Bartolo Colon, Curtis Granderson and now, according to Mike Francesca at WFAN on Wednesday, possibly Stephen Drew? Two signings that were necessary to tie up some loose ends. One is a possible signing that could fill a major hole left by the defection of Jose Reyes at shortstop that has never been filled to this day. No disrespect to Ruben Tejada; however, he just is not cutting it. Is this a fight for legitimacy or something bigger?
When Omar Minaya came in as the New York Mets general manager, he came in with guns blazing. It was one power house signing after another. Pedro Martinez to bring in the proof as to how serious this organization was to competing followed by Carlos Beltran. Two years later, Johan Santana came to Flushing. They were the acquisitions of a man on a mission. Minaya was hungry and determined. He came in like a lion and was taken out like a lamb to the slaughterhouse.
Three years later, Sandy Alderson came in. His mission? Well, to clean house. Out went Reyes, fan favorite R.A. Dickey and Beltran. It was time to build a team on the cheap. The farm system still needed some pieces. Those were added with the San Francisco trade. So long Beltran and hello top prospect Zack Wheeler. Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud and pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard were also brought on board courtesy of Dickey.
Let’s jump ahead to 2014. The Mets have been a joke since 2006. Two chokes since then. Possibilities, but nothing done to give them the extra push by the trade deadline where they always fall apart. Strong starts aren’t enough. Neither is a strong June. You need to be strong all of the way through. Sure, it’s great to sweep the New York Yankees every once in awhile, but in the grand scheme of things, those victories mean nothing. The strong survive. The weak fall off to the wayside to die and allow for the survivors to pass through. Enough of the second half failures.
Alderson appears to be having that same hunger Minaya did. The Wilpons have opened their wallets, no matter how slightly. They were burned by some poor signings by Minaya like Jason Bay and Oliver Perez. They are still feeling the sting of the inept contract of Bobby Bonilla by the past regime. One cannot fully blame them. It has been burn after burn. If you spend $600 on a pair of shoes and they only last you a month, would you buy from that same brand again? Would you even spend $600 on a pair of shoes again? I sure as hell wouldn’t. Now, if the Drew signing were to happen, they are back in business. They are back to being respected as a big market team. Well, at least they are on their way to that status.
Is this team primed for a playoff run? Well, that will be determined during Spring Training. There are so many pieces now. The hard part is figuring out where they all belong. Of course there is also that little thing called a 162-game season to get through, division rivals and the like. Let’s just start with the here and now. I will say this, if Alderson wants it, he cannot just sit on his hands at the trade deadline like he usually does. I get the feeling this year, if they are close, he will make moves if necessary.
I don’t see how Jose Reyes defected when the team never made him an offer. The Mets since 2006 have been a joke. Really? The two collapses at the end of two separate seasons constitute a joker team for you? That’s interesting. As painful as that was, I’ll take that any time over being eliminated in the first week of September. SA had a mandate from the Wilpons to cut 50 million from the payroll. And no the Wilpons have not opened their wallets. That would imply that they have added to last years payroll(which they have not). They simply reallocated their resources. All GM’S have bad signings. At the time Bay signed who would of thought he would be such a bust here in New York?
BTW— having barely refilled the payroll to last season’s total, the Mets received 25 million additional MLB dollars for the TV deal. So they have pocketed that entire windfall.
Overpriced Players?….. That’s a pretty good description of the Wilpons.
If the Wilpons use the extra $25 million to pay down the principal on one of their debts — I have no problem with that. If it just goes in their pocket, I’d rather have Drew.
Ummmmm Two choke jobs in Sept ( Including losing to crappy teams like the Nats and Marlins ) did in fact made the Mets a joke all around Baseball. Just ask Phillies and Yankees fans !!!! I love the Mets but, This blog is on point !!!!
Did you mean the whole blog? Or just the joke aspect of the blog? Reyes “defection” was real or imagined? Alderson had no intention of re-signing him. As we have found out there wasn’t enough money for him and Wright. So what options did he have left? On point? The Wilpons have opened their wallets? Having a payroll the same as the Twins and Royals(2 small team markets) who do not generate the same outside income is unacceptable. The additional 25 million from the new television contracts isn’t even being considered if the Mets are in line with last years payroll of 90 million dollars. What about the revenue from SNY? If the Wilpons did actually open their wallets then payroll this year should be at 115 million.
…and what is the deal with the city’s Willett’s point restoration project? Did Sterling Equities really just get $443 million in tax write offs? And they don’t even have to complete the lower end projects until 2030? They can build all the high end pieces first.
Reyes left, It’s a defection any way you slice it. The Mets did not make him an offer…That’s a product of the Madoff mess. Can you let the entire season play out before being Mr. Judge ? compared to the last few seasons, yes they have opened up the wallet, and If you read the blog again, you’ll see the Ms.Mercado said “The Wilpon’s have opened their wallets, no matter how slightly” so It’s not like she’s saying the went all out and threw money around like the Yankees or Dodgers. She’s pointing out the fact that finally things are starting to go in the right direction.
I take some exception to that comment. Reyes did not. He did not abandon his post. If he were traded, would call that defection? Basically the Mets forced Reyes out. I also dont buy into any sort of wallet opening. All they have done is exchange contracts at about the same level. It “looks” like spending money because 45M$ of last years budget was not even in NY for any part of the season. When we see 95M$ and up budgets, I’ll believe there is more than treading water going on. For the biggest market in the world, the team budget is shameful.
Although I love all the optimism that comes with daffodils popping out of the ground, nothing the Mets have done points to this team having any mettle for the postseason. I mean really, 90+ wins seems a bit ridiculous given the ace of the staff is gonna be watching the games with Doc Gooden from the stands. I will say, we get closer every year and when Syndergaard is up and can go 190+ innings along with Wheeler, and Harvey, then we need to be thinking about October. By then we can hope there is more bat in the line up, and have some idea if d’Arnaud is more than a prospect. We might even have a some idea how to handle 1B and SS. In that regard, the nose of the ship is pointing the right way, but a lot of rough water is still between us and an October port-of-call.
And the Mets did not force him out. He simply got more money elsewhere. The marlins overpaid for him. It was a bad contract then and it’s still a bad contract now. No one is to “blame” for him leaving. If you want to blame something, blame the free agent system.
fair enough…my point was that the Mets chose not to be interested in him, and so he left.
They were interested, just not at that price. In fact for most of the offseason it seemed like the Mets had a good shot at resigning him because no one else was interested in him. Hmmm, does that sound like another SS who’s currently on the free agent market?
hahahahahahaha. Indeed it does!
Everyone in this world is entitled to their opinion. Even you Joey! Refreshing and thoroughly stimulating! Last years payroll was 94 million. As of today the payroll is 75.4 million for 12 players(Cot’s). If you add 13 minimum salaried players it comes to 80 million. That would be 14 million less than the previous season. You go to Toys R Us and you see a toy you want to buy but you can’t afford it because it cost more than your allowance. You saved your nickels and dimes for weeks. So if you really want that toy you will need to “open up your wallet”. Assuming you have one.
Its hard to knock the Beltran and Dickey trades. I think the majority of Mets fans were on board with those trades based on the return. I’m sure financial constraints were indeed involved in pulling the trigger, but I think they good moves regardless.
Also, I think Ollie P is still available this winter…but they wouldn’t dare, would they?
Sorry Sean. No. The minute OP walks a batter or gives up a home run the boos would begin and never end. Left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Haha, sorry, that was a bad joke. I completely agree. He’s persona non grata times 100 in Queesns.