213 Miles From Shea

MLBtraderumors.com reported today that the Mets are interested in Randy Wolf, which is interesting because I thought about that in early October and then never thought about it again (I'm actually looking at a sign I have above my computer that has a list of possible post topics, and next Randy Wolf there is a question mark). So why is Randy Wolf a good idea (or a bad idea).

Well the first thing about Wolf is he always brings his A game against the Mets. He pitched two gems this year against the amazin's, one when he was in a Padres uniform, and then another when he was with the Astros. Overall last year he pitched 190 innings with an ERA of 4.30, but really turned it around when he got traded to Houston. From that point on, he had an ERA of 3.57 over 70.2 innings. He also had 162 strikouts vs 71 walks.

The numbers look good, is he what the Mets need? Thats the tricky issue with Wolf. While we need another starter, I don't think he is enough. I would say if we sign Wolf we need to sign Lowe or another starter. I like Wolf to round out the rotation, but only that. He doesn't have enough pop to push him into the one starter we need to sign. In other words, we aren't looking for an ace, but we need to sign someone over a littler farther over the mediocre line.

Its just about 3:00 on November 4th, and if you haven't gone out to vote yet, make sure you do. It doesn't matter who you vote for, you have to go vote. Turnout is going to be amazing today, and its something we all can be apart of, so make sure you go out, wait in the line, and go do it. I just got back, the wait wasn't too bad (about and hour) and it felt great.

If you don't care about the Presidential race, don't forget about all the referendums on your state's ballot. They are pretty important too, especially in states where choosing one side or the other will matter.

So go vote! And then come back for baseball news. 

This is almost becoming comical at this point.

When the Phillies were in the World Series, they were talking about how every team in the NL East hates the Mets. When they won the World Series, their fans were bringing signs telling Mets fans to look at their trophy. Now with their parade, they called out the Mets a few times. What amazes is me is that the Mets are not starting stuff with Philly. This is a perfect example now of a one sided rivalry not because one team dominates the other, but one team really doesn't acknowledge that there is a rivalry.

The Phillies right now are on the highest summit they can be on, in a city that hasn't won a championship in decades, and they are spending their time talking smack about the Mets. Its getting funny now because alot of this is uncalled for at this point. I was reading on Mets Merized Online earlier today where one person put it perfectly. When we ran away with the east in 2006, we didn't rub it in anyone's face we did it in stride. Here is the exact quote from 86mets:
“I wonder where all this crap started? I don't remember the Mets
trashing Philly in '06 when they ran away w/ the East. Does anyone
else? I don't recall Reyes or Wright or Beltran or any other Met
proclaiming the Mets the “team to beat” in '06. So why did Rollins feel
he had to personally start a war of words with the Mets? Inferiority
complex I guess. I guess the message to the Mets is this: Talk is
CHEAP, you gotta go out there and PROVE you're better than Philly.
Maybe in a way J-Rol and his mouth can be a good motivator for the '09
Mets. Let's just hope there is someone in that clubhouse with enough
gumption to step up and lead this team, if not, well Omar you need to
FIND someone!”

What it comes down to now is that Philly is hungry. They should be slightly satistified with their trophy, but they are still hungry. They want a rivalry they are starving for a way to focus all their negative energy on one thing, and they aren't going to get it. The players of the teams probably hate each other, but I'm sure if you ask the Mets they don't hate everyone on the Phillies, they probably just want to take one player, a talkative shortstop, Rollins.

And if you are a Mets fan who feels we do have a rivalry with Philly, then you can take pride in this. Come Feburary when the Spring Training is about to get into full swing, who will be getting more attention? The Mets. Which shortstop will be getting more attention, probably with saying nothing, Jose Reyes. Whose skills will they be talking about, the Mets five tool players. We will naturally get more attention, becausse thats the way it goes. Its no longer a situation where the Mets are the little brother of the Yankees, its now the situation where the entire city of Philadelphia has become the little brother of the city of New York.

The Nationals, as they said they would during the actual season, have let Chad Cordero walk (essentially let him walk, they offered him a AAA contract, and he said no thanks). Cordero, before injury was amazing. He was a great closer, he was young, and still is young, and he had good stuff. He is coming off of a tough injury, which has teams a little iffy on him. The Mets have tried to trade for him before, so what about now?

I say go get him. He's a bargain right now and we don't need him to be a closer. We need another 7th or 8th inning guy, and Cordero could easily bring that into the bullpen. I think that signing Cordero, especially if he is cheap, would be a great pick up for the bullpen. Before we look at Cordero's numbers remember Bradford? When the Mets made that signing before 2006, there were a lot of question marks about him, he was coming off of an injury, and the Mets knew what they would do with him and he was great with the Mets. He then went to the Orioles who overpayed him and and didn't use him correctly in 2007 (but he rebounded with a good 2008).

In the height of his carear thus far, between 05 and 07, he had an ERA of 1.82, 3.19 and 3.36. During that time he had 47, 29 and 37 saves. One thing the injury he had cannot hold stop is his pitching mentality. He is mentally tough. So, as you can probably tell from reading this, I am a Cordero fan, and think he would be a great 7th inning guy, depending on how he is recovering from his injury (even if he has to stay a bit in the minors and make his resurgence in 2010, that wouldn't be a problem either, Cordero is a good pickup).

Today was the start of the offseason and already we have deals being made (the most notable deal of the day of course would be the Jacobs trade, but thats for a discussion at another time), the Mets made their first signing of the offseason by signing Fernando Tatis to a one year deal.

This was a good move for the Mets start of the season. If he wasn't injuried the last two weeks, things might have gone differently for the Mets. A lot of people claim that it was jus thte 17 games left in the season curse again, but if you look at the roster at that time, that was the same time that Tatis went out for the entire season. The Mets don't need him to play everyday, they don't need him to be the big bat always, but coming off of the bench he is crucial. We need his bat in the late innings to bring in the W's in the book.

I don't think he will have a great as a season as he did this year where he really made a great comeback. But this was a step in the right direction. He's good on the bench, he's a good back up player, and most of all, he is a well liked player in New York. The boo birds do not boo Tatis because he delivers. And now he will be delivering in 2009.

With the Phillies win in the World Series last night, we can finally put the 2008 season behind us, and open up the 08-09 offseason. The moment we have been waiting for a month has arrived as the teams are getting ready to wheel and deal and set the rosters for 09. We have already seen click snippits of some of the big stories for this offseason but as they stand now these are the offseason prizes to be had. Who will win these derbys? Only time can tell.
     1) CC Sabbathia
     2) Fransisco K-Rod Rodriguez
     3) Mark Texeria
     4) Manny Ramierez
     5) Brian Fuentes
     6) Jake Peavy (trade)
     7) Prince Fielder (trade)
     8) Matt Holiday (trade)
Those are some of the big story lines. But there are also plenty of others that will be thrown around. As of now, it seems unlikely that Burrel will stay with the Phillies (depending what they offer), Jacobs is possibly close to be traded to Kansas City, where will other great players like Lowe, Pudge, and Sheets go?. According to MLBtraderumors.com, there are 31 type A free agents this year and 35 type B's. Will any Japanese Players cross over the Majors this year? Which teams will go for a fire sale? Which teams will open the bank? Let the offseason derby begin!

I looked at some new pictures of Citi Field today, and the stadium looks amazing. It looks modern, it is starting to get nice details, it looks like there a ton of video boards, and it looks very cozy. If I was going to an away game, I would be amazed at the stadium, it would be the highlight of the trip, even if the Mets won (assuming that the Mets were the road team).

But what about it being a home game?

I have been very excited for a while when I heard the Mets were getting a new stadium. But something hit me hard today when I was looking at the pictures. The stadium isn't home. I never really relized how much of Shea I tied with the Mets, especially considering I have aways been an away fan. I am hoping, and I know, that by the time season starts, Citi will start to feel like home.

The reason this is hitting home to me in a different way is the camp that I went to for many years as a child, and went back last year as a Counselor, has gone through huge changes. The Bunks that have been around for over 50 years are all being knocked down this week and at one end its exciting for something new, but there is sad feeling when you know a huge part of tradition gets cut out. Bringing the apple back to Citi is a great way to bring some tradition back to life. So, here's to looking forward to new traditions starting next year and to making home games feel like home (Luckily for us, the biggest factor of being “home” is the fans, so we will make Citi home).

The closer free agent market is pretty limited to just K-Rod and Fuentes, but there are a good number of closers that can be acquired based on trade. Is that right way to go? My gut inclination right now is just screaming NO.

The Players we would acquire through trade would make us have to trade more of our young talent away, and I know that most of the time young stars don't pan out but there is something to be said about having young players on the team. Young stars, the stars that are not making the big bucks yet, play with a fire, with an intensity to stay in the big leagues. Dan Murphy energized this club this year. We need Veterans for the clubhouse, but we need young blood to make shockwaves in the lineup and rotation.

The other big reason for this is the Braves are on the verge of a ton of good, talented young players to spring up from their farm system and onto the field. The Marlins always seem to be doing this, and is why they are a good scrappy, hard nose team (apparently now Jacobs is now on the trading  block to get more young players). If we don't trade our farm system, this could be us in a season or too, we could have our core players still, because they will still be signed through, and have exciting young players like Fmart, Murphy, Parnell, Niese, Bolt, and Flores. I'm not saying they all will make it, but I think its time to test the draftees of the Minaya effort.

The other case against trading for a closer is that Fuentes (because K-rod is a bit too expensive) is better than the closers on the market. And thats really the main thing, if we can buy the better part, and in the loing run, the money spent could be cheaper than the talent loss in a trade, then on an economic and on a team building level, signing Fuentes is the right move for the Mets organization to make.

First off, Lower cost is relative. This solution guide is basically the other path to go instead of signing one (or two, but doubtful) of KRod, CC, and Manny. There are three other names that seem to be good fits for the Mets. I'm talking of course about Derrick Lowe, Fuentes, and Hudson.

Why Lowe over CC? CC is amazing, he is an ace. Can we afford another ace? We have one, but our pockets might not able to shell out for another. To get anything else this offseason would mean that we would have to trade from our already light farm system that we just started to rebuild. Lowe is a solid starter, and thats what the Mets need, just another solid starter.

Why Fuentes over Krod? They are both good, and we will save money on Fuentes over Krod. The goal is to save money because we want to be able fix the most issues in one offseason as we can, because for the msot part, we are ready to win now, just need a few more pieces, which leads to why Hudson? A lot of people are talking about the Floyd void, and I believe in that. They need a strong voice in the clubhouse that keeps the team going, and Hudson is that. The challenge with Hudson is then dumping Castillo.

The team that seems most active, at least in the rumor mill, for the Peavy trade is the Atlanta Braves. Can the Braves do this though? I read earlier today on mlbtraderumors.com a list of untouchable Braves, and I don't think a trade for Peavy can get done without these players being involved.

A few of the players that jumped off the page where Jason Heyward and Tommy Hanson, with Jordan Schafer and Gorkys Hernandez close to untouchable. Why is this a big deal? Well first off, in my personal opinion, I think Hernandez could be ready to play in the bigs next year. Earlier this year I was at a Frederick Keys game against the High A league team for the Braves and Hernandez was playing and he is all he is cracked up to be. He has a great swing, he hit several doubles in the game. He also made a few great plays out in Centerfield. I know he is a big piece in the Braves Machine (and could be dangerous for teams playing against the Braves). All of the other players are amazing too.

Peavy is amazing at pitching. A trade should demand at least one of these untouchables and Escobar in my opinion. If I was the GM of the Braves, I do not make this trade. The Braves pitching staff with Glavine, Smoltz, etc, is aging (or retiring). I think its more important for the Braves to cool it for a year, because the farm system that is boiling underneith is scary if you are not a Braves fan. I would wait, I would let the Phillies, and the Mets trade away their prospects, and then be in a position to set up another winning streak in a few seasons.

That being said, its becoming more evident in my mind that the Mets sihouldn't do much by trade this year, they need to build up some players to finish off their youth movement, but thats a topic for another day.