23
2012
MLB News: Swisher Signs With Tribe, Ibanez To M’s, Bosox Nab Hanrahan From Bucs
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Free agent Nick Swisher has agreed to a four-year, $56 million contract with the Cleveland Indians, as first reported by Mark Feinsand of the Daily News. Feinsand adds that the contract includes a vesting option for a fifth season that could bring the deal’s value to $70 million. The 32-year-old Swisher spent the last four seasons with the New York Yankees and batted .272 this year with 24 homers and 93 RBIs.
The Mariners have agreed to terms with outfielder/DH Raul Ibanez on a one-year contract worth $2.75 million plus incentives. Ibanez is coming off a 2012 season for the Yankees in which he batted .240/.308/.453 for the Yankees with 19 home runs in 425 plate appearances. The 40-year-old Ibanez previously played for the Mariners from 1996-2000 and 2004-2008.
Losing out on both Swisher and Ibanez could force the Yankees to boost their efforts to sign Scott Hairston.
Closer Joel Hanrahan is on his way to the Boston Red Sox after the Pirates agreed to trade the two-time All-Star in return for outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands, right-handed pitching prospect Stolmy Pimentel, and two more prospects yet to be named. One of those players may or may not be reliever Mark Melancon.
Hanrahan is set to be a free agent after the 2013 season and was 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 36 saves for the Pirates in 2012. He had 40 saves in 2011 for Pittsburgh. The 31 year old was named to the National League All-Star team in 2011 and 2012. He was due a hefty raise this offseason, his final year of arbitration, expected to be about $7 million. Hanrahan was 10-8 with a 2.59 ERA in parts of four seasons with the Pirates. Jason Grilli will take over as closer for the Pirates following the trade.
Sands, 25, batted .244/.325/.376 with the Dodgers before being traded to the Red Sox as part of last August’s blockbuster. At Triple-A last season, Sands batted .296/.375/.524 in 119 games. He has tremendous raw power and can play either corner outfield spot. The 22-year-old Pimentel has a 4.37 ERA and a 1.326 WHIP across parts of six minor-league seasons. In 589 innings, he’s struck out 477, walked 191 and given up 57 homers.
Finally, on a sad note, former Major League infielder Ryan Freel has died at the age of 36. The cause of death was reportedly a self-inflicted shotgun blast, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Authorities are treating Freel’s death as a suicide. An eight-year Major League veteran from 2001-09, Freel spent the bulk of his career with the Reds from 2003-08 and rose to become an everyday player and fan favorite for his gritty play and hustle. He made his Major League debut with the Blue Jays in 2001. His career batting average was .268. He also stole 143 bases. Very sad news. Prayers for him and his family.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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We are still kicking tires and if we continue kicking those tires will be at the Tire store with no car attached….
You not thinking properly. None of these players put the Mets over the top this year, and will hinder them long term, so they have no value really. Alderson will get Alvarez and Hopefully Hairston, but Dariel Alvarez should be the top target.None of you ever have him on your lists.
No Peter it is YOU ho aren’t thinking properly….
Anyone who thinks that signing a player HAS to be about what they do for you this year or signing them will Hinder you later on is the one who has his thinking out of whack….
First off signing them has little to do with what you can do in the future cause you can trade or replace them at anytime…..
Second if and when you feel we are ready there won’t be enough Free Agents worth signing at this “ALL AT ONCE” “PUTS US OVER THIS YEAR” crap philosophy people keep talking about….
You get the best players you can get EVERY year not just years where you think a playoff is in the picture.
“First off signing them has little to do with what you can do in the future cause you can trade or replace them at anytime”…….
Metsie December 23, 2012 at 4:57 pm
trade or replace them at anytime??????
That has got to be the dumbest thing I’ve read here in a long time!
Yeah tell the Marlins and Boston that those trades they made last year didn’t really happen and was just a figment of everyone’s imagination because WATCHMAN says it could not have happened….
Yep the dumbest thing happened….Which makes you the DUMBEST reader on the planet!
Some of these contracts look ridiculous.
Nick Swisher is a fine player – but 4 years, 56 million with a vesting option to a 32-year-old OF who was solid in RF for the NYY, guaranteed ?
Oh, and is Boston really better off than they were prior to purging Adrian Gonzalez (really good), Josh Beckett (not as good but not bad either) and Carl Crawford (questionable) and replacing them with Shane Victorino, Ryan Dempster and Mike Napoli (if that contract ever gets signed) ? Dempster vs. Beckett is a wash. Napoli vs. Gonzalez is a massive downgrade at least defensively and probably offensively as well, Victorino vs. Crawford should work as Victorino should be healthier. and instead of spending 60 million $ per year combined on three players, they´ll only spend 40 million $ per year combined on three players who are all older than the ones they replace. Jonny Gomes actually was a nice addition at 10 million for two years. And Hanrahan could be a solid closer.
Metsie…..
Please read DrDooby’s comment above because its real. I’m glad some of us are able to see just how out of control and off the charts most of the contracts have been this off season to nothing more than aging, mediocre ball players…..none of which would have transformed the Mets into an instant playoff team. This is a business and you my friend are very free to spend other peoples’ money. Your method of building and/or improving a team is always one dimensional; you want them to go out each off season and just spend on the best FA players available regarless of the risk, age, duration of contract, payroll, luxury tax…….its like you just conveniently forget about all those things. And then you say they can just dump the players if it doesn’t work out. So I guess that’s the Metsie plan of building; every year just spend and purge at the end of the year if it didn’t work out…… spend and purge, spend and purge each year if necessary till you get lucky one year with a $250mil payroll and win a division. I didn’t mean to be insulting in my other comment, but that is just about the dumbest approach I’ve ever heard of.
Let this FO do their job and let the plan play out. I’d be foolish to say its going to work for sure, but it truly is a different direction from the failures that we’ve seen here the last 6 years, and more recently the failures of the Marlins and Red Sox. Next off season will be the tell all for this FO because after the 2013 season we’ll all have a clearer picture of what we have in our prospects and we’ll have money to spend to fill the holes and needs to compliment the youthful core.
Sometimes I think you would have been happier being a Skankees fan. Oh no, wait….they’re not even spending on rediculous contracts anymore. They’re currently in a deep pile of sh*t as a result of their reckless spending. Lets see how easily they purge ARods contract. Hey ….there’s always LA, you can follow the Dodgers and Angels and drool over combined payrolls that are approaching a half a billion dollars. Yeah you’d like that
Yes it’s real it’s called REALITY…
This is what you guys say every year about contracts…Said it when it was Crawford, Said it when it was Werth, I’m sure some of you said it whe Puljols signed his contract…
Guess what! THATS the market….THATS the price!
It’s the same price for everyone!
And yes even in business if the price of steel goes through the roof but you need it you have to pay the price and keep on buying it because if you don’t your simply OUT OF BUSINESS!
Read an article earlier this week on Alverz. This is exactly the type of OF the Mets should be looking at. If they don’t so much as kick the tires, it has to be about the money and nothing but the money, IMO.
No one player will put you over the top, that’s a ridiculous stance. Lets not do anything ever because no one person will put us over the top? What kind of crazy talk is this?
Ever hear of building?
Getting Keith Hernandez wasn’t supposed to put us over the top, neither was Ray Knight or Sid Fernandez or Rafael Santana, we were building something. Not even Gary Carter put us over the top when we traded for him in the winter of 1984. We were building a team.
We’re not building anything now, just swapping stars for prospects. We’re just cutting costs without regard for the talent we lose in the process.
That’s certainly not how Frank Cashen did it, nor Johnny Murphy.
Call it what it is. We’re being cheap. Not spending does not equal rebuilding. Not signing 50% of your draft pucks does not equal rebuilding. Signing David Wright to a disastrous contract does not equal rebuilding.
Stop calling this building, we’re not building anything. We’re getting rid of all our quality players and replacing them with question marks who may or may not ever make it in the majors.. The only reason Wright avoided the same treatment was because he has some PR value.
You Go Carlos!!!
I totally agree!
Well said! And as one who watched both of those GMs spin their magic, I find it insulting and ignorant to compare what they did to this hatchet job we have going on right now.
Anthropolous doesn’t necessarily agree with you.
“If we hadn’t made the Florida trade withe the Miami Marlins I don’t know that we make this trade with the Mets because I don’t know if we would of viewed R.A. as the final piece for us to really put this team over the top.” – Alex Anthropolous
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/865-wfan-audio/ed-coleman-with-alex-anthopoulos/
Yes but hedid make the trade with the Marlins BEFORE Dickey that was what made Dickey the FINAL Piece….
You have to make moves that get you to the final piece before you can make the move that IS…
Metsie:
In order to keep your kids happy you have to gratify them. But if no job then no presents this year. What a mean and incompetent Dad who saves for the future college fund. No not 15 years from now but he has the right stocks in his portfolio for it to take off. Not penny stocks .. Not former superstars like passe’ dot com stocks but today’s blue chip prospects.
Too bad nowadays a college degree isnt worth the paper its written on in this job market. Much rather spend that college fund money on food and shelter today or starve
Besides can The Wilponzi’s and Bernie Madoff have any association with those Stocks in that portfolio???
You think thee guys are stock?
No they are Lottery Tickets, GAMBLES….
Stocks usually go up, Most Prospects lose thier value and all it takes is one fluke injury or string of bad performances…
If you had gotten two AAA top prospects you might have a case….
You got an Injury proned guy from AAA who is not projected to be a superstar anymore than Duda and his 20-25 Hr projection is, and a Pitcher who is in A Ball and all his PROSPECT is based on hope not actual accomplishment….
Again name the guy that is your Strawberry and Gooden in these moves?
Wheeler is Gooden? Is d’Arnaud Strawberry?
If not you just wasted the college fund on stocks your going to be forced to sell because by the time your actually ready to need it they will be Reyes, and Beltran….Trade Bait to get MORE kids because we aren’t ready to compete and by that time Niese and Davis will be too expensive to keep oon a 4th place team as well….
Vicious cycle this Just a Little more time…..
Metsie:
If the Wilpons where left to be go bankrupt and forced to sell there would be no SA. How can you blame the lawyer when the criminals are the owners. Its cause and effect. Who caused the Mets to flounder? SA you say. No it was Bud Selig who let the Wilpons retain ownership. Elementary Metsie.
Hi Hotstreak,
To me, the answer to that question is simple. Only a certain type of individual could carry out these types of executions on behalf of an ownership and without the appearance of any sort of pubic remorse whatsoever.
I mean, who would feel right in hiring one’s own son after just firing 15 middle income employees for reasons not involving their work performance? He announced the hiring of his son on December 1. He fired those employees on November 4th. That’s 17 days apart.
That’s one of many reasons not to like Sandy Alderson. He might be a decent person but he certainly does not come across as one with any compassion or caring.
Hi Joey:
There was once a lawyer who died. Someone came to look at his tombstone. It said:
Here lies a compassionate man, a lawyer.
The person looking at the tombstone said:
By Jove, two men are buried in that plot.
Merry Christmas to you and your family and Happy Holidays
So Selig is the one who traded Dickey?
Is THAT why Sandy is goind a good job and needs more time?
Or is THAT why Sandy needs to go…SO there is no GM so willing to do whatever it takes to save the Wilpons and they will be forced to sell then?
Metsie:
SA is the one that dismantled the team. He has a plan that has not come to fruition yet. The clock is ticking. The Wilpons forced him to cut in payroll. Yes Selig did everything in his power including appointing (arm twisting) his right hand man SA as GM to keep the Wilpon’s as owners. If it weren’t for Selig there would be no Wilpons or SA running and as you think ruining this team. The Mets under the circumstance were forced to rebuild. You can argue that SA got nothing for Reyes and made poor draft selections and is not rebuilding properly. He has three pretty good prospects in his resume’ who may amount to nothing or be cornerstones of this franchise for many years of sustained competitiveness. That is why we need more time to evaluate SA.
Sorry Hotstreak but what you fail to undstand is Cashen has all his young pieces drafted and in place that was key to the 86 Mets by the time his third year approached…
3/5ths of his Rotation (he would add Sid and BobbyO in year 4 and year 5)
ALL of his OF (Including Mitchell who would play LF and SS Depth)
HALF of his IF which he supplemented later on with Hernandez Santana and Knight and Knight was only because he traded Brooks to get Carter to fill the Catcher spot.
So He isn’t even CLOSE to where Cashen was in his third year…..
And out of time….
You want to punt on a third consecutive season feel free!
You time to waste if you want to.
You predict he needs more time?
Here is my prediction….He isn’t going to get it and be gone if not by the end of this season then midway through the next!
And what do you think will happen then?
BANG —> ” The only reason Wright avoided the same treatment was because he has some PR value.”
EXACTLY!!! Carlos…..couldnt have said it any better.
Carlos, you knocked that one out of the park! Well said.
As the Talking Heads said “We’re on the way to nowhere”.
This has as much to do with rebuilding as it did for Florida when over the winter it completely dismantled teams that had twice won the world series a few months earlier.
In the affidavit Picard wrote to be filed with the settlement terms, he said he settled for less money because the Wilpons didn’t have had the money to pay him anything more.
“Based upon financial information provided by Defendants since the [agreement], and on the advice of my counsel, we have become satisfied that Defendants’ cash flow and lender covenants would not have enabled me to recover more for the BLMIS customer fund in the forseeable future by litigating to the point of judgement.”
Now, Picard is every bit the lawyer Sandy is and for sure is equally astute at the double-talk game, however, how far can he go stretching the truth in a legal affidavit? But if there is a semblance of truth to his filing, then the financial situation is as bad many of us suspected and not to be resolved in a few short years.
Carlos, I only disagree with the last statement. I think Wright deferring 8 million dollars had something to do with it also!
Carlos….not what Cashen did?
Lee Mazzilli for Walt Terrell and Ron Darling
Bob Bailor for Sid Feranandez
Mike Scott for Danny Heep
Walt Terrell For Howard Johnson
Trades like this was all Cashen did in 1980, 1981, and 1982. Oh that and get players like Mike Marshall, Mike Torrez, Bruce Berenyi, and others who were over the hill and nothing more than place holders.
Even the George Foster deal wasnt until 1982 which was Cashen’s third as GM. Previous to that, the biggest name was the trade to reacquire Dave Kingman.
So in all actuality, Alderson is following the Cashen model precisely.
On what planet is Mike Scott for Danny Heep a good deal pray tell?
No one mentions Dariel Alvarez here because Sandy WONT sign him….because the Mets will have to pay him and we all know the Mets dont like paying free agents market value….
Dariel will be a free agent other teams will be interested in him so Sandy wont even glance twice at him. If Dariel were to sign for league minimum the Mets would be all over him but they are looking for the CHEAPEST!!! available options
Wow, Ryan Freel news is tough to hear..
I saw that earlier today. Way to young….
Very sad news about Freel.
Shocking but regretfully not altogether a stunner. Forgot about him too but he had a bad problem with alcohol. That doesn’t help when one leaves the spotlight of being a major league ballplayer.
Don’t know what the demons were that drove him but they had to be overwhelming. It’s so sad whenever those demons lead to a life cut down too short.
The pendulum is turning. Even the Yankees weren’t going to sign Swisher for those years and $$ and they had OF holes as well. Instead, they went with 39 year old Ichiro.
Wouldn’t be surprised to start hearing rumors in a year or so about the Steinbrenner boys selling the team.
It will be interesting to see the Yankees trade Granderson and Cano…get a major haul…replace them with Mason Williams and David Adams….and basically reboot and win a bunch of rings all over again
Thank God we didn’t get Swisher. If I had to suffer through watching this awful team and listening to that annoying tool it would be more than I could bear.
Sad to hear about Freel, rest in peace.
Who is Daniel alvarez
Cuban OF that just got cleared to sign after defecting.
No Peter it is YOU who aren’t thinking properly….
Anyone who thinks that signing a player HAS to be about what they do for you this year or signing them will Hinder you later on is the one who has his thinking out of whack….
I am hopefully thinking you didn’t get it.Of course you want production out of the whole deal,if its a five year deal you want production for five years, or it is not a good deal,lol,especially for a player who is 32, Using Swisher as an example. Plus it also matters where your team is at the moment. If Swisher is productive this year it probably does not matter for the Mets, Mets will not win most likely with him, they are going to be much better after this year starting next year. Swishers salary probably slighly goes up and production goes down even more which would be a bad thing now wouldn’t it. That’s a bad move.
First off signing them has little to do with what you can do in the future cause you can trade or replace them at anytime…..
Really? are you serious? Is that why Santana is still on the team? Or why Jason Bay had to be cut?LOL, that is funny if nothing else.
Swishers production goes down, it will most likely go down just by taking him out of Yankee Stadium and that Yankee line up, and then put him into a pitchers park. Plus there is a chance of injury, so no they can not be traded at anytime. If you can trade him you might have to pay half his salary and you probably get no valued prospects for him. Not to swift of a move.Your just assuming they can move him at anytime, your not thinking right like I said
Second if and when you feel we are ready there won’t be enough Free Agents worth signing at this “ALL AT ONCE” “PUTS US OVER THIS YEAR” crap philosophy people keep talking about….
They are not ready now, and who says you need to sign a bunch of free agents when they are ready to put us over the top? They can also make a trades in combination with signings. I will tell the bullshit philosophy to the world series champion San Francisco Giants, St Louis Cardinals, the Phillies when they won and so and so on over the past several years.There is no all at once.
You get the best players you can get EVERY year not just years where you think a playoff is in the picture.
No you do not, maybe after you rebuild the system and that best player your getting makes you ready to win the world series then yes. All the players named are not the best players in baseball, just in this years free agency. See the Marlins last year as an example.If you did that you would have a bunch of bad contracts and most likely no farm system. Which equals long term losing for attempting to win in the short term.I would rather build a dynasty from the ground up and win for ten years which is what Alderson seems to want to do.
No I got it and it’s all ass backwards….
You NEVER get production out of EVERY year of a contract….
Players get hurt, Have down years no one EVER produces every year of a multiyear contract!
EVER!
You pay the bill to get the years you do and deal with the bad and hope it isn’t permanent….
As for your Bay and Santana example funny how Boston dumped Crawford and the Marlins dumped thier players while the Yankees dumped Burnett…..A lot of kids were got in return…
You mistake is just because Sandy couldn’t figure out how nor could you offer a way that it is impossible…But not for a GOOD GM it isn’t!
You say that you should not buy until you are built….
Well pray tell HOW do you do that with Draft picks? If you don’t HAVE good players to trade when the time comes? (and lets face it 3 All Stars and one Cy Young winner got you little more than a 25HR Catcher and Wheeler)
You think you know what your talking about but the way you propose you never get built….
Cause by the time you have enough Kids you have to trade off most of what you found to get more!
Perpetual motion awful love of movement that never goes anyway relative to the position it started.
Hi Peter,
After reading Carlos’ comments and our follow-ups, do you really believe Sandy’s goal is to rebuild as it is to cut back as much as he could so the Wilpons can continue ownership of the team?
I know some contend the Madoff situation forced the team to trade it’s star players for prospects but as I said that is much a plan for re-building as it was for the Marlins after twice winning the world series. These are business moves and since they are not being accompanied by trades and free agent signings, they are not part of an overall rebuilding scheme.
Joey D
Why can’t it be both? Of course the Mets are lowering their payroll. They announced they would be doing this 2 years ago in order to get their finances back in order. They simply don’t have the money right now to be a big player in the FA market even if they wanted to.
Both times the Marlins won the Series they started dumping salaries and had a couple lean years. But they did get back some good young players in return. For example, they got Derrick Lee for Brown and A.J. Burnett from the Mets as part of the Al Leiter deal. Both those guys were on the Marlins 2003 Series champs.
I wish the Mets could rebuild faster but they are brining in some good young players who could form the core of the team for years. I don’t expect any serious FA activity until 2014 when they should be more financially secure.
“They announced they would be doing this 2 years ago in order to get their finances back in order”
RIGHT THERE! The FAILURE and STUPIDITY of this Front office…..
The problem wasn’t that we were paying too much to field a team….
The Problem was we were not doing anything to get people back in the seats to pay the Blills!
ANd if they had even added ONE promising player to the roster as opposed to cutting 4 they could have solved thier financial problems the first year and have been able to move on from the WHINING about Wilpon and Madoff
Hi Boomer,
What the Mets have done since Sandy took over, based on the roster and farm system he inherited, no, it shouldn’t it have been done. There was no reason to.
The Mets had a combination of youth and veterans. The rebuilding that Sandy spoke about two years ago has not yet had the time to produce any players yet other than Harvey. So would the players Sandy sent away have hindered any progress? No. We don’t have rookies ready yet but in one more season (2014) there would be two outfield positions with Bay gone and Carlos ending the second year of his two-year contract. Then some might be ready.
We didn’t need to give up the speed of Reyes leading off and Pagan in center. Both are now in their prime years.
KRod as the closer is still way better than anyone we’ve tried to replace him with since.
So with those players, along with Davis/Murphy/Wright in the infield, a weak link in Thole behind the plate, and the starting pitching we developed – where was there a need to breakup and re-build over? Tweak, yes, but dismantle, absolutely not.
Unless it’s financial as we both agree and in that case, rebuilding isn’t a baseball plan but a procedure forced by the outside forces that mauled Sterling Equities and a least twice put the Mets on the brink of bankruptcy.
And remember, re-building isn’t done for the sake of rebuilding. One does not sell off his or her assets under reasonable financial circumstances unless a team is on the down turn and players are getting old. That was not the case of the Mets for after the 2010 season the only key players who were going on 33 were Beltran, Feliciano (injured) and Takahashi (34). R.A. doesn’t count obviously. And Davis, Murphy, Reyes, Wright, Pagan, KRod, Neise, Gee, Thole and Duda were obviously under 30.
Dariel Alvarez is a 24 year old Cuban Defector who is currently playing in Mexico, not as much upside as Cespedes but Mets need outfielders, and if they can get him for around 3 to 4 mill a year I would take him in a heartbeat. These Cuban kids can play, fits long term if the price is right.
are they marketable ? = the only question fred cares about
Oh Alvarez is considered a free agent so add him to your lists
Oh and who said do not spend money ever? Certainly not me, Spend wisely at the proper times is what is important, and basically Swisher and the rest of them is a waste of funds unless its a one to two year deal.Even then Id rather not sign them. They can sign 2 to 3 high profile free agents next year when they are actually more likely to compete for a wild card, and the payroll could still be lower than it is this year. LOL, Plus they can add via trade,
Toronto Gm did not add a free agent worth more than 3.5 mill since he was a GM. Last year He signed someone for a little more than that. That being said his biggest free agent signing came this year in Melky Cabrera, everyone else he obtained that is meaningful to mention comes via trade. Dickey, JJ, Reyes, Buerle, and Bonafocio. He didn;t waste money and lose draft picks cause he knew he was not beating the Yanks or Boston. He saved funds and had good drafts, and now makes his move with Boston and Yanks being the most vulnerable they have been in years.
Stupid Philosphy
Newsflash….What did he just sign Dickey for again?
Keep up son!
News flash, Dickey was obtained by the Toronto Blue Jays Via TRADE
Would the trade have gone through if they did not sign Dickey to more than you claim they NEVER did?
NOPE!
SO your wrong….deal with it…
LMAO
Its imaginary money !
Man this is like taking candy from a baby. Santana was coming off off shoulder surgery, at 25 to 30 mill a year and another year on the deal,there is no value.LOL,,only less than a handful of teams could do that and why would they,LOL, bad comparison,,, Bay had absolutely no value at all. It was timing, Dodgers have a lot to spend with new owner and saved the Red Sox who’s bad GM is the one that got them in that mess in the first place by doing the things you are saying now. They got lucky to drop those conrtracts, Lucky that Dodgers wanted Agone and Beckett. Crawford was for this year and is making great on his contract. Im sure you wanted him when he was a free agent to.Im sure they wish they did not trade Reddick right now thats for sure.
You NEVER get production out of EVERY year of a contract….
Players get hurt, Have down years no one EVER produces every year of a multiyear contract!
EVER!
Your right finally, thats why you have to be careful when making a signing.LOL, why make it more risky by signing the players who are out there now. Your contradicting everything you say now. It is risky, lets make it more risky.LOL,,,
By the way that trade was the first in its history with Dodgers and Boston and will most likely never happen again, oh and the dodgers do not win the world series because of it either. Because the team that built their team properly (san francisco giants)will win the division again.
nice pos, but dbacks >>>> giants
Yep and he could have been traded right after that No Hitter if they wanted to….
So Start crying someone just stole your candy!
The Marlins are trolling the Mets they just signed John Maine
Well, there’s a name I haven’t heard in years. Whenever I hear the name John Maine, I just shake my head in disappointment.
I still remember his 14 strikeout game like it was yesterday. I thought then and there, the kid was gonna be a fixture in the Mets rotation for years to come. Keep in mind, this was before the injuries, the “fatigue”, and him being a pain in the ass. What a waste. He hasn’t done any better since leaving the Mets, toiling away in Colorado and the Yankees AAA affiliate. Wonder why they haven’t made him a reliever because the ship of him being a starter sailed a long, long time ago. I even asked this before the Mets granted him free agency.
As for the Mets, as a rebuilding team, it´s best to stay away from any of these contracts to 2nd and 3rd tier free agents getting a ton of money.
Once the Mets are ready to contend (hey, some may claim this´ll never happen in our lifetimes, of course), they will have to join this – or trade from their farm depth to land some of the players currently signed to those hefty deals – but with less $$ and years remaining and thus making them a lot more palatable and worthier risks.
So rather than sign one of these 2nd tier free-agents, we’ll trade a Wilmer Flores for him in a few years !
Yes !
that sounds like a fabulous plan !
You do know the payroll next year is expected to be somewhere around 70 mil ….
Look at BJ Uptons contract
$12.45 million next season,
$13.45 million in 2014,
$14.45 million in 2015,
$15.45 million in 2016
$16.45 million in 2017.
our payroll in 2013 WITH BJ Upton = 82 mil
add a RF like Suzuki who just signed a deal for 6.5 mil x 2 years
our OF could’ve been
Duda – Upton – Suzuki
and the payroll could’ve been 88 mil…still a dropoff from 2012
sorry, but ur lord and savior Sandy Alderson is more interested in watching turtles run than seeing the mets in a pennant chase
Feb 1 2013
Adam Rubin: Any truth to the rumors that you have no plans on adding any additional players from the free-agent market to the 2013 roster
Sandy Alderson – Adam, I do no appreciate the level of questioning, I am not sure if you are a mets journalist, a player or an observer, but in case you havent noticed, we have 90 days until Opening Day. There is still ample time to pick up a ..
Adam Rubin: Pick up who? Almost every single free-agent has signed with a team already
Sandy Alderson: Yes Adam, the key word being almost, we are going to wait for the independent league market to develop and present us with a maximum return for our investment.
Adam Rubin: So basically, you are going to be the last stop for a free-agent before he goes to the Long Island Ducks?
Sandy: I resent that comment Adam, there is also the Mexican league, the Dominican League, Japan
Sandy Fans stand up and applaud for your man !
As of today, the Mets 2013 payroll is roughly 75 to 80 million $ depending on arbitration results and not counting the money Wright & Bay have deferred with which it’d be right around 100.
So, assuming the Budget again is in the 95 million $ range, that leaves 15 million or so to spend on a SP, another reliever or two and an outfielder.
Thing is, with the Mets unlikely to contend in 2013, you don’t want to handout longer term deals that would limit options next winter or the year after when contending looks a lot more realistic again….
Rght so you have a problem getting GOOD players instead of a problem with the fact they set a Budget mark that makes it impossible to compete…..
Lol, I’m wrong, Dickey was a free agent, your right, lol, which was the whole point, signing free agents was the topic. Toronto traded prospects they collected over three years while not spending more than 3.5 mill a year on a free agent. All those things are wrong your correct. Lol. You do not see what Toronto did to get there, just the trade itself, you don’t even see the trade, you just the the signing of dickey. You do not see they moved their Cy Young winner Roy Halladay to get some of those prospects. If you can show me somehow that dickey was a free agent, and Toronto signed players for more than 3.5 mill over the last 3 years (aside from whoever it was last year they signed for a little more than that), and that they did not use prospects to get what they want, I’ll agree.
On a side note Alex got exactly what he wanted when he wanted it by being patient and not wasting money on free agents till he thought his team was ready to win.
Also whoever is bringing up building a team in the 80s is on the good stuff, it is 2012, the buisness of baseball has changed a little bit. Your bringing up Mets 80s teams and I am bringing up teams who are winning now who did the same exact thing Alderson did. Texas, Philly, San Fran,,, lol, really now
For other post, Of course the madoff drama had an effect on payroll, but not by much, they are spending around 100 mill a year, and in Aldersons first year it was 150, they still lost, I guess if it mattered that much they should have won with a 150 mill payroll. Lol,,,,,,the madoff drama is a blessing in disguise. Mets have a clean slate next year. If they do not spend money next year I’ll agree with you guys. Although I’d rather see them spend wisely than spend to spend, or just cause they got funds.
Also if you guys are putting bourn, Swisher and whoever else on your outfield lists, and your not putting Alvarez cause you do not think Alderson will spend, what’s the point of having anyone one of those players on the list. Alverez won’t get even close to Swisher on a per year basis, its that he mught get 4 to 5 years, he probably not even getting Ross money on a per year basis, Really that statement is ridiculous, if thats the case do not make a list, and if you do, add alvarez,,,
Oh please pete your borderline delusional now…
None of those teams you mentioned did what Sandy is doing…
Name the All stars the Phillies sent away for Kids….
Name the same for SF…
Texas has given away kids every year to get pitching (ala Cliff Lee) to get those World Series you speak of!
SO your just not living in reality here….
Here are the facts:
Yr Payr W A
2009 $149M 70 3.1M
2010 $126M 79 2.5M
2011 $142M 77 2.3M
2012 $95M 74 2.2M
Notice that attendance dropped no matter what the payroll is. Payroll decreased in 2010 but wins increased. Then payroll increased in 2011 and wins decreased.
There is NO correlation between money spent and wins nor is there a correlation between money spent and attendance. Those who believe it are ignoring the facts.
Look at this years playoff teams versus teams that missed. Notice the CWS, Phillies, Red Sox/Dodgers, and Angels…all high payroll teams who MISSED the playoffs. Yet the Reds, As, Nats, and Braves all made it with less of a payroll than the Mets.
Whine all you want. The Mets spent $850M+ in payroll from 2006-2012 which was the 3rd MOST in baseball. And what do they have to show for it? ONE playoff appearance.
These are the facts folks. Other than the 2004 Red Sox, there is not one team which was primarily built from outside. Teams need a farm to develop talent either to place on the ML roster or to trade (2007 Red Sox…Hanley, etc..for Beckett/Lowell). This is how winners are built.
Hi Dr. D.,
You really do not think there is the possibility that Sandy is looking at all these moves in terms of finances only and not competitively? That re-building is not his primary concern as it getting the Wilpons on a more stable financial footing that would later on allow them to then start re-building or take any other venue they see fit to again become a competitive team in the future?
That again, his concern is lowering the deficit by cutting back spending as much as possible due the catastrophic financial loss they suffered at the hands of Madoff and the loans the Wilpons have to soon deal with takes priority over any decision of whether or not a move would help the team. Even the R.A. trade is seen in terms more to prevent the contract extension than it was rebuilding.
Actually I think its very clear he’s doing both, cutting back expenses to put the Wilpons on a more stable financial footing, while rebuilding in the process. What’s going to determine his success will be his prospect acquisitions and drafts. If enough of them can be productive and have a positive impact at the MLB level, I think we’ll all be celebrating in Flushing once again.
Ok tell us then…What has Sandy rebuilt in 3 offseasons?
Name the Names and tell me how well he has done rebuilding and what percentage of the Roster he has rebuilt….
By noting the percentage you think he has rebuilt and factoring it in with the time frame I can calculate when this REBUILD you speak of will succeed….
Hi Watchman,
He actually isn’t doing both. He’s cut down expenses for the minor leagues and draft selections as well. What he’s doing is trying to keep expenses at the bare minimum for the sake of the Wilpons’ financial holdings. 2011 was not the time for re-building, not with the talent we still had and Beltran being the only key player to be 33 years old (R.A. not included).
I’d grit my teeth and sign Hairston. Platooning Hairston, Cowgill and Valdespin with Duda, Neuwenhuis and Baxter is probably going to have to do for a year.
And I’d sign Joe Saunders, he can pitch 200 innings and in a pitcher’s park. . .might do a world of good. Wheeler will hopefully be ready sometime during the year, but pitching in Las Vegas might be tough because it is some kind of hitter’s wet dream. I wouldn’t count on a rapid display of dominance from any pitchers in AAA in the first half of the year.
On it, this is easy, Howard, utley, Rollins, hamels, victorino rule 5, werth from dodgers, I’ll leave it at that since that is the core, all home grown, lee traded for kids, yes 11 or do years of losing while gathering these players,.
San Fran, Tim, Cain, Bumgarner, volgleshlong, worst pitcher was a free agent signing of zito, posey, panda, crawford, traded for pagan, traded kids for pence, bullpen pretty much homegrown,
Texas, lol,mmmmm lets trade arod, Hamilton real scrap heap at the time, lol, kinsler, andrus, Moreland, gentry, Murphy, young, every single starting pitcher, their payroll was around 60 something when they where at there best,,,,,,,,,
Majarity homegrown or prospects where used to get them, , low payrolls, good farm system, I’m really delusional alright,
Should I do St. Louis and more, come on, I’m bugging. Why did Anaheim and Texas lose to Oakland last year, Anaheim signed top guys, Oakland traded there’s, lol, to funny
How many years since they got Rollins did it take them to win a WS?
How many year after A-Rod got trade did it take Texas to win one?
Now tell me any of them had MORE kids than we do RIGHT NOW!
Refresh my memory, how many WS did the Rangers win with Rodriguez?
Those teams did it with homegrown players, they did not sign big time free agents, they made trades to get what they needed. They won the World Series, Mets will win with young pitching
You’d think after seeing the size of these free agent contracts, that the mets would jump to get Hairston back, for 2 years $10million, he fits alot of their needs – plays all 3 of positions, has power is a righty and proved he can hit 20 hrs in less then 400 abs playing at Citifield and is 32 years old..im not sure what else the mets want. He also could be pretty much regualted to the bench if we were to somehow land an Uptown type player(either this winter, during season or next season), or has trade value if needed.
Maybe they need the money for the bullpen or there is something else Alderson is ‘working’ on. Im by no means calling him our savior but Hairston fits the stopgap player in an OF that needs help.