7
2009
Don’t Be Surprised If The Mets Make A Big Splash
An article by 
For the last two months, many of the so-called experts have been doing their best to tell us that the Mets will not be players for some of the top free agents like Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and John Lackey.
We’ve been told that they don’t have the money or that the don’t have the stomach for a bidding war even though any of those players would be a significant improvement.
Instead we’ve been bombarded with reports that the Mets will focus on second tier free agents, or B-level players, or the secondary free agent, or as Bill Madden egregiously asserted and then changed, low level Latino players. They sure don’t give a Mets fan anything to aspire to, do they?
Well, I’m not buying it.
Lately, the Mets have become the brunt of many jokes, and maybe rightfully so. It’s as if picking on the Mets has become the latest fad, and everyone is getting in on it… including some Mets fans who were sucked into the vortex.
There’s going to be a whirlwind of news coming out of Indianapolis in the next three days. Don’t be surprised if the biggest story has the Mets reaching a deal for one of the big three in the days following the end of the Winter Meetings, where for now Omar and his staff will look to improve the team via a trade.
Minaya smartly said the following in an exclusive interview with Adam Rubin of the Daily News.
“Last year we needed a closer and we ended up getting two closers. This year we have more parts that we have to fill in. Are we going to be able to fill all of them in here? I don’t know that. But as far as the pressure, I don’t feel like I have to do something. When you start putting pressure on yourself that you have to do something, it’s not good.”
I discovered that some sites decided to leave off the last sentence to that quote in an attempt to put a negative spin on it and continue to perpetuate the doomsday scenario for Mets fans at the Winter Meetings.
I caution all of you to look beyond the smoke and mirrors and see the facts for what they are.
Would it be in the Mets best interest to come out guns blazing and making public their off season game plan which they have been secretly working on for the last two months?
I know of no otherr GM that would engage in such conduct. They would be laughed out of the business.
I’m very hopeful that the Mets will make some very significant moves in the next 72 hours for the Mets.
I believe they will find a trade partner that will finally jettison Luis Castillo out of Flushing. I hope it’s not for Pat Burrell, but some of the other names that I’ve heard I could live with. If Omar was trigger happy, he probably would have moved Castillo at the first chance he got. Luckily, he is being patient and waiting to make sure that it’s not a deal for the sake of making a deal, but a move he believes will ultimately make the Mets a better team. I’m not a big Omar supporter as most of you know, but I do believe he has the Mets’ best interest at heart.
I also feel strongly that despite what mostly everyone is reporting, that the Mets WILL make a strong push for Toronto pitching ace, Roy Halladay. We may not have a farm system as deep or as talented as some of the other interested parties, but that does not mean we don’t have the pieces. I’m not totally buying the whole “the Mets don’t have what it takes” argument.
The big thing will be moving Luis Castillo.
Once that happens, I expect a domino effect to follow and that it will ultimately lead to one of the “Big Three” playing for the Mets in 2010.
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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Joe D, i agree. i expect the Mets to have a big off season and start it rolling this week. Who else have you heard for Castillo other than Burrell? Pierre? That hasn’t seemed to get much traction. i am all for that trade, if feasible.
Otherwise, i’d gulp and stay with Castillo; go hell bent for Lackey and attempt a trade for a LF. KC is supposed to be interested in Pagan, have a couple of high-paid pitchers (for them) on payroll in Meche and Bannister and wants to shed payroll. i say let’s talk and target DeJesus, primarily, in return.
We shall see, but i think this is going to be a very good week for the Mets.
I’ve heard Pierre initially, but I also heard that Dodgers have softened on Castillo via Joel Sherman, who also writes that they believe Pierre warrants more in return.
Of course the big rumor continues to be moving him for Milton Bradley, and there were earlier rumors that Royals may want him, but not clear for whome.
Ok thanks. KC does seem to want to move Callaspo but they have a 2B-in waiting…Getz, so that one is a puzzle. i guess i’d trade Castillo for Bradley and hold my nose…that guy is a total nut job….but talented.
Joe, I partly agree with you on this. I think the Mets are going to make a big splash this offseason. But I don’t think it will be for 1 of the “Big 3″. But Iw ouldn’t be surprised to see the Mets pick up some good talent, via trade. And I agree with you, that the Mets might just get Halladay, the same way no one thought they would get Santana.
Joe, I hope you’re right about signing one of the big 3, but I just dont see it right now. It just seems we have so many different holes to fill and breaking almost $100 million on one player seems too unrealistic and undoable to me.
Shedding Castillo and his terrible defense is necessary, even if it means taking on Bradley as a bench player (as long as the Cubs put up some $$). My preference is a trade that brings back Curtis Granderson from the White Sox to play LF. Is Parnel & Murphy plus a mid level prospect realistic? The White sox want to drop payroll and this would give moderate talent with big payroll relief for them. Bradley and Frenchy can handle LF and provide punch off the bench with Pagan available for solid D and spot starts. A 1B better than or equal to Murphy will be available from the existing FAs & non-tenders soon to come. Molina for 2 years is OK but I wouldn’t mind a tendem of Oliva & Blanco to save some $$ for Kennedy or Hudson at 2B and a pitcher of consequence. I like Randy Wolf (I did last year also) or Pinero, whicher will take a 2 year deal for a reasonable sum of $. If not then take a shot at Ben Sheets. Marquis is my last pick if these guys don’t pan out.
Why would they make Bradley a bench player at $12 million a year when they wouldnt do it for Castillo at $6 million a year?
If they were so willing to bench someone making $12 million, wouldnt they have done it already by benching Castillo and signing Orlando Hudson rather than re-signing Cora?
Their unwillingness to sign a new second baseman before they unload Castillo is a sign that they would never consider a high salary player for the bench.
Joe, I’ve always believed in ‘following the money.’ All I see now is the Mets trying to save money. So I remain skeptical, with my head outvoting my heart. But I hope you’re onto something.
A central point guides my thinking. The Wilpon’s minimized the impact of the Uncle Bernie fiasco from the very beginning, and they have never provided financial information to correct their initial statements. It’s always been a ‘trust me’ matter of faith with the Wilpon’s. Why should we trust them anymore?
Good article Joe but I feel that Mets should go after Lackey vs Halliday. The money on the back end of a contract you sign with Halliday would hurt Mets. Santana is younger than Halliday so a 34 year old pitcher with a demand for a long term contract that I have heard the Mets would not be able to insure for the whole length just ties Mets hands in the future with two big contracts, Johan and Roy. It would be nice if we could sign him for 4 years, no longer than that, but Halliday would not take that. Please go after the younger Lackey and fill the rest with trades, mid level players and try and save the minor league players we are developing for future trades or to improve the team. These fill in players would also allow us to have some depth that we did not have last year.
OK, I’m one of the folks that so-called got “sucked into the vortex” of negativity. Let me be clear and I hope I speak for many on the so-called negative side of this. It’s not that we don’t expect the Mets to do anything this winter, in fact I sincerely hope that they do. The issue is that there are some of us who are going to be quite PO’d if the Mets don’t so what they are capable of doing this winter. This opinion has as much validity as the rah, rah Mets can do no wrong wait and see side of the argument and it has nothing to do with being fair-weather fans either. We just want to see the team live up to its potential. I know they don’t listen to us fans, but my feeling is that it is better to get this school of thought out into the blogosphere before the fact vs. after the fact. If they come back with somebody like Halladay, I’ll be right here singing their praises and putting my order in for tickets.
They will listen to empty seats and unboat hot dogs and sushi. If the sale of Met paraphernalia plummets, their ears will prick up fast.
“unsold” hot dogs. how did I get those keys out of unsold? it has to be age.
Its going to take a lot of work to fill in the hole that the Mets have right now going into the 2010 season. I would like to see the Mets get:
LF-Carl Crawford or Curtis Granderson?
SP-Marquis, Wolf, Garland, Jackson or Pineiro.
RP-Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez or Beimel
INF-Orlando Hudson
C-Rod Barajas or Bengie Molina.
i agree on everybody except Jackson and Hudson. The Tigers want to trade Jacskon, disliking his 2nd half fade 2 yrs in a row; and Adam Kennedy cheaper and just as good as Hudson….
I have said all along that I think they will make a splash–for the sole sake of making a splash. Because they think we are idiots and will close down the venom factory once they do. See what idiots we have running things? Everything they do is reactive. These blogs should be sending the message that the fan is no longer paying for the privilege of watching a laughing stock–or being conned by promises. I actually think people should sit out the first few months and see what happens. The Wontpons would pee in their pants