Yankees Sign Soriano To A “Putz” Of A Deal

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• Sean Kenny January 15, 2011 at 9:04 pm

  The key to this is all the opt-outs. Thats the only plus side. If he isn’t opting out for more money, and for a true closing deal he will gladly do it. He is a year-to-year closer, and is very liquid because if he is traded, he could opt out at any point.
  • t agee January 16, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    The only similarity of the Soriano signing to the Putz trade is that the NYY will now have a successful closer setting up another successful closer. Other than that it’s apples to apes.

    The JJ Putz trade set in motion so many disatrous results for the Mets it’s hard to even know where to begin.

    We traded away 7 players or prospects. We received back 3 the main one being JJ Putz who was well known, even by fantasy baseball players, to have a bad elbow and wound up pitching 29 innings to a 5.22 ERA before under going surgery.

    How you can trade for a pitcher who is well known to have an elbow issue and then let him pitch in the World Baseball Classic in March is beyond me.

    Reed, 27 at the time of the trade went .242/301/304 -0.4 WAR and was expected to replace Endy as Murphy’s defensive replacement in LF. Manuel hardly used him in this role, or any other one, even before Murphy was moved to 1B.

    Chavez, 31 at the time of the trade was typical Endy with Seattle until a mid season collision tore up his ACL. In half a season he put up a 0.8 WAR slanted heavily toward his defensive value.

    Joe Smith, 25 at the time has regressed with Cleveland and is trying to get back to the Majors. Does not look like the pitcher who broke camp with us in 2008.

    Sean Green, 30, at the time pitched for 2 years here to a 4.42 and a 3.86 era returning a -0.3 WAR.

    Mike Carp, 22, at the time a AA 1B man theoretically would have been Delgado’s 3rd in line back up Bench/AAA/then Carp would have certainly been a better option in 2010 then Mike Jacobs and with considerably more upside to say the very least. In limited ML opportunities he’s gone .315/415/463 and .189/268/243 returning a 0.6 and a -0.3 WAR in those combined 106 plate appearances with avg. D.

    Maikel Cleto 19, at the time was in A+, still is.

    Ezequiel Carerra 21, at the time has spent the last 2 years in AAA with Cleveland and now ironically with Seattle and appears to be an Endy clone down there.

    Heilman, traded to the Cubs and spent last year with AZ pitched to a 4.11 and 4.50 ERA somehow earning positive WARS of 0.3 and 0.1 over 144 innings.

    JASON VARGAS, 26 at the time a LHP out all of 2008 with an arm injury was intially acquired by Omar for either Lindstrom or Owens right about the time of the Bannister/psycho trade started 31 games for Seattle last year in a big park with a great D but put up a strong 195 IP to a 3.78 ERA and over 2 years has earned a 0.4 and a 2.6 WAR and now at 28 years of age is pretty much our missing 4th or 5th starter.

    This trade was not only a total disaster from a value received stand point. 4.5 WAR – -0.8 WAR, or a salary stand point Putz 5.5 Mil plus 1.5 Mil buyout vs. not much, it also set in motion other events which cost us players down the road. When you have a weak farm to start with and then trade 5 young prospects along with 2 other pieces and actually get worse you cannot then lose even more players because of it.

    One of the the key differences between Sean Green and Joe Smith was that Joe Smith had options remaining allowing us to send him down without putting him on waivers, Green, nor anyone else in the Pen did. When Omar needed to send someone down ( to bring up Figgy for a spot start) he decided to offer rule 5 Darren O’Day back to the Angels but their roster was full however Texas was glad to grab him and he so far has pitched to a 1.84 and 2.03 ERA earning a 1.4 and 0.9 WAR in the process.

    Another result of this trade is my belief that between Putz’s salary and buyout (about 7M) when Wagner returned Omar sold Wagner to recoup some of the money from the increase in payroll we added in 2009 primarily from paying 3 closers that year and the FAR below projected revenue that season provided (tickets, burgers, parking, soda, merchandise beer ect.) K-Rod, Putz, Wagner)

    Selling Wagner to Boston for Chris Carter (a DH who was going to be exposed to the rule 5 draft by Boston anyway in order to protect a real prospect from rule 5 poachers) saved the Mets 2M in salary, 1.5 M in Wagners buyout and approximately 2.5M that we would have spent on the two prospects (#19 and 39) in the following June Amateur draft.

    A couple of posters have insisted that Wagner had a handshake deal with the Mets that they would not offer arb which is ridiculous since A) Boston did. and B) in a sport with such contentious relationships between management and labor the idea of a handshake agreement which would give away Company assets (those 2 draft choices) in order to provide a departing player a better chance of securing a larger deal with his next employer is laughable.

    One poster suggested that Wagner WOULD have accepted arb with us despite the fact that A) he didn’t with Boston and B) He wasn’t going to set up for anyone. and C) He was going to close and he was going to do it as close to home as possible. He probably had contact with the Braves during his rehabilitation while in VA.

    Boston wound up receiving the two high draft choices and spent them on second basemen Kolbrin Vitek .270/364/418 in the NY Penn and A- and Anthony Raunaudo a 6’7″ RHP who has yet to pitch in the minors. Both of these prospects are currently ranked in the top 10 in Boston’s VERY deep farm system, Raunaudo #3 and Vitek #8.

    One thing Boston fans never have to say when defending a bad free agent signing (not that they have too many) is “well who else were we going to get for 2B or starting pitcher.” For a team who’s fans constantly point to that very same phrase while defending the signing of Castillo and Perez to simply give away the very solution to a problem we have had for years around here is inexcusable and the very definition of moronically inept.

    To recap, We got a 5.22 era from a known to be injured JJ Putz over 29 innings.

    Seattle has a 4th or 5th starter that we gave them and that we could really use right now.

    Boston has a very highly regarded prospect for 2B with an eta of 2013. They also have a VERY highly regarded prospect for starting pitcher with an eta of 2014.

    Texas has a very effective RHP in the bullpen.

    Tampa has our DH.

    Now no one can say for sure it was Omar alone that traded those two picks to Boston or if Jeff was looking to improve the financial bottom line and had him do it. I tend to believe there is no way Omar traded those picks for a DH but who knows. The bottom line is this trade made us worse then and it’s made us worse now and will probably continue to make us worse well into the 2020′s. Great job Omar. Great job Jeff.

    Is it any wonder why we’re picking off the scrap heap after deals like this one?
    • t agee January 16, 2011 at 1:41 pm

      A few more things about the sheer ineptitude of the Putz trade was that Putz, and Omar himself, both admitted that the Mets never gace Putz a physical before the trade was consummated nor did the Mets even request his Medical records despite the fact that he hwas on injury rehab the year before.

      Take it for what it’s worth but one day, listening to WFAN a caller who works at a medical office called to say the Physician was asked to review the records after the trade and announced immediately that there was no way Putz would make it through the season.

      My own office manager, a fanatical fantasy baseball devotee, informed me the morning after the trade that Putz had a severe elbow injury.

      If this trade wasn’t such a franchise crippling mistake Omar’s statement to the press during the announcement of it would have been truly hysterical. Omar said “We have so much confidence in our scouting and International scouting that it allows us to give up so many prospects in one deal.”

      Hmmmm. Considering Jason Vargas is not only much healthier than anyone on this years market (other than Lee or Pavano) he’s also so much better. That statement is not only laughable for it’s absudity, it’s clear that Omar overvalued almost everything he paid for and undervalued everything he gave away.
      • t agee January 17, 2011 at 11:28 am

        Trading for an injured JJ Putz, without giving him a physical or having his medical records reviewed by a competent surgeon is proof enough of the slip shod ways of doing business that are thankfully in the rear view mirror now but the damage they have caused will linger around here for a loooooonnnnnnngggggggg time.

        J.J. Putz has admitted the Mets never gave him a physical until Spring Training. Two months after the trade. For a guy EVERYONE knew was injured. Then he was asked not to reveal the injury to the Media and to try to pitch through it which made it worse and ultimately required surgery. But what I would like to know is what was the thought process behind letting this injured relief pitcher, pitch in the WBC?

        Seven Million dollars plus 5 prospects plus 2 players all for 29 innings of 5.22 ERA and then selling Wagner to get back 5 of that 7 million and give Boston two highly rated prospects who coincidentally are at the exact same areas of need that we had before this deal and will continue to have for a long time forward.

        And some people blather on about Alderson taking his time working on trades. Unbelieveable. With the franchise crippling types of trades made around here under Minaya and his slip shod way of doing business anyone with any intelligence would understand the need for a pragmatic and patient approach to making trades.

        At some point Omar decided that he was going to get Putz after hearing he was “possibly available.”
        for better or worse when Omar decides to “get his guy” he rarely misses out. This time it was for the worse. Looking at the pieces leaving here it just looks like what ever Seattle wanted was no problem even though the main benefit to Seattle wasn’t even coming from US. Gutteriez came from Cleveland and yet we wound up giving them Carp, Endy, Heilman and Vargas too. It just didn’t matter. Omar was gonna make the bold off season move and he sure wasn’t going to let anything get in the way. Certainly a physical or a surgeon’s review of the medical records wasn’t going to deter him.

        How would anyone feel about having a 31 year old LHP coming off a 31 start 2010 with a 3.78 ERA making a million a year and under team control for another 3 years in our starting rotation right now? If Omar had just bothered to have a physical done before consummating this trade we would have exactly that and assuming we drafted the same players the Red Sox did, we would also have a great shot at finally having a second basemen and ANOTHER starting pitcher in a few years because we wouldn’t have had to sell Wagner to pay for this boondoggle of a trade.

        And people are STILL advocating making trades just to “do something.” Unbelieveable.
• t agee January 15, 2011 at 9:14 pm

  Unless Rivera called up from Panama with an injury this was over the top and in that park where the ball flies out so easily? A fly ball set up/closer. We could have some fun this summer at our step brothers expense.
  • Joe Spector January 15, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    It’s just reaking of the “do something” mentality. Yes the guy is a good pitcher but to pay him closer money to set-up is just crazy. But hey, Cashman did something right? That’s all that matters…he cares.
    • XtreemIcon January 15, 2011 at 10:52 pm

      Joe, it is crazy, but money is no object to the Yankees. They had $150 mil set up to give away and was jilted at the altar. The Yanks, who unlike the Mets may be only be one player away, gave a little less than half of Lee’s annual salary to Soriano. From a Yankees perspective, it makes sense to me. This would be a terrible deal for 29 other teams, but the Yanks have the money to combat the insane dollars involved, and it’s not like they had the 5th overall pick. History has not been kind to the 31st pick, although I readily admit Tampa has a tremendous scouting department.

      Mets fans as well as Yankee fans know that after Lee, this off season was a wasteland for pitchers. Sure, the Yanks would have loved to strengthen their rotation with a starter, but once Lee made his choice, that was no longer a possibility. So, build backwards. They just shortened their games by a full inning to compensate for their shaky rotation.
      • Joe Spector January 15, 2011 at 11:35 pm

        I agree X but the whole build backwards approach is a shakey way to build a team. Sure good starting pitching is a premium but relievers are the most erratic and inconsistent pitchers out there. The Yankees have thrown so much money at type A free agents I’m suprised they’ve had any first rounders the last 5 to 7 years. My beef was more with Matthews glowing outlook he has of them. He’s lying to himself and his readers if he thinks all is well in the Bronx.

        Check out what Tracy Ringolsby had to say about the Yankees.

        http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/new-york-yankees-pitching-tops-mlb-list-of-questions-011311
        • XtreemIcon January 15, 2011 at 11:44 pm

          You’re right, Matthews must be getting paid by the team for his articles. And building backwards is shaky, but it’s the second best option. And for what it’s worth, the Yankees have a tremendous core of young pitchers in the minors, some as close to the majors as later this year, which might have weighed very heavily on the Lee-or-bust mentality. They were rumored to have interest in Justin Doosher, but they haven’t been linked to any other reclamation projects, and I think that they feel no need to burden themselves with any more questions, since they have enough already and the cavalry on the way.
• Mookie January 16, 2011 at 12:13 am

  I took a look at the article and couldn’t believe what I read. I am so thankful that Matthews left Newsday where he would torment us weekly with his anti-Mets articles. What a shill he’s become for the Yankees. After reading about how the Yankees filled their number one offseason need with the best possible solution in Soriano, I couldnt find one previous article suggesting the need for a setup reliever or Rafael Soriano. He’s just a windbag.
  • alwaysnextyear January 16, 2011 at 12:28 am

    this one puts a better spin on the Yankees pitching situation. And as a bonus, from a Met perspective, raises a (valid) concern about the Phils.

    http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/new-york-yankees-pitching-tops-mlb-list-of-questions-011311
  • alwaysnextyear January 16, 2011 at 1:05 am

    you read the comments to Matthew’s article? that was funny stuff.
    • Joe Spector January 16, 2011 at 1:38 am

      I have to say I didn’t even bother looking until you just pointed it out…hilarious.
  • Joe Spector January 16, 2011 at 1:33 am

    You would think that they never were really all that interested in Lee r Crawford lol
    • alwaysnextyear January 16, 2011 at 10:24 am

      of course that is the yankee style. It must be them, not us!
• Yankees Sign Soriano To A “Putz” Of A Deal | Mets Merized Online | Yankees News Source January 16, 2011 at 12:17 am

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• francis January 16, 2011 at 12:56 am

  if you think putz is or ever was the pitcher soriano is, you need to put away your keyboard. he’s awesome

  this is an open audition for the closer role in 2013, and insurance in the event that 41 yr old mariano goes down.

  ok he cost 12MM per, but considering they spent 0MM on cliffy, a-gon, and crawford, and considering they sell out all of the time, they can afford it.

  they’ve spent far more money on worse, and so have we …
  • francis January 16, 2011 at 1:01 am

    but the red sox did have the best off season ever, anyone who thinks otherwise, is just trying to draw attention to themselves.
  • alwaysnextyear January 16, 2011 at 1:08 am

    ever was? Did you check out the stats putz put up before he came to the Mets? 206 and 2007 he was probably the best closer in MLB, and 2007 was off the charts good.
    • francis January 16, 2011 at 1:23 am

      you are right about that. his 06-07 was sick. i should have compared his 08 season, which was his pre-FA year.

      thanks for setting me straight.
  • Joe Spector January 16, 2011 at 1:35 am

    As I wrote in the article Francis, Soriano is clearly a better pitcher than Putz ever was. The point I was making had to do with Wallace Matthews glowing outlook he has of the Yanks which is clearly not based in reality.
    • alwaysnextyear January 16, 2011 at 10:23 am

      I still disagree that Soriano is better than Putz ever was.
• Da Madd Genius January 16, 2011 at 8:59 pm

  Would rather have a team dedicated to wining every year that makes mistakes then a team that’s willing to punt on a year while lying to its fan base. Especially since the choice is between two teams that play in the same city and whose new taxpayer funded stadiums are the same age.
  • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    You don’t “punt” a year with the nucleus the Mets have. You can build for the future AND do something more to be competitive for WIld Card in 2011. Sandy could spend more but won’t. You don’t need to spend a lot more, just a little more. This is a terrible way to go about it in New York City. He’s lost ticket revenue not generated.
    • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 9:25 pm

      How in the world do you know he can spend more? You know what kind of budget the Wilpons gave him?
      • alwaysnextyear January 16, 2011 at 9:30 pm

        of course we don’t know what the budget is. But, bayonne does have a valid point, although it isn’t easy to identify the alternative options they could actually have.
        • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 9:34 pm

          Any legitimate alternatives to the players the Mets signed would have been just as frugal in pay and questionable in play than the ones they did sign.
      • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 9:36 pm

        He said it to Adam Rubin – Dec. 14 Mets Blog.

        Adam says:
        It’s been my contention that, while not going crazy, if the Mets allotted $5 million to $10 million more to the 2011 season’s budget, and shaved that amount off the following year, it would do wonders to make the Mets more competitive this upcoming season, while not practically hindering flexibility in upcoming years.

        However, GM Sandy Alderson offered no indication he planned to spend even marginally more than budgeted this offseason and cut into next year’s budget by that amount to offset it.

        “I’m not really interested in borrowing against the future at this point,” Alderson said. “My view is that’s not a good idea.”

        Asked if even $5 million more could make the Mets a suitor for a higher-level caliber player this offseason and help field a more competitive team, Alderson replied: “Look, we don’t have an absolute cap on what we’re going to spend. … The only thing that constitutes a borrowing against next year in a sense is a more than one year contract. We don’t have a budget for this year versus a budget for next year and the following year. So right now, one, as a concept, I’m not interested in borrowing against the future. As a practical matter, we’re not in a situation where that will happen.”
        • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 9:43 pm

          So where would he alott that money? You know it all, tell us what players would have been better for just the $5 or $10 million more all his critics wanted him to spend. Then tell us how those players of obviously marginal value would have offset a decrease in revenue from ticket sales. THEN tell us how much more competitive the Mets would have been with those extra $5-$10 million dollar players compared to how competitive they are now. THEN tell us how borrowing against the future is a good idea, unless you think the extra $5-$10 million this year would have won the Mets a World Series, or at least the division. Then it would be a valid idea.
          • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 9:47 pm

            That’s a debate for another time. Actually people are giving their ideas what they would have done in the shout box all the time and I have too, I know you read it…but I don’t feel like rehashing it right now.

            Right now I answered your question. You asked how in the world do I know he can spend more and I answered it.

            That’s it for now.
            • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 9:53 pm

              I don’t know anything about a shoutbox. All I know is, when faced with fact to combat your opinion, or when asked to support your opinion with fact, you back down.
              • Mr North Jersey January 16, 2011 at 9:55 pm

                Dude how can you not know about the MMO Shoutbox?

                It’s one of the best things MMO has.
              • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 9:58 pm

                No I did not,

                You asked how I knew and I told you. Adam Rubin tweeted that a month ago.

                I dont feel like rehashing the rest right now. I have answered it before..I would not post it out here and flat out lie if I didn’t do it but I have. Not getting into it right now….He could have retained either Feliciano or Takahashi by taking off money from next year and maybe sign a starting pitcher similar to Bedard, Garland, Penny..somebody like that in a modest price range..it went something like that.

                Your question has been answered

                Sandy can spend more money and won’t
              • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 10:11 pm

                Why would you spend $20 mil combined on two relievers, one who is only a loogy (unless you’re the Yankees), Garland was never coming here, and if you’re saying Bedard and Penny are better options than Capuano and possibly Young, I couldn’t say you’re wrong, but would heavily contest how much better they are.

                That sir, is fact-based opinion, not Adam Rubin’s kool-aid.
              • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 10:17 pm

                Right – i’m giving my opinion because you asked.

                Oh..and I said either Feliciano or Taka..not both…read again.

                Folks, you can’t make this up.
              • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 10:19 pm

                Nope, you sure can’t.
              • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 10:28 pm

                For example if it was worst case scenario with Takahashi I’d sign him to his 2 year 8 million deal, borrow 4 against next year when 50/60 million comes off books.

                If the Mets do have another 10 they can spend and add that to the 5 Sandy’s been saying then you still have 11 million for this year after the first move. You let Feliciano go or you can keep him instead of Taka. I prefer spending on Taka because he’s a starter too. Maybe he could have done a better job than Capuano as a starter! It’s possible.

                Now I have that 11 million and you can use that to sign a 10 million dollar pitcher maybe and borrow another 5 against next year. That’s 9 million borrowed against next year with 50/60 coming off books.

                Now after that 2nd move I still have 6 million left. You can still do a lot of things including trades and even picking up parts of other contracts to close a deal. Or even maybe somebody picking up part of a contract you’re offering.

                Also I would have started it all off by hiring either Valentine or Backman instead of all that money on executives and I would have generated ticket sales while still feeling I hired the best man for the job.

                I may even have more money available because of generated ticket sales. That would have been my proposal – completely different than saber Sandy’s.
              • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 10:35 pm

                Nice way to give a hollow answer. I’ll borrow against that, make this move, spend this much, etc. The only player you mentioned is Taka and that’s because you knew what he wanted from the Mets. You gave no other names and no other offers. Just throwing around money, exactly how the Mets got into this mess. And generating extra revenue by hiring a manager……..please.
              • Bayonne Mets Fan January 17, 2011 at 11:27 am

                I forgot to add with my proposal you still could have signed Emaus & Paulino, which aren’t bad gambles, along with the other 2 signings I proposed and still have some cash left over
    • Met Maniac January 16, 2011 at 9:36 pm

      Bayonne you shouldnt advocate trying to win a wild card in 2011 and trying to make the Mets more competitive because that would make you a hater. Only haters want to see the Mets make a better effort to win with our current core.

      You should be a Mets lover and put any thought of trying to win in 2011 out of your head.
      • Mr North Jersey January 16, 2011 at 9:40 pm

        pls If your saying advocating winning in 2011 is a hater then u r clueless.
    • Mr North Jersey January 16, 2011 at 9:39 pm

      Since your using a football analogy i want to reply with the following.

      In football sometimes even though you may be in the opposing team territory and your within a 4th and 1 of continuing a drive that may end with a TD. You have to punt cause the risk of not converting is not worth the gamble at that time.

      You say Alderson should not punt? Fine you may be right but Aldersin is the Head Coach and his call is the risk is not worth it.

      If Football is a game of 4 quarters then look at Alderson’s game as a game of 4 years. This is year 1 and he is punting to stay within your analogy. Let’s see if it was the right move or not we have the rest of this quarter and 3 more at the most to go most likely.
    • Donal January 16, 2011 at 9:43 pm

      Who? Who do they sign? Who is it out there that the Mets had a chance at and makes you say “Oh, ya, I’m buying tickets for October”? Is the 31 year old relief pitcher the missing piece? Do you think they should out bid Boston and Washington for Crawford and Werth? How about Cliff Lee?
      • francis January 16, 2011 at 9:52 pm

        jessica alba
    • francis January 16, 2011 at 9:50 pm

      how can you be competitive when your best player is the worst clutch player in mlb history ?
      • Mr North Jersey January 16, 2011 at 9:52 pm

        Wow!
      • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 9:54 pm

        I’ll ignore the smart-alec, sarcastic tone from a guy who regularly thinks he’s funny but not and answer the question.

        ..be as competitive as can be. He’s here and he’s not going anywhere so I’m dealing with it.
        • francis January 16, 2011 at 10:00 pm

          give me a question and i’ll answer it. i’m glad you didn’t ask me the winner of the pats-jets game, but i’ll take whatever you’ve got.
    • Joe Spector January 16, 2011 at 10:01 pm

      What you have to realize Bayonne it’s a long season and you don’t just spend in the Winter. Try to have some patience. If Alderson ends up making things worse etc, then let it rip. Till then give the guy a chance.
      • Mr North Jersey January 16, 2011 at 10:03 pm

        Well said.
      • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 10:05 pm

        Oh I understand he can still make a move or even make a trade during spring training. I just really hate the way he’s going about business now because I feel he more should have been done by now. For example if anyone wanted to bet me when he was hired that we would not have made any trades by mid January I wold have taken that bet. I find it hard to believe no trades yet and that’s another thing that annoys me.
        • martin January 16, 2011 at 10:08 pm

          maybe he should make a trade just to please you. i bet he could get jeff francouer for davind wright. did you know that frenchy is clutch?
        • Joe Spector January 16, 2011 at 10:09 pm

          Well what would you rather he do, make a trade for the sake of “doing something” or perhaps get an indepth and detailed look at the talent the team has in its system, see what his weaknesses and strenghts are and go from there? It’s frustrating but I bet you a boatload of money that if he made a trade that ended up backfiring on him many people would be after him about that as well.
          • XtreemIcon January 16, 2011 at 10:12 pm

            Joe, stop making sense. It’s falling on deaf ears.
          • Bayonne Mets Fan January 16, 2011 at 10:14 pm

            Obviously I don’t want to make a trade just for the sake of making one and I think you already know that about me.

            But maybe another GM would trade what Alderson would not trade. Maybe what he values is different than what Alderson values. I know I would have another approach and explored moving Wright because I think other teams would value his production and I would move him for gamers and make up whatever loss in production from another source. Has he looked into moving K-Rod? Maybe he has, maybe he hasnt. And I would definitely borrow against next year to stay competitive this year.
            • martin January 16, 2011 at 10:33 pm

              bayonne, why do you think trades have been available that would have helped the team? stop talking as if you have any clue what is going on.
            • Donal January 17, 2011 at 8:47 am

              Who in their right mind would trade for K-Rod right now? Did Minaya get hired by another team and I didn’t hear about?

              And why exactly would we trade our best player for someone who plays videogames?