10
2009
So Who’s Our First Baseman In 2010?
An article by 
It’s been such a trying season… You try and maintain some semblance of optimism, but at some point you become overwhelmed with the errors, running miscues, lack of fundamentals, etc.
Everyone is blaming the injuries for this Mets debacle ever since Carlos Delgado first hit the disabled list. But what happens next season when Carlos Delgado packs his bags and goes back to the American League?
We keep hearing about Dan Murphy and Nick Evans being the future of first base for the Mets, so is that our answer next season?
Have we all been witnesses to a preview of 2010?
We had plenty of opportunities to trade Murphy when a handful of teams actually had some interest, but Omar refused to part with his prized prospect.
If the power outage of 2009 can be traced to the loss of Carlos Delgado, than wouldn’t we be subjected to the same problem next season?
If Dan Murphy, Fernando Tatis and Nick Evans can’t provide the offense and plate presence of Delgado now, what makes anyone think they can do it in 2010?
And if we all agree that neither of them can fill Carlos Delgado’s shoes, why exactly is everyone so reluctant to trade Dan Murphy?
Call me crazy, but what we have in Murphy is a hitter who cannot play any defensive position well enough to be an everyday player. You can overlook the defensive deficiency of some players because their offense more than makes up for it, but obviously that is not the case with Murphy.
So where do we go next season? There are no answers in the 2010 free agent class that I can see…
First Basemen
Carlos Delgado NYM
Jason Giambi OAK
Ross Gload FLA
Aubrey Huff BAL
Nick Johnson WAS
Adam LaRoche PIT
Robb Quinlan LAA
Matt Stairs PHI
Mike Sweeney SEA
Jim Thome CHW
Chad Tracy ARZ
Most of them are DH types anyway and the only name that jumps out at me is Nick Johnson whose claim to fame is that he has spent over 250 days on a disabled list in the last five years.
I don’t see any Mark Teixeira’s or even an Adam Dunn out there, do you?
If Omar is as sharp as he thinks he is, why didn’t he foresee this?
Free agent info courtesy of Cot’s Contracts.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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I think I’m going to be sick. This organization has become a joke and Omar Minaya is the clown prince.
2011.
“The Machine” is a free agent.
I don’t think he’ll resign with the Cards, and the Mets have a lot of Dominican guys in their clubhouse so maybe, just maybe.
Yeah……..Los Mets dos Nuvos York. Minaya needs to go. We need someone who realizes that a Dominican Background is not a requirement for being a good ballplayer. Beltran – Hurt, Delgado – Hurt, Reyes – Hurt, Santos – Colder than the South Pole right now, Castillo – Garbage.
beltran and delgado are not dominican racist white cracker, you spanish spelling is honky!!
Not racist. Not one bit, but it does seem that Minaya has a penchant for signing Dominican players. It’s not like I’m making that up. Everyone who is a Mets fan sees that. Just stating facts. Sorry if it seemed racist. It certainly was not meant to be.
Sorry White Honkey but Riles is right. All Omar wants to do is bring Latin players in, and look at all the championship teams over the years, they have a nice balance of white, latin, and african-american players.
I mean it was a problem the last few years, first with Lo Duca and then with Wagner. It had nothing to do with who speaks English or Spanish, but the cultural connections made the locker room divided. And you have to have a locker room that is totally committed to being one unit. And the Mets don’t have that, the Phillies do. That has been the big difference.
Utley, Rollins, Howard, Werth, Victorino, Hammels, Ruiz, Feliz, Ibanez, what a nice balance of culture. The Mets need to look at it, I’m telling you.
Just think if you had a team of all white players. Then, bringing in a superstar latin player would be hard to do, cause that superstar latino wouldn’t want to be the only latin player there. There needs to be a balance.
You are so way off base on Murphy it’s not even funny. Murphy is the next Don Mattingly and will be a perennial MVP candidate year in and year out once we allow him to develop. His defense at first base has already got people buzzing and comparing him to Keith Hernandez. The answer to your title is Daniel Murphy you fool!
You are very delusional if you believe Murphy is all that. Take two xanax and dont call me in the morning.
Dan Mattingly and Keith Hernandez he is not. He is just some guy trying to hack his way through the Big Leagues. At best he is DH in the AL with limited power. Trade him asap.
This is why Omar should have gotten Adam Dunn last offseason. He should have looked ahead and realized that there were no good free agent first baseman options coming up. With Dunn in the outfield, he would have provided the necessary power and would have allowed someone like Murphy to handle first base. Lack of long term thinking.
seriously.. i cannot think of anyone better to control the first base for the mets to come than adrian gonzalez. Pujols will cost too much as he will command an arod-esque contract. I saw we trade murphy f-mart nick evans, ike davis and dillon gee for gonzalez and trade john neise for alex rios. Sign orlando hudson and you got yourself an elite infield and outfield.
Reyes,
O-Dog/Rios
Beltran
Gonzalez
Wright
Church
O-Dog/Rios
Santos/Thole, or Bengie Molina
Pitcher.
What a great lineup that is.
But needless to say.. who says that adrian gonzalez is even available? but with padres new ownership who knows what will happen?
I just say.. its better if we trade for adrian gonzalez because the power outrage will continue if we dont sign a cleanup hitter. Delgado is gone next year and will never hit 38 hrs again.
Wright i see as a guy who hits .320 with 20-25 hrs. Not a cleanup hitter. I see beltran as a 30 hr guy but hes not a cleanup hitter either. Alex rios is 28 and he provides a solid outfield glove and consistent .290 hitter with 15-20 hr power. An outfield of Rios, Beltran, and Church matches up with anyone in terms of defense.
Wright, Reyes, O-Dog, and Gonzalez are all gold glove caliber and provide HUGE offensive impacts. That is the best infield in baseball.
As long as we keep Holt and Mejia im happy.
Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Holt, and Mejia by 2012? Pretty stable rotation if you ask me. But thats alot to ask for by rookies.
What do you guys think?
I think the points you made in this article can become non-fiction for a couple of reasons. First of all the Padres seem like they will not be a playoff contender for years to come. Obviously the Padres want to enter rebuilding mode because they were trying to trade Peavy. Now Adrian Gonzalez is signed for next year and a team option in 2011. I do not think that Adrian Gonzalez will accept the team option and look for a new team (probably a high market team, mets, yankees, etc.) Now i believe that Adrian Gonzalez is a player who will make a huge impact on the mets and is worth trading a major mart of our prospects away. Now, the prospects you wrote were murphy f-mart nick evans, ike davis and dillon gee. These prospects are going to be good eventually, but i have a feeling the Padres are going to want Holt or even Flores, but its worth a try. Trading 5 future mlb players for one superstar is definitely appealing to a team. I like this trade a lot.
Now lets talk about the other one. I know we need an outfielder badly and Rios would solve some of our answers. Rios is a decent defender and a great hitter. The only problem is john neise alone will not get us a player like Rios. I think that we should trade neise and kunz/parnell. The only problem is Minaya loves parnell and would not do this trade. I like the trade though and i would continue to talk with the blue jays and get a deal.
Also, Orlando Hudson will be a dodger next year so what about a player from the minors such as Justin Turner. He is playing for the Norfolk Tides here are his stats after 59 games
AVG: .301
HR: 2
RBI: 23
SB: 4
He doesnt have the big offensive numbers that we would all like, but we have to look at our farm system a little bit. I mean i think maybe just maybe we should try out some of our younger players.
Lastly, pitching pitching pitching. I believe when our pitchers are healthy they can be very good. I have hope for Ollie, Maine, and Pelfrey. The only problem is right now all of these pitchers are number 3 and 4 pitchers and we need a true number 2 pitcher to back up Johan. There are many good pitching free agents next year such as: Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, Josh Beckett. Those are the big names but there are also guys like pinero, marquis, berdard. I feel that signing a number 2 pitcher would be great.
This is all i have to say thank you
Actually.. i personally think dodgers will keep blake dewitt in second for next year. O-Dog has expressed desire to go to NY and he would come here instead of LA. ever thought about that?
Cliff Lee has an option and it will be picked up. Beckett as well
Brandon Webb also has an option.. But im not sure it will be picked up. Most likely it will and hes traded mid season for prospects. So count him out.
The problem is that to get Hudson, we’d have to trade Castillo, and I’m not sure what team would take the contract.
It’s down to two years in 2010, thank you. But still over $12 Million.
Compared with Carlos Delgado and his cost and projected performance slide because of age, injuries, and perhaps attitude (Ask Willie), give me Daniel Murphy six of seven days weekly, with a day off. Remember we’re talking 2010, not the early 2000′s.
One of the writer-analysts over at the New York Post disparaged Murphy’s first base play. So here is what I want to know: What is Murphy doing, or not doing at first base? Please be specific with a quantitative analysis.
Much opinion to-date, not many facts!!!