Results tagged ‘ K-Rod ’
I Called It Part 2; Mets Sign K-Rod; My Free Agent Signings
First, today’s transaction.
Gerald Laird to Tigers for 2 pitching prospects in return. Won’t affect Mets at all.
Dodgers sign Casey Blake and Mark Loretta. This just means the Dodgers have less cash to sign some other free agents.
Adam Everett signs with Twins. Big deal.
O’s trade Ramon Hernandez to the Reds for Ryan Freel and prospects.
Mike Lamb signed with the Brewers. This could mean they trade Bill Hall, who I recall the Mets had interest in during the trade deadline.
The Indians signed Kerry Wood. Big deal seeing as the Mets signed K-Rod.
Wait, K-Rod? Yes, its official. Well, official as soon as he passes a physical, but I can’t hold it in until then. This is a huge relief, as the bullpen was the whole reason for the downfall, and in the words of John Kruk, “WE’RE FINALLY GONNA HAVE A CHANCE TO COMPETE WITH THE PHILLIES NEXT SEASON! BRING IT ON!!!!!” We still need a set-up man though, and I predict the Mets will sign Chad Cordero next.
Lastly, here are my prediction for the major signings. If I forget any, let me know, I’ll add it.
Brian Fuentes – Cardinals
AJ Burnett – Yankees
Derek Lowe – Red Sox
CC Sabathia – Dodgers
Trevor Hoffman – Rangers
Randy Wolf – Yankees
Pedro Martinez – Pirates
Chad Cordero – Mets
Adam Dunn – Rays
Jason Giambi – A’s
Manny Ramirez – Dodgers
Orlando Hudson – Giants
Jason Varitek – Red Sox
Bobby Abreu – Astros
Raul Ibanez – Cubs
Mark Teixiera – Angels
If you have any questions as to my reasoning, let me know.
No Trading Allowed
Right now I am reading all the rumors going around the Hot Stove now that the Winter Meetings have started, and let me tell you, I am shaking in my boots. While I am convinced that the Mets are dedicated to signing K-Rod and K-Rod is signing with the Mets, which is the way I like it, I am all too concerned about the Mets’ desire to make a trade involving prospects.
I am all for being aggresive in the Free Agent market. This is New York, we are atop the Major Leagues in terms of highest revenue total. We can afford to spend big money and land the big free agents. What we cannot do, and what every team cannot do, is trade away the farmsystem.
We’ve already messed it up way too much, from the Scott Kazmir deal to Mike Jacobs deal to the Matt Lindstrom deal to the Johan Santana deal. Now its time to start rebuilding. I understand that in New York, that is not allowed and we have to go for it every year, but honestly, that is not the way to go, and honestly, we are not going to win the World Series this year.
I have said before that in order for a team to be successful, there must be a balance between a good farmsystem and good free agent signings. We have done the trading already, and that hasn’t worked, so why are we still going for the stars, who are obviously under too much pressure or something, instead of growing our own stars and teaching them to deal with the spotlight of the Big Apple so they will be ready for it?
I am sick of hearing all the rumors about trading Jon Niese, Robert Parnell, Mike Carp, Nick Evans, anybody. I don’t want them to trade Luis Castillo, and at this point, I am even getting tired of the Heilman rumors. Either do it or don’t do it. The front office needs to give up on trades, and focus on signing quality free agents and building up the farmsystem again.
Time for the Explosion
If you think it, we are pretty far into the offseason already. Its been more than a month since the World Series ended, and we already know who is in the Free Agent Market. Its December already. That means that soon, everybody is going to start signing, whether its the big names or not. We have this month, but something tells me nobody will sign contracts on Christmas, and then January, when everybody is rushing to hurry up and sign a good deal, and then February, Spring Training.
So I think C.C. Sabathia is definitely going to sign in the next week, with several smaller names going along the way as well. After that, veterans like Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek will probably sign right away, just so they can relax for a while, then get ready for Spring Training and move in with their lives as long as they have baseball. I thikn Mark Teixiera will make a bunch of headlines and change his mind a lot but overall will sign fairly quickly, as he doesn’t seem like the type to make a huge deal of things despite the reported 10 years he commanded. Around this time several smaller big names like Brian Fuentes, Jon Garland, and Orlando Hudson will sign, along with a bunch of other middle and lower level free agents.
Francisco Rodriguez will want lots of money, and he obviously isn’t going to sign right away, and his price will drop. I think he will then keep dragging it out, and be one of the latest signers.
Now, there is one big name missing from here: Manny Ramirez. I think Manny will be Manny 24/7 as soon as the Hot Stove heats up, and he won’t stop until the season starts. He is going to want gigantic money, and more years than anyone is willing to give him. 5 years is a lot for a 36 year old. I honestly have no idea whether he wants to go back to LA, sign with the Yankees, or something in between, but I do know that he is going to drag this thing out as long as possible, and finally sign in the middle of February, right before Spring Training, and he will certainly get the sportswriters mad.
You can expect the Hot Stove to start burning real soon, folks.
Noooo!
Don’t do it! Don’t make any trades, Omar! I am telling you, SAVE THE FARMSYSTEM!!!! Do not trade Eddie Kunz or Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell for Jermaine Dye or Javier Vazquez; do not trade them AT ALL! These men are the future of our club, how can you even consider it? Don’t trade Daniel Murphy, either, as he is potentially the next David Wright, or with the position issue, the next Ryan Braun. Don’t trade Nick Evans, or Mike Pelfrey. We must rebuild our farmsystem and build a good team. Everything in the world should strike a balance, and in baseball, that balance is between big name free agents and building a good crop of home grown talent.
There is one rumor of a trade, however, that I’ve heard and I support, although the Mets once again disagree with me. I’m not sure if its true, but rumors suggest that in order for the Rockies to trade Huston Street to the Mets, they are asking for Aaron Heilman and Pedro Feliciano. The Mets are completely open to making a trade for Street revolving around Heilman, but they don’t want to trade Feliciano. I would make this trade in a heartbeat. I understand that Feliciano is a rare solid lefty specialist, but Scott Schoenweis can easily have a bounceback year, and I thought the Mets were going after Brian Fuentes and Joe Beimel anyway? If they push the right buttons, this team can easily have a good bullpen in 2009. Here is what they have to do:
- Trade Heilman and Feliciano for Huston Street. If the reports are true that the Rockies would accept this with no extra players, go for it. Street is your set up man.
- Sign Brian Fuentes. He is a left hander who can be our closer, and we won’t have to spend extra money on Francisco Rodriguez.
- Sign Joe Beimel. No matter what, we have to sign him. You can’t rely on Schoenweis anymore until he proves himself, and although there is no way Beimel will have as good an ’09 as did an ’08, he is easily one of the best lefty relievers in baseball.
If played correctly our bullpen will look like this:
Closer – Brian Fuentes
Set Up – Huston Street
Middle Relief – Joe Smith
Scott Schoenweis
Duaner Sanchez
Lefty Specialist – Joe Beimel
Long Reliever – Brian Stokes
In my opinion we really have a surplus of relievers. Claudio Vargas, Tony Armas, and Nelson Figueroa can all be long relievers, and Carlos Muniz could be back. Jason Vargas might make an appearance, and who knows, we still have Kunz, Niese, and Parnell!
Omar Minaya has to really choose his cards wisely. With a little work, the bullpen can get better. It really doesn’t have as much cleaning up to do as it seems, as long as Minaya takes a conservative approach.
Add Another Closer to the Market
With the trade yesterday of Kevin Gregg to the Cubs for Jose Ceda the Cubs have announced that they will not be resigning Kerry Wood. That means that if the Mets do not sign Brian Fuentes or Francisco Rodriguez, they have a fallback option of somebody who is not named Trevor Hoffman. Last year, Kevin Gregg blew 9 saves, which is why he was on the radar of many a team, because he could be next year’s Brad Lidge. Statiscally though, Gregg was not much worse than Wood was. While Gregg blew 9 saves, threw 68.2 innings in 72 appearances, went 7-8 and tossed a 3.41 ERA, Wood blew 6 saves, threw 66.1 innings in 65 appearances, went 5-4 and tossed a 3.26 ERA. Wood obviously was a bit more consistent, but the number really aren’t that different. So if I had a choice between trading a middle-named prospect for a low-expectation Kevin Gregg and spending some nice numbers in free agency to sign Kerry Wood, I think I would actually go with Gregg. But I’m no general manager, so if Omar Minaya got Wood instead I wouldn’t be dissapointed. But right now I think the Mets will actually sign K-Rod.
Yesterday, the White Sox also traded Kanakoa Texiera and Nick Swisher to the Yankees in return for Wilson Betemit, Jhonny Nunez, and Jeff Marquez. This should in no way affect the Mets, except for the possible price of Jermaine Dye in a trade going up.
And I’m back in the Latest Leaders! Huzzah! Thank you for all your support. And I finished atop Zoe Rice, the most popular Mets blogger in all of MLBlogs! Double Huzzah!
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