New York Mets
Jose Reyes will proceed with surgery to address is troublesome right leg, that kept him out of action after May 20. Here's the official description of the upcoming procedure from the Mets:
Reyes will undergo surgery to clean up scar tissue around the accessory hamstring tendon behind the right knee (semi tendinosis tendon). He will not require surgery for the separate hamstring muscle tear in his right leg which he suffered in late September while working out for his return to baseball. Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital for Surgery in Manhattan has directed that the surgery be performed by Dr. Daniel E. Cooper - the leading expert in the country in the surgical treatment of the chronically torn semi tendinosis tendon in athletes. Cooper, affiliated with The Carrell Clinic and based in Dallas, is the head team physician for the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Stars. Cooper trained under Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The date of the surgery is yet to be determined. Reyes is expected to fully recover and be ready for Spring Training
So to best prepare his team to compete in 2010 and beyond, Minaya will have to read the market in a way he’s never really proven capable of before.
This offseason, the Mets need help on offense, defense, pitching and defense, as Minaya said. The general manager’s job will be to determine the best way to allocate the resources at his disposal to maximize the return in as many of those areas as possible. And he’ll have to do it over the neverending drumbeat from the newspapers and airwaves and blogosphere announcing exactly what holes most need filling.
It won’t be easy, for sure. And the temptation to dip into the farm system and trade a bunch of guys no one on WFAN has ever even heard of will forever lurk. But it is Minaya’s responsibility to know better than the callers on talk radio and even—hard as this is to believe—better than the hosts. He alone is charged with constructing a winning baseball team, and he must always keep in mind what is realistic and best for his team in the upcoming year and those that follow.
Following their press conference at Citi Field yesterday, Omar Minaya, Jeff Wilpon, and Dave Howard appeared on Mike Francesa’s WFAN program for an exclusive, no holds barred, 90-minute interview. You can listen to all three parts, but make sure you’ve carved out a healthy chunk of time to do so. For his part, Francesa was candid and even somewhat affable, and asked plenty of non-softball questions of the Mets’ brain trust.
-- What bothered Jeff the most about this team? Scoring runs. They had a good batting average (#2 in NL) and on-base percentage (#7 in NL) but just couldn’t get the runs across.
-- Francesa aptly pointed out that all of the Mets’ core players are coming off of bad or injury-plagued years and the team wouldn’t be likely to get fair value in return. He also talked about the Mets’ nucleus being “exciting”, and basically said there was no reason to trade Wright, Reyes, Beltran, or Santana (and to a lesser extent Rodriguez, Francoeur, and Castillo) because those are players you build around; they make up a core that you should look to augment with other players. Omar seemed to agree, which I guess is a relief.
-- Francesa carped about Daniel Murphy and how he can’t play the outfield and he’s not a good enough hitter to play first. Omar still feels Murphy can be a solid everyday player, but wouldn’t say where. Francesa’s “scouting report” was that Murphy couldn’t be an everyday player. Minaya says, “We don’t see him as an outfielder”.
-- Omar understands the complaint that he prefers to acquire Hispanic players, that it comes with being the first Hispanic GM, and that it’s not true. He looks for talent first, regardless of the player or his heritage.
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/amazin_avenue_simon_omar- minaya_jeff_wilpon_and_dave_howard_interview_recap
Blogs:
Joe DeMayo of NYBD is reporting that Wally Backman will be offered a position in the minor leagues, possibly as the B-Mets manager.
The source goes on to add that the job Backman is likely to receive is the managerial position for the Double-A Binghamton Mets that was vacated when the Mets fired Mako Oliveras. source NYBD
Finally it appears most of Ramon Pena's responsibilities will be delegated to Rafael Perez, not much I could find on him but here's a same piece a poster at NYFS was able to locate.
The Mets, quite possibly sensitized by the game's first and only Latino general manager (Omar Minaya) and an international player development department led by Rafael Perez who served as the director of Major League Baseball's Dominican operations for many years, recognized that social responsibility and corporate profitability are not opposing forces. They began requiring their players to attend the Prepara, Perez says, because "it's the right thing to do. We're not going to solve the education problems in the Dominican Republic but we definitely can help. It goes beyond a competitive advantage." source SI.com
Minaya still believes Oliver Perez can pitch like he did in 2007 and 2008, noting that pitching is ‘hot and cold,’ citing examples like Justin Verlander.
He said he believes ‘Daniel Murphy is getting better,’ and can be an every-day first baseman for the Mets… so long as he has more power at other positions.
Minaya likened Murphy to Boston’s situation with Kevin Youklis from a few seasons ago, saying:
“He was not the big, productive hitter that he is early on, but they surrounded him other guys who had power… So, when you put the team together, there are eight guys, and how are you going to balance that offense.”
http://www.metsblog.com/
In a related move, the Mets have announced that replacing Shines as third base coach will be a New York City traffic light. Runners will have to adhere to the light, which will be showing red, yellow, or green at various and random times. But the club feels that the traffic light, which can't see which runners are where because it is a traffic light, will have just as good a success rate as Shines. Furthermore, the traffic light will not have a salary, and will only require maintenance costs and a replacement light bulb or two. The light will don uniform number 64 for the upcoming season.
In a related move, the Mets have announced that replacing Shines as third base coach will be a New York City traffic light. Runners will have to adhere to the light, which will be showing red, yellow, or green at various and random times. But the club feels that the traffic light, which can't see which runners are where because it is a traffic light, will have just as good a success rate as Shines. Furthermore, the traffic light will not have a salary, and will only require maintenance costs and a replacement light bulb or two. The light will don uniform number 64 for the upcoming season.
Mets GM Omar Minaya and COO Jeff Wilpon spoke to reporters today. Notes from the conference:
Wilpon described the 2010 payroll as "whatever Omar needs," according to MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post (Twitter) passes along a Wilpon claim that the team will be major players for top free agents. Mets fans are already dreaming of Matt Holliday and John Lackey.
More tweeting from Hubbuch - the Mets are prioritizing adding power, and they can't commit to Daniel Murphy as the first baseman. Free agent SLG leaders: Jason Bay, Russell Branyan, Holliday, and Hideki Matsui.
Hubbuch quotes Minaya saying he's "open to changing the core" of the team. My view: it'd still be a huge surprise to see Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, David Wright, or Carlos Beltran traded.
SI's Jon Heyman senses the Mets will have a $140-150MM payroll in 2010.
Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron, who is a free agent this offseason, suffered a minor concussion when he hit his head diving for a ball in the sixth inning of the season finale, writes Adam McCalvy of Brew Beat. Cameron says that he has had several concussions during the course of his career but assured reporters that he'll "be fine."
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