Tuesday Applesauce

by Eric Simon on Oct 14, 2008 10:17 AM EDT in Applesauce

At MetsGeek, Mike Newman presents the case against Francisco Rodriguez, arguing that the Mets find themselves with a high payroll but relatively few bad contracts, and extending six years and nearly $100 million (or something thereabouts) for a closer would be a desperate move.

At MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes looks at the Mets' payroll commitments for 2009 and provides some offseason suggestions and his outlook for next season:

The Mets have an excellent core for '09 - three good starting pitchers plus Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado all signed at arguably below-market rates. Minaya just needs to figure out how to allocate his money between a closer (and maybe a second reliever), a starter, and a left fielder.

Yes, thank you. No need to do anything daft this winter. The Mets have some areas that clearly need improvement, but there's no need for a complete overhaul here.

At Cardboard Gods, Josh Wilker busts out a 1980 Joel Youngblood, whose #18 was worn soon after by Darryl Strawberry:

I think Strawberry showed up last week for the closing of Shea Stadium. I’m not sure if Joel Youngblood did. It looked, just a couple weeks earlier, like the Mets would extend Shea’s lifetime beyond the end of the regular season by banishing the aftertaste of last season’s collapse with some playoff baseball. But you can never count on anything, so Shea’s last moment was not a playoff game but a bittersweet ceremony in the cold dusk featuring a gathering of Old Greats and Old Pretty Goods and Old OKs. The stands must have looked ragged, forlorn, many too disappointed to stay and watch. As the Allen Ginsberg stand-in in Dharma Bums put it, "It all ends in tears."

Replacement Level Yankee Weblog breaks down the projections to see whether signing Derek Lowe for three years makes any sense. There are indications that the Mets may take a look at Lowe as well.

Arizona Fall League

Peoria Saguaros 11, Surprise Rafters 6

Daniel Murphy went 4-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and three runs scored.
Shawn Bowman went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

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Comments

Derek Lowe as a 5th starter isn’t that bad of an idea. If the money is right of course.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Oct 14, 2008 11:00 AM EDT reply actions

Arbitration Eligible Players

I’m never really sure how this works.

If the Mets (or any team) don’t offer them arbitration, do they automatically become free agents? And if so, is there any compensation?

Can an arbitration eligible player decline arbitration? (assuming they have not worked out a contract) If so, what happens?

If anyone has more info or can point me to info it would be appreciated.

I know it’s been brought up before, but it seems like given the contract status of many of the players there is not much room for change in the bullpen. (Not without trades or outright release)

by Reg Dunlop on Oct 14, 2008 11:11 AM EDT reply actions

If the Mets (or any team) don’t offer them arbitration, do they automatically become free agents? And if so, is there any compensation?

They become free agents and the Mets would receive no compensation.

Can an arbitration eligible player decline arbitration? (assuming they have not worked out a contract) If so, what happens

Well, it’s not that they decline arbitration, it’s that they don’t agree to terms before the arbitration hearing. At that hearing, the team and player both give the arbitration judge their asking price, and then the judge picks the fairest value and that becomes the contract. As long as the team offers the player an arbitration figure, they control their rights (in years 4-6).

by DannyMetsGeek on Oct 14, 2008 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Arbitration

I thought the arbitrator chooses a number in between the two offered figures that he/she thinks is fair.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Oct 14, 2008 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Nope

It probably *should* work that way, but it doesn’t. The arbitrator has to pick one or the other.

by Eric Simon on Oct 14, 2008 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Anyone know of any studies on this?

Since the current system provides each party with an incentive to provide a realistic number, you would expect each party to select a number that hovers either immediately above or below the “true” value. I wonder how it plays out empirically.

"Since we became accelerated readers, we never leave the house." - Los Campesinos

by Shomov on Oct 14, 2008 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions

For what it's worth

I’m pretty sure Joel Youngblood was not at the Shea closing ceremony. His tenure with the Mets came during the real lean years from 1977 to 1982 (best record during that period: 67-95 in 1980), and the Mets would probably just as soon forget everything that happened between trading away Seaver in 1977 and the rebirth in 1983 with the trade for Keith Hernandez and the debuts of young Ron Darling and Darryl Strawberry.

by JoshNY on Oct 14, 2008 12:45 PM EDT reply actions