Thoughts
on Ervin Santana to Atlanta
The
Braves signed Ervin Santana this morning to a
one-year deal, after learning that their ace, Kris
Medlin, was lost for the season.
The
Mets signed Bartolo Colon after learning that
their ace, Matt Harvey, was lost for the season.
2013
stats:
Santana: 9-10,
3.24, 1.14, 211.0-IP, 161-K, 51-BB
Colon: 18-6,
2.65, 1.17, 190.1-IP, 117-K, 29-BB
More
importantly, the Braves will lose (minimally) a second round draft pick next
year when they have to offer Santana a qualifying offer and this process
ends with him signing a new contract then with a new team.
The
Mets lost no draft pick with the signing of Colon and paid him far less in
2014.
15 comments:
Panic sign by the Braves.....they've lost Medlen, Beachy looks like he's heading to the shelf, Minor and Floyd are starting the year on the shelf.
Santana is a career 4.17 ERA guy who gives up a lot of HRs. (39 of them in 2012) Luckily for him Turner Field is a tough place to hit one out. A high 3 ERA is the most likely outcome and considering they are paying him $14.1M + a 1st round draft pick, Sandy's signing of Colon looks much better
I'm doing my best Jay Horwitz imitation :)
After the last few years of Johan, I am glad the Mets remain a Santana-free zone in 2014. LOL...actually, in baseball parlance, LOL should mean Love Our Loogies
@ Thomas Brennan -- or Love Our Losers
Towards that point, while you can debate the value of Santana juxtaposed with Colon, there was a huge difference in approach. The Mets sought out the best value pitcher they could find and landed Colon. It's fair value for both sides.
The Braves had a huge hole in their roster and went out to address the problem. Yes, they paid dearly for it, but that is what winning teams do.
Now if the Mets had holes somewhere such as Shortstop or First Base, you'd like to think they would take a similar approach, but again, we LOL as they are not a winning-oriented team.
James Preller · Follow · State University of New York at Oneonta
I love what the Braves did. And admire it. And wish the Wilpons operated that way. The Braves are trying to win. The Mets are not. That's a huge distinction right there. From the Braves POV, they are coming off a 96-win season that ended in disappointment. They just retained a core of youthful talent. They have great pitching. Suddenly, due to injuries, that looked imperiled. So they immediately moved to address need in order to salvage a promising season -- and went over budget to do so. Santana at 1 year/$14 is value. His agent mismanaged the market this winter, asked for too much, seeking $100 million contract. He's a good pitcher. Colon strikes me as a much bigger risk, with a dubious payoff. People are already writing articles about how we need to trade him at the deadline this year, with guys like Montero, Mejia, and Syndergaard in reserve. Besides, clearly, the Mets are not trying to win in 2014. Look at LF, 1B, SS, and the bullpen. Colon might still work out to be a good deal, but it was risky as hell. We are the only team that went 2 years on the guy. I can't hold that up as a fine example of a free agent signing. But, hey, I've been wrong before! Let's hope he comes up big for the Mets.
James, you are NOT doing your best Jay Horwitz... :)
Christopher Soto · District I Coordinator at National Club Baseball Association
In fairness, Colon may actually be the safer signing. He's being paid less than Santana and over the past 2 seasons Colon has had a 2.99 ERA. He throws practically 80% fastballs so there no added stress from overusing breaking pitches, has impeccable control not needing to rely on the strike.
What's going to determine if colon is successful or not is not him....its the defense that the mets play behind him.
Reply · Like · 2 seconds ago
The Mets had time to analyze and shop the market, the Braves were boxed into a corner and had no choice. They signed the only pitcher left on the market that could give them anything near what they have lost. You do have to admire that they bit the bullet and anted up to get what they needed, but I admire them more for all the extensions that they signed in the past month or so, locking up key players for the long term. I only hope that when we are in the same position in a couple of years, we emulate them and lock up Harvey, Wheeler, Thor, Montero, d'Arnaud, Puello, Nimmo, Smith, etc.
Alderson certainly was not bottom feeding when he signed Colon. He is coming off 3 consecutive good years, each an improvement over the last. Sure, he is a risk at 41 years of age and as big around as he is tall. But young skinny pitchers are a risk too. Anyone who thinks that the Mets ownership and front office does not want to win, should look at the facts and think again. They have built a very solid foundation for the future with draftees and international signings while picking up good free agents to fill holes and shelling out some big bucks to do it. And the off season is not over yet, so the hole at SS may still be filled with a solid player.
Lets Go Mets!
David O'Brien @ajcbraves
#Braves Medlen said he knows what's coming, nothing official yet but he has accepted that he's almost certainly going to need TJ surgery
(passing off the Horwitz baton to Herb...)
Agreed Herb.
As long as Stephen Drew is a free agent the Mets off-season cannot be closed. Plus the D'backs and the Mariners are shopping their excess SS.
Adam Rubin has been reporting that Mariners scouts have been at every single Mets ST game and work-out.
Idk why....but I have a hunch the Mariners aren't looking at Montero or DeGrom.....something tells me they want Flores.
Chris -
They can have anybody they want other than Thor and Montero so we can stop the madness...
Mets not trying to win hypothesis:
Starters: Gee said he feels great, Niese hopefully will be OK, Wheeler s/b very good, Colon - let's pencil him in as very solid; and I still think Mejia wins 5th spot and shows what he can do - better than last year with Harvey, because we don't have Marcum throwing 27 MPH and going 1-10. Thor and Montero coming soon, which will strengthen the staff - last year, only Wheeler
Pen - Parnell likely be to be fine, backed by flamethrowers Black and Familia, Torres and perhaps Carreno. Add a few others - decent pen. better than last year, where the pen was mostly fine performances by Parnell and Hawkins and collectively bad performances otherwise..
OF - Lagares (with improved offense), two Youngs, and Granderson (and hopefully Dekker) much better OF than last year.
Catcher - d'Arnaud may put up similar stats to Buck, but spread out more evenly - less feast and famine. Better there too. If he falters, maybe Plawecki shows he is an extra base hit machine and gets an August call up - and does better than d'Arnaud did last year.
Infield - Let's say they trade for a SS. last year, 1B was abysmal, as was SS. The IF with a trade would be much better, as my guess is that Duda and Satin do much better than what they got out of 1B - and Campbell is ready to back up if needed and get on base (or Brown with his power)
So I think the team will be better, based on the above...how many games better, who knows. But better. And I think the Atlanta deal will add some pressure for the Mets to do a SS deal, so they do not look impotent by comparison.
regarding the Mets shortstop situation:
Alderson said. "I don't know that we have a situation here."
What more needs to be said?
maybe Alderson should star in a remake of the movie "Clueless"
@ChristopherSoto - I think the Mariners are looking for an outfieldglove. My bet is den Dekker. They aleady have a decent young 3B who hit 2 HRs last year. I think they still have their doubts about Ackley as an OF.
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