Murphy Claus Is Coming to Town Applesauce: Wright Reacts to the Reyes Signing, Murphy Is the Mets Santa, Don't #BlameSandy

by Steve Schreiber on Dec 10, 2011 9:00 AM EST in Applesauce

All he wants for Christmas is two healthy knees (and the ability to competently man second base).

Meet the Mets

David Wright issued a statement on Friday afternoon regarding Jose Reyes' defection to Miami. He wishes Jose well and trusts that the team will be competitive in 2012. You and me both, Dave (does anybody ever call him "Dave"?).

The Mets yearly holiday party will be this Tuesday and Daniel Murphy will be the "lucky" man who gets to don the Santa suit this time. I say "lucky" because Murph will now have to deal with the team's long-running Curse of Kris Kringle.

A ruling on whether the trustee in the Madoff case can appeal Judge Jed Rakoff's decision to dismiss nine counts against the Wilpons is expected in federal court as soon as the next week.

There's still plenty of reaction to Jose Reyes' departure, as well as speculation on the team's direction under Sandy Alderson. Over at Mets Today, Matt Himelfarb suggests that the Mets were right to let Jose walk away. Meanwhile, Andy Martino takes a look at the team's ~~rebuilding~~ Aldersonizing plan. Mike Puma in the Post says that the Mets are listening to trade proposals on just about everyone not named Wright, while a guest post at Baseball Prospectus wonders when the sun will rise again in Flushing. Finally, Dave Searles wants to you blame the Wilpons, not Sandy Alderson, for what's transpired this offseason. Sounds good to me!

Around the Majors

There was one big trade on Friday, as the Diamondbacks acquired 23-year old RHP Trevor Cahill and lefty reliever Craig Breslow from the Oakland A's in exchange for top pitching prospect Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and relief prospect Ryan Cook. All in all, while Parker's a very solid near ML ready pitching prospect, this seems to be a bit of an underwhelming return for Cahill, who's still so young and is under team control through 2017.

The Tampa Bay Rays have locked up a young star long term, though this young star has just 9.1 regular season major league innings pitched under his belt. 22-year old lefty Matt Moore and the Rays agreed to a five year contract, worth a guaranteed $14 million dollars. The deal includes club options for 2017, '18 and '19 which would raise the deal's value to $39.75, a potential steal for a pitcher as talented as Moore.

Octavio Dotel has signed a contract with the Tigers, who will become the 13th team he's pitched for, a new major league record. The previous record of 12 teams was held by Mike Morgan, Matt Stairs and Ron Villone.

Juan Carlos Oviedo, the closer formerly known as Leo Nunez, has apologized for using a fake name and age. It looks as if Oviedo will not be prosecuted but he is still without a U.S. Visa and he may face suspension from Major League Baseball.

The city of Oakland, in a last ditch effort, is trying its hardest to keep the Oakland A's from leaving town.

Mike Newman reacts to the Astros' selection of Binghamton Mets reliever Rhiner Cruz with the number one overall pick in the Rule 5 draft.

Finally, the market for former Met Carlos Beltran, he of the .389 wOBA and .910 OPS, is surprisingly slow. It would be pretty awesome if the Mets had an extra $10-12 million lying around to bring Carlos back to Flushing in 2012 to help bolster the offense, but sadly they don't. It appears that money is currently tied up in a certain Canadian outfielder who's last name is also a body of water.

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Comments

We should traid this Jason Lake guy.

I’m still a bit disappointed we didnt select Gorman Erickson on the Rule 5.

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Dec 10, 2011 9:27 AM EST reply actions

Jason Reservoir

by James Kannengieser on Dec 10, 2011 9:57 AM EST up reply actions

Jason Lake-not-so-Superior

by Shinjo Is God on Dec 10, 2011 10:18 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Besides, now that Capuano is gone, Keith would have someone to drool over:

We had a conversation about Erickson and I was pretty pissed he wasn’t in the lineup come playoff time. He looked like an adonis Mike Newman

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Dec 10, 2011 10:26 AM EST up reply actions

Jason Oceans

Now, kids, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep; in giant blender.

by meigs1414 on Dec 10, 2011 11:32 AM EST up reply actions

No relation to Danny

Now, kids, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep; in giant blender.

by meigs1414 on Dec 10, 2011 11:33 AM EST up reply actions

You might say that because of Jason

We can’t fjord anyone else.

Jason Inlet, an outlet for all all frustrations.

by keepcoolbutcare on Dec 10, 2011 1:47 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 6 recs

Jason Sewage Dump

Ralph Kiner: You've gotta change the script, I don't like the script.
Gary Cohen: What's wrong with the script?
Ralph Kiner: Well the script should be the Mets win every day.

by StorkFan on Dec 10, 2011 7:55 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Is Anna Benson coming back to be Santa's helper.Her outfit should have been put in the Mets

Hall of Fame!

by Putnan Prince on Dec 10, 2011 9:40 AM EST reply actions

"Call me Dave Wright from now on guys"

by James Kannengieser on Dec 10, 2011 9:57 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

Diamondbacks trade

Another nice deal made by Mr. Towers. It’s too bad Sandy is conjuring up trades like that. Remember, Towers was hired by the D-Backs one week before the Mets fired Omar.

by Common Knowledge on Dec 10, 2011 10:02 AM EST reply actions

and

Kevin Towers already took over a last place team and had them in the playoffs the following season!

by Common Knowledge on Dec 10, 2011 10:08 AM EST up reply actions

He also took over a team in a the shitty NL West

so he had a much easier job than Sandy does.

by graves9 on Dec 10, 2011 2:58 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Let's be fair here...

Towers inherited a lot of young star level talent that Josh Byrnes (and Jerry DiPoto) collected in their time in AZ. Justin Upton, Chris Young, Stephen Drew, Paul Goldschmidt, Miguel Montero, Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson is a very nice young core that happened to finally put it all together in 2011.

Towers brought in some good pieces (JJ Putz, David Hernandez, etc) but the core of that team has been in place for a while.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!
You might know me as mistermet.

by Steve Schreiber on Dec 10, 2011 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

Towers benefited from Arizona's owners impatience with Byrnes' plan.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Dec 10, 2011 3:13 PM EST up reply actions

Rephrasing for AA: Byrnes had a plan, and his plan, the owners didn't like it

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Dec 10, 2011 3:18 PM EST up reply actions

Basically that.

They had the pieces there but a lot of those guys were still very early in their development (Upton for example). That and perhaps Byrnes could’ve done a better job bringing in peripheral guys (relievers, bench players and such) but the ownership didn’t exactly help him out (like forcing him to sign Eric Byrnes to that ridiculous contract, which in turn forced him to deal Carlos Quentin away for a bag of balls).

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!
You might know me as mistermet.

by Steve Schreiber on Dec 10, 2011 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

Alderson is basically doing exactly what Towers did, though.

Buy a closer with an injury history on a two-year deal, get a couple other reasonably-priced relievers, hope that your up-and-coming pitchers make an impact, and hope the underperforming players you have stop underperforming.

by djletz on Dec 10, 2011 3:23 PM EST up reply actions

.

typo, of course. Sandy is not conjuring up trades like that.

by Common Knowledge on Dec 10, 2011 10:13 AM EST up reply actions

Who would he be conjuring up trades like that with (as in players)

also there’s the fact that the d-backs expect to be competitive this year so they’ll trade top prospects. And despite all the posturing from the front office it’s pretty clear we won’t be and there’s absolutely no reason to be trading the few top prospects we have in a farm system still trying to be rebuilt.

one does not simply walk into mordor...unless winter is coming

by Gina on Dec 10, 2011 1:29 PM EST up reply actions

AZ has one of the best farm systems in the game

so is in the position in which they can trade prospects for big league talent. The Mets need their minor leaguers to establish or not establish themselves before they do that. The NL West might be the wimpiest division in baseball, so the Diamondbacks will stay in contention and will only get better. The Mets need some work to do before they mortgage the future.

SELL THE METS

by piazza62 on Dec 10, 2011 4:21 PM EST up reply actions

Searles

hit the nail on the head.

I don’t understand the droves of Met fans blaming this on Alderson.
Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s not his doing payroll needed to be slahsed this season or that we’ll probably have south of 100M next year to spend.

If the Wilpons are betting on increased revenues to bail them out over the next couple of years, they really should stay out of the casinos. Gambling doesn’t appear to be their forte.

by MetsFan4Decades on Dec 10, 2011 10:41 AM EST reply actions

Am i the only one who doesn't think the Cahill trade was bad for the A's?

I really don’t think Trevor Cahill is all that good.

Down 2 in the bottom of the ninth?
Lets Bring in Willie Harris!

by ShaqKazaam on Dec 10, 2011 11:37 AM EST reply actions

It could go either way

Cahill has yet to show anything better than average abilities, but he’s still very young, starting next season at 23. Parker has clear talent but basically no MLB experience and a potentially worrisome injury history. Cowgill is an interestign player, but his low K rates and decent pop have yet to translate to the bigs. I’d say the A’s got a good return, but it is possible that they could have done better.

by METSMETSMETS on Dec 10, 2011 11:54 AM EST up reply actions

That was my thought.

Cahill isn’t as good as he might seem. He is a groundballer but he walks too man guys. Parker is supposed to have #1 or 2 starter upside.

by Shevshevy on Dec 10, 2011 1:56 PM EST up reply actions

So What Do We Have Left?

My guess is Tejada leads off and Thole follows, if they can provide .350 plus OBP.

Tejada SS
Thole C
Murphy 2B
Wright 3B
Ike 1B
Bay LF
Duda RF
Torres CF

Possibly not terrible, with some walks at the to and power at the bottom.

However, if Bay and Wright have comeback years I could see them being dealt as a package at the deadline. We’ll give you Wright for a bag of balls if you take Bay too. Salary relief, plus perhaps a long term prospect or two.

Murphy to 3B, Duda to LF, F-Mart or the Captain in at CF, Turner at 2B. Then all they have to do is wait for Santana to come off the books, and they’ll be ready to start over.

by WT Economist on Dec 10, 2011 12:34 PM EST reply actions

Why would you bury Ike and Duda like that?

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Dec 10, 2011 1:29 PM EST up reply actions

I think what we'll see is this:

Torres CF
Murphy 2B
Wright 3B
Ike 1B
Bay LF
Duda RF
Tejeda SS
Thole C

Because of the whole, “no back to back lefties” thing.

For me, who are we leading off in this roster construction? Tejeda? Torres? Murph? I’d prefer Wright at 2, rather than 1 but Wright?

Now, kids, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep; in giant blender.

by meigs1414 on Dec 10, 2011 2:03 PM EST up reply actions

I don't know who should hit leadoff...

But you can see Terry choosing Torres from a mile away. Veteran, switch-hitter, moderate base-stealer…

by Walter Gropius on Dec 10, 2011 2:06 PM EST up reply actions

Incidentally...

…when I’ve done lineup generator it basically suggests one of Thole and Tejada and Thole lead-off and the other hit 9th; some combination of Wright, Duda, Davis at 2/4/5; Jason Bay, inexplicably, 3rd; and Murphy and Torres in a combination of 6th and 7th with the pitcher 8th.

That would be interesting to see.

by djletz on Dec 10, 2011 2:24 PM EST up reply actions

OBP is a footnote (it's not even on the scoreboard!) and Billy Beane wrote Moneyball

In lobby for: Jaime Cevallos, Zack Lutz, orange unis and Rickroll as the 7th inning song.
The Unwritten Rules of AA

by Michkin on Dec 10, 2011 2:30 PM EST up reply actions

Really don't like that line up

Terry has already stated that Torres will hit lead off and Murphy will hit second. I would use Murph as the lead off hitter.

by graves9 on Dec 10, 2011 3:03 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Why would you trade Wright for a bag of balls?

The fan base, all 1,000,000 that go to games in 2011 would never go back.

Wright is here for the long haul.

__________________________________________________________________
Really good kid.A very good player.Not a superstar. #BlameWilponz. Never Forget

by ScottfromPeekskill on Dec 11, 2011 1:50 AM EST up reply actions

Seriously, if they did that

they might drive me away for a while, and I’m as loyal as they come. And I doubt attendance will get that low, it’s not like they’ll lose 100 games.

SELL THE METS

by piazza62 on Dec 11, 2011 2:39 AM EST up reply actions

Hey guys. I'm back.

Is there still a chance that the Mets trade Murphy this offseason? I know I’ve been here before asking about him. Now that the Winter Meetings are over, what would it take to get him?
bq. I’ve slept since then so I’ve forgotten.

71 today, 70 tomorrow, 69 on Saturday, 68 Sunday and 67 Monday is how many days remain until Pitchers and Catchers report for Spring Training.
Self taught and falling in love with this game is very easy to do, you can never hate it, and that is something that not one person can take away from anybody. The love of baseball and OUR COLORADO ROCKIES.

by Roxman4ever on Dec 10, 2011 1:13 PM EST reply actions

Just curious

is Tim Wheeler a capable starter defensively in CF? If so, I’d think Wheeler would have to be part of a Murphy trade. Another guy I’m interested in is Will Swanner, he crushed rookie ball. Is he a catcher, or just a guy whose bat plays better there? Would you trade Wheeler, Swanner and one of Matzek or Tago for Murphy?

by robotoverlord on Dec 10, 2011 4:44 PM EST up reply actions

Wheeler, I would. Swanner, maybe. Tago and Matzek? Me personlly, Matzek I would. Tago is up in the air.

At least you guys aren’t asking what the Braves want for Prado.

Smith and Arenado for Prado.

I would slam the phone down laughing at them.

by Roxman4ever on Dec 10, 2011 7:38 PM EST up reply actions

That BP "Sunset in Flushing" piece is fantastic

Don’t miss it.

by anonymous on Dec 10, 2011 3:51 PM EST reply actions

It was

but the only thing that will cure the Mets ails would be a new ownership group. If the Wilpons insist on grasping the Mets with their dying fingers, the Mets will surely be strangled.

by aparkermarshall on Dec 10, 2011 4:09 PM EST up reply actions