Minaya: Mets Will Be Buyers, Not Sellers
Usually, getting shut out five times in 13 games as the trade deadline nears while falling ten games behind the division leader is a good excuse to get a team to waive the white flag.
But the Mets are no ordinary team, with executives challenging minor leaguers to fights, having altercations with closer Francisco Rodriguez, and an injury a day– this one to Alex Cora, who has been filling in for the injured Jose Reyes.
So it should come as no surprise that Mets GM Omar Minaya says New York will be buyers, not sellers at the trade deadline, according to the tireless Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.
"Right now we do not envision [being a seller]," Minaya said. "If we're 6 ½ [back] in the wild card with a couple of teams in front of us, we are still kind of trying to find out how we can improve this team, if we can improve it through trades."
Not clear if Minaya also believes Lloyd Christmas should be a buyer at the trade deadline because he was told he has a "one in a million chance."
Odds And Ends: Wedge, Penny, Mets
Some links to start the week off…
- Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Indians wouldn't improve if they fire Eric Wedge.
- As this poll shows, 71% of Plain Dealer readers want Wedge fired.
- Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer suggests the Indians' inability to develop better pitching shows in the standings.
- MLB.com's Ian Browne says Brad Penny's becoming more and more valuable, especially to the Red Sox.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes the Mets' chance to deal Jose Reyes, David Wright or Carlos Beltran for three or four cheap, young players has likely come and gone.
- The Moneyball movie, which was to star Brad Pitt, is now in jeopardy.
Olney on Reyes, McLouth, Holliday
ESPN.com's Buster Olney wonders if the currently injured Jose Reyes has already peaked, quoting a scout who says "I don't see a lot of evolution there … Jimmy Rollins struggled early in his career, but then he just kept getting better and better, and I'm not really seeing that in Reyes." Olney likens the situation to Mark Prior's, who seemingly held the Cubs hostage with his potential. Reyes will turn just 26 next week, but Olney says that going forward "the Mets should not assume that Reyes is going to be an unmovable foundation piece," however he is not advocating a trade just yet.
Here's the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Olney heard that the Pirates were concerned about Nate McLouth's defensive abilities, so they moved him now before his trade value diminished.
- Billy Beane will soon have to make a decision about whether or not he should trade Matt Holliday, because other teams will start inquiring soon.
- Olney speculates that the Cardinals could be interested in Holliday, which would satisfy Tony LaRussa's desire for a big bat. He also says that Cards' prospect Brett Wallace would be a good fit for Oakland, but that seems like a hefty price for just three or four months of Holliday.
Discussion: Replacing Jose Reyes
According to SNY's Kevin Burkhardt, Jose Reyes has a tear in his right hamstring tendon. The Mets will wait till Friday to make a decision on the matter, but Burkhardt guesses Reyes will be sidelined till the All-Star break.
So what are the Mets' options? Alex Cora is currently holding the line at short. Should they pursue someone like, say, Bobby Crosby? Mark Grudzielanek is still out there as a free agent, but he hasn't played shortstop in a while. What do you think?
Odds & Ends: Pedro, Boras, Bonds, Fielding
Links for Friday…
- Which players have the biggest differences in fantasy draft position, comparing Yahoo and ESPN?
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not find it likely that the Rangers will release Frank Catalanotto and eat the $6MM owed to him.
- Gil LeBreton of the Star-Telegram suggests Rangers GM Jon Daniels will have some tough trade decisions to make as the team inches closer to contention.
- Amy Martinez of the Seattle Times examines the economic impact of Ken Griffey Jr.
- Jose Reyes says Pedro Martinez would like to pitch for the Mets, talking to MLB.com’s Marty Noble.
- Amusing article about Scott Boras by Matt Taibbi in Men’s Journal.
- The Twins again made it clear they’ll pass on Barry Bonds. Three other teams have also publicly rejected his agent’s advances.
- Fielding Bible guru John Dewan says defense is worth roughly half as much as offense.
- Hat tip to Baseball Think Factory’s excellent Baseball Newsstand for several of today’s links.
- Sorry about the three double-posts on the site. I am still waiting for TypePad to fix the issue.
How To Fix The Mets
I will offer my own opinions on how to improve the Mets in the Offseason Outlook, due within a few weeks. Many journalists have already weighed in – let’s take a look.
- Newly added bullet: John Harper of the New York Daily News. He advises the Mets to decline Delgado’s option while signing Orlando Hudson, Raul Ibanez, and Derek Lowe and trading for J.J. Putz. Say goodbye to Castillo, Perez, and Martinez in this plan.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday: Sign free agents Francisco Rodriguez, Darren Oliver, Juan Rivera, Fernando Tatis, and Wes Helms. Also sign one of Jon Garland, Derek Lowe, or Oliver Perez. Exercise Carlos Delgado‘s $12MM option. Trade/release Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Scott Schoeneweis, and Luis Castillo.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post: Sign C.C. Sabathia, even if it takes $150MM over six years. Sherman notes this would lessen the load on the bullpen (Sabathia averaged 7.23 innings per start in ’08). I prefer this plan to spending $100MM on K-Rod and a mid-tier starter.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog: Buy Delgado out for $4MM rather than exercise his $12MM option. Interesting, unconventional thought by Cerrone. Cerrone, like Davidoff, finds the idea of trading David Wright or Jose Reyes to be misguided.
Heyman’s Latest: Manny, K-Rod, Cashman
Lets discuss the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
- The Mets are "disinclined" to go after Manny Ramirez or break up the Jose Reyes–David Wright–Carlos Beltran core.
- Heyman, like Ken Davidoff, feels the Mets can’t afford to sit out the Francisco Rodriguez sweepstakes. If not him, then at least Brian Fuentes.
- Heyman says Brian Cashman "appears likely" to return as Yankees GM. He notes that Cashman wouldn’t have ended up in Seattle anyway because of the return of Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln.
Odds and Ends: Wilder, Vlad, Jose Reyes
Time to round up some links.
- The White Sox fired scouting director David Wilder and two scouts. Investigators are trying to determine if they skimmed bonuses designated for Latin American prospects.
- I did a Q&A recently. I forgot, at the time, that Albert Pujols is actually younger than Chase Utley.
- Imagine if Vladimir Guerrero had been paired with Barry Bonds.
- Joel Sherman points out that Jose Reyes will be just 28 when his contract is up.
- Roto Professor chats with prospect guy Jonathan Mayo.
- Extension talks with Corey Hart have fizzled.
Mets In Lead For Santana, Yanks Out?
UPDATE, 1-11-08 at 6:45pm: Santana’s agent says he has not demanded that the Twins trade Johan prior to pitchers and catchers reporting.
UPDATE, 1-11-08 at 5:30pm: One source told Ken Rosenthal that the Yanks "are no longer talking to the Twins about Santana." If that’s true, perhaps Hank will just announce it soon.
UPDATE, 1-11-08 at 3:51pm: Cerrone has a bit more, including a note that Santana and his agents are in lock down.
FROM 1-11-08 at 7:53am:
MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone sums up the latest buzz around the Johan Santana trade talks. It seems the Mets are in the lead for Santana, proactively trying to find a way to make it work. They are Santana’s preference, they have the money for him, and they might have the players to get it done.
Cerrone says Santana would like to have this thing wrapped up before pitchers and catchers report, about five weeks from now.
David Lennon of Newsday also checks in on the situation, agreeing with most of Cerrone’s info. It’s still not completely clear whether the Twins have stopped bringing up Jose Reyes. Lennon adds that the Mets couldn’t complete the deal just by adding Fernando Martinez, as had been previously reported. Kevin Kernan says the Mets won’t do a five for one deal, anyway. There seems to be a lot of conflicting info floating about on this one.
Odds and Ends: Reyes vs. Ramirez, Blanton, Colon
Let’s round up some random links for today…
- This is one of the more impressive rants I’ve heard. Seems that he lost his cool or something.
- Fantasy baseball shortstop smackdown: Jose Reyes vs. Hanley Ramirez.
- Ken Rosenthal says the Mariners inquired on Joe Blanton, but weren’t willing to trade Adam Jones within the division.
- Bartolo Colon is back in action for two more starts.