Terrible, terrible decision. not that I have anything against Cora, but he has a role that could be filled at a fraction of the cost by someone who will probably be better. This is not a move that will kill the Mets over the long haul, but it is moves that this that convince me that Omar has no idea what he's doing. Why guarentee 2M to Cora and not spend any money on draft picks that could actually help?
Signing Molina would be a move even worse than the Cora one. Yes, Molina has power, but his defense is declining, he is probably the slowest player in baseball, and has miserable plate discipline. I don't know whether to hope that the Giants offer him arbitration, and we therefore don't sign him because we don't want to give up a draft pick. This would of course have the down side of the Mets giving up a draft pick if they do sign him. But if the Giants don't offer arbitration, then I think the Mets will definitely sign Molina. What the hell are they thinking?
I'd rather wait and see if Dioner Navarro gets non-tendered. The Rays just traded for Kelly Shoppach.
Rays just traded for Shoppach in a very smart move. They got him for basically nothing. This is the type of move that the Mets could never make because they are not smart enough.
The Billy Wagner situation sums up the state of the Mets right now perfectly. They trade him away in August for a used jockstrap and now the Red Sox offer him arbitration, he signs with the Braves and the Sox get two first round picks. Really unbelievable..
At least we can look forward to the Rule 5 Draft. Remember last year, when the Mets stole Darren O'Day in the Rule 5 draft and he became one of the league's best middle relievers...for the Texas Rangers? Yeah, me too. -X-
I also got a great kick out of the fact that immediately upon their dismissal, the Mets expressed an interest in bringing in Kevin Towers, the worst drafting GM in baseball, and JP Ricciardi, the worst overall GM in baseball. It was a metaphorical kick, in the crotch. -X-
Minaya's response is hilarious. The idea of Billy accepting arbitration was too much for us. Really?! REALLY?! Wagner is the kind of egomaniac who wouldn't settle for a setup role, no matter how diminished his stuff was. He articulated again and again that he wanted the opportunity to close again next year, and apparently that wasn't enough for the Mets to risk it. But because the Mets were in free fall last season and there was a perception that they do "something" with Billy Wagner, "the committee" caved, trading him for a Daniel Murphy clone and a minor league PTB. The chances of Wagner accepting arbitration were nil. The only positive here is that the Braves will forfeit a pick. But here we could have just gotten much richer at a rivals expense. Instead we get bench bat Chris Carter, who serves no valuable platoon purpose for the Mets. Score. The Mets are giving away picks for old players to teams like the Red Sox, who will just go on expanding their potent farm system, further proof that baseball's inequities aren't merely a big market-small market phenomenon. -X-
Well, you have to fire the Wilpons really. Any GM worth his salt who wants to come here has to accept their input as equivalent or superior to his own, and so will have to accommodate their whims and Jeffy so that Jeffy can feel worthwhile about his charmed life. And that's really sad for us Mets fans. On the plus side, the Phillies just signed Polanco to a three year deal. Here's hoping that's a disaster. -X-
Remember, before y'all call for Omar's head, that everything from now until the end of Omar's tenure is Jeff Wilpon calling the shots. Omar is there to fall on the proverbial sword if everything goes to shit. This is no longer (maybe never was) Omar's team. It's Jeff's.
Polanco is actually a very slick fielder, and I think that he would have been a good option for the Mets at second if they were able to move Castillo. According to fangraphs, he was worth an average of 8 runs over the 6 seasons he played more than 100 games at second, and he has an above average bat for a middle infielder. However, he hasn't played third consistently in a long time, and his bat doesn't really play there. I hope that move comes back to bite them in the ass.
THURSDAY, 5:48pm: Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post confirms the agreement and adds that an announcement will come tomorrow or Saturday (via Twitter). 5:46pm: Blanco agreed to a one-year pact worth $1.5MM according to a tweet from Francisco Blavia of Lider en Deportes passed along by Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog. 8:58am: Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News passes on a report from the Venezuelan paper, El Nacional, that says Blanco is on his way to a physical with the Mets. Via Twitter, Jon Heyman of SI.com suggests the Mets will sign Blanco. He says the club maintains interest in Bengie Molina. MONDAY, 2:58pm: The Mets are close to a deal with free agent catcher Henry Blanco, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Blanco would be brought on as a backup. The 38-year-old hit .235/.320/.382 in 232 plate appearances for the Padres this year, catching 508 innings and earning $750K. Rosenthal notes that in terms of starting catchers, Bengie Molina "is believed to be" the Mets' top target. Molina's prospects will be greatly affected by the Giants' decision whether to offer him arbitration tomorrow night.
Polanco is an upgrade over Feliz and a plus defender, but with an 18 million dollar contract signed at age 34, I think he'll probably start to trend downward. I hope, anyway. Bengie Molina would be another typical bad Mets signing, so I'm sure it's going to happen. I don't mind the Blanco signing, because at the plate he's a solid platoon with Santos, he's defensively solid, and he's not good enough to block the way if Thole is raking at AAA. Molina's decline would be in the midst of a two year, overpriced deal and we'd be forced to play him. -X-
did chris coste really say i may have signed with the mets but i will always be a phillie??? he should be cut on the spot
If the Mets sign Molina, I just might not even bother investing any emotion into this season. What a disaster of an organization.
