Official 2009 New York Mets Offseason Thread

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Minaya needs to do what he did back in 05 which was get players like Beltran and Delgado.

Unfortunately, that's all Omar knows how to do: go after the obvious free agents, and cash in on other team's salary dumps. He's also been very lucky at times...Santana fell into his lap...the Yankees or Red Sox could have had him easily. This offseason is going to call for the one skill that Omar has shown almost none of since coming here: CREATIVITY.

[nmigliore]

Mejia finished after 39 pitches, he battled poor control (3 walks in 1+ IP), but I wouldn't worry much about that since he hasn't pitched in awhile. The good news is that he was hitting 98 mph consistently with his fastball. Don't forget, the kid just turned 20 years old a few days ago...

[Prucenterrules]

Unfortunately, that's all Omar knows how to do: go after the obvious free agents, and cash in on other team's salary dumps. He's also been very lucky at times...Santana fell into his lap...the Yankees or Red Sox could have had him easily. This offseason is going to call for the one skill that Omar has shown almost none of since coming here: CREATIVITY.

I just hope he makes the right decisions.

[DH26]

haha gammons says that Jeff Wilpon is really the GM and Omar's just out there to take all the "heat." I know Gammons is borderline senile at this point, but I don't think he'd just throw this out there without something behind it.

si.com link

[Prucenterrules]

haha gammons says that Jeff Wilpon is really the GM and Omar's just out there to take all the "heat." I know Gammons is borderline senile at this point, but I don't think he'd just throw this out there without something behind it.

si.com link

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

haha gammons says that Jeff Wilpon is really the GM and Omar's just out there to take all the "heat." I know Gammons is borderline senile at this point, but I don't think he'd just throw this out there without something behind it.

si.com link

Nothing would surprise me about the Mets. I think Jeffy is a BIG part of the problem there though. There's one reason and one reason only he holds the position of COO with the Mets, and it's his last name. Unfortunately it's not like his daddy is any baseball genius either..."Hey! I've got an idea! Let's build a shroud to the Brooklyn Dodg...I mean, a new stadium for our Dodger Blue-wearing Mets!" Jeffy's quite blessed that the right polywog met up with the right egg. Until an actual BASEBALL GUY is running the show, and not some fortunate son, the only way the Mets are winning anything soon is by complete accident.

[nmigliore]

Not really big news, but, the Mets released Ken Takahashi.

The Mets released reliever Ken Takahashi.

— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets)

October 20, 2009

[RSC]

woopsies wrong thread lol

Edited October 21, 2009 by RSC

[nmigliore]

Some 40-man house cleaning moves:

http://www.metsblog.com/2009/10/23/news-mets-outright-cancel-valdez-reyes-and-muniz/

The Mets outrighted C Robinson Cancel, SS Wilson Valdez, SS Argenis Reyes and RHP Carlos Muniz to Triple-A yesterday, meaning they have been removed from the 40-man.

Also some news regarding IFA Aroldis Chapman:

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2009/10/mets-meeting-with-cuban-defect.html

The Mets are expected to have face-to-face dialogue with 21-year-old lefthander Aroldis Chapman and agent Edwin Mejia today. Chapman, who defected from Cuba and established residency in Andorra to avoid the draft, arrived in New York this week. He reportedly throws 100 mph.

I don't think the Mets are going to be serious bidders for him, probably only to a certain price. Hes expected to get $50-60M which, IMO, is way too much. I think hes pretty over-hyped in all honesty. Other than his fastball, his stuff is quite raw and his control isn't very good. There is also the possibility he could be older than 21. I also remember reading that some scouts believe he may wind up a reliever.

Instead I would like for the Mets go to sign this Japanese LHP coming out of high school, Yusei Kikuchi. His fastball has topped out at 96 mph, hes only 18, and obviously would cost much less than Chapman. However the kid could opt to stay and Japan and get drafted by a Japanese team in NPB. The Mets and a bunch of other teams have already met with him this past week, and I really do believe they would love to sign this kid if he decides to come to America (supposedly he has to decide by Monday if he wants to stay in Japan or come to America).

BTW, this is a great site to follow things about Japanese players/Nippon Pro Baseball - http://www.npbtracker.com/

Edited October 23, 2009 by nmigliore

[nmigliore]

http://www.npbtracker.com/2009/10/kikuchi-stays-home/#content

Kyodo News and reader Manzino beat me to it, but Yusei Kikuchi is staying in Japan. I

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4594666

Nice going Stevie boy...you stud you. Once a clown, always a clown. Yet another reason why NO ONE will ever give you a second shot at being a GM. Douchebag.

['7']

It's over. The 2009 baseball season is dead and buried.

This WS was a lot more painless than I could ever imagine. 2000 was pain, this is nothing.

The Yankees in the ultimate disgrace to sports, and most obscene offseasons of all time...bought a World Series. This was really disgusting.

Frankly, I'm not impressed enough to get angry. Win it with the payroll of the 2003 marlins and maybe I'll salute you.

Edited November 5, 2009 by '7'

[losdiablos103]

It's over. The 2009 baseball season is dead and buried.

This WS was a lot more painless than I could ever imagine. 2000 was pain, this is nothing.

The Yankees in the ultimate disgrace to sports, and most obscene offseasons of all time...bought a World Series. This was really disgusting.

Frankly, I'm not impressed enough to get angry. Win it with the payroll of the 2003 marlins and maybe I'll salute you.

+1

[funetiklee]

the worst part of the postseason for me was how everyone would turn into john sterling after the yankees won and put "the yankees win, thheeeeeeeee yaaaaankeees WIN" in their FB status updates... the WS definitely wasn't as bad as i thought, though i'm not looking forward to the parade thats gonna go on down the street from my office.

as for the yankees buying their championship, don't hate the player, hate the game.. which in this case is the players,, the players union won't go for a salary cap so the yankees are allowed to spend as much as they want, and the more they spend the better they do, the better they do the more people like them, the more people like them the more money they make,,, and they can spend on more players and the cycle goes on.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

It's over. The 2009 baseball season is dead and buried.

This WS was a lot more painless than I could ever imagine. 2000 was pain, this is nothing.

The Yankees in the ultimate disgrace to sports, and most obscene offseasons of all time...bought a World Series. This was really disgusting.

Frankly, I'm not impressed enough to get angry. Win it with the payroll of the 2003 marlins and maybe I'll salute you.

I know what you're saying, and I hate the Yankees as much as anybody, but as long as they continue to operate within the rules of MLB, I can't really crucify them. And as much as it feels like the Yankees flat-out bought this World Series, at least they try their damndest to put a great team on the field. Too many other teams don't...of course they can't spend up to level of the Yankees, but some of those ownerships can put much more money into their on-field products than they do. It won't change until a cap with a hard ceiling (and just as importantly, a hard FLOOR) is implemented.

As far as the whole "impressed" thing goes...Brian Cashman should wake up early each morning to count his luckies. I'd love to see what he'd be able to pull off if he had to show the creativity and payroll maneuvering that mid- to lower mid-payroll GMs have to show.

EDIT: last year's payrolls (as of April 8), according to MLB.com:

Yankees $201,449,289

Mets $135,773,988

Cubs $135,050,000

Red Sox $122,696,000

Tigers $115,085,145

Angels $113,709,000

Phillies $113,004,048

Astros $102,996,415

Dodgers $100,458,101

Mariners $98,904,167

Braves $96,726,167

White Sox $96,068,500

Cardinals $88,528,411

Giants $82,161,450

Indians $81,625,567

Blue Jays $80,993,657

Brewers $79,857,502

Rockies $75,201,000

D-backs $73,571,667

Reds $70,968,500

Royals $70,908,333

Rangers $68,646,023

Orioles $67,101,667

Twins $65,299,267

Rays $63,313,035

Athletics $62,310,000

Nationals $59,328,000

Pirates $48,743,000

Padres $42,796,700

Marlins $36,814,000

I know I'm being very simplistic here, but it seems like a fair floor could be roughly $75 million and a fair ceiling could be $150 million. There will always be haves and have nots and bad ownerships and bad front offices, but least you won't have one team spending more than twice as much as 22 out of the remaining 29 did on players.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Beezer34]

...bro, you had the b@lls to call me out for being "sour-grapes" when Miami beat the Jets... are you fvcking serious?! Rereading your posts throughout these baseball threads over the past week and a half.. the bellyaching; "You don't know pain! Mets know pain" -- "MLB needs a Cap" -- "You (Fiesty) know how lucky your are?" -- "Yankees flat-out bought this World Series!" -- "Cashman should count his luckies" ---> right down to "sex-appeal" ?? -is this a joke?!

These are the rules/guidelines in which the MLB operate under. If you don't like, watch something else. Either way... stop crying.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I'm not begrudging them doing this, BTW...the Yankees aren't doing a single thing wrong...they're operating within the rules of MLB and they're paying a luxury tax for doing so.

I know what you're saying, and I hate the Yankees as much as anybody, but as long as they continue to operate within the rules of MLB, I can't really crucify them.

Funny Beezer, I said the same thing, more than once. Funny how you didn't quote that. But why would you? It wouldn't serve your purpose. Funny how you also didn't quote how I said, more than once, that even though their resources far outweigh other teams', at least they put them to use by putting their money into the team. And it's also funny how you didn't take note of how I said owners that don't put money into their teams are even worse than the Yankees.

Yeah, Cashman should count his luckies, because unlike pretty much every other GM who has to be careful on some level with how they spend their money, Cashman doesn't. You know damn well that he's made some very costly mistakes that would have crippled other GMs' flexibility. I'm not saying he's a bad GM, but like I said, put him in a situation where he has less than $100 million to allot on players I can't help but wonder what he'd able to pull off.

Learn to fvcking read next time you fvcking blowhard.

And yeah, it WAS sour grapes on your part, re: Miami and the Jets. You whined because the Jets couldn't find a way to beat the Wildcat, so on-and-on you went about the "gimmick".

One last thing...how about being fair and at least present my quotes in their full context?

As in: And as much as it feels like the Yankees flat-out bought this World Series, at least they try their damndest to put a great team on the field.

Way to only quote only what served you. The way you quoted me shows complete lack of credibility on your part.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Devils Dose]

as for the yankees buying their championship, don't hate the player, hate the game.. which in this case is the players,, the players union won't go for a salary cap . . .

Yankees ownership always helps them defend the current system and work against the salary cap and luxury tax

[Beezer34]

B!tching and crying like a fvcking baby, only to follow each bellyache with; "Oh but I guess they're playing by the rules" aint distorting any kind of post(s)... it's only playing both sides of the coin. Furthermore.. My tirade with Miami... had to do with Miami! Miami was the team the Jets had just played. -You giving your opinion (being a Mets fan) on how it's "unfair that the Yankees are a lock to make the postseason every year, because they purchase their team" carries no merit.. BECAUSE YOU'RE A JEALOUS METS FAN! This is what fans like me think when they read your bellyaching...

You annoying Mets fans whine and complain all the time. You want to know what pain is? How about listening to you whine all the time. It's down right excruciating!

Typical copout by Yankee haters. How did that payroll help them the last 9 years? Not much. It takes a bit more to win than payroll. Chemistry, management, all of this matters just as much, if not more. What about 81-95? The Yankees were the top payroll or near the top every one of those years and for many of them, stunk.

So what do you suggest? The Yankees shouldnt spend money when they have it? Sour f'in grapes.

THAT'S the consensus! Perfectly put. Your "Yankees $pend!" rants are stand up comedy... because they are the definition of sour-grapes.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Beezer34

[nmigliore]

B!tching and crying like a fvcking baby, only to follow each bellyache with; "Oh but I guess they're playing by the rules" aint distorting any kind of post(s)... it's only playing both sides of the coin. Furthermore.. My tirade with Miami... had to do with Miami! Miami was the team the Jets had just played. -You giving your opinion (being a Mets fan) on how it's "unfair that the Yankees are a lock to make the postseason every year, because they purchase their team" carries no merit.. BECAUSE YOU'RE A JEALOUS METS FAN! This is what fans like me think when they read your bellyaching...

THAT'S the consensus! Perfectly put. Your "Yankees $pend!" rants are stand up comedy... because they are the definition of sour-grapes.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

B!tching and crying like a fvcking baby, only to follow each bellyache with; "Oh but I guess they're playing by the rules" aint distorting any kind of post(s)... it's only playing both sides of the coin. Furthermore.. My tirade with Miami... had to do with Miami! Miami was the team the Jets had just played. -You giving your opinion (being a Mets fan) on how it's "unfair that the Yankees are a lock to make the postseason every year, because they purchase their team" carries no merit.. BECAUSE YOU'RE A JEALOUS METS FAN! This is what fans like me think when they read your bellyaching...

THAT'S the consensus! Perfectly put. Your "Yankees $pend!" rants are stand up comedy... because they are the definition of sour-grapes.

More blowhard nonsense I see. I can't debate topics with someone who continues to post inaccuracies and attribute things to me that I haven't said. At least with this latest post you're confirming what I already suspected...that you're not terribly bright.

[Beezer34]

Your team has the resources to go buy whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and has a sex appeal that only the Dodgers can compete with. Players everywhere dream of what it would be like to wear the pinstripes. Heaven forbid the Yankees make the kind of mistake(s) that would cripple other teams' payrolls and flexibility? No problem...just hose it off and go buy someone else. I'm not begrudging them doing this, BTW...the Yankees aren't doing a single thing wrong...they're operating within the rules of MLB and they're paying a luxury tax for doing so. The game needs a cap with a ceiling AND a floor (at least the Yankees use their resources, unlike some other teams who barely even try...that's why the game desperately needs a cap with a hard floor), but that's a debate for another day. "Pain"?! C'mon man! Your team is practically a lock to make the playoffs every single year. You want to know about pain? Try being a Mets fan.

...go get in your pajama's, and I'll read you a bedtime story.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

...go get in your pajama's, and I'll read you a bedtime story.

I'll attempt to explain this further, against my better judgment:

Your team has the resources to go buy whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and has a sex appeal that only the Dodgers can compete with. Players everywhere dream of what it would be like to wear the pinstripes.

Are you really going to deny any of this? We saw your team go out and spend an absolute fortune on CC, Burnett, and Tex. Name one other team that could have done the same...and you already had plenty tied up in ARod, Jeter, Matsui, Damon. "Sex appeal" is a compliment BTW, since you haven't figured that out. Little leaguers and current major leaguers and many in between dream of what it would be like to wear the pinstripes and run out onto Yankee Stadium's field. The Yankees have a universal appeal and mystique that no other team can come close to. Only the Dodgers come to mind as a team that has that, and it's not close to what the Yankees have.

Heaven forbid the Yankees make the kind of mistake(s) that would cripple other teams' payrolls and flexibility? No problem...just hose it off and go buy someone else. I'm not begrudging them doing this, BTW...the Yankees aren't doing a single thing wrong...they're operating within the rules of MLB and they're paying a luxury tax for doing so.

How is this wrong? Mistakes like Pavano and Igawa, among others...GMs sometimes lose their jobs over gaffes like that. At the very least, those kind of moves hamper what kind of moves they can make down the line, unless they can dump that money. As we've seen, more than any other team, the Yankees can wave those mistakes away like they never even happened. Hate to break this to you, but these are FACTS. And I'll say it one last time: THEY ARE ALLOWED TO DO THIS AS LONG AS THE CURRENT RULESET REMAINS IN PLACE. I DON'T "GUESS" IT'S OK, I KNOW IT'S OK, OTHERWISE THEY WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO DO IT.

The game needs a cap with a ceiling AND a floor (at least the Yankees use their resources, unlike some other teams who barely even try...that's why the game desperately needs a cap with a hard floor), but that's a debate for another day. "Pain"?! C'mon man! Your team is practically a lock to make the playoffs every single year. You want to know about pain? Try being a Mets fan.

Try to read and understand...my basis for MLB needing a cap isn't just directed at the Yankees. It's attempting to set a limit at both ends (FLOOR FLOOR FLOOR). As a Met fan I don't think I have a monopoly on sports pain...the Red Sox fans pre-2004 went through much worse, and it never seems to end for the Cubs. I was just trying to show feisty a little perspective, that making the playoffs nearly every season and never having to worry about someone being too expensive for his team's blood doesn't really seem so painful compared to what other fans have to endure.

Anyway I'm sure more crybaby and other witty retorts are coming, so knock yourself out.

Edited November 5, 2009 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Beezer34]

I can't debate topics with someone who continues to post inaccuracies, and attribute things to me that I haven't said.

...but you will anyway! OR, (like my wife says in regards to my son) until the toddler gets the last word.. whichever comes first.

Anyway, I'm done here. I can see this is becoming a 'parting-shot' game, and I really vested more time acknowledging your stand'up than I should've. I'm not interested in going back and forth with explanations of rhetoric, when the double-talking worked just fine in the first place. I'm sure one of (if not all) of my posts will be dissected going forward for spelling from the peanut gallery, and I fully appreciate that in advance.

In closing however, I would like to thank you for all the hating, really gave me alot more laughs than I figured it would..... and come next year (after Holliday helps the Yanks to #28) it'll be my pleasure to read more of your 'YANKEE$!' post(s) CR. (and I say that in all sincerity) It's Mets fans like you, that make the Yankees success that much sweeter. If your posts are this funny, after a 9 year World Series drought... next season can't come soon enough.

...until then, please... CONTINUE POSTING! I haven't really decided yet on what sig material I'm going to use here, (there's so much to choose from) although if you can provide more.. go right ahead. This pure display of bitterness and animosity, only makes Yankee fans delight over 27, that much more.

*Beezer - Out.

[nmigliore]

...but you will anyway! OR, (like my wife says in regards to my son) until the toddler gets the last word.. whichever comes first.

Anyway, I'm done here. I can see this is becoming a 'parting-shot' game, and I really vested more time acknowledging your stand'up than I should've. I'm not interested in going back and forth with explanations of rhetoric, when the double-talking worked just fine in the first place. I'm sure one of (if not all) of my posts will be dissected going forward for spelling from the peanut gallery, and I fully appreciate that in advance.

In closing however, I would like to thank you for all the hating, really gave me alot more laughs than I figured it would..... and come next year (after Holliday helps the Yanks to #28) it'll be my pleasure to read more of your 'YANKEE$!' post(s) CR. (and I say that in all sincerity) It's Mets fans like you, that make the Yankees success that much sweeter. If your posts are this funny, after a 9 year World Series drought... next season can't come soon enough.

...until then, please... CONTINUE POSTING! I haven't really decided yet on what sig material I'm going to use here, (there's so much to choose from) although if you can provide more.. go right ahead. This pure display of bitterness and animosity, only makes Yankee fans delight over 27, that much more.

*Beezer - Out.

lol

How can you not love this guy. If you are ever in need of a great laugh just find his posts. Its too bad he doesn't post updates on Pedro anymore, those were getting really fun. (Pedro pitched 3 scoreless innings! The Mets were dumb not to sign him! God how can you not love Pedro! Lick my balls and I'll tell you a bedtime story <non-NJDevs board smiley goes here>.. Italics are so awesome!!)

Edited November 5, 2009 by nmigliore