Saturday linkage…
- White Sox GM Ken Williams said that the club proposed a long-term deal to Bobby Jenks before signing him to a one-year contract, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).
- Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski admitted that they were "probably too liberal in giving long-term contracts to players," tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck. However, Dombrowski did say they want to sign Justin Verlander, presumably long-term (via Beck's Twitter).
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan tweets that there's a strong chance the sale of the Rangers could be completed today.
- At his introductory press conference, Cliff Lee said he was hoping to be wowed by Seattle and the Mariners, and if he is, he would be open to re-signing there according to Larry Stone of The Seattle Times. When asked about his next contract, Lee joked "I want a 10-year deal for about 200 billion. Nah, I don't know."
- Tom Gage of The Detroit News writes that the Tigers have five lefty relievers on their roster, so don't be surprised if one of them gets traded. Bobby Seay might be the most vulnerable of the five (despite being the most established) because he'll make $2.475MM in 2010 and lefties hit him better than righties last year.
- ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several people in the game about the Mets picking up Gary Matthews Jr., and the general thought is that he "can't hit for average, can't hit for power, his defense ranks statistically among the worst outfielders in the majors, and, to top it off, rival scouts have been reporting that in recent years he has been a clubhouse negative."
- Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald has some quotes from Red Sox principal owner John Henry about the team's offseason.
- Free agent reliever Oscar Villarreal will throw for teams next Friday, tweets Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. He last pitched in the majors back in 2008 with the Astros.
I like the word Olney’s article used — “baffling.” It truly is “baffling” why Omar was so interested in acquiring GMJ, and it’s even more “baffling” how this man still has a job.
Olney is a nice guy, but he’s turned into the national inquirer .. only gossip..little facts
Using the word “baffling” to describe a trade that has already occurred has nothing with his credibility as someone who identifies rumors–it was his post-trade reflection.
Jr. was a clubhouse negative because he had a big contract and no place to actually play. The rest is more worrisome but hardly shocking when you look at his numbers. The Mets pay little enough to cut him if he’s horrible, and although many seem to be ruing the loss of Stokes, he was a pretty replaceable pitcher with a hard but straight fastball. If the Mets sign Sheets I’d be more amenable to classifying this trade as a winner (okay, so neither has anything to do with each other). If the Wilpons sell the Mets I’d classify this trade as one of the most important ever, but there again I’m just mixing oranges & apples.
We can BEG can’t we? Fred…Jeff…sweethearts: if you REALLY love your Mets, SELL this bucket of dysfunction while you still have a fan base!!
How’s that?!
We can BEG can’t we? Fred, Jeff…sweeties: SELL this bucket of baseball dysfunction – while the Mets STILL have a fan base!(How is that for “heartfelt?!”)
I don’t think the Matthews trade can really backfire. At the little salary the Mets owe him they could just cut him once Beltran returns.
The trade itself isn’t the terrible part, the fact that GMJ has a roster spot is. Why couldn’t the Mets just keep Stoke and sign Alfredo Amezaga? That would be have been a much better move.
LUCKILY, they are only paying 1.25 million for him. If the Mets were smart they would just DFA him mid season, or whenever they feel F-Mart is REALLY ready.
Mets need F-Mart to tear up AAA and then trade him at All Star Break while his value is high. Wet newspaper is more durable than F-Mart
Touche Ricky. Propose a trade based around F-Mart for Harang+Phillips?
While every Met fan including me wants Phillips, the Reds aren’t in salary dump mode yet and won’t be if there 4 young pitchers Chapman, Volquez, Cueto, and bailey fail again. They have a glaring need in LF, and a good year by F-Mart + other minor leaguers could probably land Phillips + Harang if the Reds stink. I personally think they have the makings of a fine ballclub except Baker burns out his pitchers. Also, the Mets better not trade Ike Davis, unless Adrian Gonzalez is coming back.
The only reason for trading Ike Davis better be for A-Gone or Fielder.
Or they could of just kept Angel Pagan out there who would of been a solid replacement, and used the available money to go after Sheets. The Mets don’t need any negative people in the clubhouse. It really is a shame Angel doesn’t get a chance to shine again.
I like Paga but he’s gets hurt rolling out of bed. How could the Mets not get a backup CF? As for negative people in clubhouse.. I don’t want anyone on my team that is happy riding the bench. Mets need more edge and that’s starts with their stars like Wright producing!!!!!!!!!
While you are right that the Mets don’t need anyone who is satisfied to sit on the bench, there is still a difference between that keen scrappy hunger that makes a player want to be in the position to help his team win, and the sulky, self-centered attitude of the player whose only concern is himself and his sense of entitlement. The latter isn’t helpful in any sense, and in no way contributes to a united, winning spirit. It is an influence that discourages and breeds dissension – and THIS what GMJ has brought to his team in recent years. So…in view of all the negativity the Mets have been through in the past 3 seasons, why would anybody want to add even a drop more?
Stokes throws a straight 95 mph fastball down the middle. Nothing else. No big loss. Amezaga was givena starting job plenty of times iwth marlins and couldn’t hold it down. Matthews is a better RBI guy.
Stokes isn’t that big of a loss, but that doesn’t mean GMJ is deserving of his roster spot. The thing I like about Amezaga is that he can play a good defensive CF (unlike GMJ)–and SS/2B for that matter. Considering Omar decided to bring back Alex Cora, we need someone else on the bench who can actually be a decent defensive option.
Even though GMJ has more pop than Amezaga, it certainly isn’t enough to a) write home about b) help win games c) make up for his league-worst defense.
Well you won’t get Stokes back that way. He isn’t irreplaceable but he has some value that the Mets threw away to pay 2M to a player who has negative value on and off the field.
So when is wanting to play a negative thing? No one should want to ride the bench. P.S. Glaus is done .. Braves should have kept Laroche
No one should want to ride the bench, but a professional should be able to accept his role on the team, and not cause issues in the clubhouse.
Nothing wrong with wanting to play–but hey, I’d like to play too, but that doesn’t mean I deserve starting time. Let’s not forget he’s making around $12 million a year–he should really just shut his mouth and be happy he’s making that type of money despite being a below average player.
I agree
Miguel Tejada Signs with the orioles
baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-miguel-tejada0…
Ha ha! Non sequitur!
(but fun)
I wouldn’t shed tears if we lost Seay.
You Mets fans had better hope that Mr. Minaya at least can sign Ben Sheets. Or at the absolute very least Jarrod Washburn. If not, ya’ll are in trouble. Santana can only pitch once every five days and while you guys do have lots of offensive weapons, you need to stop the other teams from scoring just as many runs.
Washburn is trash. I’d rather have Doug Davis.
I’m thinking we’re 100% getting one of three: Sheets, Wang and Bedard.
I would give any of the threesome minimum big league salary and strong incentives. Wang looks like he can not get hitters out at the major league level. So many people have a mancrush on Ben Sheets because he throws hard, however a blister will sideline him for two months, he just sat out a year with a nasty injury and he shatters like dropped glass . The Brewers just paid him almost 39 million dollars over a 5 year period for 41 wins, plus he is only three games over .500 for his career. Baltimore stuck it to seattle with Eric Bedard. He is another guy who throws hard but is just as likely to end up on the DL.Give each pitcher a chance to make big bucks this season thru incentives. They will have to earn there pay.If they can stay healthy for a season or two then maybe a big dollar long term contract.
man this is lookin bad for the Mets…no definite starting pitching and if one star guy gets hurt on the team, its looking like another long season
Oh how frustrating it is to see Joel Piniero slip away because 2mm had to go to some second rate outfielder. Thank you for another 3rd place finish my beloved mets
Pineiro is a bum. Be happy he’s not a Met
Mets will be very lucky to be able to finish third if they don’t get some pitching !
I don’t see the basis for that assumption. For one thing, Piñeiro had a preference for the Halos, and said as much. For another, we don’t even know what the Mets’ budget is, so how can you assume they lost out on Pineiro because of $$ allotted to Matthews? When you consider that the team is going after Sheets now, that idea makes even less sense. For a guy who’s missed an entire year and has a firmly established history of frequent injury, Sheets is demanding some pretty steep coin. The Mets couldn’t possibly consider him unless they had the dollars to spend, and if they can afford his price, they could have afforded Piñeiro.
I watched the Cliff Lee presser yesterday. The biggest thing from it was that he seems to want to fall in love with Seattle, he just needs time to mesh with the organization.
If he does, cool, extension. If he doesn’t, cool, Type A free agent!
Lee wants to get paid – 6 years 120 mill .. that’s all
the mets continue to make poor decisions… mathews jr? he is overrated and they couldve saved their money
C’mon dude, someone has to catch the ball in CF with Beltran down? Matthews is a 4th OF
Everyone is “kicking Mets while we are down” – Media, Yankee Fans, Met Fans, The Pope, Do they deserve some of it??? .. yeah… but it’s gotten ridiculous…I’m sick of it. Best news is that we didn’t spend good $$$$ on fat Molina and one year wonder Pineiro. Reyes, Wright, Santana and Bay will be studs again. Krod solid. Neise and Maine will develop/improve. Perez will revert to being consistently inconsistent. Castillo stinks and is not helping us… dump his contract already. Sign Hudson. As for Beltran, I love his game but I fear he’s done. I hope I’m wrong about him. If I am Mets will surprise people this year. I’m sick of getting kicked on
Well, that’s just the pathetic aspect of human nature. People love to dump on others ’cause it makes them feel that if someone else is ‘lower’ than they are, their situation can’t be so bad. Same thing goes in sports so you gotta expect this – and ignore it. It’s about as important as the folks who suddenly become ‘fans’ of whichever team wins the championship each year – here today gone tomorrow.The Mets are in bad conditions now, as many teams have been over time. However, when things turn around (which all things do) it’ll be like all that ridicule and disrespect never happened. That’s when all the same folks who had a field day jumping all over the Mets become the same ones to swear they “knew all along” that the team would come through. Ignore it. All of it…because it’s as meaningless as the ‘fans’ who said it.
Giving Jenks more than a one year deal is just stupid.
Cliff Lee is so unhappy about being in Seattle. He’s been doing his best at hiding it, but it’s pretty clear his heart remains in Philly.