I don’t entirely disagree with you. But, when making a long term deal, the Mets will point to the low batting average, low on base average and the current inability to hit lefties. Ike’s people will point to 32 dingers, 90 ribbies and a great glove.

I honestly can’t predict which way Ike will head this season. That’s what I mean by the jury is still out.

The Mets made a smart move in locking up both Wright and Reyes when they were young but both those guys had established themselves – Ike hasn’t. He’s too inconsistent.

However, if you can lock him up with a team friendly contract then they should do it. And, as you say, he is more valuable locked up to trade if he doesn’t work out and if he does work out – get that batting average up, get the on base up and hits lefties with a .260+ average then we’re laughing.

its their way of lowering the price !!!

kinda sorta like arbitration minus the judge

and the more certain you are, the more it is going to cost you.

it is good business to take a calculated risk now than wait til Ike hits 50 HR in his free-agent year.

also in the event that we happen to find another Ike in our system, Ike’s controlled status would only enhance his trade value

one name to keep an eye on is vicente lupo

http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/07/mmo-prospect-spotlight-vicente-lupo-has-power-to-spare.html

I agree that the Mets way of negotiating is to start with a smear campaign. They have done it before and they will continue to do it.

They (probably Jeff – but I don’t know for sure) whisper into a few friendly writer’s ears and get unsubstantiated accusations published.

Shame on the Mets for doing this – and shame on the so-called sports journalists for allowing themselves to be used.

Good research. My point on better pitches is more a general attitude that teams have against teams who are struggling. A losing team doesn’t really scare anyone. Teams would look at the Mets line up and think that there is no one on it that could beat you – no one that you have to pitch around – and that includes Ike. If you don’t have to pitch around hitters naturally they will see more strikes.

But – “Ike led the NL in HR hit for the 2nd half !” You really have to look at the team record (baseball is a team sport) to see the relevance of him leading the NL in homers for the 2nd half.

The question is – should we lock up Ike in a long term right now?

IMHO – I think the jury is out.

Can he become a great hitter? I don’t know – he certainly has shown glimpses. Overall he is too inconsistent to lockup if we don’t have to. Let’s see what he does this year – I would love to see .280 – .290 with 25 homers .350 OBA and 90 – 100 RBI. He needs to cut down on his strikeouts, improve his on base and hit lefties better. I’m sure we’ll have this discussion again at some point.

He hit 32 HRs but his BA was in the dumps and I’m sure both Ike and his Agent realize that they will get plenty of money in Arbitration alone and would rather wait until Ike has a full and more consistent season.
Then when his arb number goes up even higher next year thats when both sides have it in thier interests to buy and sell out his remaining arb years and maybe even extend past it to get another year or two of control.

At Ike’s age (26 currently) he has 3 years of arb left (not including this year) and will be 29 when heis due to hit FA so if they wait a year they could easily get to a 5 year deal which is right in line with the opinion some here love so much regarding player prime. He would go FA at 32 and then you decide if he is worth a big payday that with another 5 or 6 year contract could make him close to being a Met for Life…

Or is it more like an apostle denying his savior?

Who replaces Bay? Who is replacing Spin? Two guys who were only signed to Minor League contracts? AAAA players?

Is that really any better than the guys you would have jumped ship for if they were still here?

I know (as others do) that you turned your grief into glory MERELY on the basis of the Dickey Trade….

Which essentially is a swap of Cy Young Pitcher for a catcher with back and knee issues.

Just about everything else you said would make you jump the good ship alderson has either been met or if change was made it was change towards AAAA talent not any reasonable attempt at improving upon what was there when you were ready to jump.

And if d’Arnaud doesn’t do well you pretty much got a worse team now than you the one you said you would jump ship for.

u mean like re-arranging your definition of a consistent season when talking about david wright.
LOL

right now on january 15th, Kirk, Duda, Spin, Baxter are at the top of the org chart in terms of outfielders.

If that does not change by Opening Day, are you willing to join us?

You can choose the ball or you can choose the sword
I know you do not understand what I am telling you, but you must choose

If you watch the video, Pelfey has the ball in sight all the way and just watches it, doing nothing, as it goes up and comes down.

Paulino is in a crouch when the ball is hit, has to stand upright and remove his mask. He has less time to find the ball and track it.

Right now Jason Bay and Andres Torres are not starting for the Mets. Right now, Josh Thole is not starting for the Mets. Right now Kirk is not a guarantee to start for the Mets. Right now the bullpen has only TWO players guaranteed with roster spots from 2012 Francisco and Parnell.

So you can choose to ignore those facts and act like I owe you an apology but the truth is, he said the 2013 Roster would look different than the 2012 and as of now Acosta, Ramirez, Rauch, Young, Thole, Shoppach, Hairston, Torres and Bay are not on the Mets in 2013.

So nice try, nice swing and a miss.

And if you watched Ike in 2012, you would know that his stats were misleading also because his early season struggles were due to having valley fever in ST, and being rusty because he missed almost all of 2011 with a freak injury.

If you want to talk about luck, then consider this: How could you get any more unlucky than to miss almost an entire year from trying to catch a pop fly, and suffering from valley fever the next season in ST? Now that’s unlucky.

I agree it was the right move….for the same reasons I think the mets should replicate that with Ike

I sound pessimistic sometimes, but I dont mind building around the guys we have.

despite what was said in the movie, JESSEP is welcome to leave the FIRM at any time