Tonight when the clock strikes twelve, general managers everywhere will begin negotiating with free agents of their liking. The exclusive window for teams to negotiate with their own free agents expires at midnight tonight, beginning what will be another busy and very active hot stove season full.
I have read several reports that although Omar Minaya still holds the title of general manager, his power to move and act freely has been taken away. Anything he may want to do, will now have to be reviewed by a committee that includes assistant GM John Ricco, VP David Howard and even the Wilpons themselves.
One GM who wished to remain anonymous recently said that unlike years passed when Omar Minaya seemingly called all the shots and freely negotiated on the phone, he now excuses himself when an offer is made and doesn’t call back until 30 or more minutes later.
While Omar is kept on a short leash, there is a tremendous amount of work to be done, including resolving first base and left field, acquiring two starting pitchers, finding a new setup man, bringing in a new starting catcher to replace Brian Schneider, and a possible upgrade at second base.
The rumors are flying around fast and furious, but now with teams able to negotiate freely with any free agents they want, we should start seeing some rumors with real teeth on them.
Ken Davidoff of Newsday believes that the Mets will make a big splash simply because they have to, and I absolutely agree with him. he writes,
But I think the Mets realize they have to make a splash in order to placate season-ticket holders, and with the market for Lackey not robust (in my mind), I can envision them giving Lackey the same deal that the Yankees gave A.J. Burnett a year ago, then pointing to how much more Lackey has accomplished than Burnett had when he got his money.
Kevin Kernan of the NY Post says that the Mets have to be as bold this offseason as Brian Cashman was last off season. He wants them to break open the bank.
The player at the top of their shopping list must be right-hander John Lackey. If not, why are the Wilpons even in the game? The Mets should pull a Cashman and sign both Lackey and Holliday. Win now and the victories come in summer.
The last thing the Mets need to be saying right now is: “We have too many holes to fill.” They should look at this as an opportunity. If they focus on bringing an AL ace, a bulldog, to the NL, always a winning move, and to a ballpark that is death for hitters, they will be ahead of the game. If half of their injured players come back healthy, they will be in the thick of it if they have that 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Put both Lackey and Holliday on the roster and the Mets make it a two-team town again.
As much as I would love to see the Mets get both Matt Holliday and John Lackey, I just don’t see that scenario playing out at all. The Mets would have to win not just one bidding war, but two of them with a potential cost of almost $200 million dollars. No way that happens.
What ever does happen will happen quickly, as I believe that Minaya will try to strike early as long as the Wilpons allow him to. I do think all the Mets higher ups are agreed on one thing, and that is that they need to salvage dwindling orders for season tickets. A big name or two can help get ticket sales moving again.
Could it be that Omar is the scapegoat?
Maybe he keeps asking the Wilpons for $ and they tell him no?
“I have read several reports that although Omar Minaya still holds the title of general manager, his power to move and act freely has been taken away. Anything he may want to do, will now have to be reviewed by a committee that includes assistant GM John Ricco, VP David Howard and even the Wilpons themselves.”
You forgot to include Uncle Bernie from his jail cell. Certainly he has as much influence as anyone, including either Wilpon. Unlike some Mets fans who won’t forgive the Wilpons, I feel resigned and angry that Uncle Bernie stole from anyone. What a friend he was!!!
I still think that Omar has full autonomy of an empty wallet!
500K for Sheffield
500K for Pelfrey
These are the last expenditures by the Mets since the Madoff scandal!
While it was also a small amount, one shouldn’t omit the difference in Ryan Church’s and Jeff Francoeur’s salaries just to make a point.
Omar as Met GM has never been a mid-season big splash guy. Whether you are correct in your assessment of the Mets finances or not has not been proven yet. This off-season will help us make an informed decision on those finances much more than Omar simply sticking to his established mid-season modus operandi does.
PETE, ARE U DISCOUNTING JEFF’S VERBOSE PLEDGE TO REMAIN NEAR TOP OF PAYROLL RANKS? WHILE MOST REPORTERS ARE CHOOSING THE EASY MATH METHOD OF TOTALLING UP THE BIG-TICKET REDUCTIONS OF WAGNER,DELGADO,PUTZ TO ARRIVE AT THEIR OFT MENTIONED 30M SPENDING FIGURE, COTS LOOKS AT ENTIRE ROSTERS INCL PRORATED SIGNINGBONUS PMTS TO EVALUATE EVERY FRANCHISES TRUE STARTING COMMITMENTS FOR THE FOLLOWING SEASONS:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p4ew-fwu2XT3cpPRtt9qIGw
ACCORDING TO COTS THE NYM HAVE APPROX 47M TO SPEND TO REACH THE ’09 OPENNING DAY PAYROLL OF 149M (INCL WAGNER,DELGADO,PUTZ) NOTE THE COTS’ CURRENT ’09 NYM PAYROLL FIGURE OF 139,102,235 ALREADY IS LESS WAGNER’S 10M.
THE TYPICAL COUPON COMMENTS ARE MUCH MORE A FICTION REPEATED SO OFTEN THAT’S IT’S BECOME FACT. THE SIMPLE HISTORICAL REFERENCE WILL SHOW ANYONE INTERESTED IN “FACTS” THAT THE NYM FRANCHISE HAS BEEN THE HIGHEST PAID IN THE NL SINCE 2003! AND IN THE TOP 3 SINCE 1999! IN FACT THE METS HAVEN’T BEEN OUT OF THE TOP 10 IN MLB SINCE THEIR 16th RANKED 1997 PATROLL. OVER THE PAST 22 YEARS(SINCE ’88) THE WILPON’S FRANCHISE HAS BEEN #1 IN THE NL 10 TIMES. #2 FIVE TIMES. #3 TWICE. ALBEIT THE WILPONS WILL NOT TRANGRESS OVER THE LUXURY PENALTY LINE. YET THE OVERALL PAYROLL HAS BEEN VERY HIGH COMPARED TO THEIR DIRECT COMPETITORS. IN 1992 THE METS HAD THE HIGHEST PAYROLL IN ALL OF MLB ($44M) DISBELIEF? USA TODAY SUPPLIES AN EDUCATIONAL PAYROLL HISTORY SITE:
http://content.usatoday.com/SPORTS/BASEBALL/SALARIES/TOTALPAYROLL.ASPX?YEAR=2009
Jeff is not lying. People are asuming.
The Mets payroll could technically be between $115-$200 million and still be ranked among the top 5 in the MLB.
It is small comfort that Omar’s moves are being considered by a committee of essentially non-baseball talebnt evaluation guys. Think about this—if they feel that they must review what he is doing, and they really don’t know what they are doing, why is he even here? why don’t we have a GM who does know what he is doing?
And Lackey should be the Mets top priority WHY???? He isn’t the most durable pitcher in the game. Check the stats. He missed at least 6 starts in 2009 and 7 or 8 in 2008. Just because the Yankees were stupid with the money they threw at Burnett, does that mean the Mets have to do the same with Lackey? As everything else about the Mets, there is no way for this to end well.
’88, IF NOT LACKEY, WHOM? HALLADAY? MORTGAGE THE PAYROLL FLEXIBILITY AS WELL AS DECIMATE THE PIPELINE BEYOND RECOGNOTION OR VALUE? PINIERO,MARQUIS,WOLF ALL MID RANGERS, NOT BONAFIDE TOP OF ROTATION STUDSA.
SHEETS & CARPENTER FILE UNDER UNNECESSARY RISK WITH BILLBOEARD SIZED “?”
i strongly disagree that we can’t sign both Lackey and Matt Holliday. THAT has been the issue with the Wilpons for a longtime, likely snake bit by how much they do spend (most in the NL), with so little to show for it.
Who’s fault is that? It’s a combo of the front office’s fault in linkage with the Wilpons. We could’ve gone after Guerrero 5 – 6 years ago but for his ‘bad back’. We sign Castillo but not Hudson or DeRosa. We sign Ollie but not Wolf or Lowe. We pass on Abreu. WE MAKE STUPID DECISIONS! Thous shalt NOT trade a 20 year-old lefty! (So, we trade Kazmir!!) That one hurt to mention again, i know.
We have 30mm coming offthe payroll; get 5mm/yr from Citi for naming rights; have a very high-priced ticket and concession structure.
Met fans should NOT settle. We must DEMAND the Mets spend the money, but wisely. Or get people who can spend it wisely.
That is the point, though. Once you fail to spend it wisely you are stuck with it, like we are with Ollie and Castillo. giving some dumbass another year to screw up is insane.
yeah i agree, but we are stuck with the same fools..and there’s the FA season is upon us, and we have much to do to improve and re-tune this team.
All too true. I just can’t let my hopes get in front of my beliefs, and my belief is that this will be bad.
i hear you…i’m in the hope mode…it’s what the hot-stove league is all about…and maybe we Met fans can push the front office to make sensible moves for the first time in awhile…