If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one might be worth a million where the 2009 Mets concerned.
“This should motivate everybody because this season wasn’t fun at all. To just be playing for the sake of playing, this isn’t something that I want to do again and this isn’t something that we should get used to, because I don’t plan on doing it again.” - David Wright
It was a great ending to a dreadful season. Minaya has a lot of work to do this off season. In my view he has 2 top priorities. The Mets need a legitimate number 2 starter. John Lackey maybe? Or if the Mets cannot get him I think the plan should be to get two number 3 starters. Jason Marquis & Joel Pineiro would be perfect fits.
Secondly the Mets MUST get a power hitter. I truly hope Minaya has enough money to get Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. If Minaya gets one of those two players, and assuming Wright & Beltran get their power back, I think the Mets can live with Murph at 1B. Even though he doesn’t hit for power he does put the ball in play.
My opinion of the offseason strategy would to get either Bay or Holliday first and then sign Halladay. I think once mgmt shows a comittment to excellence by bringing in either Bay or Holliday and show they will develop the offensive side of the game, then a top flight pitcher like Halladay can be convinced to come here. Those 2 acquisitions would put this team back on the road to success.
MASK, FYI, HALLADAY IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT A F/A THIS YR. STILL UNDER CONTRACT UNTIL ’11:
Roy Halladay rhp
3 years/$40M (2008-10)
3 year/$40M (2008-10)
signed extension with Toronto 3/06
08:$10M, 09:$14.25M, 10:$15.75M
award bonus: $0.125M for All Star selection
no-trade clause
Halladay to donate $100,000/year to Jays Care Foundation
I AGREE HE’D MAKE THE BEST SP ACQUISITION SINCE NYM HAVE TOO MANY 3,4,5 CANDIDATES IN PEREZ,MAINE,PELFREY,NIESE,NIEVE,MISCH
I’VE NO CLUE WHAT JAYS ARE LOOKING FOR; BUT 5 OF THOSE 6 ARE RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE & ALL 6 SHOULD BE AVAILABLE, PERHAPS 2 OR 3 MAY INTEREST RICCARDI ALONG WITH A POSITIONAL PROSPECT OR 2. NYM SHOULD EXERCISE PATIENCE IN ALL ACQUISITIONS EXCEPT SPing WHERE THEY’LL NEED TO ASCERTAIN THE POTENTIAL FOR A HALLADAY DEAL QUICKLY SO THE BEST F/A OPTIONS ARE STILL AVAILABLE. RE. A BIG STICK, I SINCERELY DOUBT THEIR WHEREWITHALL TO COMPETE W/BOSOX ON BAY.
I’M GOING TO GO OUT ON A LIMB & SAY I ANTICIPATE A BETTER YR FROM PELFREY UNDER WARTHEN SINCE I BELIEVE, ’09 WAS A YR FOR HIS MAKEOVER FROM SINKERBALLER BACK TO POWER PITCHER CURVEBALL OFFSET IN LIEU OF SLIDER ‘A RETURN TO HIS ROOTS” BEFORE PETERSONIZATION. LET’S KEEP IT REAL BY SAYING BY IMPROVMENT I MEAN TO A BONA-DIDE #3 INSTEAD OF THE #5 HE WAS SUCCESSFUL AT IN ’08 AND PITCHED LIKE IN ’09. MAYBE WE CAN COIN A NEW PHRASE(LIKE THEY USED TO) & CALL IT 2010 METS: HAPPY DAYS! BY ACQUIRING BOTH HALLADAY & HOLIDAY(LMAO)
Ricciardi’s out of the pitcher after getting canned.
MASK, THANKS, I’D FORGOTTEN; HOWEVER AFTER MORE THOUGHT, I’D RATHER THEY ATTEMPT TO PURSUE CRAWFORD FROM RAYS. RAYS HOLD A 10M CLUB OPTION FOR ’10 THEY LIKELY LOOK FOR A SIGN/TRADE DEAL ala NYY & SHEFF. QUESTION IS, DO WE HAVE ENOUGH? I’D HOPE A FEW ‘DECENT MLB SP MAY WALK THE DOG W/JAYS, WHOMEVER IS IN CHARGE. BEST NEWS WAS JEFF’S SIGNALING NO DRACONIAN PAYROLL CUTS. I BELIEVE THEY CAN IMPROVE FOR LESS THAN IS COMING OFF WITH: CRAWFORD, 10M; HALLADAY, 15M; MOLINA, 6M? THAT COMES TO 31M IN SOLUTIONS TO SP,LF,C. BY ADDING THOSE 2 BATS THEY MAY SURVIVE ANOTHER Y OF MURPH(WHO I’D PENCIL FOR 15HR) I KNOW IT ISN’T FASHIONABLE; BUT I LIKE THE ANNOUNCED CHANGES, ESP WARTHEN SINCE I THINK HE MAY FINALLY BE GETTING THROUGH TO PEREZ. PELF TOOK STEP BACK; BUT FEW NOTICED LESS RELIANCE ON PETERSON RECOMMENDATIONS OF SINKER/SLIDER WITH MORE HEATER/CURVE USES(INCR Ks) I SAW TOO MUCH NEW, NOT ENOUGH OLD. HE SHOULD BALANCE MORE. SCHNEIDER NOT STRONG/DECISIVE ENOUGH IN TREATING ALL THE SP THE SAME INSTEAD OF LEADING THE LESS EXPERIENCED EMPHATICALLY, HE SEEMED TO SUGGEST MORE THAN DEMAND IN SITUATIONS. IF PELF KNEW WHEN SINKER IS BETTER CHOICE THAN HEATER, HE’D YIELD FEWER GOPHERS. TO ME THAT’S THE CATCHER’S JOB WITH YOUNGER, INEXPERIENCED PITCHERS. I BELIEVE A MOLINA 2Y/12M DEAL SOLVES THAT ISSUE. MAINE NEEDS STRONG BACKSTOP ALSO. ONLY SP NEEDING SUGGESTIONS INSTEAD OF SOLUTIONS IS JOHAN. NO WBC HELPS NYM DRAMATICALLY. I’D HOPED THEY’D MOVE SANDY Sr. TO BERNAZARD’S OLD JOB IN PLAYER DEVELOPMENT, HE WAS A GUEST INSTRUCTOR AT MY GRANDSON’S METS’ SPONSORED CAMP 2 SUNMMERS AGO & WAS VERY PATIENT. JUST LOOK AT HIS 2 SONS(FIELD ACTIVITY IN PRIME ONLY)! GUESS U’LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH OUR DISAGREEMENTS OVER OMAR INTO NEXT YR. I TRULY BELIEVE HE KNEW THAT LF & #2SP WERE WEAK & IS WHY HE STOPPED 14M SHY OF LUXURY LINE TO HAVE ENOUGH TO P/U A HALLADAY OR HOLLIDAY SHOULD OPPORTUNITY ARISE. AMOUNT TOO COINCIDENTAL NOT TO HAVE THAT PURPOSE. NEXT YR, SAME DEBATE, BETTER RESULTS, LET US PRAY! IT’S BEEN FUN SPARING W/U
Thank god its over. Let’s hope for a better 2010.
I hope DW means what he says!!!
WHat a disaster!
Well, if I am convinced of anything it is that 2010 just couldn’t be worse than the Descent Into Hell from 2007-2009.
Really, 70 wins. The Mets would have to be unimaginably bad to lose more than 92 next year.
One guy I can’t live with (but may have to) is Murphy. I don’t want him at first, second, third or anywhere! Let him go hit .270 with any other team. Way too many mental and physical blunders out of this guy. Maybe he and Gary Sheffield can go open up a hitting clinic somewhere.
Now I am anticipating which coaches, etc. will get the axe. That’s my excitement as we head toward October BB. Pathetic. This and the hope that the Tigers/Twins knock out the Skanks in Divisional play.
If Murphy can hit .280 for a full year, and the Mets sign either Bay or Holliday why can’t he start? Here is a guy that doesn’t hit for power, but will get you XBH. It seemed like every game he was getting a double. And he’ll get you 10-15 HR’s a year which isn’t bad. Think John Olerud. As for the metal and physical mistakes remember the 2009 season was his first full one in the majors. He was still basically a rookie.
John Olerud! Murphy…if only. JO was as skilled a 1B-man as you will find w/ the exception of Keith. He consistently hit .300, and he had more power than Murph. Olerud typified a smart BB player for me. I don’t see that w/ Murph at all.
I would be very happy to see Murph prove me wrong, but this is a guy who only has perhaps better-than-average hitting going for him. He cannot field a position skillfully, whether or not he can make the occasional sparkling play.
Absolutely correct, there is no comparison between Murphy and John Olerud. If we could have a true Olerud carbon copy now, we’d be set for sure at 1B. Murphy? Certainly NOT an Olerud lookalike.
IF U WERE TO START BY CLONING OLERUD, THEN CLONED THE CLONE REPEATING UNTIL YOU CLONED THE 1,000th CLONE YOUR RESULT @ 1B WOULD BE MURPHY. MULTIPY PROCEDURE BY 10 IF U START WITH MEX TO GET TO A MURPH @ 1B.
LMAO OVER & OVER. U WANT TO KEEP MURPH AT HIS BEST POSITION? PETEITION MLB TO SWITCH LEAGUES ala BREWS.
Sorry the OLERUD comparison was wrong. Got caught up in the moment
Have you ever seen Keith Hernandez’s numbers the first 3 years or so? Nothing to write home about, good thing the Cardinals didn’t give up on him…….
I’m not so quick to pass judgement on Murphy yet. When did we become the fan base of the NY Yankees and expect our ROOKIES tobe HOF’ers right out of the gate?
Kay, it’s true Keith had to make his adjustments (or had to flat out improve) as a ML hitter. No question. But…please, you have to know better: Hernandez was never a rookie question as a defensive player. The dude was awesome from the start. Unless Murphy can do something totally unimaginable, he will never hold a candle to the fielding prowess of a KH. Seriously.
I see Murphy as flawed and limited. I will take a Bud Harrelson bat any day of the week if it’s paired w/ Harrelson’s D, over a .270 Murphy-type any day of the week, month or year!
Not a Murphy hater by any means, just want what’s best for our Mets, and he ain’t it.
Russell – you had me at Bud Harrelson – lol…..my all time favorite, I even have a picture of Bud and Pete in the middle of their brawl signed by both Pete Rose and Bud Harrelson (nice Bday present)
Ok did a little research……..their first full year, they had the exact same amount of errors and Keith turned 6 more DP’s then Murphy did, and Murphy actually played in a few amount (don’t have the exact number) of games at 1st. So yes, I do know better then that, and I am NOT saying he’s the next Keith Hernandez, but not nearly as dreadful as you seem to be writing about.
PS – if the Mets can find a better 1st baseman, see ya later bye Daniel Murphy!!
Yes Muphy was like a rookie and he is still learning, so he needs a few years to improve.
Even Wright, and Reyes needed time to get better.
I would not be surprised if he ends up his carrier being a life time over 300 hitter. And I would hope he does it as a Met.
I am not going to get all warm and fuzzy because Murphy had a couple of good Septembers. He is a limited player who might be a better than average hitter. But all I know so far is that he hits the ball late in the year. How he did in two months of meaningless games this season tells me nothing. Other team’s pitchers shut him down the first half. Look, this team is not close. One has to assume that Wright, Beltran and Reyes will come back next year and play at or near top production, which will not happen for all three, probably not for two of the three. Beltran olooks shot to me. Wright has ZERO confidence. Reyes is a basket case when it comes to hamstring issues. One also cannot assume that Santana will dominate like he has when we have seen his fastball drop in velocity the past two years and he has gone through his second left elbow surgery in his career. Adding a left fielder and another pitcher is a necessity, but the mets have three teams to pass in their own division. Time to upheave, as Jerry says.
Murphy’s 2 good Septembers and little else make him look like a pro at being a stretch drive contract chaser. Show me something from June through August Murph!
Thank God is right. This season was a long torture. All those unbelievable and inventive ways to lose games.
The point is the Mets think their core is good enough to win with, but two of the three basically missed an entire season, one has no cartilage in his knees, and the third baseman drove in 71 runs and appears to be shellshocked. They have no right to logically expect these guys to bounce back to their former levels.
Absolutely. I trust my fellow Mets fans are not going into 2010 thinking that the “core” will necessarily be poised for a stellar year. Frankly, I am going into 2010 simply with the expectation that there’s no way we can suck as bad as 2009.
Never going to fool myself that three of our core will go 30/100 behind the plate again.
its over. now we can heave a huge sigh of relief and passively watch the post season.
I used to go to school with him! And I totally agree!
Nice job.