JJLaman

I originally posted this back in February but that was a touch early for some peoples taste (haha). Take a peek at it again and you will see that there are going to be plenty of options for us before the trade deadline.

I figured I would take moment to highlight some of the 2010 free agents that could be possible trade deadline targets for our Mets. Granted, things have to play out before we would persue any of these options (like how the corner outfielders work out between Ryan Church, Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy along with the Luis Castillo, Alex Cora 2nd base situation), but here are some of the guys teams could be looking to deal before they get nothing in return next winter.

CATCHER: I dont really see us doing anything in this area at all but anything could happen. The best of what could be available here features someone coming back from injury in the Indians Victor Martinez. If he comes back healthy and productive though, he could be expensive and may never hit the market (as the team holds a $7 million dollar club option). There is also Bengie Molina from the Giants and he could be a more realistic team once they fall out of contention.

FIRST BASE: Nothing really worth talking about here at all. Carlos Delgado is our man. He has to stay healthy and productive because this market is just non-existant. After this season, we are either going to bring him back for another year or go in house.

SECOND BASE: We are saddled with Luis Castillo and over spent on Alex Cora as a fall back option. That said, Brian Roberts is no longer on the wish list as he has resigned with the Orioles. What we are looking at here is Placido Polanco from the Tigers and a slew of guys we passed on this winter (David Eckstein, Felipe Lopez, Adam Kennedy). This situation will have to play out before anything at all is considered a viable option but with the money owed Castillo and Omars committment to not dumping him, we have to hope he rebounds.

THIRD BASE: We will not need one for years. Moving on.

SHORTSTOP: Again, wont need one for years. Moving on.

LEFTFIELD: There is actually some nice talent to mention here. We all know about Matt Holliday but that man is going to cost alot. There is also Jason Bay but I dont see the Red Sox letting him go as they will be in contention. The Rays have Carl Crawford coming up on free agency but they have a $10 million dollar option which more than likely will get picked up. Holliday is probably the most available and desirable commodity but again, he will cost alot. How things play out with Daniel Murphy, Ryan Church, Fernando Tatis and Fernando Martinez's progress, will go a long way in determining our interest here.

CENTERFIELD: Not needed. There may be some complimentary guys here that could be moved to one of the corner spots, but for the most part, none of it is any better than what we have. Moving on.

RIGHTFIELD: As I stated earlier with leftfield, how the guys we have now pans out will determine our interest but for this position we have Xavier Nady with the Yankees (no easy deal being worked out there), Vladimir Guerrero with the Angels, Bobby Abreu (who we passed on this winter), Magglio Ordonez with the Tigers, and Jermaine Dye with the White Sox. Some of these guys are getting up there in age but depending how things work out, we could use them for the dog days of summer and a post season run. Something to watch as I think some of these options could be had cheaper and easier than the leftfield options available.

STARTING PITCHER: I dont know if anything spectacular can be done here but anything is possible. Most of the cream of the crop, have club options. Brandon Webb with the Diamondbacks ($8.5 million dollar club option), Cliff Lee with the Indians ($8 million dollar option), and Josh Beckett with the Red Sox ($12 million dollar option). I think the most realistically available options could be John Lackey of the Angels. Rich Harden of the Cubs will be looking at free agency but the Cubs should contend and if he is healthy, I see no reason why they move him. Another possibility could be Erik Bedard with the Mariners depending upon how he rebounds and there is always the outside shot that the Blue Jays decide to rebuild and dump Roy Halliday. Our staffs health and productivity play into whether we are buyers in this market.

RELIEF PITCHER: While there are some decent names available here, I think the most interesting thing will be whether we decide to trade J.J. Putz before the deadline. I have a hard time seeing the team picking up an $8.6 million dollar option on an 8th inning set-up man (even though it does give us one heck of a possible 1-2 punch). He could be dangled to a team in need of a closer if we find ourselves needing to address a need of our own. Other than that, we could possibly be in the market for a left-handed reliever but who isn't?

As much as this off season has dragged and we have all debated the merits of signing one player or another, things could be much much worse in 2010. This is a rather lengthy post, but it breaks down our priority areas and the free agents that will be available in 2010 to address them. Lets start with taking a look at what's available at catcher:

Catchers
Rod Barajas (34)
Josh Bard (32)
Michael Barrett (33) - club option
Jamie Burke (38)
Ramon Castro (34)
Toby Hall (34)
Ramon Hernandez (34) - $8.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Jason Kendall (36)
Jason LaRue (36)
Victor Martinez (31) - $7MM club option with a $250K buyout
Bengie Molina (35)
Jose Molina (35)
Miguel Olivo (31) - $3.25MM mutual option
Mike Redmond (39)
Brian Schneider (33)
Yorvit Torrealba (31) - $4MM mutual option with a $500K buyout
Vance Wilson (37)

Once Victor Martinez has his option picked up by the Indians (almost for certain) then what exactly will be left? A 35 year old Bengie Molina? We are beyond thin in the minors at catcher and while there are a couple I like, they aren't anything all that special and still have a lot to prove.

The situation doesn't improve either when you look to change our 2nd basemen in 2010 and we would still need to find a sucker, oops I mean taker for Luis Castillo. Take alook at whats available at that position:

Second basemen
Ronnie Belliard (35)
Chris Burke (30)
Jamey Carroll (36)
Alex Cora (34)
Mark DeRosa (35)
David Eckstein (35)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Akinori Iwamura (31) - $4.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Adam Kennedy (34)
Felipe Lopez (30)
Mark Loretta (38)
Pablo Ozuna (35)
Placido Polanco (34)
Brian Roberts (32)
Freddy Sanchez (32) - $8MM club option with a $600K buyout

Brian Roberts is it and I would be very suprised if the Orioles let him go. He will more than likely get a new contract before the season ends.. I would have liked to have had taken a shot at Felipe Lopez this season but instead, the Diamondbacks got him for 1 year at $3.5 million. Depending upon the year he has out there, he might be an option next off-season but he would have been a cheaper option had we signed him this season with an option year.

Now onto LF. Here we actually come away with a few halfway decent options but I dont know if it will matter. Maybe our Mets will be ready to feature Fernando Martinez by then but alot of that will depend on his play this season. Here is what we are looking at for LF:

Left fielders
Marlon Anderson (36)
Jason Bay (31)
Carl Crawford (28) - $10MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout
Johnny Damon (36)
David Dellucci (36)
Matt Holliday (30)
Gabe Kapler (34)
Greg Norton (37)
Wily Mo Pena (28)
Dave Roberts (38)
Fernando Tatis (35)

Crawford will definately have his option picked up by the Rays and it wouldnt suprise me to see the A's try and sign Holliday to contract. If our Martinez isn't ready by then and Omar winds up going out to the free agent market, we could possibly be looking at Jason Bay? Another possibility could be right fielder Xavier Nady but it goes downhill from there.

This is going to be an interesting season because what becomes available next year and who we have with expiring contracts (Carlos Delgado) means we could be in for some rather ugly changes next winter. Along with us hoping Martinez is ready for left field by next year, we will be hoping that either Murphy, Evans, or Davis, are ready to man 1st base by next season. Here is whats available for 1st base next off season once Delgado is gone:

First basemen
Russell Branyan (34)
Frank Catalanotto (36) - $5MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Tony Clark (38)
Carlos Delgado (38)
Ross Gload (34) - $2.6MM club option
Nick Johnson (31)
Adam LaRoche (30)
Chad Tracy (30)
Dmitri Young (36)  -$6MM option vests with 500 PAs in '09

The situation looks a little better with starting pitching but alot of these guys will have their options picked up. Diamondbacks and Webb, Lee and the Indians, and Beckett with the Red Sox for sure. If we resign Perez and either Bobby Parnell or Jonathon Niese doesnt step up, we will be in the market for a SP that includes possibly John Lackey and Rich Harden just to name a couple. In any case, here is what is available at SP:

Starting pitchers
Brandon Backe (32)
Danys Baez (32)
Miguel Batista (39)
Josh Beckett (30) - $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Erik Bedard (31)
Daniel Cabrera (29)
Chris Capuano (31)
Bartolo Colon (37)
Jose Contreras (38)
Doug Davis (34)
Justin Duchscherer (32)
Adam Eaton (32) - $9MM mutual option with a $500K buyout
Shawn Estes (37)
Mike Hampton (37)
Rich Harden (28)
Mark Hendrickson (36)
Tim Hudson (34) - $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Jason Johnson (36)
Randy Johnson (46)
John Lackey (31)
Cliff Lee (31) - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Jason Marquis (31)
Kevin Millwood (35) - Rangers can decline $12MM salary for '10 unless he reaches 180 innings in '09
Brian Moehler (38) - mutual option
Brett Myers (29)
Vicente Padilla (32) - $12MM club option with a $1.75MM buyout
Chan Ho Park (37)
Carl Pavano (34)
Brad Penny (32)
Joel Pineiro (31)
Mark Prior (28)
Horacio Ramirez (30)
Tim Redding (32)
Jason Schmidt (37)
John Smoltz (43)
Tim Wakefield (43) - perpetual $4MM club option
Jarrod Washburn (35)
Brandon Webb (31) - $8.5MM club option with a $500K+ buyout
Todd Wellemeyer (31)

Once you take all this info in, it is easy to see that with as uninspiring as alot might think this offseason has been, at least we did bring in K-Rod and J.J. Putz. Next year could be dragged out even longer with our team having even bigger holes to fill. The platoon in LF between Tatis and Murphy will be 1 year older and possibly Tatis leaving while us needing either Murphy or Evans or possibly Ike Davis to slide in at 1st base. The 2nd base situation will still be the Luis castillo debacle. Our catching will be another year older with Schneider being a free agent and us possibly needing another SP along with having to decide what to do about Putz's $8.5 million dollar option. It is easy to see that trading during the season will become alot more important this year and that things could actually get pretty ugly next offseason. 

Thanks to MLBTradeRumors.com for making this information available in one easy spot.

While I like Ben Sheets and Randy Wolf, I have always wanted them brought in as possible back of the rotation starters due to their injury risk. Omar really dropped the ball by waiting for the market to expand on Lowe and now we have no choice but to sign Perez to be our 3rd/4th starter.

If Omar would have just been more aggresive from the start with Lowe (I am not saying he should have gave in to the 4th year but maybe offer more money than the rumored 3/$36 million dollar offer and an option for the 4th), Lowe would probably be ours now. Instead, we continue to read now about fallback option after fallback option.

I won't debate the positives and negatives of Perez. We've been doing that all season. The only fact that remians at this point is that regardless of what my ulcer may go through with Perez on the mound at any given time, he is the healthiest and best option still available. Omar cannot wait until this market expands as he did for Lowe. Teams like the Dodgers have pitching needs as well and the money to spend. Get a move on now Omar.  

Now that it appears the Red Sox are on the verge of adding John Smoltz (along with Rocco Baldelli, whom I would have loved to have seen in a Mets uniform), I have to wonder whether this is going to affect our trying to sign Derek Lowe.

The Braves definately have the money to add starting pitching (they have tried all winter to trade for Jake Peavy and we're in on the bidding of $80 mil to A.J. Burnett) and now that it appears that John Smoltz is ready to jump ship, I just cannot see the Braves going with a rotation that features Jair Jurrjens, Javier Vasquez,  Jorge Campillo, Charlie Morton and Jo-Jo Reyes, with Tim Hudson out until likely late in the summer. Tom Glavine is also unlikely to return even more so now that Smoltz is gone.

The Mets really need to hurry up and lock up another starting pitcher whether it be Lowe, Oliver Perez, Randy Wolf, whomever and quick because Atlanta could easily swoop in and take 2 of the guys we are currently looking at. 

This bullpen is gonna bring back my ulcer. Over the last 7 days the bullpen has combined for 3 losses. Funny to me that Aaron Heilman whines for the longest time that he wants to be a starter but he can't manage to pitch an inning or 2 without screwing things up. Scott Schoenweis and Joe Smith are sporting era's around 22.00 for the week and are making me want to puke. Meanwhile, Billy Wagner gets brought into a soft situation with a 2 run lead and can't lock it down. While Omar didn't do a thing to help this bullpen out at the deadline, he needs to just go ahead and bring guys like Eddie Kunz and Jonathon Niese up NOW! They can do nothing but help (it would be really hard to be much worse).

Most aggravating thing about Aaron Heilman is that when we could have dealt him for something decent, we didn't. Right now I would deal him for a bag of balls and the opportunity to smack him in the rear with the door on his way out. What's even worse, is that I am sure that there are some fools out there that thing I'm completely wrong on Heilman.