Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon have officially declared the Mets offseason over, save a few low profile AAA level guys they may shoot cheap deals at to add depth. All the MLB signings are finished, they said, and they are comfortable with the team. They expressly said no manny, and this also means no dunn, no abreu, no hudson, no sheets, and no wolf. I had hoped for a little more considering the size of the offseason class and our holes at 2B and LF, but no team has stars at every position and i like our roster if we can stay healthy. Here is a review of our offseason...
Losses: RP Scott Schoenweiss, RP Aaron Heilman, RP Joe Smith, OF Moises Alou, SP Pedro Martinez, SP Orlando Hernandez, OF Trot Nixon, OF Endy Chavez, IF Damien Easley, RP Matt Wise
Acquisitions: CP Francisco Rodriguez, RP JJ Putz, IF Alex Cora, SP Tim Redding, SP Freddy Garcia, RP Sean Green, RP Connor Robertson, OF Jeff Reed, OF Cory Sullivan, OF Rob Mackowiak, OF Bobby Keilty, RP Kyle Snyder, RP Jon Switzer
Payroll Changes: Last year was 143 million. This years is supposed to be exactly the same, but depending on one players performance could go up to 145 million. Basically we broke even monetarily.
As i said, i think that's not a bad offseason, especially considering the economic climate. I think snyder, switzer, green, and robertson probably are just some AAA/MLB borderline guys, but they can't be much worse than schoenweiss and heilman. and of course with k-rod and putz our bullpen, which blew an amazing 29 games last year (we went 9-20 in those games), has gone from a weakness to a strength. in fact, we still have wagner under contract, so imagine if he comes back in, say, august? for the final 2 months and hopefully the playoffs we would have a 7th, 8th, and 9th inning trio of wagner, putz, and k-rod, any of which could take over as closer if somebody were hurt. that, my friends, would be the best bullpen i've ever seen, especially if dauner sanchez can find his groove. and while we didn't upgrade our linuep, it was second in the NL in runs scored last year so it really wasn't something that was an issue. I fully expect delgado to regress a little from last year, he won't hit 40 homers again, but he can still be good. i also could see castillo exceeding his expectations, he is obviously not as good as he used to be but he can still his .280 with 20 steals i think. and our rotation was good last year too and it's the same now except deeper and with redding instead of pedro.
here is how i see our roster on opening day, assuming there are no training camp busts/sleepers/injuries:
Starting Lineup:
1. Reyes
2. Church
3. Beltran
4. Wright
5. Delgado
6. Murphy/Tatis
7. Schneider/Castro
8. Castillo
9. Pitcher
Bench:
Murphy/Tatis
Schneider/Castro
Reed
Cora
Pagan
Evans
Starting Rotation:
1. Santana
2. Pelfrey
3. Maine
4. Perez
5. Redding
Bullpen:
Long RP/insurance 6th starter: Niese
Mid RP: Sanchez, Green
Lefty Specialist: Feliciano
Set-Up Man: Putz
Closer: K-rod
Lurking in the minors if we need them: Switzer, Keilty, Mackowiak, Sullivan, Tony Armas Jr., Claudio Vargas, Garcia, Robertson, Fernando Martinez, Reese Havens
I am confident in that team. Lets get this show on the road already! I'm ready for some baseball!
Castillo at 2nd
I really would have liked it if the Mets had moved out Castillo. I think that Nick Evans at 2nd base could have worked. Just think about what Castillo does to the lineup. Instead of having speed at the top two positions in the order we might have just Reyes. Reyes is great but he isn't enough. The Mets need speed to win and with Castillo at 2nd they're not getting the speed they should out of that position.
I remember someone once saying that speed never goes into a slump. That's why I'd prefer a more fleet footed player at 2nd base who also has enough bat to follow Reyes at the top of the lineup.
That makes no sense...
You want Evans to replace Castillo at second base because you want a fast second baseman? hate to break it to you, but castillo is way faster than evans! evans is a first baseman by trade who we swapped to OF last year out of need. he isn't slow but he isn't speedy either. you're right, speed can never go into a slump, and even though castillo's injuries have slowed him down he still is one of the faster ones on the team. reyes and beltran are the only ones i would say are definitively faster. wright, church and castillo are about equally fast, but castillo is definetly faster than delgado, murphy, schnieder, or tatis, and they will be starting regularly. when castillo was healthy and in his prime he was good for 30-40 steals a year! he may have solwed down with age but he can still run, and my fantasy baseball ESPN expert projections project him getting 22 steals this year. that is plenty of speed.
so while i agree that castillo's bat is not good (i'd be very happy with .280 but that is probably wishful thinking), he is still capable in the feild and has at least respectable speed if nothing more.
wouldn't mind signing hudson to replace him though, and i also still see dunn, abreu, sheets, heck even manny out there. we probably won't get any of them but if it comes to 1 week before the season starts and any of those guys is desperately looking for a job real cheap i woulf be all for geting another player.
Castillo's Bad Wheels
"castillo is way faster than evans!"
Sure, when Castillo is healthy and on the field he' probably the second fastest guy on the team. But it's hard to be faster than someone when you're not on the field at all. Castillo has had bad wheels since the day he joined the Mets. Check out some injury stats on Castillo at http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Luis_Castillo.
Aug 25, 2008: Missed 47 games (strained left hip flexor).
Jul 3, 2008: Strained left hip flexor, 15-day DL.
Jun 23, 2008: Missed 1 game (body soreness).
Jun 22, 2008: Body soreness, day-to-day.
Jun 21, 2008: Missed 1 game (left wrist injury).
Jun 20, 2008: Left wrist injury, day-to-day.
May 15, 2008: Missed 3 games (quadricep injury).
May 12, 2008: Quadricep injury, day-to-day.
Apr 23, 2008: Missed 1 game (right knee injury).
Apr 22, 2008: Right knee injury, day-to-day.
Apr 12, 2008: Missed 3 games (right knee injury).
Apr 9, 2008: Right knee injury, day-to-day.
Ok, but that's different
I agree, and i think he is far too injury prone and if we could get 120 games out of him i would be suprised and happy. But that's not what you said in your first post. you said...
"with Castillo at 2nd they're not getting the speed they should out of that position."
and
"I remember someone once saying that speed never goes into a slump. That's why I'd prefer a more fleet footed player at 2nd base".
Those quotes suggest that even when Castillo is on the field he isn't as "fleet footed" as you'd like him to be, which really isn't the case. what you meant to say, i presume, is "i'd prefer a healthier player at second base, who also has some wheels". and in that, i agree with you. but castillo's speed is one of his few benefits, not a detriment.
Castillo On The Field
I'll give you that Evans at Second Base, batting second isn't a great idea. I'm grasping at straws here because I don't think it's a good situation.
There are times when Castillo is on the field and not 100% that he is a liability as well. He reminds me of Moises Alou in the sense that you feel good about the possibilities when he's healthy but how often is he going to be healthy.
From what I saw out of Ryan Church last year I think he might be able to give us some power out of the five spot. Then move Beltran up to the second spot which is something the Mets have talked about in the past since I think he's the fastest player on the team after Reyes. That kind of scenario would leave Wright, Delgado and Church going 3-4-5. I think that's also better because Church isn't a great contact hitter.
Good idea
I like that lineup very much. either that or put Church, who also ahs some wheels, at 2, slide beltran in as a speed/power mix at 3, and then put wright and delgado as our 4-5 men. that way we would have our four fastest players, reyes, church beltran and wright, batting in the first four spots.
also, at second base, the mets just invited Jose Valentine to second base. While he is old and fairly injury prone (he's missed the last 2 seasons with a herniated disk in his neck) in his last full year, 2006, he hit .286 and was good in the field and showed some power. he can also play any infeild position, giving him appeal as a multi-purpose backup, and his veteran leadership could come in handy for our very young infeild. if (when) castillo gets hurt, i would be more confident with him on the team than with only the poor-hitting alex cora to back him up.
Read this take...
I just read this logic on Mets.com from Marty Noble. he claims castillo is in fact the best fit for the second spot, because of his speed and because he is a singles hitter. if he struggles, of course, as in 2008, he is not a good fit there. but if he can hit for even a respectable average, his bunting skills, speed, and selectivity at the plate make him better suited there than at the 8 spot. daniel murphy would be a better fit at teh number 8 spot, argues noble, because he has more extra-base-hit capabilities, which are more important at the end of the lineup to drive in those already on base than at the begginning. also, castillo's small frame and skill at fouling off pitches make him walk prone, and that is always good just in front of the heart of our lineup. i see his logic and think several different players should be given the opportunity to perform in the 2 slot.
here is the article.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090211&content_id=3817316&vkey...
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