Last month, during a much ballyhooed appearance with Mike Francesa on WFAN, Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon seemed to indicate that the Mets would be major players in the free agent market this winter. They stated that their the top targets would be a number two starting pitcher and a big time power hitter. (Their words, not mine.)
They also made it clear that money was not an object and that Omar Minaya was free to pursue any of the top free agents without fear of a cut in payroll. In fact, Wilpon himself said that payroll may very well increase. That was then, and this is now…
Jon Heyman of SI.com, reported on Monday that the Mets are very leery of committing to starting pitcher John Lackey because of concerns about a potential arm injury. Really?
This is the first time that anything regarding Lackey and his potential for injury has been reported.
Apparently, the Mets’ crack medical staff, who were the absolute worst in diagnosing the myriad of their own injuries, have raised the alert in the Mets front office regarding Lackey. Or is this more of the same old Wilpon shenanigans? I smell a rat…
The Mets have played this card before.
Remember back when Vladimir Guerrero first became a free agent?
At the time, the Mets were worried about a potential back injury. Of course Vlad went on to win the MVP that season and compile a Hall of Fame caliber resume since that infamous Mets prognosis. During the span of the six year deal he signed with the Angels, Guerrero averaged 604 at-bats, 30 homeruns, and 103 RBI’s per season. Oh and one more important thing to note…
The Angels went to the post season five times during Guerrero’s six year deal.
If the Mets don’t have the stomach for a bidding war on John Lackey, why don’t they just admit it?
Do they really think that their fan base is so ignorant that they can con us the way Madoff conned them?
How do you think John Lackey and his agent feel today after learning that the Mets made their fears of a Lackey injury public?
I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when that dung hit the fan.
What the Mets did was ensure that John Lackey will never wear the Mets uniform.
They did it in a way that would soften the blow for Mets fans by raising the fear level and sounding the alert at a time when the word ”injury” would make most Mets fans shudder.
From a devious point of view, their plan is brilliant.
Unfortunately, that farce may actually work on many Mets fans, and that’s what Minaya and Wilpon are banking on.
If enough Mets fans fall for it, then they can go ahead and bank the $90 million dollars that they would have had to pay John Lackey.
Instead, Lackey will most likely join Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte in the Bronx next season.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
I would love the Mets to go after Holliday-Bay-Lackey but the amount of time and years,i dont think these players are going to be worth it.If you want to build your minor league teams you cant trade prospects everyyear.How about this no trades a no callups.How about we Sign Figgins to play left 3year/24 million.DeRosa to play 1st,2nd,a bit of 3rd and some left 3/30.Also Barajas 2year/6million.To be the 2010 starting catcher 2011 backup.Then Sign Wolf 2/18,Marquis 3/27 for the rotation.Dotel 1/2 and Beimel 1/2 for the pen.My personnel opinion is Maine should be at the backend of the pen.But anyway the Mets dont loose any propects,that way when a better free-agent crop happens,next year we will be ready.Halladay-Lee-Beckett-Crawford
I wouldnt put too much credence in anything Heyman or Rosenthal say. We’re barely into the hot stove season and already they each had a major trade rumor debunked and called bogus. The Mets know fully well what the fans want and I dont believe that they would alienate Lackey the way Heyman reported it.
I agree – its too early. This is the same guy that said Omar would not have a closer before the winter meetings were over, and he signed both KRod and Putz within 12 hours of making that statement.
I am ready to unload on the Mets too. After the season they gave us and the torture of Yankees AND Phils in the WS, I expect to see a singificant effort over the winter to improve the team. That being said though, I think we should all keep our powder dry. It is early in the offseason and a lot of whaat we are hearing may be a smokescreen. The Mets probably don’t want to tip their hand this early. Making a committment right now saying “yes, we are gong to spend BIG, bucks on players” will skew the market. Better to act like a lukewark player and swoop in once the market gets set. At lease I hope that is the approach.
Personally, I’m leery of Lackey mywelf. He is no Roy Halladay when it comes to dependability and durability. He missed 6 – 7 starts in his FA season alone! Do you really want to invest $60 milliion in a pitcher that you can’t count on to make 33-35 starts? I’m not saying they’re better off with Wolf and/or Penny since those two are also high risk. They’re better off trying to get Halladay first, then failing that go for Wolf and maybe one more. But Lackey is too high risk with not so high a reward in my book.
I am so glad that I am a Yankee fan. But seriously, Lackey to the Mets gives them a 1 and 1A starter and puts them in really good position to compete. Consider that Reyes will be back and hopefully Beltran will be healthy, you guys could really compete for the playoffs. With K-Rod on the back end you should close out a lot of games as well. just get a second baseman who can catch a pop-up and you will be just fine. Maybe Branyon for first base on a 2-3 year deal. There is a lot of potential, Minaya can figure it out. You guys need a new GM.
A Yankee fan giving the Mets fans advice? Where did you hide the Trojan Horse? Just kidding, I actually agree with everything you said.
If the mets are saying stuff about Lackey that is not true they are undermining his bargaining position and there might be consequences. Wait…oh right….nobody believes anything the mets say. They are the guys who blamed other team’s medical staffs for incompetent injury diagnoses on their players. Wontpon shenanigans…do you think????
I said it the day after the media blitz on a blog that I didn’t buy what Omar and Wilpon were selling. This is typical Wilpon behavior, they don’t want to spend so they say the injury word and then expect us to show up to Ebbets Field and watch 40 year olds playing.
Plus, I read on a blog that Omar has already dismissed the possibility of signing Bay or Holliday, hinting that their demands would be too high. Of course, blogs are not totally reliable. Then again, anything Omar and Jeffie said to Fatso would probably be totally UNreliable. I wonder if the Players Union could go after them for restraint of trade or something, with this kind of injury talk?
I mean–how would they know about Lackey’s health? I don’t think any other team would let our doctors examine their players.
You wrote: “Do they really think that their fan base is so ignorant that they can con us the way Madoff conned them?”
Actually, what I’m hearing now is the the Wilpon’s are not only conning their fan base, they may have been one of the few who conned Madoff!
Great post. I too wonder how much to put in to what Heyman writes at this point – but unless he’s making something up, someone in the Mets organization wanted to leak it.
And I do remember the Vlad crap all too well. I was firmly in the Vlad camp back then and thought at the time – here is a guy they say has a bad back who is still better then anyone the Mets have.
They were being cheap and couldn’t admit it. They talked themselves out of signing Vlad because they didn’t want to pay – and they’ve been pretty much overpaying ever since.
sounds like the mets’ ambition is to play meaningful games in July. Eventually they will target meaningful games in ST.
I BELIEVE THE ISSUE WITH LACKEY & NYM FEAR OF BIDDING AGAINST NYY STEMS BACK TO ‘81. WHEN WINFIELD SPURNED A MET’ HIGHER OFFER TO ACCEPT A YANKEE ONE. THAT REJECTION SOURED THEM INTO THEIR NEXT BIG F/A MISTAKE THE FOLLOWING YR IN ‘82 ON GEORGE FOSTER. THE NYM CONSOLATION PRIZE IN THE WINFIELD SWEEPSTAKES. IT LIKELY IS THE MAIN REASON FOR NO-BID ON AJ AS WELL LAST YR. JUST AS YANKS AVOID COMPETING AGAINST METS IN ST & EXHIBITION GAMES PRIOR TO INTERLEAGUE THE METS AVOID BIDDING FRUITLESSLY AGAINST THEIR DEEPER POCKETED CROSSTOWN ADVERSARIES. TO THEM BETTER TO LOOK DISINTERESTED & FOOLISH THEN OUTRIGHT REJECTION OF THEIR BEST OFFER EVEN WHEN IT’S SUPERIOR IN VALUE. TO FRED IT’S A NO WIN POSSIBILITY. IF IT WEREN’T FOR NYY DISINTEREST WE WOULD NOT LIKELY HAVE EITHER JOHAN OR BELTRAN. SUCH IS THE FATE OF THE SECOND PLACE TEAM IN A 2 TEAM RACE.