I May Be Wrong But

Most people are of the opinion that the Mets need to add one, and maybe two starters this offseason.  I say the Mets should look no further than Las Vegas and Binghamton to fill out their rotation.   I understood when the Mets  held back Harvey and Wheeler to protect them from the super two cutoff, but Montero and Syndergaard are completely different cases.  Both guys possess strong command over all of their pitches, which is something neither Harvey or Wheeler could say coming out of AAA  .In the case of Montero I really believe that he's ready to make the jump now, all Syndergaard lacks is some refinement on his change up...I would leave him in Binghamton for a month to work it out, and then jump him straight to Queens.  I also believe that losing a year of service time, would be well worth the spike in attendance the Mets would see for Wheeler Day, Montero Day, and Thor Day...

 

Does anyone else believe that the Mets organizational hitting philosophy may deter free agent hitters from signing here?  Lets face it...Dave Hudgins and Terry Collins have ruined more  hitters during there tenure than they have ressurected.   When they got here, Ike Davis was a budding star power hitter--and now quite frankly he looks lost at the plate, just trying to make contact on the rare occasion that he does swing...Lucas Duda may have been the worst Mets outfielder since Mackey Sasser, but at times he looked like a fearsone power hitter--Now he looks too terrified to swing...Guys like Davis and Duda need to take advantage of first pitch fastballs--not worry about drawing enough walks or working counts.

 

We Met fans have been talking about the "money coming off the books" in 2014 for a long time, but I just don't believe the Mets have an excessive amount to spend...Unless the Wilpons decide to bring payroll back to the 140 million range as it should be (and they won't), The Mets  really only have around 30 million to spend.  That may seem like quite a bit--But is it?  The Giants just commited 36 million of their 2014 payroll to resign Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence.  That is more than the Mets entire offseason budget for this year, on a #5 starter and the fourth best free agent outfielder.  Those are just two of the Mets many needs---No Shortstop, no backup catcher, no bench depth, no bullpen help....I have this horrible feeling that the 2014 Mets are going to look an awful lot like the 2013 Mets.

 

The Red Sox this week made qualifying offers to Mike Napoli, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Stephen Drew,and  quite frankly they probably could have made one to Jarod Saltalamachia as well...The point is, if all of these players sign elsewhere the Sox could potentially have four first round picks this June....They will replace these guys with three or four more guys on two year deals, and in three years they will end up getting compensation for them as well...Teams like the Red Sox,  Yankees,  Cards and the Rays have been taking advantage of this compensation system by making qualifying offers, and offering arbitration for years.   The key is to sign players to higher dollar, short term contracts, and then not be afraid to let them move on when the contract runs out.  The Mets have been historically short sighted when it comes to this stuff, but its a great way for successful teams to keep the farm well stocked