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2012
Winter Meetings Preview: What to Expect (with *Some* Bold Predictions)
An article by 
On Monday all 30 GMs, along with a handful of players, agents, and other baseball folks, will all come together in R.A. Dickey’s hometown of Nashville, TN for the Winter Meetings. Personally, this is one of my favorite weeks in all of baseball. This is when the Hot Stove really gets cooking, so all you crabby Mets fans who keep complaining the front office isn’t doing anything can stop whining now (if the David Wright extension wasn’t enough for you), because the Mets will most likely make at least one move to get their roster ready for the 2013 season. Here are some events that may occur in the coming days:
The R.A. Dickey Situation Will Be Resolved
Whether he is re-signed or traded, I am almost positive that we will all know the fate of R.A. Dickey and his tenure with the Mets within the coming days. There are rumors that his people and the Mets will be meeting early on during the Winter Meetings, during which I assume they will talk about where to find the best steakhouses in Nashville. Oh yeah, and that whole contract thing.
Trading the reigning Cy Young Award winner just doesn’t make sense if they aren’t going to receive an overwhelming package for him, which all reports indicate won’t happen. Neither side is far off from each other in terms of what they want for a contract extension, so all signs point toward a deal getting done.
Adam’s prediction: The Mets and R.A. Dickey agree on a 3-year, $30 million contract extension (including his 2013 option).
Jonathon Niese Will Be Shopped
If the Mets end up re-signing Dickey, then that leads me to believe Niese will be the guy they look to trade for a bat or two. The question is, will they be able to get enough? The Kansas City Royals are looking to acquire another starting pitcher, but have said to be unwilling to part with Alex Gordon or top prospect Wil Myers. We know Toronto and Boston have a bunch of guys the Mets could use, but unless they add significant pieces to the deal there’s no way Niese should be traded for them (more on this in a bit). There’s always the possibility of a team getting an urge to make a deal and overpaying, but I would not bet on that happening. And when looking at the return the Braves got for Tommy Hanson, it does not appear the market has much more to give for a pitcher of Niese’s caliber.
Adam’s prediction: Niese will not be traded.
The Mets need an outfielder who hits for power and bats right-handed. Oh, hey Ryan Ludwick!
An Outfielder Will Be Signed
Here is a list of some free agent outfielders I think the Mets could realistically afford:
Jason Bay – lol jkEndy Chavez
Ben Francisco
Kosuke Fukodome
Reed Johnson
Andruw Jones
Don Kelly
Ryan Ludwick
Nate McClouth
Nyjer Morgan
Xavier Nady
Ryan Raburn
Nate Schierholtz
Ryan Sweeney
Shane Victorino
Delmon Young
Excuse me while I throw up in my mouth looking at that list.
All kidding aside, there is one name I wouldn’t mind seeing the Mets bring in: Ryan Ludwick.
It’s evident the Mets need power, and Ludwick did hit 28 home runs for the Cincinnati Reds in 2011. Oh, and he bats right-handed, which is also something the Mets are in desperate need of. Buyer beware though, as Great American Ballpark is a notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark. On top of that, Ludwick’s previous two seasons saw him hit only 30 home runs combined in time with St. Louis, San Diego, and Pittsburgh. That being said, sometimes you have to take bold chances in order to be successful. And a one year deal for a guy with big power potential is a chance worth taking.
Adam’s prediction: The Mets sign Ryan Ludwick to a 1-year, $6 million contract.
A Trade Will Be Made
Most notably, a trade for a catcher. With that in mind, let’s go back to Boston and Toronto. They have a couple guys I’ve recently talked about, and for some reason I just keep coming back to them when it comes to finding a catcher for this team. Maybe it’s because I feel they can be had for a cheaper price than what has been suggested and the Mets have the pieces. I’m probably dead wrong on this but whatever, it’s my post so I’m going with it.
Adam’s prediction: The Mets trade Lucas Duda, Jenrry Mejia and Matt Den Dekker to the Boston Red Sox for Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Daniel Nava.
If I turn out to be the new Nostradamus and all of my predictions come true this coming week, then the Mets will have built themselves a pretty decent team for 2013. Also, I will immediately send this post to all 30 MLB front offices and tell them to hire me on the spot.
More likely, however, I’ll be wrong on my latter two predictions. But I do hope I’m right with my first two, as I would like to see both Dickey and Niese return. Regardless, it should be a fun week for all baseball fans. Enjoy!
About the Author: Adam Rossi
I graduated from Siena College in 2008 with a BA in English and a minor in Writing. I was brainwashed at birth by my grandfather to become a Mets fan, and have been following the team since my youth. While they've driven me mad over the years, I still do my best to try to keep things in perspective. Follow me on Twitter: @aj16ross
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Alex68 Prediction, Mets will do more minor league signings, then whatever garbage is left after the winter meetings is what the mets will look to pick from there… in route to yet another losing season but at least happy because we signed david wright long term
Going to be real interesting to see how they fill those OF holes.
I don’t expect it all to be done next week.
Yep, if we don’t you can NOW say the wilpons have no money because they spent it all on one guy…
This!
Great line, Alex!
LOL
Just Da Damaja Prediction:
the Mets will sign Chone Figgins to play CF and hit leadoff for the mets, offering a chance for Chone to rebuild his value.
Duda will stick in LF
I hope they stay internal for RF…either Baxter, Kirk, or Valdespin.
Unless you are getting a Stanton or a Meyers, or really going bold and signing Josh Hamilton to play RF there is no one that impresses me that much to consider getting
the next great RF will come from our farm system.
Darryl Strawberry Jr.?
That is an epically bad outfield. Possibly historically bad.
I was listening to my boy Joe B and Evan last week and Evan told a short interesting story. He was with his father and the subject of Alderson’s snarky, sarcastic comments about the Mets outfield came up. When he said “what outfield” or some other garbage that Alderson is good for.
Anyway, Evan’s father said “you know, I was offended by that because this guy is trying to be funny about the horrible outfield that HE put together.” Not the exact quote but i can assure you those are almost the exact words. Trust me because no matter if people like or hate me I’m not going to lie to you unlike a few people here who have no problem doing it at all.
That’s what Evan’s father said, i thought it was well put and so did Evan Roberts too. And of course Evan has a voice and i’m enjoying finally seeing the crack in the Alderson lovefest he’s been part of as well.
The OF I wanted for 2012 was
Duda
Pagan
Beltran
The OF we get probably will be
Duda
Torres
Figgins
Adam’s prediction: The Mets trade Lucas Duda, Jenrry Mejia and Matt Den Dekker to the Boston Red Sox for Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Daniel Nava.
That’s a nice hypo. I think it serves the interests of both teams very nicely.
Where was the bold prediction?
I could definitely see Salty on the Mets.
I’d go for Salty but Nava isn’t much of an improvement over Mike Baxter and I don’t want to give up on Mejia and Den Dekker yet without a better return.
They can keep Nava, but I’d take Kalish.
i may be nitpicking but i think Niese is a better pitcher than Hanson at this stage in their careers. Niese had a better year than Hanson in ’12, his velocity is still strong–unlike Hanson’s, and Niese pitched for a team vying for last place–not 1st Place.
“The Mets need an outfielder who hits for power and bats right-handed. Oh, hey Ryan Ludwick!”
We should all be aware that Ludwick doesnt hit Lefty’s well at all, although he bats Right handed,
Career
vs. RHP = .273AVG 94HR 339OBP .471SLG% 811OPS
vs. LHP = .240AVG 49HR 322OBP .452SLG% 774OPS
What about Cody Ross instead of Ludwick?
I’d definitely try to sign Cody Ross, I wanted the Mets to sign him an Willingham last year since both played and had success in our division. But, no we traded for the other CF in SF Torres smh….
And Willinghams price went up to 7mil a yr i new he was out of Sandys spending range then….but yes I would take Ross
Cody Ross was someone I wanted last offseason. I’d still take him. He’d be an instant upgrade and a big one at that.
Random question: Would anyone be interested in Mark Reynolds, replacing Hairston as the power bat off the bench?
Then again, I wouldn’t mind bringing back Hairston as well.
I would, but my big concern is that he doesn’t play outfield and would only get playing time spelling Wright or Ike Davis. It wouldn’t amount to much PT unless one of them went on the DL. It would cost too much for a player who wouldn’t get more than 150 at-bats IMO.
I wouldn’t think of Reynolds much of being at 3rd base because he’s absolutely terrible there. He had some prior experience in LF in the minor league, but very little (23 games). I’d like to see him adapt into the corners of the OF.
LOL, I’m tired of turning infielders into outfielders.
LOL I feel the same way, but for Reynolds? Worth a shot.
If your predictions are right the Mets will be like:
1- Tejada SS
2- Murphy 2B
3- Wright 3B
4- Davis 1B
5- Ludwik OF
6- Saltalamacchia C
7- Nava OF
8- Kirk N OF
Rotation:
1- Dickey
2- Santana
3- Niese
4- Harvey
5- Gee/Wheeler
I think this a good team out of nowhere and at very least will be funny to watch for 2013 season.