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Why? Mets Sign Elmer Dessens to Minor League Deal

Not to complain about a minor-league deal, but:

Dessens, who turns 39 next month, would get a split contract if added to the 40-man roster that would pay $700,000 in the majors and $90,000 in the minors.

...

He can earn $150,000 in bonuses under Friday’s deal: $30,000 each for 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 relief appearances.

So, Dessens could potentially earn $850,000 if makes the team out of Spring Training. Just to reinforce what kind of improvements we should expect from Elmer, at age 40, on his 5.33 FIP 2009 season:

317_p_season_full_1_20091006_medium

via www.fangraphs.com

Just a minor thing, but a nice illustration of how a poorly run organization spends at the fringes. In summary: if the Mets suffer an injury in their already thin bullpen, they will pay Elmer Dessens roughly Adam Everett's salary with the Tigers to make the team worse.

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A million dollars, rounding up, for Elmer Dessens.

It’s hard to root against a guy doing good in Spring Training, but…

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 11, 2009 9:15 PM EST reply actions  

Why?

Is a good question.

by Joamiq on Dec 11, 2009 9:59 PM EST reply actions  

Everett makes double that

First off, there’s little risk at all that Dessens makes the team out of ST and pitches in 60 games. Realistically, for that to happen, he’d probably have to pitch exceptionally well, in which case he’d probably be worth it. The reality though is, he’ll get paid 90k to pitch for Buffalo, which is only about $25k more than the minimum for a player on the 40-man roster.

Second, Everett signed for just under $1.6M, on a guaranteed MLB contract. So when he turns out to be replacement level, they are stuck with him. The reality is Everett will likely get 18 times as much as Dessens; that’s the difference in the guaranteed dollars.

In addition, even if he makes it and pitches in 40 games, and makes $760k, what is the complaint really? He should have made MLB minimum? You are arguing then over $360k. On the free agent market, that buys less than a run.

What if we need a call up due to injury, say mid-July, for a long man, who might end up making 40 appearances? Suppose Dessens is pitching very well. Should the Mets decide to call up say, Lance Broadway instead, even if it appears he will be worse over the course of 40 appearances, and they expect he’ll be worse than Dessens by more than 1 run? Is it really bad to even have the option to call up Dessens then?

I think you’re ignoring the biggest problem with the Mets, which is that there are usually too many penny pinchers in that front office worrying about every $300k, instead of worrying about spending a bit here and there to make sure you’ve got enough capable players to send out there even when there are injuries. I can’t believe we’re really complaining about the minor league deals now, over what amounts to a fraction of a run.

by acerimusdux on Dec 11, 2009 10:49 PM EST reply actions   1 recs

For the most part I agree with you

but to play devils advocate, when you have a front offices that passes over picking anyone in the rule 5 draft just to pick up 150 k it makes that 360 k being argued over seem more important.

by Gina on Dec 11, 2009 11:08 PM EST up reply actions  

My complaint:

HE SHOULD BE UNEMPLOYED/RETIRED. I’m not arguing that he should make league minimum, I’m arguing that he should make nothing, or at most, minor league min.!

by Sam Page on Dec 11, 2009 11:22 PM EST up reply actions  

Is this really true?
I think you’re ignoring the biggest problem with the Mets, which is that there are usually too many penny pinchers in that front office worrying about every $300k, instead of worrying about spending a bit here and there to make sure you’ve got enough capable players to send out there even when there are injuries. I can’t believe we’re really complaining about the minor league deals now, over what amounts to a fraction of a run.

My complaint is that they spend liberally on mediocre players and justify it by describing value they absolutey cannot quantify or quantified values that are incredibly misleading, rather than looking for potential bargains that could pay dividends both financially and competitively down the line. When Andruw Jones is signing for less money than what the Mets are giving Corey Sullivan, when Alex Cora is getting $2 million to do what lots of guys could do for 25% that cost, when the organization is wasting time negotiating with Dessens instead of a minor league free agent who could actually provide some value if necessary, that’s why its upsetting.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Dec 11, 2009 11:29 PM EST up reply actions  

People love to complain about Jeff Wilpon's alleged meddling

But I seriously doubt the mother f’er is in the front office telling them to burn his father’s money on Elmer Dessens, Cory Sullivan and Tim Redding. These are the failings of Omar Minaya and his staff alone.

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Dec 11, 2009 11:40 PM EST up reply actions  

Who's idea was it to trade Wagner

thereby saving 1.3 million and the cost of signing 2 high draft picks. How this helps us down the road I have no idea. It’s not like Wagner would have accepted arbitration with Rodriguez here. I’m really dissapointed in Omar’s constantly trying to sign the oldest player he can find but there is no way that he threw away those picks.

by t agee on Dec 12, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions  

He won't pitch well.

He’s not good, he’s never been good, he won’t be good, he’s 40. Why waste time on a pitcher with absolutely no upside? He’s a veteran and he’ll likely get the benefit of the doubt in spring training and undeservedly find himself in the final cut or the opening day roster, given the abject stupidity of Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya.

There’s no good reason to have him around. Sign more guys like Clint Everts, please.

As far as the Everett thing, I think Sam confused the salaries of Everett and Vizquel.

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Dec 11, 2009 11:30 PM EST up reply actions  

In AAA he might

In a way I can understand why this move worries people. A year ago I thought Tim Redding might be a good guy to sign for AAA Buffalo. And the Mets went ahead and gave him an MLB contract instead.

But, Dessens got a minor league deal. This after leading the AAA team in WHIP and being second in ERA. That was a pretty crappy team in Buffalo last year. They really need to do something to help the Bison’s sell tickets as well. It just makes sense to bring back one of their better players from last season.

It only doesn’t make sense if you think that allowing Jerry and Omar access to any over the hill veteran is like allowing a suicidal mental patient to handle a sharp object. You need to keep them away or they might hurt themselves. On itself though, this seems like a fairly routine move.

by acerimusdux on Dec 12, 2009 12:24 PM EST up reply actions  

That's totally false.

Look past the big two or three signings at other moves before you make that judgment, right?

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 12, 2009 1:16 AM EST up reply actions  

the problem with this contract

is the problem with all the mets contracts so far this year; it’s been given to a player and practically everyone is hoping we don’t have to see. when you start off your offseason by giving vesting options to crap players that everyone here is hoping never kicks in, you’ve got your priorities out of whack. and even thought it may just be a few hundreds of thousands, these add up (blanco, cora, dessens) and is the difference per year between bay and holiday.

dessens is the kind of guy we could’ve signed in february for nothing.

by Rey-O on Dec 11, 2009 11:43 PM EST reply actions  

It was the shiny 3.31 ERA, folks!

Whereas, in truth

HR/9: 1.4
K/9: 3.9

Those two numbers are appalling. It’s partly the money, and partly the idea that a very large-market team cannot find a better reliever to put on its AAA roster. Dessens has no upside, and if he excels in AAA, so what? He’ll be the same pitcher he was last year, only a little worse. If he has a 3.00 ERA at Buffalo that has nothing to do with what he’ll pitch in the majors, where because he’s ancient he’s a huge favorite to give up more than 1.4 HRs per 9, and K less than 3.9 batters per 9. That’s awful.

You bring up Dessens in 2010 and he’ll give you 10 innings where he gives up 14 hits and 3 homers with two strikeouts. Any other result is dumb luck.

Where’s Sal, by the way? I’m waiting for him to point out Dessens’ Mexican and that’s why Omar favors him.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 11, 2009 11:54 PM EST reply actions  

Sal got smacked around by the ol' banhammer

He started crossing some real lines, telling someone (I think it was Evan_S) to down a bottle of ambien with Jack Daniels.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Dec 12, 2009 12:02 AM EST up reply actions  

No good. Glad he's gone.

One of the many great things about this site is that the tone is generally pretty civil.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 3:13 AM EST up reply actions  

Agreed!

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 12, 2009 3:14 AM EST up reply actions  

And, just for kicks...

Does AA have something, like a “constitution”? If not, still, a proprietary draft of legislation?

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 12, 2009 3:20 AM EST up reply actions  

Oops. Blanco gets REnegotiated:

From the linked article:

“Because of concerns about his surgically repaired right shoulder, the Mets renegotiated Henry Blanco’s contract yesterday. The vet originally received a one-year, $1.5 million deal from the Mets but will now play one year for $750,000, plus $700,000 in incentives based on the number of games he starts.”

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 11, 2009 11:59 PM EST reply actions  

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation

Omar wants to be fired.

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Dec 12, 2009 3:04 AM EST reply actions  

It's painfully obvious

Omar is the proverbial window-shopper. He’s almost like a little kid – he’s impressionable beyond belief!

“Ooh, shiny! I want it! I WANT IT!!!”

Ugh. It’s sickening.

An excerpt from one of my recent posts, as I should reiterate:

About Omar Minaya

1. He is VERY impressionable. (just ask one chuckling Scott Boras, on Oliver Perez)
2. He shows an obvious bias toward Hispanic players.
3. He is fundamentally deficient on intuitive baseball knowledge, and is open to cynically-motivated criticism.
4. Very impulsive, and quick to act without thoughtful planning and foresight.
5. Admittedly, is lucky enough to have signed big players in blockbuster deals the last 4 years. And reflecting on point 2, the vast majority of them are of Hispanic descent.

That’s "Don Omar", in a nutshell. Let me know if I left anything out, but I pretty much encapsulated just about everything with precision. To leave out any of these points is a travesty all its own.

And that’s basically what separates Omar Minaya from the Theo Epsteins, Brian Cashmans and Jon Daniels of the baseball world. And it’s quite a lot for 5 simple points!

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 12, 2009 3:17 AM EST reply actions  

#2 is wrong

And has been proven to be so many times on this site. I wouldn’t put Cashman in the same league as Epstein. People seem to forget how many awful contracts he made in the early/mid 2000s.

by Brittannia on Dec 12, 2009 6:33 AM EST up reply actions  

A lot of the Cashman signings were the doings of ol’ George Steinbrenner.

by Scooby Snacks on Dec 12, 2009 9:02 AM EST up reply actions  

I'd agree

I think now that George has stepped back, and Hank or Hal, whichever the loud obnoxious one is has been relegated to pure figure head Cashman’s moves will make a lot more sense.

by Gina on Dec 12, 2009 11:28 AM EST up reply actions  

Elmer Fudd? Really...

Why haven’t the Wilpons called Kevin Towers yet?

by Scooby Snacks on Dec 12, 2009 9:03 AM EST reply actions  

Some good news

I’m sure this was covered somewhere here, but Blanco alleged 1.5 mill a yer was really a $775,000 contract which is much more reasonable

by Rigsay on Dec 12, 2009 1:53 PM EST reply actions  

This

is an awful lot of angst towards signing someone on minor league contract.

by vigouge on Dec 12, 2009 2:44 PM EST reply actions  

Well

then everyone should step back and take a breath and stop hyperventilating over every move. It’s a minor league deal for Elmer Dessens for chrissakes. Every move that Minaya is even rumored to have thought about is being treated with the level of disgust usually reserved for Kazmir-Zambrano.

by vigouge on Dec 12, 2009 4:48 PM EST up reply actions  

It’s justified. What exactly is Dessens’ upside? I’m not even a Met fan but I do go to a handful of games with my Met fan friends.

by Scooby Snacks on Dec 12, 2009 3:01 PM EST up reply actions  

His

upside is another capable arm in Buffalo so hopefully that team doesn’t suck too badly and the mets don’t have to then start looking for a third AAA affiliate in 4 years.

by vigouge on Dec 12, 2009 4:51 PM EST up reply actions  

I understand what you're saying

And I agree…but the amount of incentives in this deal are frankly just staggering.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 12, 2009 11:23 PM EST up reply actions  

I'm less impressed by Omar's big signings than some are

Pedro was an overpay. Delgado was a huge overpay (two good years out of four at a cost of $56m). Beltran was a nice signing but since it meant paying Beltran $25m more than the next highest bidder that was an ownership decision, really. Extending Reyes and Wright were obvious choices. Omar did well to not overpay in prospects for Santana, but would anyone sign Johan today to a four year deal with an AAV of $23m? Frankie Rod is looking like a very poor deal, and could turn into a monstrous one.

There’s nothing particularly impressive about this record. Am I leaving anyone out?

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 4:33 PM EST reply actions  

Oh--and the expensive FA signings are usually something

considered to be one of Minaya’s best areas of judgment.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 4:34 PM EST up reply actions  

Omar had absolutely no choice with Johan

If he didn’t pay him what he wanted, and just let him walk away, I question whether he would actually be alive today.

by Syler on Dec 12, 2009 5:08 PM EST up reply actions  

Plus considering what CC got

I don’t see any reason to think Johan wouldn’t have gotten similar on the market. Unfortunately for us Santana seems to be trending down.

by Gina on Dec 12, 2009 5:26 PM EST up reply actions  

Actually

obviously Johan still by far our best pitcher, but considering how many more years we have him under contract for that price, his peripherals are kind of really really scary right now. I would expect to get anywhere near the value of the contract.

by Gina on Dec 12, 2009 5:29 PM EST up reply actions  

I'm not sure what to expect of Johan next year

I mean he had like a 12 K/9 in the first two months, but then it went down to like 5 for the rest of the year, and I’m guessing his injury had a large part in that.

by Syler on Dec 12, 2009 5:35 PM EST up reply actions  

I would have traded what Omar did for Santana

and signed him to that extension. The top pitchers were getting $20m+ that year. I wouldn’t have traded for Delgado. 3 prospects and market value+ for an old, increasingly immobile 1bman is not a good buy, imo.

My point, though, wasn’t to use too much hindsight but rather to point out that when what is typically viewed as your strength, getting HOF type players at above market rates, isn’t really much of a strength after all, that’s not good.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 8:29 PM EST up reply actions  

Just one question then..

Who would’ve been your first baseman during 2006-2009?

by Syler on Dec 13, 2009 12:46 AM EST up reply actions  

Gimme a break, kiddo. You know what I mean.

Omar traded three prospects to Florida for the privilege of taking on Delgado’s 3 year/42ish million dollar contract plus the 4m buyout. The contract was a brutal overpay just in financial terms. Imagine how bad it would have been had any of the prospects turned into ballplayers.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 5:08 PM EST reply actions  

Thats pretty low on Omar's list

I would probably do the Delgado deal again to be honest. Jacobs never turned into anything and altho Delgado was older, he gave a great 06 season and carried the team almost into the playoffs in 08’ by himself. You rarely get full value out of anyone in every yr of their contract, unfortunately.

by Rigsay on Dec 12, 2009 6:27 PM EST up reply actions  

although $56 million for two good seasons is an extraordinary overpay.

If I knew how it was going to work out, I wouldn’t have gone near Delgado.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 8:24 PM EST up reply actions  

While his 07 numbers were definitely down

He still put up 24 hrs, 87 rbis and 30 doubles while playing good 1st base (8 errors). The last year really put the hurt on the overall contract, but like I said, rarely does anyone get full value years in a contract. In baseball, due to the length of contracts for big players now, you almost know you are getting screwed for the last few years of a deal. Unfortunately being the Mets, the only way to lure free agents to a bad team, with limited history, a cavernous ball park, playing second fiddle to the Yankees is to overpay for players.

by Rigsay on Dec 12, 2009 8:42 PM EST up reply actions  

old trades

Omar was probably best known for his smaller trades like the ones which landed Maine, Ollie and El Duque.

While they were all good at the time, the fact that all those players production was so short lived probably shows he caught lightning in a bottle and as we’ve all come to realize, into really that good of a GM

by Rigsay on Dec 12, 2009 6:32 PM EST reply actions  

I have to admit

that given all the gold he struck early in his tenure, I thought we’d really lucked out having Omar as a GM.

by SeanSchirmer on Dec 12, 2009 8:47 PM EST up reply actions  

everett

pretty sure he’s making WAY more than that (like in the neighborhood of $1.5M)

by Rob Castellano on Dec 12, 2009 11:12 PM EST reply actions  

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