22
2009
Nationals Sign Jason Marquis, Mets Never Made Offer
An article by Hojo's Mojo
The Washington Nationals have signed free agent starting pitcher Jason Marquis, according to Byron Kerr of MASN.
MASN sports.com has learned that the Nationals will sign starting pitcher Jason Marquis. Stay tuned for more on this breaking story.
UPDATE: The deal is reported to be for 2 years and $15 million dollars according to Mark Feinsand.
Marquis, who made several overtures that he wanted to sign with the Mets, never got an offer from the Mets who felt it was best to wait for the Jason Bay situation to play out first, although what one has to do with the other is beyond me, its like suntan lotion and a ski rental.
Let me join the growing list of Mets fans who are boggled by this one or two player at a time approach the Mets have taken this off season. Not only has it led to several blown opportunities already, but the chance for further embarrassment just keeps getting greater.
Last week, Bill Ladson of MLB.com reported that Marquis was interested in pitching for the Nationals because he found the prospect of mentoring their young pitching staff very appealing.
Many considered that posturing or an attempt to put some pressure on the Mets, who didn’t budge or bat an eye. The Mets are the last team in the world that should be playing a game of chicken. In fact, they should jump on any player who openly admits to wanting to play for them considering how rare that is.
Marquis now joins Randy Wolf, Brad Penny, John Lackey and Rich Harden as pitchers who the Mets had some interest in, but signed elsewhere.
Yet another NL East team makes a significant improvement.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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This has become outrageous behavior, total immobility, on the part of our front office. We are being out-maneuvered in a game of baseball musical chairs. i guess Omar didn’t realize the music had ‘started’; by the time he does, the music will have stopped.
Time to fire Omar. This is bull****.
F u c k this shit! This is the last effin straw! I cant take this Minaya anymore, he makes me sick! Why didnt we make an offer???? Total BS!!!
Wow, so let me guess this straight.. A guy from ny, who def wants to come here (not many do) and is something we need (pitching) we don’t even make an offer and yet, a guy who doesn’t wanna come here, and another one who’s playing harball we after like crazy!?? Can we plz fire this inept of a gm we have?!? He’s draggin this org to the mud!!!
I totally agree, Minaya is dragging this team down. Will the Mets have enough to finish in 4th place next season?
Who the heck is still out there? Mmarquis wasn’t great. but he was a consistent 14-15 game winner who gave his teams a chance to win and was never injured. Who’s left? Pineiro?
This is what we get for giving Omar and the Wilpons the benefit of the doubt. They promised to improve the rotation and one by one the best options slowly came off the table without so much as a peep from the Mets. I feel like an idiot for renenwing my ticket plan and sending in my first installment payment.
________The final shoe hasn’t even dropped yet. Watch, as in true form, the Mets finish up this brilliant maneuvering by making a panic move.
This is all a symptom of an organizations that is so bad at everything that every free agent year is make or break for them. And theyve (over) built a ballpark for pitching and defense and then immediately go out and emphasize offense over pitching and defense in their pursuits. Clueless.
Thanks for nothing Omar! Didnt Francoeur say Marquis was a Mets fan growing up and wanted to be a Mets more than anything? What was the big hold up?
Marquis wasn’t a Mets fan. He was a Yankee fan growing up and his favorite player was Mattingly.
As far as Marquis going to the Nats goes…Minaya blew it again? Why am I not surprised? I hope this clown gets fired because I’ve just about had it already with him practically sitting on his hands.
Watch now, to make mets fans not get angry they’re gonna go and offer pinero a 4 year deal worth 40 million, and pretend is all dandy.. The only way I want pinero here is if he brings dave duncan along wit him.. He’s not that good and will buckle against good lineups.. God..
I like to know what he signed for,I think Omar is fine and being very wise with his moves,getting Bay is what the doctor ordered for a slugging righty,I would prefer Crawford for left with a trade.I think we have the money and others don’t so I don’t think waiting is a bad move.Sheets is the best pitcher left along with the cuban kid,Marqui wasn’t that special for 10 mil per .You guys can’t fire a guy when you don’t know what his plan is I think we make a blockbuster with Cincy and get Phillips and Arroyo and all you fire Omar comments will be eating major crow and I would gladly be serving it for you.I find people that bash him never did like him so they are bias with their BS opinions but let’s see what he does first is my point.
Are you freaking kidding me??? Put down the crack pipe please.
That was omar, using an alias.
that’s not true, i wanted Omar to come here; thought he was a great talent evaluator and did a great job in a very bad Expo organization. BUT he’s been terrible the past 2 – 3 years with no moves or very bad ones. And he is missing the boat on this off-season. i will gladly eat my hat if he pulls off a big & great deal with the Reds (or any other team) and/or signs a few good F/A’s.
RENE:
While I agree wit u he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, since he’s been here he hasn’t done nothing worth mentiong, other than over paying for betran & pedro, and luck out for santana he has done horrendous trades that made no sense, signing horrible players to horrible contracts, and to top it all, the scouting manager team he put together has made our farm system be more of a garden system since is in shambles. He doesn’t plan future, he thinks of now and not later.. He needs to go.. Watch him overpay for a bad player, yet another bad signin in pinero
Mr Minaya, you blew it again — Jason is homegrown boy w/ a lot of grit and just what the METS clubhouse needs. Just like John Franco did 20+ yrs ago, Jason ould have been a welcome addition and brought maturity, intelligence and class to the orginzation. I guess you’ll resign Livian Hernadez, or maybe bring back El Duque. What a disappointment you’ve turned out to be..once a young star GM, now you’re star is dimming. I’m a METS fan, but Mr Minaya your seconf fiddle to Mr Cashman across town ann Mr Amaro down the turnpike. It’s time for the Wilpon’s to send you packing, why wait for another 60-102 season.
What exactly has omar been doing? Is he sitting in his office staring at the phone, waiting for Bay’s agent to call? Why can’t he be courting a pitcher opr talking trade. It is simply ludicrous. Met fans, revolt!
He signed a 2 year deal.. Wow.. Yet he gave el duque an 8 mill extension while hurt he doesn’t even offer this guy 2 year 15 mill or something like that? He better surprise all of the mets fan base wit a blockbuster, or the renewal plan they got going is not gonna pan out.
Mr. Wilpon please stop the bleedingand get a handle on this organizatio …Please fire Minaya and Manuel and start a new -remember these are the same guys along w/ Bernazard that conspired and ran Willy out of town..Hey Willy isn’t looking so bad now is he.
Whether you think Marquis was a good fit for the Mets or not, what I’m afraid of most is the Mets are going to fool around, wait on Bay and miss out on any of the remaining free agent pitchers out there.
I doubt this has anything to do with Minaya u guys have no clue its unbelievable when i read this stuff. Its obviously ALL coming from ownership you think Minaya as aggresive as he’s always been is going to be sitting and waiting for 1 player ? U guys are clueless
Alex24 no trade Omar has done was worht it ? He overpayed for Beltran ? and Pedro ? Ur an idiot dude a straight no knowing shhh idiot Beltran is a stud what about the crap he gave away for Delgado? and the crap for Loduca? And Santana fell into his lap ? U idiot obviously he played the gm right with that one and didnt over pay for Santana because he new the Yanks and ox wouldnt either
U right, we r clueless, is all on the ownership, but it seems u forgot how ownerhips has given omar a free open wallet, and what has he done? Sign terrible contracts after terrible contract.. So u don’t think that ownership has had enough? He wasn’t fire this year becoz of the extension he was given (which was absurd) otherwise he’s gone after this year.
According to Mark Feinsand, the deal is for two years and $15 million. At $7.5 MM per season, it looks like a solid deal for the Nats. Especially when you consider what we’re paying for Oliver Perez.
What! Why couldn’t Omar match or beat that?!
For some reason, they are sticking to this policy and I quote,
“Our focus is entirely on Jason Bay and Bengie Molina right now. Once we are settled in those areas we will take a look at the pitching.”
Because pitching, as we all know, is far less important.
Joed86:
First of all, is funny how u offend me when we’re not face to face, second of all, look at the facts, yes he got santana, and maybe delgado for crap, but overpay for beltran to get him, now, move on to the rest, look @ the signs & trades he’s done that hurt the team:
Alou, el duque, castillo, perez, redding, livan, cora, marlon anderson, julio franco, to mention a few, now trades: bell, lidstrom, anderson, putz (while hurt) hernandez, bannister, and he got in return what exactly: nothing.. His magic has run out, and unless he really shock us mets fans noone can defend him..
The same people that are complaining about Marqui are the ones that wanted to sign Castillo,Omar has been as good as other Gm’s in trades and signings and the next few trades or signings are very key IMO,Bay is not Omar’s fault.You can’t blame guys for going elsewhere that’s the problem the Mets had before Omar.I think his best bet is a blockbuster trade with the strapped team that’s Omar specialty when we raided Florida I would go after Arroyo and Phillips from Cincy but he has to move Castillo that a big problem for him.I think that’s why he hasn’t done anything yet if Castillo was gone he would of made a few moves by now.
Did anybody was really excited to have castillo back?? Not after that choke job we had.
NOTHING TO DO W/ MINAYA??..LAST I LOOKED HE IS THE GM -I.E.-GENERAL MGR’…IF HE DOESN’T MAKE ANY DECISIONS, THEN THEY DON’T NEED HIM..
FIRE HIM!…HE GAVE CASTILLO W/ 2 BUMB KNEES A 3YR DEAL AND NOW WE’RE STUCK W/ HIM…HE OVERPAID FOR OLIVER PEREZ….HE STILL THINKS FERNANDO MARTINEZ IS GOING TO BE A STAR….I COULD GO ON, BUT WHY BOTHER…
Watch the Mets sign Joel Pineiro and pay close attention to how much he gets paid. I bet it will be for more years and average dollars than what Marquis got. And I think some of you will know why.
-A pitcher (any pitcher) is only as good as the home plate umpire permits him to be. By that same token,for a pitcher to pitch a good game depends alot on who the home plate umpire is that day.
Are we cursed?
Okay, time to talk you guys off the ledge! Jason Marquis would have been an okay signing for one, perhaps two years at $15 million but ONLY IF YOU HAVE A SOLID NUMBER TWO STARTER. If he got $15 mil from the Nats, he would have wanted more from the Mets and I’m sorry, a number four starter isn’t worth that. I’d rather give those innings to Jon Niese and save the money. Besides, now I think we make a bigger push for a trade with Reds and get Arroyo. And Piniero is still out there and he’s in the same league with Marquis. The bigger issue is that this makes Omar look like a real idiot for what he gave Perez last season.
You make great points. But it’s the inaction that gets me on all fronts. And i don’t like Piniero–his stats are all Duncan’s doing. i do like Niese, but it would be nice to have some depth in the rotation, and Marquis would have been a solid, healthy, relatively dependable addition….only 1 of 8 – 9 pitchers in all of baseball to have won at least 12 games/yr over past 9 years, and i also think he pitched great for the Rockies last year in DENVER.
Still no moves. Pathetic.
Too much waiting and too many opportunities missed.
As a Met fan. I am embarrassed by this “non-action” off season. Next year the Nationals will be better than us!
I am not renewing my 15 game plan and as of now, I don’t feel like going to any Met games. Happy “OLD” year to the Mets.
Carol
FIRE OMAR!!! he didn’t overpay for a pitcher with a career 4.48 ERA.
Please, why would we want to overpay for a a back of the rotation starter? I would be upset if we signed Marquis.
Alright, the Mets wanted us to do it and I think they finally convinced us- we are going to have the same team as last year.
Bay- Doesn’t want to be here
Molina- Doesn’t want to be here
Omar- Powerless (lame duck)
Wilpons- Clueless and hopeless
When you hear that they are thinking of bringing back Pedro, you know they’re bufoons and incapable of rational, organized thought. Any one of us (even Chicho =), lol) is capable of making moves that will break a few eggs but will make a playoff omelet.
C’est la vie. Call me in 2011 when the Mets have a new GM. Hopefully new owners (actual baseball men), too.
Like Steve Phillips, this will be beyond a shadow of any doubt, Omar Miniya’s LAST GM job. When he’s fired (and I hope it’s soon) he’ll get hired by ESPN Deportes or as the link to the D.R. for the MLB channel.
I predict that the Nationals will finish 2010 ahead of us. They were already better than us when last season ended, and if it wasn’t for the Nationals atrocious start, they would have finished ahead of the Mets.
It’s really time for Miniya to go, he is wilting under pressure. And you saw how he acts under pressure with the firing of his crony Tony Bernazard.
This guy is a bum masquerading as a GM.
Just watch. We will come out of ST with Elmer Dessens in the starting rotation after Perez, Niese, and Nieve aren’t ready to go. But don’t worry, Omar will get around to it when’s he’s ready.
Well, it is true that the guy in Seattle is making Omar look like he doesn’t have a clue. Where is the creativity?
Where is the money? The Mets apparently don’t have any!!!
It ain’t Omar’s fault. He wants a winner but the Mets front office won’t let him ! The coffers are empty, the money is kaput!!!
I better put my flame suit on for this, but Marquis is marginally better then Perez, I’m not losing sleep over this one.
However, that is NOT to say someone better light a fire under his butcus to get something going.
Moving on Marquis is like signing someone simply to sign someone.
I could cry. I wanted Jason Marquis to be a Met more than anything! Well the Mets will pay when they face him next season and then they will see how big of a mistake they made.
Folks – relax – Marquis is the white version of Perez
His record is 94-83 with an ERA of 4.48
Do we REALLY need to overpay AGAIN for someone mediocre.
From some of these posts you’d think Omar passed up on Sandy Kofax for God’s Sakes.
Marquis NOT that good……………
I do agree with many that something has to be done and soon, but not signing Marquis is not the end of the world folks
FYI – with two years LESS service in the majors, OP has 200+ strikeouts more then Marquis….
WHY CAN’T THE METS DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!! Probably one the only people that WANTS to play for us, and we don’t even offer him anything. I think Omar has done his last move as GM.
They DID get this right
Does ANYONE do their homework????
He has an era.of almost 5
I realize we have holes to be filled but passing on this guy was the first smart thing done in a long time.
This fan base gets dumber everyday.
i am waiting for the mets fan that comes and says spend no money, keep the team as is and have murphy at 1b, pagan/martinez in LF and have pelfrey, maine, neise and perez in the rotation and bring mejjia into the pen, and have thole and blanco C ughhh
C-Thole/Blanco, 1b-Murphy, 2b-Castillo, SS-Reyes, 3b Wright, LF Pagan or Martinez, CF Beltran, RF- Franceour
Rotation-Santana, Perez, Maine, Pelfrey and Neise
Bullpen-K-rod, the new Japanese Pitcher, Stokes, Parnell, Mejjia, Feliciano.
Bench-Blanco, Martinez/Pagan, Cora, Nick Evans, etc.