? A career minor league journeyman is now getting significant playing time for one of the highest payroll teams in baseball. Just doesn't make any sense to me."

I don't think anybody is particularly thrilled about the idea of Omir Santos playing a significant role next year.....but at the same time, what's the alternative? Brian Schneider? Rod Barajas? Pudge? Jason Varitek? Bengie Molina? I'd rather have Santos make 400K to be the Catcher and suck then pay any one of those guys significant money to suck.

Really though, the Mets would be well served to give Josh Thole a real shot to win the job. If for nothing else then being better then the alternatives.

"4mil is nothing. they arent going to get anything better for 4mil....randy winn lol. i will take what frenchy did in 07 and be happy. that would be plenty out of the #6 hitter.

Posted by: jaydh2 | October 21, 2009 at 05:53 PM"

Actually, Randy Winn on 4 mil would be a better deal than Frenchy on 4. At least Winn plays much better defense than Francoeur, and while he probably isn't hitting the ball as hard as he has in the past (his LD% went up to 22, but BABIP declined a significant amount to .308)Winn should be a pretty safe bet to hit something around .270/.340/.390, better than the likely sub .300 OBP and poor defense the Mets would get from Francoeur.

sub .300obp is no guarentee. i would still take a chance on a young player with good potential than an aging player who isnt anything special.

Posted by: jaydh2 | October 21, 2009 at 10:59 PM

I watched Francoeur from the time he came to the majors til the Braves traded him. He's had an OBP under .300 in two of his four full years in the majors and it took a ridiculous climb in his BABIP for it to be over in 2006 and a luck-filled second half performance for him to barely break .300 this year.

Most people see that Francoeur is still relatively young and has that all-important "potential" surrounding him. What they fail to realize is that he's spent 4.5 years in the majors and has not improved in the slightest. He's simply not a good player and an offensive black hole when he's not being buoyed by a ridiculously high BABIP.

The Mets would be much better off by bringing in a guy like Winn, Byrd, Cameron, etc to man one of the outfield spots and filling the other corner with F-Mart. After that, I like what scribbletone suggested. Trade for a young, blocked 1B like Ka'aihue and sign one of the free agent catchers that will produce decent numbers.

Wow, BB-Rod. LOL Is that old or did you just make that up right here? Either way, brilliant!!