Disgruntled Mets Fan

Hey everybody,

It had been quiet up until a few days ago, so blame the lack of activity on that. But the Mets have finally made their splash in signing Jason Bay.

Is it the best move possible? No. Was it the worst? Also no. But the Bay move fits the Mets’ scenario and is honestly the best-fit move. It’s a good move, not a great one.

Signing Bay to a 4-year, $66 million contract with an “easy” 5th-year vesting option (making the contract worth in total 5 years, $16 million) fits a variety of issues the Mets needed to resolve, including the following:

-Adding a power bat
-Making a splash to mollify the fans
-Filling the void in left field
-Not overspending
-Giving fans a reason to come back next year

The Mets were in a tough spot this offseason with only one really good pitcher on the market and two really good bats. Holliday will prove to be out of their price range, considering that the Mets have other holes to fill, which either have been filled (Ryoto Igarashi and Kelvim Escobar to compete for the set-up role, Alex Cora, etc.) or will soon be filled (Bengie Molina at catcher). They couldn’t wait till next offseason to make a move. Thus, the Bay move brings back a player familiar with the organization who can bring a solid bat to Citi Field for the next few years.

I’m not going to go too in-depth on analysis of Bay vs. Holliday, but I’ve talked to some experts I know in talent evaluation (former Major Leaguers who are now baseball instructors at a facility in NJ) who have not been too excited about Holliday’s swing in such a big park, considering the Mets’ need for pure power. Bay, indeed, provides that.

Coupled with the signing of Molina, I think you can’t say that the Mets did a bad job this offseason, giving their spending limits, the players in the market, the economy, and pressure from the fans.

Thoughts?

A quick thought…my logic may be faulty here, but the Mets are looking for power, somewhere. What if they traded for Uggla (probably the most freely available power bat in the trade market), batted him 5th, playing second, and went for a faster, better defensive player (Pagan, etc.) in LF? I know LF can’t compensate for defense at 2B, but could it be a “compromise?”

Uggla, for his career, is just below average as a defender (he’s had 2 bad years, 2 above average years) with a -2.9 UZR in 4 seasons. He walks a lot and showed the power to hit the ball out of Citi Field this year. I think the power can compensate for the defense…

In my first off-season as a Mets blogger, I’ve run into a bit of a problem.  I consider my style of writing one that follows the ebbs and flows of emotion that go along with being a Mets fan.  I’ve never wanted to be a blog that recycles information, and writes the same thing that all the other Mets blogs write about.  Instead, I write my opinion on how the team is performing, or underperforming on a day to day basis.

Now that there are no games being played, no team taking the field every night, I don’t have anything to write about.

I do however read a bunch of Mets sites to get information about what’s going on, who’s available, who’s on the radar, etc.

MetsBlog has been the most useful source of information, which makes sense since it’s the official Mets blog.  Matt Cerrone and his staff post some great information, and if you need one place to read about the Mets, this is where you should go.

Some other blogs I frequent are:

Mets Today
The Daily Stache
The Ropolitans
Baseball Bloggers Alliance

I can’t wait for next season to start so I have more to say.  Until then, bare with me.  I was not built for the off season.

The heart of the New York Mets’ dilemma is the struggle between how the Mets should plan and build their team. Through 2006, Omar Minaya had done a good job retooling the team, adding some great talent through trading and free agency and surrounding that talent with bright young studs and wily veterans. The process Omar used in his early years with the Mets worked well and nearly paid off in 2006.

But after 2006, Minaya and the Mets have managed the team as if they are still a game from the World Series. Some say that this couldn’t be further from the truth and the Mets need to rebuild and stockpile young talent for the future. Some think the Mets can be contenders in 2010. I’m not going to absolutely pass judgment in one way or another.

The fact of the matter is that the organization has been put in a very tough spot. After 2006 everyone thought we could win again. But three years later, more and more fans are calling for a rebuilding process despite not much changing with the team in the past three years. What should be done? I don’t believe that the Mets are a game from the World Series, still. But I do believe that while they are top-heavy, they can be playoff contenders. They aren’t championship contenders yet. But with Santana, K-Rod, Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, they are on their way with a great core. I still feel that the Mets can build to win now. But I’m not sure if it’s the right thing. Their system is very dry. Perhaps they can find a way to compromise between both routes.

A great deal has already come to light in the week-plus since the World Series ended. The Mets are already actively involved in many Hot Stove dealings, and I’m going to give both the facts we know now and some early theories about what the Mets might do, going by position.

Catcher

The Mets have been linked to three catchers so far this offseason: Bengie Molina, Rod Barajas, and Chris Snyder. Each have various benefits: Molina has proven power and is a good defensive catcher; Barajas is excellent defensively and can hit for a bit of power; Chris Snyder is young and has some pop in his bat. Snyder would be acquired through trade, whereas the others would be free agents. Barajas is by far the cheapest option, as Molina will probably command around $8 million for one or two years and Snyder has around $12 million left. Snyder seems to make the most sense for the Mets, but the word is the D-Backs demand a major-league arm in exchange. All the Mets really have to offer through this type of trade would be Castillo, so it seems the Mets will probably end up with Molina (more likely) or Barajas.

First Base

At this point in time, the Mets seem very committed to having Daniel Murphy be their every-day first baseman for 2010. However, they are exploring options in the market as well. They have been linked, along with the Red Sox, to Adrian Gonzalez. However, he will cost a fortune, and would require gutting the farm system, since he is both so good and so cheap for the 2 years he has left under team control. The Mets have also been linked to Adam LaRoche and Carlos Beltran has lobbied management to consider taking back Carlos Delgado.

I think the most sensible move would be to re-acquire Fernando Tatis. He showed in 2008 that he could hit for an extended period of time and even had a solid second half of 2009. He could be part of a platoon with Murphy as well as play anywhere on the field if necessary.

Second Base

The Mets seem like they really want do-overs from last offseason. Thus, they are trying hard to move Luis Castillo. Today, it was posed that they could trade him to the Dodgers for Juan Pierre. However, that would require the Mets taking on a worse contract than Castillo’s. In any event, the Mets seem particularly interested in Orlando Hudson. Brandon Phillips may also be available in the trade market and is a player who I love and would love to see in a Mets uniform. The Mets also have much interest in signing Chone Figgins and playing him at second. Figgins, though, hasn’t played second in several years, and is a more proven third baseman. The Mets would do better to stay away from him and the sum of money he will command (around 5 years/$10 million per)

I get the feeling, though, that Hudson will be playing second for the Mets next year, and Castillo will be playing somewhere else. Who that is I can’t tell you, though.

Outfield

Their seems to be a split within the team on Matt Holliday. Omar Minaya is said to want him, but many in management are not sure he commands the salary that Scott Boras has suggested he does. Many think he will be overpaid due to this extremely weak free agent class. The Mets have also been linked to Carl Crawford, but for some reason I don’t see him leaving Tampa this offseason.

I think Matt Holliday will be playing left for the Mets in 2010. Their only competition seems to be the Cardinals, and the Mets will win a bidding war with them.

Starting Pitching

The word is that the Mets are very interested in Joel Piniero and want a “do-over” on Randy Wolf. Both could command $8-10 million per year for one to three years. The Mets could probably sign one of these and another cheap starter.

Or…they could trade for Roy Halladay. It’s being reported that the Mets will certainly be involved in some way; however, Jon Heyman has said that while the Mets have the talent to trade for Halladay, it would clean out their system. It would also be tough trying to extend him, as they would have around $45 million tied up in two pitchers. However, I think getting Halladay and signing him to a 4-year, $85 million extension (maybe 5/$105) is something the Mets should investigate, because having two top-five arms in baseball at the top of the rotation gives you a really strong front and basically prohibits prolonged losing streaks.

The bullpen hasn’t been discussed yet; though I don’t see J.J. Putz coming back.

It’s a little early to see any bearing on what the Mets might end up doing with pitching, though, because their are more solutions than with the position players.

September wasn’t as bad as August in terms of entertainment. Any expectations of reasonably-close-to-major-league-level play from the Mets were gone…so with no expectations, one could actually watch games and be entertained by some wins, especially considering we would be seeing candidates for the 2010 support cast, which clearly needs to be shored up.

The Mets started the month by dropping a series in Colorado. However, this series featured the return of David Wright (Somewhat of a relief, since we’ve all seen what concussions can do to a player—give our regards to Ryan Church) and the short life of the Great Gazoo helmet (ah…what memories). Then, the Mets headed back home to complete the World Series of underachievers against the Chicago Cubs. They won the series, which featured great starts from both Nelson Figueroa (7 IP, 10 K’s) and Bobby Parnell (7 scoreless, fighting for his rotation spot), finishing up a split of the season series between disappointments (hmm, fitting…no winner among losers).

The disappointments continued as the Mets lost nine of their next ten, including being shutdown in one of the most memorable efforts of Pedro Martinez’s already esteemed career, and seeing Bobby Parnell suffer his final failure of 2009 as a starter. But that one win was a great game, and in a vacuum, one of the best the Mets played all year-a 10-9 defeat of the Phils that featured 5 hits to start the game (including a Beltran bomb), Mike Pelfrey turning a 4-0 lead into an 8-4 deficit, but a nice comeback by the Mets in the final few innings, on the strength of two late 2-run bombs by David Wright, one giving the Mets the lead in the final inning. It was closed out courtesy of K-Rod, who, by the way, didn’t give up a run to the Phillies all year.

The Mets trumped the Nationals in two of three before being swept by the Braves, then beating the Marlins in two of three (including a nice comeback win in the ninth off Leo Nunez, and a complete-game shutout by Pat Misch of the anniversary of Johan’s memorable shutout on the penultimate day of 2008). But the Mets hit a new low when they were swept by the lowly Nationals, a sweep that was ended on the SECOND walk-off grand slam yielded by Frankie Rodriguez on the year. The end was near as September came to a close.

If someone who missed the whole 2009 season started by looking at the Mets’ October results, they might have assumed the Amazin’s had a good year. However, in the words of Gary Cohen, “At the end of a lost season, a happy bedtime story,” is what this series was. The Mets swept the Astros, allowing just two runs as they closed Citi Field’s inaugural season. John Maine finished up his troubled 2009 campaign with seven solid against the ‘Stros, Pat Misch continued to assert himself as a potential fifth starter, as did Nelson Figueroa, who shut out the Astros to end the year.

There’s great irony in what happened on the final day of the season, in the two complete-game shutouts the Mets got this year…in everything. Nothing seemed to go off without a hitch. It’s one of the most anomalous baseball seasons ever, in which over half of the team’s roster spent time injured, several other players on the rosters were, to a given extent, disappointments, and where the Mets found new ways to lose on a weekly basis.

How did this team manage to lose games? Walk-off walks. Balks. Walk-off errors. Missing bases. Committing countless errors. Running themselves out of inning, after inning, after inning. Stranding countless runners on base. Managing to be one of the worst offensive teams despite the highest batting average in the Senior Circuit. Wild pitches. TWO walk-off grand slams. Thank God it’s over. Maybe we won’t be tortured like this next year…one can only hope.