29
2010
One Week Away From Winter Meetings, So What’s The Plan?
An article by Craig Lerner
Isn’t it amazing how quickly October has turned to November, and now November turns to December? Believe it or not, just one week from today, the 2010 Winter Meetings will commence in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. and run from December 6-9.
By then, we’ll know whether Pedro Feliciano will still be toiling in our bullpen in 2011, or if we need to add a lefty specialist to our very long offseason shopping list.
Using the updated 40 Man Roster posted by Hojo’s Mojo this morning as a guide, I tried to create a hypothetical 25 man roster that I filled with those players who are a virtual lock to be on the Opening Day Roster, and seeing how many spots we still need to fill.
Lets begin with starting pitching and see how many of those 12 spots we can fill.
1. Mike Pelfrey
2. R.A. Dickey
3.
4. Jon Niese*
5. Dillon Gee
Closer – Frankie Rodriguez
Setup – Bobby Parnell
Middle – Ryota Igarashi
Middle – Pat Misch*
Long – Oliver Perez*
RH – Manny Acosta
LH – Pedro Feliciano*
At the very least, what the Mets don’t have right now is a fifth starter who they can slot behind Pelfrey and Dickey, preferably a a second southpaw.
The Mets should have a solid end game with Parnell and K-Rod, but if they have to carry Perez again or fail to bring back Feliciano, things can get pretty dicey for us next season.
In an ideal situation, the Mets should sign a left handed starter, a Takahashi type long reliever and spot starter, and upgrade one of their short reliever spots.
That leaves 13 spots for our starting lineup and bench.
1B – Ike Davis
2B – Luis Castillo
SS – Jose Reyes
3B – David Wright
C – Josh Thole
LF – Jason Bay
CF – Carlos Beltran
RF – Angel Pagan
1/3 – Daniel Murphy
2/S – Ruben Tejada
OF4 – Lucas Duda
OF5 -
C -
The only players who are virtually a lock to return are Ike, Wright, Pagan, Bay and Thole. Otherwise all bets are off. As it stands now the Mets definitely need a backup catcher and a defensive minded fifth outfielder who can get on base and steal bases too.
Tejada could start the season in the minors if Murphy wins the second base job sending Castillo to the bench or out on the sidewalk. Justin Turner could factor into the equation too with a big spring.
The outfield configuration, particularly Pagan and Beltran, get talked about a lot, but regardless of what some say, I’m betting they will both be back next season.
Jose Reyes could get traded, but again I seriously doubt it.
I’m thinking that for most of this week, Alderson, Depo and J.P. are probably scouring through pages and pages of reports on available mid level starters and backup catchers. I wouldn’t be surprised if we fill one or both of those spots before the first week of December is over.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data systems engineer who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. My girlfriend and I go to about 15 games a year. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go. I bleed blue and orange.
57 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 26 | 17 | .605 | - |
| Nationals | 25 | 17 | .595 | 0.5 |
| Marlins | 23 | 19 | .548 | 2.5 |
| Mets | 22 | 20 | .524 | 3.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 22 | .488 | 5.0 |
Last updated: 05/22/2012
Recent Comments
- Nathan: on On The Road With Petey Pete: Wet & Soggy In New Britain: I am seriously jealous. Work has always...
- Nathan: on 2012 MLB Draft: OF David Dahl, SS Carlos Correa, C Stryker Trahan: I love draft time. It's like the...
- Joey D.: on Morning Grind: We Sure Could Use Someone Like Angel Pagan In Centerfield Right Now: Fonzi, Forgot to add to my assessment that...
- Joey D.: on Morning Grind: We Sure Could Use Someone Like Angel Pagan In Centerfield Right Now: Hi Fonzie, Oh, I agree that anyone who...
- Petey Pete: on On The Road With Petey Pete: Wet & Soggy In New Britain: Seriously? I may just want to take...
MMO Live Chat
Write Your Own Mets Post
Dude, your projections are flawed: the mets need a number one starter, that’s the spot you should have empty. Are you saying that you’re resigned to the mets adding a worse pitcher than pelfrey or dickey? To me that is unacceptable! they need to aim higher and can do so…we have the pieces to get at least a number two type.
I believe Sandy Alderson made it very clear that he is not pursuing a top starter but a midlevel guy. This projection is actually spot on, it’s Alderson that’s flawed.
In a perfect world, Duda and Tejada wouldn’t see a day in the major leagues this year. Their game is not ready for it and they need more time. Unfortunately, the pickins is slim. Personally, I’d promote Turner over Tejada to back up 2B. Turner’s star isn’t as bright and he’s probably expendable once (if) the timer dings on Tejada and Havens. I also love Eric Hinske for a backup corner outfielder and pinch hitter, but my guess is he signs with Baltimore to complete his tour of the AL East.
“In a perfect world, Duda and Tejada wouldn’t see a day in the major leagues this year. Their game is not ready for it and they need more time. Unfortunately, the pickins is slim.”
So true. Add to what you say, in a perfect world, Ike would ride the pines until he straightened out his ridiculous slo-pitch software swing.
Ike? Ike is not a problem. What team have you been following?
Kevin, Ike is not a problem. But he HAS one. He has a hitch in his swing that will cause him to remain league average for his career if not fixed. I, for one, and not worried. But his hitch is evident. 19 home runs and the rest of his numbers are very good for a rookie with a lot of potential. But if he don’t fix what’s broken, that’s all he’ll ever be, and another huge prospect will have gone down the tubes.
Let’s see what Ike will do in the coming year. I’m not sold like you, because he has several mechanical flaws in his swing. He has two hitches in one swing — one vertical and one horizontal. Incredible.
Why didn’t his coaches straighten it out? I don’t know. He obviously has wonderful hand-eye coordination but he could be much better if he got rid of his kinks. He is a very slow base runner which isn’t going to get better as he ages. So he needs to deal with his swing to maximize his potential.
his coaches haven’t straightened it out because it means nothing. it doesn’t need straightening out. If it was something that needed to be taken care of it would have been. this is the major leagues. He’s not striking out because of a hitch he’s striking out because he hasn’t figured out a major league change-up yet. As long as your hands get back to where they need to be to start your swing it doesn’t matter what the hell you do. how come Barry Bonds’s coaches didn’t straighten out his hitch? Ike had a .351 OBP with 19 HR’s and 72 walks in his ROOKIE year, and got BETTER in september when pitchers were so supposed to be catching on to him. believe me Ike Davis will be fine, hitch or no hitch.
Chris, you appear to be as intractable as Bayonne. But you’re wrong. Ike is stubborn. He resisted comments from Keith and that’s why he came to the majors with his softball swing. Unless he’s a moron, he’ll eventually change. But that may take time given his reluctance. And it will cost him on the field regardless of how good he may be. He can be better.
I don’t mean to say he can’t have some big games. It’s just that he won’t be the player he could be if he worked on his swing. One of the reasons he got better in September was that he wasn’t facing the same caliber of pitching with all the callups. Again time will tell.
k, if that’s what you think. you’re right, time will tell.
Baseball is a meritocracy. The best wins out. That often takes time to discern by the operational staff. We should all be content with the best players being on the field. If it’s Ike, praise to him. I’m just not so sure he’s as good as his incessant Mets PR claims he is. For example, the word in NYC was that Ike had a good shot at, or at least deserved to be, Rookie of the Year. That assessment turned out to be dead wrong. He came out in the middle of the pack.
Keith is a booth announcer and not a coach. Yeah he worked for ONE week with the potential 1b guys last year. How do you know he is stubborn, that is an assumption at this point.
You sure are critical of a rookie that had the best year on this team since Strawberry.
The starting pitching projections are just a wish list. We need two, not one, starting pitchers who can throw 180-200 innings. Otherwise our bullpen numbers will likely go through the roof.
2B – Only a hunch, but I see Turner and Murphy doing a platoon job while Castillo gets traded or released.
If Murphy contines to hit .460 against lefties as in winter ball there will be no platoon with Turner. Turner might stay on the bench only if he can play S/S. If only 2nd base then we need a player to relieve Reyes at times.
Between Murphy, Havens and Turner, we have enough to make Tejada a permanent AAA fixture. Those guys are two way baseball players, not just defensive replacements.
he shouldn’t even be in AAA. A 20 year old who can’t field and can’t hit. Why he was ever in the major leagues this year is beyond me. I could tell you why but it caused a stir last time I said it.
I have 2 idiots here that are more concerned with making some kind of statement to me than giving their honest assessments.
You have one dope saying Tejada is a permanent AAA player and you have the other misanthrope saying a 20 year old “who can’t field”
Obviously sensible baseball tells you that the kid could develop into a serviceable hitter, could have some .280 – .300 seasons as he gets older, his body develops, and matures.
But that’s sensible baseball – something these 2 losers won’t comprehend
Oh – and of course…the kid, right now, is the Mets BEST defensive 2B – Adam Rubin DM to me when I posed this to him:
“Defensively? Definitely. But he can’t hit enough right now to be a starter, it would appear.”
A perfectly sensible response from a pro – not 2 anonymous joe schmoes.
I guess Adam didn’t look at the numbers either. I’m sorry but a fld% in the .930′s in the minor leagues is absolutely dreadful. I would even accept he COULD POSSIBLY be the best, as he matures, but even that would be a stretch. but best now? no, sorry.
oh, and Adam Rubin is a pro WRITER. he is not a pro anything in baseball. Adam Rubin’s word saying he is the best is no better than any one of ours. That is his opinion. and a crappy one at that. But he sure can write the sh*t out of an article.
I respect his opinion more than yours. Put it that way.
Also I have a feeling if I poised the same question to any 20 pro anything that have their own minds..instead of Bill James’.. they would probably answer the same
Frustrated jocks who can’t really play the game very well often become coaches or sports writers. I went to college with at least three guys who became prominent writers. What makes you think that a lack of athletic ability morphs into an insightful writer? Or a coach?
“Obviously sensible baseball tells you that the kid could develop into a serviceable hitter, could have some .280 – .300 seasons as he gets older, his body develops, and matures.
But that’s sensible baseball – something these 2 losers won’t comprehend”
Bayonne, you’re the loser. Who or what is ‘sensible baseball?’ Is is animal, vegetable or mineral? Or is it just another case of your wild speculations? Do you use sensible baseball, whatever it is, to justify your view that you’ve got the goods to be a scout? Laughable. Learn how to write English before you start crowing, pal!!!
Chris, maybe you’re right. Tejada will be an AA fixture at Binghamton. Don’t tell anyone who thinks Tejada doesn’t have to eat a bucket full of spinach.
I can tell you that Ruben Tejada will not be a AA fixture at Binghamton. And yes he is the best defensive 2B on the Mets right now.
Giving your glowing assessments of Tejada at second base, I bet you think he’ll be the best hitter of all the guys who compete for 2B next spring. I don’t.
Some guys develop and some guys don’t. That’s why we have minor leagues. If he’s the best all around player, he’ll play. Otherwise he’ll be replaced. You don’t really know what he’ll wind up being.
The one thing about Tejada I agree with you on is that he is very young.
No, I did not say he’ll be the best hitter of all the guys who compete at 2B next spring. I never said that. Again you make up stories.
You’r right in that I don’t know what he’ll become but I can make an educated guess.
Make up stories? You’re nuts.
You have been saying you want to bet all night about Tejada. Given your absolute projections of his future, my statement that “I bet you think he’ll be the best hitter of all the guys” is no wilder than the garbage you’ve been spewing. What was made up?
So what you’re saying is you’re justifying making up a false quote by me because you disagreed with me.
Bayonne, you’re hopeless. Why is a speculation the same as a false quote? Where is my quote? Get some sleep and get a life.
would you mind explaining WHY he is the best, mr. scout man? because I have repeatedly shown you why he isn’t, but you have yet to explain to me why he is. all I keep getting is that other people say he is and the announcers say so when you “watch the games”. you got an opinion of your own?
From what I saw, the way he plays the game and his SMARTS. He has a baseball savvy you can’t teach. He plays with the maturity of a person much older than him. That’s why.
but if he can’t make the plays, all of that means jack. And he hasn’t proven he can consistently make the plays at ANY level he has played in.
I thought he made the plays no worse than any other 2B we had this season, in fact I think he was the best defenseman we had at 2B this season. Okay he made some flubs, it’s his first time and he’s a kid at 20 but he also showed brilliance, especially at SS with same type of deep-in-the-hole turn and throw to 1B that Jeter has mastered. And who can forgot his call for the pick off at 2B to end a game. That’s a lot of confidence for a rookie and he’ll use that same confidence to get better. He’s tough so don’t count him out.
again, Castillo had a third of the errors in 200 more innings. and Hernandez played far less, only 75 innings, but made ZERO errors. In fact, interestingly enough, he has NEVER made an error at 2B in his career, EVER. And they both had better range. I still wanna know what games you were watching all year. You sure they were Mets games?
Tejada absolutely had better range than Castillo, did YOU watch the telecasts? I can’t say for sure about Hernandez but I also never heard about any reports of Hernandez having better range than Tejada. I doubt it.
whichis another way to say i have no idea what i am talking about, but “i played the game”.
whether you like it or not, UZR is a measure of range, and Castillo and Hernandez both had better UZR. sorry to dent your ego, but UZR is way more accurate than your eyes watching a tv screen.
He doesn’t know what he’s talking about but his cranium is filled with knowledge from coaching impressionable kids. That’s probably all this guy has going for himself. It’s more important than the collective wisdom, written and oral, of the ages.
Oh no way,
I trust my eyes on this.
In watching, you honestly thought Castillo had better range than Tejada?
Yup, I do. actually it wasn’t even close. Castillo’s UZR/150 was at least positive. by a fair amount too. Tejada’s was -11.3. You probably think Castillo is garbage because of his reputation and once again going by what everyone says who hates Castillo. I swear I really don’t think you have an opinion that is yours. Castillo blew Tejada away at 2B this year.
Bayonne is a legend in his own mind. He’s waiting for the rest of the world to realize it. Until then, he’ll continued to make his views public and discourage/repress/lambaste/denigrate all competing viewpoints.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Not going by UZR or mentioning any of that….from watching and forming your own opinion you honestly thought Castillo did a better job than Tejada?
Chris, Bayonne has coached teenagers who apparently are more impressionable than you. Maybe that’s why he thinks he’s infallible and you’re wrong.
At least I did. That experience does help you with your perspectives, no?
once you have coached kids you no longer need evidence, in fact antyhgin you say can be justified with “i played the game and taught little kids crap as well”
Tejada also won the starting job and Castillo was relegated to the bench. He only lost it due to lack of hitting but eventually got back in there and started to hit better towards the end of the year.
So the team felt he was better too otherwise they wouldn’t have given the job to him.
Injuries to Castillo played no part in the replacement? Are you kidding? Luis was hurting.
We’ll have to see what Tejada does next spring and in the seasons that follow. But teaching a guy to hit is usually not done after promotion to the big leagues. Carlos Gomez was a blue chip prospect who was rated higher than Tejada. He is still trying to hit better and stay off the bench.
I’m not saying Tejada is bad. I’ve never said that. I just don’t think he will outplay as a complete player, Murphy/Havens/Turner. The odds are against it.
he probably won’t even be a Met anymore by opening day. they’ll prob trade him for a back-up catcher.
Right, and when Castillo came back he wound up being back on the bench again. Tejada had won the starting job.
You’re not known for your sense of humor, are you?
But you are known to be stubborn and intractable. Maybe you should switch traists.
There is it is – Havens. How much major league hitting has he seen, yet you’ve already got a HOF plaque ready for him, as long as it’s not Tejada.
Save a seat on the Binghamton bench for Tejada. The future is fast approaching. he he he
Actually Tejada needs more time in the minors so the Mets can really see if he’s progressing offensively. We see glimmers of hope, but he hasn’t shown himself to be industrial strength yet. He has a nice swing. Will he ever be able to handle high hard ones? Let’s give it a chance and we’ll see.
Havens and Murphy right now are much better offensively. Injuries and recovery will determine their futures much more than Tejada. Both those guys can handle both the average and power requirements. Scouting reports on Havens say he has a plus arm and plus range for a guy at 2B. Murphy is a work in progress but is already accomplished offensively.
Here we go again!! Overrating our pitching. If i had my druthers I would see
what offers we can get for the head case-Pelfrey. Only in NY do we percieve him as a potential star! Remember last time, he had a halfway decent season,NY annointed him as a #2. We all know how that worked out.How many balks did he have. I say let’s see what we can get while he is coming off a good season not great as many new yorkers think. He is nothing more than a 4 or 5. Maybe we can hoodwink TB into thinking he is better!!
Rich
Pelfrey can throw a lot of innings and his performance will wind up in the top 30% – 50% of all major league pitchers. That’s who he is and for the Mets and most teams he’s valuable. Stardom is probably not going to happen but he’s a good mid-term player if Santana never comes back to be the pitcher we all expected.