Sign me NY!
November 19th is over, November 20th is here. Big time moves! Big time trades! Or just nothing for a long long time as I expect. This year’s class of free agents aren’t great. In fact, its kind of dismal. But as a Mets fan, you want your team’s owner to open his wallet (which is $30 million lighter this off-season so far) and spend some money because no matter what excuses you can make, 70 wins isn’t gonna cut it for a team that should be playoff caliber that played more like the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2009.
Needs:
1. Two Starting Pitchers: right now this team has John Santana, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey, and probably John Maine in the mix. That leaves a gaping hole as a #2 and another back of the rotation starter. The headlines over the last few days have Jason Marquis showing up on every media outlet practically begging to be a Met. Will he solve the #2 starter rotation problem? Uhh no, but I am sure he can be a great middle or back of the rotation kind of guy if signing Joel Pineiro doesn’t work out. There are two pitchers that (most) Mets fans covet this off-season…John Lackey or Roy Halladay. Reasonably, their best bet is probably Lackey. Although his numbers weren’t fantastic in an injury-ridden season (11-8 3.83 ERA), Lackey’s usually a workhorse and gamer. Playing with the Angels, a playoff team year after year, this guy can handle the pressure in NY and pack a nice 1-2 punch behind Santana. My guess is Lackey signs for 5 years $85-$90 million.
2. Left Field: Let’s be clear here, this is a big gaping hole for this team. Imagine a team with Beltran (at the helm) in center, Francoeur (still in my mind a good acquisition with a ton of potential), and Matt Holliday (.313 24 109 RBI). Holliday is without question the most coveted free agent this off-seas0on. It’s clear he wants Teixeira money (8 yr $180 million) but I doubt he will get it. He’s not Teixeira. Although the Mets need him, I think they want to build this team on speed and pitching and will avoid the Holliday’s and Jason Bay’s this off-season who will certainly want the largest contracts. What they should do is talk to the Rays about a trade for speedster Carl Crawford. Crawford’s $10 million dollar option was just picked up the Rays but they are always looking to shed payroll so don’t be surprised if they look to trade him. Imagine a 1-2 punch of Reyes-Crawford? I’d love it.
My left field choice- Carl Crawford
Travis, please stop with the Molina stuff. He just isn’t a good player. He’s 34, he’s in horrendous shape, he can’t run, he’s not a help defensively, and he’s going to be expensive because he hit 20 homers. Yes, it’s nice that he has some power, but that is literally all he is good for. Signing Molina would be a disaster, unless it’s a 1 year, $4 million or thereabouts deal. Keith Law of ESPN, a former scout for the Toronto Blue Jays, recently did his top 50 free agents list and Molina wasn’t good enough to make the list, a list that included such gems as Miguel Olivo, Juan Uribe, Chan Ho Park, and Darren Oliver. Why should the Mets sign him when he’s not a good baseball player?
That is pretty sad that Molina didn’t make that list, but I am sure he made plenty others. I agree he will probably get overpaid but what I am saying is he WILL be a Met next season. Minaya loves him! Whether we as fans want him or not, he will be on the team. It’s a sure bet…almost as certain as you were about Ibanez’s contract, I am of them signing Molina (probably to a 2 yr deal). I’d be shocked if they can get him for a 1 yr deal but I don’t pay the bills, the Wilpons do. I also understand Molina’s shortcomings (and boy you’ve pointed out plenty this past week or so) but they need offense and thats something that he will provide no matter how slow he is on the basepaths, or how poor of an arm he has, or how little he takes pitches…he will provide them the most offense at the catcher’s position out of any other catcher out there. When have the Mets ever really focused on defense at catcher anyway? That’s the reality.