Assorted Mets Rumors in the Dwindling Market
by Sam Page on Jan 29, 2010 6:00 AM EST
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PrintThe Mets have gained "momentum" toward an deal with John Smoltz, which would undoubtedly be their best deal of the offseason with Smoltz's supposed demand of $4 million guaranteed. Both the Mets and the Cardinals, his other chief suitor, have a opening in the rotation, but the Mets have the #2 spot open for him, while he would probably be the #4 on the Cardinals. Each team offers job security, but the Mets offer that unique brand of "start until your arm falls off" security.
Last season, Smoltz obviously pitched much better than his ERA indicates, but some concerns linger about his getting knocked around in Boston. His fastball lost a tick, which lead to some hard contact, but I think the spacious dimensions of Citi Field and the National League would mitigate against most of that. His slider still ranks among the best in the game.
I also read somewhere that Tim Kurkjian reported the Mets interest in 2B Felipe Lopez and "SP" Braden Looper on Baseball Tonight. No other sources have corroborated the rumor, but it gives me hope, so I'll write about it anyway. Felipe Lopez, despite a 4.6 WAR 2009, has nearly no market for his services with Orlando Hudson, his clone with the much better reputation, only seriously negotiating with a few teams. The Mets could reasonably sign him to a contract that wouldn't make them feel guilty about not moving Castillo first. Then, in spring training, Lopez could win the secondbase job, giving the Mets a very good infield defense, without sacrificing any offense. Lopez also provides much better insurance on Jose Reyes than Alex Cora and would prevent Cora's stupid option from vesting.
I've written about the urgency to replace Castillo over and over again this offseason, but as spring training approaches and I get needlessly optimistic about the season, that urgency increase. Castillo unequivocally represents the only player who will not improve on his 2009. Everyone else in the starting 12, be it due to injuries or youth, has room for improvement next season. Castillo's career peaked, and the Mets shouldn't blow the chance at an unlikely playoff run because they were too cheap to sign Felipe Lopez.
Looper stinks.
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Rumors: Felipe Lopez has been mostly linked to the Cardinals, and a bit to the Dodgers.
The only link I could linking him to the Mets says “Schmoltz” doesn’t want to play for the Mets because of Tom Glavine’s experience in New York.
wait Tom Glavine had a bad experience?
Was it devastating?
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
by firejerrynow on Jan 29, 2010 6:29 AM EST up reply actions
nah, just disappointing
You don't cheer for the Mets. You drink for the Mets.
at this point, my wish list is
Lopez and Gregg for 8th inning duty. If they were really about to drop $7.5M on Pineiro, then there is money left to do both of these cause neither will be getting more than $4M at this late date. I guess if they did either one at this point, I might regain a sliver of hope.
I’m not holding my breath.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 29, 2010 7:25 AM EST reply actions
That's some fine analysis there, Sam.
Looper stinks.
Can’t draw a better conclusion about him.
If there's ever a riot at Citi Field and Oliver Perez was the starter, I started the riot.
the guy we traded away
and was turned around by the best pitching coach in baseball, we want back now…minus the coach who made him better?
/slow clap omar
To be fair,
the Mets didn’t trade Looper, but declined his $5.5 mil option and proceeded to build their best bullpen in years on the cheap sans Wagner.
The causative relationship is that talent (plus luck) leads to wins. And that talent (plus service time) leads to payrolls.
by Sokojoe on Jan 29, 2010 9:40 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Looper might be better than Smoltz at this point
He has picthed 175, 199 and 194.2 innings the last 3 seasons, and while is ERA has been4.94, 4.16, 5.22 over that time I think he could lower that at Citifield
Smoltz had 205 in 2007 but 08 was only 28 and 09 only 78 and ERA 07- 3.11, 08 2.57 and 09 6.35.
and of course Smoltz is 42, Looper 35..and Smoltz was a Brave, Looper a Met already
Durability wise Looper is better
but if Smoltz can pitch the better part of the season he’s a better pitcher when he’s healthy.
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 29, 2010 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
If they would actually sign Lopez
and basically eat the 8 million owed to Cora/Castillo for the sake of bettering the team, I think I would retract every bad thing I’ve said about Omar this off-season.
(you see how low you’ve forced me to set my standards omar)
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
hey I'd do much the same
i’ve been saying all I want for this offseason is a new 2b. My unnecessary optimism levels would be off the charts if that happened.
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 29, 2010 10:35 AM EST up reply actions
Not me. The failure to get Piniero (or any other starter)
when they had $5.5m marked for Molina is too demented for me to forgive.
by SeanSchirmer on Jan 29, 2010 8:09 PM EST up reply actions
Pinero without a 2b
isn’t nearly as strong a move as pinero with one.
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 29, 2010 11:41 PM EST up reply actions
yeah but at this point our defense is so bad everywhere
that there’s no type of pitcher, who’s going to be aided or hurt less by our defense, so Piniero is still better than any other option.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
right but at that point
the money is better spent upgrading the defense than the pitching. good defense makes our pitching better every day, a good pitcher helps us every 5 days. If all of your fielders are at least mediocre defensively then the pitcher every 5 days helps a lot. If your defense is atrocious I feel like you get better returns by helping all of your pitchers a little bit every day.
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 30, 2010 10:42 AM EST up reply actions
Oh I agree
but i don’t really think the choice is Piniero or bring in defense, it’s Piniero or no Piniero and between the two I’d rather have Piniero.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Lopez is also the built in backup SS should god forbid something happen to Reyes again...
cause let’s be honest, nobody wants to see either Cora or AHern playing SS.
by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 29, 2010 9:30 AM EST reply actions
another dissapointing season
the wilpons are definitely not the Boss/ their just wishy washy owners who have spent a great deal of money on a mediocre team. Omar obviously convinced them in 09 that the pitching staff he compiled would take them to oct baseball /so we will be forced to suffer through the same scenario in 2010 Problems still exist at 2b/1b/c/ and with 4 of the sp Will beltran and reyes be healthy and finally what type of year can we expect from wright, rodriguez and francoer?
Thank you, Capt. Obvious.
Oh, the butcher and the baker and the people on the street: wheredotheygo?!?!?
In 2008 and 2009 he pitched only 106 innings
but was still worth 2.5 WAR ($11.1 Million)
If his base salary is, say, 6 or 7 million with incentives up to 10-12, that would be a fair contract.
I'd go a lot less.
Some time in the next three years Smoltz will be worthless. There’s a good chance that’s going to happen in 2010. That needs to be factored in.
by SeanSchirmer on Jan 29, 2010 8:11 PM EST up reply actions
Wang
i’m sure ill get blasted for this one, but I wouldn’t mind giving Wang a chance as opposed to Smoltz. Anyone else?
"I used to be legit. I was too legit. I was too legit to quit. but now I'm not legit. I'm unlegit. And for that reason, I must quit."
Wang is contemplating rehabbing for up to a few months into the season now
from what I hear. He is certainly not a viable option as a starter we can depend on.
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 29, 2010 10:36 AM EST up reply actions
ah...
i did not know that. thanks.
"I used to be legit. I was too legit. I was too legit to quit. but now I'm not legit. I'm unlegit. And for that reason, I must quit."
heres the link
He says he may try to accelerate his rehabbing process now that so many teams are expressing interest, but that makes me even more wary of him. Thinks he can be back by mid May, but most scouts seem to think this is unrealistic.
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 29, 2010 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
I'm not crazy about that
There’s a chance that last year was a (huge) bump in the road, and that he could go on to have a solid career. But something tells me that last year was the beginning of the end for him, if not simply the end.
From your lips
to God’s ears, Sam.
Oh, the butcher and the baker and the people on the street: wheredotheygo?!?!?
Go for it
Let;s sign wang , lopez and damon to 1 yr contracts.
why must we sign 2 players that would make me incredibly sad
along with the one that would make me happy?
by KeithsMoustache on Jan 29, 2010 10:48 AM EST up reply actions
Don't say needlessly optimistic
It’s completely necessary to be optimistic.
Felipe Lopez even provides versatility that O-Dawg doesn’t have; so although the stats might not be enough to sway Omar, the idea of “versatility” could possibly do so. I remember Manuel saying how important it was to have players that were versatile. It would be a great signing.
Trying to believe is my full-time occupation.
Smoltz...
..Was incredibly unlucky with Boston – his BABIP was ridiculously high and his LOB% was ridiculously low. I don’t think its a surprise his ERA was a more reasonable 4.26 as a Cardinal when his BABIP was closer to the norm. The most impressive thing from Smoltz is he still showed he can strike hitters out and throw strikes.
Counting on him for 25+ starts may be a bit crazy though, so I would also bring in Wang, and once hes ready then shift Smoltz to the bullpen (unless hes having a great year).
Why do we want a guy with an ERA in the mid 4s who probably won't start more than 20 games?
Isn’t that what we have Perez, Maine, Niese, Nieve, and Figueroa for?
by SeanSchirmer on Jan 29, 2010 8:29 PM EST up reply actions
Finally
a Lopez sighting. He is so much better than Castillo it makes my head hurt all day every day as I realize somebody is going to get him for pennies on the dollar. Hopefully this is Omar’s blind squirrel and a nut moment.
Looper.
I went to a single Yankee game at Yankee Stadium over the course of my life. It was a Subway Series game. The Mets were an inning away from sweeping the series (and, if I recall correctly, both series’). Randy Johnson had like 8 Ks, but the Mets still somehow managed to take the lead. Braden Fucking Looper lost the game in the 9th.
I’d say fuck him just on principle on that, but also because of his behavior after the Cardinals won the NLCS, mocking the team and us fans. Fuck him.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 29, 2010 4:58 PM EST reply actions
One of the most annoying traits of Minaya
is that he cannot admit a mistake. He will not bring in an upgrade over Castillo, even if it’s a cheap one, because he probably thinks Castillo can repeat last year’s performance. And he probably believes Castillo is still a decent fielder, because that’s what he “sees”. It’s maddening.
It’s funny the Castillo contract sounded the early alarm that Minaya wasn’t very smart (although there was other evidence) when judging player value, and the contract just continues to hang around like some albatross he’s too dumb to get rid of. If this organization could have developed or signed a decent 2b in the last few years, we’d maybe have made the playoffs in ’07 and ’08 after Valentin washed out.
Why would the Wilpons object to
cutting loose Castillo (and signing Hudson, who WANTS to be here, or Lopez) after losing all that money to Madoff, Omar (his contract), Randolph, Delgado and Putz? Let’s get real- every guy they waited on (presumingly, getting a better deal) found employment, even though the media had them becoming Mets (without competition). Piniero, Molina, Marquis and Garland to name a few. Let’s just hope the Tatis signing is not any longer than one year.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
Tatis is not the problem
he’s getting $850,000 to provide above average play at multiple positions. He will probably be worth about $3-4 million. As long as Omar doesn’t overpay for him, I can’t see why Tatis couldn’t be on the team in 2011.
"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"
by firejerrynow on Jan 31, 2010 6:49 AM EST up reply actions
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