THURSDAY, 6:30pm: The Mets and Fernando Tatis have reached agreement on a one-year deal, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Terms of the agreement are currently unknown, but Puma writes that the 35-year-old will earn less than the $1.7MM he made last season. However, a baseball source indicates that with incentives, Tatis could approach that figure.
3:00pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com says (via Twitter) that the Mets will sign Tatis. This means Carlos Delgado will have to look for a job elsewhere.
WEDNESDAY, 6:46pm: Adam Rubin of The New York Daily News says a deal should be wrapped up "shortly."
6:06pm: The Mets are deep into negotiations with Fernando Tatis, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. A deal could be reached within a matter of days.
GM Omar Minaya contacted Tatis' agent today, and indicated that he wants an answer soon. Tatis earned $1.7MM in 2009, and Puma says he wants a comparable contract for 2010. A deal would seem to eliminate the possibility of a Carlos Delgado return. Puma mentions the Rockies and Mariners as other clubs that have expressed interest in the free agent.
The 35-year-old Tatis hit .282/.339/.438 with just eight homers in 379 plate appearances last year, though he did see time at six positions. He will be forever remembered as the first (and only) player in Major League history to hit two grand slams in one inning, off the same pitcher no less.
cmat91
thank god. i mean thats whos really going to change the mets rotation around…
Guest 902
Yeah haha, The Mets are doing a great job. Ben Sheets, Randy Wolf, Joel, Piniero, Bengie Molina, Jason Marquis, and John Lackey were all targets for the Mets. They wound up with Tatis. Great.
icedrake523
They’re lucky they missed out on Molina. He’s awful.
JasonHeywardIsGod
agreed, but he’s better than josh thole or omir santos, atleast he has power
icedrake523
Not when you take into account salary. I’d rather Thole or Santos at minimum.
drlincecum
no molina isn’t terrible, he’s not going to be relied on to bat clean up anymore. we all know his downfalls, but for a veteran catcher he’s pretty decent. i mean come on, he had a triple last year. we’re paying him 4.5 mil you lost because molina thinks you guys can’t make the playoffs.
flumesalot
Naturally with the additions of Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa, the Giants are well on their way to burying the Dodgers, let alone the Rockies? All in, Benjie…
icedrake523
Guys with a 285 OBP are awful. He is a lousy catcher. His hitting is overrated. Even with his HRs last year he had an 86 OPS+. He’s living off of his defensive reputation from years ago, too.
drlincecum
.442 slugging, that’s a good bat for the giants, especially now with uribe back and derosa. I understand that he probably wouldn’t be as good with a different club, but he knows the giants organization and has confidence in a playoff birth. I think he’s going to be the 4th or 5th best catcher offensively next year. Mauer, V-Mart, than who?
icedrake523
Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, Jorge Posada, Matt Wieters, Kurt Suzuki, Mike Napoli, Chris Iannetta, and Yadier Molina are all better. And I expect Russell Martin to bounce back next year. You can even throw in Carlos Ruiz though I don’t expect him to repeat last year’s numbers. So the discussion on Bengie starts at #10. And that’s probably being generous.
bbxxj
“Mauer, V-Mart, than who?”
I may be a homer, but McCann just got seriously disrespected here.
Guest 909
Awwh yea… McCann takes a backseat to nobody!… except Mauer
BaseballFan0707
Icedrake basically covered all the names that are better than Bengie Molina.
I can’t believe that the guy that said Bengie is 4th or 5th best as an offensive catcher was being serious. But it seems like he was.
Guest 944
They’d have been better off with Buster Posey; maybe sign someone like Jose Molina to help him out
Guest 909
Awwh yea… McCann takes a backseat to nobody!… except Mauer
bbxxj
“Mauer, V-Mart, than who?”
I may be a homer, but McCann just got seriously disrespected here.
Ricky S.
At least they didn’t overpay for him.
empathizerightonyourbehind
DUDERS! you got jason bay. jason. bay.
start_wearing_purple
anyone who actually uses the word “duders” pretty much loses all credibility.
JasonHeywardIsGod
lol i’ve never seen that word until now.
humbb
“I’m the Dude. So that’s what you call me. That or His Dudeness… Duder… or El Duderino, if, you know, you’re not into the whole brevity thing.”
Infield Fly
Somebody’s having a “Big Lebowski” flashback! ;-p
empathizerightonyourbehind
so “duders” invalidates commentary, but complaining that the mets front office is inactive and unwilling to spend money is valid? even when in recent years they’ve given monster contracts to:luis castillocarlos beltranjason baycarlos santanaoliver perez?and have david wright and jose reyes locked up for a couple of more years a piece?and made a pretty smart buy-low move on kelvim escobar this offseason?and wouldn’t go 2 years on bengie molina and his .300 OBP?and were smart enough not to pay $15MM for a league-average pitcher (marquis)?and have committed $149 million to payroll for 2009?that’s the front office you’re mad at?but none of that matters because i said “duder.”nice job, boseph.
vtadave
$7.5 million/year is pretty much the going rate for an average starting pitcher who eats innings. Yeah that is bad passing on a guy like Marquis when your 2-5 starters are named Pelfrey, Perez, Maine, and Niese/Nieve.
empathizerightonyourbehind
i’m just saying “the mets suck” is maybe a valid argument, but “the front office isn’t doing anything” really isn’t. they’ve done plenty in terms of trades, free agent signings, and expanding payroll. you can’t really complain too much about that.
Qabalist
Dude, they’re inactive on exactly what the Mets need. Answer me this. What were and still are the Mets glaring problems coming into the 2010 season? Did they address them? I say pitching and defense was a huge flaw. To this point as far as I know, neither has been addressed. So I’d say in a sense the Mets have been inactive on what’s necessary. Spending money and improving the team are not always complementary.
Qabalist
Dude, they’re inactive on exactly what the Mets need. Answer me this. What were and still are the Mets glaring problems coming into the 2010 season? Did they address them? I say pitching and defense was a huge flaw. To this point as far as I know, neither has been addressed. So I’d say in a sense the Mets have been inactive on what’s necessary. Spending money and improving the team are not always complementary.
start_wearing_purple
First of all, way to take a sarcastic comment.
Second, do you really think I’m complaining about Mets inactivity? I simply find it funny for a team with several glaring holes.
Third, your list of major contracts, I assume the motive for listing them was to show successes? I would have left Perez off the list if I was you.
Fourth, your argument of the Mets have a good front office consists of past contracts (Including Perez), Kelvim Escobar (whom if would have signed with any other team you probably would sing a different tune), and not paying for players (Yet they outbid themselves on Bay). Yeah… convincing.
empathizerightonyourbehind
wow. i’m not really even sure where to begin with this one… uh, you can have it. enjoy that.
Guest 903
uhh if i were you, i wouldn’t bash other people for not ‘taking a sarcastic comment’. i read the comment just like everyone else did. it didn’t sound sarcastic, you just sounded like an idiot.
Infield Fly
Carlos Santana?!
Well, if he can play guitar AND 1B I’m all for it!
empathizerightonyourbehind
ha. my fault. johann gutenberg.
Ray29
Maybe Santana and Beltran can switch names -and we can have Carlos Santana and Johan Beltran!
Eli Goodrich
The only person from that list that should be on the Mets is Lackey
DhmkJp
The Mets already have Daniel Murphy, just give the kid a chance to play and show what he’s got for one more year. No need to sign Tatis. I’ve had enough of Jerry’s love affair of starting DP Machine-Tatis over Murphy against left-handed pitching. Change the damn atmosphere and sign Ryan Garko for pete’s sake. Or just go with Nick Evans/Chris Carter. Geeez. If this deal is finalized, I’m on the bandwagon with the other Mets fans wanting Omar to get fired.
Zebradune
Tatis is much better than Garko
This is a good resigning, yet of course people hate it. Why does that not surprise me?
cmat91
i dont think people hate it as much as they hate the fact that omar is doing nothing to make this team better. all he is doing is making the same team as last year with a little more depth. i would have no problem with signing if he had made a splash in the rotation before all the solid pitchers got signed
BaseballFan0707
Wait a minute. WAITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT A MINUTTTTTTTTTTE.
There are Mets fans that AREN’T on that bandwagon? I call bullshit.
altosax29b
Omar-tsk tsk tsk.
rickjames2213
i lol’d at this headline.
empathizerightonyourbehind
how “deep” can negotiations with fernandon tatis actually get?
flumesalot
Wall Street is at a standstill until an agreement or reality check is in place…
empathizerightonyourbehind
like i said.. nothing happens in baseball until jim endomds picks his team.
Moebarguy
I really needed this after a crappy day at work…
Infield Fly
If you ‘like’ that, wait and see what’s in store once the season starts!
Moebarguy
I just really wish I was born a Yankees fan. Would have been a much easier life. Curse you, parents!
Infield Fly
Time to hit a bar, Moe-guy! 😉
JasonHeywardIsGod
Omar is the worst gm in baseball, him or Jim Hendry or the Astros GM, i can’t think who is worse.
iwishihadaclue
You can’t blame Omar for everything. It’s obvious that the WilpOns are pulling the strings and he’s the puppet. Do you seriously think any GM would go into the offseason with this many holes and walk out with just Jason Bay, plus a few minor moves?
Moebarguy
I’m usually one to agree with a Wilpon bashing, but signing Tatis is purely an Omar move. It’s one thing to limit payroll (that’s a Wilpon move), but it’s another thing to not spend money wisely (an Omar move).
There are many GMs out there who have just a fraction of the payroll Omar has, yet they can still find way to fill holes properly. Omar has let a ton of reasonably priced free agents go–mostly because he’s already spent money on pointless players.
If he signs Tatis (say, for $1.5 million), then he will have spent $15 million on Fernando Tatis, Gary Matthews Jr., Jeff Francouer, Alex Cora, Henry Blanco, Chris Coste, Ryota Igarashi, and Kelvim Escobar.
One could make the [easy] argument that all of those players are below average major leaguers.
boseefuss
The Mets do have a plan though. This plan started a few years back and the final chapter might be getting close.
Ferrariman
Is the plan to try and rob the nationals/padres/royals of the is overall draft pick in 2011?
BaseballFan0707
WE HAVE A WINNER, FOLKS! =P /sarcasm.
empathizerightonyourbehind
remember when he got you guys johan santana? without giving up fernando martinez? yeah, that sucked.
cmat91
thats one move…. tell me what he did to make the rotation better than it was last year
BaseballFan0707
I remember that. I also remember that that only happened because the two much better offers that were out there (Boston and Yanks) told the Twins to go to hell since they were asking too much.I also remember that the move has yet to pay off. And, until the Mets make the playoffs again, it still won’t.
The amount of good moves Omar has made (and there are some, shockingly) are offset by the huge amount of bad moves he has made.
Zebradune
Sabean, Moore, and possibly Wade are all worse
Infield Fly
When in doubt, do the same thing that didn’t work last time.
MorrisParkMetfan
Wow The Mets really know how to push there fans buttons
Infield Fly
Yup…and then they’ll charge us for it!
All Day Réy
Haha nice one, but so true. 🙁
Ricky S.
Tatis rebuilt his career but is not really a big help to us. Ike Davis will be playing 1st base by Aug 1st and Backman will be his manager
crewfan85
Why is no one talking about Filipe Lopez. He batted .310 with an .810 OPS in 604 AB. He was’nt the most exciting player to watch, but he was a great lead off guy, and can play all over the infield. Am I missing somthing?
Ferrariman
His agent being boras semi-automatically takes like 15 teams off the interested list
crewfan85
makes sense
MorrisParkMetfan
Lets be real here the Mets will be fighting the Nats for last place
Infield Fly
Why fight for what you can get for free? As far as the Nats are concerned, the Mets can have it!
eman91
This reminds me of the AT&T and Verizon commercial, at least you got one
jhawk90
“Who is Fernando Tatis? Thank you – I’ll take “Guys Who I Thought Were Dead” for $600, Alex.”
cmat91
hahahahahaha thats great
JohnLucarelli
As Chad Tracy signs for half…
Victor
As a die-hard mets fan (no matter what)….I truly do not feel that this was Omar’s first choice (obviously). Omar probably reached out to the agents for a few players and was told the player has no interest in joining the mets, Delgado is not able to play first base anymore so that eliminiates him. Also, I feel Omar is about to fall off the ledge. I do not beleive the mets brass has any faith in him and are restricting what he is able to do. Why do you think they hired Wayne Krivsky? Here is what pisses me off though…Jeff Wilpon was on the fan a few months ago and said the mets “will do whatever they have to do to improve the team and win”….well Jason Bay, a few back-up catchers, a 33 year old injured pitcher (escobar)…R.A Dickey, Mike Hessman, and re-signing Cora and Tatis and trading for Gary Matthews Jr (which makes absolutely no sense in my opinion when you could of just signed Randy Winn) does not show me the team wants to improve. Now to be positive, the mets have a great lineup if everyone stays healthy, so I am not worried about it too much and I can live with Castillo and say Omir Santos…but to convince your fans that you are going to war with Santana, crazy # 1, crazy # 2, oft injured maine and some guy at the fifth spot, and expect to compete with the Phillies and Braves? You are doing your fans, your team and your city a disservice
boseefuss
That’s about right Victor. It almost seems like Omar is just picking up his paycheck this offseason.
NYBravosFan10
ok, really Omar? I’m a Braves fan and even I feel sorry for Mets fans. Why in God’s name is Omar wasting his time with this guy when he needs starting pitching that won’t be around much longer?!?!?!? Why isn’t he pursuing John Smoltz or Jarrod Washburn? No instead he goes for some dude who he knows damn well that noone else wants.
Infield Fly
You want to take a look at the Wilpons too, my friend, ’cause they’re holding all the reins now. If THEY didn’t want Tatis, Omar would’t be signing him. It’s not just Omar. It’s a complete mess from the top down, and no question. The problem is that they can get rid of Omar, but we fans can’t get rid of THEM!
Infield Fly
You want to take a look at the Wilpons too, my friend, ’cause they’re holding all the reins now. If THEY didn’t want Tatis, Omar would’t be signing him. It’s not just Omar. It’s a complete mess from the top down, and no question. The problem is that they can get rid of Omar, but we fans can’t get rid of THEM!
Guest 917
YES! Now I can listen to his sweet Hispanic at-bat music!
Infield Fly
That’s novel – but it’s OK to call it “merengue” like the rest of the world.
mochajoe
I know Mets fans are frustrated, but in defense of MInaya, he said he would sign one of Bay, Holliday & Lackey…he never said anything about signing a second star player…in terms of Minaya’s main offseason goal, it was accomplished…I know his other goal was to get Molina, but Molina chose to stay in SF…can’t kill Omar for that…the bottom line is that if they were able to get Lackey instead of Bay and settled for a second tier LF’r their offseason would have been viewed differently.
cmat91
not necessarily. i rather they sign bay over lackey because of the price tag but he couldve also gone after one of; Harden, Sheets, attempt a trade for halladay, attempt a trade for vasquez, attempt a trade for arroyo/harrang, wolf, garland. anyone of those wouldve sufficed. but he decides not to do a damn thing about the biggest question mark of last year, the rotation. hes done nothing. the offense is officially addressed and thats it. its a successful season because he signed bay and put depth into the 40man roster? not one bit. i go to the bathroom and tell myself im either going to drop a log, piss, or both. i dont really have much other choice. had he passed on all three of those guys, he wouldve gotten hell from the media, the fan base, and everyone that could chip in their 2 cents.
bbgods
Domo arigato, Mr. Delgado.
rollinphillies
i think i just read someone say that minaya’s offseason goals were accomplished. bbbaaahahahaha. god i love mut fans. tatis, bay, and smoltz… saviors!
33yankeesfan33
the mets need starting pitchers in the worst way theres basically no 1 left to sign so i say trade for someone like Arroyo or something to get depth which they have none of i can understand why met fans are upset