2008-2009 Offseason Thread

[ljshorty89]

-Picked up 1B Carlos Delgado's $12 million option for 2009
-Resigned OF Fernando Tatis to a 1 year, $1.7 million contract
-Signed CL Francisco Rodriguez to a 3 year, $37 million contract
-Traded MR Aaron Heilman, OF Endy Chavez, MR Joe Smith, 1B Mike Carp, and 2 minor leaguers for CL JJ Putz, MR Sean Green, and OF Jeremy Reed
-Signed SP Tim Redding to a 1 year, $2.25 million contract
-Signed 2B/IF Alex Cora to a 1 year, $2 million contract
-Signed LHP Casey Fossum and OF Jason Cooper to Minor League Contracts
-Avoid Arbitration and signed MR Duaner Sanchez to a 1 year, 1.7 million dollar deal
-Signed 2B Argenis Reyes and LHP Tom Martin to Minor League Deals
-Signed OF Cory Sullivan to a 1 year, $600,000 deal, with another $300,000 in incentives
-Signed RHP Freddy Garcia to a Minor League Deal with up to (but most likely less than) $8 million in incentives
-Signed Rob Mackowiak to a $600,000 minor league contract
-Signed RHP Kyle Snyder and LHP Jon Switzer to minor league contracts
-Signed OF Bobby Kielty, RHP Matt DeSalvo, RHP Tony Armas Jr, and LHP Valerio De Los Santos to Minor League contracts.
-Avoided arbitration with OF Ryan Church(1 year, 2.8 million), RHP John Maine(1 year, 2.6 million), RHP Duaner Sanchez(1 year, 1.6875 million)
-Resigned LHP Oliver Perez to a 3 year, $36 million dollar contract
-Signed RHP Elmer Dessens to a Minor League Contract

Our Free Agents:
SP- Oliver Perez- resigned to a 3 year, 36 million dollar contract
SP- Pedro Martinez
2B- Damion Easley
OF- Moises Alou
SP- Orlando Hernandez
OF- Trot Nixon
MR- Matt Wise
MR-Tony Armas
MR- Luis Ayala
MR- Ricardo Rincon
UTIL- Ramon Martinez

[love_that_reefer]

All reports say Pedro will not be back.

[ljshorty89]

Of our Free Agents, the only ones I see having a shot to come back are Easley, Perez(if his asking price doesn't get ridiculous), and Ayala.

[ljshorty89]

Murphy has strained hamstring | mets.com: News

Daniel Murphy injured his hamstring. It will keep him out of the end of the Arizona Fall League, and he will no longer play winter ball. They say he'll be at 100% in about a month, so he should be fine for spring training.

[love_that_reefer]

General manager Omar Minaya confirmed Wednesday that the Mets are interested in Raul Ibanez.
"Last year we did talk to them during the trading deadline about him," Minaya said. "Unfortunately, we were not able to get a trade done. We've heard very good reports about him, not only as a player, but as a person. I understand the Phillies, they're one of the teams that's considering him. We are also keeping an eye on that situation, even though we're focusing right now on pitching primarily. But he is a good player."

Mets should get him if only to keep him away from the Phillies. Ibanez has the most RBI of any player over the past three years. Ibanez could even fill in at first if Delgado has another big slump or gets injured. Ibanez is one hell of a player and more importantly a great team player. Mets need him in LF.

[ljshorty89]

He's an intriguing player depending on asking price. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing him play at Citi Field next year...

[ljshorty89]

Mets sign four to Minor League deals | mets.com: News

Mets sign 4 players to Minor League Deals:

Nelson Figueroa
Adam Bostick
Andy Greene
Rene Rivera (ex-Mariners Catcher)

Rivera could have a shot to be a decent catcher, Figueroa and Bostick both have some talent, and signing them to minor league deals is a good job by Minaya. Greene hit well in the minors last year, and could be useful if injuries mount next year.

[ljshorty89]

MetsBlog.com » News: Nick Evans has Quad Strain

Nick Evans has a mild quad strain, he should be okay with 3-4 weeks of rehab.


MetsBlog.com » News: Mets offer Arbitration to Oliver Perez

Mets offered Arby to Ollie. Obviously he and Boras will deny the offer, but at least we would get picks back!

--Shea Stadium is all but gone. The area exists, but pretty much every part of the stadium is no longer in the place it was while functioning. Kinda sad--

Ken Davidoff's baseball insider - Newsday.com

According to this blog, The Mets will almost certainly get the All Star Game at Citi Field in 2013. Sounds fun!

[love_that_reefer]

SI.com's Jon Heyman expects the Mets and Francisco Rodriguez to agree to a three-year deal worth about $37 million.
K-Rod certainly would have had more earnings potential if he had elected for a one-year deal with the chance to go back on the market next winter. However, the difference between $12 million per year and $15 million per year has a lot more to do with status than any real world consequences. At least this deal is still bigger than the three-year, $34 million contract he turned down from the Angels a year ago.

We'll have to wait and see if this happens. It seems like Krod is an attention whore so he might sign just to be the big free agent signing at the Winter Meetings.

[ljshorty89]

Well, the reason this was and is expected is because the other teams looking for a closer are not in position to spend 13 mil+ per year on a closer. The Indians, Tigers, Brewers, Cardinals, etc, all have other areas they need to fix, so it sounds like the only team that is really primed to pay K-rod such a large amount is the Mets. This is a great deal, I hope we can finalize it soon!

[ljshorty89]

Offseason thus far:

-Picked up Carlos Delgado's $12 million option for 2009
-Resigned Fernando Tatis to a 1 year, $1.7 million contract
-Signed Francisco Rodriguez to a 3 year, 37 million dollar deal
-Traded Joe Smith, Endy Chavez, Aaron Heilman, Mike Carp, and minor leaguers for JJ Putz, Sean Green, and Jeremy Reed

[ljshorty89]

New talks with the Cubs say a Schoeneweis for Marquis deal could be in the works. Intriguing if you ask me. Feliciano and Schoeneweis are both lefty specialists, and the Mets only need one. If they can rid themselves of Scho's contract and get back a solid starter in Marquis, I'd be interested....

[ljshorty89]

ESPN - Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Scott Schoeneweis from New York

Mets trade Schoeneweis and cash for Connor Robertson of the Diamondbacks. Minaya seems to be taking a sledgehammer to last year's bullpen, and I like it.

However, I assume this deal means that the Mets will not be trading for Jason Marquis. The Cubs had been asking for Heilman before he was dealt, and had supposedly been asking about Schoeneweis before this deal went down. Goodness knows what they would want from what's left of our available relievers.

[ljshorty89]

Mets eyeing free-agent infielder Cora | mets.com: News

According to mets.com, the Mets are showing interest in veteran utility man Alex Cora. With the way things are going, it seems more and more like Damion Easley will not be returning, so the Mets would need a player to fill in and spend time backing up at 2B, 3B, and SS, and Cora should be able to do all of those things. He is a decent hitter, has a good glove, and can play a bunch of IF positions. I will miss Damion Easley, he was a good guy and a solidifying force in the clubhouse, but I guess it's time for this team to break ties with as many non-core players as possible, and Easley is one of those.

[ljshorty89]

Remaining Needs:

Starting Pitching. We currently have Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, an open 4 spot, and possibly Jon Niese at the 5 spot. I would say we need one fairly big pitcher for the 4 spot(Lowe, Wolf, Garland), and one lesser guy to compete with Niese in Spring Training. That would give us a solid rotation.

Second Base?- Only a spot open if we can move Luis Castillo. I would trade him for anything, but would anyone be dumb enough to take him? Probably not. If he is moved, I would go after Orlando Hudson with everything we've got.

Left Field- Will likely go into the season with a platoon of Tatis and Murphy, but I would like to upgrade if possible. Maybe an Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell if they lower their demands, but I don't see either one signing with the Mets.