HelpWelcome to The Happy Recap - New York Mets Forum
Welcome to The Happy Recap - New York Mets Forum, like most online communities you must register to post in our community, but don't worry this is a simple free process that requires minimal information. Take advantage of it immediately, Register Now or Sign In.
|
|
| Guest Message © 2010 DevFuse | |
Sign In »
Register Now!
Subscribe to Hoovog
Leave Comment
Posted by
Hoovbacca 
The Panic Room Part 1-A reasoned look at the offseason so far.
Many Mets fans this week, and indeed throughout the offseason so far, have given themselves far too much indigestion, and potential coronaries, perhaps for their own good. With 2007, 2008 and now 2009 in the rear view mirror, I think Mets fans have legitimate reasons to be concerned about the direction of this team, but I don’t think anything we’ve seen so far this offseason is reason enough to hide out in the Panic Room for 2010…yet.
First, let’s look at Alex Cora. Everyone is concerned that the Mets overpaid for Alex Cora. And the reality is, they did. But not by as much as you might think. For example, Jamey Carroll, who arguably has similar stats to Cora made 2 mil in each of 2007 and 2008 and made 2.5 mil in 2009. Will he make 2 mil again this year? Not likely, but it’s also not going to be major league minimum either. Mets fans seem to watch a strong bench, but they cringe when any money is actually spent on it. There are several bloggers out there that I respect deeply that point out that contracts like this, given to Cora or Redding, etc, kept the Mets from signing a Randy Wolf type to a one year contract last year and as such could possibly hurt the Mets from signing a Lackey or Holliday this year. I doubt this is true and here is why. Wolf was looking for a 1 year deal, and this year is looking multi-year deal. All the other FA’s are looking multi year. Even if the Mets overpaid by a million for Cora, (which I am inclined to believe they only overpaid by maybe 500K) a multi year contract is not going to be affected at all when that 1Mil or 500K could be backended or deferred. In a multi year contract, a slight backload or deferment won’t kill you, and let’s face it, if that’s a dealbreaker with a free agent, odds are, they really didn’t want to be here to begin with.
Speaking of not wanting to be here, can anyone remember someone alienating the fanbase of the team they signed with before they even signed with their team? Congrats to new AAA catcher Chris Coste for that glaring achievement. Something tells me spring training and even the crowds in Buffalo will not make your 2010 a pleasant one. I am not one for booing Mets, nor encouraging anyone to do so, but my guess is, if Coste hit a HR at Citifield, he’s be the first Met ever to get the ball thrown back.
Now on to Henry Blanco, believed to be signed to a 1.5 million dollar contract. I have no problem with this contract size. For a backup catcher these days, 1-1.5 seems pretty ballpark. Statwise in 2009 he was similar to the 2008 and 2009 of former Met Ramon Castro, who made 2.5 million in 2009. Also, let’s not forget that former Mets starter Brian Schneider is making nearly 3 mil over 2 years to be the backup catcher in Philly. The fact that they gave him 2 years is reason enough to not be concerned with the Blanco contract.
Finally the matter of Billy Wagner, signed this week by the Braves, for either a very wise sum or a very crippling sum. Yes, Boston will now be getting 2 picks for him, since they offered arbitration, something the Mets would have been very hesitant to do. When Omar traded Billy at the end of August, having pitched 2 innings since returning from Tommy John surgery, he looked good, but no one, could have told you that his September would be as strong as it was. He came back so fast, that let’s be honest, even injury was a possibility. And then what? You get absolutely nothing in return for him. Instead Omar saved himself the buyout on Billy’s deal, got 2 minor leaguers (one of which should be on the Mets bench this spring), and one less player to worry about come free agent time. Now some will say that this backfired on Omar, and maybe it did. But at the same time, many of these people are the same people who say Omar is terrible with drafts. So I guess my question to them is this: Why would you think Omar would draft 2 players BETTER than the ones we got back from Boston? Fact is, there isn’t a reason. I don’t trust Omar in a draft, and I am quite concerned to see what we get with our #7 pick in 2010. Fact is, I have lost faith in Omar, as of now, and I am not sure he will make the right moves this off season, but my point in this writing is that he hasn’t made a move this offseason to lower my opinion, nor has he made one to raise it.
With apologies to Douglas Adams, here are my “Don’t Panic” points of the week
- You can’t have a strong bench for free. Don’t panic if we pay a mil or two for a bench player
- You can’t be “in” on every player, don’t get upset if the Mets don’t acquire every player traded next week, no matter how well you think they will fit
- Don’t complain about who we sign when the biggest ticket signing so far are Wagner and Placido Polanco. The biggest signings, whether they are ours are not, are likely weeks, not days away.
- Embrace the non-tender deadline. It’s our friend. That is, unless Omar brings back Ryan Church. Then feel free to picket Citifield.
- It’s not Opening Day Yet.
- Even if Omar signs a bunch of cheap FA’s to fill the roster and the Mets fail in 2010, at least hold solace that 2011 will bring a new GM, if not sooner.
I am sure I haven’t written my last “Panic Room” column for 2009/2010…..so stay tuned!
Many Mets fans this week, and indeed throughout the offseason so far, have given themselves far too much indigestion, and potential coronaries, perhaps for their own good. With 2007, 2008 and now 2009 in the rear view mirror, I think Mets fans have legitimate reasons to be concerned about the direction of this team, but I don’t think anything we’ve seen so far this offseason is reason enough to hide out in the Panic Room for 2010…yet.
First, let’s look at Alex Cora. Everyone is concerned that the Mets overpaid for Alex Cora. And the reality is, they did. But not by as much as you might think. For example, Jamey Carroll, who arguably has similar stats to Cora made 2 mil in each of 2007 and 2008 and made 2.5 mil in 2009. Will he make 2 mil again this year? Not likely, but it’s also not going to be major league minimum either. Mets fans seem to watch a strong bench, but they cringe when any money is actually spent on it. There are several bloggers out there that I respect deeply that point out that contracts like this, given to Cora or Redding, etc, kept the Mets from signing a Randy Wolf type to a one year contract last year and as such could possibly hurt the Mets from signing a Lackey or Holliday this year. I doubt this is true and here is why. Wolf was looking for a 1 year deal, and this year is looking multi-year deal. All the other FA’s are looking multi year. Even if the Mets overpaid by a million for Cora, (which I am inclined to believe they only overpaid by maybe 500K) a multi year contract is not going to be affected at all when that 1Mil or 500K could be backended or deferred. In a multi year contract, a slight backload or deferment won’t kill you, and let’s face it, if that’s a dealbreaker with a free agent, odds are, they really didn’t want to be here to begin with.
Speaking of not wanting to be here, can anyone remember someone alienating the fanbase of the team they signed with before they even signed with their team? Congrats to new AAA catcher Chris Coste for that glaring achievement. Something tells me spring training and even the crowds in Buffalo will not make your 2010 a pleasant one. I am not one for booing Mets, nor encouraging anyone to do so, but my guess is, if Coste hit a HR at Citifield, he’s be the first Met ever to get the ball thrown back.
Now on to Henry Blanco, believed to be signed to a 1.5 million dollar contract. I have no problem with this contract size. For a backup catcher these days, 1-1.5 seems pretty ballpark. Statwise in 2009 he was similar to the 2008 and 2009 of former Met Ramon Castro, who made 2.5 million in 2009. Also, let’s not forget that former Mets starter Brian Schneider is making nearly 3 mil over 2 years to be the backup catcher in Philly. The fact that they gave him 2 years is reason enough to not be concerned with the Blanco contract.
Finally the matter of Billy Wagner, signed this week by the Braves, for either a very wise sum or a very crippling sum. Yes, Boston will now be getting 2 picks for him, since they offered arbitration, something the Mets would have been very hesitant to do. When Omar traded Billy at the end of August, having pitched 2 innings since returning from Tommy John surgery, he looked good, but no one, could have told you that his September would be as strong as it was. He came back so fast, that let’s be honest, even injury was a possibility. And then what? You get absolutely nothing in return for him. Instead Omar saved himself the buyout on Billy’s deal, got 2 minor leaguers (one of which should be on the Mets bench this spring), and one less player to worry about come free agent time. Now some will say that this backfired on Omar, and maybe it did. But at the same time, many of these people are the same people who say Omar is terrible with drafts. So I guess my question to them is this: Why would you think Omar would draft 2 players BETTER than the ones we got back from Boston? Fact is, there isn’t a reason. I don’t trust Omar in a draft, and I am quite concerned to see what we get with our #7 pick in 2010. Fact is, I have lost faith in Omar, as of now, and I am not sure he will make the right moves this off season, but my point in this writing is that he hasn’t made a move this offseason to lower my opinion, nor has he made one to raise it.
With apologies to Douglas Adams, here are my “Don’t Panic” points of the week
- You can’t have a strong bench for free. Don’t panic if we pay a mil or two for a bench player
- You can’t be “in” on every player, don’t get upset if the Mets don’t acquire every player traded next week, no matter how well you think they will fit
- Don’t complain about who we sign when the biggest ticket signing so far are Wagner and Placido Polanco. The biggest signings, whether they are ours are not, are likely weeks, not days away.
- Embrace the non-tender deadline. It’s our friend. That is, unless Omar brings back Ryan Church. Then feel free to picket Citifield.
- It’s not Opening Day Yet.
- Even if Omar signs a bunch of cheap FA’s to fill the roster and the Mets fail in 2010, at least hold solace that 2011 will bring a new GM, if not sooner.
I am sure I haven’t written my last “Panic Room” column for 2009/2010…..so stay tuned!
Share This Entry:
0 Comments On This Entry
Trackbacks for this entry [ Trackback URL ]
← September 2010 →
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Recent Entries
-
-
-
-
-
The Panic Room Part 1
on Dec 04 2009 09:14 AM
