Adios

I wasn't sure I was going to write about Jose Reyes. I thought about just letting this day go by without weighing in, without dwelling on it, and just try to focus on other things -- fantasy football, bowl season, Christmas -- in the hopes that I might miss any press conferences or introductions in order to lessen the impact. Then, before I knew it, it would be Opening Day and, so what? It's like he wasn't even here.

But that, of course, is not possible. Reyes is arguably the most dynamic player the Mets have ever developed and he sure was fun to watch. He loves the game, he has fun, and his smile shows that. If he's on your team, you can't help but root for him. If he's on the other team, you really want to beat him. And that's what makes this new destination, in South Florida, all the more perplexing. A few years ago, when the Phillies and their fans complained about what they perceived as Reyes showboating, the Marlins also got in on that meme. (Ironically, if you google "Jose Reyes showboat," you find a lot of Phillies blogs slamming him, particularly in '08 -- as well as several advocating that the team sign him this offseason.) I always felt the Marlins had no ground to stand on with that complaint, because Hanley Ramirez has never been known to put his head down and run out a double. And now they've gone and signed the guy they think has a little too much fun out there.

I'm certainly torn between wishing Reyes well and hoping his contract becomes an albatross to the Marlins. I like the guy, and good for him for getting his payday. And the Mets, if Sandy Alderson is being truthful, made a competitive offer, which is all I could hope for out of this scenario. Well, yes, I hoped the Mets would re-sign the guy, but not at six guaranteed years and something north of $100 million. I think their alleged offer of five years in the $90 million range, with a sixth-year option to push it over $100 million, was a competitive offer. But Reyes clearly wanted the guaranteed money -- and potential to reach the playoffs. Yes, let's be honest here, the Mets are looking like the worst team in the NL East for 2012, despite what looks to be a wide-open division. It's too early to say who the favorite is, because a lot of player movement is still to come, but I can't envision the Mets being better than any of the other four clubs.

But does Reyes push the Marlins over the top? I'm not so sure. He's averaged just 98 games the past three years, and his addition means franchise player Hanley Ramirez will have to move to third base. Good luck smoothing that one over, Ozzie Guillen. The club's ace, Josh Johnson, didn't pitch after May 16 this past season, and despite all the Phillies' other holes, the front of their rotation is still solid, so the Marlins can't match that. I will say this, though: For once, the expectations of the Marlins' ownership may be justified, for the first time since about 2003. They've set the bar too high in recent years and run off a couple of good managers as a result of inflated hopes. But as I said, it's early. These Marlins are looking to spend like hedge-fund managers during the Bush years. They may add more important pieces, which would change the outlook. But building a team through free agency rarely works. Teams tend to have better track records with a successful core that is then supplemented by free-agent pieces to fill the holes. The Marlins' holes are more than a shortstop -- and not even that -- and a closer.

I could be wrong. Time will tell. These are just the initial thoughts and feelings not even 24 hours after a guy we've come to love watching out there left for a team only a mother could love.

Adios.

Spontaneous prose on the Mets' craptastic offseason

This post was going to be about Ben Sheets, but it just took on a life of its own and went in a totally different direction. So here's this ...

For myriad reasons, the Mets' list of offseason acquisitions is meager. Even that collection of names is misleading, because half of them were minor league deals, waiver pickups or re-signed players. So with just under a month to go until pitchers and catchers must report to Florida, the list of Mets acquisitions numbers just six:

Jason Bay
Henry Blanco
Chris Coste
Kelvim Escobar
Ryota Igarashi
Gary Matthews Jr.

They got a starting left fielder, two veteran backup catchers to compete or split time with their young backstops, a low-risk/moderate reward right-handed rotation/bullpen arm, a Japanese left-handed setup man and a salary dump outfielder who apparently can't hit for average or power or play center field with any ability.

They lost out on a reliable right-hander who wanted to pitch for the team he grew up following, missed out on a capable ground-ball pitcher who chose a nearly identical deal from the West Coast and rightly stood pat on their offer to a veteran catcher who wanted a guaranteed second year from the Mets but instead decided one year without even a second-year option was better -- and for less money.

Most players simply don't want to come to Queens right now, and those who do, like Jason Marquis, aren't getting a serious look from the Mets. ARGH!

I won't even go into the Mets' lack of prospects to even get into the discussion for the best available player this offseason, their inability to get a callback from the top free-agent pitcher on the market or their public-relations snafu regarding the knee surgery of their All-Star center fielder who is not expected to play in a meaningful game until May.

So, the nominees for the "Worst-Managed Winter, 2009-10" are: The New York Mets, for Band-Aids on Gunshot Wounds; the National Broadcasting Company, for The Tonight Show Clusterfuck; and The Democratic Party, for Curt Schilling, Profile of a Yankee Fan.

I'm not saying the Mets needed to sign John Lackey and trade for Roy Halladay, while also adding Matt Holliday, Orlando Hudson and Jose Valverde. I'm saying -- as many others have -- the Mets needed to address their needs, while recognizing the kind of team they need to build to win in Citi Field. They need to follow the Mariners' lead (which is led by a former Mets minor league director, Jack Zduriencik) and target pitching, defense and speed. So Marquis and/or Pineiro would've been perfect signings, especially at roughly two years and $16 million, to cover the pitching part. Hudson would improve the defense, as would Felipe Lopez, as others have suggested. And while the speed options weren't anything to salivate over, Blanco and Coste aren't going to beat Mr. Met or the 6-year-olds in the Dyna-Mets Dash.

The sad truth is that the Mets can't get the guys they want, they don't talk with the guys who want the Mets, and they can't even accept an unwanted outfielder from the Angels without insisting that Anaheim take their unwanted albatross in Luis Castillo. Salaries aside, Castillo actually has more ability and value for 2010 than Gary Matthews Jr. does.

But if the Mets want Hudson -- which it seems they do -- and they can't deal Castillo -- which it seems they can't, they simply have to swallow their pride (amazing that they can have any left), admit their mistake in signing him to a four-year deal, and release him. Eat his contract. Store it for future shredding to be used in a ticker-tape parade that the Mets' hierarchy seems to consider to be much more imminent than any fan does. I don't care. And I don't care if that $6.25 million over the next two years means they can't make one or two moves down the line. It will allow them to make the team better with Orlando Hudson today. Worry about later when the time comes. When the Mets finally unloaded Kaz Matsui to the Rockies, they still paid $4.5 million and all they got back was Eli Marrero. In 2010 dollars (derived unscientifically by subtracting 2007 from 2010 and adding revenue from SNY, a new ballpark and Citicorp), $6.25 million is pretty much the same as $4.5 million and a warm body named Eli. I don't even care about next year's $6.25 million on Castillo's contract.

The Mets need a spark, they need a transfusion of new blood, they need more than those six players listed above. But despite the doom and gloom of this post -- my worst, by far, and not likely to be repeated anytime soon simply because that's not the way I like to think of my favorite teams, but when the Nationals have had a better offseason, well -- I'm not going to spend any time now with an analysis of the Mets' offseason to this point. I'll hold off on any further reaction or projection for the season until the team convenes in Port St. Lucie next month. Like others, I'm not sure that the roster as it looks now will still be the same come Opening Day. I don't think there will be any big changes, but smaller ones -- if they're the right ones -- will help.

And if not, at least we'll find plenty of great deals on Stubhub to see the NL's best come to town.

Mets can't miss out on Sheets, too

The interest in free-agent rehab project Ben Sheets seems to involve four teams: the A's, Cubs, Mets and Rangers. There might be a few others lurking on the fringe, waiting to swoop in with a stealth offer, but it seems likely that Sheets will eventually sign with one of those four clubs.

While the Rangers might seem like the frontrunner, based on their near-deal a year ago and their employment of Sheets' former pitching coach, Mike Maddux, it's unlikely. For one thing, the Rangers seem to be finished with any major acquisitions, they were just sold and Sheets' current demands probably price him out of their remaining budget. OK, so three things. Plus, as a coworker speculated, would they want to take the chance with another risky signing after putting so much into their addition of Rich Harden?

The Cubs' interest seems to have been devalued almost as soon as it was speculated, which may leave the two teams who have been jilted the most this offseason fighting over a question mark who is asking for a lot of guaranteed money for a guy who last pitched in September 2008 and could not contribute to the Brewers' final push to the Wild Card and their NLDS against the Phillies.

Jilted so much already this offseason, the Mets need to bring in Sheets just on the chance that he can once again be a strikeout pitcher who won't be hurt by Citi Field's expansive outfield gaps or the team's suspect defense on the right side of the infield. They need a fifth pitcher to pencil into the rotation heading into Spring Training -- when they'll be watching closely a rotation that has no sure things. Johan Santana, John Maine and Oliver Perez are coming off of injuries. Mike Pelfrey didn't make the strides expected of him. And Jon Niese, just to throw out one possibility for the fifth starter, is both coming off of injury and still unproven. Sheets is necessary and Jon Garland might be, too, simply to give the Mets a fighting chance at hanging around the division leaders through the summer solstice.

And, frankly, the Mets might need to sign Sheets just to give some of us a little more hope heading into Spring Training.

Banking on the signing of Bay

I like the Mets' signing of Jason Bay. I really do. I know they need a starting pitcher, because Oliver Perez has a long way to go to prove he's anything more than a cash suck and Jonathan Niese is probably not the No. 5 starter they need right now, but Bay was another big piece.

SI's Lee Jenkins puts it well:

By reportedly agreeing to a contract with left fielder Jason Bay on Tuesday, the Mets do not necessarily change the power structure in their city or their division. But they do change the conversation. The Mets, and not the Yankees, have made the splashiest move of the offseason in New York. The Mets, and not the Phillies, have made the most significant offensive addition in the National League East. At a time when other big-market teams are hoarding nickels, the Mets identified the player they wanted, pursued him aggressively but not foolishly, and landed him for a relatively fair price.

Matt Holliday would not have come for a fair price (and would not have been as good a fit, as Jenkins goes on to say), and the perceived remaining top starter available, Joel Pineiro, is not available for a fair price at the moment, either. As I wrote earlier, I think the Mets missed their window to get a reliable starter at a fair price, and now they'll have to look to more reasonable alternatives to Pineiro (unless his demands come down). Maybe incentive-laden deals to the likes of Ben Sheets and Erik Bedard are in order, but I'm sure fans would prefer to see someone who comes into Spring Training with no recent surgeries from which to rehabilitate.

In joining the Mets, Bay comes full-circle. This may not be the final stop of his career, but for now he's back with one of two teams that had him before he first became known as a prospect in the Padres' system. As many have noted, Omar Minaya was the Expos' GM when Bay was in their organization, his first. Then Minaya traded him to the Mets, who sent him on to San Diego. It was with the Padres that his potential was revealed, and Kevin Towers used Bay -- and Oliver Perez -- as the key prospects in the deal to land Brian Giles. That's one of the few trades in the last decade in which Pittsburgh truly got the better end.

Mets miss out on a Marquis move

I haven't been as upset as some Mets fans were when John Lackey signed with the Red Sox (I can understand their reluctance at the fifth year) or even when the Phillies got Roy Halladay, mainly because they did have to give up Cliff Lee. And for the most part, I'm OK with Jason Bay and Bengie Molina taking their sweet time to decide (or, probably, hope for a better deal or extra year, which they'd best NOT give to a 35-year-old catcher).

But this, of all things, bothers me: Jason Marquis is going to sign with the Nationals. I realize that the Mets need several things, and a left fielder, a catcher and power -- which Bay and Molina bring -- are at the top of the list, but so is a starting pitcher, or two. A No. 2 starter would've been nice, and that could've been Lackey, but in lieu of the big-ticket right-hander, the Mets were also looking at several lower-tier pitchers, and now two of them -- Marquis and Randy Wolf -- have signed on elsewhere.

I preferred Marquis to Joel Piniero for several reasons: he's pitched well and won when not coached by Dave Duncan, he put up very good numbers in Coors Field (imagine what he'd do in Citi Field -- wait, we'll find out several times in 2010), and he isn't demanding four years at $10 million per. And I thought the fact that he's a Mets fan from Staten Island (and still lives there in the offseason) was a nice touch.

So I'm sad to see the Mets miss out, perhaps without even making him an offer. As illogical as it sounds, I might even be more upset than the Phillies getting Halladay, because I never thought the Mets had a serious shot at Halladay.

The Mets claim that there are no budget restrictions, but the facts remain that they made two known offers two weeks ago and their offseason acquisitions amount to two backup catchers, a re-signed shortstop and reliever, and an import from Japan who signed because two former teammates said the Mets were a good place for Japanese players (but one of them wasn't Kaz Matsui).

The Marquis deal boils down to this: Omar Minaya had better make a move, soon. Christmas may be too late. The Mets are going to start losing out on more and more options to fill their needs, the fans' level of frustration is going to grow (and it won't help season-ticket renewals) and then they're going to be left with another round of Spring Training tryouts for the fifth-starter spot involving the likes of Tim Redding.

Yeah, Pedro Martinez is still an option, but he's a risk/reward signing, as is Ben Sheets, for the same money Marquis got -- and he's more of a sure thing at this point.

Wonderful.

Keep an eye on those Red Sox

When the trade that would send Mike Lowell from the Red Sox to the Rangers came to light, one of my coworkers -- a big-time Yankee fan -- rejoiced. "They're going to get Adrian Beltre," he said with a dismissive laugh. "Enjoy that, suckers."

But then I teased him.

"You'll be sorry when they move Kevin Youkilis to third and trade for Adrian Gonzalez," I said.

"Never happen," was his reply.

Not so fast. It could happen. But it might not. At least not yet. It remains to be seen.

And though Lowell has yet to actually be traded, Beltre might not be the target after all

I'm just sayin' -- the Red Sox already brought in John Lackey, this year's CC Sabathia (as the top free-agent pitcher available), and though they won't be getting the top hitter on the market (Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, whichever you prefer), if they get Gonzalez, they may essentially have the kind of offseason the Yankees had last winter.

Random thoughts during a scoreless extra-innings classic

While watching the beginning of what has become this amazing pitchers' duel between the Red Sox and Yankees (it's now in the 12th, still scoreless), I wondered when the last time was that a team pitched a no-hitter against its chief rival. At the time, Josh Beckett hadn't allowed a hit, though it was only through two innings.

The answer: 1992, when the Dodgers' Kevin Gross no-hit the Giants. The last time in the AL was when Dave Righetti blanked the Red Sox in 1983.

In my quick, non-scientific scanning of the no-hitter list, I was looking for true, traditional rivals, the kind that even casual baseball fans know about. If Tigers-White Sox is any kind of rivalry other than (now) AL Central, it's not known outside of those two cities. So basically, I was looking for Yankees-Red Sox, Giants-Dodgers, Cubs-Cardinals or, to a lesser extent, the likes of Mets-Phillies or A's-Angels. But I didn't have to go back that far.

Later, with Johnny Damon at bat, I started to wonder who the last star was -- or most recent stars were -- to leave his debut organization via free agency. Damon doesn't qualify -- he debuted with the Royals but was traded to the A's, so his leaving the Red Sox isn't part of this. But with so many teams either locking up their young stars or trading them as they approach free agency, it doesn't happen quite as often -- unless you're with the A's.

Oakland GM Billy Beane has tried both methods -- he let Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Barry Zito walk, yet traded Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. And there was Vlad Guerrero leaving the Expos for the Angels and Manny Ramirez moving from Cleveland to Boston.

And of course there was A-Rod. After his trade from Texas to the Yankees (and the 2007 World Series LOOK AT ME! opt-out, then re-signing with the Yanks), his days as a Mariner have faded far into the background. Wonder what the Mariners could have gotten for him had they traded him, as they did with Ken Griffey Jr. It was only recently that A-Rod's at-bats as a Yankee surpassed his total from the Seattle days, further distancing himself from the young, carefree superstar who was the game's best pure talent to today's idiosyncratic, starlet-dating megastar who now only seems to be liked by his own fans.

Surely some not-so-free agents

If money were no object, some team in baseball could potentially add nine future Hall of Famers to its roster this offseason, including what is obviously a baseball first: available sluggers who have reached the 700, 600, 500, 400 and 300 home-run plateaus.

First, the possible -- not all probable -- Hall of Famers: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Andruw Jones, Mike Piazza, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa. I'm not going to go into here the debate about whether Jones and Schilling are Hall of Famers, just like I'm not bothering with the technicality that Clemens hasn't filed (and could very well retire) and that Sosa's election to the Hall is very much in doubt.

And the homers:

Bonds, 762
Sosa, 609
A-Rod, 518
Piazza, 427
Jones, 368

Even in such a weak free-agent class, some video-game roster finagling could still produce a pretty competitive team. Obviously age is a factor in the real world, but not on the Xbox -- particularly if you turn off the injuries. A rotation consisting of Clemens, Glavine, Schilling, Kenny Rogers and Livan Hernandez would pile up some wins. Todd Jones or Eric Gagne could close. First base would be a problem -- Doug Mientkiewicz and Ryan Klesko seem to be the only options, unless you count Julio Franco -- but Kaz Matsui is there at second, David Eckstein at shortstop and A-Rod, obviously, at third. Or go with A-Rod at short and Pedro Feliz at third. The outfield has options from Bonds, Jones, Sosa (left to right) to an all-center lineup of Jones, Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand, or some other grouping. Mike Piazza, Paul Lo Duca and Jorge Posada are there to catch.

But the team would probably have a payroll of $300 million, a tenth of that spent on A-Rod alone.

Saying no to Zito

As far as I'm concerned, the Giants can have Barry Zito. Seven years?! $126 million!? Dude's not Randy Johnson in '98. He's not even Nolan Ryan in '88. He's a curveball pitcher, a soft-throwing lefty with good control who benefits from a strong defense and pitch location. He's Tom Glavine, minus 12 years, and the Mets already have one of those.

Zito would've benefitted from coming to Shea Stadium, from playing for a team on the verge of the World Series with a good, young core. He still gets the move to the National League, which will help, and he's playing for a team in an even but weak -- save the Dodgers -- division that gives the Giants a chance at the postseason just for playing. But the Giants don't have the supporting cast that the Mets do, and once the injuries start hitting the ancient bodies of Barry Bonds, Ray Durham, Omar Vizquel and even Pedro Feliz and Matt Morris, Zito and Matt Cain and others will be doing all they can just to keep San Francisco in games without giving up more than three or four runs, hoping the offense can manage to scratch out just one more run than the opposition.

Zito would've been a good fit for the Mets at their price -- five years and $75 million, probably 80 -- but not at his price, which is to say Scott Boras' price. That prick can have his money, and Zito can too. Good for him for getting it, and if he'd rather be rich than have a ring, that's his choice. But to think that the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history (at least according to one contract) is Barry Zito is astonishing when guys like Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens (perhaps) are still pitching.

As for Zito and the Giants, we'll see how it works out. It worked for Kevin Brown and the Dodgers and Mike Hampton and the Rockies, didn't it?

Oh, wait ...

Counting down to pitchers and catchers

I know I've got a lot to catch up on. I still haven't finished the attendance comparison between the Nationals and Orioles and I have yet to go through my preseason predictions for each division to hold myself accountable for my rights and wrongs. That will come. For now, a few thoughts on the end of the season. And yes, the Yankees are still the last AL team to lose to an NL team in a game that "counts."

I hate Fox. I always will. They can give us crappy pregame blather, start the games at 8:30 and refuse to move up weekend games any earlier than 8 p.m. (after the pregame) and then they can take their horrendous ratings and deal with them. Fox has dumbed down baseball and it hasn't worked to draw in the viewers. Don't insult us with Scooter and over-the-top graphics and shameless promos of your own TV shows through the use of pointing out which stars who have no interest in the game were given prime seats and told to be in them in the fourth inning for the on-air shot and then allowed to go back to their hotels. It's bad enough that the network killed off the true game of the week and forces us to watch our own hometown teams on Saturday afternoons when we'd otherwise be able to do so when, sometimes, I'd just rather see Oakland and Anaheim rather than the Yankees and Blue Jays.


Bobby Valentine has a point, and I think it would drum up a lot of worldwide interest to see the champions of the two major international leagues face off in a true world series. I'd certainly watch, and I'd probably have more interest in seeing the White Sox and Marines than I did in seeing the White Sox and Astros in Games 3 and 4. A game between the Marines and White Sox that had more meaning than the untelevised exhibitions played by the Yankees and Mets on their respective trips to open the season in Japan recently would be more interesting than seeing the Mets and Cubs or Yankees and Devil Rays play games that count in the standings under the Tokyo Dome. Bob Klapisch is for it too, and he correctly posits that Bud Selig won't make an effort to at least explore the possibility. And yet, they think everyone wants to see a World Classic. It might be interesting, and I'll probably tune in, but if you were to give me the choice between an international competition every four years and a face-off between the champions of two nations every fall, I'd take the annual showdown.


Speaking of Selig, was there anything more revolting than seeing Jerry Reinsdorf fauning over his "Buddy" (Reinsdorf's term, not mine) after taking the World Series trophy during the awards presentation? Reinsdorf spewed some drivel about "the game" or whatever, and Selig stood there extending his lower lip over his upper, hands clasped behind his back, rocking on his no-doubt tassled loafers. (Speaking of the way this guy dresses, does he ever wear a suit, or does he always go with the khakis and contrasting sportcoat? No commissioner of the four major sports -- and I'm even including Gary Bettman here -- would present the championship trophy in anything other than a fine tailored suit, or at least something that looks like one.)

The owners put one of their own, Selig, into the commissioner's office the way George Bush nominates his cronies for political appointments. It's amazing how Bush runs the country so similarly to the way Selig runs baseball. Both chiefs come from the rich elite, protect their own, care more about the bottom line for themselves and their friends than the health and safety of the masses, and try their best to rule as a monarchy instead of a democracy. Between Fox and Selig, watching the All-Star Game and World Series can be as grating as it is enjoyable.


The free agents have begun to file. It's sad to see Mike Piazza on his way out of New York, but it's for the best. He was good, and maybe he'll do one of those one-day contracts, so popular in the NFL, to retire as a Met in a year or two.

Some random and not-so-thought-out predictions for free agent and other movements we'll see between now and late February:

Paul Konerko:Angels
Billy Wagner: Phillies (though I'd love to see him in blue and orange)
A.J. Burnett: Orioles (imagine him with Leo Mazzone?)
Jim Thome: Trade to White Sox
Ramon Hernandez: Mets
Manny Ramirez: Trade to Mets (something just tells me this one's going to happen this time)
B.J. Ryan: Mets or Phillies, depending on where Wagner ends up (I think he wants to close, not take closer money from the Yankees to set up Rivera)

Maybe I'll throw out more later.