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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Joel Pineiro

Has signed a 2 year deal with the Angels for 16 million. The Mets reportedly had a 2 year-15 million dollar contract on the table. It is clear he preferred the Angels, which is fine, as I'm not sold he's a great pitcher. I think he is an average pitcher that had a very good year last year, a lot of which may be contributed to Dave Duncan.

Yesterday, Doug Davis (who I had no interest in from the beginning), signed with the Brewers. That's fine by me.

So the remaining free agents of note are Ben Sheets, whom we've discussed numerous times, and Jon Garland, whom I view as an innings eater who will be league average to slightly above average. C Wang and E Bedard are two other pitchers available, but neither will be available to start the season until May at the earliest, so the market has not developed for them as of yet.

John Smoltz has been mentioned/linked to the Mets recently, but I don't think he has the stamina/endurance to last a full season as a starter, so he doesn't have much appeal if he is our 2nd biggest signing of the off-season behind Bay. I love his competitiveness, but how many bullets does that arm have left?

4 comments:

  1. Agree on Smoltz. Not much left in the tank. He could be a bullpen guy though--but I am sure he wants another crack at being a starter. I can see Smoltz being like Cone a few years back--great for a few months, but just not enough to get through the dog days of summer.

    Pineiro going to LA is fine, as long as the Mets get Sheets / Garland / somebody to fill out the rotation. I have always thought the Mets needed 2 arms and since they are all about the same, any 2 will do for me. Garland and Sheets? Fine. Bedard? Ok. Wang? Ok with him too despite not being ready for at least a month.

    What bothers me is you keep hearing from the Mets that they think they are going to get these guys, feel good about them, and they are going elsewhere. If this trend continues, then that really signals it is time to make a change in the organization because if the word is out that the Mets are being run by circus clowns, and that is overriding playing in NY and the "big money" of NY, that's a problem. Then again, win this year, and the Mets become a popular destination once again.

    Mets, as always, need to find a way to battle...

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  2. As much as I would love to get Sheets and Garland, I don't think the Mets, or any other team other than the Yankees and Red Sox, can pay 8 million + to 4 starters, and still have Mike Pelfrey and John Maine (who both need to pitch). It's just not very realistic.

    If we sign Sheets, and then sign Bedard or Wang as an insurance policy, then that's great.

    But I don't think there is any chance they sign both Sheets and Garland.

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  3. What's the word on the Wanger coming across town to Citi?

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  4. The Daily News reported today that the Mets are 1 of 15 teams that have shown interest in C Wang. I can see him wanting to stay in NY. My gut feel is that he signs a deal with the Yankees, but if not, I wouldn't mind having the Mets take a flier on him as a 6th starter/emergency back up if/when one of the starting pitchers begins to stink or gets hurt.

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