Dodgers Interested in Murphy

According to MLB.com, when Dodgers GM Ned Colletti stated during the Winter Meetings that a trade for a “mystery” player fell through, that player was Daniel Murphy. Coletti also stated that the trade talks were terminated when the “other team” received what they were looking for from another team; this likely points to the Mets’ acquisition of Andres Torres.

Murphy had a solid year last year--especially toward the end--batting .320 overall. As of now he’s slated to be the club’s starting second baseman for the 2012 season, and should he be traded that title would probably go to Justin Turner.

I believe that the Mets should keep “Murph” unless they receive something pretty good in return. In last years inconsistent season, he was a consistent base-hit threat, and upheld his always-good defense. Unless the Dodgers are willing to give up a quality young player, then I think the Mets should keep Murphy. 

Sandy's Brief Shopping Spree

During a period of a few hours on Tuesday night, Sandy Alderson managed to acquire 3 relief pitchers and a center fielder. These additions will help bolster the Mets bullpen.

Big man Jon Rauch was signed to a one year, $3.5 million deal. The 6’11, 33 year old will likely compete with Bobby Parnell for the Mets’ closing job, and the two will

 probably be interchangeable in the set-up man and closer roles.

The club also inked relief pitcher Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 million deal. Francisco is 32 years old, and spent last year in Toronto with Rauch while notching 17 saves and recording a 3.55 ERA. 

Both big signings, the additions of Rauch and Francisco weren’t the biggest Mets news of the night. The club completed a trade with the Giants that sent Angel Pagan to San-Fran, bringing relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez and center fielder Andres Torres to New York.

Ramirez has posted a 2.07 ERA since moving to the Giants in 2010, and Sandy Alderson has said that he will become the team’s seventh inning man for next season.

Since they were losing the club’s starting center fielder, the trade sent Torres --an excellent defensive player-- to become Pagan’s replacement; this clearly addressed Alderson’s desire to improve the club defensively.

Overall, this total revamp of the bullpen was a bargain; the total damage was a mere $9 million dollar hole: $14 million in acquisitions minus the $5 million contract of Pagan. Putting financials aside, any number of the new additions could become a breakout, bargain player, the type the Mets have had success with over the past few years, and they will all certainly bolster the club’s bullpen.

After the loss of Jose Reyes, this shopping spree signals the Mets moving on and entering an era of rebuilding. Though I do not believe the team will end up being as bad as many people seem to think, they need to slow the pace down and focus on forging the team for the years to come. 

Jose Reyes Signs with Miami

MLB.com on top of many other sources has confirmed that Jose Reyes has agreed to a 6-year $106 million contract with the Miami Marlins. Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman has reported that the deal does not include a no-trade clause. The previous thought of moving Hanley Ramirez to third base appears to be the plan for Miami.

Sandy Alderson stated earlier, in his first press conference of the Winter Meetings, that the Mets lost $70 million this past year--a fact that likely affected the club's low offer.

This is a huge blow for the franchise and will likely send the Mets into rebuilding mode. For New York to have a chance this upcoming season, Alderson would have to make some big moves during the Winter Meetings. Sandy implied earlier tonight that he would not pursue any outside second-basemen, and instead would stick with Daniel Murphy.

Regardless of how they move forward, the Mets suffered a huge blow tonight. This adds to their list of holes which already is an impossible list to fill. This is a very severe blow, and a very somber night for Mets fans.

Reyes Update

For the past couple days, the Jose Reyes rumor mill has been re-ignited.  Reports yesterday from Sports Illustrated’s Joel Sherman said that the Milwaukee Brewers will meet with Reyes’ agents sometime this week. Early signs have made it appear unlikely that the Brewers are seriously pondering a Reyes signing, and up until now the Mets and Marlins have been the only two teams seriously in the running.

The Marlins have also upped their game and, according ESPNDeportes, increased their offer $111 million over 6 years. This offer had many sources saying that an official Reyes-Marlins signing is extremely imminent, and could come as early as tonight. Adam Rubin of ESPN New York has stated that when questioned about rumors of the Marlins’ new offer, Sandy Alderson responded that if the Marlins’ reported offer is accurate, then the Mets are out of the bidding. Not long thereafter, Buster Olney of ESPN said that the Marlins have finalized a deal with Jose. 

Many other sources have come forward reporting a Marlins-Reyes agreement, but as we’ve seen before nobody can be %100 trusted in this business. 

Mets Offer Reyes Arbitration

According to MLB.com, the Mets have offered Jose Reyes an arbitration deal. Neither the Mets or anybody expect Reyes to accept the deal, as it is merely a strategic move. Reyes is a Type A free agent by arbitration standards, meaning he is extremely valuable. By offering arbitration, the club has ensured that in the event Jose signs with a different team, they will be rightfully compensated, namely with draft picks.

Mets Interested in Veteran SS Wilson

Jon Heyman of ESPN is reporting that the Mets have shown interest in Jack Wilson. The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are among five teams other than New York interested in the free-agent. The Mets’ interest lies in acquiring Wilson as a backup middle-infielder. Should Reyes end up leaving the Mets, they’d undoubtedly have Ruben Tejada fill in at shortstop. But, should he end up injured, the Mets would be stuck without anybody who knows the position.

Wilson would fill this need, especially with his glove; he’s an excellent fielder, which is what he’s predominantly known for. He would be a good utility player for a club with holes everywhere, as well as a welcomed veteran on an increasingly young team. 

Reyes Contract Offers

Jose Reyes has been offered a six-year, $90 million dollar deal, this according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com. This may actually be good for the Mets, as it is somewhat of a compromise between Jose’s two desired contract parameters: five or six years, and at least $100 million. Reyes has reportedly felt he’s worth $20 million a year, and this deal would only give him $15 million.

This monetary shortcoming can most likely be explained by the Marlins’ low payroll, and their current pursuit of other major free agents, reportedly Albert Pujols, Mark Buerhle, and Ryan Madson.

Another uncertain report, once again by Dino Costa of Sirius XM, said that Reyes had signed with the Rockies on a 7-year, $140 million deal. However, nothing ever developed of that report, and at this point it appears to have been a publicity stunt.

The credible report about a Marlins offer is reason to look up for Mets fans. The past couple days, plenty of positive news has come out of the plethora of rumors about Jose. 

Reyes Rumor Roundup: Tweet Style

The “Jose Reyes Story” literally began the minute Reyes became a free agent. According to the Miami Herald the (at the time Florida) Marlins contacted Jose at 12:01 on the first morning of his free agency. Among all the teams to have contacted him, the Miami Marlins appear the most serious. The second and third teams in the running as of now appear to be the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers respectively. However, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin clarified today that the team’s active pursuit of Reyes was simply rumor.  “One phone call. No numbers” said Melvin, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN. Rubin first reported this in a “tweet”, the apparent new mode of communication of baseball rumor and report.

What really ignited the twitter and media frenzy over Reyes was this “tweet” by Dino Costa of Sirius XM:

This “tweet” preceded numerous “tweets” and statements from just about every major baseball journalist. Many of these simply “re-tweeted” the original Dino Costa message, creating a mixed state of confusion and misinformation. I say “misinformation” because, well, Jose Reyes is not currently a Miami Marlin, as clarified pretty clearly in this tweet by Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post.

This tweet only added to the frenzy that had engulfed the baseball community, yet turned out to be correct. No Jose Reyes contract is official, although one could easily be imminent, most likely with the Marlins. The Marlins have apparently been very adamant in their pursuits of Reyes. Kevin Burkhardt of SNY confirmed the suspicions today with this tweet:

The parameters of Reyes’ desired deal are slowly being shaped, but it seems one number is really what Jose is looking for, at least according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post:

Many journalists had said that a deal with Miami was solely contingent on Hanley Ramirez switching positions, which Burkhardt elaborated on today:

Adam Rubin delivered the only bit of positive information to come out of this whole situation, from a Mets fan’s perspective, once again via tweet.

This is amazing news for the Mets, as it means that Reyes isn’t as close to signing with another team as the baseball community has thought. This also indicates that Sandy Alderson has talked at least with Reyes’ agents in the time since Jose met with Miami. Before today, Alderson had said that he hadn’t spoken with Reyes or his agents since their preliminary meetings.

To this point, not much is certain about Reyes other than the parameters of his preferred contract. Right now a deal with the Marlins looks more likely than one with the Mets, though only time will tell. 

Wright Rumors

This past Saturday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said that a Mets official had told him the team would entertain trade offers for David Wright. He quotes an un-named team official as saying “We will listen on Wright for sure” and “We know we are not going to win it all in 2012. We have to hope the Phillies get old and we are in position to take advantage of that in 2013-14, and we have to figure out ways to speed the process to get there.”

As a diehard Mets fan these statements are almost disturbing to hear. Wright and Jose Reyes have been the two star faces of the franchise since their Major League beginnings. “Reyes” and “Wright” jerseys have consistently been the hottest sellers due to the players’ success, youth, work ethics, and their being homegrown by the Mets from the farm system all the way to “the show”.

Mets fans have no need to worry about Wright just yet however, as the team would need to see a big offer to even consider unloading the star third-baseman. As a National League executive, who has spoken with Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, said, the Mets would need to be “bowled over” by an offer in order to seriously ponder a Wright trade.

In terms of possible suitors for Wright, two teams have come up in conversation: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (say that 5 times fast) and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Angels look like the most serious possibility in terms of a deal due to their plethora of young outfielders. The rumor of a possible deal with the Phillies, however, is quite humorous. The Phillies have apparently expressed some interest in Wright before, but the Mets would never trade him to their bitter rivals. Plus, the Phillies do not have much to offer for David at the moment.

One of the only downsides to Wright has been his decrease in power since his Shea Stadium days. Many have blamed his homerun drought on the dimensions of city field, and they definitely have a point. Wright and the entire Mets team did much better offensively and posted a better record this year in away games. They posted an away record of (43-38), and a Citi Field record of (34-47). Wright’s individual stats also showed an alarming difference at home—he batted .238 during home games, and .268 outside of Citi Field.

  

For once, the Mets made the right move and nipped the issue in the bud: the club recently announced shorter dimensions for Citi Field, effective at the beginning of this coming season.

These changes will benefit the entire team, not just Wright. Alderson expressed his thoughts after the announcement: "It used to be, let's say, that pitchers would just pitch outside at this ballpark -- stay away, stay away, stay away," he said. "Now, that may not be as good a strategy as it was before. So a lot of things could change. The pitching strategy could change. The attitude of the hitters and their approach could change. And so, as a result, a lot of this static information that we evaluated isn't necessarily going to predict the outcome."

The bottom line is that the Mets successfully turned discouraging rumors into good news about the team—a great fan base-saving technique and an overall step in the “Wright” direction.