Considering what he’s getting paid, the fact that he takes up a roster spot and the fact that this is the second off-season in a row where Omar has way overpaid a second baseman. Like you say, we coulda just stuck with Our Anus. I give it a D.

The Putz Deal:

The real kicker in this deal is Endy Chavez who actually did project be one win better as a Met than Jeremy Reed does. If the Mets had held onto Endy, this deal probably would have been the big win many think it is.

Can we assume that Jack Zduriencik (who has been saying the right things, seems to making the right moves and probably reads Dave Cameron’s work) wanted Chavez and that this wasn’t a throw in but a major focus of the deal. (Remember, Franklin Gutierrez was also aquired by Seattle and might even be better defensively than Chavez )

Lowe Non-Deal

Simply put: you don’t lose out on 2.3 wins for 3 million dollars.

I think this is too simply put. Obviously this is an accurate statement, but assuming “lost” Lowe because of 3 million is a faulty arguement for a number of reasons. One, NY income tax is higher with no personal exemptions compared to Georgia. Cost of living is also higher in NY, $15 million in Hotlanta is equilvalant to $10,232,099 in NYC. Not to mention the Mets didn’t have a country singer give a video welcome, the fact Lowe might want to get out of big markets, etc. Who knows what the Mets would have actually have to pay to equal the Braves offer, let alone beat it.

before I get into some points of disagreement, let me first give kudos to samt. Great article, and I love reading your stuff. I don’t always agree, but I think you provide a great perspective and I’ve even tweaked my own personal baseball philosophies a bit from reading your work. Good show.

Now, I will disagree a bit on the Putz grade. I may be nitpicking, because its not like I would bump the grade up that much, but I think what is important to take away from the Putz trade is not so much how many wins he adds himself, but what his acquisition does for the makeup of the bullpen (and taking a more macro view, the psyche of the team.) A guy like Putz is a weapon coming out of the bullpen. That dude has the skiilset to be a fireman in the traditional sense of the word. He could be our relief ace in the way the Cubs used Marmol and the Yanks used Joba. He gives us a guy who can come in and get strikeouts. In short, I think he allows Manuel more flexibility and creativity in how he tactically manages his bullpen. Obviously we have no way of empirically measuring this kind of intangible impact before the season, but I do believe the Putz acquisition, if he remains healthy and regains his form, could be the biggest move of the offseason. Oh, and if Manuel uses him as the relief ace. Let KRod get the saves, but bring Putz in for the high leverage, late game situations. This was something that was sorely lacking in the last few seasons, because they rarely brought Wagner in before the 9th. And while Heilman was a better reliever than I or other fans may have given him credit for, I do not believe he is on Putz’s level.

As for the Perez signing, I think this is a tough situation to grade. We had to sign a starting pitcher and they didn’t seem interested in giving a guy Lowe’s age a long term deal. I think we can all agree that Lowe is the better pitcher right now, but I have to admit to being wary of giving Lowe a 4 year deal. I don’t have a problem giving Ollie a higher per year salary since we only have him locked in for 3 years (I forget if there is an option for a 4th year, please correct me if I missed that.) Personally, I would rather go for a higher per year salary over a shorter duration when it comes to pitchers.

I agree with the Cora assessment, only because of how expensive that contract was. I disagree with the idea that Argenis Reyes would have been an adequate bench guy because I think Cora is more competent with the bat than Argenis. I like having a guy like Cora on the bench, just not for the money we’re paying him. Basically, I end up agreeing with you here.

Totally agree on the Mackowiak and Sullivan signings.

And finally, what did you think of signing Livan Hernandez to a minor league deal? I actually kind of dig it if there isn’t a “wink wink” agreement to release Livan if he doesn’t make the team. I think he could be a decent spot starter back in the NL.

this is the kind of analysis and temperament that makes AA pwn the interwebs. i think you’re selling the putz deal a little short though. arent those WAR values assuming benefit over replacement level? so each team will value them differently. when the nats signed dunn, they wont realize the full benefit of his WAR because he’s taking the place of an above replacement level, and above average too probably, player. whereas we needed bullpen helped more than most teams, so omar traded a strength, OF depth, for a weakness, BP.

overall i think omar does a very good job making deals. his negotiating skills suck real bad though. i can forgive the frank rod overpayment, were a big market and we needed a big name closer. they lowe/perez deals were inexcusable, however, in my opinion. whoever in the front office is helping omar come up with free agent market values should be fired.