Nickeas gets outrighted to Triple-A

The Mets have announced that catcher Mike Nickeas has cleared waivers and will be outrighted to Triple-A. 

Nickeas hit .174 in 122 plate appearances with the Mets in 2012.

Analysis: Nickeas was god-awful for the Mets, and I am glad he is gone. The guy can't hit at all, and occasionally makes bonehead defensive plays. Now the Mets should/will go out and get a power catcher that can hit from the right side of the plate. 

Mets exercise options for Dickey, Wright

The Mets have announced that they have exercised the 2013 club options for third baseman David Wright, and pitcher R.A. Dickey. Wright will earn $16 million in 2013, and Dickey will earn $5 million.

Wright got off to a fast start in the 2012 season, but faded down the stretch. He has been involved in several trade rumors for the past few years, and has supposedly been in extension talks with New York's front office. Wright finished the 2012 season hitting .306 with 21 home runs and 93 RBI in 670 plate appearances.

Dickey easily had the best season of his career in 2012, winning 20 games while posting a 2.73 ERA in 233.2 innings pitched. He also managed to strike out 230 batters, which was the highest in the National League. He has also been in extension talks, but is also a trade candidate this off-season if the Mets feel like his production is expendable.

Analysis: Well we had to expect both of these moves. I have a strong feeling that Wright will sign an extension before next season. The Mets just cannot trade him, because he is so important to that franchise. Dickey has also been a spark plug for the Mets' squad, and emerged as the club's ace. If the Mets wanted to trade him now would be the time, because his value is as high as it will ever be and he is under a team friendly contract.

Mets claim Anthony Recker

The Mets have claimed catcher Anthony Recker off of waivers from the Cubs. Recker was designated for assignment yesterday to create roster space for pitcher Carlos Gutierrez.

Recker hit .143 in 58 plate appearances with Oakland and Chicago in 2012. He is a career .277 hitter at the Triple-A level.

Analysis: Recker has some pop to his bat and the Mets do not have any catching depth, so this move makes sense. Maybe the Mets will just use Recker as a platoon partner with Josh Thole and let Kelly Shoppach walk via free agency. I don't agree with that move, but it is a cheap move and GM Sandy Alderson is a cheap fella.

Mets to non-tender Pelfrey

A Mets official has told Mike Puma of the New York Post that the team will non-tender pitcher Mike Pelfrey this winter. However, the club still wants to re-sign Pelfrey as a free agent. 

Pelfrey made only three starts during the 2012 season before undergoing Tommy John surgery. If the Mets chose to retain him through the arbitration process, they would have probably had to pay him around $5-6 million for the 2013 season, which is risky considering that he is coming off of a major surgery.

Analysis: Well we had to see this coming. Bringing back Pelfrey makes sense, but I do not want him back if it will cost $5-6 million. Pelfrey is a good pitcher when his mind is on straight, and with that in mind I say that the Mets bring him back on a minor league, incentive-based contract, because he is a former first round pick of theirs and you can't just give up on him like that. 

Lewis outrighted to minor leagues, will elect free agency

The Mets announced that outfielder Fred Lewis has been outrighted to the minor leagues. However, he will supposedly reject his outright assignment and elect free agency.

Lewis hit .150 in a brief stint (18 games) with the Mets in 2012 as a September call-up.

Analysis: Lewis is a decent fourth outfielder but I don't think the Mets will miss him too much. He looked really promising when he first came up with San Francisco, but couldn't really stay healthy and resorted to a part time role. I'm sure he'll sign a minor league deal with someone, but I don't know how much playing time he'll actually get.

Johnson elects free agency

The Mets have announced that catcher Rob Johnson has been outrighted off of the 40 man roster and will become a free agent.

Johnson hit .250 in 58 plate appearances with New York in 2012. He spent the majority of the season in Triple-A, hitting .207 in 45 games.

Analysis: Johnson is a good defensive catcher but offensive problems have really held back his development. With that being said, he'll probably sign a minor league deal with someone again to become their backup catcher, if he's lucky.

How can the Mets start competing again?

The Mets finished the 2012 season with a 74-88 record, which was good for 4th in the NL East. They got off to a terrific start, but started to deteriorate after the All-Star break. There honestly weren't that many positives to take away from the season, but GM Sandy Alderson insists that it was a positive step in his rebuilding plan. Now that the season is over, the club must decide what their off-season plan should be, and what they will be seeing themselves as over the next few years- a contender or bottom dweller?

The pitching staff was impressive for the most part in 2012, but will need some improvement. There has been some speculation that the Mets would be interesting in trading Jon Niese in a possible Justin Upton deal, but I have my doubts that a deal like that would come our way. Upton is a rare player to have and it would take more than Niese to pry him out of Arizona. There have also been some rumors about a possible R.A. Dickey trade. Dickey had a breakout 2012 season and emerged as the team's ace, but some may not want him to sign an extension because of his older age. Chris Young is as good as gone, and Jeremy Hefner is a spot starter at best. That leaves Matt Harvey and Collin McHugh. Harvey was fantastic during his brief stint with the Mets, and will be an exciting player to watch in 2013. McHugh had his ups and downs as an Amazin', and could serve as either trade bait this off-season, or a spot starter similar to Hefner. If the Mets want to compete in 2013, they will definitely need to acquire some pitching one way or another. I believe that a trade should be the way to go, but if Alderson wants to use his minimial payroll flexibility on a starting pitcher or two, I expect names like Jeremy Guthrie or Shaun Marcum to be mentioned.

Fortunately for the Mets, the offense featured a few players having breakout seasons in 2012. Ike Davis had over 30 home runs and Ruben Tejada proved that he can take over the reigns of being the everyday shortstop now that Jose Reyes is in Miami. Wright had a fantastic start to his season, but saw his numbers take a minor dip as the season progressed. Despite that, he still managed to hit .306 with 21 home runs and 93 RBI in 156 games. Murphy and Hairston had very nice seasons, but I have a feeling that they will be gone before the 2013 season begins. Murphy is a great hitter, but his defense has always been questioned. The Mets may want to ship him to an American League team to become a DH and try to get a prospect or two out of him. Hairston had a great season as a part-time player, and I believe he will get massively overpaid by a team that believes he should actually be an everyday player. Lucas Duda turned out to be a bust, and Jason Bay was simply the Jason Bay that we have all come to hate over these last three years or so. If the Mets want to make their offense a real threat, acquiring an outfielder would be a key move to make. Signing a B.J. Upton or Michael Bourn seems like it is out of the picture due to financial constraints. Perhaps a trade for someone like Shin-Soo Choo would be ideal, considering that he would probably only cost one or two decent prospects and wouldn't break the bank if the team chooses to re-sign him. Finally we have the whole Josh Thole situation. It would be smart to bring back Kelly Shoppach so he can platoon with Thole, who had a terrible season and took a major step backwards in his development. Shoppach would be a cheap option, assuming that he wants to come back to New York.

If there was an area that desperately needs to be upgraded, it is the bullpen. Alderson believed that the bullpen was going to be better in 2012, considering that he acquired Ramon Ramirez and signed Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch. Ramirez and Francisco were busts and Rauch was inconsistent. Alderson is going to have to sign a bunch of reclamation-type project relief pitchers this winter and hope that they will pan out. They are definitely out there, and  he is going to have to dig deep to find them.

Overall, the Mets are going to have to be very active this winter in order to gain respectability in 2013. Their future is currently in question, and relying heavily on young players like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. As a Mets fan, I cringe when I think about where this team will be in 5-10 years, but I believe that someday the Wilpons will sell the franchise to an owner who will be willing to put money into the team, and get this franchise back on track.

Hampson outrighted off 40-man roster, hits free agency

The Mets have announced that left handed pitcher Justin Hampson has been outrighted off of the 40 man roster and will become a free agent.

Hampson appeared in ten games with the Mets in 2012, but spent the majority of the year in Triple-A, posting a 2.33 ERA with 65 2/3 innings.

Analysis: Hampson was pretty good with the Mets but I don't see him being anything special. This move will not impact anything- actually it is pretty understandable considering that the Rule 5 draft is coming up and the Mets need to put a few prospects, most notably Zack Wheeler and Darin Gorski, on the 40 man roster.

Mets won't look to trade Duda this off-season

According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets will not be inclined to trade outfielder Lucas Duda this off-season, even though a report earlier in the month indicated that the Mets would be open to trading Duda or Davis this winter to address other needs.

The the Mets dealt Davis, that would open up the first baseman position for Duda. Duda has hit 15 homers and 57 RBI in 446 plate appearances for the Mets this season, and has got sent down to the minor leagues earlier in 2012.

Analysis: As a Mets fan, I would be very upset if the Mets' front office dealt Davis or Duda. Davis is having a great season, and is a piece of the future. He shouldn't be dealt, and neither should Duda. I guess I would trade Duda at the right price, perhaps in a package for an outfielder like Shin-Soo Choo or Justin Upton. I really hope that the Mets don't trade Davis though, because he haw incredible raw power that Duda does not have.

Revisiting the Johan Santana trade of 2008

More than four years ago, the Mets pulled off a big trade to acquire a big name starting pitcher, and that pitcher was Johan Santana. The move surprised many of us, because we didn't realize that Santana was even on the market. Many of us believed that he had a future in Minnesota, and should have stayed there. The Johan Santana trade has actually affected both sides drastically, and the prospects that the Twins received at the time looked very good. Now, fast foward to 2012, Here's a breakdown of the trade: (2012 stats)

Mets get:

Johan Santana- (recently shut-down for remainder of the season)- 4.85 ERA, 21 starts, 117.0 innings, 8.5 K/9.

Twins get:

Carlos Gomez- (playing for the Brewers)-  .257 batting average, 16 homers, 44 RBI, 30 stolen bases, 110 games, .303 on-base percentage.

Phil Humber- (playing for the White Sox)- 5.81 ERA, 24 appearances, 16 starts, 100.2 innings, 4 strikeouts, threw a perfect game earlier in the season.

Deolis Guerra- (Triple-A stats)- 4.87 ERA, 29 appearances, 8.8 K/9 , 57.1 innings.

Kevin Mulvey- (Double-A stats w/ Mets, retired earlier in the season at age 27)- 5.59 ERA, 13 appearances, 19.1 innings.

As you can see, the trade hasn't really benefited both sides, especially the Twins. I'm not just saying that because I may have a little east coast (Mets) bias in me. Santana has been very injury prone since joining the Mets, but, with the exception to this year, he has been effective when healthy. Keep in mind that the Mets signed Santana to a mega-contract after the 2008 season, so that is ultimately why he is still in Flushing through 2013. As for the Twins, the trade has been a mess. The Gomez and Humber experiments didn't work out, and the two of them, especially Gomez, are seeing regular playing time now with opposing teams. Gomez is a good ballplayer, but occasionally strikes out too often, therefore putting up a poor on-base percentage. Humber is nothing more than a #4 pitcher, even though many thought that he was finally coming into his own as he tossed that perfect game earlier in the season. Guerra, a former top prospect with the Mets, hasn't been able to figure it out in the Twins' organization. He is still 23 years old, so he has some time to develop, but it seems like he has been in the minors for a long long time and may want to consider a different job soon. Mulvey bounced around with a few teams before he returned to the Mets this Spring. He pitched poorly in Double-A, and retired. 

Honestly, it's actually tough to truly say who won this trade. Santana was great with the Mets in 2008, but his contract is a head-scratcher right now and will limit New York's payroll flexibility for next season. The prospects, as you can clearly see, haven't worked out for the Twins but the Twins did in fact get SOMETHING for him. I'm going to say that the Mets won the trade, but that is debatable. 

 

Wright "optimistic" about signing an extension

David Wright has said that he's "extremely optimistic" about signing a long-term contract with the Mets, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. 

Wright's current deal includes a club option for 2013 worth $16 million with a $1 million buyout. GM Sandy Alderson has said that the team has interest in keeping Wright in place long-term. Earlier in the season, Wright refused to discuss an extension during the 2012 season, therefore making him a extension candidate for the 2013 off-season, because he would most likely not want to discuss an extension during the 2013 season as well. 

Analysis: Wright is my favorite player of all time, and I hope that he stays in Flushing for the rest of his career. In that same report, Heyman believes that Wright would possibly get a deal similar to Matt Kemp (8 years, $160 million.) I don't see that happening. First off, Wright will definitely take a hometown discount to stay in New York. Second off, I don't think that Alderson and Co. will be willing to throw that amount of money at one player. 

Why is so hard to be a Met fan?

Sell the team Fred.

Being a Mets fan has been a chore over the last few years. There are problems with the whole organization, spanning from the coaching staff to the ownership. It's really annoying knowing that the Mets will give it their all in every first half of the season, and simply collapse in the second half due to countless reasons. Now, I could just pretty much tell you what I think the Mets should do to fix themselves and get in contention next year, but I'm going to rather tell you what I think is wrong with the organization.

Starting with Wilpons, and Saul Katz, who are the majority owners of the organization. They have been running the organization for a few decades, and have often brought competitiveness and excitement to Flushing. Now, recently, they haven't been so popular amougst Met fans, due their unwillingness to spend money and make changes with the personnel. Their most recent infamous moment was getting involved in the Bernie Madoff scheme. Once Met fans heard that the Wilpons were involved, they, like myself, were furious and wanted the Wilpons to sell the team. We wanted them to sell the team because they wouldn't have any money, therefore they wouldn't bring in any big name free agents. Now, being in New York, you have to expect that your team will have a high payroll and will compete every year. The Wilpons hired GM Sandy Alderson to be their GM after the 2010 season. I liked the move at first, because Alderson was a former GM from Oakland who pretty much worked with what he had from a money standpoint. I still, to this day, don't really disagree with the move, because it made sense at the time. Now, Alderson hasn't been able to bring in any big free agents since taking over, and that's understandable. But now it's starting to get ridiculous. He let Jose Reyes walk via free agency, and some Met fans, like myself, were happy about that decision. You can't have an injury-prone player like Reyes on your team, especially when you have a young shortstop like Ruben Tejada coming through the farm system. The problem I have here is, the Mets had a lot of money coming off of the books after the 2011 season. The contracts of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, and others were gone, and the Mets had some payroll flexibility. However, Alderson brought in closer Frank Francisco, and he didn't come cheap. They signed him to a two-year, $12 year contract. Now, my problem here is, why not sign a guy like Joe Nathan or Jonathan Broxton instead? Both are proven closers, and if the Mets were out of contention Alderson could've traded them in order to get a nice prospect or two. Francisco, on the other hand, has been atrocious this year and is unfortunately locked up for next year. Aside from that, I don't have any problems with any other free agent signings, even though I thought that Jon Rauch was/is earning too much money. 

Now, for the coaching staff. Terry Collins has been a questionable Manager ever since he came to Flushing shortly after Alderson was hired. At first, I really liked him because he brought a fiery attitude to the table. Many people thought he managed his team very well last year considering that most of the players were injured and he was practically using the Triple-A team. Now, a typical Mets fan's opinion of Collins has drastically changed ever since last year. Most people believe that he isn't the right guy for a few reasons. Many Mets fans, including myself, look at each and every lineup every game and critique every little thing. Now, I understand that Collins has his own philosophy, but his philosophy is not for a rebuilding team. He platoons all of his players, expect Wright, and it is very irritating. Plus, it seems like he has a lot of patience with under performing players like Josh Thole and especially Jason Bay. I realize that he doesn't have much to work with, considering that the 25-man roster isn't very good. 

Finally, I'll discuss the players on the team. Suprisingly, there is a strong cohesion between the players, simply because most of them working their way up the farm system together. The players on the club are good guys, and none of them seem to have a serious attitude problem. Obviously, there are minor headcases like Jason Bay, occasionally Ike Davis, and Bobby Parnell. Bay is a great guy, but just doesn't have any talent anymore. Davis sometimes acts a little, weird, when he is in a slump. Parnell has gotten several chances to snatch the closer's job, but has struggled in that role. However, when he goes into a 7th or 8th inning role, he usually succeeds. 

Obviously, there are a lot of moves that this team has to make this winter. Will they make them? Probably not. The best case scenario is that the Wilpons sell the team to an owner who will actually hand money to Alderson and let him do his job. 

Fantasy talk: Ruben Tejada status report

As a Mets fan, there are several players on the team that annoy me, but Tejada is not one of them. He is actually one of my favorite players on the club, and is a rising star in the game. His fantasy value is skyrocketing with each and every year that passes, and it will be exciting to see what he can do in a full season.

The Mets signed Tejada back in 2006 as an international free agent. He started pro ball in 2007, and hit extremely well in the minor leagues. Despite his solid performance, the Mets chose to slowly ease him to the big leagues, considering that he was only around 19 or so and had time to develop. In 2010, he started the year in Triple-A, and hit .280 over the course of 65 games. With a gap at second base, the Mets called up the young, 20 year old Tejada, in order to see what they have in him. He hit .213 in 78 games, but provided solid defense, and looked like he would develop into a solid player. In 2011, he started the season in Triple-A, and several injuries at the MLB level caused him to be called up again. This time, he fully took advantage of the opportunity. He finished the year hitting .284 with 36 RBI in 96 games. He split time between second base and shortstop, and many Mets fans very pleased with his progress. Once Jose Reyes left via free agency, mostly everyone knew that Tejada would be his successor at shortstop.

Coming into 2012, Tejada was a sleeper pick for many owners because he was relatively unknown and was going to get a lot of playing time. In the beginning of the season, he got off to a fast start but suffered an injury while tripping over first base. It was a freak injury, and he lost a lot of playing time because of it. Once he came back, he looked like he didn't miss a beat, continuing his solid performance. Right now he has hit .309 with 101 hits in 353 plate appearances. He has one stolen base, and 21 doubles. He also has a .352 on-base percentage, which is impressive.

Tejada continues to get better and better with each passing season, and I can only imagine what his stats will look like at this time next year. This kid is going to be an All-Star someday, and may develop into a better player than Reyes. Keep in mind that he is only 22 years old, and is still 5+ years away from entering his prime. If he can manage to swipe some more bags and continue to play his Gold Glove defense, he could turn himself into one of the best shortstops in the league. The potential is there, its only a matter of time when he'll be noticed by others. If you own him, stick with him. Don't get rid of him because like I keep saying, he will continue to get better. If you don't own him, make it your priority to pick him in next year's draft, preferably as a backup shortstop, due to the fact that practically nobody knows who he is.

Santana shutdown for rest of season

The Mets announced that starting pitcher Johan Santana will be shutdown for the rest of the season. No surgery is required, but the club wants Santana to get ready for next season, a season where he will make $31 million. Pitcher Collin McHugh will start in Santana's place against Colorado on Thursday.

Santana has posted a 4.85 ERA this season. He had serious shoulder surgery after the 2010 campaign and missed the entire 2011 season.

Analysis: This is definitely the right move because the Mets aren't going anywhere and there is no reason to put him out there every fifth day in pain. Also, it is good that New York is getting the chance now to call up some younger players, because Santana is locked up through the 2013 season, and will probably be gone after that.

Red Sox acquire Beato to complete Shoppach deal

The Red Sox have completed the Kelly Shoppach deal by acquiring relief pitcher Pedro Beato from the Mets. The Mets claimed Shoppach off of waivers from Boston a couple of days ago.

Beato has posted a 4.67 ERA in 71 1/3 relief innings for New York over the last two seasons. The Mets originally acquired him as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Orioles last year, and they managed to keep him all summer. Beato has posted a 4.14 ERA in 37 Triple-A innings this season, and missed quite a bit of playing time with a shoulder injury.

Mets acquire Shoppach from Red Sox

The Mets have acquired veteran catcher Kelly Shoppach from the Red Sox on a waiver claim in exchange for a player to be named later.

Shoppach has hit .250 in 158 plate appearances with the Red Sox this season, and is a career .227 hitter. He is generally tougher on lefties, hitting .270 in his career against them. He is usually used in platoon situations. He will earn $1.35 million this season, and will be a free agent at season's end.

Analysis: As a Met fan, I really like this deal. I am excited that GM Sandy Alderson has finally made a move. Now, I realize that Shoppach isn't an All-Star by any means, but he is definitely an upgrade over Mike Nickeas and Rob Johnson. He'll probably platoon with Josh Thole, and will be a free agent at the end of the season. Hopefully the Mets keep him, but if they don't, it's not a big deal because all we gave up for him was a PTBNL.

Olson outrighted to Triple-A

The Mets have announced that relief pitcher Garrett Olson has cleared waivers and will be outrighted to Triple-A. Olson pitched 1/3 of an inning for New York this season, and was designated for assignment on Saturday.

Mets designate Olson for assignment

The Mets have designated pitcher Garrett Olson for assignment. The move creates roster space for Johan Santana, who will activated from the disabled list.

Olson pitched one-third of an inning for New York this season, and has a 6.26 ERA in 104 career MLB appearances.

Mets sign Andrew Carpenter

The Mets have signed pitcher Andrew Carpenter to a minor league deal. They also assigned him to Double-A. Carpenter elected free agency earlier this week after the Blue Jays designated him for assignment.

Carpenter appeared in six games for Toronto in July, and has spent most of the season in Triple-A, where he has posted a 3.38 ERA in 74 2/3 innings as a starter and reliever.

Mets sign Scott Patterson

The Mets have signed 33 year old relief pitcher Scott Patterson to a minor league deal. Patterson previously played with Seattle's Triple-A affiliate and last appeared in the Majors in 2008 with San Diego.

Analysis: Mets fans rejoice! The savior has arrived! #sarcasm