Anna Benson Speaks
Anna Benson’s been speaking to the press. The wife of Mets pitcher Kris Benson‘s comments have been in many venues today but here’s one: ESPN.
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Lo Duca Replaces Piazza… Again
Omar Minaya made a deal over the weekend that appears to be very unpopular with other Mets bloggers. Excuse me for thinking differently than the crowd.
In order the fill the catching vacancy left by Mike Piazza‘s departure the Mets turned to the source that gave them Piazza in the first place and traded for Florida Marlins catcher Paul Lo Duca. I’ve liked Lo Duca for a while and had been thinking of him for the Mets empty catching spot but hadn’t had the time to write a proposal here before news of the deal began to filter in over the last couple of days. To acquire Lo Duca the Mets gave Florida minor league pitching prospect Gaby Hernandez and another minor league pitcher to be named later.
Though Lo Duca is not the best catcher in the game he is definitely serviceable and when teamed with backup Ramon Castro, another former Marlin, should give the Mets a good catching tandem that is as good as any in the game and will cost less than signing either of the two big free agent catchers, Bengie Molina and Ramon Hernandez. (Lo Duca will make $6.25 million in each of the next 2 years while the Molina and Hernandez are seeking 3 or 4 years at upwards of $8 million a year.)
Most of the dissenters to this deal cite the 19 year old Hernandez as too much to give for the 33 year old catcher. They may be right when you weigh potential against a known quantity. But Hernandez struggled at double-a last year and is only predicted as a middle of the rotation starter anyway. In this case the Mets traded the possibility of a number 3 or 4 starter for a definite starting catcher. I think this deal is not as lopsided as the deal that sent the major league ready Mike Jacobs and not so far off Yusmeiro Petit to the Marlins for Carlos Delgado. Jacobs will (probably) be a serviceable first baseman who is not quite as good as Delgado offensively and Petit could be a number 2 starter.
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Benson Baltimore Bound?
An intersting story broke in this morning’s New York Post reporting that the Mets are talking to the Baltimore Orioles about trading Kris Benson for Jorge Julio. The Mets have a large number of starting pitchers in the fold and certainly trading one for someone who can set up Billy Wagner is a good idea. Benson could be the odd man out because even though he has underperformed he still has alot of potential.
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Will Wagner Suck?
As I was reading some of the local press this morning regarding the signing of Billy Wagner the cynic in me started come out as I found myself asking, “how badly will Wagner play this year?†I’m normally on optimistic guy when it comes to these things but the Mets have been hurt by big signings in the past so I have to wonder. Anybody else have any opinions on this?
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It’s Official!!
As I wrote earlier today the Mets held a press conference at 3 pm to announce the signing of Billy Wagner. $43 million over four-years. Welcome to hell, Billy.
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Wagner’s a Met!
The Mets closed out Thanksgiving weekend by giving their fans something to be thankful for. For the second year in a row the Mets have landed the most sought after free agent on the market. Last year it was Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. This year it’s Billy Wagner. The team will hold a press conference at 3 pm today to announce the signing of the lefty closer.
This is a very good development indeed but Omar Minaya cannot afford to stop now. There are still openings at catcher, right field and second base to fill. Both Bengie Molina and Ramon Hernandez have offers on the table to fill the catching vacancy. (I heard that Minaya prefers Hernandez.) There are all kinds of reports that Red Sox outfielder Manny RamÃrez could be acquired for the outfield spot but I’ll believe it when I see it. As for second base there have been some rumors but nothing strong enough to comment on.
The winter meetings are next week so some of these issues could be dealt with then. Stay tuned and enjoy the press conference at 3.
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A Year Later, The Mets Bag Delgado
It’s been a while since I wrote but yesterday’s trade was so big it merits some discussion. When the Mets traded Mike Cameron to the Padres last week for Xavier Nady it was accepted mainly for the cost cutting aspects of it. Nady is not nearly as accomplished as Cameron and the Mets used the key word potential when talking about him.
But the main reason why this trade was accepted by commentators and fans alike was the impact it had on payroll. The trade freed up several million dollars for the team to add to any offer they make to Billy Wagner, the free agent closer and best pitcher in this year’s free agent crop. Instead the Mets sent that money along with Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit, the teams best pitching prospect, to the Florida Marlins for Carlos Delgado. You may remember Delgado from last years free agent market. The Mets heavily pursued him but he spurned their offer to sign with Florida. (At the time Delgado even said he was insulted by Omar Minaya’s tactic of selling the Mets as a haven for latin players.) After Delgado signed with Florida the Mets turned their attention to center fielder Carlos Beltran and traded for first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.
With Delgado the Mets add a slugging first baseman to their offense. Offense has been sorely missing from the first base position in recent years. Last year I wasn’t heartbroken when they didn’t get Delgado citing him as a defensive liability. But after last years offensive performance has convinced me that it would be a good time to upgrade the pffense at all costs. Delgado will out produce Cameron so the teams offense is upgraded already.
How much the offense is truly upgraded will not be known until the team finds a catcher, second baseman and right fielder. This is a significant move but Minaya and his right hand man Tony Bernazard still have their work cut out for them.
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Strawberry In Trouble Again
Filing a false police report. Not Good.
Strawberry charged with filing false police report
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Looper’s Blown Season
I am so inseced by the news about Braden Looper‘s shoulder that I don’t even know where to begin. Looper was hurt even before the season began. He was told he needed surgery that would cause him to miss the early part of the season. The other option was to play through it because the doctors said it will not get any worse with wear. Looper chose to play since the Mets bullpen was unsettled at the time and he would add so legitimacy (ha!) to it. Let’s forget the fact that he sucked through the first few weeks of the season. I’d rather lose Looper the first month of the season and have him back 100% healthy down the stretch run (another part of this season during which he sucked) thank have him pitch in pain with a bad shoulder the whole season. Yet another blown save for Looper this year.
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Bollinger to Start
To follow up a previous story, Brooks Bollinger will get the start on Sunday with Vinny Testaverde being the backup.
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