Oh by the way, if Dickey is traded, why can’t the Mets be bidders once he hits FA with 50M+ coming off the books? Any team that gets him knows that he will hit FA after 2013. Same if it is Wright who gets traded.

But as I said, is better to keep both and build around an expensive 3B with an inexpensive rotation with lots of upside. Dickey at the most will make 12M, Niese 6M, Wheeler and Harvey will be making league minimum and Gee maybe 2M or so.

Wright around 18M,Dickey 12M, Niese 6M = 36M. Add all the other players and the Mets are still around 50M. Plenty of money left even if they decide to go up to only 90M.

No excuse to not spend on good players after 2013. None.

I agree with your take.

Let 2013 be a growing year, one in which we see how the young players develop.

Many of the young, talented players we have now – the ones that could be a part of a brighter future – are approaching arbitration. With the owner’s personal financial problems (it’s not really a “Met” financial problem though the team is of course affected by it) what does that say about our future? Well, I think even under those circumstances we can keep players eligible for arbitration like Gee (2014), Davis (2013), Murphy (2013), Parnell (2013), Tejada (2014), Duda (2014) and Thole (2014) and even David Wright but they alone will not be enough for we know help has to be obtained from outside the organization for established players to compliment them.

And that is where the Wilpon’s financial problem puts us in a bind. We can still only go after those “inexpensive” players that will give only fifty percent return on their performances as Sandy puts it which will not be enough to fill the too many holes that have been created.

However, that is really not the problem. In this watered down playoff system we won’t really need that many quality free agents to compete – not with five slots open and one of every three teams makes it to post-season. A team can be just good enough beyond mediocre to make the playoffs.

And that is what I see for the immediate future – a team that could be good enough to compete for the final playoff spot since a team no longer has to be great. St. Louis won only 88 games. Detroit won only 88 games.

It’s easier to build a contender now because it takes much less to contend. I don’t know if this was part of Sandy’s “vision” or not but it does seem that the new system was built to help reward teams a station or so above mediocrity – just like the NHL and NBA. I think that is why few outside the team’s own area even follow the post-season anymore. Television ratings have again been dismal – even for the world series. And notice – there no longer is a “world champion” anymore – it a “world series champion”.

As for being replaceable, the only one on the Mets roster with any trade value (Dickey, Niese, Wright, and Davis) that fits is Dickey. We know the Mets dont have a quality LH start anywhere near the big leagues. Davis stayed in the majors last year simply because they Mets didnt have a 1B who could catch the ball anywhere near ready. Wright has no possible replacement until Flores is ready if that happens (Murphy isnt a suitable replacement at third). With the likes of Wheeler, Harvey, Fulmer, Mejia, and Familia, it is possible that the Mets have some RH starting pitching that will emerge in the next couple of years. Hence Dickey spot could be filled within a year.

u are NOT counting the salaries that the Wilpons owe about 10 different players ( and who knows how many execs )

The wilpons had a bunch of contracts with deferred money tied into Bernie…now they have to pay it all back…WITHOUT the Bernie accounts…

The Mets technically wont have money freed up til Beltran/Johan/Glavine/Pedro’s deferred salaries are paid back…

Beltran + Johan in 2014 will cost 11 mil…

we havent counted Saberhagen, Bonilla, Pedro and God knows who else

I once read that when they fired Frank Cashen, rather than just pay him the rest of his salary, they tied it up in a Bernie Madoff account that paid out for like 10-15 years…

thank god, the scandal broke out after it expired so Cashen got all his money back…

But now these chumps are stuck with all that deferred money they have to pay back…WITH INTEREST

this is what they DONT tell you on metsblog…b/c at the end of the day…they want you to completely forget that everything they did and do revolves around Bernie Madoff

Trading Niese is downright stupid. No player that the Mets can get for him will make the Mets better than the Nationals or the Braves so what is the point? The best the Mets can hope for 2013 is 3rd place.

Like it or not, it will be 2014 after the Mets free up money when they can start to compete for the 2nd wild card. Up until then, it is shortsighted to think that by trading Niese the Mets will be contenders because they are not. The Mets MUST keep the pitching intact because it is the strength of the team right now.

Use the 2013 year to find out what they have in Edgin, Mejia, Familia and Carson and perhaps some other reliever who is on AAA right now. If it was up to me, I would just re-sign Hairston (20hrs in 400 at bats) and bring back Shoppach. Is only so much you can do with 10M or less. Then you can always talk trade by using Duda/Mejia/Familia/Capt Kirk, etc.

Use whatever money they have to sign another catcher and outfielder. But the starting rotation must stay intact. Santana, Dickey, Niese, Harvey, Gee is very very good.
2014 you would still have Dickey, Harvey, Niese, Wheeler, Gee. Take Dickey and Santana away and you take 2 bulldogs out of the rotation. Mets cannot afford to lose both.