After discussing my earlier post with me on Twitter, Mike Newman of FanGraphs conducted his own polling to one of the largest trafficked sports sites on the web. There are the results.

My conclusion?

Too many Mets fans are prospect drunk…

I would speculate that a similar poll on MMO would be somewhere in the middle with the majority of them pulling the trigger on such a deal without hesitation.

Original Post 9:00 AM

I am well aware of how every Mets’ site has their own readership of Mets fans, especially so when it comes to their commenting community, for those few sites like ours fortunate to have a steady commenting community. The differences are stark.

I was very surprised this morning when I saw the results on a poll Mets Blog took yesterday on if they would swap prospects d’Arnaud and Wheeler in exchange for Giancarlo Stanton. Actually, the word “surprised” might be a bit too mild, I think “stunned” would be a better choice.

Wow, almost two thirds would say NO to the younger and more established Stanton who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

“In a heartbeat,” said one Mets official, who is not in general manager Sandy Alderson’s inner-circle of decision makers but has a voice in discussions. “Nothing against those kids, but it’s Giancarlo.”

Stanton put up those gaudy numbers at ages 20-22. He just turned 23 and is still four years away from his prime 5-6 years of peak production.

I asked no less than – I don’t know – 10-12 different media types from Rosenthal to Callis to Heyman and not one said they wouldn’t pull the trigger. I asked three Mets players who requested to remain anonymous and one said, “Do you really have to ask?”

That is the majority sentiment on MMO as well. That poll up there just showed me the difference between MetsBlog regulars and Mets Merized Online regulars. The two couldn’t be more different.

Almost 75% of MetsBlog readers would rather keep the two unknown quantities rather than adding a proven 23-year old superstar even under the current Mets outfield situation… Wow!

To all of our MMO daily readers… All 16,000 of you… Well 17,000 if you just go by Monday… Have I ever told you how much I love you? :-)

I think it’s cool that when hot button issues come up like this one, that we have two megalithic sites for Mets fans that offer a nice contrast and together comprise the whole of the entire fan base.

Original Post 3/11

The Mets “retain an unfilled craving for a marquee outfielder,” writes Andy Martino of the Daily News.

Martino says that the team is monitoring star outfielders such as Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.

One Mets person told Martino “there is heat there,” in regard to the team having a preliminary discussion with the Marlins about Stanton, suggesting serious interest.

There is no evidence that GMs Sandy Alderson and Larry Beinfest have discussed a Stanton deal, only speculation. But it does sound like there’s some serious interest on both sides.

This adds to what Ken Davidoff of the New York Post said in a different report yesterday, where he said Stanton, Gonzalez and Andre Ethier are among seven outfielders the Mets might consider acquiring this season or next winter. I didn’t much care for the other four outfielders on his list. Soriano? No thanks.

If the Mets are truly serious and this isn’t just them blowing some smoke up our behinds, they must know it would cost them likely two of their top prospects, namely starting pitcher Zack Wheeler and catcher Travis D’Arnaud.

Surprisingly, someone close to Alderson’s told Martino the the Mets GM does not have any particular attachment to either of those players, simply because he traded for them.

The Mets had already considered, but then declined on trading Wheeler to get Justin Upton or Wil Myers, during the Winter Meetings.

There’s nothing  close here so don’t get the wrong idea. But usually where there’s smoke there’s fire so let’s keep an eye on this.

That said, the Mets obviously need a marquee outfielder and they have to stop playing pretend with this current group of flawed outfielders, many of whom wouldn’t be starting on a lot of teams not named the Mets.

In 31 plate appearances so far this season, Buck is batting .393/.387/.464 with four home runs and an NL leading 14 RBIs in eight games.

Buck did not hit his fourth home run of the year last year until May 13 (25 games) and did not drive in his 14th run of the season until June 24 (50 games).

He is the first Mets player with four home runs in the team’s first eight games of season since Mike Piazza in 2001.

I tossed the following question out on Twitter and what follows are a few of the many responses.

Some Met fans are excited about Buck because it keeps the Mets in contention. Others are excited because we can trade him at deadline and get more for him if he keeps this up. Where do you stand?

@metsmerized I love what he brings to the young pitching staff. I think that’s valuable then what we could receive in trade at the deadline.

— Ben Yoel (@Ben_Yoel) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized trade, he keeps it up they could get a nice return

— Bosco (@bosco86) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized He’s without a doubt a deadline trade

— Michael C DeLuca (@MiaFins1) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized Dam ngood question. Think I’m the latter, hoping that if they are in contention d’Arnaud can keep them there.

— E.J. (@TheHappyRecap) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized The only answer to this question is . . . both.It all denoends on timing and circumstance.

— Scott M. Dolan (@ScottMDolan) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized keep buck and sign him. Good 1-2 punch behind the plate; maybe Buck can play 1st against lefties when d’arnaud arrives

— anthonynap (@anthonynap) April 10, 2013

Damn… What the Buck will the Mets do….

Binghamton Mets (0-0) at Akron Aeros (0-0)

RHP Rafael Montero vs. RHP Danny Salazar

2012 IN REVIEW

In their 21st season, the 2012 B-Mets went 68-74 and finished 5th in the Eastern League Eastern Division, trailing first-place Trenton by 11.0 games. Four players who played in Binghamton last year made their Major League debuts with the New York Mets later in the season: LHP Josh Edgin, RHP Collin McHugh, RHP Elvin Ramirez, and LHP Robert Carson.

BINGHAMTON STARTING PITCHER

RHP Rafael Montero gets the ball on opening day for the B-Mets. Last season he split time between the Savannah Sand Gnats (Low-A) and the St. Lucie Mets (High-A). In Savannah, he allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 12 starts before being promoted in mid-June. He picked up 5 more wins in St. Lucie and finished the year with a combined 11-5 record and a 2.36 ERA. Montero also showed excellent control, finishing with 110 strikeouts and only 19 walks. Montero is ranked the #5 prospect in the Met’s system by Baseball America prior to the season. Rafael signed with the Mets as a non-drafted free agent in January 2011.

OPPOSING STARTING PITCHER

RHP Danny Salazar starts his first full season in Double-A. He was promoted to Akron in early August last year after 16 starts with the Carolina Mudcats (High-A). In just one month in Akron, Salazar went 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA in six starts. After giving up four earned runs in his first start against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, he allowed only three earned runs in his last 29.1 innings pitched. Salazar was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2006.

MEET THE METS

This year’s B-Met squad brings back 9 players that saw time in Binghamton last season. 15 players will be making their AA debut this season, all of whom ended 2012 in St. Lucie. Rhyne Hughes, who was signed as a free agent in February, played with Bowie last season. Hughes and Josh Rodriguez are the only two players on the Opening Day roster with MLB experience.

LOPEZ LEADS PUERTO RICO

B-Met manager Pedro Lopez led Criollos de Caguas to a 24-16 record and a Puerto Rico Winter League Championship during this past offseason. The championship allowed Lopez to manage Puerto Rico in the 2013 Caribbean Series in early February. The team finished 2-4 in the series.

OPENING DAY HISTORY

2013 is the fourth consecutive season that the B-Mets face off against the Aeros on Opening Day. Akron has a 2-1 edge during that stretch, with Binghamton winning 1-0 in 2011. Last year, the B-Mets were defeated in a 4-0 shutout at NYSEG Stadium. In their 21-year history, Binghamton is 13-8 on Opening Day.

SOUTHPAW BULLPEN

The B-Mets bullpen holds four left-handed pitchers. Mark Cohoon and Chase Huchingson have both converted from starting roles in 2012. Cohoon is starting his fourth year as a B-Met, going 8-11 with a 3.62 ERA last season. Huchingson tallied eight wins last year with the St. Lucie Mets in their rotation. Adam Kolarek made a brief appearance in Binghamton last year, but was primarily used in the back end of St. Lucie’s bullpen, converting on 18 save opportunities. Jack Leathersich combined for 38 games out of the pen for Savannah and St. Lucie last year.

LAST YEAR v. AKRON

The B-Mets went 5-9 against the Akron Aeros in 2012. All-time the B-Mets have gone 119-151 against Akron. In 1992 the B-Mets defeated the Canton-Akron Aeros in the Eastern League Championship to earn their first title. This season the B-Mets take on the Aeros 14 times over four series; in Akron from 4/4 to 4/7 and 8/22 to 8/25, and at NYSEG Stadium from 4/26 to 4/29 and 5/13 to 5/15.

NEXT GAME PREVIEW

The B-Mets continue this four-game series against the Akron Aeros tomorrow night at 6:35 PM. RHP Cory Mazzoni (0-0, —-) will start for the B-Mets against LHP T.J. House (0-0, —-).

Matt Harvey was everything the Mets hoped for as he dominated the San Diego Padres, 8-4, in frigid Citi Field tonight. Harvey gave up one hit with ten strikeouts in seven scoreless innings.

All San Diego’s runs came against the bullpen, which is expected to be a Mets’ Achilles Heel this season, but not even it could ruin this night.

Especially impressive was Harvey did it pitching with temperatures in the low 30s after the wind-chill. Harvey was in complete control, but at 94 pitches after seven, manager Terry Collins thought it was time to pull the plug.

“Believe me, later in the season in a close game he’s not going to want to come out. There will be huge argument in taking him out,’’ Collins said. “He was getting stiff. He was cold. Under the circumstances he pitched a very impressive game. In weather like that, the ball feels like a cue ball.’’

Harvey said he doesn’t want to be just a major league pitcher, but a great pitcher, and to do that he’s not afraid of putting in the work as in running the steps in the Citi Field stands this winter. It’s easy to say you want to be good, but the key is to make the effort.

The victory was the first of Harvey’s career at Citi Field, and he became the fourth Mets pitcher to register at least 80 strikeouts in his first 11 starts with the team, joining Pedro Martinez, Dwight Gooden and Nolan Ryan.

“Today it was the fastball,’’ Harvey said of what was working. “I threw some good sliders when I needed and I threw my change-up in timely counts. … I said all spring training I wanted to pound the zone and I wasn’t about to let the cold effect me.’’

Harvey wore short sleeves and refused a jacket when he was on the bases: “In my mind, a jacket doesn’t belong on a baseball field.’’

That’s the mentality of an offensive lineman, and the Mets haven’t had that in a long time.

POWER PLUS: One of the pre-season concerns was if the Mets would hit with power. Collin Cowgill hit a grand slam in the opener, and Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and John Buck each hit two-run homers last night off left-hander Clayton Richard. That’s ten RBI on four homers.

“Duda and Ike hitting them off a lefty is huge,’’ Collins said. “If those two guys are hitting, it’s a tough line-up to get through.’’

The Mets have outscored the Padres, 19-6, in winning their first two games.

MARCUM UPDATE: Shaun Green returned to New York from Port St. Lucie to have his neck and shoulder re-examined. He’s already on the disabled list, and Collins said Aaron Laffey would start in his place Sunday against Miami.

“He has some real discomfort running from his shoulder up through his neck,’’ Collins said. “What that is, where it starts, what’s causing it, I think we won’t know until he sees the doctor tomorrow.’’

The Mets signed Laffey as a free agent in December. At 27, he’s also pitched with Cleveland, Seattle, Toronto and the Yankees. He went 4-6 with a 4.56 ERA in 22 games, including 16 starts with the Blue Jays last year.

“Hopefully he comes in Sunday and pitches very well,’’ Collins said. “If he does, he most likely will get another start. But we’re going to just take one start at a time right now.’’

BATTER UP:  With the win, the Mets moved to 2-0 on the season. Harvey’s performance gives them hope for optimism and a season that might be better than anyone expected. The Mets will now go for the series sweep of the Padres at 1:10 matinee tomorrow afternoon at Citi Field. Dillon Gee will get his chance to shine next, and goes up against Eric Stults for the Padres.

This is a great contract for both sides. For Andrus, the obvious financial security in a town he’s familiar with and loves was the selling point. For the Rangers, they lock up one of the best young shortstops in the game through his prime years and the contract expires at just the right time. Jon Daniels saw his approval rating take a huge hit this past winter when he not only failed to acquire a big name that could finally put the Rangers over the top, he also allowed the team’s best player, Josh Hamilton, to leave via free agency to a division rival.

Andrus is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. At the plate, he’s improved his on-base percentage, slugging percentage and batting average every year since 2010. He owns a 74% success rate stealing bases, which is passable. The Rangers needed to make this happen to infuse some good will back in the franchise, and with a player of Andrus’s caliber, it was a confluence of positives that made everyone a winner.

Everyone except Andrus’s agent, Scott Boras, that is. Well known for taking his clients into free agency and milking every last cent from the owner’s pockets, Boras lost this battle. “We’re the boss,” Andrus said. “I know everybody thinks that about Scott, but it’s different if you’re the one in that position. He works for us. I know he tries to get the best deal that he can, but it comes down to my choice and what’s better for me and my family.”

From one contract extension to the greater chance of another, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano fired agent Scott Boras on Tuesday and signed with Roc Nation Sports, which partners with Creative Arts Agency (CAA) Sports. Roc Nation is owned by New York über-celebrity Jay-Z. Yankee fans should be happy to learn that Cano will now be represented by Brodie Van Wagenen, who also represents the likes of Matt Cain and the Ryan’s Braun, Zimmerman and Howard. What do they all have in common? Huge contract extensions before they reached free agency, that’s what. Good news for Yankee fans.

Cano is the best second baseman in baseball and would easily receive offers north $200 million on the free agent market. He may still reach that number, but it’s much more likely now that it’s from the Yankees, and will get done before too long.

The Cano situation is fascinating to me because it makes me wonder if Boras is losing sight of the marketing aspect of the decision. When Derek Jeter retires, Cano would be the man on that team and in this town. As Mets fans know, it’s the Yankees’ town, and they just allow the Mets a little space by the East River near an airport. Boras’s job is to get the best deal possible for his client, and he’s been wildly successful over the years, but the client has to think about more than just the terms of the contract.

I remember when LeBron James was mulling over his free agent decision, and the common thoughts were that if he wanted to be loyal, he’d stay in Cleveland. If he wanted to win, he’d go to Miami, and if he wanted to get rich(er), he’d go to New York. So while Boras needs to find out which team can offer the most dollars, Cano needs to find out which city can offer him the best off-the-field endeavors, and it seems he already knew that it was New York or bust. Boras felt that another team could offer more money, as evidenced by the declined offer the Yankees already made to Cano. While that may be true, Cano feels his overall lifestyle would be suited best by New York, so out goes Boras.

I think it’s no small coincidence that Cano immediately signed with an agency that partners with a New York-based marketing company headed by a business mogul worth half a billion dollars.

On a smaller scale, another Boras client, Carlos Gomez of the Brewers, also reached an agreement on an extension just three weeks ago. After a string of losses like this, Boras must be reeling. Maybe now’s a good time for Sandy Alderson to swoop in and lock up Matt Harvey.

right-hander Shaun Marcum has been temporarily removed from the Mets Grapefruit League rotation, but is not injured.

Manager Terry Collins said Marcum wants to concentrate on a long-toss program designed to strengthen his shoulder, which gave him trouble last spring. He will return to game action in early to mid-March.

The Mets aren’t calling it a setback, but it sort of sounds like one to me especially when you consider that Marcum dealt with both elbow and shoulder issues last season.

Marcum, 31, missed over a month and was limited to just 124 innings last season going 7-4 with a 3.70 ERA in 21 starts for the Brewers.

The Mets signed Marcum to a one-year, $4 million free agent contract last month and incentives could make the deal worth $8 million.

In the last 36 hours, the Mets have scratched Marcum (shoulder), Zack Wheeler (strained oblique) and Johan Santana (very low velocity) from their Grapefruit League rotation.

The Mets were the only team in the game to have not signed a Major League free agent before the Marcum deal.

Of course, the Mets are going through a rebuilding phase, but the team didn’t even sign a bench player or relief pitcher to a pro deal.

What this means is that the team will be relying on youngsters to get them through this season.

“Get them through” can be interpreted in one of two ways.

First, these young guys can burst onto the scene and form a competitive team. Maybe we’re not talking about going all the way to the World Series, but the team could have the potential to play exciting baseball.

Look at the Oakland A’s last year. A team of young no-names went on a run and won the AL West division over the likes of the powerhouse Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Mets will be trying to unseat the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies atop the NL East, but it might take more than just an extended late season run to do this.

But the more likely scenario is that the young players will be under constant scrutiny to see if they belong in the Majors. “Get them through” in this case would apply to just getting through this season – no matter what their record winds up being – in anticipation to be a competitive team in 2014, when superstar prospects like Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud are ready to contribute to the big club.

This year will be telling for guys like Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter, Josh Edgin and others. They’ll be given every chance to succeed to see if they fit into the mix in 2014.

Players like Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Dillon Gee and Bobby Parnell are not off the hook. They too have to prove that they can have sustained Major League success.

Marcum is a nice stopgap who can eat innings if he’s healthy, but the future of this team lies far from the hands of Shaun Marcum.

For the first six years of his baseball career, Jason Bay was one of the game’s up-and-coming stars. He toiled in relative obscurity, first with the San Diego Padres and then with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where his tenacious, hard-slugging style of play caught the attention of baseball fans everywhere.

After a two-season stretch with the Boston Red Sox, Bay reached the pinnacle of his career. He was able to test the free-agent market for the first time. Suitors lined up around the block. Bay knew his career would take him someplace special. It did, as Bay signed a lucrative four-year contract worth $66 million with the New York Mets before the 2010 season started.

How the Mets wish they could have that time back. From the minute Bay set foot in the Big Apple, he felt pressure to produce with that fat contract hanging from his neck like an albatross. It made for some uncomfortable times as frustrated Mets fans quickly realized they had been sold a bill of goods. This month, Bay and the Mets came to the same conclusion. He had underproduced, and the Mets wanted him out of town.

Bay will be paid the full $21 million he is owed on the contract, and the $15 million that is deferred money will come to him before the end of 2015. He certainly doesn’t leave New York a pauper. One of the nice things (for the players, anyway) about guaranteed contracts in Major League Baseball is that teams often have to pay every cent themselves, unless other teams agree to pick up salary in a trade. With the termination agreement, Bay becomes an immediate free agent and can test the market again, presumably with a smaller, incentive-loaded deal coming to mind.

So where did it go horribly wrong for Bay? His loss means fans can go to a Mets game and figure out Where to Park in NYC without worrying about watching an overpriced slugger throw away $21 million. Heck, Mets fans say, the Yankees do that with Alex Rodriguez in one year!

In Bay’s defense the bat that produced back-to-back 30-homer seasons with Pittsburgh in 2005 and 2006, plus another pair of 30-homer seasons in 2008 with Pittsburgh and the Boston Red Sox in 2009, may have been compromised by his hard, gritty style of play.

A concussion in 2010 limited Bay to 95 games, and rib injuries each of the past two seasons hampered Bay’s ability to swing the ball. He hit 26 home runs over his three seasons in New York, with his best campaign in 2011 when he hit 12 home runs and drove in 57. Citi Field is not a strong home-run hitting park either, and Citi’s dimensions were changed following the 2011 season to reflect that.

His past history will get Bay some free-agent looks. The consensus is this market is not really good and teams always can use help when it comes to power bats. Boston has been mentioned as a destination for Bay once again, especially with the mass housecleaning the Red Sox had this summer and fall. Because his price is likely to fall big time, smaller-spending teams like the Cleveland Indians are on his list. Supposedly, Bay loved playing under former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who is now in Cleveland.

Jason Bay may not get another $66 million deal anytime soon, but a solid season could parlay into a better deal down the road. For now, the book closes on the Mets and an uncertain future lies ahead.

This Fan Shot was contributed by Rebecca. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 12 thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.

We have all heard the phrase good things come to those that wait, but the phrase really only works if you seem to have a plan for the future that you intend to wait for.

Patience works if you have a plan. But I see no plan at work with this organization.

Many have tried to tell me the plan was to rebuild the “AWFUL” minor league system. But that plan was usurped the second we failed to sign half the guys we selected in the draft. If half a draft class was not good enough to try and push the guys we had then the only thing you could take from that is that the guys we had are pretty damn good because half a draft class wasn’t worth replacing the ones that existed.

In two years the only addition of any significance has been pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, and that cost us a player who is among the top five in the National League in a dozen different categories and having an MVP-caliber season. He would have cost us only $13 million to bring back which leads to the next excuse people run to…

Others have said that the plan was to “get the budget in order”. Well, we did cut $55 million from the budget and yet “we are still too poor” is the mantra.

Lets assume we could make Bay’s contract disappear. Will we be able to afford the team then? Just Barely? Can we buy anything with that $16MM? Well if the folks who think we are broke are actually right, then the answer is NO. We just don’t spend that money and we move on with no more than a $75 million dollar payroll for next season. Is that something worth waiting for and looking forward to?

Patience is a gift that is freely given to someone provided that they have showed us they have a plan, and that the plan is sound, and that there is a some sort of reward at the end of the rainbow to reward our patience.

But I see no plan. I see no rainbow. Hell I don’t even see a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re in a dark cave and we are walking deeper and deeper into it with no exit in sight.

If the plan was to rebuild then there would be some evidence of it by signing most of our draft selections and including paying slot price for our second rounder who was unsigned over a difference on $60 thousand dollars.
To the folks who said the farm is still in shambles, apparently in the last two years we could have replaced the bottom 34 players with 34 new players that we drafted, but opted not to sign them. The only assumption was that none of them were seen as upgrades to what we had already. By the way, the unsigned players by the Mets in this year’s draft was the most among all 30 MLB teams.

Also if we were really building for the future, the few Free Agent signings we HAVE SIGNED, would not be one year or two year deals for players from the scrap heap and still hanging around in January due to a lack of interest from other teams. Rebuilding teams would have targeted players and signed contracts that would solve a position of need for a much longer time period to provide a stability until the kids are ready. Then you could trade them for even more kids to keep the minor league train a rollin’.

If the plan was to get the budget in order, well then why did they announce the end of the season two July’s in a row?

The best way to solve budgetary problems is to MAKE more money not save more money. We saved money this year and yet we are still reportedly $23 million in the red this season instead of $70 million. The difference? The $55 million in payroll that Alderson has shed since he took over the reins. Looks like he still has some slashing to do.

There is no plan and it’s easy to see… Look no further than the moves that have been made just this year alone. We did well in the draft the optimists say, just not good enough to keep half the players we selected.

We are Buyers was the message from April through July, and of course the Mets collapsed right on cue in the days leading up to the 31st. Of course they did, after all they lost their ace, their closer, and their number four starter with none of those casualties being addressed. Well that’s not totally accurate, they did initially replace Santana and Gee with Miguel Batista and Chris Schwinden until they were each designated for assignment two weeks later.

I’m sorry, but what we’ve witnessed this season is not a plan and there is no underlying logic here to make our patience pay off. All they are doing is reacting to events as they occur… Sometimes. There’s nothing proactive going on here right now.

There is no plan, unless you consider waiting for a miracle to rain down upon us as a plan. Waiting is neither a plan nor a strategy.

This Fan Shot was submitted by MMO reader, Metsie. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 12 thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask about being a regular contributor, and share your opinions with an engaging community that loves to debate