Joel Sherman wrote about the Mets and the Madoff Ponzi Scheme as possibly the reason the Mets haven’t scooped up a number of low priced, fairly high ceiling free agents. While that could be part of the deciding factor, the more this blogger looks at the names passed on, and the more you look at the Mets farms system, the more you have to think the Mets are rebuilding! Yikes- the R word is never uttered in New York! Exactly! But here is my rational…
1. Bengie Molina – Do the Mets really want to commit more than a one year contract to an old catcher with Josh Thole waiting in the wings?
2. Joel Piniero – Do the Mets really want to commit 3 years to a guy that was on the trash heap until Dave Duncan (pitcher mechanic extraordinaire) got his hands on him? Some would question how effective he will be away from Duncan’s tutelage. As do I. Would you rather take that risk, or open up the staff for a Jon Niese, Brad Holt and Jenrry Meija? Especially when Fernando Nieve showed (in 09) he might have just needed a change of scenery and a new philosophy to reach his potential. I like my percentages that one of the 4 will be able to adequately fill Piniero’s spot in the rotation.
3. Adam LaRoche - I read grumblings from a number of different bloggers about the Mets “missing out” on Adam. My thoughts are, why block Ike Davis? Also, let’s see what Daniel Murphy can do in full year’s number 2 before writing him off as a bench player.
4. I read groans that the Mets missed out on Orlando Hudson, when Luis Castillo is entrenched at 2B due to Omar’s unwarranted 4 year contract. Look, The Mets aren’t going to commit to Hudson what he deserves. What I suspect is the Mets will gamble that Castillo will play his way out of town and that Jose Reyes will be back to his old, healthy, fast self. What does Rey –Rey have to do with 2B? Nothing! But what the Mets do with Ruben Tejada has a lot to do with Reyes and his health. If Reyes is healthy, I would not be surprised to see Ruben Tejada switch to 2B in the minors and duke it out with Reese Havens as the 2B of the future in Flushing.
5. Finally, the Carlos Beltran situation in NY has the fan a bit on ease. To be frank- the relationship between Carlos Beltran and the Mets is on thin ice and if I am correct on my theory that the Mets are rebuilding without using the R word- then a healthy Carlos Beltran could bring in the haul the Mets might be looking for on July 31st, 2010. Especially with Fernando Martinez and Kirk Nieuwenhuis capable of filling in for Beltran for a half a season and maybe longer.
The fact that none of the Mets prospects were moved during the offseason (via trade- see the turned down request for Halladay -might be reason number 6), and no mediocre free agents were signed long term. The writing is on the wall- the Mets are high on some of their kids! After last year’s debacle the Mets have a lot of questions that need to be answered on the field before reinvesting in the team long term. Jason Bay was a no brainier. But the rest of the free agents the Mets were linked with (outside of Lackey) were suspect. Like it or not, 2010 is a season of rebuilding at Citifield. But I am excited to see if Wright can regain his power stroke, watch Reyes run the base paths again and see if Mike Pelfrey can finally put it all together. Oh and the Mets still have Santana and K-Rod! I also am excited to see Thole, Niese, Holt, Meija, Davis, Tejada, Havens, Martinez, and Nieuwenhuis touching down in NY this year.
I go into this season with no expectations and fully accepting of the R-word! You should too!
2 comments:
I agree with these reasons, also that is why the organization was upset with Beltran's surgery because it put a crimp in the plans to deal him at the deadline though still possible if he is playing solid defense and crushing the ball. Everyone is wondering what the plan is and why they didn't sign these free agents but they don't think it through.
Pineiro would've been a decent investment for the Mets. He would've brought an improved work ethic with him to NY and he seems to be more of a groundball pitcher at this point in his career so you'd have that going for you as well. He has been taught how to pitch to contact as opposed to trying to be a strikeout pitcher, which he is not.
Had he made it known that he would've accepted 2 years & $16 million like he got from the Angels, he'd probably be back in St. Louis and they never would've signed Brad Penny. Pineiro pitched well this past year but I too question whether he'll be the same pitcher away from Dave Duncan. At this point though, he's probably a better investment than Kyle Lohse until Lohse proves otherwise.
The Mets may have whiffed on some moves that would've made them better in the short term, but I think they did the right thing. There's no use spending money just for the sake of spending money (espeically in this economy), and there's no reason to overspend on mediocrity either. While the prospect of rebuilding is a scary thought, the Mets were going to have a tough time making the playoffs in a very good division. Why not give the young guys some experience and seasoning and see where you are in a few years? You can always load up on free agents and then challenge the Phillies, Braves and Marlins 2 or 3 years from now when the kids are ready.
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