Pages

11/9/12

11-9-12 – Drug Wednesday, RA Dickey, GCL Mets, J.P. Ricciardi




 It seems that synthetic testosterone has become the PED of choice in baseball today and, like some of its predecessors, it’s difficult to detect. Word around baseball is that “everyone” is taking it, though I do caution that the person you ask may simply be influenced by the type of person they ‘hang’ with. One this is for certain… Wednesday is the day baseball drops the bomb on the players by releasing the names of the stunards that get caught. Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Ryan Braun, and now, Yazmani Grandal, all go down the baseball road of hell on Wednesday.


There are mixed signals out there regarding the future of RA Dickey as a Met. Dickey himself has told reporters that the negotiations are going along well and, frankly, this is a brutally honest man. He would never say something like this as a ploy. At the same time, multiple Mets beat reporters are writing that the Mets are looking to move Dickey (wanting a 5-year deal isn’t helping matters). There seems to be an advantage for the Mets here going down this road. Dickey is 38-years old and has had some history of small dings. In addition, there really is only one (Zack Greinke) quality starter out there in the free agent market and he’s asking unheard of dollars/years for a deal. I would wait until after the announcement of the CY Young Award if I was Alderson. On the trade market, it’s really no big deal if he doesn’t get it, but being winning it adds more to what comes available. You get a two quality players here, be them a catcher, an outfielder, or another young starter, make David Wright happy with a long term deal, and sign Melky Cabrera to replace Jason Bay (1-yr), and you can walk away from this off-season as a success.


The Mets announced that they will return to the Gulf Coast League next season with a team housed at the Port St. Lucie complex. That’s great. In my opinion, you can’t have enough minor league players in your system trying to fulfill their dreams. This now answers the question I’ve been asking why there are so many players still in Extended Camp and why there hasn’t been the usual releases the week after the season. Look for a ton of visas being handed out to last year’s DSL1 and DSL2 team members, and there is a better than good chance you’ll be able to see players like Ahmed Rosario, Leon Canelon, Pedro Perez, Adrian Abreu, Manuel Hilario, and Vincente Lupo.


Regarding J.P. Ricciardi’s new three-year extension, don’t worry, there are plenty of escape clauses in these contacts if the Wilpons want to rid themselves of the whole Sandy and Company thing. I see this more of an affirmation by Alderson that he believes in Ricciardi, even though it doesn’t seem like any other team thinks enough of him to offer him a General Manager position this off-season. Regarding his overseeing the minors, I continue to be highly under-impressed with his picks the past two years. I see no one as a breakthrough star, though I like Michael Fulmer and Jack Leathersich from the 2011 crew. Last year, IMO, is a bunch of long shots. I just don’t see this guy being some kind of minor league guru.


Hot Stove:

Trades:

          Toronto receives P Jeremy Jeffress from Kansas City - cash

Signings:

Blue Jays – IF Maicer Izturis - 3-year, $10MM – 32-yrs old - .256/.320/.315, 319-AB

1 comment: