Comments on: 2008 NL East Preview: The Mets

By: Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

Another thing to remember is that the Braves will no longer have easy wins in division games playing New York, because they don't have Glavine for us to beat up on anymore. Now if they would give up Oliver Perez who looks like Cy Young against us, we would be alright.

By: Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

Also I do not understand Mets GM Omar Minaya at all. What I don't understand is they traded their best younf posistion player, Lastings Milledge, for Ryan Church earlier this offseason. That severely hinders the Mets ability to bring up a bat from AAA if an injury occurs. As far as fielding the outfield is concerned, they are left with Endy Chavez as their reserve outfielder. They did just pick up Angel Pagan as a reserve outfielder from the Cubs, but he has nowhere near the potential of Lastings Milledge and if I remember correctly his abilities with the Cubs were inconsistent at the very best. They brought in the mediocre Ryan Church to play right, They let Glavine go, They brought in Brian Schneider and Johnny Estrada to compliment Ramon Castro at Catcher giving them 3 average catchers who want big contracts. It seems like they are trying to trade away prospects to make a run this year but they aren't getting any big name players in return. Getting rid of Glavine to free up payroll to sign a big name pitcher makes sense, but they havent done that either. It seems like Minaya is just making Shea Stadium the home for the rest of the National Leagues throwaways. It almost seems like they are trying to replicate past successes of the Braves and Marlins winning with players who break out at the same time. Thats a rare thing, and if Minaya keeps this up I think the Braves will have less and less to fear over the next few years.

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

A couple thoughts to go along with what you've posted, Stephen.

Firstly, I'm not sure why they ditched Lastings Milledge unless they see something in Church and Schneider that nobody has seen before. The trade doesn't make much sense to me either and it appears that the Nats got the better end of the deal.

Secondly, Johnny Estrada is now a free agent – the Mets did not offer him a contract. So they spent players to get a catcher that they ultimately did NOT want.

They have to make a move for a dominant starter – and without giving away one of their key position players I don't see them landing Santana. Without a starting rotation, the rest of their players are just what you've labeled them – retooled players from other teams who have had some success in the past.

We'll see what happens this year. I don't think the Mets' suits will let Minaya run the team into the ground. I don't think he's out to destroy the team, but he doesn't appear to be working in its best long-term interests.

By: Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

That' exactly why the Estrada deal made no sense, they had to trade Guillermo Mota to the Brewers to get get Estrada and then one month later did not tender Estrada's contract. Mota had more appearances than any other Met reliever last year and was one of the relievers they relied on the most. The only way that deal makes any sense is if they did it to deliberatley dump off Mota's contract. The Mets gave Mota a 2 year 5 million dollar deal at the beginning of last season, so maybe they just wanted to dump off the second year. But that falls under the same reasoning as them not ressigning Glavine, that they will use the payroll for something else like maybe getting a more established reliever or maybe even put the money towards a Big Name starter like Santana, although I agree with you I think at this point that will not happen. The only replacements they have added to the bullpen are Matt Wise (Who is decent at times) and Brian Stokes(Whom I know knothing about) It seems like getting rid of Glavine and Mota's contacts (if that was indeed the intention) without making a big play in the free agent market is foolish. There are still 2 months left before Spring training and I'm not sure how the Mets are suited for pitchers in their Farm System, but as of right now it looks like another mistake by Minaya.

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

Interesting article here – http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/01/05/2008-01-05_mets_keep_eye_on_as_joe_blanton-2.html – about how the Mets want a piece of Joe Blanton from the Athletics. We'll see if they pull this one off, because something like this seems more likely than the whole Santana thing.

By: James

James — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

As a Mets fan from NY I will explain why the Mets ditched Lastings Milledge…His Attitude. Just look at the game the mets won 11-0 before Glavines melt down in game 162. He (Lastings) hit 2 HR's the second one made it 7-0, and he was dancing around like it was the seventh game of the World Series, that lit the fire under the Marlins and they made it stick in the last game of the season. His response to the press for his outburst was that he hadn't played in 10 days and he wanted to express his joy…

As a lifer Mets fan, I would have traded him for a pair of cleats…Remember, this was the same guy that was left a message over his locker that stated "Know your role Rook"

As for Mota…well it was the easiest decision Omar had to make. Mota was a bust in 07…He proved that 06 was a result of steroids and not his ability to play fair.

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:35:15 +0000

Interesting insight, James. I was not aware of Lastings' attitude and the impact on the team. Then again, I don't watch many Mets games. Thanks for the tip – appreciate it!

Yeah, Mota pretty much was useless to the Mets – he's not a long-term investment I'd like to make either.

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:06:11 +0000

Interesting insight, James. I was not aware of Lastings’ attitude and the impact on the team. Then again, I don’t watch many Mets games. Thanks for the tip – appreciate it!

Yeah, Mota pretty much was useless to the Mets – he’s not a long-term investment I’d like to make either.

By: James

James — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 03:41:34 +0000

As a Mets fan from NY I will explain why the Mets ditched Lastings Milledge…His Attitude. Just look at the game the mets won 11-0 before Glavines melt down in game 162. He (Lastings) hit 2 HR’s the second one made it 7-0, and he was dancing around like it was the seventh game of the World Series, that lit the fire under the Marlins and they made it stick in the last game of the season. His response to the press for his outburst was that he hadn’t played in 10 days and he wanted to express his joy…

As a lifer Mets fan, I would have traded him for a pair of cleats…Remember, this was the same guy that was left a message over his locker that stated “Know your role Rook”

As for Mota…well it was the easiest decision Omar had to make. Mota was a bust in 07…He proved that 06 was a result of steroids and not his ability to play fair.

By: Colin

Colin — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:28:17 +0000

Interesting article here – http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/01/05/2008-01-05_mets_keep_eye_on_as_joe_blanton-2.html – about how the Mets want a piece of Joe Blanton from the Athletics. We’ll see if they pull this one off, because something like this seems more likely than the whole Santana thing.

By: Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:34:54 +0000

That’ exactly why the Estrada deal made no sense, they had to trade Guillermo Mota to the Brewers to get get Estrada and then one month later did not tender Estrada’s contract. Mota had more appearances than any other Met reliever last year and was one of the relievers they relied on the most. The only way that deal makes any sense is if they did it to deliberatley dump off Mota’s contract. The Mets gave Mota a 2 year 5 million dollar deal at the beginning of last season, so maybe they just wanted to dump off the second year. But that falls under the same reasoning as them not ressigning Glavine, that they will use the payroll for something else like maybe getting a more established reliever or maybe even put the money towards a Big Name starter like Santana, although I agree with you I think at this point that will not happen. The only replacements they have added to the bullpen are Matt Wise (Who is decent at times) and Brian Stokes(Whom I know knothing about) It seems like getting rid of Glavine and Mota’s contacts (if that was indeed the intention) without making a big play in the free agent market is foolish. There are still 2 months left before Spring training and I’m not sure how the Mets are suited for pitchers in their Farm System, but as of right now it looks like another mistake by Minaya.

By: Colin

Colin — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 22:57:32 +0000

A couple thoughts to go along with what you’ve posted, Stephen.

Firstly, I’m not sure why they ditched Lastings Milledge unless they see something in Church and Schneider that nobody has seen before. The trade doesn’t make much sense to me either and it appears that the Nats got the better end of the deal.

Secondly, Johnny Estrada is now a free agent – the Mets did not offer him a contract. So they spent players to get a catcher that they ultimately did NOT want.

They have to make a move for a dominant starter – and without giving away one of their key position players I don’t see them landing Santana. Without a starting rotation, the rest of their players are just what you’ve labeled them – retooled players from other teams who have had some success in the past.

We’ll see what happens this year. I don’t think the Mets’ suits will let Minaya run the team into the ground. I don’t think he’s out to destroy the team, but he doesn’t appear to be working in its best long-term interests.

By: Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:37:48 +0000

Also I do not understand Mets GM Omar Minaya at all. What I don’t understand is they traded their best younf posistion player, Lastings Milledge, for Ryan Church earlier this offseason. That severely hinders the Mets ability to bring up a bat from AAA if an injury occurs. As far as fielding the outfield is concerned, they are left with Endy Chavez as their reserve outfielder. They did just pick up Angel Pagan as a reserve outfielder from the Cubs, but he has nowhere near the potential of Lastings Milledge and if I remember correctly his abilities with the Cubs were inconsistent at the very best. They brought in the mediocre Ryan Church to play right, They let Glavine go, They brought in Brian Schneider and Johnny Estrada to compliment Ramon Castro at Catcher giving them 3 average catchers who want big contracts. It seems like they are trying to trade away prospects to make a run this year but they aren’t getting any big name players in return. Getting rid of Glavine to free up payroll to sign a big name pitcher makes sense, but they havent done that either. It seems like Minaya is just making Shea Stadium the home for the rest of the National Leagues throwaways. It almost seems like they are trying to replicate past successes of the Braves and Marlins winning with players who break out at the same time. Thats a rare thing, and if Minaya keeps this up I think the Braves will have less and less to fear over the next few years.

By: Stephen Gray

Stephen Gray — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:37:38 +0000

Another thing to remember is that the Braves will no longer have easy wins in division games playing New York, because they don’t have Glavine for us to beat up on anymore. Now if they would give up Oliver Perez who looks like Cy Young against us, we would be alright.