As many of you know, Loge13.com is part of the
BlogsByFans.com network. The network is maintained by
DepressedFan Brian, who is a good guy despite being a Yankee fan.
There a pile of great blogs in the BBF network, all run by fans and covering teams such as the Spankees, SF Giants, Red Sox, Angels and more. Oh yes, the vaunted
MLBTradeRumors.com is also a partner in the network.
So we're doing a round-robbin roundtable, which I am kicking off. Brian fed me some questions, which I have dutifully answered below. I will then posit my questions to the next blogger, the celebrated
El Lefty Malo, who covers the SF Giants. He'll answer on his blog and move the questioning forward. And a good time will be had by all. Or at least by us.
So lets begin:
1. I'm calling the Mets the big winners at the Winter Meetings. They locked down
the best free agent closer at below-market value in K-Rod, then pulled off a
trade another top-flight closer without giving up any key pieces (JJ Putz). Now
that the bullpen is taken care of, what's next this offseason for the
Mets?KINGMAN: I don't think Omar is done with the bullpen. Rumors are he'll get another reliever (possibly Jason Marquis, or even Chad Bradford). Meanwhile, Scott Schoenweis will be traded or dropped. No way Scott can set foot in the new stadium, unless he buys a ticket.
Then there is the starting pitching. The Mets would like to get Oliver Perez back. Scott Boras represents both Ollie and Derek Lowe. The word is the market for Ollie will be set after Lowe gets a deal. Given it's Boras, any deal will probably not happen until the new year. The Mets have said they are not in the market for Lowe and may instead be pursuing Randy Wolf, recently of the Astros.
Then there's the outfield. A healthy Ryan Church will help but left field is still a question mark. Manny does not seem to be at all on Omar's radar (amen). The Mets also need to replenish their bench now that Endy Chavez is gone and Damien Easley is apparently done. The latest rumor has Alex Cora coming to Queens.
The Mets would love to trade Luis Castillo. He is damaged goods with a big contract but Minaya has proven in the past that he will dump a guy he wants to dump, no matter what he gets in return.
2. If you could flip the script on the Johan Santana trade last
year and the Sabathia signing this year, would you do it? Meaning, the Yanks
traded for Johan and extended him last winter and the Mets got Sabathia this
winter as a free agent and held on to those prospects.
KINGMAN: Ah hypotheticals. Lets explore this. If the Mets had not signed Santana and the Spankees did, what would have happened? Odds are, Johan would have won over 20 games (given that he had Mo on the back end to preserve the many leads the Mets pen blew). Maybe the Yankees even win it all and Joe Girardi is lauded as manager of the year by the press and all those Yank fans now calling for his head.
Meanwhile, the Mets would have never contended in 2008. They would instead be spending big bucks this off-season on Lowe, CC and others. They would probably be trading all those prospects away anyway, and probably including Reyes or Beltran in some deal.
Why? Because they are opening a new stadium and are not going in there in "rebuilding" mode. I think the Mets were already thinking 2009 during the 2006 and 2007 off-seasons so not getting Johan probably wasn't an option.
3. Any chance the
Mets bring Oliver Perez back at this point? Do you want him back?KINGMAN: Yes I do want him back. He is a kook and will probably never be more than a solid number 3 starter. But he has proven he can pitch in New York and most important, can pitch in big games. He owns the Phillies and the Braves. Given that prices are deflated so far this off-season, I think the Mets will be able to scrape together the cash to keep him.
4.
Finally, here's a direct quote from Cole Hamels made on Thursday, "But, yeah,
that's kind of what we believed and I think we're always going to believe that
until they (The Mets) prove us wrong," Hamels said. "For the past two years
they've been choke artists." Thoughts? KINGMAN: Just to clarify, the Mets did not choke in 2008. We lost our closer and rode out the rest of the season on fumes. That's much different than what happened in 2007, when we choked in glorious fashion.
2008 was the Phillies year, there's nothing more to say on the subject. It helps that they play in a matchbox of a stadium where every pop up is a home run. Now that we have Taxpayer Field (which everyone compares to Citizen's Bank Park), maybe we'll have some of the same slugging success.
Let the Phillies have their glory. No matter what smack they talk, the sad fact is they still have to live in Philadelphia, so they deserve our pity. And what kind of name is Cole anyway? I'm guessing his dad was a miner who couldn't spell.
Comments
Please drop the "Taxpayer Field" stuff, that's crap! Call it Shiti Field, New Shea or Citi Field but nobody's wallet is getting pinched here. More taxpayer money went into Shea than the new park.
If the gov't had done something for Lehman, maybe none if this would even been happening. So be glad Citibank didn't go under.
The idiot's in the City council were just looking for PR, please don't cave in to their stupid idea.