As you get your work week started, here’s a few links and notes you may have missed this weekend:
Joel Sherman of the New York Post argues for the Mets to make an aggressive push to acquire Troy Tulowitzki from the Colorado Rockies. I don’t find myself agreeing with Sherman very often, but here he is spot on. There is not a player without a flaw. There is not a player without risk. No matter what the cost in terms of prospects, the Mets should fill the biggest remaining gap on the roster. If you want to compete for the playoffs, this is what you have to do. If you want to be mediocre, you go into Opening Day with Wilmer Flores as the starting shortstop. Yes, there are financial hurdles, but if the front office expects anyone to actually believe the “everything is fine” mantra they have been preaching against reality for the past several years, this is their chance to prove it. Go get Tulowitzki. Get an All-Star. Make the Gary Carter trade.
Jung-Ho Kang is getting posted today. Nobody really knows a whole lot about him, other than he seems to be pretty good and he plays shortstop. He won’t be cheap, and he might need some time in the minor leagues. Many will want him to come to the Mets, I say pass and go for something that is more of a sure thing rather than a lottery ticket.
Right here on good ol’ Mets 360, James Newman helps to get you caught up on some of the moves made around the NL East during the Winter Meetings. Spoiler Alert: the Phillies are having a firesale!
Take on Tulo’s contract in return include Colon, Gee or Niese in any package deal
Tulo is a great player and I would love for him to be a Met, but I wouldn’t trade for him. Don’t trust him. He goes on the DL every year with something, and now moving into his 30’s he had a hip injury? If you guys want Tulo, why not go for Profar who is only 21 and also injured? Come on…
I totally agree that the Tulo of today is not worth the price. Major injury with an injury on top of a huge contract. And the cost in prospects makes it a “no go for Tulo”.
I say take a flier on Kang. Could be a difference maker and with Murphy still on the roster, you could start him at Double-A and see what he does. Flores at SS to start the season. If Flores bombs and Kang is tearing it up promote Kang. If both are hitting, package Murphy and move Flores or Kang to 2B.
Maybe it’s a reach, but the Mets aren’t trading for Tulo and a Gee deal isn’t netting them a major leaguer of significance. Sign Kang and Moncado, trade Gee, go to spring training and see what happens at SS and the last few spots in the pen. I’d be happy with that offseason.
Scott, I thought of that too. Would you ever, ever, dream that this team would sign both Kang and Moncado? If I were to see it happen with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it. I’d be stunned and dumbfounded. I would start thinking that maybe we were all wrong about Jeff Wilpon. I’d be thinking that this team isn’t cheap after all and wants to win! But, no, these are the Mets. One would be shocking. Two would be a major investigation. I don’t expect to see either on this disgraceful team.
I may be the only person not drinking the Tulo kookaid. Two reasons: health (as mentioned numerous times here) and I’m not sold on his numbers transferring to Citi Field as much as everyone believes. Is he a solid hitter, yes. How many solid hitters left Coors and crashed and burned? Too many.
Frank didn’t the Mets just sign Michael Cuddyer ?
I’m stunned at how many of us are willing to see Noah traded. Watching him last Spring training told me he was ready and the ‘demotion’ to AAA did not sit well with him and he did not respond well.
I do not want to see him traded. Nope. No way. I think he may be even more than Wheeler, and we must accept that Harvey is an unknown. Harvey, Wheeler and Syndegaard all have the killer instinct. Add Jake DeGrom and I do not want to see us mess with what could be the best pitching rotation in baseball. Steven Matz fascinates me too.
There must be another way to upgrade.
Tulo has played 264 games over the past three years, which is an average of 88 games. I totally get that he makes the team better right now. However, if we have to give up Syndergaard, Montero, Plawecki and possibly more just to get him, and pay $20 million for the next five years to boot, it almost doesn’t matter how good he is. And it’s almost a guarantee that his health will continue to deteriorate. That’s leveraging the future for the immediate present on an unsure product. I don’t know much about business, but that seems like bad risk assessment to me.
He’s also posted 11.8 fWAR in those 264 games. Compare that to 4.5 fWAR that Michael Cuddyer has put up in 280 games over that same time span. He’s incredibly valuable. If you could guarantee me he would be that productive, I would sign up for him missing 40% of the season.
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If the trade went down like Sherman proposed I would take it. Even if Tulo couldn’t play to his expectations the 2015 team would still be improved and the Mets would not be giving up anyone that they are counting on in 2015.
The problem is how do they pay for Tulo?
By moving Colon and Gee or Niese. This is why the second year of Colons 11 million dollar contract is hamstringing the Front Office. Even if they were to eat 3 million that could still free up 16 million in payroll.
Pete, I’d pay Colon $11 and keep him. He was an innings eater and did ok. He should be the same and maybe he gets flipped in July. Trade Niese and Gee now, bring up Montero and Thor in July when Colon gets ejected. IMHO
Innings eater? The Mets will have plenty of options to choose from in 2015. Apply Colon and that 11 million dollars to an upgrade at SS. Maybe between Thor and Montero we can have the same results for under a million dollars? After all Colon did pitch to a 4 ERA. i’m with you about Niese and Gee. Middle rotation pitchers who “if” and when they are healthy can provide quality starts but between the two they’ll bE making nearly 14 million dollars. Money that be applied for an upgrade at SS.
Gus is that the best you can say about Colon? He’is an inning eater? At the steep price of 11 million which the team wants to dump?