Yardbarker: Billy Wagner

Reflections....

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:19:47 -0500

Some thoughts on the past season of New York Mets baseball, now that the dust has settled a bit.

This Definitely Trumps Laying On Your Hand Until It Falls Asleep

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:56:30 -0500

Billy Wagner underwent the exact same procedure.

Agent : K-Rod wants at least $75 for 5 Yrs

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:06:54 -0500

Record-breaking Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez is seeking at least $75 million over five years, agent Paul Kinzer said Wednesday. K-Rod wants "at least" five years at "Mariano money," according to Kinzer, who called that price the "baseline" to get into the ballgame for the All-Star closer who set the single-season saves record this season.

Kinzer made clear, however, that his client was hoping for even more. The agent declined to name a top target price. The Angels are expected to be joined in the derby by the Mets, who presumably have lost closer Billy Wagner for 2009 with an elbow injury that necessitated Tommy John surgery.

Several other teams have been mentioned as being interested, including the Cardinals and Indians. But the steep price may limit the serious suitors to big-market teams. Some baseball people believe K-Rod more easily envisions himself in a big city, anyway.

Source: SI.com

K-Rod : Open to be Mets Closer!

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:06:54 -0500

Frankie Rodriguez' locker sits in the left-hand corner of the Angels' clubhouse. It is a prominent place for the Angels' most prominent pitcher. K-Rod put together a record-setting season, compiling a major-league record 62 saves.

Where will he be dressing next season? Rodriguez becomes a free agent after the World Series. The Mets, who are coming off Collapse II, have a nightmare bullpen.

This is a match made in baseball heaven.

The Mets traded for Johan Santana last offseason; this year they need to sign K-Rod. It's that simple. Omar Minaya owns a new contract extension despite the Mets' failings, now he needs to go out and get a super closer to replace Billy Wagner.

Minaya came to New York with the idea that to become a championship team, you must start by building a great bullpen. Somehow, that all changed.

Rodriguez, 26, said he doesn't know where he is going to wind up, but he loves New York and would not be intimidated by playing in the Big Apple. In 2002 he visited the Statue of Liberty with his cousin, who lives in New York, and still remembers the trip as if it were yesterday.

"The Statue of Liberty is something I always wanted to see; it was a dream come true," said Rodriguez, whose Angels remain mystified by the Red Sox, having lost 10 straight postseason games to Boston, including a 4-1 defeat in the ALDS opener Wednesday night. They will try to get even tonight at Angel Stadium when Ervin Santana takes the mound against Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Rodriguez was shocked that the Mets collapsed for the second straight season.

"They have an unbelievable team, so much talent," he said. "But the bullpen struggled."

Asked if he could wind up as the Mets closer, Rodriguez smiled and said, "You never know. We're going to look at all our options and we'll see. "

Source: NY Post

K-Rod might not be the answer...

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:06:50 -0500

I have been promoting the go get K-Rod, but I have noticed a couple of things during the playoffs. He is not as overpowering as we all thought, though he has saved more games than the whole Mets bullpen this year. The other problem is he will demand a high price tag because of his new saves record. The Mets have to be careful here and even though he is 26 he might have arm problems down the road. He has a violent delivery (hurky jerky) that could develop problems sooner than later.

One other alternative is to build within as Eddie Kunz and Robert Parnell continue to develop. The Mets probably think that since they have a new ballpark in place, they better set the standards high in order to make a big splash in NYC and sell some tickets. Kunz pitched well in Double A and was the Binghamton closer. He came up but never really got the shot in the bullpen. He came into a couple of games and did not prove that he can fill a void that was desperately needed. Parnell showed some promise in the games that he pitched, with his fastball that was clocked in the mid 90's he looked like he can be closer material. The Mets only had Heilman who can throw as hard as Parnell this year (after Billy went down) and maybe Parnell can get a chance at closer or a bigger role in 2009.

The Mets can try another source in free agency to get closer in Brian Fuentes. Who was coverted by the Mets this year at the trade deadline, but the Rockies were unwilling to part because they thought they had a playoff chance. A couple of things that I can say about Fuentes is he will be much cheaper and he will replace the lefty arm that they had in Billy Wagner. He hides the ball well from his delivery and if he can pitch well in Colorado, he would certainly pitch well in a unelevated playing surface in Citi-Field. Shea Stadium was a good pitchers park, lets hope that Citi-Field remains the same.....

What it comes down to is this: Do the Mets make the big splash to get the big market free agent in Rodriquez? or Do they save themselves some money in which they can spend on other needs? The Final answer is the Mets need a closer, they just have to find one that fits them best!

Looking at the roster....

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:53:35 -0500

Ok, here's a closer look at the 40 man roster, without changing the core of the team there will still be a significant change to the roster......

Free agents this year:

Pedro Martinez, Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez, Luis Ayala, Nelson Figueroa, Brandon Knight, Ricardo Rincon, Al Reyes, Tony Armas, Matt Wise,

Damion Easley, Fernando Tatis, Moises Alou, Gustavo Molina, Ramon Martinez, Argenis Reyes, Trot Nixon

Option Year:

Carlos Delgado

Under Contract:

Johan Santana, Scott Schoeneweis, Mike Pelfrey, Billy Wagner ( 60 day)

Brian Schneider, Ramon Castro, Luis Castillo, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Marlon Anderson, Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez

Arbitration years:

John Maine, Ryan Church, Angel Pagan, Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano

Under Control(option players):

Adam Bostick, Ambiorix Burgos, Eddie Kunz, Carlos Muniz, Jonathan Niese, Bobby Parnell, Joe Smith, Jason Vargas, Nick Evans, Daniel Murphy

Of the group of free agents the only ones I see that have a chance of getting a major league contract is Luis Ayala, Tatis and maybe Damion Easley. The rest will move on or get minor league deals with invites, I believe Ollie will out price himself. As they already indicated Delgado will be pick-up. Those under contract Castillo, Anderson and Schoenweis have to go and I could see one of the catchers moving for a more durable or offensive minded player. Arby player, Heilman has to be moved and Sanchez might go as well.

When all is said and done under my estimation 14 players without options will be returning with the 10 option players on the 40 man roster. So with Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Feliciano, Ayala, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Church, Pagan, Tatis, Chavez, Schnieder staying and Castro, Sanchez and Easley on the ropes. That doesn't include guys like Smith, Parnell, Murphy, Evans and Niese who have options but could or will make the team. Even without making a drastic move the Mets roster this year will look significantly different.

K-Rod : Open to be Mets Closer!

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:23:50 -0500

Agent : K-Rod wants at least $75 for 5 Yrs

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:23:49 -0500

Source: SI.com

Soria would be a nice grab....

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:55:44 -0500

With Billy Wagner gone the Mets are in need of a closer, while it maybe a ploy they have sounded lukewarm towards the potential of acquiring a free agent closer. Both Rodriguez and Fuentes will be very costly and have plenty of suitors. The Cubs will look to keep Woods and then there is a significant drop off. Brandon Lyon looks like the next best and then there's Issy who if he could stay healthy would be neat to see come full circle....

I just don't see an in-house option for next year, we saw how well bullpen by committee worked and if were going to be a contender we need a closer.....

Omar may need to look outside the box for a trade situation. I'm sure there will be plenty of Huston Street rumors but I just don't believe those two will ever pull off a trade, I think their always worried somebodies going to get the best of the other.

The Kansas City Star had a report that a scout speculated that the Royals best way to rebuild by trading some of their current stars. One of the suggestions was closer Joakim Soria who the scout thought they could get a three for one deal. Soria is a 24 y/o right hander in his second year in the majors. He has a lifetime 2.11 ERA, this was his first full year as a closer in which he went 42 in 45 SVO with a 1.60 ERA in 63 games.

Anyway, our guy thinks the Royals could make a foundation-laying deal if they're willing to trade Greinke and/or Soria.

"You'd get pretty good prospects for those guys," he says. "Top-end guys, even guys who are close to the big leagues, maybe even a big leaguer, someone who's a year in or something like that. You gotta do something to turn that thing around. You look at the rest of the team, they've got decent players." source KC Star

Wilpon takes positives from the season that was..........

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:35:37 -0500

Despite all the expectations, the what-ifs and the could-have-beens, Mets CEO Jeff Wilpon managed to muster a few positives Sunday on the final day of his team's 2008 season.

"I think we overachieved based on what we had," Wilpon said.

Dressed in a windbreaker and sneakers with electric yellow streaks, Wilpon lamented all the injuries -- to John Maine, Billy Wagner and Moises Alou. He ran down the list of replacement players who had populated Shea Stadium -- Daniel Murphy, Luis Ayala, Nick Evans and Brian Stokes. And Wilpon smiled, best as he could.

"I think we underachieved last year, and I think we overachieved this year," Wilpon said. "Look who our second baseman was. Look who our left fielder was. Look who was in our bullpen. No Billy Wagner, no John Maine. You can go right down the list of what happened."

And so the Mets, Wilpon insisted, had succeeded simply by being in playoff contention on the season's final Sunday. Though he stopped short of lauding manager Jerry Manuel, saying he needed first to discuss the issue with general manager Omar Minaya, Wilpon indicated that he was quite pleased with the bulk of his uniformed personnel.

He was also quite pleased with Citi Field, his own dream and creation, which will open to the Mets and their fans next April.

That, more than anything, has given Wilpon a reason for almost unguarded optimism. He knows that the Mets will not have Alou or Wagner back for any significant stretch of next season, but he indicated that he is willing to do whatever it takes to win. The Mets might not see any momentous personnel changes between now and April, but that's not grounds for pessimism.

So when asked if the Mets are planning on making any significant changes in the coming months, Wilpon simply grinned.

"We are," he said. "We're moving to a new ballpark"

Source: Anthony Di Como/MLB.com

Wilpon takes positives from the season that was..........

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:35:37 -0500

Despite all the expectations, the what-ifs and the could-have-beens, Mets CEO Jeff Wilpon managed to muster a few positives Sunday on the final day of his team's 2008 season.

"I think we overachieved based on what we had," Wilpon said.

He was also quite pleased with Citi Field, his own dream and creation, which will open to the Mets and their fans next April.

So when asked if the Mets are planning on making any significant changes in the coming months, Wilpon simply grinned.

"We are," he said. "We're moving to a new ballpark"

Source: Anthony Di Como/MLB.com

Mets Rumors and Speculation : The Off-season has begun!

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:35:34 -0500

MLB Trade Rumors has offered some interested tidbits to what the NY Media has been talking about since the secondary collapse:

Ken Davidoff suggests the Mets patch up their bullpen with Francisco Rodriguez. It'd be an obvious overreaction, and would ignore past history of big money tossed at relievers. The Mets had a firsthand look with their own Billy Wagner signing. $43MM for 193.3 innings - was it worth it?

David Lennon believes Luis Castillo is as good as gone, though I'd be surprised if eating half of his contract is enough. Would Castillo get a three-year, $9MM deal on the open market right now given numerous palatable one-year options?

Adam Rubin sees the Mets trading Castillo, Aaron Heilman, and Scott Schoeneweis (he suggests eating 90% of Castillo's contract).

As for the rotation, Lennon doesn't see the Mets involved on C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, A.J. Burnett, Oliver Perez, or Pedro Martinez. I imagine the Mets will add one starter to follow Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine though. Freddy Garcia could make sense. Rubin says Derek Lowe and Brian Moehler are rumored possibilities, though Moehler already re-signed with Houston for '09.

Bob Klapisch wonders if the Mets should consider trading Jose Reyes, David Wright, or Carlos Beltran to shake up the team.

Final Thoughts........

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:51:29 -0500

As the Mets made the final out and the game was over. I was in disbelief that the season was over. The Mets did have a admirable year considering the cards dealt to them.

They fired the Manager Willie Randolph who took great criticism and replaced him with a gangsta, named Jerry Manuel (his bench coach). Jerry was very funny and candid, he did a great job. The Mets went 55-38 under the interim manager..

The Offense:
They did not have Moises Alou all year nor did they have Ryan Church, but they found success in players like Fernando Tatis, Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans who filled in nicely which kept them moving in the right place. The offense did not function all the time but they found there grooves. Carlos Delgado can consider himself the NL Comeback player of the Year with the second half he had. David Wright, Mr. Consistancy had a career year in HR's and RBI's but sputtered late in the season to find the big hits. Carlos Beltran had another 20+ HR year with 100+ RBI's in a year with nagging injuries all year long. Jose Reyes led the NL in hits, even though his stolen base numbers were down, he had a great year! Luis Castillo could not find himself at all this year due to injuries...The Brian Schneider/Ramon Castro project worked well when healthy, but when they were not healthy they had to resort to Robinson Cancel.

The Starting Pitching:
The starting pitching who was lead by Johan Santana, who should of had more wins than 16 because the bullpen let him down. John Maine was hurt in the latter part of the season, but pitched decent enough in the earlier part of the year. Mike Pelfrey became a reliable option and matured under Dan Warthen. Oliver Perez had a typical Jeckle and Hyde season, some good starts and some bad starts..Pedro Martinez tried to come back from all his previous injuries but he did not have the killer instinct or quality pitches to succeed in 2008.

The Bullpen:
The bullpen was shot down by the absence of Billy Wagner and had to resort to Luis Ayala who was a late pickup. He did what he can do, but he was not serious closer material. Aaron Heilman looked like a overused wash rag this year. He did not pitch up to his capability. Duaner Sanchez tried to come back from a unusual surgery, but he did not provide us with what he once had. Scott Schoeneweiss had a decent year, but he also had moments of displeasure. Joe Smith was a reliable righthanded sidearmer that will get better with age.. Pedro Feliciano had his ups and downs as well...

Believe it or not this team was a 89 Win team, with all there problems they lacked one game to get in the playoffs. Even though I did not think much of this team because of the problems, I still wanted them to get in. The failures that lagged them last year and this year, will also be with them next year as well.

How do we fix it:
I believe the Mets are on the right path, they have to build on some of the players that they have and bring in new ones to replace the older and injured crop from this year! There will be no Pedro next year, No Moises next year, no Castillo next year! In my mind they have to keep Oliver Perez, he is only 26 and get better. They have to find somewhere to ship Aaron Heilman, because his welcome has become outdated. The bullpen has to be revamped and the Mets have to find a reliable closer. K-Rod will be the easy choice, but Brian Fuentes is not to shabby....
If you look on paper this team had success when the offense did, but you can't go score 10 runs everynight. Pitching is key and it will win championships everytime...

Final Thoughts:
Even though the game did not meet our needs and wants as Mets fans, there still was a closing ceremony at Shea. The names from 1969, 1973, and 1986 teams were there and many others. Yes, Dwight Gooden was even there.. It was a very good and emotional day for me to see some of the players I loved to watch as a kid. Who could forget Tom Seaver throwing the final Pitch at Shea Stadium to Mike Piazza, that was classic (even though it was a 55 footer). They walked to center field together, two Hall of Famers (One current and one future) and they closed the centerfield gates of Shea forever...

Jerry Manuel and Those Glasses

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:38:46 -0500

Who does Jerry Manuel think he is with those trendy glasses? Since Chris Sabo and his rec specs left the game there is no room for this.

This team needs a kick in the Ass........

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:53:33 -0500

I am so sick of other blogs saying that the Mets don't deserve booing. What are we suppose to do as fans? Become oblivious to the obvious that the Mets are falling part. This team needs a good kick in the ass instead of people being so supportive. I do not write for SNY or any media outlet so I can pretty much say anything...

The Mets charge a lot of money to go to the games and next year it will be more expensive. The fans should be treated to a team that does not go through this type of bullshit, it is embarrassing...Sure the Mets do not have Billy Wagner and they do not have a reliable Plan B, so they are stuck with the bunch of misfits they have in the pen to get it done....

Last night I was happy to see a guy like Daniel Murphy come through in the ninth inning. But leaving this guy at 3rd base was a laugh. The toughest thing to do in the majors is to leave a guy on 3rd base with no out. Do the Mets belong in the playoffs?? I don't think so, but if the Mets don't get in ...we will hear the same thing all over again in the off season.....Do you think the Mets can get over what happened last year?

This team does not the personnel to take on such a grueling season, it has no lack of depth. Is that Jerry Manuel's fault?? It is Omar and his posse that have to take responsibility to be get this done...He kept the same squad in his pen, did not add much this year and we are subject to this faulty pen. Sure Duaner Sanchez came back, but he is not the same. Either is Heilman..........Schoeneweiss has had a good year, but is he a great reliever?? Nope, his is average...Other teams have Felciano's number too.....Did I leave out anyone? Who cares they all suck........

The starting pitching with the exception of Santana has been awful. Perez can't go 6 innings anymore, Pelfrey gets no run support and Pedro is not Pedro anymore.. Do we have to subject ourselves to watching Pedro pitching with no heart..... He is done... Poor Maine who is dying to pitch finally got activated, but will he be a factor at this point. Who knows??

The bats are hot one day, next day cold.. Ryan Church can't get hits in big spots and David Wright is now pressing.....Do we blame them??..... A lot of people do, but I am a realist. What does this team have to do to win, score 18 runs?? They should have had enough runs last night, But again it did not happen...

So let's pray the Mets can overcome this circus once again, otherwise there will be a lot of unhappy Mets fans this winter. By the way , the man who has gave us this great team this year has a new 4 yr contract. So he prove us with his no promises this off season.... First official business , get a closer and a bullpen.......Stop the bullshitting............