This Is Truly Rediculous

According to Metsblog.com, J.J. Putz never underwent a physical before being traded to the Mets.

Wow. Now that is ridiculous. How did this even happen? Why in the world would you not preform a physical on this big money guy and on trade of that magnitude?

In the a statement issued by the Mets they say: "In our review of the player’s medical records in the acquisition of J.J. Putz, we were aware that he had a bone spur before the trade." After "an additional exam and MRI" Putz was allowed to play in the WBC.

Didn't the Mets think of the possibility that the bone spur would flare up later in the season? And it did.

This should be the last straw for Omar Minaya and/or the Mets medical staff. But sadly it's not going to be, because it is the Wilpons' fault. It is doubtful that they will fire Omar, or find anyone who would replace him for that matter. It upsets all fans of the Mets that the management keeps getting beat down after beat down, but the management deserves it. They don't know how to properly run a Major League Baseball team. The Mets built a great new stadium, signed a great hitter in Jason Bay, have a great core of players, but don't know how to follow a plan.

Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel said that they wanted to build the team around pitching, speed, and defense. The only moves that support this are Henry Blanco, a very good defensive catcher, and Gray Matthews Jr. who is also a very good fielder and has some speed (94 career steals).

Ok, you could say that Ryota Igarashi qualifies for this plan, but he is a reliever. The Mets need starters and have signed only Josh Fogg, R.A. Dickey (faint reminder of Tim Redding, how sad...), and Kelvim Escobar, when Lackey, Sheets, Wolf, Duchscherer, and etc. were still available! How did this happen?

The Mets' management is dysfunctional. It is obvious, but it needs to said, this management needs a complete overhaul! New Owners, new GM, new manager, new everything! The only thing that should be left by the end are the core (Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Bay, Santana, and K-Rod) and a few complementary pieces (i.e. Francoeur, Maine, Parnell, maybe Feliciano?).

Yes, I am calling for it. I'm calling for an overhaul. It is about time, because this is truly ridiculous.

Surprise! Mets get Gary Matthews Jr.!

According to ESPN Los Angeles.com, the trade goes as following:
Gary Matthews Jr. to the Mets for Brian Stokes, and the Angels pay 21.5 million of 23 million left on his contract.

My first thought: "wait, what?"
My second thought: "what a deal!"
My third thought: "oh wait, Brian Stokes... isn't he the guy who had a decent year last year, and was one of the Mets better relievers?"
Ok, that last one wasn't the exact thought, but Stokes did have the 3rd best ERA in the bullpen last year, behind K-Rod and Feliciano.

Obviously this was Omar trying to find a replacement for Beltran to start the season. I completely support that, he is a very good fielder, but an average hitter. The only problem is that the Mets have him for two years, so what do they do with him once Beltran gets back from the DL? Bench him? Trade him? Platoon him with Francoeur in right?? Put him in right and trade Frenchy?

Well, if Jerry Manuel (if he's still the manager by then) benches him he will be more upset with the Mets than he was with the Angels, I guarantee that!

If Omar Minaya trades him, we get some value in return, maybe a pitcher or second baseman? His value could go up if he does well. But if Omar does trade him, he shouldn't trade him until after Interleague play, because that way the Mets would have Bay at DH and GMJ in left.
Platoon him with Frenchy? What purpose does that serve? You tell me.

Trade Francoeur? Why trade a guy who has become a leader of your team when there are no other outspoken leaders on the team?

This may seem like a bit of a head scratcher because there are still options on the free agent market, such as Rocco Baldelli, Ryan Freel, Reed Johnson, but there aren't such great options, are they?

This is a very interesting trade, it makes me wonder what else Omar has up his sleeve. Is there a Ben Sheets signing in the Mets future? How long is Beltran REALLY going to be out? What happens to Luis Castillo? Does David Wright bounce back from the power outage of last year?

All of those questions will be answered in due time.
One question has been answered: "Who is going to be in center field while Beltran is out?" The answer: Gary Matthews Jr.

2 extra bits about GMJ:
1. Matthews is being paid a half a million dollars for being traded.
2. Matthews played in 2 games for the Mets (1 at-bat) in 2002, before being traded to the Orioles on April 3rd of that year.

Where will Clint Everts fit?

Earlier in the offseason, Omar Minaya signed 2002 first round pick Clint Everts to a major league deal. He is 25 years old and absolutely ripped the minors last year for the Nationals.

He was 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA last season. In 60 innings he struck out 68, gave up 49 hits and just 11 earned runs combined from A+, AA, and AAA. He had a 0.90 ERA in A+, 1.53 in AA, and 3.38 in AAA. Although he ran into some trouble in AAA, his strikeouts were still there. In 10 innings in AAA he struck out 11, though giving up 14 hits and issuing 10 walks.

I'm not sure why the Nationals never brought him up to the bigs while he was red hot, but now he'll get his opportunity with the Mets. Which brings me to my question... where does he fit on the major league team?

Will he be competing for a rotation spot? Possibly. Will he be competing for the set-up job? Possibly. Will he be thought of as a long reliever? Who knows. Ever since the signing you haven't heard anything from him or about him.

How many guys are we going to have in the bullpen? Parnell's fastball is too good to send back down, Feliciano is not going anywhere, Stokes showed promise last season, Igarashi and Escobar are obviously staying, so where does Everts fit?

In my eyes he could be a serious sleeper. Great job, Omar.

Luis Castillo will not be traded this offseason

I feel bad saying this, but he's staying in New York.

The reason: who wants an aging second baseman who is being paid 6.25 mil? There are not many teams who need a second baseman anyway. I would say that the only teams that really need are the Nationals, Dodgers, and Cubs (kind of).

The only trades that really jumped out at me were:
-Castillo and 2 mil cash to the Nats for Josh Willingham
OR
-Castillo and cash to the Dodgers or Cubs, for a low-to-mid-level prospect

The Willingham trade is most plausible because the Nationals have a plethora outfielders, and have Willie Harris as their second baseman currently (do you want Willie Harris as your second baseman? I sure don't...) If these trades don't go down (which they won't), you still have Orlando Hudson, Felipe Lopez, Ronnie Belliard, and Adam Kennedy still on the market. I doubt that any team would rather give up something for a guy who is breaking down than sign a younger guy, who can hit the ball out of the infield.

What should the Mets do? Cut Castillo and sign Hudson.

My Prediction:
-Castillo stays with the Mets FOR NOW
-Hudson to the Cubs
-Belliard to the Dodgers
-Lopez to the Nationals

One last prediction:
Castillo will not be traded this offseason, but he will be traded during the season to a team in contention. There is bound to be a second baseman who gets injured mid-season and will need a solid second baseman again. They will trade for Castillo.

Halladay and the Yankees

In a recent post on Matt Cerrone's MetsBlog, I read that the Yankees are inquiring about Halladay. I also read that Halladay's top suiters will be the Yankees and the Red Sox. In another post, I read that the Red Sox like John Lackey in their 2010 rotation, leaving the Yankees with Halladay.

Does anybody get frustrated by this? The Yankees acquiring Roy Halladay will be the nail in the coffin. With Sabathia, Halladay, and Burnett, their 1-2-3 combo will be just too much to handle. The Yankees are just unfair.

Now, I shouldn't be complaining because the Mets don't have a low payroll, but its not close to the Yankees. What do teams like the Tigers or the Astros think? They are numbered 5th and 8th respectively in highest payroll, yet its no where near the Yankees'.

Whoever the Yankees want, they get. This was made clear over the years, not the mention last off season which was ridiculous.

A different take on the off season

So, we at CheMETSry were thinking last night about the possible off season acquisitions. We debated much and believe to have come up with an idea that might work. Here we go:

1. Sign Matt Holliday for left field.

2. Make a serious run at Roy Halladay. If nothing comes from it, sign Joel Pineiro and Randy Wolf to make a Santana/Wolf/Pineiro/Maine/Pelfrey rotation. I'd move Perez to the bullpen as either a reliever or a long reliever. If he starts showing signs of consistency, then throw him back in the rotation.

3. Sign Carlos Delgado for a year. He'll give you the power and be nice alongside Wright, Beltran, and Holliday. Bringing Delgado back would be a cheap bridge to Ike Davis for 2011. Bringing back Delgado for a year then having Davis for 2011 would save a huge amount of money that could go to this off season.

4. Trade Castillo and bring in Orlando Hudson. I believe this transaction is way overdue and would be a super upgrade at second base.

5. With the money being saved on a cheap and temporary first base option, sign Bengie Molina as catcher.

This is what the 2010 Mets would look like:

C. Bengie Molina

1B. Carlos Delgado

2B. Orlando Hudson

SS. Jose Reyes

3B. David Wright

LF. Matt Holliday

CF. Carlos Beltran

RF. Jeff Francoeur

(All ERA's for the 09 season)

1. Johan Santana, 3.13 ERA

2. Randy Wolf, 3.23 ERA

3. Joel Pineiro, 3.49 ERA

4. John Maine, 4.43 ERA

5. Mike Pelfrey, 5.03 ERA

What do you guys think? I think that the line-up has great depth, and the rotation is pretty strong. This looks like a winning team.

Bring Halladay to New York

Halladay needs to be here. After everything that has happened this year, fans deserve something to look forward to going on to next season. Some say we're out of the Halladay sweepstakes because we lack the prospects/aren't willing to give the ones we have away. The Mets have the money to spend on Halladay, especially when Wilpon said they won't be cutting spending this off season.

With the Yankees not looking for pitching this off season, I'd say we have a decent chance to get Halladay. It might be a stretch, but we did score Johan. Plus, why wouldn't Halladay want to play in New York? He'll get the money, the spotlight, and (hopefully) a good chance to win.

Santana/Halladay would also be very deadly as our 1-2 punch. Sounds good to me, what about you Omar?