Two things:
1. WHOO!
2. Finally.
What a long offseason it's been, wanting nothing more than to finally see the headline come across my computer screen. I was frantically refreshing web sites today just waiting for it to happen, and then it finally did.
Pure elation is the only way to describe the way I've felt over the past 14 hours since the news broke on USAToday.com. I feel like I can't even write a proper post with these emotions.
The deal is as it was rumored earlier. The Mets give up Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey. A wonderful, small price to pay, as far as I'm concerned, as I was prepared to lose Fernando Martinez. Being able to get Johan while still holding onto Martinez is almost like getting two deals in one. I assume that if the Twins demanded that Martinez be added to the deal, the Mets would have added him and made the deal, but they were able to use time to their advantage, as no other teams were prepared to step up as the Twins were approaching their deadline.
It all still depends on the Mets and Johan agreeing to a contract extension, but as Mike and the Mad Dog were discussing after the deal, there's no way the Mets can back out of this now. It would be a nightmare, a crushing blow to Mets fans if the front office decided it was unwilling to agree to Johan's terms. Basically, whatever he wants, we have to give it to him.
The ultimate goal here is to win a World Series one last time in Shea Stadium before it's torn down. I was just a mere six months old when they won in 1986, and I want nothing more than to watch my Mets celebrate a World Series championship at the stadium I love. That's what has made me so devastated the last two seasons, and why I have been so desperately wanting Johan for 2008.
This is our year. Please make it happen. If we win this season, then everything that happened today and will happen in the coming days with the contract talks, will be completely worth it, no matter what happens beyond 2008.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The offer for Santana?
The reported offer the Mets are trying to get Santana for is Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Phil Humber, and Kevin Mulvey, and the Twins want Fernando Martinez added to that package (Minnesota Star Tribune).
That's basically our entire list of top prospects there. Especially Fernando Martinez, who I've been really looking forward to seeing. Our five top prospects does seem pretty steep for just one pitcher, but when it's Johan Santana, the Twins have the ability to demand.
This will pretty much go along with my previous post, but things have been real quiet lately and I felt the need to post something, anything. As much as the trade scares me, I still have to say "Yes" to it. Getting Johan would mean so much to this team.
The thing is though, both of our corner outfielders are short-term (unless Ryan Church turns out better than expected, or Moises Alou gets five years younger), so having Fernando Martinez ready to step in in a year or two in one of those spots would have been great to see. So if this trade happens, both of those spots will need to be replaced by free agent pickups. Alou may be in his final year of baseball, and Church could easily fail to produce the way we need, so next offseason could be rough. This is where I regret the Milledge trade.
Of course, if Santana were to come in and help us win the World Series, then all those problems go away.
That's basically our entire list of top prospects there. Especially Fernando Martinez, who I've been really looking forward to seeing. Our five top prospects does seem pretty steep for just one pitcher, but when it's Johan Santana, the Twins have the ability to demand.
This will pretty much go along with my previous post, but things have been real quiet lately and I felt the need to post something, anything. As much as the trade scares me, I still have to say "Yes" to it. Getting Johan would mean so much to this team.
The thing is though, both of our corner outfielders are short-term (unless Ryan Church turns out better than expected, or Moises Alou gets five years younger), so having Fernando Martinez ready to step in in a year or two in one of those spots would have been great to see. So if this trade happens, both of those spots will need to be replaced by free agent pickups. Alou may be in his final year of baseball, and Church could easily fail to produce the way we need, so next offseason could be rough. This is where I regret the Milledge trade.
Of course, if Santana were to come in and help us win the World Series, then all those problems go away.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Johan Santana
From the very first day of this blog, I've made it pretty clear that I really want Johan Santana coming to the Mets. I had originally hoped to just wait it out and sign him next offseason without having to give up anything, but it seems that if he's traded this offseason, that team will be signing him to a long contract extension. So if we want him next year, we're likely going to need to get him for this year, too.
And I can't really complain about that either, as long as we don't have to give up too much. I would like nothing more than to see the Mets celebrate one last World Series on the field at Shea before they move into Citi Field. And based on the rest of the pitching market, if we don't get Johan, that's going to be a tough goal to accomplish.
Early rumors said that the Twins were demanding Reyes, and Omar, rightly so, refused. Negotiations have been bragging out for quite awhile now though. They seem to be at a stalemate with the Red Sox and Yankees, and the other 26 teams are basically non-contenders for him.
Of course, if we won't include Reyes, getting Johan will come at quite a high price in prospects. I'm willing to give up pretty much anyone besides Reyes and Wright, and Omar has made it pretty clear that he feels the same way about those two. If we can get a guy like Johan Santana and sign him to a long-term contract, then the future is already there, we don't have to wait for these prospects to possibly develop.
Then again, Johan is one player, compared to probably four we'd have to give up. But chances are very low that any of those players will come close to the value of Santana, and we'd probably be lucky to even have two of them become solid contributors for our team.
So I say, go for it. If only the Twins will accept.
And I can't really complain about that either, as long as we don't have to give up too much. I would like nothing more than to see the Mets celebrate one last World Series on the field at Shea before they move into Citi Field. And based on the rest of the pitching market, if we don't get Johan, that's going to be a tough goal to accomplish.
Early rumors said that the Twins were demanding Reyes, and Omar, rightly so, refused. Negotiations have been bragging out for quite awhile now though. They seem to be at a stalemate with the Red Sox and Yankees, and the other 26 teams are basically non-contenders for him.
Of course, if we won't include Reyes, getting Johan will come at quite a high price in prospects. I'm willing to give up pretty much anyone besides Reyes and Wright, and Omar has made it pretty clear that he feels the same way about those two. If we can get a guy like Johan Santana and sign him to a long-term contract, then the future is already there, we don't have to wait for these prospects to possibly develop.
Then again, Johan is one player, compared to probably four we'd have to give up. But chances are very low that any of those players will come close to the value of Santana, and we'd probably be lucky to even have two of them become solid contributors for our team.
So I say, go for it. If only the Twins will accept.
Late thoughts on the Lastings Milledge trade.
November 30, 2007: The New York Mets trade Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church
The first impression of this trade is definitely a puzzling one. There were a lot of trade rumors going around, and most included Milledge, so I expected him to get dealt. However, all of those rumors circled around him being traded to boost our pitching staff. So when I saw this trade, two things came to mind: 1) This is all we traded Milledge for? and 2) Now what are we going to do to boost our pitching staff?
I suppose if you look at the first question, the trade starts to look better the more you think about it. We traded a developing outfielder for another young outfielder plus our new starting catcher (which means no more Johnny Estrada, but that trade was still more than worth it just to get rid of Guillermo Mota).
I always liked Ryan Church, but I don't really know enough about him to know how he will compare to Milledge as our right fielder. The justification from Omar Minaya seems to be that Ryan Church will be a better player in the present, to help the win now approach. Milledge certainly has a brighter future, but I'm not so certain that the potential will be realized. Losing Lastings doesn't really sting me too badly.
However, that is where the second question comes in. I had no problem trading him for pitching help, and was eagerly anticipating seeing which pitcher we would get for him, be it a guy like Dan Haren or even the mighty package for Johan Santana. However, now we are seeing some guys slip off the market and others where the front office is struggling to put a package together for. I don't like to think about what could have been, but I can't help but wonder what could have been done with him, and what will not be able to be done now that he's gone.
The first impression of this trade is definitely a puzzling one. There were a lot of trade rumors going around, and most included Milledge, so I expected him to get dealt. However, all of those rumors circled around him being traded to boost our pitching staff. So when I saw this trade, two things came to mind: 1) This is all we traded Milledge for? and 2) Now what are we going to do to boost our pitching staff?
I suppose if you look at the first question, the trade starts to look better the more you think about it. We traded a developing outfielder for another young outfielder plus our new starting catcher (which means no more Johnny Estrada, but that trade was still more than worth it just to get rid of Guillermo Mota).
I always liked Ryan Church, but I don't really know enough about him to know how he will compare to Milledge as our right fielder. The justification from Omar Minaya seems to be that Ryan Church will be a better player in the present, to help the win now approach. Milledge certainly has a brighter future, but I'm not so certain that the potential will be realized. Losing Lastings doesn't really sting me too badly.
However, that is where the second question comes in. I had no problem trading him for pitching help, and was eagerly anticipating seeing which pitcher we would get for him, be it a guy like Dan Haren or even the mighty package for Johan Santana. However, now we are seeing some guys slip off the market and others where the front office is struggling to put a package together for. I don't like to think about what could have been, but I can't help but wonder what could have been done with him, and what will not be able to be done now that he's gone.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year
Happy New Year everyone.
I apologize for not keeping this up to date over the past month. Maybe the RIP posts wore me out, I don't know. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse.
I'm not one for New Years resolutions, but it's about time that I get back into this.
Here's to 2008, the last year of Shea Stadium. Let's send it out with a bang in more ways than just one.
I apologize for not keeping this up to date over the past month. Maybe the RIP posts wore me out, I don't know. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse.
I'm not one for New Years resolutions, but it's about time that I get back into this.
Here's to 2008, the last year of Shea Stadium. Let's send it out with a bang in more ways than just one.
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