The big, if expected, news out of Citi Field today is the Mets exercising their 2011 option on Jose Reyes. Let's look at some reaction to the move and a few more items concerning the Mets…
- Though Sandy Alderson is open to the idea of holding onto Reyes and David Wright over the long term, he also "would prefer not to give out many 'second-generation' long-term contracts for six-year free agents," reports MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. For the record, Wright's contract runs through 2012 and is worth $29MM, plus the Mets have a $16MM club option on the third baseman for 2013.
- Andy Martino of the New York Daily News gets some thoughts on Reyes from an anonymous scout, executive and rival player.
- Dave Jauss and Bob Melvin will interview for the manager's job on Thursday, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Rubin adds that Wally Backman and Chip Hale are also expected to be interviewed in the near future. (both Twitter links)
- Bobby Valentine's chances of managing the Mets are "next to nil," says Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman. With just the Mets and Pirates (who apparently have their finalists chosen) in the market for a new manager, it appears that Valentine's return to a major league dugout will have to wait until at least partway through the 2011 season.
- Before becoming a special assistant to Alderson, J.P. Ricciardi was a Red Sox employee for a day, reports WEEI.com's Kirk Minihane.
Seriously, this may sound blatant, but I just want to see the Mets make some moves whatever it is. I’m sick of seeing this team stand pat and then lose 80+ games the following season. At least rebuild.
They have the pieces to get back a lot of good young prospects.. but they don’t have a championship team.. I know its unpopular, but what this team needs is a complete fair sale.. Can you imagine the prospects that wright and santana could bring back alone…
I said it as I watched the Ricciardi era in Toronto.. being in limbo is the worst place to be in baseball.. sometimes you need to have the balls to bottom out
Trading Wright and Santana, the two superstars, for prospects isn’t the way to go. What the Mets need to do is unload all of those ridiculous contracts and trade the mid to higher end level guys, like Reyes, Bay and Beltran, for some solid pitching. Wright and Santana are the core parts of the team, and removing them would basically be like taking the bottom piece out of a Jenga tower. Anybody remember that game? Haha
my second fave team is the mets, i grew up a met fan before moving to toronto..
I know that trading wright and santana sounds so harsh and absurd, but realistically, do you think trading reyes, bay and beltran will bring back enough to take the next step? I doubt it, i doubt any one even touches those contracts. .
4 years ago i would have told you trading doc was the most idiotic thing i ever heard, but life goes on and the jays may be better for it in the long run..
Well think about this. The Mets have the money to pay for Wright and Santana, and these prospects that they get will at the VERY BEST as good as Wright and Santana, and the odds of that happening are extremely unlikely. Keep the two core pieces. The Jays got rid of Halladay because they didn’t have the money to extend him and they needed to unload some payroll. The Mets can have their cake and eat it too. Sorta.
I figure I’ll kick in my thoughts here. The Mets are not that far away from being contenders. It would be a bad idea to trade away their offensive leader (Wright) and the leader of their pitching staff (Santana) when trading away guys that can be effectively replaced (Reyes, Beltran) could get them some very nice value and yet keep them competitive.
Thank you kind sir. You have echoed my sentiments perfectly.
Comment deleted
what exactly do you think they could get for beltran and reyes? which would just open up more holes.
ummm…exactly who would u pick up to replace reyes ?
wow, well i’m sorry to say you are way way off.#1 the mets wouldnt trade santana or wright for 1 good prospect each.. they’d probably get 5 top prospects for both. They may not be as good as wright or santana individually, but collectively could be better for the team.#2 you obviously know nothing about Toronto, or the Jays for that matter. Owned by the Rogers corporation which is the richest owner of any north american pro sports team. They traded doc because he would have left at the end of this year for nothing as he wanted to win. It had nothing to do with money, so before you state facts make sure they are correct. With how strong the phillies and braves are and will be, santana and wright will never win with the mets.. Letting them age and depreciate would just be repeating the cycle of mediocrity.
The mets would get absolutely nothing for Johan, he has a huge contract that only a handful of teams can afford, he has had arm problem three straight years, including his recent shoulder surgery and probably won’t be ready til all star break next year. Right now he is utterly untradeable, Wright stays no questions and people saying to trade Reyes are just not smart, even with last years kinda down year there really are only a handful of SS clearly better and that handful starts and may end with Tulo and Hanley. So trading him is idiotic, Bay also zero trade value, beltran next to no trade value as well, huge salary, iffy health, mets will have to hope Beltran, Bay and K-rod can bounce back early next yr and build up their value again so if they are out of it July they can deal them and get something in return.
First off, every single baseball owner is rich. It has to do with how popular the team is and how much revenue it collects. The Mets collect significantly higher revenues than the Jays. Second, trading wright and santana for prospects is giving away two superstars in hopes that one of the prospects will turn out. Those prospects won’t be sure things, while Wright and Santana are established stars. As for your third point, David Wright has specifically said he wants to stay in New York, and I’m not seeing why the Mets would trade them just because they want to win…
First off, every single baseball owner is rich. It has to do with how popular the team is and how much revenue it collects. The Mets collect significantly higher revenues than the Jays. Second, trading wright and santana for prospects is giving away two superstars in hopes that one of the prospects will turn out. Those prospects won’t be sure things, while Wright and Santana are established stars. As for your third point, David Wright has specifically said he wants to stay in New York, and I’m not seeing why the Mets would trade them just because they want to win…
Difference between the Mets and the Blue Jays is a matter of resources…..the Mets have 50 million in contracts coming off the books next year between Perez, Castillo, Beltran, and K-Rod* (Not including Reyes, since I’m assuming he’ll be re-signed), the asterisk is because they need to prevent the K-Rod option from vesting to reach that number. If spent wisely…that has the ability to turn around a team quickly.
Meanwhile, they’ve spent the last year integrating young talent onto the MLB roster like Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Bobby Parnell, and Jonathon Niese, and will continue to do so over the next few seasons.
What was a good strategy for the Blue Jays, with their limited resources, is not a good strategy for the Mets. They can re-sign a Reyes, and still put a good team around him. They have the resources to do so.
do you guys live in caves? like please stop with writing these posts about resources,
the jays could easily have the payroll that the mets do, only difference is they don’t spend money for the sake of it.
Jays have invested millions back in to scouting department, which is the best in the league, pays the best and has the least amount of travel.
Please google Rogers Media, and then tell me what kind of resources the jays have lol
“The Rogers family of Toronto, owners of Rogers Communications (TSX: RCI.B), Canada’s largest cable TV and cellphone operator, rounds out the Top 5 at $4.7 billion.
You’re right, jays have no resources..I’ll bet you any money Jays make the playoffs twice before the mets make it back once.. Care to take the bet?
with the yankees, sox, rays, and improved O’s in that division. I’ll take that bet 7 days a week.
the mets had 78 wins with a brainless manager, no offense, no 8th inning guy, no closer for half the year.
with a new hitting instructor, a manager with a brain who knows not to bat reyes 3rd, Ike at 1B from the onset, the OF set, a healthy Reyes. I think 88-90 wins and a wild-card is very possible.
the jays are a banana peel away from 4th place.
lol jays finished 4th place.
and all i read was excuse, excuse, excuse, excuse
as if every team doesn’t complain about their manager and bullpen, gimme a break
and i love how you use no offense as an excuse hahah
oh the mets had no offense this year, as if all of a sudden thats gunna turn around….lol too funny
and the jays had 85 wins this year, after trading the best pitcher in baseball, shutting down their best 2nd half performing pitcher due to inning restrictions and a bonehead manager who played fred lewis over travis snider… all that with a payroll half of the mets. not bad EH?
No offense, but that point is completely ridiculous.
Yes, you have rich owners. But they’re rich because they’re smart businessmen and know that you only spend as much as you make. And the Blue Jays, haven’t brought in enough revenue to justify being a big market team.
The Yankees aren’t able to outspend everybody because they have the richest owners. In fact, the Steinbrenner family is probably middle of the pack at best in terms of wealth. They spend the most because their team brings in the most revenue.
The fact of the matter is the Mets operate at double the MLB payroll that the Jays do. The Mets Opening Day payroll last year was 134 million. The Jays 2010 opening day payroll was 62 million. That is significantly more resources at the Mets Front Office’s disposal when building a roster then the Jays have. That’s just the facts.
And you can talk about paying scouts well, that’s great and all, but your entire scouting department still isn’t making more then a couple million a year, combined. It’s not like you’re hiding that 70 million disparity in payrolls in the scouting department, lol
well simple research will show you that last year on top of their 2010 roster paid the phillies 6 million, bj ryan 10 million, randy ruiz 500,000, hechavarria 10 million, cardona, 2 million… Factor in that we signed all of our top draft picks, and the jays had a lot of compensation picks, many of them over slot.
right there thats an extra 40 million….
So again, you people come on here do no research, don’t know at all what you’re talking about, but pass it off as fact.. but i’m the ridiculous one.
and one last thing, are you really going to hang your hat on the fact that the mets have the second highest pay roll.
The mets are the reason why teams think hey, we don’t need to overspend to compete. Just because the mets do spend 134 million, doesn’t mean it has made their team any better…
I mean realistically if the jays signed Jason Bay to that contract our payroll would be right up there.. but they didnt, because they’re smart.. enjoy those terrible contracts for years to come.
All the owners are rich, that has nothing to do with the teams potential payroll, Jays are mid market at best, mets are big market and despite met fans who say hey do nothing ( which again is false) they have a much much higher payroll than Jays and always will
no.
How no? Blue jays were at 78 Mil last yr with BJ’s 10 and Doc’s 6, plus the 400+K to Ruiz, hechavarria was pd 500K last yr as his contract was for 4 years, investing in the draft and international signings is a great way for Jays to rebuild, a few 100K over slot deals late in the draft, a huge amt of early picks (many were safe signability ones though) w/ a few over slot deals, anyway Im not in anyway putting down the Jays they are just not a big market club no matter the owners bank account, but at least AA has recognized a way to increase their talent level is by spending to get talent into your system early
Reyes should be off-limits as well, unless, god forbid extension talks completely breakdown and the team is out of contention next year. But I don’t see that as being particularly likely (meaning the first one, at least).
Whoops meant to respond to this one. Well we have Havens and Tejada waiting in the wings. If Havens can stay healthy and we can get some solid prospects for Reyes, I’m all for it. He’s a distraction.
IF Havens can stay healthy, he can fight for the 2B job with Tejada at some point in the future. He’s barely a shortstop anyways. You don’t trade away a Top 5-7 SS, given how hard they are to acquire in the first place, for a maybe.
Exactly. Plus Reyes and Beltran. They could get back maybe 7-9 top 125’s all together.
exactly, and if you get the right ones, that are all near ready to flourish in the bigs, you could have a collection of first round picks take the field and really succeed, then you lock some up, get some FA’s and you have an extremely competitive team.. like tampa, but with resources.
And a higher payroll which also means muerr opportunity for risks.
glad someone on here gets it.
Likewise
And the odds of two of those few prospects turning out as well as Wright and Santana are what? That’s right, incredibly small. The Mets don’t need a firesale. They need a new approach, which means unloading terrible contracts given to older players. Wright and Santana are signed to fair contracts.
And the odds of two of those few prospects turning out as well as Wright and Santana are what? That’s right, incredibly small. The Mets don’t need a firesale. They need a new approach, which means unloading terrible contracts given to older players. Wright and Santana are signed to fair contracts.
Anyone else see Reyes being traded at the deadline after hearing that he’s not into big contract for the second gen. guys?
Not really.
I wouldn’t read too much into that…..for one, he said he didn’t want to give out MANY of them. I take that as he’s willing to give them out, but it’s got to be the right player and the right fit. For two, Reyes and Wright are the Mets, they’re the homegrown stars, and they’re not just going to let these guys go. They’re not some small market team that can’t afford to pay their own.
With that said though, if the team isn’t competing next year, I’d expect them to shop Beltran and K-Rod. Both in contract years, Beltran is likely in his final year in this side of NY, and we know how the “Moneyball” GM’s feel about expensive closers (Plus, the Mets will want out of that vesting option, and among the easiest ways would be to trade him to a team who will use him as a set-up man).
Well, sounds like Bobby Valentine is the next Mets’ manager. Follow my logic, here. Jon Heyman has claimed that Bobby V was the frontrunner for the Marlins, Mariners, and Brewers, and he did not get any of those jobs. Now Heyman says that Valentine’s chances of managing the Mets are “next to nil”, which must mean that Valentine will be managing the Mets. [/sarcasm]In reality, he’s probably actually right about this one. Valentine is not a Sandy Alderson type of manager. I could definitely see Bob Melvin as the next manager.
Plus I don’t think Alderson wants to spring for Bobby’s next disguise…
Seriously though, guessing Valentine’s contract demands are on the exorbitant side, as his qualifications far outweight a host of other guys who’ve been hired recently.
So J.P. Ricciardi was a Red Sox employee for one day?
Was that the same day he signed Vernon Wells to that monstrosity of a contract, thus insuring Toronto would be in no position to challenge the Sox for the AL East?
no
the mets aren’t likely to compete next year, but trading wright/santana/reyes is only going to delay how long it takes for them to be a contender. they’re not the issue, a team just needs to be built around them. i don’t see why so many people are against waiting it out til beltran, ollie, castillo, and krod are gone. plus, they already have some impressive young players who are going to produce for this team in the next few years.(davis, niese, mejia, flores, thole) just keep drafting well and wait for some payroll flexibility so they can make some moves. sounds like a plan to me, and i think that’s what alderson is going to do.
I like Alderson approach. – He does things systematically – he is building a strong front office with experienced smart people. They have too much dead weight under contract in 2011 – Mets will eat sum (Castillo) and keep some – like Perez – who they will look at in spring training again – but if he sucks – and he will – then they will cut him loose in late March, Beltran will get moved to RF and he better shut up and do it professionally, and they need to aquire a smart innings eating pitcher like Garland or Vazquez
The Mets need to keep Backman in minors so he can develop the prospects properly.
The Mets need a competent Manager who preaches defense, pitching, and speed.
The Mets do not need to move the walls in, they had one of the best home records in the majors.
Defense defense defense, keep Tejada at 2B, and tell D. Wright to get in front of the ball instead of fielding it at his side.
And yes, put Beltran in RF, let Pagan control CF.