The issue is the team was so far out things last year and a large part of it were injuries and Omar is out signing injury prone pitchers. If pitching was such a pressing need that he is signing guys off the street why didn't he attempt to get in on Halladay or Lackey?
They said they signed Escobar for the bullpen; it's important to note he's not here to round out the rotation. Since we signed that Japanese guy who everyone is pretty high on, I'm not terribly worried about the pen if K-Rod can back to 1st half of '09 type form (and if he can't, there's nothing Omar can do about it). I'd agree the Mets should be in pursuit of more starting pitching, but it's not New Year's yet, so I won't judge him just yet. We're almost definitely getting Bay or Holliday--the fact that the Mets pushed back the season ticket renewal date is a pretty good indicator of this--so I imagine there will be some good news. When? That I don't know.
Lackey, Lee, Halladay and Vasquez have all changed addresses and the Mets still think the bullpen is the problem. You can't fix crap by taking gambles. If you are the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Angels or somebody competing for a title you can take a gamble. When you are a 4th place team miles away from the NL East Champ you can't.
I wouldn't have wanted Lee or Halladay--our system does not need depleting. Vasquez probably wasn't getting traded to the rival Mets. Not a huge Lackey fan either. I don't disagree with your desire for starting pitching, but I don't think signing Escobar precludes us from making any more pitching acquisitions.
i hope the waiting game pays off to us. big bang signing Holliday for 6 years sheets for 2 years $10 million plus incentives
Those two moves would put them right back in contention for the playoffs. Which is why you'll probably see Jack Cust and Joel Piniero.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ Matt Holliday's Best Offer By Tim Dierkes [December 28 at 11:10am CST] Based on published reports, let's try to determine the best offer Matt Holliday has received. •Tracy Ringolsby, then of the Rocky Mountain News, reported that Holliday rejected a four-year, $82MM extension from the Rockies in the spring of 2008. Ringolsby's colleague Dave Krieger talked to Holliday about the offer, and learned that it did not include a no-trade clause. In another article, Ringolsby put the offer at four years and $72MM, and noted that Holliday would've been able to void the contract if dealt. •Did the Rockies really top out at four years? Reader Dan B. passed along this video of 9NEWS' Susie Wargin interviewing Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd in November of '08. About 35 seconds into the video, O'Dowd said the Rockies offered Holliday $107.5MM over seven years during Spring Training of '08. That comes to a salary of $15.36MM, but it's the only $100MM+ offer Holliday received. •ESPN's Buster Olney reported that the Cardinals' offer to Holliday this winter guaranteed five years, while Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch put the salary at $15-16MM. If both reports are accurate, the Cardinals' best offer could not exceed five years and $80MM. •It appears that in terms of total dollars, Holliday's pre-John Lackey offer from the Red Sox was the best. Boston's five-year offer was initially pegged at $82.5MM, while today John Tomase of the Boston Herald says it was $85MM. •It seems that Holliday's best offer in terms of yearly salary was $20.5MM from the Rockies before the '08 season, but the lack of a no-trade clause devalued it. It appears that the Red Sox outdid the Cardinals by a million or two per year, but Boston's offer is no longer on the table. Perhaps Scott Boras is holding out for a sixth guaranteed year or $18MM per, but with no obvious competition there's no reason for the Cardinals to raise their offer. The Orioles' interest waned quickly and the Mets are currently focused on Jason Bay. In Boras' perfect world Bay would not sign with the Mets, and they'd tangle with the Cards for Holliday. why are we not offering holliday 5 years and $80 million??? at least make the cards spend their money
Last week Gammons said Bay "would rather play in Beirut than Queens." Money talks. The Mets need pitching more than offense though.
It's actually a really good contract for the Mets. Kept it under 5 which was the most important. Now sign Sheets under the ridiculous demands he's putting out there, trade for a guy like Arroyo and get a first base platoon and you're off-season is set. I know I shat on the Mets in the beginning of the off-season. But playing the waiting game will only help. Guys are going to soon realize there isn't a market for the money they want. I don't understand why most didn't learn from last year. DeRosa was smart to cash in for his two years at 6 mil per.
