213 Miles From Shea

The Mets have made a collection of small moves in the last 24 hours ranging from the minors to working out the major league roster. The story up to this point is that the Mets needed to make room on their 40 man for Rauch and Francisco, and in addition they needed to figure out who they would tender contracts to at the tender deadline. In the last 24 hours the Mets have completed the following moves:

– Ronny Paulino non-tendered

– Mike Baxter non-tendered

– Mike Pelfrey Tendered

– Manny Acosta Tendered

– Ramon Ramirez Tendered

– Andres Torres Tendered

– Lucas Hay Signed

– Jeremy Hefner Claimed

– Garett Olson Signed

Let's Break This Down:

The Mets were expected to cut Paulino who never really fit on the team. The question now becomes how will the Mets deal with the back up catcher vacancy. They could sign a free agent, or they could save their money for an infielder (or one of the new pitchers that were just non-tendered by another team) and use Mike Nickeas as a back up catcher. The signing of Lucas Hay also seems like a back up, back up option for the Mets behind the plate.

Offering Pelfrey arbitration was expected, Acosta was also expected. Ditto for Ramirez and Torres.

The next questions for the Mets is how they will fit Rauch and Francisco on the roster if they make another signing, especially with Hefner now on the roster.

Aaron Rowand has started his path back the NL East as he just signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins.

(Just saying that if was a minor league deal he wanted, I would have totally done that)

Anyway, Rowand was cut last year by the Giants after hitting .233. He has one year left on his contract and the Giants still owe him 12 million for the upcoming season (minus the major league minimum of course). MLB Trade Rumors reports hat the last time he posted a positive WAR was back in 2009. Still, having a player in the minors like Rowand, that could come back to form at at any time, is a huge plus for the Marlins.

If he makes the team, and I don't really see where he fits, but lets say he needs to make a start somewhere on the field, he will receive a lot of lineup protection thanks to names like Reyes, Ramirez, Stanton, and so forth. If you recall, when he was with the Giants at first he was the center piece of their lineup. A lot of people credit his success in Philly to his protection from Rollins, Howard, etc.

In the craziness of the winter meetings, there was a picture I wanted to post, and just forgot, so here it is! It is the New York Post the day after Reyes's unveiling, and I'm not sure if I agree with their analysis (However, I rarely agree with the post):

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It has now been one week since Reyes made it clear that he was going to become a Miami Marlin.

At this time last week, I, like many Mets fans, was just depressed. I thought the Mets would have no chance in 2012, that it would take years to win again, that the offense would never be the same, and that the Mets lost a key part of their identity.

I'm not going to say here that we are a playoff caliber team, but after losing Reyes, Alderson did make the necessary moves to make the Mets a better team, and we will still be competitive. When it comes to reality, even with Reyes signing, we probably were not a playoff team because our problem wasn't the offense! Last year, with Reyes having a career year, we were 6th in scoring. However that includes Reyes, Murphy and Wright missing considerable time. Most importantly, it includes Davis missing almost the entire season. There is enough evidence that even without Reyes, we can still have a strong offense.

The downfall of the Mets last year was an ineffective bullpen and a mediocre rotation. The only improvements the rotation has made this offseason is hoping that Santana is ready for next season (and then, of course, we lost Capuano). The bullpen did go through significant improvements with Rauch, Francisco and Ramirez. It's not the best, but a lot better than what we had before.

The other aspect holding the Mets back is that the NL East is a very strong division. The Phillies are still the Phillies with an amazing rotation. The Marlins are set to have a lot of new talent to a lineup that was already good and rotation that was already good. Finally, the some of the best bullpens are in the NL East. It is just tough to be in the NL East.

We have a lot of talent coming up, we have a lot of talent, some undervalued, at the Majors right now. As someone said on Twitter, and I forgot who, the Mets won't go 40-122 just because we don't have Reyes. We are not a playoff contending team, there are problems with ownership, but at least, right now, we can still play competitively.

As of right now, this is all we know for sure:

– Ryan Braun tested positive for a PED (Performance Enhancing Drug) due to elevated levels of testosterone. Through two tests, it was determined that the heightened levels were not natural, that either some form of PED (HGH, steroids, etc) is responsible.

– Braun's camp was informed in late October

– Braun's camp says there are some highly unusual circumstances behind the test, and will appeal.

And as of now, that is all we know.

What I'm not excited about is after a crazy, crazy Winter Meetings where there is so much baseball to discuss (the New Marlins, Angels, Fielder, Darvish) we will now have to focus our attention on the issue of PED's, HGH and steroids again. We all know this is not an issue that the media will not ignore, and it is one that it will definitively overkill with news coverage. Here's why:

– Braun is one of the league's best players and role models

– Braun has been used as an example of a clean player for years

– Braun just won a very contested MVP contest against Matt Kemp

And honestly, it is that last bullet point that I'm not ready for. I'm not ready for the news coverage, the opinions that Kemp should be the MVP. All of the requested and granted interviews with Matt Kemp, trying to squeeze a response out of him. I was so excited to get baseball coverage again, and now its going to be steroids coverage again. Maybe some shots of Rafael Palmeiro waving his finger.

In terms of actual baseball, this could be very bad for the Brewers. The Brewers chances this off-season are hinging on a healthy Braun. If the suspension goes through, then the Brewers will need to resign Fielder in order to stay competitive. If the Cubs can resign Fielder, and now with Pujols out of the division, this could the Cubs' opportunity to make a serious run at the division.

We'll see how the story unfolds. Innocent until proven guilty, right?

Reports that the Dodgers almost acquired Daniel Murphy during the Winter Meetings. A source told MLB.com that they were close to a trade for Murphy, however the trade fell through when the Mets acquired what they needed in a full time position player in another trade. Most people (MLB Trade Rumors, Metsblog, other writers) are taking that to mean Andres Torres.

I really would like to know what the Mets would have gotten in return for Murphy from the Dodgers. I'm assuming they would have received a player similar to Andres Torres, although I don't know who that would be on the Dodgers roster. Out of pure speculation, and nothing more, maybe it was Tony Gwynn Jr. and other players. The other OF's seem to valuable on the Dodgers (also I will admit that I know very little about West Coast teams compared to East Coast teams).

Curiosity aside, if this trade would have happened, and the pieces weren't so good, I would probably be extremely depressed. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I have really enjoy Murphy's style of play and work ethic. My favorite shirt is my green Murphy shirt and when he got injured last year, my ability to watch more than 4 innings of Mets baseball declined sharply.

That being said, I understand that this is a business and if it makes good in 2014, which seems to be the goal, I understand.

The rumors are starting to circulate that the Dodgers are trying again for a deal with Murphy and that the Pirates, Blue Jays and Tigers have all shown interest. It was also reported that the Mets showed interest in the Tiger's Dirks, but since the Mets now have Torres, they probably do not need Dirks, so that trade no longer makes sense (unless if they go after him as at 4th OF, but in that case they will need more than Dirks in return for Murphy).

We'll see what happens….

For me personally, the nail in the coffin for losing a player in free agency, is the press conference where the player holds up the jersey. I can't really remember another time where a player I really liked left New York at an age when I could comprehend the meaning behind it. The only other player that I was very sad to see hold up another jersey would be Mike Piazza, but even then I knew we couldn't resign him. That we needed to break away from our generation's best player (yep! I'm a 90's kid). Anyway, to ease the pain of showing Reyes holding up his new Jersey, I included the other new Marlins doing it as well. This is one of those misery loves company types of things.

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These images bring back feelings of 2005 and 2006 as the Mets revealed Pedro, Beltran, Wagner and Delgado. Now I just know what its like to be a major fan of one of those players from the other side.

With the Winter Meetings over, the Mets still have a few spots to fill. One of the remaining spots they are looking to add to the team is possibly a back up catcher. Thole will be the primary catcher for the season, but a veteran catcher presence will go a long way in 2012 from not only helping with Thole's development, but helping to slow down the yearly degradation every starting catcher goes through during the course of the season.

The most important detail for the Mets is they need to be blown away on a cheap deal for a back up catcher. The Mets have a a couple of options they can go to in the minors, and have been pretty lucky with Catchers they have brought in on minor league deals. This year they need to see if people they sign will be more beneficial than Mike Nickeas, who, although not a good hitter, can call a really good game. There are three possible options out there for the Mets, if they don't go with Nickeas:

Kelly Shoppach – Probably the number 1 remaining back up catcher in terms of pop, would most likely not be going to the Mets. His price is just too high. But if it goes down, then it could happen.

Ramon Castro – He is still available and liked in New York. I just don't see him as a better option than Nickeas.

Jason Varitek – His main attribute is his ability as a leader, and how that could rub off on Thole. If his price is right, I would pick him over Nickeas.

Ivan Pudge Rodriguez – Will be working out in Miami this week and could be had at the right price. This could very possibly be a Free Agent back up catcher move the Mets make.

We'll see what happens! My money is still on Mike Nickeas but if the Mets complete a trade for a starting pitcher, they still could sign a back up catcher.

If the season started today, the Mets lineup, could look something like this (of course with some players switched around):

1. Andres Torres (CF)

2. Daniel Murphy (2B)

3. David Wright (3B)

4. Ike Davis (1B)

5. Jason Bay (LF)

6. Lucas Duda (RF)

7. Josh Thole (C)

8. Ruben Tejada (SS)

9. Pitcher

Obvisously this may not be actually how the lineup is constructed. Ruben may be bumped up to 2nd with Murphy dropping to 5, pushing everyone back or Thole and Tejada may be switched. Whatever, we can discuss that later (this lineup right now is constructed to keep the leadoff hitter in a traditional role, and then for everyone else the best hitters the most amount of AB's)

Even without Jose Reyes, and I know this feels crazy to type, this is still a good lineup. Like really good. If Wright and Davis remain healthy, and Murphy returns to is 2011 form (and Torres his 2010), this could be a really dangerous lineup.

At the same time, this could be a really bad lineup. And that is what the state of the Mets is. They have a lot of players that could be really good. These are names like Murphy, Torres and Duda. And the Mets have players that should be really good, like Jason Bay. If things go right, then this is an excellent team. If things go bad, then this could be a disaster. At the end of the day though, this team was 6th in the National League in runs scored, and while that had a lot to do with Reyes, the Mets still did that with Reyes being injured, with Pagan in a down year, with Bay not himself, with injuries to Wright, with a major injury to Davis and so forth. I still have a lot of confidence in the offense of this team and while it will be hard to be competitive next season, there is no reason yet to completely write off the New York Mets. (That is to say I'm not going to be crazy and say we are contending for the Playoffs, but we still have every chance to be competitive).