3
2011
Rico Brogna Says Mets Should Not Re-Sign Reyes, Trade Wright
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Former Met Rico Brogna, who now blogs for WFAN CBS Sports, had some keen insights on the rise of Jose Reyes over the years from an energetic kid to the impending free agent he is today. In the end though, his opinion is that the Mets should not re-sign him.
Personally, after scouting Reyes and the Mets for many recent years, I would let Jose go and let him hit the market. I have my own personal criteria and value chart that I have put together through the years (mainly shaped from teams that I have worked with and learned from) and in this particular player’s case, the value is not a fit for me.
Too many inconsistencies and unpredictability with this player to sign long term — and probably have to sign for big bucks to go along with multiple years.
I have seen this young talent rise through the minor leagues, scouted him in his rookie and sophomore seasons in New York, and now have finally seen his development take him into his veteran years (free agent years) as a major league baseball player. My opinion and belief as a scout and front office executive (baseball ops) guy is to say “thank you” to Jose, but we are moving in the proverbial different direction.
Wish him the best, and start growing your roster with other players … and yes, I would trade David Wright as well (for pitching, pitching, and more pitching!).
Thoughts?
Hat tip to Mr. North Jersey for the link.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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Has Rico learned how to hit a lefty yet?
Seriously, yeah…I agree with everybody he’s said here.
so I guess Rico is firmly in the “they should gut and rebuild from the bottom up” camp? I interpret “start growing with other players” to mean that (as opposed to trade wright, let Reyes go, and go sign Pujols!)
Trade Wright for pitching of course, as you know EVERY team is willing to deal good pitching for a hitter who’s value is at it’s lowest.
I think his value is a lot higher than many met fans think.
Probably the same deal as prospects (just the opposite direction). Obsessed type fans tend to overvalue prospects (becuase they’re ours!) but also undervalue guys on the ML team that they have issues with.
Most likely, we will never know, but I would not be surprised if he would return a lot more than many people are assuming.
That would be great but I just don’t see it. Teams in general aren’t as prone to give up decent, young pitching for offense.
depends on how good the hitter is and how bad the team needs the bat (and of course, how much extra pitching they have!)
Pretty sure the Giants are willing to trade some pitching for some hitting.
I feel we would be trading Wright at a lower value right now and quite frankly the two picks he would leave behind (if we declined the option for 2013) would be the base if he were to be traded. Sure, listen to everyone but I can’t see SF being one of them. Sandaval’s at 3B, if he keeps his weight down. SF would love a RFer and a SS, those are the positions they need help at. LAA could be interested in a 3B.
I dunno, the haul that the Rockies got for Ubaldo was pretty decent. And he was having an off year. I think the value, while not at it’s zenith, is still pretty high.
Also, on SF, they can move Pablo to 1B and rotate Belt to RF. The Angels have some interesting players, but I’m not familiar with what they have at the AAA or AA levels.
They have 3 potential everyday CFs in
CENTER FIELD
Peter Bourjos -majors
Mike Trout-majors
Chevy Clarke in minors
My guess is Bourjos is expendable
Ubaldo is still under team control for 3 more seasons as where Wright is only under control for 1 more year if he’s traded and 2 more years if he stays with us,which is why Ubaldo required a better package of prospects.I think Cleveland made a bad trade.Pomeranz is going to be special and White shuld be very good as well.I totally agree with Brogna,I wuld part ways with both.I wanted to trade both after the 2nd collapse in 2008,but that’s just me.
Giants are just going to throw buckets worth of money at Reyes, so they don’t have to trade pitching…
Say it ain’t so, Rico!
What about the idea of moving Wright to 1st base and Ike Davis to RF. Daniel Murphy plays 3rd base. Davis can play OF, yes we lose Davis’s glove at 1st base but open a role for Murphy. Murphy should be pretty harmless playing 3rd base.
CF Pagen
2b Havens
3b Murphy
RF Davis
1b Wright
LF Bay
C Thole
SS Tejada
P
It’s at best a .500 lineup but it does offer promise if Bay wakes up and Havens makes the team. Pagen is simply marking time for Nimo so shrugs. I’ll settle for an average fielding .262 11 hr 55 rbi 27 stolen bases 78 runs score from our every day center fielder.
What if the Mets just offer Bay to 29 other teams? Tell them they are willing to eat some salary? The better the propects back the more of the contract the Mets will eat?? Then your lineup doesn’t have as many people changing positions? Ike has just missed 3/4 of a season,because of ankles problems? Now you want him to play RF in Citi,and where does Duda go?
I’m sure bay will be offered to every team. and the salary eating is going to be steep.
I will too lifelong, especially since we don’t have to live with him beyond 2012 if he does bomb out next year.
One thing about Murphy though is that no one can really say if he’s qualified to play 3B in the Majors. He may be, but he’s had about 60 chances at 3B total with a Fielding percentage of about .955 and a lower amount of balls gotten to than the average 3B. Two minor league seasons at 3B his FP was .919. Not saying he can’t do it and it is the only position that he appears like he belongs but guaranteed he can do it? I’d much prefer to ease him in, in selected situations and then expand his time and see how he does before trading or even moving Wright.
I think if you started pinch hitting Murphy for Wright in the late innings of a close game it might actually help Wright stop taking those AB’s for granted and could help him re establish his value. If that happened and Murphy proved somewhat reliable and capable at 3B, then a trade could be explored.
right now, I don’t see murphy as more than a jack of (most) trades, bat off the bench and spot starter type.
But, it would be a great bench piece to have. Even better if they can find a starting CF for the future, and make pagan the 4th OF.
Just working with what we got (and I expect to carry over), an OF of LF – Duda, CF – new guy with serious D, RF – Bay/LH hitter platoon (F Mart?), with Pagan on the bench, actually looks like a good unit. pagan could also be the platoon guy (though I can’t remember if his splits lean toward hitting LH or RH).
IF, obviously depends on Reyes, but Wright, Davis, Reyes and 2B scrum (tejada/turner/Havens) again could be a strength.
So, get that CF, and a catcher that can play, and the position guys at least can be a strength.
Then spend all the money on pitching. and more pitching.
That lineup is a 70-90 lineup. Thole isn’t even MLB caliber.we need some boppers and pitchers.
Clancee w/out Reyes we very well may be a 85-90 loss team. This is our “normal” for the next 4-6 yrs.
Too many moving parts there, and it won’t help the defense anyy.
Could move Wright to 2B, if you really want to put him someplace. Though the OF is a more logical ending point.
Just leave Ike at 1B. At this point, he is the only guy on the field that can play GG caliber defense, so why mess it up?
Lifelong, Nimmo is years away even if he is the real deal. the chances of someone his age and level making it up by 2013 are at best remote.
That’s a very weak defensive team Lifelong.
I agree Rico,even though im a huge David fan! For the better of the team he must go. Yes he is at his lowest but,he will still get a good pitcher ,position player and catching prospect? Add 2 more draft picks from Reyes leaving. The teams turnaround can be in 2 years? And sustainable for years. After all thats what we all should want? Not just to win once ina while,but for a long time? I believe if we keep giving the Front Office picks and players from other organizations,they will bring that to the fans. Just give them time? Dont waste your money at Citi,go see Binghamton,go to Buffalo watch the future? Then when the big team is seriously competitive it will be more enjoyable? Because you can say,oh i saw Nimmo’s 1st homer in Binghamton,i saw Wheeler’s 1st win in Buffalo? Think about. Lets get in a rebuild
Rico is “Wright” on the money. Bye, bye David and Jose.
Rico, what you propose means that the Mets, surprise, surprise, can’t win with them. My frustration as a fan still centers on that called Strike Three in the 2006 NLCS and successive collapses (2007, 2008). Yes, it’s five years ago but Beltran still should have swung the bat. By being caught looking, he missed the moment. Given the contract Carlos signed, what’s wrong with expecting effort on the field and at bat? Wright and Reyes, in themselves, don’t have what it takes in leadership towards making it happen. Changing the culture of the clubhouse might mean clearing the club of all the remembrances of failure and starting fresh.
Is Rico nuts? Don’t re-sign Reyes and Trade Wright? Way wrong answer!
Yeah you’re right DC. How will we maintain our firm hold on 4th place without them?
It’s hard to disagree with anything Rico said. Trading Wright would be the best thing for this organization. His value drops every season, so cut your losses before his value hits bottom. Maybe Wright just needs a change of scenery to be what he was prior to September 2008…because since September 2008 is when he really started to go downhill. As for Reyes, I would love to see him stay with the Mets…but, seriously, why would he stay? This team has no chance of being a winner for several years, he will get offered more money to play for a team who is a contender now, and oh yeah, the owner of the Mets has already expressed his true feelings of Reyes. Why would Reyes stay?
You seem to be implying he fell apart in september 2008?
The month he hit .340/.416/.577/.993 with 6 HRs and 21 RBI? IOW, MVP level output?
Or is it all about that 1 AB where he didn’t get Murphy in?
Hell, if anything, September 2008 screams keep Wright, let Reyes go, since Jose had back to back disappearances in September.
I was thinking more of the end of September…The Marlins series to be exact. No RBI’s, no runs scored, no XBH’s…no playoffs. So, I apologize, the more exact time frame I was referring to was September 26, 2008 to the present. However, the entire month of September 2008 appears to be when Wright turned into a strikeout machine…striking out 23 times in 25 games…and only 95 times in the previous 135 games. So, as far as striking out goes…it’s been since September 2008 on…all of his other numbers have only been on the down slide since September 26, 2008. Thank you, any, for correcting my blunder.
One more weird thing I just noticed about Wright in ’08…from July 24 on, only 2 SB’s.
Give me Murphy or Turner in a big spot any day of the week over Wright. People can take their slash lines and characters recorded on paper and …well I won’t go there now.
Anyway I’ll take my chances with that because this is as good a time as any to deal Wright for a MAJOR LEAGUE READY starting pitcher or whatever else your heart desires.
But the reality is, i’d be STUNNED if Alderson did the right thing and that’s move Wright and keep Reyes. To me that’s the way to go to try and win next season.
I completely agree…Wright won’t be going anywhere…and Reyes won’t be coming back. Awful.
At this point, I would rather see Turner and Murphy platooning at 3B..and Wright traded for a good prospect or 2…or package Wright for a top prospect, because, honestly, right now, I don’t think Wright is worth a top prospect by himself.
So, you have more faith in two guys that have no real position on the team, one guy that has yet to finish a season from start to finish, the second played most of the year on a part time basis.
This has NOTHING to do with the fact you just hate Wright for the sake of hating Wright.
You hate Wright more then you are a NY Mets fan….that’s sad.
I don’t think Bayonne hates Wright on a personal level,he just hates seeing Wright fail constantly when the game is on the line.All year long,both Turner and Murphy hit well in big spots.While both may not be everyday players they may do well in a platoon situation.Wright has been regressing in all aspects of the game except stealing bases since Citifield opened.If a ballpark is enough to turn a star into a little above average player then that player may not be worth keeping if he’s that mentally weak.
Best case Nimo is what? 3-4 yrs away? Considering that we got Pagen from the Cubs for Corey Coles and Ryan Myers I’d say we made out pretty good in that deal.
2012-Nimo in Rookie league
2013- Bing.
2014- Buffalo
2015- Buffalo/some time after All-Star break Mets
2016- Met starting center fielder
5 years? We have to wait 5 years? I refuse! Why not 3.5 yrs?!
Angel Pagen just has to tread water.. then try What’s his name.. Mr. Average.. the lefty hitting pretty good fielding dude with the bead who was with the Mets almost all year as the 5th outfielder. DAng! I can’t remember the man’s name.
pridie??? Why not use Niewenhuis???
or platoon with Hairston??
Trade Murphy for Peter Bourjos from Cal. Angels.
They need a 3rd baseman, we get a CF since they are probably going to use Mike Trout in CF.
sounds good. make it happen.
Easier said than done. I would have given that to Omar Minayas nephew that I know and still not happen, BUT I would do it.
you think he jumps straight from rookie league (what is that, kingsport or St. Lucie) all the way to AA, skipping both levels of A ball?
With the 12th pick in the draft this year anyone know of what the pitching and catching field looks like?
2012 Possible Met Draft possible #12 pick
RHP Lance McCullers (Jesuit HS, Florida)
Stanford SO RHP Mark Appel
OF Nick Williams (Galveston Ball HS, Texas)
3B Trey Williams (Valencia HS, California)
LSU FR RHP Kevin Gausman
Florida SO C Mike Zunino
RHP Lucas Giolito (Harvard Westlake HS, California)
TCU SO C Josh Elander
Texas Tech SO OF Barrett Barnes
Arizona State SO SS Deven Marrero
Texas A&M SO RHP Michael Wacha
Georgia Southern SO OF Victor Roache
RHP Walker Weickel (Olympia HS, Florida)
RHP Taylore Cherry (Butler HS, Ohio)
OF Albert Almora (Mater Academy, Florida)
SS Addison Russell (Pace HS, Florida)
James Madison SO OF Johnny Bladel
Rutgers SO 3B Steve Nyisztor
Kentucky SO LHP Taylor Rogers
Arkansas FR RHP Ryne Stanek
Texas A&M SO OF Tyler Naquin
Stanford SO SS Kenny Diekroeger
RHP Ryan Burr (Highlands Ranch HS, Colorado)
SS/RHP Carlos Correa (Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Puerto Rico)
Florida State SO 3B/1B Jayce Boyd
MEmo to sandy alderson, HARD THROWING LEFTY FROM LSU…. Kevin Gausman!!!!
A catcher? Josh Elander Anyone know anything about him?
Check out mymlbdraft.com,they give a mock draft for the 1st 2 rounds.They had the Mets taking Nimmo 13th months before the draft.They’re pretty accurate.
ok. Thanks.
lifelong, the CORE got you: http://gofrogs.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/elander_josh00.html
Don’t understand Rico thinking at all. What we have here are two home-grown players in their prime. Reyes is probably the most exciting player in the game and Wright, despite coming off a sub par season (he was batting for a while with a fractured back) still is a lifetime .300 hitter. If they move the fneces in he will be back up to 30+ dingers a year.
Besides, look at the complete lineup. You got Bay who has hit noghting for the two years he’s been with the Mets. You have Pagan who had a terrible year. Tejada imporved but still is a singles hitter. Duda has potential. Nobody knows whether Ike will be fully recovered. Thole puts up average numbers.
This whole debate about letting Reyes go and trading Wright is over money issues. The team representing the number one market in baseball’s world can’t spend any money this off season. That’s why people are talking about trading Wright and not re-signing Reyes.We couldn’t spend any money in last year’s off season. They lost 70 million because the fans don’t want to spend 300 dollars to take their families to Citi Field to watch a sub-.500 team play.
This was suppose to be the off season that tens of millions of dollars were freed up – and they were. Beltran, Ollie, Castillo and K-Rod are all off the books. So what does the Fred want to do? Lower the payroll to save the ownership of the team – so he can one day give it to Jeff. Does anyone really believe that if they don’t sign Reyes they will use that money to buy another impact player?
It’s all about the Wilpons wanting to retain ownership – it’s not about rebuilding or re-tooling the team.
Echo that. Its all about the Wilpons. Trade Wright?!?! I have a better idea, keep Wright and SPEND MONEY on a free agent, let get picching that way, why give up the franchise player..
Plus the Wilpons assets are insane, SNY itself is worth a billion, the list goes on and on. I honestly dont believe the lost $70 million either..
Mets payroll underr 100 million no way im attenting a game next year, if Alderson is just here to play moneyball im staying home and im diehard mets im just tired of hearing about payroll..
WASN’T THERE A MORE MEDIOCRE FORMER MET AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT? WHAT DOES DAVID SEGUI THINK? OR JEREMY BURNITZ? IS THERE ANYONE, IBCLUDING MRS. BROGNA WHIO ACTUALLY CONSIDERS HIS PERSONAL CRITERIA IMPORTANT? I GUESS I’D PREFER TO HEAR FROM FORMER METS WHO ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING ON THE DIAMOND OR WITH THEIR LIVES LIKE WILLIE MAYS, KEITH HERNANDEZ, RON DARLING, RICKEY HENDERSON, TOM SEAVER OR DARRYL STRAWBERRY.
EVEN IF IT HAD TO BE A RICO, HELL RICO CARTE IS CERTAINLY PREFERABLE AS HAVING A BASIS FOR AN OPINION BASED UPON SUCCESS & NOT ABJECT FAILURES. IF U COULD LOCATE A RICO SMITH OR A RICO BROWN, I’D LISEN TO THEM; BUT THIS IS WORSE THAN NAMATH’S SNATCHING ATTENTION BY KNOCKING REX. AT LEAST JOE WILLIE WAS ACCOMPLISHED AT HIS CHOSEN CRAFT.
RICO BROGNA? IS THIS APRIL 1, ALREADY? THIS NMUST BE A JOKE!
What does his playing ability or lack there of have to do with his opinion?Even we as fans who can’t even hold Rico’s jock have a right to our opinions.Rico isn’t off base here.What have we won with these guys.You can make the argument that we should cut ties to any player left from the 2 collapses.In my opinion they should’ve backed up the truck the day after the 2008 season ended.The haul of players we could’ve gotten back for Reyes,Wright and even Beltran with his big contract just might have us back into a contending team by now had they done that.The one argument against that is that Omar would’ve been the one making the trades and he only does well when he’s trading for somebody elses salary dump.