9
2012
Rangers May Be Reluctant To Deal Olt After Trading Young To Phillies
An article by 
The Dodgers’ reported deal with free agent righty Zack Greinke could have a ripple effect that impacts the trade market for the Mets’ R.A. Dickey, writes Anthony McCarron of the Daily News.
With Greinke headed to Los Angeles — he reportedly agreed to a six-year deal worth $147 million Saturday night — the Texas Rangers, a spurned Greinke suitor, may become more aggressive in pursuit of a trade for Dickey.
The Rangers and Mets have had discussions about Dickey, but were not able to come to any agreement. The Rangers had been willing to trade third baseman Mike Olt to get a starting pitcher, but after trading third baseman Michael Young on Saturday to open up an everyday slot for Olt, that may no longer be the case.
Even so, Olt would have been obviously blocked at third base by David Wright with the Mets anyway, but McCarron spoke to scouts who believe he could handle playing the outfield.
Additionally, the Texas Rangers are involved in other trade discussions with other teams and may ultimately decide to deal its prospects elsewhere. The Rangers have talked to Tampa Bay about a deal for James Shields and they could look to solve their pitching holes by pursuing a free agent such Anibal Sanchez, Kyle Lohse or Edwin Jackson, too.
There are still many options available that would for me to buy into this “desperation factor” so many keep alluding to. I simply don’t see it and unless Sandy Alderson’s price comes down, he will be stuck with Dickey the same as he was with Scott Hairston at the trade deadline.
Yesterday, in a report for Newsday, Marc Carig wrote that the Mets are likely to keep R.A. Dickey this winter, although a contract extension is not guaranteed.
“This represents a shift in thinking from the winter meetings”, he says, “when trading Dickey looked just as likely as retaining him.”
Both Jeff Wilpon, who prefers to keep Dickey, and Sandy Alderson have acknowledged that keeping Dickey without an extension is a likely possibility.
I have been saying all along that I expect Dickey to be the Mets’ Opening Day starter and I’ve seen nothing to warrant shifting my opinion on that. In fact. reading the tea leaves over the last 2-3 weeks and speaking to others who are following the situation, only strengthens my belief that Dickey will remain with the Mets.
The Royals who had once strong interest in Dickey initially, have moved onto free agent Anibal Sanchez or trading for James Shields, both of whom are much younger and appeal more to them.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Young was horrible and was likely headed to the bench. They freed up salary and a potential problem in the clubhouse. Before the trade was going to be their 1B/DH or not. Nothing has really changed. My guess is that he was staying put to begin with.
Regardless, Olt now has an everyday job and that wasn’t the case before Saturday.
Hi Joe
I’m really not understanding what they’re trying to do. Is it nothing? Because as each day of the calendar passes it looks more and more like they’ll do nothing. Can they actually be content entering the season with the same team? They really should trade Dickey even they have to package him with a good prospect or 2. A bonifide right handed OF must be had some way or another. SMH here.
It’s hard to get things done when you are valuing free agents and trade targets for less than market value. The Mets don’t want to pay market value for anything and that makes it difficult to secure and address any of the team’s needs.
Alderson refers to everything as being too pricey, but he fails to realize that in a free market demand dictates what the market is. He somehow keeps waiting for markets to develop, but the fact is that they are developing, but not to his liking.
His tactics worked wonderfully in the eighties, but now with more teams, more playoff spots, and more emphasis on winning, you have to be more willing to be flexible in negotiations and not have such a hard stance on everything.
To add to your point Joe, it would seem that having J.P. Ricciardi assisting him he would more fully understand exactly what you’re saying. Ricciardi, having very recent GM experience in Toronto, should be able to convey to him that holding the line and refusing to pay market value isn’t going to work in today’s game the way it may have 20 years ago in Oakland. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for not overpaying players who aren’t top of the food chain talent (i.e., Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Jason Bay), but there comes a point where holding the line ends up hurting your team more than it helps. So far, none of the money saved by releasing Bay has been reinvested and neither was the money last winter that supposedly would have gone to Reyes put back into the team. What’s he hoping for? Josh Hamilton or Michael Bourn to say they’ll sign for $5 million a year? Alderson recently used his favorite catch phrase by saying the Mets weren’t going to “Punt on 2013″. So far, it certainly looks as though the special teams are heading out to the field……….(stay tuned!)
Maybe SA has in mind a fake punt and an end-around. Our luck the TD will be called back based on a clipping the coupons penalty.
JP refused to give Doc Halliday a deal after giving deals to
AJ Burnett – bust
BJ Ryan – bust
Alex Rios – bust
Vernon Wells – bust
yeah, JP has alot of experience in this department
“His tactics worked wonderfully in the eighties, but now with more teams, more playoff spots, and more emphasis on winning, you have to be more willing to be flexible in negotiations and not have such a hard stance on everything.”
Hi Joe,
You know you are opening up a can of worms when alluding to tactics that worked successfully in the eighties as “his” rather than “those”…., that makes Sandy appear as the one behind all those player moves and you know there are many who dispute that.
Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Who’s many? Besides two people here? Please name the many who dispute it? Two people don’t count as many in the real world.
Hi Lone Ranger,
Try the process of elimination. How many have expressed the opinion that Sandy knows absolutely nothing about running a team compared to those who are even willing to give him one more year to complete his vision? The overwhelming consensus does not suggest thoughts of Sandy being a skilled general manager – past or present. The growing shared sentiment is that he is nothing more than a business person.
And using your own equation “one person doesn’t count in the real world” either. But keep hanging in there….
Trading Young has no impact on Olt imho.
Beltre still is at 3b, Moreland still at 1b while there are only two spots for Kinsler, Andrus and Profar up the middle.
Sure, Olt could head to the OF and displace Cruz or Murphy.
However, the rotation of Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Ogando and Perez, plus injured Neftali Feliz doesn’t sound like it’s finished with the latter three unlikely to top 175 innings.
Who knows what Texas thinks of RA.
And if the Mets are willing to move him unless someone grossly overpays…
“His tactics worked wonderfully in the eighties, but now with more teams, more playoff spots, and more emphasis on winning, you have to be more willing to be flexible in negotiations and not have such a hard stance on everything.”
That is the best description of the current climate at Flushing as I’ve ever read. Joe D., you couldn’t have said it any better. Color me impressed.
DrDooby is correct. Olt is trade bait and that hasn’t changed.
That being said, Sandy didn’t go for Olt the first time, why would he all of a sudden grab Olt now? I mean, he’s only a 30 homer guy in waiting.
My concern with Olt is his jumping from AA to the bigs. That isn’t the best way to judge his readiness. Any deal involving him, wouldn’t mean he’s capable of dealing with MLB pitching or learning a new position.
From what I’ve read about Olt, he has two major issues that make me think this isn’t the right fit: He strikes out a ton and he is supposedly a really good 3B, which is where a significant part of his value lies.
If the Mets are going to trade Dickey then I’d like it to be for a package centered around a plus CF like Gose, who is two years younger than Olt and has both speed and power tools to go along with defense at a premium position. And I like Arencibia, despite all his faults, as a second piece in this deal: He is cost controlled at another premium position (that I don’t think warrants major investment did to injury risk etc). I don’t think this package is enough for Dickey but these would be nice pieces, neither of which would impact the teams budget going forward. So the Mets could add Cody Ross at a corner OF and still have money to fill holes in the BP and elsewhere.
“His tactics worked wonderfully in the eighties, but now with more teams, more playoff spots, and more emphasis on winning, you have to be more willing to be flexible in negotiations and not have such a hard stance on everything.”
The problem with this is that there are GM’s who have gotten high value without paying through the nose.
Billy Beane won a division with a shoe-string budget
Andrew F in TB wins after losing their version of David Wright ( Carl Crawford ) to free-agency…
and now they lost BJ Upton to free-agency….
why?
they draft well…they sign well…they do everything we are supposed to do with less money…
they have an awesome staff…led by gerry hunsicker….someone the wilpons pushed away…they put poitics over production….and allowed one of their brightest stars to get away…
Where has Tampa Bay drafted well over the past 5 years ???
How many players from their past 5 drafts (2008 through 2012) have graduated to the majors so far ?
A little hint: Four fewer than the Mets ( who have graduated Ike, Nieuwenhuis, Edgin and Harvey during that span). And I certainly wouldn’t trade the current Mets system for the current Rays System.
“The 23-year-old Dietrich, a second-round draft pick in 2010, was selected MVP of Class-A Charlotte this year, batting .282 with a team-high 10 homers and 58 RBIs. ”
this is who they used to trade for Yunel Escobar
Evan Longoria
David Price
Matt Moore
Jeremy Helickson
BJ Upton
Carl Crawford
James Shields
Wade Davis
#CmonDawg
I love the mets too…but lets not compare their farm system to ours
Dr. Dooby needs to put down the doobie.
Well, obviously the Rays did well between 2002 and 2007, usually drafting early and landing no brainer picks like Price, Upton or Longoria.
However, their system has regressed over the past 5 years whereas the Mets’ has improved and is better as of today.
That said, I have no idea how the Rays system went into this discussion regarding Dickey and a potential trade, possibly to TEX…
Err, Yunel Escobar wouldn’t start for the 2013 Mets. Why trade for him. And pretty sure the Marlins would have accepted the Mets # 10 prospect, be it Aderlin Rodríguez ? Jake DeGrom ? Collin McHugh ? as well…
And with all due respect to Billy Beane who is a great GM, the A’s won in 2012 after 5 straight sub .500 seasons.
Just offer Dickey an extention…
Now that we signed Wright for the rest of eternity, lets try and put a team around him that can compete…
Why arnt the in on Michael Bourn…they could probally get him for somewhere inbetween Pagan and BJ Uptons contracts …4 years with a 5th year team option….10-12 per year….backloaded, like Wrights contract….why are we not doing this?
Why are we not in on Justin Upton? Hes young, hes a righty bat, he would hit clean up, hes a top 15 player in baseball
Justin Upton would fit like a glove but for some reason Alderson prefers much less experienced prospects that may or may not ever make it in the majors. I don’t think he realizes how young Upton is. How can you ignore Upton with as bad an outfield situation as ours? How often does a player like Upton come on the trade block?
Arizona is looking for a shortstop in exchange for Upton. It would cost something like Niese and Tejada for Upton.
i think Niese for Upton straight up is too much. i know he’s much better than what we’ve got but Upton looks over-rated to me. His #s too erratic year / year.
Now that the Bums have spent another $150 bazillion they will probably look to get rid of Harang. 2013 contract is $ 7mil, era in mid 3′s last two years, 170 innings plus. Could be worth looking into for depth especially if Mets trade a starter.
I dont like Harang as much as i once did, but you hit on something here. The Dodgers have Billingsley, Capuano and Harang, one of which will be certainly moved.
For the Mets I think Lannan could provide depth at a cheap price.
i was hoping that after Omar’s very unproductive last years as GM (held back by the Wilpons + his own bad moves), SA would bring the Mets a new and proactive approach to rebuild the team. I am disappointed by his bad moves on Reyes (not trading him & then not signing a key Supplemental Round Pick for losing him) and inactivity and poor reading of the market this off-season.
It would further disappoint and yeah stun me, if we do nothing to improve this team before Opening Day–either through trades or FA signings. Stun me, because what in hell could he / they be thinking…going into 2013 with the same or similar roster that was uncompetitive in 2012?
Poor reading of the market this winter ???
In what way ???
Not trying to land Brandon League for 4 years, 36 million $ ?
Not trying to outbid Boston for Shane Victorino ?
Not giving away Dickey for the next best bidder but instead shopping him with a very high demand – with a nice fallback position of keeping your ace on the team for 2013 or even extending him once you know nobody will feel pressured to overpay ?
Eh, people place all of our GM’s in lose-lose situations. All they really want are moves for them to critique so when there are no moves, they critique the moves of other teams and say the Mets shoulda done that.
We have a current need at CF and RF, there is no intermal option that appears capable of being both an offensive and defensive addition.
These were all the OF’s that were available this off-season and their current status
16 Ryan Ludwick Reds OF 34 422 26 .275 80 Re-signed by Reds; 2 years, $15M (12/7/12)
10 Melky Cabrera Giants OF 28 459 11 .346 60 Signed by Blue Jays; 2 years, $16M (11/16/12)
54 Reed Johnson Braves OF 36 269 3 .290 20 Signed by Braves; 1 year, $1.6M (12/6/12)
3 B.J. Upton Rays OF 28 573 28 .246 78 Signed by Braves; 5 years, $75M (11/28/12)
23 Nate Schierholz Phillies OF 28 241 6 .257 21 Signed by Cubs; 1 year; $2.25M (12/5/12)
7 Angel Pagan Giants OF 31 605 8 .288 56 Signed by Giants; 4 years, $40M (12/3/12)
48 Jason Bay Mets OF 34 194 8 .165 20 Signed by Mariners, 1 year, $1M (12/8/12)
85 Juan Pierre Phillies OF 35 394 1 .307 25 Signed by Marlins; 1 year, $1.6M (11/17/12)
32 Jonny Gomes Athletics OF 31 279 18 .262 47 Signed by Red Sox; 2 years, $10M (11/21/12)
9 Shane Victorino Dodgers OF 31 595 11 .255 55 Signed by Red Sox; 3 years, $39M (12/4/12)
12 Torii Hunter Angels OF 37 534 16 .313 92 Signed by Tigers; 2 year, $26M (11/14/12)
1 Josh Hamilton Rangers OF 31 562 43 .285 128 Unrestricted
2 Michael Bourn Braves OF 29 624 9 .274 57 Unrestricted
4 Nick Swisher Yankees OF 31 537 24 .276 93 Unrestricted
14 Scott Hairston Mets OF 32 377 20 .263 57 Unrestricted
17 Cody Ross Red Sox OF 31 476 22 .267 81 Unrestricted
19 Ichiro Suzuki Yankees OF 39 629 9 .283 55 Unrestricted
24 Grady Sizemore Indians OF 30 268 10 .224 32 Unrestricted
25 Delmon Young Tigers OF 27 574 18 .267 74 Unrestricted
42 Nyjer Morgan Brewers OF 32 289 3 .239 16 Unrestricted
46 Kosuke Fukudome White Sox OF 35 41 0 .171 4 Unrestricted
47 Rick Ankiel Nationals OF 33 158 5 .228 15 Unrestricted
50 Alfredo Amezaga Cubs OF 34 77 0 .182 4 Unrestricted
51 Austin Kearns Marlins OF 32 147 4 .245 16 Unrestricted
52 Darnell McDonald Yankees OF 34 88 2 .205 9 Unrestricted
53 Andruw Jones Yankees OF 35 233 14 .197 34 Unrestricted
55 Travis Buck Astros OF 29 74 0 .216 6 Unrestricted
79 Matt Diaz Braves OF 34 108 2 .222 13 Unrestricted
81 Mitch Maier Royals OF 30 64 2 .172 7 Unrestricted
90 Brian Bixler Astros OF 30 88 2 .193 7 Unrestricted
84 Juan Rivera Dodgers OF 34 312 9 .244 47 Unrestricted; Option Declined, 1 year, $4M
The fact that none of these guys are even on our radar, while we are considering Andres Torres is absolutely horrible.
“The fact that none of these guys are even on our radar”
How exactly would you know who is on their radar?
Considering the Mets and Hairston both say there’s a good chance of re-signing and I have read reports of the Mets being in on Ross?
hmmm lets see…
CF options -
Josh Hamilton
Michael Bourn
BJ Upton
whom do we look at? none other than our very own Andres Torres
out of all those OF, you were going to pick Cody Ross and Scott Hairston and walk away satisfied?
ok lol
LOL, yeah but I don’t live in a fantasy world where the Mets can actually afford those players you mentioned.
LOL
yup…
its a good thing we signed that 30 year old 3B to a 8 year 138 mil contract !
Should the Mets & Rangers work out something for Olt, hopefully they’ll get some relief back in return as well. If you look at Texas’s system, there are some good ones to choose from:
LHP Robbie Ross
RHP Alexei Ogando
LHP Martin Perez (putting him here just because I see him as a future reliever)
RHP Ryan Rodebaugh (AA)
LHP Jimmy Reyes (A+)
RHP Phil Klein (A+)
RHP Zach Osbourne (AA)
RHP Ben Rowen (A+)
RHP Randy Henry (A+)
Alderson’s first two offseasons bored me to sleep. This one is boring me to death. I cant believe we’re past the halfway point and all we did was sign Hicks.
Sandy at 65 should retier,and we get a new younger GM who is up to this generation of thinking.The Alderson season is over. Can we please move on with a fresh plan, this one died or never took off?
Sandy won’t be around much longer. He never planned to be. But be careful what you wish for, because odds are you are getting a much bigger dose of Jeffy. No chance in hell they are going to get a young hot shot like Daniels or Friedman (who of course was an ivy league brain and not a BB guy anyway) and give them autonomy to go out and make moves. Instead Jeffy will play GM without the title, and J.P. will become the latest puppet having his strings pulled.