5
2011
Yu Darvish over Jose Reyes?
An article by 
This offseason the expectation is that Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters will post Yu Darvish. All 30 MLB teams will have the chance to submit bids for his services.
Ever since Darvish name really became well known in America scouts have been raving about his talents. I’ve heard people say he could very well be one of the best pitchers in the world.
The Mets, like every other MLB team, have had scouts in Japan watching Darvish for years. Darvish, who is now age 25, has said he plans to make the jump to the majors in time for the 2012 season. If he stays true to this, I expect the Mets to be part of the key bidders for his services. If you remember the Mets finished 2nd behind the Red Sox in the bidding process for Dice-K. That one worked out good for the Mets in the long run i’ll say. Darvish, however is a much different pitcher and also a lot younger than Dice-K. He could very well work out better for whichever team wins the bidding.
Now the main question – If the Mets could only sign ONE of Jose Reyes or Yu Darvish, who do they sign?
I have been a HUGE advocate for re-signing Reyes for well over a year. He’s not only my favorite player but he is in my opinion the Mets most valuable player. He is coming off a 2011 season in which he won the first Batting Title in New York Mets history with a batting average of .337. He is without question the most exciting player in MLB today. And lets not forget that he plays the hell out of the SS position every time he steps on the diamond.
Giving Reyes a 5-6 year deal worth over 100 million dollars will be a gamble. With Reyes checkered injury history any multiyear deal worth that much comes with extreme risk.
Would the Mets be better off going with Ruben Tejada at SS in 2012 and beyond? He hit .284 in 328 AB’s in 2011.
Jose Reyes is a type A free agent this offseason and will command 2 drafts picks (1st Rounder and Supplemental Round Pick) from whichever team signs him. This is clearly enticing to a front office set on “rebuilding” the Mets with young talent. It would also allow them to spend the money they would have given Reyes on multiple free-agents instead of just one.
The other option to spend that money is on the bidding process/signing of Yu Darvish.
His #’s from the past 7 seasons can be seen below -
A 2013 Rotation that consists of the likes Darvish/Santana/Harvey/Wheeler/Niese/Gee is extremely enticing. Maybe enticing enough to let Jose Reyes walk in free agency. As hard as that may be…
About the Author: Benjamin Yoel
Graduate of St. John's University. Majored in Sports Management. Torn on where career will take me next. Considering Baseball Operations, Scouting, and Journalism. Writer for Metsmerized Online & StLucieToFlushing.com. Devout #Mets fan.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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well, this is NEW YORK. how about both!?!? in his second year minaya made a huge splash, sign beltran AND pedro martinez, put the mets on the map and showed fans he cared about winning. and so we did. if alderson signs reyes AND yu he’ll get the moneyball monkey off his back and will show mets fans (like me) that don’t believe he’s here to try to win otherwise.
I should have suggested both Alex…I agree there should be no reason why it has to be one or the other…
I just don’t see the success rate from japanese imports that make signing them worth it!
metsie, the kid is 25 and throws 95mph fastball with movement, great stuff and can be of great help. with the mets financial situation and the small market Gm we have i doubt we see him here anyways…
can you at least define “small market”? Does it simply mean to you a lower payroll than the top couple of spenders, or is it some overriding philosophy of life (an inferiority complex?)
ALEX, CASE U MISSED IT FLUSHING MEADOW IS NOT PART OF “THAT” NEW YORK, AT LEAST NOT SINCE BERNIE, BTW ALDERSON DOESN’T NEED YOUR OR ANY FAN’S APPROVAL SEE HIS NON MONEYBALL WORK EARLY IN HIS As GM CAREER; ACTUALLY ‘TIGHT FOR CASH OR NOT’ THE LIKLIHOOD OF DEFENDANTS FRED & SAUL WHIPPING OUT A HUGE WAD. WHILE TELING THE JUDGE HOW THEY DIDN’T MAKE EXCESSIVE PROFITS; GET REAL ALEX, ACCEPT THAT THE BUDGET IS 100-110M, VERY DOABLE WITHOUT EXTRAVAGENCE & U KEEP CLAMORING FOR EXTRAVAGENCE, DO U WORK FOR A GOV’T AGENCVY BY CHANCE, USED TO THOSE THOUSAND DOLLAR TOILET SEATS?
I BELIEVE BOTH SIGNINGS ARE, LIKE MOST, A GAMBLE IN AS MUCH AS REYES IS A KNOWN QUANTITY @ AN EXTREMELY HIGH MLB ACCOMPLISHMENT LEVEL & HIS PRIMARY FAULT IS THE TYPICAL INJURY ISSUE WITH HIS CALIBER OF PLAYER AS HE’S MISSED 28% OF THE CAREER GAMES HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PLAY. IN AS MUCH AS THAT HISTORY SHOULD QJUALIFY ANY EMPLOYER FOR THE OPTION TO ADD INHURY UNSURANCE MITIGATING MUCH OF THE FIN’L EXPOSURE/RISK. IT CERTAINLY APPEARS FOR EVERY “CAN’T MISS, WORLDCLASS NIPPONESE LEAGUE PLAYER/PITCHER THAT BECOMES AVAILABLE A ISSUE OF “NOT QWUITE” SEEMS TO ARIS WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS(SUZULI, NOMO).
SORRY, EVERYONE EVEN IF SANTANA WERE TO COME BACK @ HIS NY BEST, HE ONLY WINS BET 15 & 17 & AS SUCH THEY NEED MUCH MORE THAN ONE MORE SIGNIFICANT PITCHING UPGRADE AT BEST, SIGNING REYES @ 22M THEY ARE LIKELY TO FIELD MOST OF THE SAME TEAM EXCL PAULINO,HARRIS,HAIRSTON AS THEY NEED TO FOCUS PRIMARILY ON MINIMUM WAGE EARNERS TO SUPPLY THE 18 PLAYERS STILL REQUIRED FOR A 25 MAN ROSTER MINIMUM @ APPROX 425,000 EACH AS BEST AS I CAN GUESS 2 SP, 5 BP, 2C, 1B,2B,RF,BENCH WILL BE COMPLETED MOST LIKELY WITH 9 @ MINIMUM WAGE SCALE OF APPROX 425-450K EACH AT A MAX PAYROLL HIT OF $4-5M
I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T BE SHOCKED,SUPRISED OR DISAPPOINTED TO SEE THE OPENING DAY 25 AS:
SANTANA
DICKEY
NIESE
GEE
TBD, SP #5
CARRASCO
BYEDAK
HERRERA
STINSON
PARNELL
MEJIA
TBD FINAL BP SLOT
THOLE, C#1
NICKEAS, C#2
DAVIS, IB
TEJADA, 2B
WRIGHT, 3B
REYES,SS
BAY, LF/RF
PAGAN,CF
DUDA,RF/LF
BENCH: MURPHY,TURNER,EVANS,PRIDIE
BY ESTIMATING REYES @ 22M, #5 SP @ 4M, #7 BULLPEN ARM @ MINIMUM THE TOTAL PAYROLL REPRESENTED HERE FROM AN “ACTUAL* $$$ PAID ESTIMATE” IS****$94,475,000****.
*NB SANTTANA CONTRACTED 2012 SALARY OF 24M INCLUDES 5M DEFERRED 7 YRS UNTIL 6/30/’19 ACTUAL PAYROLL EFFECT IS 19M NOT 24M.
62,mejia won’t be back by midseason next year at least, also that bullpen looks even worst than the one we had this year..
ALEX, AS BYRDAK & CARRASCO ARE ALREADY GUARANTEED AS ALDERSON SELECTIONS, I VERY MUCH DOUBT HIS WILLINGNESS TO EATTHEM SO SOON, HERRERA DOES IMPROVE THE LH CONTINGENCY POSITION BY DOUBLING THE AVAILABLE # OF LH AVAILABLE GIVING TC AN EARLY (7th) INNING OPTION AS WELL AS A CRUCMCH SETUP TYPE IN BYRDIE AS PARNELL IS TOO VALUABLE IN TALENT NOT TO CONSIDER FOR AT LEAST SETUP & A PLETHORA OF MEDIOCRITY LIKELY ON THE MARKET IN:
Relief Pitchers
Danys Baez PHI
Miguel Batista STL
Matt Belisle COL
Heath Bell SD
Rafael Betancourt COL
Blaine Boyer
Jonathan Broxton LAD
Tim Byrdak HOU
Shawn Camp TOR
Matt Capps MIN
Todd Coffey MIL
Clay Condrey MIN
Francisco Cordero CIN *
Lance Cormier TB
Juan Cruz TB
Octavio Dotel TOR *
Kyle Farnsworth TB *
Randy Flores NYY
Frank Francisco TOR
Ryan Franklin STL
Jason Frasor TOR *
Chad Gaudin WAS
Mike Gonzalez BAL
John Grabow CHC
LaTroy Hawkins MIL
Brad Lidge PHI *
Scott Linebrink ATL
Javier Lopez SF
Ryan Madson PHI
Damaso Marte NYY *
Sergio Mitre NYY
Joe Nathan MIN *
Hideki Okajima BOS
Darren Oliver TEX
Jonathan Papelbon BOS
Joel Peralta TB
Chad Qualls SD *
Jon Rauch TOR *
Chris Ray TEX
Dennys Reyes BOS
Arthur Rhodes TEX *
Fernando Rodney LAA
Francisco Rodriguez NYM *
George Sherrill ATL
Rafael Soriano NYY (may opt out)
Brian Tallet STL
Koji Uehara BAL *
Jose Valverde DET
Tyler Walker WAS
Kerry Wood CHC
Jamey Wright SEA
Michael Wuertz OAK
Joel Zumaya DET
ALEX I’M CERTAINLY AWARE OF MEJIA’S EARLY UNAVAILABILITY; BUT CERTAINLY THE GM NEEDS TO PLAN AS I CAN SEE MEJIA’S FAILED INJURY HAMPERED STARTING REVISION BEING REVISITED BY THIS NON INVESTED REGIME WITH MEJIA A POTENTIAL CLOSER CANDIDATE FOR ASTER THE ASG. IT APPEARS ALDERSON HAS HIS OWN ESTIMATED MONETARY VALUE FOR MID INNING RELIEF @ AROUND 1.5M MAX, AS SUCH IT ISN’T APPARENT HOW MANY OF THOSE AVAILABLES WILL BE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR. RELIEF IS THE MOST UNTRUSTWORTHY CONSIDERATION WHEN CONDTRUCTING A ROSTER & AS SUCH TODAY’S STRENGTH MAY ACTUALLY APPEAR IN GAMES AS THE BIGGEST BUST & VICE-VERSA IT’S NOT CONSIDERED BY EXPERTS AS A CRAPSHOOT FOR NOTHING.
byrdak just resigned, so he certainly will be back. he had a bit of a rough finish, but was solid the majority of the year when used as a LOOGY.
Carasco? I don’t care who signed him, I doubt he will be back.
You know what the most significant column is on that Stat Chart?
The one that says Nippon-Ham!
No Japanese pitcher has ever been consistently productive in the MLB for longer than a year. And many start to show the decline before that year is out!
Reyes may not last an entire season without injury but at least he has shown that he can be consistent when he’s on the field. Just keep him on the field!
These japanese imports get top dollar and usually give little to show for it in the long run!
If it comes down to Yu or Jose I take Jose everytime!
At least I know he will be earning his money two years from now!
there are some differences. Smaller ball (different I know, I think it is smaller?), 6 man rotations I believe, etc. Plus, there is the level of competition to consider (good AAA maybe?)
So yeah, it is a bit different signing a guy from japan than going after a proven ML stud in his prime. If Darvish had put up those numbers for say KC and was now hitting FA, all bets would be off!
You build a team with pitching and strong defense up the middle. Jose and Tejada at SS and 2nd gets you that. We need a CF that makes less than 10 errors.
and a C as well.. one thing ppl never mention about the phillies is how valuable carlos ruiz is, the man has been behind the plate for a good period of time, making the pitchers very comfortable. if we get thole to solidify a position or a catcher that help us for years to come will come in hjandy, it seems every year we need to get a new catcher… ugh..
it also took years for him to develop into a useful catcher. He was far from a fan favorite (and a black hole with the bat) initially.
agree.. he still is though, it seems he regressed big time this year..
natural progression of a player.
started young, took a few years to develop, then had some good seasons in his late 20s (including his career year), and starts to tail off as he crosses 30 (tailing off often starts earlier for a catcher too I think, with some notable exceptions).
Yu Darvish is the man. It is not everyday you can the best picher in the world at age 25. 97 mph fastball incredible break and command of his curve, two sliders and a changeup. Are you kidding.
BOB, ARE U NOT UNDERSTANDING “LEAN” BY WAY OF PAYROLL? I’VE YET TO SEE ONE “CAN’T MISS” NIPPONESE PLAYER FULFILL HIS HYPE.” DICE-K WAS EQUALLY HYPED, A VERITBLE BUST, AS #2 POSTER, WE’RE LUCKY TO HAVE AVOIDED, KAZ MATSUI WAS SUPPOSE TO BE THE GREATEST SS THIS SIDE OF “THE WIZARD” KAI IGAWA WAS TOUTED AS ALMOST AS GOOD AS DICE.
WHILE U MAY CHOOSE TO COUNTER WITH ICIRO & NOMO, I’D POINT OUT BOTH WERE HYPED MOST “AFTER” THEIR SUCCESS IN MLB; NOT BEFORE. HELL, EVEN THAT NIPPONESE CATCHER SEATTLE INKED WAS NEVER THE JAPANESE PUIDGE HE WAS PURPORTED TO BE.
ON A LIMITED SCALE, THE 2 OMAR INKED TAKAHASHI & IGARASHI, THE YOUNGER IGGY, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MUCH BETTER OPTION TO TRANSLATE TO MLB AS HE WAS A SUPER CLOSER, & WASW ALREADY WORKING OUT WITH THE INCREASED CIRCUMFERANCED MLB APPROVED BALL WHILE TAKAHASHI WAS REPORTED AS THE “RELUCTANT” WARRIOR, MORE LIKELY TO SYTUGGLE IN ADJUSTING.
BOB, LIKE PEARL HARBOR, WHEN IT COMES TO JAPANESE BASEBALL IMPORTS, IT’S RARELY WHAT U EXPECTED. THE TRUE SUCCESS STORIES SEEM TO BE THE QUIETER LESS OBVIOUS MOVES; NOT THE FLAMBOYANT MEGAMILLION SIGNEES; BUT MORE OFTEN THE POOR BEGGAR SNEAKING ACEOSS ON HORSEBACK. BOB, DOEAS THAT ‘DARVISH’ COMMAND TRANSLATE TO THE LARGERT BALL? WHO KNOWS? THERE HAVE BEEN MAMY,MANY MORE FAUILED IMPORTS THAN TRUE SUCCESS STORIES. CONSIDERING AL THAT BECAME INVOLVED WITH BLIND POSTING FEES IN THE NOSEBLEED ARENA THE DESPERATION OF “SUPERSPENDERS” LIKE THE NYY WHO SMARTED BY BEING #3 ON DICE-K, WHO’LIKELY OPEN WITH A BID SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT DENMARK FOR A YEAR. THE POTENTIAL FOR A DARVISH TO EVER OUTPERFORM HIS TOTAL INVESTMENT OR DEBUT IN BLUE,ORANGE IS EQUALLY DISMAL. SO SORRY; BUT WE ARE MILES AWAY FROM 1 PITCHER ACQUISITION MAKING A DIFFERENCE WHEN, IN MY ESTIMATION, NEARLY 11 OF THE 12 ON STAFF ALL SHOULD BE UPGRADED BEGFRE U EVEN CONSIDER THE POTENTIAL IMPOERTANCE OF ONE SIGNIFICANT SIGNING.
NO MATTER HOW U SLICE IT, REYES IS BY FAR THE LESS EXPENSIVE ALTERATIVE AS WELL AS THE MORE LIKELY CONTRIBUTOR TOWARD IMPROVEMENT BOTH IN RECORD & ATTENDANCE