Mets Broke, Or Reverting to Form?
By Howard Megdal ~ December 8th, 2009. Filed under: Howard Megdal.
Much ado in Twitter world today from Bart Hubbuch’s comment about whether the Mets have money to spend.
Writes Hubbuch, “It’s becoming blatantly obvious (again) that the Mets simply don’t have the funds to make major moves. Thank you, Madoff.”
When Bart Hubbuch writes something, I take it seriously. However, I think it is entirely too soon to come to that conclusion.
After all, there are plenty of good reasons not to spend money and long-term contracts on John Lackey (31, recent elbow troubles) Jason Bay (31, poor defensively, knee issues) or Matt Holliday (will cost Beltran money for his post-peak period, career .808 OPS on the road).
Instead, hearing the rumors this morning that the Mets are after Randy Wolf gave me flashbacks to the pre-Pedro era. That was when the Mets would regularly get involved with free agents just enough for them to sign with another team. Think Vladimir Guerrero. Then they’d sign the C-level guys to B+ contracts. Think Kevin Appier/Steve Trachsel.
Madoff, of course, had nothing to do with this. In fact, he was probably a big reason they could go overpay for the Trachsels of the world!
Alas, the 2009-2010 winter free agent class is bereft of Beltran-type targets, and filled with Trachsel-type targets. If the Mets are looking to contend in 2010, their best bet is to make sure they don’t get tied down in long-term deals with players who will simply be in the way, financially, when the elite players become available in either free agency or trade. Think Felix Hernandez, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez.
What a shame it will be if long-term contracts for Jason Marquis, Bengie Molina and Joel Pineiro prevent them from making moves for the aforementioned trio. That is classic Mets, and has little to do with Bernie Madoff.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
The Mets need to stop being posers. If they are going to win, this team needs to be beefed up in many areas and beefed up now. If not, then tear the whole thing down and start to rebuild. They are fooling no one into thinking that this team as currently constructed will compete with the Phils or even the Braves next year. Even the Nats are improving their team this offseason. Many of us Met fans who are season ticket holders are getting fed up. The way things are going so far, I for one will not be renewing unless the Mets actually show me something instead of perpetrating this fraud.
December 8th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I realize that the Mets are skittish about injuries, but this is ridiculous! Every pitcher/player out there has injuries, its the rule, not the exception! Its about properly managing players, preventing injuries, and building depth that matters. However, its clear that the Mets don’t really value their medical/training staff, which, along with good scouting, is what is necessary to build depth in today’s league. Face it, 162 games is just too much for the human body, especially now that there is no longer any “extra help” for these guys to come back from/play through injuries.