Adam Rubin is rolling out his ever popular Pace Law Annual Salary Projection Series. In making their determinations, Pace puts together a panel that will base their projections on the following: The quality of the player’s contribution to his club during the past season (referred to as his “platform season”), including but not limited to his overall performance, special qualities of...
The Minnesota Twins have signed starting pitcher Ervin Santana to a four-year, $55 million deal, according to multiple sources. Santana, 32, spent last season with the Braves, and pitched to a 14-10 record, with a 3.95 ERA, 1.306 WHIP, 3.39 FIP, and a 8.2 K/9. In his 10 year career, Santana has compiled a 119-100 record between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals and the...
Last year’s free agent class included quite a few short term deals for starting pitchers. Mets GM Sandy Alderson signed 41-year old righthander Bartolo Colon to a two year $20 million deal last winter and the veteran proved to be a durable workhorse who led the Mets this season with 202.1 innings pitched. The deal itself served a purpose and proved useful in 2014, but over the scope of the full...
There was little confidence for Sandy Alderson going into the offseason. The Mets had spent only $8.5 million the last offseason, so going over that total this time around was inevitable; but just how far would they go? The first issue that was addressed was the outfield problem. First by signing 30-year old Chris Young to a 1-year, $7 million deal, he showed that he was looking for short-term...
Mets Are Not In On Arroyo, Twins Closing In It didn’t take long for Jon Heyman and Marc Caring to confirm our report when we tweeted the following: Latest little nugget from Winter Meetings: "Mets interest in Bronson Arroyo is there but also very overstated." — Metsmerized – Joe D (@MetsmerizedJoeD) December 10, 2013 The Mets have said they are interested, they also...
I had an interesting conversation with a someone whose profile tabbed him as a baseball expert. The guy was also a die-hard Met fan. I found him to be representative of most of the Met fans I know from Mets Twitter. I thought I’d kill some time late last night and chatted with many of my now 8,000+ followers. It all started with “I thought you said the Arroyo meeting with the Mets...
Since the New York Mets need pitching, it was discouraging to read reports they are not players for Phil Hughes. Two different sources confirmed they are out on Hughes. Too bad. Of all the players in the free-agent market I thought the Mets had a chance to sign, the 27-year-old Hughes was high on my list. I felt he had the best chance to produce at a minimum cost to the Mets. Yes, he was 4-14...
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract with free agent righthander Dan Haren. The deal includes an option for 2015 that vests if Haren throws 180 innings next season. Haren, 33, struggled last season going 10-14 with a 4.67 ERA in 169.2 innings for the Washington Nationals. The veteran starter missed three weeks of the season with...
Here are two different pieces of news from yesterday, both involving the Mets interest in the pitching market… According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, the Mets are not seriously considering a reunion with former first round pick Scott Kazmir. Kazmir, who is coming off a solid season with the Indians, is looking to after a multi-year deal and the Indians are unwilling to give him one....
I’m not big on making free agent predictions during the MLB Hot Stove season, but I usually have one or two guys that I like to recommend the Mets pursue. Last year, I suggested the Mets pursue Jair Jurrjens, which in hindsight looks awful now, but on a minor league deal it made sense to take a flier on him. For a number of reasons, the Mets should consider offering Phil Hughes an one or...
The market for starting pitching is noticeably thin and old. Teams have made it a top priority to lock up their young pitching talent and as a result the only familiar names on the market under the age of 30 are Phil Hughes and John Lannan. The Mets are in the advantageous position to retain the majority of their pitching staff that finished fifth in the league in quality starts. The situation...
“Offense wins fans, pitching wins championships” is the old adage – and it remains true, considering the recent success of the San Francisco Giants, a team that has won 2 World Series in 3 years built around strong, mostly young & homegrown starting pitching and a solid but unspectacular and somewhat patchwork caliber offense. Generations of Mets fans grew up with the Mets...
