Mets Rumors: Lackey, Figgins, Delgado, Francoeur

no no. trade castillo. trade for phillips and arroyo. sign holliday. sign both harden and sheets. sign holliday

I don't mind the mets not using their top prospects as long as they sign lackey and figgins and delgado.

During the season they could trade for a power bat.

Lackey sign to a 3 year 50 million deal?

If you could get lacky for 50 million than you can still bring in Holliday and keep Delgado far away.

i like the idea of lackey, but they need power from somewhere other than delgado because he is not reliable because of his injury, but i guess they can get someone at the break

Trade Luis for for speedy Juan Peirre for left/bench, Pick O-Dog for second Sign Holliday, and try for Lackey and Marquie. This article sounds like a down grade, I would like to see a cheap Delgado Platooning at firt until Ike Davis comes up.

Are the Mets still taking to the Dodgers and Cubs about taking Luis Castillo?

I think so, Last I heard.

Halladay is not the answer because it would be too many prospects and money to sign him to an extension.
Lackey would be a good number 2 behind johan.
Phillips would be a great option but can only be done by trading castillo(castillo for pierre, not that bad)
Sign delgado

Ss reyes
Lf pierre
Cf beltran
3b wright
2b phillips
1b delgado
Rf francoeur
C santos/ thole

Santana
Lackey
Maine
Pelfrey
Neive/perez

Phillips wouldn't take too many prospects, maybe one of tejada,havens and one of familia, rutisch or moviel and another b prospect.

That wouldn't break the bank in terms of money or prospects.

People will call the Mets dumb for thinking Figgins can play LF, yet this is probably not their idea at all. Not to mention Omar said he needs a slugger.

I still think this Mets' "interest" in Figgins is b/c of the Phillies needing a 3B. I'll believe Figgins as the Mets' LF'er when I see it, but I'm not going to blast the organization since its these writers who think of these ideas.

I should have made that a little clearer - I'm not going to blast the organization until I actually SEE it happen. But for now I'm just going to write it off as a dumb speculated idea from a beat writer.

1. Reyes 2. Figgins 3. Beltran...thats a crazy top of the lineup...I dunno how Figgins defense in the OF is...but he he has good defense in the OF that would be great...It looks as if the Mets are playing to Citifield... built around speed and defense..if they can get a taker for Castillo n bring in a Felipe Lopez or Hudson..that will be a pretty offesnsive lineup regardless of the power. Signing Lackey would also plug a big hole in the rotation

The Lackey news, which is actually hard news unlike the rest of the speculative article, is not good. The man has had injury problems throughout his career. I understand that he is a top 20 pitcher when healthy, but what happens when the worst FO/training staff in the league gets its hands on him? He'll be another J.J. Putz. Absolutely not.

The Mets need to make a deal for Roy Halladay and extend him, and then spend whatever is left on either one big power hitter (Jason Bay's stock seems to be dropping) or a sprinkling of it. Figgins should be out of the question.

Nonono
Halladay is bad idea!
Having two pitchers locked up to 20 plus for multiple years is a horrible idea.
I know one two punch is great but NO!

"Phillips will get them a good amount of young talent. He hits for a decent avg., has power, and drives in close 100 RBIs. Not to mention, he's a gold glover."

Not unless the Mets also get Arroyo or Harang in the deal and then pick up all of their salary. Then the Mets should either get another good player in return or not have to give up any significant prospects.

I'm still for signing Marquis. Trade Castillo, his value is finally high enough. Sign Ronnie Belliard, he out performed Hudson last year on the same team.

Lackey,Marquis and a reliver.
Barajas
I'm still unsure of 1stbase
Trade for Crawford. Stealing bases will score runs.

Oh and of course, move home plate up 10 feet so the outfield becomes smaller and Citifield saves money on the process.

what would it take to get phillips, and no they wouldnt have to take on harang or phillips

Johan is GoD

Brandon phillips
For
Reese havens
Brad holt
Moviel

Sounds plenty

yes, they would have to take on harang or phillips. The only way the Reds consider trading Phillips is to get salary relief, since Phillips doesn't make all that much, but plays beyond his contract, the way the Reds would be getting that salary relief is pawning off harang or arroyo on another team as part of a trade for Phillips.

-Sign Holliday 6/102
-Sign Bengie Molina 1/4 or 2/7
-Trade Castillo for nothing
-Trade Brad Holt, Ruben Tejada, Jefry Marte for Brandon Phillips and Bronson Arroyo. (Pick up ALL of their salary).
-Sign Sheets/Bedard/Harden.

Holliday: 7 year/ 129 mil

Trade Neisse, Evans, Tejada, Mejia, and someone else (Maine?) for Halladay.

Wolf: 2 year/ 25 mil + option

Jamey Carrol: 1 year/ 1 mil

Eric Hinske: 2 year/ 3 mil

Trade AA prospects for Shoppach: good young option to keep the seat warm with Santos until Thole is ready.

Extend Francouer! We need more heart guys like him, Santana, and Wright. Thats another reason why Halladay and Holliday are good ideas: they play their hearts out every game.

Sign an above average releiver: 1 year / 1 mil

Lineup:
SS Reyes
2B Castillo
CF Beltran
LF Holliday
3B Wright
1B Murphy
RF Francouer
C Santos/Shoppach
P Pitcher

Rotation:
Halladay
Santana
Wolf
Pelfrey
Perez
(if he's not traded, Maine goes to the 'pen)

Bench:
Pagan
Hinske
Carrol
Santos/Thole

@beastOftheeast:
Usually, I would agree with you. Multiple big contracts to pitchers are not a good idea. But come on, it's Santana and Halladay. Through in Wolf, and thats the best 1-2-3 in the league. Plus, Doc is a horse and Santana has more heart then any Met, so I get the sense that they won't be sidlined.

Thoughts?

"Holy Type A's Batman"

And this is what happens to the Mets farm.

Also, I think Figgins will take a 5 year deal somewhere.

Diehardmets

Halladay would take
3 of the mets top 5 prospects
Then a extension
Plus 20million
Signing holliday equals 38 million
Wolf=12
50 million plus 10 to complete other deals

20plus to their 2009 payroll(money they don't have
Farmsystem is clear of good prospects :(

But the mets will contend for the world series with that team

Another reason NOT to sign halladay

ChasenWerth,

You'd be hard-pressed to find a Jays fan who would say that Halladay's priority is money.

I think if Doc had a choice between competing this year for slightly less money, or seeing out a lame duck season with the Jays and taking the jackpot in 2011, he'd choose the former.

"BTW, even if he gets traded he makes the same amount. It's called a contract. (15.75 Million this year)"

Yes. And the difference in contract he can negotiate now or as a free agent could change dramatically.

Obviously. (ooh, look, I can do sarcasm too. Fun.)

In other news ...

Mets have become the LA Angels of the East. Signing Vlad, bringing back Oliver are next on the docket.

Even if Halladay has his worst season ever, his contract will not be much different.

He will get 22-25 million.

"I think if Doc had a choice between competing this year for slightly less money"

Is what I was referencing to. He will not make less money this year because of his contract. He will make 15.75 million. You could be right about the contract in 2011, but not in 2010.

Only after they establish their true loyalty to the Stankees are Newsday.com sports columnists permitted to become Mets beat writers, IMO.

It's more likely that a Newsday.com Mets beat writer is helping the Stankees accomplish their offseason plans, IMO.

Mets fans are crazy.

~ Sign three of the top four free agents, then trade our middling prospects for All*Stars. Look at our line-up now! Look at how good we'll be!

Try rooting for a real team, one where bullcrap, pie-in-the-sky rosterbation isn't an option. And stop losing to the Phillies, ya jokers.

Orlando hudson is another luis castillo and he's losing his speed.

Posted by: beastOftheEast | November 14, 2009 at 02:00 PM

Castillo had a total of 16 XBH last year. Hudson had 35 doubles in addition to 6 triples and 9 HRs.

Castillo is losing his speed, too. Hudson at least can drive the ball into the gaps to make his declining speed less of an issue.

"C-J.Molina"

Jose Molina? I hope you mean Bengie Molina. As a Yankees fan I can tell you, you don't want Jose Molina starting he can't even hit his weight. He's listed at 235 lbs and his career average is .235 and last year he hit .217. >.<

if they get halladay, they will be ruined for years to come

C - Bring in a cheap veteran to split time with Josh Thole. Keep Omir Santos around at AAA as an emergency backup.

1B - This is a true hole. I'm in favor of a stopgap until Ike Davis is ready. Davis has done nothing but mash since the 2009 season began and is probably the Mets' top prospect.

2B - If you can move Castillo and bring in Hudson, great, that'd be a marginal improvement. Castillo is pretty miserable with the glove and will probably not repeat his 2009 performance with the stick.

SS - Jose Reyes

3B - David Wright

LF - Sign Holliday or Bay. The Mets sorely need another bat in the middle of the lineup. Omar usually makes at least one big free-agent splash per offseason, and I think this is where he'll make the big move.

CF - Carlos Beltran

RF - Let Jeff Francouer have a shot, and hope that Fernando Martinez stays healthy enough to make a run at the starting job by midseason.

Bench - Daniel Murphy backs up the corner infield slots. Alex Cora or whatever throw-and-catch guy backs up the middle infield slots. Angel Pagan is perfectly cast as 4th outfielder. Jeremy Reed or some other throw-and-catch guy it the 5th outfielder.

At AAA you have Omir Santos, Fernando Martinez, Ike Davis, Chris Carter, Nick Evans and the usual dreck like Cory Sullivan, etc.

Now, the Mets' pitching is a mess. Basically you have Johan Santana and a bunch of #5 starters. I don't believe they'll be able to sign both an impact bat and Lackey. Santana is of course a true ace, I think Jon Niese can give them reasonably decent production and Pelfrey... well, I suppose Pelfrey eats you some innings. They're going to need another pitcher who misses some bats, so I'd advise taking a flyer on Harden or some other injury-discount type guy.

The bullpen is in similar disarray; K-Rod is at at the very least a solid closer, Feliciano is a quality setup guy and Parnell has some ability. Beyond that the Mets don't have a lot of arms out there that I'd consider reliable. This is one area where the thin farm system has really hurt them; they haven't really been able to plug bullpen holes with quality arms from the minor league system.

It's going to take a lot of good fortune for the Mets to contend in 2010. I think the offense could be pretty decent, but the pitching staff is just chock full of question marks. Considering the GM is a card-carrying idiot, he'll probably make at least one or two dunderheaded moves that cripple the team in future seasons. But the Wright-Beltran-Reyes-Santana core deserves at least one more shot at contending. If the Mets lose 90 games again this year, Minaya will probably be fired and a true rebuilding period will begin.

6)Matt Holliday
-Really the only good hitter/fielder on the market. 5 year contract makes him 34 at end I think the Mets will get Borassed to a 6 or even worse 7 year deal. 115 for 7 seems like something a desperate team would do.

Lineup
(S)Hudson (2B)
(S)Reyes (SS)
(R)Wright (3B)
(S)Beltran (CF)
(R)Holliday (LF)
(L)Johnson (1B)
(R)Molina
(R)Francoeur (RF)
--Pitcher--

--Pitching--
1)Santana
Harden
Sheets
Duchscherer
Maine
6)Pelfrey

(Perez, Nieve, Parnell,Figueroa are backups.)
*Demote Niese back to AAA & look at stats Midseason.

6 man rotation for the win.

I would personally be scared $hitless facing a rotation of Santana, Harden, Sheets in a short playoff series.

That lineup looks pretty amazing actually.

It's a crapload of money but if assembled that World series worthy on paper.

$ on paper.
Holliday
(7 years 115)
Duchscherer
(3 years, 6 base, 10-15 potential)
Molina
(1 year 10 mil, team option 2nd year.)
Johnson
(2 year 18 mil)
Hudson
(2 year 16 mil, team option 3rd-10 mil.)
Sheets
(3 years, 6 base, 12-18 potential)
Harden
(3 years, 7 Base 12-19 potential)

Here's your quick fix Minaya, (Thank me later) or pack the bags after another 3rd or 4th place finish.

JK47 It has been said that if the Mets don't get off to a good start in the first month him and Manuel will both be gone, so Mets fans wishes could be coming true even before the close of 2010.

As for the Mets in 2010, I do not see them contending for a playoff spot, so I am looking at 2010 as a starting point for 2011.

C-stay away from any long term commitments for 2010. The 2011 FA class is stronger with names like Mauer, Pierzynski, Laird. Also the Mets should take a good look at Santos this year and see if he could be a defensive minded catcher with a decent stick

1b-Its put up or shut up time for Murphy and Ike Davis in 2010. Davis is getting a little old to be a prospect (he will be 23 this spring) and still hasn't shown he can hit above AA ball. He needs to cut down his strikeout numbers drastically and make big strides in the minors for the Mets to consider him for the future. Murphy needs to have a strong showing that he can be a good hitter on an everyday basis. If Murphy and Davis don't have strong and promising campaigns in 2010, the Mets need to go in a different direction

2b-You are stuck with Castillo unless he is moved. I am not going to bother saying anything else

SS- Hope Reyes rebounds. There are really no options on the FA market in 2011 and the Mets have no prospects in place to replace him. Wilmer Flores will start the year in high A and is still 4-5 years away from seeing MLB time.

3b-This is where my thinking gets a little crazy! Obviously Wright is the 3b for 2010. But I think the Mets should do everything they can to sign Figgins to play LF in 2010. If after 2010 Murphy and Ike Davis still don't look promising, shift Wright to 1b and Figgins back to 3b. Stick with me here it will all be explained!

CF- Beltran

LF/RF- Figgins in LF for 2010. Presuming Murphy and Ike Davis don't make strides, shift Wright to 1b, Figgins to 3b, and at this point Fernando Martinez should be ready to take over a corner OF spot. Than look to the FA market to fill the other. Names like Dunn, Hawpe, Crawford and Werth will be available in this FA class.

2011 Mets offense:
C Santos or a free agent( probably not Mauer but maybe Laird)
1b Wright
2b Castillo
SS Reyes
3b Figgins
OF Beltran
OF Fmart
OF Crawford/Werth/Hawpe/Dunn

Stay away from any long term commitments in the rotation this offseason and see where Niese is and if Maine can bounce back. If the rotation is still a question mark than go after FA SP's after the 2010 season. Some potential FA targets for the 2011 team: Beckett, Vazquez, Lilly, Halladay, Cliff Lee, Webb, Westbrook.........a much better crop of starting pitchers next year. Don't overpay for Lackey when you could get someone as good or better next year.

If Werth has another great year (which he will), he will most likely be a BoSock, if they can't resign Bay. He'd be a great fit in that line-up and his HRs will continue to go up. He has the capability to hit 40+ HRs no doubt.

If Taylor continues to hit, the Phils will prob. not resign Werth, although they should.

I'm guessing you wouldn't mind seeing D Wright in a Phils uni.

I don't hate the Mets. In fact, I like most of their players. But when teams are rivals, they can't swap players...it's just too weird.

Like when Johnny Damon went to the Yanks, he just wasn't the same to me.

"D wright for ryan howard? Lol"

David Wright for Chase Utley would be a more even deal. IMO they are almost the exact same player.

I agree but i ll rather have howard because of his ability to hit the ball out of any ballpark

Chase Utley owns Citi Field.

i am a die hard mets fan and i now know the reason why no one takes us serious on this site...

the trade proposals and the FA signings you guys are drawing up is so dumb its hard to comprehend ... you want to add 50 million to the payroll in one off season??

good idea.. add so much to the payroll on guys that fit "right now" and forget about the free agents for years to come

you want to trade the farm for one player... who you would have to extend until he is 40 for him to even think about waiving his no trade clause (halladay)

your talking about signing like 6 guys.. you are aware there are 29 other teams in the league right?

its just really frustrating reading these comments and thinking that you people believe its even remotely possible

Hello! We're in need of a power hitting LF, a 2nd baseman with pop and 2 quality pitchers!! Figgins? FIGGINS??? I keep waiting for the punchline to this joke. Small ball blows majorly. Small ball teams don't make it to the World Series. HR's and slugging % gets you to the World Series and Pitching wins it. I'm gonna go puke now....excuse me.

let Delgado walk + leave figgins alone + sign Holliday + a pitcher or two + keep everyone healthy + fire minaya= pennant= world series

Why are people opposed to picking up Arroyo? Here are some numbers from 2009 to compare

Arroyo 15-13 3.84 ERA 220.1 IP 3 CG 127 SO

Lackey 11-8 3.83 ERA 176.1 IP 1 CG 139 SO

He has pitched over 200 innings each year for the last 5 years, the man is a workhorse. Lackey's ERA beats Arroyo's but right now we need stability, not number 2 starter who can't pitch the whole year.

Oh and if we could pick up Phillips along with him all the better.

Patrick, that's nice speculation but my point was clearly the fact that Arroyo can stay healthy and I'm just not sure if Lackey can. If he goes to the Mets he wont be in the American League so we wont have to worry about that will we?

no

I think I'd rather have Lackey too, but like you said it's a risk and after last season I think the team needs some stability.

Just wanted to address the fact that people are hating on Arroyo when he put up Lackey-like numbers in 2009.

I feel we should really focus on trading with the Reds and maybe the Tigers as well. The only prospect I would not trade is Davis but anyone else could go to the Reds. I think it will take more than people think to get Phillips seeing as the Reds could just dump Harang and/or Arroyo. They don't actually need to unload Phillips so they'll want at least some good prospects for him, he is definitely NOT just a salary dump like the two pitchers are. And yet again the big FAs ala Matt Holliday/John Lackey are overvalued and I can easily predict the fans will complain about them for years to come if we sign them. Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo are bad enough and were bad from the very moment they were signed to those contracts. Please don't add Holliday for 6 years at over 100 million, we would be stuck for those entire 6 years. NO, NO AND NO AGAIN to Holliday or Lackey. I am open to Bay if the Sox don't sign him, we need power right so get actual power... Holliday is not power.

what about uggla to the mets.he doesnt have the best defense but he is a 2nd basemen with power and the marlins are looking to open up some cap space.