I’m betting you confusing what we are doing as Building from within…But we are not really building from within we are instead Youthanizing the team by trading away our BEST performers for Younger promising maybes.

Teams who REALLY build from within build via the draft not by trading all thier best players to get some kids to build with….

Some teams that HAVE built from within have traded away performers to add to the rebuild they have already done via the draft but none START OFF via the trade and then hoping the draft fills in the gaps.

Most teams you can cite that built from within did it by drafting good players (usually with high round picks) and once those picks were close to being promoted they would then trade off one or two PERFORMER pieces that would soon have no place to play without holding one of those kids back.

So I’m guessing you believe building from within is the best way and no one would argue otherwise….

The problem is we are NOT building from within!
We are merely cannibalising the MLB squad to get some kids, And unfortunatly not enough kids to fill the holes the trades to get them created.

What we are doing is not building from within. Hell it’s not even a Home grown team!
The guys that are have been here for 2 years, with Harvey being here just one.
Neither Wheeler and d’Arnaud are homegrown and after they get promoted we are pretty much right back where we started, 24th in the league Minor League prospect rating.

We did not do what it is you think we have done, hell we haven’t even rebuilt at all because we created 4 holes to get two kids we didn’t have when we started this rebuild!

September is not a good barometer of how good a player is and just slightly better than ST only because No one is RUSTY by the time September rolls around.

Go all out of a Top Pitcher and Top Hitter in FA the first year (and coincidentally that hitter struggled in his first year in the new stadium)

And now they went after another top Bat to add some more to the winning….

People pointed to the faliure of thier spending last year….But if the Angels are truly operating under the Omar Model then this is the year they make the playoffs and provided Pujols can hit a curveball it might work out for them better than it did for us….

Well, it means another year before the argument is settled. If Sandy goes into 2014 acquring from the outside those he needs to compliment that which came from within, we will see what his plan truly was – with one exception.

As stated, the projected payroll for 2016 is expected to rise to within $5 or $6 million of the current one (depending on Marcum’s incentive bonuses). If those he signs in 2014 are just for two years – then they have to be looked at as fill-ins, even if expensive. They could very well be quality players with one or two good years seemingly left – like a Carlos Beltran-type who signed with St. Louis for just two years.

And since next winter’s crop is mostly of older free agents than now, who most likely would command contracts the length of more than just those two years and at higher cost, that is why if wanting to wait one more year to add to that nucleus because he felt it wasn’t yet quite ready was actually Sandy’s reasons for holding off, that is actually counterproductive.

If he does not have the money to re-invest this year and is waitng for that extra $25 million windfall the next two seasons, that still is going to be counter-productive and in certain ways, not achievable if it is only a two-year financial window.

Sandy is said to be an analyst who thinks in the long term so I think he understands these scenarios and the possible risks associated much better than we do.

So that is why even next winter, we have to see the type of free agents he goes after. Again, many of them won’t fit the mold of settling in with a young team for a period of many years when in their prime.

Some may be very skeptical.
Others – like me – believe it´s the right way to build the team and it has a very good chance to get there.
Thing is, if it doesn´t work, this current FO deserves to be fired. And you can still bring in a more aggressive sort of GM who then goes out and tries to quick fix this again.

The Mets better win more games overall from 2014 through 2016 than they will have lost between 2011 and 2013, for sure.

If Flores can play an at least passable 1b, 2b and 3b, I can see him as a very valuable super-utility player down the road. Somewhat in the Kevin Mitchell way of 1986 who also didn´t have a set starting position but appeared all over the field. Flores is a “bat” 1st and if you give him 350 AB per season – also as a DH & PH, of course – he could be quite valuable on a deep club. And also serve as a nice hedge against injuries to Wright, Ike or even Murphy (or whoever the longterm 2bman is). And if he hits better than most experts think he will, then he´s either a prime trade chip or could succeed Ike Davis at 1b (if he´s really good). For now, most see more of a .285 BA, 15-20 HR, .775 OPS type of bat. Not good enough to unseat Davis at 1b. Even worse defensively at 2b than Murph and obviously not on a level of Wright at 3b. However, that´s a very valuable utility bat right there.

One problem that the Mets have had with their last two contenders has been a lack of depth. Everything needed to break right to succeed. By having players who could start elsewhere on your bench, you increase your chance to remain good even if injuries strike.

http://www.bbtia.com/home/?currentPage=2

And you thought the collapse over the last three weeks of the season was bad.
It pales in comparison to the worst off-season in the history of off-seasons, which took another dramatic turn for the worse Thursday afternoon.
[...] Did I miss something? Don’t the Rangers have three consecutive 90-win seasons? Haven’t they been to two of the last three World Series? Doesn’t money go farther in Texas than elsewhere? Isn’t Ron Washington an easy manager for whom to play?
The answer to all five is “yes.”
So how come, all of a sudden, nobody wants to deal with the Rangers?
For this there are only theories. None of them are very complimentary. If it can be summed up in a word, that word would be hubris – extreme pride or arrogance. Committing hubris would entail Rangers management thinking it had the baseball world by the tail, would entail thinking it could “win” free agency and trade negotiations, that everything would fall into place and that players are simply assets or liabilities to be moved around like stocks and bonds.
The Rangers appear foolish, but worse yet, they also have come across as absolutely clueless, with some arrogance thrown in. Idiots? Yes, that, too.
But suddenly, Jon Daniels, the general manager who appeared to be in total control of the Rangers’ winter moves, well, Jon got hit upside the head with a fungo.

What I really think killed us more than our bullpen was our attitude. I mean, a part-time rookie like Timo Perez doesn’t wait until he sees the ball clear the fence to dog it on the base paths and is subsequently thrown out at the plate and is then rewarded for his lack of hustle by starting game two? He cost the Mets a run, ran them out of an inning and I remember how Keith Hernandez was FUMING on the post game show, angry at the Mets for losing a game because of their laxidasical play.

and unless we get Billy Beane and HIS FOLKS, we will never see Moneyball level of excellence.

JP, Ricco and Depo are not in beane’s class

Better explain the context of the overall situation regarding my opinion of Rauch’s place on the team. Do I want him back? It’s not so much a question of wanting him back as it is the answer of who else do we have?

No, I am not keen on him but without major changes to revamp the bullpen with potentially better arms I would not even mention his name as a returnee. But we aren’t. So we have to make due. If we got from the outside a reliable if not spectacular closer and kept it at that, then Rauch is still a necessity in middle relief along with Francisco – where he is more comfortable – and hoping Parnell maintains the improvement we saw in him perhaps as the set-up man. Then our bullpen would be in a bit better shape – not great, but perhaps passable. Francisco was misused and not having a closer so was everybody else.

Get us a few relievers and Jon is no longer part of the equation. Get us at least a closer and we can use Rauch differently and not in the late innings. But since we are not, he is at least better than the lot that we do have – which is not saying much.

So Rauch gets the nod out of default. That is all I mean. Get us a few good arms – not invitees signed to minor league contracts – and again, then no need for me to enter him into the equation.

Actually, it was President Reagan that was originally called teflon, however, I think it was moe JFK and RFK.

Because you are insanely obsessed with his legacy and his rep.

Acting like an imbecile on MMO is your CAREER!!!!!!!!!!!

Cowgill being just .004 points better than our worst OFer in 2000…

Were hairston and Dickey injured AT ALL the year before we signed them?

NOPE!

These guys we signed WERE!
They ALL missed time due to injury last year….

But there is something good in what you said that I will hang onto….

Since 5 Game sample is enough to convince you no more SMALL SAMPLE excuses from you will be accepted!

So you admit our bullpen was horrible last year and you are wondering why aren’t racing to bring the guys from last years bullpen back?

I’m not sure how else to answer this. Rauch did not deserve his contract last year. Unless he is willing to come back for substantially less, which he still may as nobody else seems interested, why in the world would you want him back?