Back To Square #1

Just when you think things are a done deal, they fall back apart. Now, the Mets are back out looking for a catcher after their deal with Yorvit fell through. I for one, am a bit disappointed. Not because I think Torrealba was the lynchpin to the season, but because now they have to go back out there and find another catcher in a market that is just not good for catchers.

Laird? Texas knows there are not other attractive options and will not just give him away. They have no incentive to. If it would cost a low level hard thrower, then possibly. However, those guys are nice to have for any team and giving one up for Laird would probably not be a great thing. Shoppach? He will cost more than Laird. The Indians presumably love having him as they can give Victor Martinez some time at first or DH and not lose much at catcher. He is a luxury item for them.

Overall, Torrealba was the best fit. Was he getting overpaid? Shit yeah, but the Mets were giving up a few more dollars than they should have to retain draft picks, which Michael Barrett will cost, and to get someone that is on the right side of 30 that could have capably shared a job with Ramon Castro. I do not know why the deal was broken off, but injuries and a possible inclusion on Mitchell's soon to be infamous list have been bandied about. Either way, the Mets are back to needing a catcher. Orangeandbluebood said it best though:

If the Torrealba deal is dead a new catcher is needed. I hope the Mets wait and let the market develop. If the Padres do not offer Barret I say go after him. Since Castro is in the fold I think Barret is a good upside risk. If Barret is offered arbitration and would cost the Mets #22 pick and the Braves have signed Glavine Barret may still be an option since the Braves would give the Mets the #18 pick by signing Tom, Not So Terrific Glavine. I wouldn't complain if the Mets went for a solid defensive catcher with average offensive skills. Consider Mike Leiberthal or someone like him. A solid defensive catcher who would be cheap for a short term contract and up until last year was a .275 hitter with .315 OBP skills and more power than LoDuca. Better defense than LoDuca, better power and similar average and OBP skills and he could likely be had for a one year $2M deal. No matter what, the available catchers are all #8 hitters so why not get low cost, low years, and good defense. My preference would be Castro and Barret but I think the #18 and 22 pick in the draft may be worth Castro and Leiberthal.

At least the Mets have locked up second base, but four years for Castillo seems excessive for a slap hitter extraordinaire. Obviously less than $6 million per year is not going to break the bank, but I hope this is not backloaded. Maybe $7 million for the first two years, $6 million for the third year, and $5 million for the last season. I guess there was more competition for Castillo than we all expected and Eckstein wanting a $36 million dollar contract added up to overpaying for Castillo. But with Gotay in the fold, I am not all that concerned since he probably is a better choice right now anyway so second base will be capably filled at all times.

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Five years and $93 million dollars? Hopefully Santana takes that deal and if he does not, I think they might work things out either way. Maybe they should tack on some vesting options or some nice mutual options to sweeten the deal.

Also, if they ink Santana, trading Garza or Slowey not only becomes more likely, but almost a certainty in my eyes.

The Braves just gave the Mets their 18th pick of the 2008 draft. Thanks Tom! Now if the Mets squander their pick other first rounder on Michael Barrett, that will be upsetting. The upside would be that they still have a first round pick, but the Mets really need to try to bolster their system this year.

Also within the piece:

David Wells is one name that is expected to be pitched to the Mets. The 44-year-old free-agent left-hander finished last season with the Dodgers.

Wells is considering retirement, but the Mets are among the teams for which he would consider pitching.

Um, let me think about this one. No thanks. The Duque, Pedro, and Wells?

How ironic is this?

Says Willie, "I felt all year long we didn't have that killer instinct consistently that we should've had. We had at it times when our backs were against the wall, and we did show some fight (the Mets went 8-2 after the first four-game sweep by the Phillies), but you have to be careful when you put your back against the wall, because you can't always get off that wall. In the end, that's (exactly) what happened."

It is ironic because that is the persona Willie projects. Don't get too high. Don't get too low. Keep it even keeled. Even keeled Willie drove this team and their lack of urgency reflected his leadership style. Even when we could all smell collapse, he did not exhibit any urgency and is now shocked at the way his team played? I've been saying all off-season that the Mets needed someone at the helm to create a spark if no one there was going to do it. It is time to get someone with fire in there, which Willie clearly does not have.

Common Sense Prevails!

The LoDuca lovers (just speculation that he is the apple of their eye) are out in full force. Look, I do not love Yorvit. However, what else was out there? The trade possibilities were uninspiring and the Mets need to hang onto whatever little prospects they have if no one was appreciably better. Besides, you cannot overlook the fact that Ramon Castro, who might be better than anyone they have been looking at or rumored to be looking at, is still around and will get a large chunk of playing time.

Jonathan (Dallas, TX): The Mets have officially signed Yorvit Torrealba. The downfall of Omar Minaya has begun.

SportsNation Keith Law: Torrealba's not a good player - didn't make my top 50 free agents - but what were the alternatives on the market? He's not blocking anyone. They didn't pass on a significantly better free agent catcher, unless you want to roll the dice on Barrett bouncing back (which he will, but there's risk there). In the abstract, it's a bad signing. In context, it's understandable.

If you can name some type of scenario where the Mets make out better, I would love to know. Ramon Hernandez would have been nice, but he was not going to share time with Castro and he would have cost a top prospect and would not have been a complete salary dump. Laird? Is he all that much better of a choice? Shoppach? I'm a big fan of him, but there is still some uncertainty there and he would have cost more talent than Laird even though Castro could be better.

jLuft: So Shoppach can't hit outside breaking pitches. Yorvit can't hit...at all. Aren't there minor leaguers, salary dumps (Ramon Hernandez?), or younger and cheaper players (Shoppach) that would easily be able to equal or beat Yorvit's production and not require a multi-year deal? I don't see how this is a defensible signing. What do you project Yorvit to hit next year with Shea as his home park?

SportsNation Keith Law: You have to give something up in players to get those other guys. And I don't think the Mets wanted to deal any of their better prospects to fill the catching hole when they might want to have them available to go after a big SP.

I think the main thing people are glazing over with this signing is that Yorvit will not be the everyday starter and there will be two guys getting significant amounts of time. I will guarantee that the two headed monster of Torrealba and Castro will put up better numbers than anyone the Mets were looking at. This is not a bad thing at all. Is it a great thing? Shit no, but it is more of an innocuous move that does not deserve as much ire and attention as it is getting. Remember, the key word to this off-season should be prudent. The Mets simply cannot panic as a result of their meltdown and this move was a prudent move when you factor in the other options and Ramon Castro.

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Now to second base....

Andre (GA): Hey Keith, I have a 2 part question: I kinda feel Luis Castillo is too old, almost no power and too expensive to man 2B for the mets. How ready is Ruben Gotay to play there as a regular and is he worth it?? and two with Minaya expressing his desire to trade young talent for an ace pitcher, who do see becoming a trading partner with the Mets and what player might be involved??

SportsNation Keith Law: The Mets don't feel Gotay is good enough defensively to handle 2b. I think his range is fine, and he needs work turning the double play, but that can improve with work. His bat is ready - I'd take his bat over Castillo's, especially since Castillo is old, slowing down, and getting a little thick. The Mets will kick the tires on any #1/#2 starters made available, but right now only Erik Bedard really fits that bill, and Baltimore would like to make sure they can't sign him long-term before they shop him.

As Danny stated yesterday and as we have discussed before, a Gotay and Easley platoon would be just fine. No need to go crazy at second if you do not have to and it certainly gives the Mets some leverage. They are not desperate, but it would be nice to upgrade.

Castillo for longer than two years would be a disaster and Omar should know that. The fact that Houston is looking at Castillo for a long time and are looking to add Cordero as well is mind boggling. When they should be looking at rebuilding, they are looking at bringing in more pieces that will not be around when they are winning. Fucking ponderous.

It looks like Jake Peavy and the Padres are going to be talking contract extension and that is upsetting. However, not as upsetting as I thought it would be since I thought he was going to be a free agent after the '08 season, but it turns out he had an option for '09 anyway. The Padres are not poor and Barry Axelrod is not Scott Boras. I fully expect something to be in place prior to the beginning of the season.

Wallace Matthews is being a negative nelly again and he did not have to wait long to eat his words.

If anyone is being used here, it's the Yankees, but they must know this, mustn't they? Because if they believe they're getting Rodriguez in a room by himself, they must also believe somebody can do a better job of managing this team than Joe Torre. (Oh, wait a minute ... )

Ziiiiing! Ha ha...he's so funny with that subtle knock at the Yankees. First, Joe Girardi is probably going to be a better manager than Torre in many, many, many respects. Second, A-Rod has signed already.

The sides still are working on putting together a provision that would allow Rodriguez to share revenue created by his pursuit of the career home record held by Barry Bonds, who was indicted Thursday on perjury and obstruction charges. A-Rod has 518 homers, 244 shy of the mark.

Well, Matthews is part right I guess because A-Rod's deal has Boras written all over it. It is a bizarre and hard to determine provision. Or at least I would presume it to be hard to determine for a team that already sells out all of it's games and maximizes their revenue.

"Because he's generating such enormous revenue potential, both to the player and the club, there should be some way for the player and the club to capitalize on that achievement in some fashion," said Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer. "The devil will be in the details. The minds of men and women in the sport should be able to figure this out."

Shocking statement from the player's union. Really, take more money out of the owner's pocket and put it into the pocket of a player?

"There are a few cynics who say, 'Well, he really couldn't get this there,' " Steinbrenner said. "Trust me, he would have gotten probably more. He is making a sacrifice to be a Yankee, there's no question. ... He showed what was really in his heart and what he really wanted."

Everyone is in save face mode. The Yankees are saying he came crawling back to them. A-Rod is saying he finally had an epiphany. Who gives a shit. Everyone made out and no one is going to give two shits about this come the start of the season much less three years from now. I am just very excited the A-Rod watch is over.

I think Neyer said it best though...

We've been reading that A-Rod came back to the Yankees because he's been so disturbed by all the nasty things people have been saying about him. Sorry. I'm not buying that. I think he's come back for the same reason the Yankees have reneged on their sworn promise to spurn all negotiations if he opted out of his old deal: business.

Rodriguez simply wasn't going to get that $35 million per season that Scott Boras was talking about. Not from the Yankees or anyone else. And it seems he wasn't going to get even $30 million from anyone else. Teams really have wised up. Crawling back to the Steinbrothers is simply good business for A-Rod and his agent.

The Yankees need a third baseman. They literally have more money than they can spend this winter, considering the thin crop of free agents who might be slotted into the roster. Yes, they look a little silly, negotiating with A-Rod so soon after swearing they absolutely, positively would not. You know what? Nobody's going to care. People say things they don't really mean all the time, and the grown-ups all knew it (even if I didn't). Locking up A-Rod forever is simply good business for the Yankees.

None of this is about pride, or redemption, or egos. It's about business.

Just an aside, A-Rod is still a big douche.

Jeter is a criminal. So is Bonds.


Wait. Barry did steroids? Get out of here. I'm shocked. Can we all stop this? Barry did roids and lied about it, but a lot of other people did as well. Sure, not in front of a Federal Grand Jury, but we are talking about baseball and steroids. He impeded a legal proceeding, which is a bad thing, but so did the former President of the United States.

Now this is all supposed to tarnish his legacy? It should be just as tarnished as it was two days ago, which is marginally and I'm not buying "but now we reeeaaalllllyy know" argument. To act like this is all Bonds' fault it nuts. This steroid debacle was everyone's fault and is similar to the mortgage mess. The mortgage mess is the brokers fault for originating the loans, the investors fault for having an appetite for riskier loans with high interest rates which had driven the entire market, the rating agencies faults for putting those risky securities on par with government bonds, the borrowers faults for not being a more educated consumer (I mean it is only the biggest investment you will make in your life), etc.

How has Bonds become the fall guy for this steroid era? When the Mitchell report comes out, many, many, many big names will be named and yet everyone wants to vilify Bonds for taking steroids as if he was the only one. Again, cheating in the game of baseball has been around since the first pitch in many forms. For me, I do not seperate forms of cheating. In sports, everyone tries to get a leg up on the competition. That does not make it ok, but cheating is certainly not isolated and certainly not new.

If this impacts his Hall of Fame bid, it will be a shame. It is widely believed he was a Hall of Famer anyway and I could see how steroids would take a borderline guy out, but he is not a borderline guy. What if it comes out that Roger Clemens took them? Nothing. He will not be vilified and he will be in the Hall of Fame and I wonder why Bonds is getting treated differently.