The Mets are next in our Offseason In Review series.
Major League/International Signings
- Jose Reyes, SS: one year, $11MM. Club option exercised.
- D.J. Carrasco, RP: two years, $2.4MM.
- Chris Capuano, SP: one year, $1.5MM.
- Ronny Paulino, C: one year, $1.35MM.
- Scott Hairston, OF: one year, $1.1MM.
- Chris Young, SP: one year, $1.1MM.
- Taylor Buchholz, RP: one year, $600K.
- Total spend: $19.05MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Boof Bonser, Blaine Boyer, Tim Byrdak, Willie Harris, Taylor Tankersley, Mike O'Connor, Russ Adams, Dusty Ryan, Raul Chavez, Casey Fossum, Dale Thayer, Jason Isringhausen, Chris Shelton
Extensions
- R.A. Dickey, SP: two years, $7.8MM. Includes $5MM club option for 2013 with a $300K buyout.
Trades and Claims
- Claimed 2B/3B Brad Emaus from Blue Jays in Rule 5 draft
- Claimed RP Pedro Beato from Orioles in Rule 5 draft
- Acquired SS Chin-lung Hu from Dodgers for SP Mike Antonini
Notable Losses
- Hisanori Takahashi, Pedro Feliciano, Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez, Raul Valdes, Elmer Dessens, Fernando Nieve, John Maine, Sean Green, Chris Carter, Henry Blanco, Fernando Tatis, Mike Antonini
Summary
The biggest move of the Mets' offseason was undoubtedly the hiring of Sandy Alderson as GM in October. Alderson's small-market experience will be an asset with the Mets, as his payroll flexibility may remain limited for part of his four-year contract due to the Wilpons' Madoff-related issues. The new Mets front office has an analytical feel to it, as Alderson hired Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi. Additionally, Terry Collins is aboard as the new manager. Let's take a look at Alderson's first offseason.
Exercising Reyes' option at $11MM was a no-brainer. If Reyes has a strong first half, Alderson may be tasked with restocking a poorly-rated farm system by trading his shortstop. Releasing Oliver Perez was also a fairly obvious choice, as he simply isn't worth a roster spot despite his $12MM salary. Cutting Castillo might be considered a baseball decision as well as one for the fans. If Emaus has even a little bit of upside, he's the right pick at second base.
Like the Mariners, the Mets are a big-budget team but don't appear to be a player or two away from contention in 2011. Shopping the bargain bin was the right move for Alderson. Capuano and Young in particular have upside for a minimal commitment. The other moves amount to tinkering. Between second base, the rotation, and the bullpen, the Mets have a lot of opportunity for players to step up.
Speaking of the bullpen, it's imperative that the Mets find a way to prevent Francisco Rodriguez from finishing 55 games, as that would trigger a 2012 option adding a net cost of $14MM. I agree with Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal – the Mets could employ a more sabermetric bullpen strategy, using K-Rod in all kinds of high leverage situations. Then when the reliever's agent files a grievance, the Mets can cite legitimate baseball reasons as their motivation. The downside is that future free agent targets may be turned off if the Mets try to sneak around a contract clause to which they agreed. One DL stint for Rodriguez may make the whole issue a moot point.
2011 figures to be a transition year for the Mets, perhaps with the goals of trading Reyes, getting Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran off the books, spending more on amateur talent, and figuring out what the team has for 2012.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
This team is a long way from anything…
Actually, they’re very close to Long Island.
They are on Long Island, that wouldn’t be classified as close.
False – Mets are in the Flushing/Corona neighborhood of Queens. Queens Long Island.
no…Kings and Queens counties ARE on Long Island…look at a map, the battle of Long Island was fought in Brooklyn
Fair enough.
Generally speaking, people don’t refer to people/things from these 2 boroughs as being from Long Island, but Brooklyn and Queens are both on Long Island, along with Nassau and Suffolk county.
Map > You
I grew up on the island and mahattan. there is a huge difference between north shore and the south shore, nassau and versus suffolk. If you come from there you know the difference.
Also BK and Queens are on LI so be fair with your comments.
I was able to hop on the LIRR and be in mahattan in 15 minutes so yes it is close.
I agree. My point was that they are already on Long Island?
Oh, I don’t know…seems to me they’re pretty close to being:
a) Broke
b) Irrelevant
c) A laughing stock
d) A major source of depression for some very passionate fans.
…but maybe it’s just me. 🙁
Love just about all of Sandy’s moves this offseason, but it’s too bad they won’t have much of an effect on the team’s chances of making the playoffs.
Really, there’s not much to love (or to hate). Dierkes is right – most of the moves amount to mere tinkering. I’d like to see what Sandy has in store for the Mets when he actually has the cashflow, and after he has a year or two under his belt.
signing capuano will prove to be a great one, even though his innings should be somewhat limited. As a brewers fan I hated seeing him go. He just knows how to pitch.
lol @ castillo and perez not making the “notable losses” section
Haha, that’s just an error and I have to fix it.
methinks you had it right the first time
Total signings=$19.05million
Extension=$7.8million
Cutting useless talent that should have been cut years ago(never signed in the first place)(Perez and Castillo)=$18million.
Overall the Mets are going to step in the right direction, too bad it is not towards the playoffs anytime soon.
Don’t forget the $$$ owed on Bobby Bonilla’s golden parachute
Whoops forgot about that.
and I forgot about the $1M owed to Gary Mathews Jr., and the $1.1 owed to Omar Minaya… that’s over $20M !!!
proxy dot espn dot go dot com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/17381/mets-paying-ed-players-most
Cutting useless talent that should have been cut years ago(never signed in the first place)(Perez and Castillo) = priceless
The new Mastercard commercial.
If the alternative to not triggering K-Rod’s option is letting him walk as a free agent, what are the odds of anyone out there being willing to trade for K-Rod if he’s making $14 million (and the Mets get nothing in return)? I suppose the Mets could always eat some of the money, but then they would be better off trying to avoid the option.
I think Chris Young will be their best pitcher this season. Maybe he will be on the trade block if he pitches well, but they may want to hold onto him since they’ve been on a never ending quest to find another good starter to compliment Santana. They made some small moves and will probably hanging around the cellar, but it never hurts to sign bargain starters who could be above average.
I’m a die hard Mets fan, so take with a grain of salt but I honestly don’t think this team will be as bad as everyone thinks. Do I think they’ll be in the playoff picture come August/September? No. But a lineup of Reyes, Pagan, Wright, a healthy Beltran, a healthy Bay and Ike Davis is no joke. The rotation will probably be league average. Pelfrey, Dickey, Niese, Young and Capuano are not going to strike fear in the hearts of anyone, but they can all pitch.
My biggest concern is the bullpen beyond K-Rod. Will Parnell step-up and become their 8th inning guy? Do Izzy and Pedro Beato break camp with the team and contribute? Do Carrasco and Buchholz pan out? Who will replace Feliciano as the teams’ rubber armed LOOGY? To me, that will be the difference between a team that will hover slightly above .500 and a team that will be looking toward 2012 come the All Star Break (not that I’m not already looking towards 2012)
Agree with you, and think that the Mets can win 85-86 games, with improvements in their manager, bench, starting rotation (even without Santana for 1/2 a season, they have replaced Maine, Perez, et al. with Young and Capuano), and, yes, even the bullpen. Byrdak will replace Feliciano adequately–at far less expense.
Mets aren’t going to ‘find a way’ to prevent that KRod option from vesting. Only way it doesn’t is if KRod is injured for any length of time or he stinks and they could justify sitting him down rather than finishing a game. Mets have already been put on official notice this situation will be monitored closely.
Injuries you cannot predict but I don’t see the later happening. He’s fully recovered from the injury and having a very good spring.
Trying to get around that contract vesting gives the impression that contracts signed with the NY Mets aren’t worth the paper they’re signed on. Not a very good signal to be sending to potential FA in years to come they might want to go after.
Can’t they just waive him in August?? They did it with Cora last year…
Sure they could waive him, no one would claim him. The only reason there was not more flak over Cora is that he stunk and you could justify his dismissal.
The Mets are in serious financial trouble. I can’t see how MLB can allow them to hold on to the team through 2012 given the Madoff scandal and the “Picard Maneuver” er. . . lawsuit.
The Wilpons are going to have a hard time making payments on their debt load with a successful season (read: increased tickets sales); if the team falters even a little bit they are going to slip into Texas Ranger-ville financially.