Hot Stove Report: Trouble with Intl Posting System, Multiple Teams in on Hawkins, Murphy Trade Rumors

     Despite heavy interest in Japanese SP Masahiro Tanaka, the MLB and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league's current agreement expired before this season began. Negotiators have been working around the clock to come up with a new agreement before the heart of the free agent signing season begins, however, according to Andy McCollough via Twitter, "Japanese baseball officials have yet to inform MLB agreeing to terms for posting system and the MLB now plans to re-work proposal."

(If the NPB and the MLB cannot come to an agreement before January, it will cause a huge frenzy amongst the top level ballclubs that are looking to sign him. As a result of that the market  prices for starting pitching will skyrocket which could make Sandy Alderson re-think the possibility of trading Jonathan Niese or Dillon Gee. Especially when guys with career ERA's of 4.19, like Ervin Santana, are looking for $20M per season.)

     Despite his reported desire to return to the Mets, RP LaTroy Hawkins is said to have approximately  7 teams interested in bringing the 41 year old into their respective bullpens. Hawkins should receive a significant increase from his 2013 $1M salary.

(Look I really like Hawkins and I believe that he would bring significant value as a veteran amongst a bunch of young guys that are expected to be in the bullpen. However there are a TON of solid right handed relievers on the free agent market this year. One guy who really stands out but is flying under the radar is former Met Joe Smith. If Hawkins demands start creeping out I'd let him walk and bring back Tim Brydak to be the veteran presence.)

     In a story written by MSN Sport's Ken Rosenthal, the Mets have received significant interest on 2B Daniel Murphy. Surprisingly, on top of teams viewing him as an offensive upgrade at 2B, teams are also potentially viewing him as a viable option to handle 3B. MLB Trade Rumors forecast Murphy to earn $5.8M this season as a arbitration eligible player and is one of the Mets best hitters. However, with IF prospect Wilmer Flores being MLB ready, the team may be inclined to move him now while his value is highest and hope Flores can handle 2B next season.

(While I understand the logic of selling high while maintaining the offensive production with Flores, I'm just not sold on the fact that Flores can handle 2B yet. I'd like to see what happens with Davis and Duda first before trading Murphy because, who knows, we might receive good offers for both of them and then need to slide Murphy over to 1B or Flores to 1B and keep Murphy at 2B. That's the beauty of his versatility.)

3-6-13 – LaTroy Hawkins, Sean Kazmar, Hugo Chavez, Pitching Mess

P LaTroy Hawkins pitched two innings in the ‘B’ game played at the Marlins complex on Tuesday morning: 1-R, 1-H, 1-K, 1-BB.

The important thing is he’s back on the mound which is a first for Hawkins this spring. Again, it seems like the veterans have their say during this extended spring training.

Hawkins, though 40-years old, still has the skills (2012 LAA: 48-G, 3.64) and is expected to make the 25-man come April 1^st.

SS Sean Kazmar was signed to a minor league contract by the Atlanta Braves. Kazmar played the 2012 season for both Binghamton (57-G, 195-AB, .236) and Buffalo (11-G, 29-AB, .138). He was released by the Mets at the end of the season.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died.

       There will be some baseball ramifications here. No one loved baseball more than Chavez and, though his government was very anti-American (no diplomatic relations/no ambassador) he still welcomed the VSL association with the MLB and welcomed Americans to their winter ball program. There has been kidnapping problems in the past, but the incidents have been minimal. We’ll keep an eye on this, especially regarding recently signed Venezuelan prospects, like LHP Adrian Almeida, RHP Ronald Guedez, and SS Miguel Patino.  The Mets could consider sending them to the DSL program until things calm down.

Starting pitching was supposed to be a strength — perhaps the only strength — for the Mets this season. But now the starting pitching, in addition to the bullpen, is just a mess. Think about it; the rotation was supposed to be Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee and Matt Harvey. Pretty solid. But of course, Dickey was traded. He was replaced by Shaun Marcum, who got beaten up in his first Spring Training start, then asked to be held out of game action. He finally returned to the mound on Tuesday, pitching two scoreless innings in a “B” game. But by all accounts he is not close to being ready.

       This comes from one of the ultra-negative Mets sites which seem to be growing. Things aren’t getting any better in camp and we should read a lot more of stuff like this well into the season.

2-1-13 – LaTroy Hawkins, Drug Testing, Shaun Marcus,

A 95 mph fast ball takes 0.4 seconds to reach home plate! Hitters have .15 seconds to decide whether it's a ball or a strike.

The Mets sign soon to be 40-year old RHRP LaTroy Hawkins to a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training.

I like the way Sandy Alderson is thinking. He has a limited budget and is stocking the bullpen with seasoned veterans that don’t cave under pressure. They also can give the very young team some balance in the clubhouse and help some of the kids along the way. The last three invites have been particularly interesting because they all come off a good year. Hawkins went 3.64 in 48-games, Scott Atchison went 1.58 in 42-games, and Pedro Feliciano pitched well in winter ball. All three have only one thing against then and that is their age which is nothing if you average less than one inning per outing and around 7-8 outings a month. You add Greg Burke to this mix and you have completely remolded this pen from a bunch of kids trying to make the parent club to a solid group of support players you can build around the likes of Bobby Parnell, Frank Francisco, and Josh Edgin.

What this also does is allow the Mets to season their younger pen recruits at the AAA level. Remember, pitch count doesn’t come into play here and your prime years for successful relievers is in the late-20, early-30s range. Guys like Jeurys Familia and Elvin Ramirez can join Brad Holt, Craig Hansen, Jeremy Hefner, Ryan Fraser, and Armando Rodriguez in Las Vegas.

Probably players released will be Scott Rice, Carlos Torres, Chuck James, Daniel Herrera, and Aaron Laffey.

I’m real old school about drug testing.

I know there is a distinct chance that there can be a false positive, so I’ll take the first offense off the table. But, you test positive again on anything from growth hormones or deer antlers and you’re done playing and receiving a paycheck for a year. In addition, I would not agree to any future owner/player contract agreement without a clause that would allow the team to void your existing contract (if they chose to) after this really second offense. Next comes the third strike. Test positive for a third time and it’s the death penalty. Your career is over. Period.

The players union would have nothing to do with something like this, but the sad part is the fact that, if this was the rule, there would be no drugs in baseball. You take both the game and the money off the table, and people will clean their act up real quick.

Here is how the additional $4mil worth of incentive bonuses would be paid out to P Shaun Marcus in 2013:

            • $250,000 apiece for reaching 120, 140, 160 and 170 innings.

• $375,000 apiece for reaching 180 and 190 innings.

• $500,0000 for reaching 200 innings.

• $375,000 apiece for 90 and 120 days on active roster, or on disabled list for injury unrelated to his right arm.

• $500,000 apiece for being on active roster or DL for injury unrelated to right arm for 150 and 170 days. (The major league season is 183 days.)

These are all nice, if you actually were going to finish this year as a member of this team. I can’t see any scenario where this happens. Marcus is going to want to eventually get a long term deal from somebody and the Mets have their plans for their future rotation on paper.

What happens if, come the all-star break, the Mets are 15 games out of first place, but Marcum is 7-3, 3.10… at the same time, Zack Wheeler is lights out in Las Vegas and Dillon Gee is having his normal 4.25 season. What do you do and who goes where?

Let’s remember something before you ship this guy out for a AAA/AA OF prospect…  right now the only guys in the Mets rotation that have proven they deserve to be there are Jon Niese and Matt Harvey. We’re still three slots away from the perfect storm. Yes, Wheeler looks like the real deal and Noah Syndegaard projects to be the third SP2 in the system, but all this is still on paper.

If, and this is a big if… if you are building a team around your rotation, and this guy turns out to still be the real deal, why not sign him to a 3-year deal while your prospects work their way through the system?

I’m just saying…