New York Mets 2010-11 Winter report

[sonny10305]

So I spoke with a few guys including a ball player who told me the Chris Carter thing had nothing to do with money, Alderson said the move was strictly baseball related; that he felt opening that 40-man roster spot was more valuable than retaining Carter. That did not make me feel any better about the whole thing, I think Carter is the kind of kid the Mets should be developing, he has what it takes just work with him…big mistake.

Winter meetings next week everyone has a different thought on what if anything Alderson will do. We know Alderson has no intention of signing players to extensions beyond the 2011 season certainly not before spring training. This will include Reyes and Dickey, who both should be free agents after next season. Alderson's thinking I guess is that he wants to have as much financial flexibility as possible next off season. And he does not want to commit before seeing with his own eyes. I get that, but Dickey needs an extension. When asked about Perez Sandy said he would be surprised if Oliver Perez is not in spring training with the Mets, he wants to see for himself what to do with Ollie, he does not just want to throw away $12 million now, before watching him in spring training. Oh Sandy, you dreamer you, yeah we need starting pitching or at least a lefty in the pen, but Ollie?? I really believe bringing Perez to spring training would be sending the wrong message.

it looks certain that both Mejia and Tejada will spend the bulk of 2011 at Triple-A Buffalo. Alderson feels they were rushed and need development….agreed

As to what he will bring back from the meetings Alderson says he wants to get new players, just don’t expect any marquee names, right Sandy? I’m bettin any new players will not be big names prolly just pick in the Rule 5 draft so as to pacify us, right Sandy?
Not that Alderson hasn’t been active; he supposedly has talked with 20 teams in preliminary dialogue about trades. He is also doing hitting coach interviews.
He has his work cut out in constructing the 2011 roster, but we need depth in both starting pitching and relief, so I would hope that will be his number one consideration before reconstructing the bench.
Maybe we get Chris Young or Jeff Francis (yawn) but we need at least one additional back end starting pitcher, so as not to be entirely dependent on a younger pitcher from the system. Gee? Misch? There are question marks even in some of our starting pitchers and our closer. Now that K-Rod has settled his legal issues will he be our closer? I can not get excited over that idea cause he has been going down hill. His fastball last season dropped to from 95 to 90 MPH and his curve is not what it once was. He added a third pitch, a change up, which would have been good for him but because of the drop in his fast ball velocity it limits the effectiveness on that pitch cause there isn’t enough difference between the two pitches, you have heard me say over and over in other post what a problem that is for pitchers. So ok, he prolly pitches as well or better than 80% of the closers out there but can he regenerate his velocity? I also do not like his temper and I wonder if anger management helps him. As to the pen we can count on Bobby Parnell to contribute late-inning relief work beyond that, the bullpen is wide open, we need to bring in multiple arms.

Kevin Burkhardt will broadcast live from the winter meetings Mon thru Thursday nights on SNY keeping us up to date.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed catcher Rod Barajas to a one-year, $3.25M contract, good luck Rod and thanks for the great job you did tutoring Thole.

SNY is now showing An Ike Davis Hanukkah. An animated special wit the voices of Ike Davis, Jay Horowitz and others. It will follow the exploits of Ike Davis as he sets out to find the true meaning of Hanukkah. You can see it at the top of every hour for the next six days. Ike’s mom has to be beaming with joy.

 

[syam24]

I think Chris Carter is about as developed as he is going to get, a fourth/fifth outfielder, pinch hitter off the bench. He's 27/28 yrs old, most good players are at their peak at that time, he's had lots of minor league experience. Don't get me wrong, he did a fine job for the Mets last year, but he's not now or ever going to be a vital cog in anybody's lineup/defense. As for next week, perhaps Alderson has some stuff lined up to fill the 40 man roster, trades, Rule 5, free agent, we'll just have to wait and see. I'm not waiting on the edge of my seat, but will watch with interest. Appears the Bosox have pried Adrian Gonzalez away from the Padres for 4 prospects. That will give them a solid lineup, especially if they also sign Jayson Werth. I'm thinking Crawford will end up in Anaheim.

 

[sonny10305]

Reminder, Kevin Burkhardt reports live from the winter meetings Monday, Wednesday, Thursday at 7PM and Tuesday at 6:30 on SNY. Look for Kevin to speak with Sandy Alderson quite a bit the next few days. In fact Kevin got in yesterday and wasted no time getting to Sandy and speaking with him about what he has in store during the first day or two at the Winter Meetings, Sandy told Kevin they are looking at and trying to prioritize their needs, and will be more aggressive in areas they need to be. He also said that find left handed relief help is a higher priority than a backup infielder. He will be gauging interest in players, and whether or not they would be interested in joining the Mets, and what they’re looking for in salary. Sandy is in the information gathering stage, as it’s still unclear what a lot of players are looking for and where they want to be.

 

[syam24]

Sounds like a lot of sitting on their hands, and not planning to do much. Today's paper mentioned some interest in Ron Mahay as a situational leftie. Not very exciting stuff, but will have to see what developes.

 

[syam24]

Just saw a blurb on mlb.com that the Mets may be close to signing Ronny Paulino to back up Josh Thole at the catcher spot. Saw Paulino's name on the non-tendered list last week, and wondered if the Mets might show some interest. He's on a 50 game suspension for PED's, with only 8 games left to serve. I know the Mets have had interest in him in the past.

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Syam two deals are done the Mets have signed both Paulino and Carrasco.
I am not overly thrilled by Paulino I have a real problem with his history with drugs I am a real stickler about those things with zero tolerance for it. I am not thrilled by having him become a Met. Going back to 2008, the Pirates expressed concerns about Paulino’s conditioning and work ethic and sent him to the minors. They then gave up on him, and he was traded. In 2010, Paulino was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. Paulino did not challenge the suspension, claiming the substance for which he was banned was an ingredient in the diet pills he was taking
to control his weight. Please
As a result of the suspension, he will miss the first 8 games of the 2011 season. Does this clown sound like someone we want to start a new season of hope for the Mets? I think not. That said it would appear that Paulino will spit time with Thole behind the plate, but not necessarily in a platoon situation more like Thole getting 70-75% of the time and Paulino playing against the lefties which Thole struggles against. Paulino is a lefty killer (or was) I’ll give him that but now that he is off the juice that may change. Btw the Detroit Tigers have signed Omir Santos.

On the other hand we have Carrasco and with the loss of Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi, the Mets bullpen is weak. I should think that Carrasco will help bridge the gap from the starting pitcher to Francisco Rodriguez, it’s a good beginning to strengthening the pen but more help will be needed. Carrasco posted a 3.68 ERA, last year I think his stats looking to translate well into spacious Citi Field. I have watched him pitch often enough to know that he has a killer slider but inconsistent command of his fastball. But you can expect lotta swings and misses but he does walk a few too many as well. He switches up his delivery for different pitches and I have likes the ways he changes his motion and life on his pitches. Plus he will have no problem pitching many innings or deep into games and won’t that be refreshing.

The Mets Hot Stove has been entertaining but poor Kevin Burkhardt can’t get much of anything outta Sandy Alderson. Who reminds me of a politician with a lot of worthless blab bla bla. Colllins on the other hand has been very open and talks freely abut his plans and continues to show tremendous enthusiasm for this new job. I really like what I see in Terry.

Did you guys see the show on Monday when Mets Public Relations chief Jay Horowitz sat down behind Kevin not realizing he was in the live shot during the interview with Alderson. A few minutes later Jay realized in was in the shot he stood up and bolted. I only mention this cause in case you don’t know him Jay is very beloved by all the Mets players he is one of the hardest working people on the staff more importantly he is always going out to help the players in any way he can always there for them. Jay has been known to be the first to arrive at the ball park and the last to leave. I remember last year when Nick Evans could not get living arrangements settled; it was just one screw up after another. Then Murphy suggested he call Jay and in a couple of days we were helping Nick move into his new housing. That’s our Jay.

 

[sonny10305]

The rule five draft begins toady.
So let’s take a look at some of the Mets' most attractive Rule 5 pitching candidates who Sandy should try and get.I guess for those of you unfamiliar with the Rule 5 draft I should explain that it prevents teams from hoarding major league-caliber players in their minor league system when other clubs could use them in the bigs. Any player that has spent four years on a team who is not on the 40-man roster is eligible. But, the catch is that if you select a player and unless they get hurt you must keep him on the 25-man roster all season. If you don't, he is offered back to his original club. Of course he the player spends the entire season with his new club; he is then eligible to be sent down into their minor league system.

I will not bog this thread down n with a long rambling post on this but I do have a wish list of pitchers.
Starting with Roy Merritt, I got to know him well in Brooklyn; first of all he is a lefty and generally handles lefties extremely well. While there are other lefties out there Merritt will fill that second LOOGY role very nicely.
Nick Carr I have seen him pitch in the 96-97mph range although he did have some command problems but I like his rocket arm, I think he will develop in 2011 and then really take off in 2012.
Next is Jose De La Torre. He may not have the rocket arm or nasty stuff Carr has but what he has will provide solid, middle relief innings. He did post very strong ERA's at each level of the minors since becoming a full-time reliever. Give him a look
Elvin Ramirez He has been pitching 97mph in winter ball. And he has been hard to hit.
Pitching is all I care about now we have got to fill those big holes and the Rule five usually lends itself mostly to relief pitching which is just what we need
Other names to hope for are Aneury Rodriguez, Adam Miller, Adam Ottavino, Beau Jones, Scott Diamond and Pedro Beato. Lets see which ones Santa... er I mean Sandy gives us.

Ronny Paulino continues to irate me, yesterday he saids he is not resigned to being a backup to Josh Thole who only faces left-handers. He said he is training to fight for the position. Dude. Chill and be grateful we are giving you this chance prove to us what you can do off the juice then we will talk meantime Thole is our guy.


New word on Santana is that he will start tossing early next month and could be in rehab games sometime in May, with a return to the Mets the following month.

I was happy for Farncour and his new deal with the Royals. When he first got traded from the Mets last year I predicted that he would go to the Royals cause of his close relationship with GM Dayton Moore
Moore and Frenchie go way back, in fact Dayton was in at Frenchies house when he signed his first contract with Atlanta when he was 18 years old. There was talk of Frenchie going to the Phillies but it was Moore’s promise of regular duty that pushed him to the Royals. He wants to play everyday he said that many times as a Met Francoeur is working hard to get in shape lifting and sprint and agility work. His weight is at 216 right now, and plans on coming to spring training right at 210.

 

[syam24]

Pretty much a quiet few days for the Mets, as forewarned by the front office guys. Signed Paulino and Carrasco for the big team, and Boof Bonser to a minor league deal, perhaps he'll make the team in spring training. He's had mixed success for a couple of major league teams before shoulder surgery. Picked up a couple of Rule 5 guys, a second baseman, Emaus, and I believe one the guys on your list, Sonny, Beato, a pitcher.
Hopefully a few more things will be done before spring.

 

[sonny10305]

So that is that The Mets selected second baseman Brad Emaus from Toronto and right-hander Pedro Beato from Baltimore and lost right-hander Elvin Ramirez to Washington in the Rule 5 draft.

Emaus hit .290 with 15 homers and 75 RBIs between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Las Vegas last season. He's a second /third baseman who has a nice, compact swing with good power to the gaps. He looks like a dead low-ball hitter with very little lower body movement in his swing, so he could be a little susceptible to the high stuff.
Beato, may sound familiar cause he was originally drafted by the Mets in the 17th round of the 2005 draft but was a year removed from Tommy John surgery and did not sign. I expect he will compete for a bullpen spot. He is a guy who is still young and has posted much better numbers in relief than he has as a starter. We need some extra arms in the bullpen, so enter Beato.
We lost Ramirez who had been making improvements in the Dominican winter league and has shown better control throwing around 97 mph.

The Mets did not lose any players in the minor league phases of the draft. They selected right-handers Ronny Morla and Ricky Brooks in the Triple-A round and outfielder Quintin Berry in the Double-A round.

Yup syam, Boof Bonser has signed a minor league deal with the Mets and will receive an invite to spring training. Actually Bonser has shown promise with a power arm. That shoulder surgery you mentioned caused him to miss all of 2009 Last I heard about him he had not pitched well for As. If he is healthy he might provide some depth in AAA but don’t expect him in Flushing anytime soon.

Looks like Ken Oberkfell has a real; shot of getting the bench coach for Terry Collins. I love this guy having watched him many times in Buffalo. I also know a lot of players who love and respect him as well. He did a great job for us last year. I was also very glad to hear that Tim Teufel. Will make the move up from AA to manage Buffalo, so a win win all around if all that happens. Still no word on Wally Backman and whether he will jump all the way to Binghamton or Class A St. Lucie, most likely the Double-A assignment.

Mookie Wilson is now the leading candidate to take over as first base coach, and Andy Van Slyke for bating coach.

I was disappointed to hear that, Moises Alou declined the Mets offer to be on the coaching staff, just bad timing for him now, too bad I would love him back with the team.

I checked in on Fernando Martinez yesterday, he took part batting practice in the Dominican and says he feels good and is felling no pain taking swings and spending about 30 minutes a day on a stationary bike exercising and building up strength in his knee. But he can’t run yet not for another couple of weeks. He will not be returning to play in any winter ball games, but wants to stay in shape and be healthy when spring training opens in February. I have always liked that kid he just has no luck with one injury after another. I wish him well.

Ike Davis is here in NY he is going to go to the Mets holiday party at Citi Field. Ike says he thinks the new boss Alderson and his new manager Collins is going to be there as well as Jason Bay, Carlos Beltran, and David Wright.
Soooo who will play Santa?? DWright will.

 

[sonny10305]

Very quite in Mets land this weekend nothing much to tell you guys today.
I can tell you Jenrry Mejia was solid in three innings, allowing two hits, one walk and four strikeouts, last night in the Dominican Republic, he got ahead early in counts and mixed his fastball, which topped out at 96 mph, with his curveball and changeup.
Right now unless something changes the Mets plan to have Mejia pitch in Triple-A in 2011, letting him develop

Then there is Ollie Perez who continues to be…well…..Ollie
In his last outing the other day he did what he always does, tossing three no-hit innings, and then imploded in the fourth with a leadoff walk and consecutive two-out homers or that inning.He ended up charged with six earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings.
His winter league ERA now stands at 5.73.

We will have news on Monday or Tuesday about the new coaches, Alderson has made all the choices and plans an announcement as soon as early next week after it is all finalized.
No more interviews, the guys have been chosen.

I will be hanging with the Ike man this weekend, maybe he will have some Mets news for me to share with you. Davis will be doing some PR for the Mets next week and a meet and greet on Saturday

 

[sonny10305]

Kevin Burkhardt up with the birds early this morning and at Newark airport to catch a flight to Nashville to do a story on R.A. Dickey. He was surprised at how “cheerful” everyone was at the airport so early in the morning. Kevin is really looking forward to seeing and interviewing Dickey but not so happy about the fact that it's snowing and about 20 degrees there. Oh well, stay warm Kevin my friend.

Terry Collins will officially announce his coaching staff as early as today or tomorrow; he is expected to name Ken Oberkfell as his bench coach, Mookie Wilson as first base coach, Dave Hudgens as hitting coach and Jon Debus as bullpen coach. Pitching coach Dan Warthen and third base coach Chip Hale will both return as well;
all signs seem to say this is probably how it will all shake out
I am a big fan of Oberkfell, whom I have spoken baseball many times at Triple-A were he has been for the past six seasons.
This will be Mookie’s second shot as Mets first base coach were he served from 1997-2002 under Bobby Valentine. He was as minor league outfield and base running coordinator last season
Hudgens as hitting coach surprised me a bit dono much about him, but clearly HoJo was not getting the job done and had to go. I hope to learn more from Kevin B the next few days.
Debus played various positions, including catcher, during 10 seasons in the minors with the Dodgers, and later managed their affiliates for six years. He spent the 2005 season as bullpen coach with Los Angeles
I have said from the last game last year I wanted Warthen back, the Mets' pitching staff performed well last year especially in the bullpen. the pitching staff ranked sixth in the National League with a 3.70 ERA.

 

[gtru1981]

Very quite in Mets land this weekend nothing much to tell you guys today.
I can tell you Jenrry Mejia was solid in three innings, allowing two hits, one walk and four strikeouts, last night in the Dominican Republic, he got ahead early in counts and mixed his fastball, which topped out at 96 mph, with his curveball and changeup.
Right now unless something changes the Mets plan to have Mejia pitch in Triple-A in 2011, letting him develop

Then there is Ollie Perez who continues to be…well…..Ollie
In his last outing the other day he did what he always does, tossing three no-hit innings, and then imploded in the fourth with a leadoff walk and consecutive two-out homers or that inning.He ended up charged with six earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings.
His winter league ERA now stands at 5.73.

We will have news on Monday or Tuesday about the new coaches, Alderson has made all the choices and plans an announcement as soon as early next week after it is all finalized.
No more interviews, the guys have been chosen.

I will be hanging with the Ike man this weekend, maybe he will have some Mets news for me to share with you. Davis will be doing some PR for the Mets next week and a meet and greet on Saturday

I plan on being their saturday to hopefully to meet Ike.

 

[Sausy]

DEAR GOD,NOOOOO!!!

Cliff Lee...a Philly?

I think I'm gonna cry

 

[Ninja108]

DEAR GOD,NOOOOO!!!

Cliff Lee...a Philly?

I think I'm gonna cry

At least there's a Mets fan with common sense. I've gotten gloating text messages from several other friends that root for them. I guess they've forgotten that they'll be facing him a lot more than we will.

 

[syam24]

It appears the Mets will be relegated to competing for the wild card this season. Wow, what a rotation! But, the season will have to play out, Oswalt is another year older, as is Halliday. We'll have to see if injuries occur, just like they do every year to various players. But, it certainly is a good place to begin the season if you're a Philiies fan.

 

[sonny10305]

I plan on being their saturday to hopefully to meet Ike.

It should be a lot of fun, Ike will be there Saturday between 1 and 2pm Ron Darling should will be there Sunday at 2.
If you are on Long Island On Wednesday Dec.15th we are going to visit The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, Jason Bay, Ike Davis and Terry Collins are all going should be around noon cheering up the kids who are patients there.
Also Wednesday the Mets are hosting their annual Coat Drive in support of New York Cares. The Mets and New York Cares will collect men’s, women's and children's coats at Hodges VIP, on the first base side of the ballpark, from 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. If you donate a coat you will receive a voucher redeemable for one pair of tickets to a Mets game in April
The Mets will be holding their annual Holiday Party today (Tuesday) at Citi Field as I told you David Wright will be Santa Claus. Ike Davis, Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran, Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins will all be there. Hope to have some pictures.

DEAR GOD,NOOOOO!!!

First of all welcome back my good friend it has been a while since we saw you in here
you have been misssed

I spoke to a Mets player this morning who said “I look forward to the first day we meet him and beat him. I wanna be the first Mets player to own him”

Look, ok so it’s a pretty bbig deal but I feel worse for any Yankee fan it is a much bigger deal for them than it is for us.I guess it not was not about the money, Lee was offered like $150M and 7 years to sign with the Yankees, and around $135-140M to stay in Texas. But he took less to go back to Philadelphia, maybe he never really wanted to leave in the first place.
The Mets were never gonna go after Lee anyways and now it looks like no amount of money would have given us Lee. I’m bettin The Phillies for sure now gonna ship Blanton out.

So congrats to the Phillies and as a Met fan lemme just say BRING HIM ON!

 

[sonny10305]

Couple of pics from yesterdays Mets holiday party at Citi
Wright, Davis, Bay and others

Wright jokes "who talked me into this?

A wintery Citi field not quite ready for baseball

David (santa) talls about Lee, the Phillies and 2011. David always says the wright things

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hrWuoaV5Pk[/ame]

 

[sonny10305]

^above pictures can't show how much these guys do every year and what it means to those kids.

 

[sonny10305]

One last picture I had to share of Ike asking Santa for a world championship

 

[sonny10305]

So now that all the OMG the sky is falling crap over Lee becoming a Philly lemme say once again what I have been saying to anyone who will listen. I am not concerned about a pitcher we may face like 5-6 times next year. We have way bigger things to think and wonder about like how will Jason Bay return for example, he said at the party he feels really good and has no feelings or headaches connected to that concussion he had last year, he is totally fine and that’s good news, maybe we will see the Bay we were hoping for when he came to the Mets last year, something we did not see.
Next is Beltran and how he is doing, he says he will wear a knee brace but is getting better and better all the time the doctors have told him he is good to go, whether he can handle center field as well as he once did is a question as well as if he should move to right which will be decided at spring training.
Up next which Reyes will we see, the table setting dynamo of two years ago or the forever injured Jose of 2010, and of course will the Mets keep him past June.
Who will play second, with Luis Castillo, Brad Emaus, Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner all in the mix. Tejada is going to play AAA to start off; of course my choice is Murphy. Collins said at the party that Daniel has worked very, very hard to play second. That he saw him play three games in the Dominican Republic. His range is good, His hands are fine. It's just he's got to be familiar with turning double plays. He's got to get used to it and he believes in him. So do I Terry….so do I.
Ike Davis is full of enthusiasm and expects to have a great year; listing to him I would agree.
Wright will be outstanding this year, 2011 is the year he will knock your socks off I have no doubt about that. He has been rallying the troops over the last few weeks getting everyone psyched up for the new season, watch him emerge as the true Mets leader this year, just watch him.
Thole is ready, he said he worked hard this winter with a trainer and is in the best shape physically and mentally he has ever been.

We have the talent and from what I have seen and heard the last month we have the drive and determination to contend in 2011.

Pitching is a big question, without Santana to start the season we have a lot of worries there but perhaps Johan will return sooner than later and stronger than ever we can only hope. What will Pelfrey do, I would like to think that this will be his break out year and become a superstar hey....why not, he’s capable. Then there is Dickey and can he rock em the way he did last season, again.…why not.
The pen is a question but I am not wringing my hands over it…yet. Terry Collins said Sandy Alderson; he's going to get us some left-handed relieving. I believe and hope for that

So those are the things I am thinking about and certainly not big bad Lee

Last year I told you guys about the tough time Ike Davis had dealing with his good friend Mike Lio’s losing a battle with Ewing's sarcoma. Ike was devastated by his friend’s death and the other day at the party he talked about it and his hopes for 2011, I put it up on You Tube and you can watch it here
As you listen to him talk from the children’s hospital about what it’s like to comfort and help children with disease you will see a side of Ike that you may not have known about him. Something I have known for a while now and that is what a terrific kid he is.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hQC6dLfTH0[/ame]