» David Wright

I wrote on facebook: “Congratulations to the most spoiled fans in the world, however… Thank you…Becasue I hate the Phillies with a Passion” to which a Yankee friend replied, “But Dan, they’re are 3rd graders who haven’t seen this yet” to which I replied but there are 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th and 12th graders that have.

Oh and I forgot to congratulate the Phillies and their fans 2 seasons ago – for their desire to have us hate them and take them seriously… Well done. Seriously though. Well done.

The Mets have a sundry of needs that Omar Minaya or whomever else assumes GM needs to attend to: mainly c, 1b, 2b, lf, and sp. I say 2b because it seems they are attempting to trade Luis Castillo and then potentially offer a deal to Orlando Hudson, which scares me if the Mets have to provide another multi year deal to an aging 2nd baseman who was benched for Ronnie Belliard during the (p)lay-offs. I’ll stop assuming our prospects pan out and offer a scenario that lands the Mets a 1b,2b,lf,and sp. I also won’t propose trading 15 tier 3 prospects for 4 mlb all stars.

Trade 1) NYM-Jankees: Carlos Beltran(cf), Wilmer Flores/Reese Havens/Ruben Tejada (preferably the later middle infield prospect), Urbina/Moviel/Familia(sp prospect) for Robinson Cano(2b) and Phil Hughes(sp).

* I know the Yankees could have had Beltran for just cash prior to him signing with the Mets, but this provides the Yankees with an every day (when healthy) offensive centerfielder and then they can sign Chone Figgins or Orlando Hudson for 2b and use Flores/Havens/Tejada at ss or 2b when that contract or Jeter’s career is over.

Trade 2) NYM-Brewers: Ike Davis(1b prospect), Fernando Martinez (of prospect), Mike Pelfrey(sp), Brad Holt (sp prospect) for Prince Fielder(1b).Maybe Angel Pagan(of) &/or Daniel Murphy(if-of) can also be involved in the deal for Carlos Gomez (cf) otherwise the Mets CF will come by way of free agency…

Trade 3) NYM-Cubs: The already infinitely proposed deal (except straight up with cash consideration coming the Mets way), Luis Castillo(2b) for Milton Bradley(lf)

Mets 2010 Free Agent signings: Mike Cameron(cf) if Carlos Gomez isn’t involved in the Brewers deal, Randy Wolf(sp), and Erik Bedard or Ben Sheets(sp) contingent on health reports and monetary demands.

*I haven’t added monetary figures to this scenario but if you include the salary subtractions of Delgado, Wagner, Putz, Schneider, Sheffield, Tatis, and Cora the Mets would have a payroll at 10-15 million less than last year ( and that takes into account salary and arbitration raises). The Mets Lineup and Rotation (depth) would look as follows:

1-Jose Reyes/ss

2-David Wright/3b

3-Robinson Cano/2b

4-Prince Fielder/1b

5-Milton Bradley/lf

6-Jeff Franceour/rf

7-Mike Cameron/cf

8-Santos/Thole/Free Agent Catcher

1-Johan Santana

2-Randy Wolf

3-Erik Bedard/Ben Sheets/John Maine

4-Phil Hughes

5-Oliver Perez/Jon Niese

6-Misch/Stoner/Nieve/Figueroa/Mejia

That’s an AL East competitor even, but so are the Phillies. The Mets must match up to them lineup spot by lineup spot and rotation slot by rotation slot.

I’ve been slightly unprofessional offering a sundry of random trade offers the Mets should at least attend to (all of them being interesting but completely unrealistic). Some could realistically happen if it were proposed by the actual GM’s, such as Beltran + SP prospect for Matt Cain or the Farm for Nick Markakis or Prince Fielder, however I don’t think any big trades will occur this season, because as you’ve already been hearing, many of the Mets prospects are seasons away from the majors (Jenrry Mejia/sp; Brad Holt/sp; Wilmer Flores/if; Reese Havens/Ruben Tejada/mi; Jefry Marte/3b). I think all 6 are MLB talent, but all 6 are under or well under 23 years of age. The most interesting unrealistic trade I’ve recently thought about is: Matt Cain & Pablo Sandoval for Carlos Beltran, Fernando Martinez, Daniel Murphy, Tejada/Havens/Flores-mi or Marte/Lutz-3b, and Niese/Mejia/Holt-sp. The Mets would have to use Angel Pagan every day at CF so this is somewhat unrealistic, but maybe we could trade back for Carlos Gomez to man CF at CITI Field along with Pagan. He shouldn’t cost too much (maybe a MI/3b prospect not in the Cain & Sandoval deal). Again, this is highly unlikely because both Cain and Sandoval are fantastic and cheap.

A possible trade that does make some sense: Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/09/discussion-milton-bradley-for-oliver-perez.html) discusses a Cubs-Mets swap of Milton Bradley and Oliver Perez – both disappointing and costly. As per Tim Dierkes post, Joel Sherman of the New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/hardball/up_yanks_postseason_al_mvp_bradley_OGXQ3Gwj8DrsvfRTrOZGXN) also wonders if Carlos Zambrano & Luis Castillo could switch sides. It’s an interesting idea. The Mets could get their #2 starter they need in Zambrano and an OF in Bradley if they don’t think Angel Pagan & Prospect Ike Davis (who has mainly played 1b) could play every day. If the Mets are willing to take on all the money, I don’t see why the Cubs wouldn’t trade Zambrano & Bradley straight up for Perez & Castillo, but maybe the Mets would have to offer up a 2nd/3rd tier prospect in addition. Zambrano’s a good quality SP, but if we take on Bradley’s entire salary that’s 28ish million per year coming the Mets way and only 18 million per year going the Cubs way. This gives the Cubs lee-way to resign Rich Harden/sp & Reed Johnson/of.  If the Mets were to pull the trigger on this, they would then need a 2b (Chone Figgins preferably – I’d rather sign him to 3-4 years at 11-12mm per than Orlando Hudson for 8-9mm per year for 2 years I think). The Mets would use Anderson Hernandez at MI to back up Reyes and Castillo/Figgins/Hudson then. Our rotation after this would look like Santana; Zambrano; Pelfrey; Maine/Parnell; Niese/Figueroa/Nieve. I still think we need one more consistent starter for the rotation. According to Rotoworld (http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=3044), Jeff Francoeur says Jason Marquis would love to pitch for the Mets. To me, he does epitomize a consistent #3 starter.

So if the Mets pulled the Cubs trade, signed Figgins, and Marquis that’s about 30-34mm in additions to the team. Carlos Delgado, Billy Wanger, JJ Putz, Gary Sheffield, Fernando Tatis, Alex Cora, and Brian Schneider ‘leaving’ for free agency takes about 33mm off the books, so I think it’s only fair with a new stadium, that the Mets allow for such additions.

This provides a 2010 lineup of:

1-      Chone Figgins; Anderson Hernandez/mi

2-      Jose Reyes; Anderson Hernandez/mi

3-      David Wright/3b

4-      Carlos Beltran; Angel Pagan/cf

5-      Jeff Francoeur; Milton Bradley; Pagan/rf

6-      Milton Bradley; Angel Pagan; Murphy/Davis/lf

7-      Daniel Murphy; Ike Davis/1b

8-      Josh Thole; Omir Santos/c

& a 2010 Rotation of:

1-      Johan Santana

2-      Carlos Zambrano

3-      Jason Marquis

4-      Mike Pelfrey

5-      John Maine; Bobby Parnell; Jon Niese

6-      Fernando Nieve; Nelson Figueroa

A Decent 2010 Bench of:

c- Omir Santos; Josh Thole

1b/of- Nick Evans; Ike Davis; Daniel Murphy

mi- Anderson Hernandez

of – Angel Pagan; Milton Bradley

of – Jeremy Reed; Cory Sullivan

& a 2010 Bullpen of:

K-rod

Bobby Parnell; John Maine

Pedro Feliciano

Brian Stokes

Carlos Muniz

Sean Green

Takahashi/RP Prospect/FA LHP

*Roster Notes: Figgins-Reyes-Wright is pretty good infield obp and speed for Beltran-Francoeur-Bradley to drive in, and I think Daniel Murphy & Ike Davis can man 1b while Josh Thole and Omir Santos can man C well enough for the 2010 Mets to more than compete with a deeper 5 man rotation with Zambrano & Marquis while a hopefully healthier John Maine and a hopefully better Mike Pelfrey depict a better number 4&5 starter than a 2&3 starter.

I read the Mets Rejection of a Roy Halladay trade first via MetsBlog.com: According to Matthew Cerrone, ‘Jon Heyman of SI.com believes the Mets rejected a deal from the Jays for RHP Roy Halladay, in return for OF Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and 17–year-old SS Ruben Tejada.’

Honestly, that’s a lot. Then, a poll asked if you would do this trade or not and at the time I voted (no), 75% of the people said yes they would do it and only 25% said no (on the dot). I’m surprised. This is a lot to give up. I think most of the same people said not to give up the farm in any trade in an earlier poll on the site. And like Cerrone goes on to say, the Mets would keep Brad Holt and Jenrry Mejia, which are probably the Mets top two pitching prospects now so that is attractive, but again, I personally think this is way too much.

Ruben Tejada may be ahead of Wilmer Flores as our top middle infield/ss prospect, however that said, we do have another very young, very talented ss prospect in Flores. We do have 2 better sp prospects than Jon Niese. I think this was the Blue Jays thinking too. The Mets are giving up their top OF prospect in Fernando Martinez and top RP prospect in Bobby Parnell, but not even their top sp or ss prospect, however, with both Billy Wagner and JJ Putz gone via free agency next year (obviously assuming the inevitable), I think Bobby Parnell is too important – maybe the most important immediate provider in the deal.

So should Omar Minaya be fired (I mean counter)? I think we can attempt to counter with Fernando Martinez/of, Jon Niese/sp, Brad Holt/sp and Jefry Marte/3b for Roy Halladay/sp + Alex Rios/of. I think Marte is more expendable at 3b behind David Wright than Ruben Tejada or Wilmer Flores at ss behind Jose Reyes. And if we lose Fernando Martinez we’d need Rios plus we would take his salary off the Jays’ back.

*In my crazy idealland, I thought maybe Jon Niese, Brad Holt, John Maine, and Jefry Marte/Ruben Tejada/Wilmer Flores could land Halladay & Rios, and the Mets can then trade Fernando Martinez & Mike Pelfrey/Brad Holt/Jenrry Mejia & Santos/Thole/Pena/c for Victor Martinez yielding:

a 2010 rotation of: Roy Halladay; Johan Santana; Oliver Perez; 2 of Pelfrey/Holt/Mejia/League-worse-than-averages like Livan/Redding/&Nieve this year.

and a 2010 lineup of: Jose Reyes/ss; David Wright/3b; Victor Martinez/c; Carlos Beltran/cf; Alex Rios/lf; Jeff Francoeur/rf; Daniel Murphy/1b; Castillo/Cora/Flores/Tejada/Havens/2b.

and then in lala land, I thought maybe (a healthy) Jose Reyes/ss (maybe in the off season) can go to the Red Sox for Michael Bowden/sp and (Clay Buchholz/sp or Justin Masterson/sp & Daniel Bard/rp). If they want Oliver Perez/sp and 1/2 his salary, that would be fantastic. The Mets could than use Tejada/Flores/Havens/Cora at SS and sign Orlando Hudson for 2b allowing a 2010 lineup of: Hudson-Wright-VMartinez-Beltran-Rios-Francoeur-Murphy-Tejada/Flores/Havens/Cora and a 2010 Rotation of Halladay-Santana-Buchholz-Bowden-Nieve/Mejia/Holt/Pelfrey. And fire-bucket!

In my prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/trade-david-wright-to-the-red-sox/), I referenced a potential trade from Joseph Delgrippo of Bleacher Report where David Wright and Fernando Martinez would go to the Red Sox for Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Lars Anderson, and 2 of Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard, or Justin Masterson. This is a lot, and I’d be surprised to see that much going the Mets way. The Mets obviously and blatantly need to be shaken up from the core-on-down – and then some. If this bullpen went with the team last year, maybe we’d have won the penant. Maybe we’d be 10 games up this year, but neither is the case, and although eventually the Mets will have John Maine, Oliver Perez, Billy Wagner, JJ Putz, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran coming off the DL at random, unknown times, and although my David Wright Passion Bucket has always been full, that trade scenario from Delgrippo of Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/213365-new-york-mets-need-to-make-a-trade-for-the-future) sounds very intriguing. To assure such a trade and a top-down shake-up why not send both Wright & Reyes to the Sawx?

So, here – naturally, are more crazy trade scenarios. Let’s play Mets GM:

1) David Wright/3b; Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp (& his salary) for Jacoby Ellsbury/of; Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Daniel Bard/sp; and Lars Anderson/1b. The Mets could send a 3rd tier pitching prospect  (Scott Shaw/Mike Antonini/Scott Moviel) or young cf prospect their way in addition. This provides the Red Sox with their future ss & 3b and one dominant lineup.

2) After the Mets acquire 3 top-notch pitching prospects, their others (Jon Niese/Brad Holt/Jenrry Mejia) become a little more expendable. Jenrry Mejia is catching eyes finally. So the Mets could then trade Jon Niese/sp; Brad Holt/sp; Wilmer Flores/Robinson Tejada/or Reese Havens/ss for Roy Halladay. If not Flores/Tejada/Havens then Maybe Ryan Church/of + John Maine/sp, but it seems the Blue Jays will want a ss prospect along with sp prospects for Doc Halladay. The Mets could potentially offer Church + Maine in addition to the deal for Alex Rios/of, if the Jays would like not to pay his contract.

3) Finally, contingent on the above deal, the Mets could offer Fernando Martinez and Ryan Church/of or Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans/of-1b in addition to Mike Pelfrey or John Maine for Victor Martinez/c from the Cleveland Indians.

So for an easy view:

1-Wright, Reyes, Oliver & Salary for Ellsbury, Lars, Buchholz, Bowden, Bard

2-Niese, Holt, Tejada/Flores/Havens or Maine & Church for Halladay

3-F.Martinez & Church or Dan Murphy & Evans + Pelfrey or Maine for V.Martinez

There are some potential 2010 Free Agents the Mets could look at for their infield as rentals before the other 2 ss that don’t get traded (Tejada/Flores/Havens) and Jefry Marte/3b are ready for the infield (Adrian Beltre and Orlando Hudson included). So the 2010-2012 Mets Lineup could look as follows: Jacoby Ellsbury/cf-Robinson Tejada/2b-Victor Martinez/c-Carlos Beltran/rf-Lars Anderson/1b-Fernando Martinez or Daniel Murphy/lf-Jefry Marte/3b-Reese Havens/2b

Even better, the 2010-2012 Mets Rotation could look as follows: Roy Halladay-Johan Santana-Mike Pelfrey/John Maine-Clay Buchholz-Michael Bowden/Daniel Bard/Jenrry Mejia/Fernando Nieve(why not).

Not only is this team quite talented but very young – it does create a nice payroll with only 5 players with expensive contracts (Beltran,VMartinez,Santana,Halladay,Krod).

Guys like Halladay and Vmart can more than keep the team in contention right now with such a rotation, while the young Sawx pitching prospects can dominate with Santana and a resigned Halladay there-after.

Scold away.

I’ve been scolded lately for saying the Mets should potentially at least look into trading Jose Reyes to the Red Sox for 2 of their top young pitching prospect and Jed Lowrie as well. In a post from Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/213365-new-york-mets-need-to-make-a-trade-for-the-future), Joseph Delgrippo says the Mets should potentially look to trade David Wright/3b + Fernando Martinez/of to the Red Sox for Clay Buchholz/sp, Lars Anderson/1b, Jacoby Elsbury/of, and 2 from Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden, and Daniel Bard/p. He goes on to say the Mets could sign a 1 or 2 year free agent 3rd baseman until Wilmer Flores/ss is ready to play 3b in the Majors.

Honestly, it’s very, very intriguing. As a Mets fan i’d have to say it’s…fair – maybe better than fair. The Mets rotation would look amazing for years to come. The one thing I will say is… I already like the Red Sox, and this deal will allow me to stop watching the Mets for at least this year and become a full-time Red Sox fan. Sorry, but honestly, it’s been rough. I’ve been watching Wright since his short days in Binghamton, and he’s about the only bright spot this year (and not (w)right now).

I’ll root for both teams deep down.

If they make this deal, why not trade Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran as well? Stack the team for years to come. Fellow Mets fans…It’s been hard. It’s been devestating. The Phillies are better. The Marlins probably will be next year. The Braves could be as well. Let’s just enjoy baseball and hope.

I would first like to say thank you to Jeff for giving me the opportunity to post here on MajorLeagueBlogging.com. I’m excited to be a part of the MLB family. With that said it is time to get to business!

I’m going to keep this post brief because want to set up my weekly fantasy add/drop session on Tuesdays and my major league round up on Fridays. But these are just a few of the ideas I have. There will be plenty to follow trust me.

When anyone offers you a trade in Fantasy Baseball what do you think about? Do you think about every stat involved with making that trade? Do you get emotional because your mancrush is involved in the trade talks? Or do you evaluate the trade on who’s getting the best player?

There are a lot of different takes on this. I can tell you though never, I mean never trade on emotion. The best man in my wedding decided it was a good idea on draft day of a keeper league to offer up Hanley Ramirez. I know the first thing I thought too was is this guy nuts? But it gets much worse. He took a trade that only netted him Jason Bay, Jon Lester, and Carlos Marmol. I tried to counter this insane offer with David Wright and any pitcher on my roster (I had hamels, billingsley, Zambrano, and Broxton drafted at this point – oh and I had A-Rod on the bench so no worries there). He turned me down, why? Because he “Really wanted Lester.” His team is also in last place at this point.

I’m not bitter anymore, but this is definitely the way to set your team back in a keeper league. The best advice I can say about trades is something a wise man once told me, “Whoever gets the best player in the trade, usually gets the best deal.”

Talk about a much needed win….that’s exactly what the Mets got today against the Phillies. Playing on the road facing Chan Ho Park…Big Pelf at the helm…talk about a must win….

So let’s rewind…in the last few days we have seen a few major bullpen meltdowns…this is totally 100%, completely nothing like the Mets…imagine that…a bullpen blowing the game..well it happened…twice. The Mets came into this game needing a big stop and they got it.

Pelfrey performed well, Murphy came up big, and even David Wright got in on the action. K-Rod took care of business..excellent.

Tomorrow the Mets will face someone who they should (but often dont) slap around…Jamie Moyer. We have our own excitement to add though, Olly Perez…which Olly will we see tomorrow? …  Only Time Will Tell…

Let’s G Mets!

Wow….on a night where we saw Gary Sheffield’s 500′th Home Run (Congrats Mr. Sheffield!) we also saw some more exciting fireworks from the bat of…..Luis Castillo.

Bottom of the 9′th….two outs, Runners on Second and Third…and Boom, Luis comes through with slap infield single to the left side of the infield. It was a glorious win for the Mets…they had to have this win after coming from behind (again) after giving up a 3-0 lead gotten in the first inning. 

To make a long story short, in the 9′th, we saw (another) clutch hit from Carlos Delgado to lead of the all important bottom half of this inning. Bobby Parnell also looked excellent (again), Putz looked strong, and David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Luis Castillo all did well at the plate (along with Delgado of course). 

So the Mets are 5-5 now…but what is more than the record is the ever growing confidence in Castillo, and the BUllpen as a whole. Confidence will lead to wins, and this is something the Mets are gaining each day. The only true issue so far….starting pitching. My gut feeling tells me that this will get better over the next month.

Let’s Go Mets!

Before I get into today’s game I want to make mention of a few things:

I didn’t get to post about Yesterdays game against the Florida Marlins, but I woule like to write a quick blurb about it now.  Johan looked awesome, 13 K’s is nothing to sneeze at. Of course he did not get the win…that went to Johnson, Florida’s SP. Johnson got better as the game progressed, and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed with this guy. It was an incredible gamer to watch, and I feel it was the best I have watched this season. (Even though it resulted in a Mets loss) Oh yeah, Congratulations to Johan Santana…who’s wife gave birth to a baby boy today…only 18 years and we might see another Johan!

Ok so now for today. Citi Field is in business! It was a true pleasure to see The Franchise and Mr. Mike Piazza on the field once again for the opening ceremonies. Always cool to see those two on the same field. So new stadium, fresh start, let’s give the ball to Mike Pelfrey. What a wonderful first inning it was, the first Padres batter launched a home run over the right field fence to christen the new field. Pelfrey then settled down and escaped the first inning.

Pelfrey have up 4 more runs over the next few innings, and wasn’t all that sharp tonight. His pitches were up in the zone, and I must admit, I am hoping to see more from him this weekend.

Offensively, David Wright looked great, Beltran gave one a ride (but not quite enough), Castillo came through in an important spot. Feliciano balked home the go ahead (at the time) and eventual winning run. Not exactly the best way to start, but let’s see what happens!

Until tomorrow…Happy blogging!

Daniel Murphy looks to be a perfect two-hole hitter and a fantasy baseball stat provider. Thus far, in 2009 he’s batting .296 with a .345 obp, including a Home Run in his 3^rd at bat. In 2008, he hit .313, but, considerably more significant was his .397 obp. His offensive approach and surprising patience, will provide Jose Reyes a chance to run and David Wright a chance to drive in someone other than (and in addition to) Jose Reyes. I see Murphy providing the following fantasy line:

93runs-15homeruns-73rbis-6stolen bases-.283avg-.357obp.

I think Daniel Murphy is exactly what the Mets needed in so many different ways. Probably the only way, he’s not extremely needed, is that he hits left-handed, however, this guarantees him hitting 2^nd all year (without any slumps) because the Mets wouldn’t bat Delgado-Murphy-Church-Schneider back to back. I think Reyes(s) Murphy(l) Wright(r) Delgado(l) Beltran(r) Church(l)/Sheffield(r) Shneider(l)/Castro(r) Castillo(s)/Cora(l) is what they will go with all year. Maybe against phenomenal lefties, he could hit toward the bottom of the lineup, but I would say at least 85% of his at bats comes from the 2-hole.

I posted this factor in my first post of the season – NL East Projections/Previews, but I think one of the most important aspects surrounding Daniel Murphy, will be the Met’s ability to trade Fernando Martinez. Maybe they want to keep him for RF, which of course, they should (if he pans out), but I really think we should trade him in addition to one of our top SS prospects (Wilmer Flores/ Reese Havens) and one of our top P prospects (Jon Niese/Brad Holt/Eddie Kunz) for a top notch starter, such as Roy Halladay, Erik Bedard + Jose Lopez, or Jake Peavy. I think Fernando Martinez is expendable because of Murphy; Havens/Flores is expendable because of Reyes; and even our 3b prospect, Jeff Marte is expendable because of Wright. Why not trade these pieces for another starter and 2b while we’re at it:

If they deem Jeff Marte effective, this allows the Mariners to also trade Adrian Beltre(3b), and they then can have a successful fire sale. The Mets lineup and rotation would look as follows:

This trade would not only make the rotation and lineup look significantly better, but the Mets would have Johan Santana – Erik Bedard – Oliver Perez (Lefty-Lefty-Lefty) against the Phillies. I guess I’m subconsciously dwelling on the Phillies, but METS… PLEASE DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE BRAVES – AND MARLINS!!!!!