New York Mets 2010-11 Winter report

[Ninja108]

As a Yankee fan, I personally thought Cliff Lee was overrated and still do. He struck us out in the post season but his regular season stats...bleh.
He might be 7-2 post season but those two loses were doozies.
What really turned me against him was his actions in that game. If I were a Texas fan, I'd be ticked off that someone's arrogance cost my team a chance to come back in the series. And Cliff's certainly did.

 

[syam24]

I, personally, don't think Cliff Lee is overated. He's pitched pretty damn well the past few seasons. Last year he pitched in Seattle, had some back issues, and once he got his back squared away, pitched well for the Texas Rangers. Nobody is perfect. I also think, if the Yankees had signed Cliff Lee, most Yanks fans in general, would be raising the roof on what a great deal this is, we'll go to and win the Series, on and on....

As for the Mets, it's pretty quiet, cue the cricket chirps...

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, I'm off for a week of vacation.

 

[sonny10305]

Ninja and Syam I have completely forgotten the whole Lee thing, in fact Im was never bothered by it at all.
The Phillies have an awesome rotation but I will be all the sweeter watching the Mets cutting them down to size in 2011 I wrote a few days ago what the Mets need to be concerned about and it aint the Phillies rotation.
With Davis in town I attended a lot of parties this week talked to a lot of Mets people and players and the feeling is enough is enough with Mets failures, watch us fly this year.

Happy Birthday DWright 28 years old yesterday

Like Syam said not much happing this week,everyone is traveling parting and enjoying the holidays. Not much will happen till after the first of January.
Kevin Burkhardt is about the only one working he will have his usual Mets Hot Stove this week

Listen to the confidence in DWrights voice at a conference this week

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5vpa7aQpx8&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

[Ninja108]

I, personally, don't think Cliff Lee is overated. He's pitched pretty damn well the past few seasons. Last year he pitched in Seattle, had some back issues, and once he got his back squared away, pitched well for the Texas Rangers. Nobody is perfect. I also think, if the Yankees had signed Cliff Lee, most Yanks fans in general, would be raising the roof on what a great deal this is, we'll go to and win the Series, on and on....

As for the Mets, it's pretty quiet, cue the cricket chirps...

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, I'm off for a week of vacation.

I have no doubt many of them would. However,I'm a more level headed Yankee fan that has seen many of our "unbeatable" teams get beat. Yes he has pitched pretty well the past couple of seasons but like I said, Game 5 of 2010 will always stick out for me. He refused to walk someone his own catcher was telling to walk. And it cost Texas the Series.

 

[sonny10305]

The Mets picked up Chin-lung-Hu from the Dodgers who by all accounts is a decent shortstop and will be there to back up Reyes. This of course falls in line with the Mets plan to have Tejada play in AAA to develop his offensive skills.
Problem is Tejada is as good a defensive player as Hu and from what we have seen of Hu he is not much better with his bat than Rubin. I really do not see this as an upgrade at all Clearly the Mets want Tejada to pay AAA
I also do not see him as a threat to Daniel Murphy for the second base position cause Daniel can run rings around this guy
So Hu is a potential backup option to shortstop if Reyes’s health is an issue again, but the Tejada/Hu thing to me is just a wash, Hu just came cheaper than Cora.

Note to Alderson, dude what are you doing??? We need pitching!!

 

[Sausy]

The Mets picked up Chin-lung-Hu from the Dodgers who by all accounts is a decent shortstop and will be there to back up Reyes. This of course falls in line with the Mets plan to have Tejada play in AAA to develop his offensive skills.
Problem is Tejada is as good a defensive player as Hu and from what we have seen of Hu he is not much better with his bat than Rubin. I really do not see this as an upgrade at all Clearly the Mets want Tejada to pay AAA
I also do not see him as a threat to Daniel Murphy for the second base position cause Daniel can run rings around this guy
So Hu is a potential backup option to shortstop if Reyes’s health is an issue again, but the Tejada/Hu thing to me is just a wash, Hu just came cheaper than Cora.

Note to Alderson, dude what are you doing??? We need pitching!!

So I guess Hu's definitely not on first,then?

I'm with you....and the idea of a Jeff Francis doesn't thrill me either.This year all the parts we've already got have to work...real reinforcements from outside the organization won't be coming.Just spare parts.i am reading conflicting things about how the Wilpons were affected by the whole damn Madoff crap...one thing even says they actually made off decently while others say they were bled pretty bad.I just hope sonny for all Mets fans they play above their heads this year or it will be a long one.

 

[gtru1981]

Pitching is hard to get sonny! This year wasnt the year for pitchers! I have to say the guys that Anderson has gottin arent big stars, got to wait till next year

The Mets picked up Chin-lung-Hu from the Dodgers who by all accounts is a decent shortstop and will be there to back up Reyes. This of course falls in line with the Mets plan to have Tejada play in AAA to develop his offensive skills.
Problem is Tejada is as good a defensive player as Hu and from what we have seen of Hu he is not much better with his bat than Rubin. I really do not see this as an upgrade at all Clearly the Mets want Tejada to pay AAA
I also do not see him as a threat to Daniel Murphy for the second base position cause Daniel can run rings around this guy
So Hu is a potential backup option to shortstop if Reyes’s health is an issue again, but the Tejada/Hu thing to me is just a wash, Hu just came cheaper than Cora.

Note to Alderson, dude what are you doing??? We need pitching!!

 

[Ninja108]

Cliff Lee was about the only good pitcher out there in this year's FA.
The rest are all big question marks in one way or another.

 

[sonny10305]

I here what you guys are saying but the fact is we need a Starting pitcher and a Left-handed reliever. Plus according to the Mets, a fourth outfielder which unless Beltran crashes and burns we don’t need. I want Nick Evans to fill that spot, he was outstanding for us in left field last year but unfortunately got hurt and did not finish the season. He is feeling great now and has been cleared for full baseball activity. I would also give Duda another shot
But first we need the pitching; Johan Santana prolly won't be back until June .so you're looking at Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, R.A. Dickey and Dillon Gee as the first four. After that we hear names like Chris Young, Jeff Francis, Kevin Millwood and Freddy Garcia. I could see Pat Misch filling Hisanori Takahashi's role as the long man. So far the Mets have brought in Boof Bonser, Ronny Paulino and D.J. Carrasco. I suppose Bonser can be a decent spot-starter while Paulino could be a good backup to Josh Thole. I would say that of the three Carrasco is the Mets best pickup so far. He could be a good addition to a bullpen now that we lost Pedro Feliciano.
As to the few remaining free agents Kevin Millwood, Chris Young and Jeff Francis, not much left to pick on but the bones if you ask me.
Additional Bull Pen candidates would be Manny Acosta and Ryota Igarashi, although they might be better served as AAA depth, that is if we can afford to do that, I just don’t know if AAA would be an option this year. Right now after KRod, Parnell and Carrasco there are 4 open spots. The Mets have also been talking to Brian Fuentes who if you think about it could also be a lefty specialist replacement for Feliciano, he could also replace K-Rod from time to time. His problem is his age, and recent injuries. Some of the remaining left-handed relievers I found on the free-agent market are Joe Beimel, Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes, Ron Mahay and Randy Flores.

I do like the Mets discipline for a change. But it’s quite a jump from the Mets going from wild spending to no spending. I suppose it’s possible the Wilpons have really limited Alderson’s ability to spend, or Sandy vastly underestimates how bad the pitching could be next season.
Then there is, as Saucy mentioned, the Madoff mess.

R.A. Dickey will be in the starting rotation for the Mets in 2011, but the terms of his contract aren't yet complete. The two sides could end up in arbitration if they don't come to terms on an agreement.
Dickey does not want an arbitration hearing, he hates as he put it, going into a room and hearing them say something bad about you, the deadline for exchanging figures is Jan. 18.

A player I really like we have not heard much about is Matt Harvey You may remember he worked out in the fall instructional league along with Daniel Murphy. But that’s all he did he never threw a pitch in an actual game. I want to see him in St. Lucie and I could see him in Binghamton in the second half if he does well.

Then of course there is Ollie Perez who has been playing winter ball steadily but not doing well he is the same ole Ollie his ERA is now just under 6 yesterday in fact he gave up three runs two of them homers over five innings. He is expected to come to spring training in order to compete for a spot as a left-handed reliever, but can we see him making the Opening Day roster?
No, The Mets have got to cut him loose. Seriously can you hear the crowd at Citi when his name is announced on opening day??

.

 

[gtru1981]

I do agree the Mets should cut both Castillo and Perez. If you aint going to use them, might as well cut them, either way they lost their moneys worth on both of those guys. A guy like Perez is what makes people tell jokes about this team and brings down team spirit.

 

[syam24]

Not sure why the Mets traded Antonini for Hu F(who?). Generally, lefties develope a bit slower, so he would have been fine at AAA, possibly developing into a fill in during the season at Citi Field. Oh well, I'm not in the scouting dept. I did read a story somewhere that Carrasco "might" be given a shot at a rotation spot. Not sure that is going to happpen nor sure it's a good idea, with the lack of any other bullpen help. Fuentes, I could see, as a lefty specialist. The Phils have apparently signed Romero back for their bullpen.

 

[sonny10305]

Yeah Syam we dono too much about Carrasco, he spent most of his career in the Adulterated League and Japan. What little we saw of him in 2010 with the D’backs and Pirates was that he does not have a lot of power, but I seem to recall he has a deceptive delivery, which I loved, he experiments a lot with pitches.
I think he will give us what we need as a reliever/swingman.

Well we have the word on Wally Backman and what he will be doing for the Mets,
He is going to be named manager of Double-A Binghamton, The job opened up cause Tim Teufel, who managed Binghamton last season, is going to succeed Ken Oberkfell as Triple-A Buffalo manager.
As you know Oberkfell is joining the Mets bench coach, with Wilson returning to the Mets as first base coach. This is a big promotion for Wally and no one deserves it more. I am very happy for him.
Of course its bitter sweet cause I am going to miss him a lot in Brooklyn but he needs to move on now if he will as I expect become the next Mets manager.
I spoke with a couple of Cyclone players this morning and all are excited for Wally, they all loved and respected the guy so much. Dono know yet who will manage the Cyclones.

 

[Sausy]

Yeah Syam we dono too much about Carrasco, he spent most of his career in the Adulterated League and Japan. What little we saw of him in 2010 with the D’backs and Pirates was that he does not have a lot of power, but I seem to recall he has a deceptive delivery, which I loved, he experiments a lot with pitches.
I think he will give us what we need as a reliever/swingman.

Well we have the word on Wally Backman and what he will be doing for the Mets,
He is going to be named manager of Double-A Binghamton, The job opened up cause Tim Teufel, who managed Binghamton last season, is going to succeed Ken Oberkfell as Triple-A Buffalo manager.
As you know Oberkfell is joining the Mets bench coach, with Wilson returning to the Mets as first base coach. This is a big promotion for Wally and no one deserves it more. I am very happy for him.
Of course its bitter sweet cause I am going to miss him a lot in Brooklyn but he needs to move on now if he will as I expect become the next Mets manager.
I spoke with a couple of Cyclone players this morning and all are excited for Wally, they all loved and respected the guy so much. Dono know yet who will manage the Cyclones.

Love Wally and I'm so glad he's moving up to Binghamton.I do like more and more what I see of Terry Collins....he seems to have matured alot since his last managerial stint in Anaheim ended badly.He seems to have really done a great job in his minor league responsbilities in the Mets organization.He receives great grades for his baseball acumen,knows his stuff,has passion and no one works harder.I think he will be fine and he does have a reputation even in his toughness in the past of being fair,very open to communication but cannot stand nonsense.I don't know how long he plans to manage,and especially if he does well as much as I love Wally,and think he would have done an outstanding job and should have gotten the managerial position over Collins that he may not manage for this organization but elsewhere.Teufel or Oberkfell may more likely be the future skipper of the Mets...I'm sure sonny would agree either guy would be a fine choice,too.

Will be interesting to see who's next up for Brooklyn....and would love to see quick rises through the organization for Brooklyn Cyclone 2010 standouts like Cory Vaughn and Darren Ceceliani....young standouts who can help really potentially supply a dynamic new reemergence for the Mets along with Ike Davis,Josh Thole,Ruben Tejada,Jennry Mejia,and last year's ist round pick bulldog righthanded starter Matt Harvey.

 

[syam24]

The good thing about Wally going to Binghamton is that he should be seeing some of his Cyclone guys, if not this year, then next. This will help in the overall evaluation of the talent, since he has seen them as raw rookie pros, and should see if they are progressing towards major league potential. Double A is the real key now a days, to most of the sure fire talent hoping to hit the big time. AAA is loaded lots of times with players who may have reached their full potential and have borderline MLB talent. It's also sort of like a "taxi squad" for fill ins during injury episodes to the top 25 organization dudes.

 

[sonny10305]

Saucy and Syam I will have more to write about next week about the Cyclone players advancement.
Lots of changes in Brooklyn this year.
My boys are growin up

Happy New Year everyone

 

[Sausy]

Saucy and Syam I will have more to write about next week about the Cyclone players advancement.
Lots of changes in Brooklyn this year.
My boys are growin up

Happy New Year everyone

Definitely look forward to your updates!Happy New Year to you too sonny,syam and everyone reading and posting here...hopefully the Mets can surprise everyone and start their resurgence this year!I know people like David Wright,Jose Reyes,R.A. Dickey,among others know the Mets are not being counted on this year and have the motivation to help lead our boys to a good year,much better than anyone expects.If Johann Santana can come back sooner rather than later,maybe85-90 wins are possible.All we ask is for this year the Mets take hard nosed manager Terry Collins to heart and make themselves a tough battle for even the good clubs.I know the new organization philosophy offensively is patience and greater on base percentages,and that will definitely be a positive for a club well known as a very impatient,weak getting on base organization too often unable to manufacture rallies and runs.Have some heart,and even if we're not true contenders yet the fans will always have their backs!

 

[syam24]

I see where the Mets have signed Chris Capuano, formerly of the Brewers and Taylor Bucholtz, late of the Jays for their pitching staff. Not too excited. Both have been injury prone. Capuano being a leftie, has a shot at as a fifth starter or bullpen work, while I think Bucholtz is probably long man in the bullpen material. I'm still hoping for something more significant to come along before spring training.

 

[sonny10305]

First of all let me say how great it is to see Saucy posting here again

So with the holidays over the Mets can now get back to work getting our roster completed.
I have been yelling about pitching and the Mets made a move yesterday to help that out the Mets signed former All-Star with the Brewers Chris Capuano a lefty who had a 3.95 earned run average for Milwaukee last season. He made the National League All-Star team a couple of years back. Did not see any of him in 2008 and 2009 after having a second Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow in May 2008. I had heard a lot about how he is doing now from Nick Evans who is good friends with Chris, the two have been working out together in Arizona over the winter
Capuano in spite of the surgery is a solid risk signing with a fairly inexpensive, one-year contract. He had some success as a soft-tossing starter before Tommy John surgery, and when he returned from surgery he has more on his fastball than he had before toping out 92-93. I am told he is healthy now, he still has his control, a nasty changeup and slider, and another plus is he has an excellent pickoff move. I like this move to tell ya the truth I prefer him over Jeff Francis or Chris Young. Yup I am serious of course these signings do not mean the Mets won’t still go after Jeff or Chris
Capuano provides the Mets with a versatile pitcher, since he has experience pitching in the rotation and out of the bullpen. He could start the year in the rotation and then move to the bullpen once Johan Santana recovers.

The Mets also signed pitcher Taylor Buchholz, who also missed 2009 season while recovering from surgery on his pitching elbow. If the name sounds familiar you are prolly thinking of Clay Buchholz who is Taylor’s cousin, not that it helps him pitch
As for Buchholz, I am behind that signing even thou he too is a gamble since he is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. I have to think that cause he was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, with a 97-MPH fastball and a wicked curve. You may recall he has an outstanding season in the Rockies pen in 2008. That was before the elbow surgery in ‘09. Buchholz would help fill one of the holes in the Mets’ bullpen.

Both signings may have some scratching their heads and thinking no big deal here but I think it cold turn out very well for us, huge even. Remember when so many of you thought I was nuts when I screamed and yelled to bring Dickey up? So how did that turn out?

The Mets designated Ryota Igarashi for assignment, to make room on the 40-man roster. I think this could also be the end of Ryota Igarashi’s time with the Mets. I’m thinking if he is not claimed, the Mets will bring him to spring training as a non-roster invitee. Igarashi was awful last year and will not be missed
I also would like to think that these signings could also be a part of getting rid of Oliver Perez If both Capuano and Buchholz make the Opening Day roster, Perez might not have a spot. Of course we also have to think maybe Perez would be given the opportunity to play until Johan Santana comes off the disabled list.

The Mets will host their annual Winter Blood Drive for the New York Blood Center on Thursday, January 6th, 2011 in Citi Field’s Caesars Club from 10am to 5pm You must be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 lbs and be in good health. Each donor will receive a pair of tickets to a 2011 Mets home game during the month of April. Bring ID with photo or signature. Call 1-800-933-BLOOD for more info

 

[sonny10305]

Great to hear that Angel Pagan and Mike Piazza will receive the Thurman Munson Award at the Awards Dinner on Tuesday night, February 1, They will be recognized for the work they both do helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live full and productive lives.Nick Swisher will be honored as well.

From the feel good department comes Dylan Owen, who spent time in starting and relief roles in the Mets' farm system in 2010, who pitched seven no-hit innings in the Puerto Rican Winter League. Owen spent the 2010 season split between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Buffalo as both a starter and reliever. I spent some time with Dylan a few years back when he was in Brooklyn got to know him with the Cyclones I am bustin over this cause when one of the new kids does well I get all giddy.

Pedro Feliciano’s two-year, $8 million contract with the Yankees was finalized Monday.
Still can’t get over our losin him.

 

[sonny10305]

Back from giving blood at Citi Field it was done in the Caesars Club
Did no run into anyone with any Mets news but I did score my tickets to The Buffalo Bisons annual Hot Stove Luncheon on January 21. Terry Collins will be there along with many of the Bisons players and brass.
I am looking to see some of the guys again and meeting and hearing GM Mike Buczkowski who will speak about off-season updates on the team. They usually also have cool Bisons stuff to buy.
The Bisons open their season on Thursday April 7th at home

If you where wondering where Chris Carter ended up he has signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. You will recall must to my displeasure he was non-tendered in December to free up 40-man roster room. Chris said that once he makes the team he expects plenty of playing time as a pinch hitter The Rays know that is a strong role for him. It just so happens the Rays could use someone who can handle 1B and LF I know you guys all wish him luck and of course I will be keeping in touch with him and how he is doing to report back here.

Kevin Burkhardt fresh off his pajama party with his little son said tonight’s Hot Stove will have more on R A Dickey an off the field piece. And because I never stop badgering him about it more on who could play 2nd base next year. Can you spell MURPHY? Well Kevin will discus all the possibilities. Kevin…can you say MURPHY?