By Tim Dierkes | at
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick looks at nine veteran players and estimates their chances of retiring. He assesses the situations of Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson, Ken Griffey Jr., Cliff Floyd, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Luis Gonzalez, Frank Thomas, and Moises Alou.
Crasnick feels Edmonds, Anderson, Griffey, and Floyd are likely to play, while the rest are not. Of the long shots, Thomas seems most intent on playing in ’09.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Here’s a look at the latest column from SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
By Steve Adams | at
Here’s a look back at the biggest stories MLBTR covered for the week of July 6 – 13:
By Tim Dierkes | at
Not that the Mets were counting on him, but it looks like Moises Alou’s body has broken down beyond repair. He’s torn a hamstring, and doctors are recommending surgery. It might be time to hang ’em up. Alou’s had a fine career, banging out 332 home runs. He topped a .900 OPS in many seasons.
Taking Alou of the picture entirely might cause Omar Minaya to hasten his search for a corner outfielder. The market offers names like Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Adam Dunn, Raul Ibanez, Frank Catalanotto, Kenny Lofton, Xavier Nady, Randy Winn, and Ken Griffey Jr.
Mets top prospect Fernando Martinez, 19, is hitting .298/.336/.428 in 50 games at Double A (he missed some time with a strained hamstring).
By Tim Dierkes | at
Mets outfielder Moises Alou is on his third DL stint, and it’s only June. No one expected much more than 100 games from him, but this is getting silly.
Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post talked to Mets manager Jerry Manuel, who hinted that Alou could consider retirement. But, as Hubbuch notes, players don’t typically abandon millions of dollars. So look for Alou to consider retirement in the offseason. It’s a shame his body has broken down; the man can still hit.
By Michael Glab | at
Scott Schoeneweis is miffed that the Mets may be considering using him as bait to snag an outfield replacement for Moises Alou.
The Mets have hinted they’d like to remove Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa from their payroll, but the Alou injury situation makes the departure of the two relievers even more likely. Schoeneweis will make $7.2MM in 2008 and ’09 to complete his current three-year deal. Sosa makes an even $2MM in a one-year pact. Schoeneweis disappointed Omar Minaya last year with a 5.03 ERA in 70 games.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Mets called the Pirates to chat about Xavier Nady. New York may not have the pitching prospects the Pirates would want in return. Pittsburgh also may figure Nady’s value will increase toward the trade deadline.
By Tim Dierkes | at
TODAY: Omar Minaya said that if he makes a deal, it will probably be toward the end of spring. And it would be for more of a fourth outfielder type (my words, not his).
YESTERDAY: In general, the Mets weren’t counting on 150 games from Moises Alou this year. But the news that a hernia will knock him out for four to six weeks could press Omar Minaya into action. Even before the injury they had been reportedly searching for a right-handed hitting outfielder. And ailments for various other Mets seem to be piling up.
Recently we’ve read about Marcus Thames and perhaps Brandon Inge as possible Mets targets. Yesterday we speculated that Reed Johnson, Kevin Millar, Jason Michaels, Matt Murton, and Jay Payton seemed like possibilities. Commenters added names like Juan Rivera, Xavier Nady, Randy Winn, Jonny Gomes, Aubrey Huff, and even Sammy Sosa. Plenty of options out there for Minaya.
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to RotoWorld, the Mets have exercised Moises Alou’s $7.5MM option for 2008. With a $1MM buyout, this was effectively a $6.5MM decision. Even with time lost to injury Alou should be worth 3-4 wins, so the price is right.
They also re-upped Damion Easley, not sure the amount quite yet. Maybe $1.5MM or so. He had a nice 76 games this year and it wouldn’t be the end of the world to give him the regular 2B job.
Now the Mets can move onto more important issues, like filling second base and catcher and driving up the price for A-Rod.
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds have to make decisions on the options for Adam Dunn, Scott Hatteberg, Eddie Guardado, and Javier Valentin by November 4th.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Mets have an interesting decision on their hands with Moises Alou, though it’s not exactly the team’s primary concern right now. That won’t stop us from talking about it!
Alou has a franchise-record 30 game hitting streak going as a 41 year-old. Since the start of 2006, he’s hit a monstrous .322/.373/.551 in 655 ABs. The problem is that he’s shown he’s only good for 90-100 games per year due to injuries.
In this day and age one can place a dollar value on such production. The numbers say Alou is roughly a 3.5 win player in the time he’s active. Last I heard a win was worth around $2.1MM – maybe a little extra to the Mets as a perennial contender. So let’s say Alou is worth $7.5MM even given a chunk of missed time. That makes the 2008 decision fairly easy – his option is for exactly that amount. The $1MM buyout pushes the decision even closer to exercising it.
Earlier in September, Alou said he’d retire if the Mets didn’t pick up the option. Alou’s tune hasn’t completely changed – he said "I don’t think so" when asked today if he’d continue playing if the Mets declined his option. However, he seems undecided and may try another club closer to his home in the Dominican Republic.
I don’t see the Marlins bringing him back, but the Braves could make sense. DHing for the Rangers could work as well. Still, the most likely outcome is the Mets exercising the option.
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
hide arrows scroll to top
