AAOP trends, and why your ideas stink.

Almost every minor league signing I’ve seen: Most of these guys are going to require a spot on the 40 man roster which we just can’t afford to give this year. I’m not opposed to depth, but I’d rather keep the Familia’s, Havens, etc.

 
Minor League deals do not place a player on the 40 man roster. What they give us is a more or less free look at a player, and if he somehow impresses enough in the spring to make the club he’s added the day before the season. That likely won’t come at the expense of a legitimate prospect, but more likely at the expense of a guy like DJ Carrasco, Justin Turner, Jason Pridie, or Nick Evans.

It’s just more room to work with to sign Reyes.

The young pitching. How much of last years pitching numbers can we attribute to Barajas, Blanco. LoDuca got alot out of Maine and Ollie. We need to at least get a Kendall or any veteran to school Thole on how to Handle a staff. That is an immeasurable intangible.

I’ve seen several trades and FA signings that propose an offer that “should be enough” to get a player that is generally believed to be unavailable (or unwilling to move to somewhere like New York). While these might work in a vacuum, there are 28-29 other teams to consider, many with better prospects and/or more money to offer. Unless the needs and values match up just right on both sides, these deals tend to stretch the bounds of credulity.

No AAOP was a more egregious offender in this area than the Marvel AAOP. It is simply unrealistic to expect a single team to get that many superheroes for the league minimum salary without some serious pushback from the players union and the other owners. There would likely need to be some sort of draft system or an allowance made to the other teams so they could similarly bolster their ranks. Even if the mentioned superheroes would agree to their deals with the Mets, there’s still a universe of possibilities for the 29 other teams, particularly small-market teams with limited budgets. And don’t think for a second that the deal would be limited to Marvel superheroes – you can expect DC at a minimum to file a grievance with the players union, and you know what that means – Superman and Albert Pujols both playing for the Cardinals. Good luck getting past them in the postseason (Albert Pujols is, of course, impervious to magic, so there goes that advantage).

Come on people, let’s try to be realistic with these things.

Rec’d enthusiastically & lobby Ambient for GM. If not for the post title, then for his brash dismisiveness at the idea of resigning Reyes.

Broxton, no. The guy was an elite closer, and he stopped being elite because of injuries (the exact point he started pitching through pain, and stopped being effective was an outing where Mattingly left him out there to throw 50 pitches- Torre really rubbed off on him). He had surgery to fix his problems, so he shouldn’t suck like he did. I don’t think he’ll be as good, but if he is 3/4 of what he used to be, he’s still better than a healthy Parnell and Fransisco.

And this is coming from someone that can tell you Reyes is truly my favorite player on the team, and he has been since 2003. You could probably figure out by my username that I grew to like speedy guys that are actually good, so I’m not just saying Reyes is my favorite because he was so good this year and I’ve forgotten David Wright exists due to his last couple of years like many people have. But even so, the one thing that would be worse than seeing the Mets without Reyes would be seeing the Mets in fourth place every year. Even if Reyes stays healthy, 20M for six years is a lot… especially if the payroll isn’t going to be rising from 110M anytime soon. It was never as fun watching the games whenever Reyes was hurt, but times like 1999 and 2000 weren’t too shabby. I’d love it to be both of course, but I won’t blame Alderson if he doesn’t sign Reyes to a mammoth contract.