The Mets are in money trouble, in case you hadn't heard. Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz got some bad news this week, and may be out $300 million or so come the offseason. That will severely limit them when it comes to building for 2012 and beyond through free agency. Of course, given what we've seen the Mets do with money in the past, maybe it's not such a bad thing for Sandy Alderson to have an allowance.
Of course, the new model in baseball differs greatly from the last decade. There's been a paradigm shift away from signing big money free agents, and toward drafting well and locking guys up early. Great young players just don't hit the open market anymore because teams are too smart to overpay for their own players.
There is not much talent available this year, besides the very top tier guys. Let's assume that the Mets money issues preclude them from signing Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder. If those guys are off the table, who should the Mets be chasing this winter?
Showing posts with label Evan Schwartz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evan Schwartz. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
They're Outta Here!
Yes, he was right. Yes, everyone overreacted to what he said. But if Mike Pelfrey hadn't pitched himself out of New York already, he certainly talked himself out the door this weekend. The former ninth overall pick has been a top prospect, a struggling young pitcher, a potential staff ace and finally, a malcontent. He has pitched extremely well and extremely poorly. He was supposed to be the ideal pitcher for the expansive CitiField, and for a year it looked like he might be. Now it looks like he'll be pitching somewhere else next year. But he won't be the only Met leaving town.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Ultimate Mets Lineup
The 2011 Mets are hovering around .500 right now, and they will probably finish the year around .500 too. Fitting, given that this team has been oddly snakebitten. Jose Reyes was in the middle of his best offensive season and is now on the disabled list for the second time with a recurring leg problem. Daniel Murphy joins him on the DL after establishing himself as a starter with a breakout year. Last year's breakout Ike Davis hasn't seen the field in months, and won't until next year. Ace Johan Santana will be lucky to see game action in 2011, and may never be the same after shoulder surgery. David Wright has been hitting well since missing time, leading one to wonder how he would have performed over a full season. Ditto for the departed Carlos Beltran.
So I decided to perform a little experiment. What if everyone on the 2011 Mets had performed at the peak of his career? What if every starter had his best historical season - forget that, how about taking every Mets star from the last decade, sticking them on the field and seeing how they would perform at their absolute apex.
The ultimate Mets fantasy team of the 2000s, instead of the also-ran 2011 edition.
So I decided to perform a little experiment. What if everyone on the 2011 Mets had performed at the peak of his career? What if every starter had his best historical season - forget that, how about taking every Mets star from the last decade, sticking them on the field and seeing how they would perform at their absolute apex.
The ultimate Mets fantasy team of the 2000s, instead of the also-ran 2011 edition.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Jason Bay And The Worst Mets Trades Of The Last 15 Years
Earlier this week, I broke down the Mets worst free agent signings of the last decade, highlighted by the disastrous Jason Bay signing last year. Of course, the Bay signing was a double edged sword - the Mets get the bad Bay now, and missed out on the terrific Bay nearly a decade ago.
They traded Bay, along with Bobby Jones and Josh Reynolds to the Padres for Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed in 2002. Bay would bash 181 homers over the next seven years, production the Mets were hoping for when they signed Bay last year. If only they'd held on to him back then, those homers would have been at Shea!
Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and the Mets have traded plenty of guys who turned into stars later on (Nolan Ryan anyone?). This list strikes a healthy balance between those guys who came out of no where to become stars, plus trades that looked bad at the time and got worse as time went on. Get ready for some All-Stars lost, outstanding seasons missed and an awful lot of valuable arms traded away for nothing. (All trade info from the indispensable UltimateMets.com)
They traded Bay, along with Bobby Jones and Josh Reynolds to the Padres for Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed in 2002. Bay would bash 181 homers over the next seven years, production the Mets were hoping for when they signed Bay last year. If only they'd held on to him back then, those homers would have been at Shea!
Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and the Mets have traded plenty of guys who turned into stars later on (Nolan Ryan anyone?). This list strikes a healthy balance between those guys who came out of no where to become stars, plus trades that looked bad at the time and got worse as time went on. Get ready for some All-Stars lost, outstanding seasons missed and an awful lot of valuable arms traded away for nothing. (All trade info from the indispensable UltimateMets.com)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Jason Bay and the Worst Mets Free Agents of the Last Decade
Jason Bay clubbed his eighth double of the season this weekend, that's right, 8. As in, less than 10. As in, not even half of the 20 he smacked last year in only 95 games. He already has the same six homers he managed in 2010, but he is slugging a paltry .333 and hitting a limp .238 overall. With just two months left in the regular season and Bay's tenure as a Met not even halfway finished, it is fair to say that the Bay signing has been an outright disaster.
It is not just Bay's performance in a Met uniform that has been so distressing. Rather, it's the track record he established for Pittsburgh and Boston and how his talent seemingly dried up the moment he stepped to the plate on Opening Day 2010. Take his home run numbers since his first full year in 2004: 26, 32, 35, 21, 31, 36. In two years and 175-plus games with the Mets, Bay has managed just 12 home runs. He has hit .249 with the Mets, with an OPS of just .700, all for the low, low price of $32,000,000 so far.
He will almost certainly be put on waivers this month, the real question is whether anyone will claim him, even for free. One of the premiere power hitters since 2004 could not have a lower value right now, and the Mets are stuck footing the bill for at least two more seasons.
Is he one of the worst Met free agent signings in recent memory? Absolutely, but there are some worthy contenders for the title of worst in the last decade.
It is not just Bay's performance in a Met uniform that has been so distressing. Rather, it's the track record he established for Pittsburgh and Boston and how his talent seemingly dried up the moment he stepped to the plate on Opening Day 2010. Take his home run numbers since his first full year in 2004: 26, 32, 35, 21, 31, 36. In two years and 175-plus games with the Mets, Bay has managed just 12 home runs. He has hit .249 with the Mets, with an OPS of just .700, all for the low, low price of $32,000,000 so far.
He will almost certainly be put on waivers this month, the real question is whether anyone will claim him, even for free. One of the premiere power hitters since 2004 could not have a lower value right now, and the Mets are stuck footing the bill for at least two more seasons.
Is he one of the worst Met free agent signings in recent memory? Absolutely, but there are some worthy contenders for the title of worst in the last decade.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Wright Stuff
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| David looks great for 229 years old! |
David Wright made his fairly triumphant return to the Mets this weekend, and at least one Wikipedia editor was not pleased. I cannot fathom what about Wright could inspire someone to alter his bio into an 18th century New York Stupid Metropolitan, but here we are. Wright is back, and for whatever reason some guy on the internet is pissed.
Wright has always inspired somewhat inexplicable vitriol. Maybe it's playing in New York, maybe it's playing for an often-disappointing team, or maybe it's the photogenic smile and the hot girlfriends and the Vitamin Water ads. Maybe it's everything combined, but I've never felt Wright has gotten a fair shake.
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