2009 bullpen payroll: A visualization

The money owed to the pitchers in the Mets
bullpen for their service in 2009, including
Billy Wagner and Oliver Perez.

All those 42’s threw someone for a loop

That “Unknown” player is Bobby Parnell.  I guess whoever was tracking this game at Yahoo! had a hard time identifying players because everyone was wearing No. 42 on their backs.

They also have him pitching out of order.  Bobby Unknown Parnell pitched before J.J. Putz, not after.  Parnell threw a hitless inning of baseball, taking over for Oliver Perez to start the 7th inning.

Game Recap: Mets 4 -- Orioles 0

Five pitchers combined to shut out the Baltimore Orioles on their spring training turf today, as the Mets cruised to a 4-0 victory.

On The Mound

Oliver Perez made his first start of the spring, pitching only three innings. He allowed only one hit, a double, and walked two batters.

A good, quick showing for Perez, who will be dialed back after throwing 85 pitches in his last World Baseball Classic appearance.

Bobby Parnell followed Perez, going 2 2-3 innings and scattering five hits. Parnell struck out two. Darren O'Day was next in line and allowed one walk and one strikeout in 1 1-3 innings.

Parnell is still around while Jon Niese heads to the minor league because Parnell still has a chance to stick in the bullpen. It's an outside shot, but a shot just the same.

Brian Stokes and Elmer Dessens each allowed one hit in their inning of work.

At The Plate

Daniel Murphy continued his hot spring, going 2-4, with a triple. He drove in two RBIs and scored one run.

I can't wait to see him get a full season under his belt.

Ike Davis also picked up two hits, including a double, in his first spring training action. He drove in one run.

Nice to see from the young guy.

Alex Cora picked up the Mets other RBI.

On Deck

The Mets will travel to Orlando to take on the Atlanta Braves in a 1 p.m. game on Saturday. The game is not on TV.

Mets sign seven

Joel Sherman is reporting that the Mets have signed seven players, all for roughly the same amount of money.

• Daniel Murphy -- $401,000
• Nick Evans -- $403,000
• Robinson Cancel -- $408,000
• Jon Niese -- $400,000
• Bobby Parnell -- $400,000
• Connor Robertson -- $400,000
• Brian Stokes -- $409,500

Prospects dominate first intrasquad game

Though no stats are kept on these games, it's nice to see three young guys, who all have an outside chance at making the team, perform well in their first game action of the spring.

Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell and Dillon Gee each threw two innings of shut out baseball yesterday.

At this point in spring training, the pitchers are usually light years ahead of the batters, so don't read into it too much. Still, it's nice to see these guys out there and pitching well. They're likely the future of the franchise.

Omar Minaya should not be done -- the bullpen needs work

Via Adam Rubin:

Omar Minaya has ruled out bringing in Manny Ramirez or any other major expenditure. The lone pieces still being sought are a lefty reliever on a minor-league deal and a righty bat for the bench, perhaps via a spring-training trade.

Fine. I understand no Manny, and I had been OK with that from the start. The problem I have is with the lefty reliever on a minor league deal.

Guys like Will Ohman and Juan Cruz are still on the market, and would be excellent additions to the Mets weak middle relief portion of the bullpen. If Omar is going to short change them with a minor league deal, I think they're going to be shut out.

There is no reason they shouldn't pay a guy like Ohman or Cruz enough money to come to the team. I think Minaya is completely overvaluing guys like Duaner Sanchez, Sean Green and Brian Stokes. Heck, I want them all to do well, but I really don't think they're good enough to bridge the gap from starter to J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez.

Those two guys at the end of the bullpen are completely worthless if the team can't hand them a lead. Without a solid set of pitchers for middle relief, I'm not very confident in the outlook for 2009.

The depth chart has the Mets bullpen as follows (without K-Rod and Putz):

• D. Sanchez
• P. Feliciano
• S. Green
• B. Stokes
• C. Muniz
• B. Parnell

I only trust one of them with a full inning, three batters at the least, of work. Stokes seems to be the only one who can go for more than a batter or two. Sanchez has stunk for a while now, ever since his run-in with a taxi cab. Feliciano is a situational, one or two batter kind of guy. When stretched to work an inning or two, he struggles.

Green, I don't know enough about to judge, but his numbers really aren't that good. A career 4.32 ERA and 1.53 WHIP aren't going to calm my nerves, or my heartburn, when he's pitching in the 7th inning with a one run lead.

Muniz has been riding the shuttle between triple-A and the major leagues for a while now. He's never really gotten a ton of work at the MLB level, and rightly so. He's just not that good. Parnell is a young gun, who they hope will blossom and prosper soon, but he's just not ready yet.

So save for K-Rod and Putz, the bullpen is a bit of a mess. They need to go out and lock down Ohman or Cruz (or someone else!), and soon, because this 'pen is just not going to cut it in the NL East.

Poll Results: Daniel Murphy will be breakout star in '09

Going back to a poll that got lost in the shuffle of The 2008 Met of the Year Award, I asked which player would be the breakout start of 2009 -- here are the results:

Daniel Murphy -- 55% (94 votes)
Jon Niese -- 15% (27)
Bobby Parnell -- 11% (20)
Eddie Kunz -- 5% (10)
Mike Carp -- 4% (7)
Nick Evans -- 4% (7)
Other -- 2% (4)

If Carp is going to have a breakout year, he'll be doing it with the Seattle Mariners.

No surprise that Murphy led this list. He provided a spark and a glimmer of hope at the end of 2008. He also advanced to the Elite 8 in the 2008 MotY bracket, the lowest seed to do so.

Hopefully all of these players have a big (positive) impact on the 2009 Mets season.

Next poll: Which free agent pitcher would you prefer? (Poll in the right sidebar)

Mets Rumor: Jon Garland

This is the the kind of pitcher the Mets need to focus on. Solid, durable and effective. Not a top tier starter, but someone who will fit nicely at the back of their rotation.

Per Ken Rosenthal (I wonder how many times I will write his name over the next two weeks...):

Right-hander Jon Garland, who declined arbitration from the Angels, is on the Mets' radar. The Mets are unlikely to pay top dollar for a starter after investing in a closer, and Garland would fit the back of their rotation. Johan Santana, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese are the Mets' current projected starters. Garland, 29, has averaged 205 innings over the past seven seasons and likely would benefit from a move to the National League.

Perfect. If the Mets can manage to land Garland, I will feel much better about guys like Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell competing for that final spot(s) in the rotation.

If not, they must go out and sign someone else instead of handing two-fifths of the rotation to unproven rookies. Garland is high on my Mets fan wish list for this off-season.

MLB Rumor: Dye traded to Reds [Updated: Maybe not]

Accord to Hal McCoy (via MLBTR), the White Sox have traded Jermaine Dye to the Reds for Homer Bailey.

This is of note on this site because the Mets had been linked to Dye in the Fernando Martinez rumored trade.

From McCoy:

A major-league source close to the situation told The Dayton Daily News on Sunday, Dec. 7, "The deal is done and will be announced this week."

Guess you can scratch that trade off the list (thank goodness).

What is puzzling is that Bailey is a young guy, under contract for six years and Dye has one year left with a mutual option for 2010. I would have thought that the Reds could have gotten a little more for Bailey, who struggled last season, but I guess they thought the time was right.

Update: Lies! The Chicago Tribune refutes the story above.

A source familiar with the talks rejected a report in the Dayton Daily News quoting a "major-league source close to the situation" that a deal to send Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye to Cincinnati for pitcher Homer Bailey "was done and would be announced this week."

Also, check out that story for a tidbit on a broken down trade proposal with the Mets. Minaya refused to include Bobby Parnell, and trade talks stalled.

It's official. The Winter Meetings are going to be insane.

Sign Pedro Martinez

That's right, I said it. The Mets should sign Pedro Martinez.

As I noted yesterday, I agree with Dan Graziano that the Mets are overvaluing their 2009 rotation, especially with the two holes at the back end of the rotation. With Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell attempting to break into the big leagues on a full time basis, the Mets need security.

"I do want to play," Martinez told Christian Red in today's NY Daily News. "I'm not going to talk about it until January. I'm away from all that. I know I'm a free agent. One thing - I'm getting ready because I know how long it takes to get ready. I'm working out. I'm doing everything I have to do."

Why not sign Martinez? Well for one, he's extremely injury prone. He's at the end of his career, there is no doubt about that, but he's still able to pitch at the major league level to some degree. He can put in innings and is proven at this level, something you cannot say about Niese or Parnell.

He's no longer the ace of the staff, but he can definitely serve as the 5th man in the rotation.

Take a chance. A one-year deal, with incentives. He knows New York, can pitch in high-pressure cities and is a great addition in the clubhouse. I'm for it.

Rumor Rundown: All the names the Mets are linked to

As the GM Meetings come to a close in Dana Point, Calif., the market and buzz will likely slow down until early December, when the winter meetings kick off in Las Vegas.

Here are some of the latest rumors involving the Mets...

Adam Rubin has an article in the Daily News where he explains that even though Omar Minaya came away empty handed (as did every other GM), "Minaya believes he has laid the groundwork for future deals."

From Rubin we got the usual two closing names with Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes. He also mentions Kerry Wood, who started all of last year for the Chicago Cubs and Chad Cordero, who we first hear rumors for yesterday. Cordero is still recovering from shoulder surgery, and a Met official told Rubin that he probably won't be ready for opening day and should expect a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training if the team decides to pursue.

** * **

As always, the Mets bullpen needs an overhaul, and the team is currently shopping Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, and Pedro Feliciano.

According to Ken Davidoff:

There definitely will be takers for Heilman and Feliciano; among the teams that like Heilman at some level, are Oakland, Tampa Bay and Texas, and Feliciano has value to any club looking for a left-hander.

The Mets would be willing to pay some of the $3.6 million owed to Schoeneweis in 2009. They feel that Schoeneweis could have appeal to other clubs because of his strong numbers against lefty hitters (.520 OPS in 2008).

I think it's going to be pretty easy to unload these guys, if the Mets contact the right team. Heilman, who we all know has struggled, still garners interest due to his age and foreseeable talent.

Feliciano will be a target of a lot of teams due to which arm he uses to deliver pitches. Being a lefty never looked so good. And Schoeneweis caught some attention before the Aug. 31 trade deadling during the season, so if those teams (Tigers were the more interested) are still looking, I'd ship him out as soon as possible.

** * **

Davidoff also breaks down what the Mets Plan A, Plan B and Plan C look like for this off-season.

Plan A entails signing K-Rod or Fuentes, Derek Lowe, and a "low-cost, high-ceiling pitcher (Freddy Garcia, for instance) to compete for the fifth starter's job with Jonathon Niese." Then, trade Heilman and Schoeneweis for some decent bullpen arms, pick up Raul Ibanez, trade Luis Castillo and sign Orlando Hudson.

Well, that'd be nice. That's definitely my Plan A as well, but I just don't think they have the payroll to add all those guys.

Check out the article for Plan B and C. (I like Plan B a lot as well.)

** * **

Seems that looking in-house for a closer is the last resort for the Mets.

Davidoff (yes, again!) quotes Minaya in another article:

Asked yesterday if the Mets could turn within the organization for their closer - a youngster such as Eddie Kunz or Bobby Parnell, for instance - Minaya said, "That is not Plan One."

Smart man, I just hope he doesn't disregard them altogether.

Rumor Rundown: More pitching

The Mets may have found a taker for Aaron Heilman, and they might be able to land a young starter in return. Hold on, let me check my pulse. I may have died and gone to heaven.

Joel Sherman is reporting that the Mets and Tampa Bay Rays have had preliminary discussions about Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson. The Rays seem to fancy Heilman (but would need more than just him to complete the trade).

Sherman:

But Tampa is blessed with depth in Sonnanstine (13-9, 4.38) and Jackson (14-11, 4.42), plus Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot. They have let the Mets know there might be a potential for a deal among that group.

Tampa continues to have interest in Aaron Heilman Aaron Heilman , but not to the extent it had in the past, in part because the Rays' belief that Heilman can be transitioned to the rotation has dwindled. Thus, the Mets would have to surrender more to complete a deal.

Have any use for Luis Castillo?

** * **

The Mets are not on the list of teams that Jake Peavy and his agent are dealing with. Too bad.

** * **

Seems the youth movement may be a forced hand in 2009.

VP Tony Bernazard has stated that if the team cannot land a closer via free agency or a trade, they are willing to go with youth.

From the Daily News:

Bernazard said if the Mets strike out through free agency or trade, they're prepared to potentially use Bobby Parnell or Eddie Kunz in the closing role.

"Why not? What's wrong with that?" Bernazard asked. "You can't sign one of those guys, what are you going to do - not play?"

It must be noted that in 10 2-3 innings pitched in the Arizona Fall League, Kunz has posted a 8.44 ERA. He has picked up two saves, while allowing 15 hits and 10 earned runs to score. He's walked seven and struck out eight.

Parnell, on the other hand, has thrown 9 1-3 innings, allowed three earned runs on seven hits, for a 2.89 ERA. He's walked seven and struck out 11 batters for Peoria Saguaros.

** * **

Scott Boras wants a lot of money. No surprise here.

Ken Rosenthal notes that the Mets are willing to pay up to $12 million for Oliver Perez, but Boras will likely want more, thanks to Carlos Silva's ridiculous contract.

Rumor Rundown: Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

Every morning I will scan the web for the newest Mets rumors, and dish them to you. Enjoy your tasty tidbits of baseball gossip.

The New York Times relays info from a quick meeting Omar Minaya held with reporters at the GM Meetings in Cali. Minaya pitched the need for pitching over offense. "I have no problem with our offense, and that was even with [Luis] Castillo not having a good year, and he is a lifetime .300 hitter, if I am not mistaken," Minaya told the Times. "Those things I am not worried about."

When asked if he would look at the pricier closer Francisco Rodriguez, Minaya said "We have to look at everybody."

Minaya also noted that since the Mets only have three starters on the board for next year, he will entertain the idea of re-signing Pedro Martinez. Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell and Jason Vargas will all have a shot at those final two spots. No mention of Oliver Perez.

** * **

Javier Vazquez has piqued the Mets interest.

Vazquez, who is owed $23 million over the next two years by the Chicago White Sox, will not be too expensive, as long as the Mets are willing to pay.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Vazquez, who has a no-trade clause to West Coast teams, was fourth in the American League in strikeouts, but his only winning season in the last four was 2007, when he finished 15-8. He also had winning records in Montreal in the early 2000s when current Mets GM Omar Minaya worked there.

I don't like this, but the Mets do need pitching. Too expensive, too inconsistent.

** * **

Back to K-Rod. Ken Davidoff reminds us of a similar situation from a few years ago.

Newsday:

Though the Mets are reluctant to meet Rodriguez's public asking price of $75 million over five years, they'll engage with him just in case the price drops. As Minaya noted yesterday, Carlos Beltran's original asking price was $200 million before it came down to the $119 million the Mets paid him.

No one was going to spend $200 mil. for Beltran. Unfortunately, I think the closers market is so dry, teams will spend as much as possible to try and land the new single-season save leader.

I'd be more than happy landing the cheaper, and equally good Brian Fuentes.

Who will stick in the bullpen?

The Mets 2009 bullpen will look radically different.

According to David Lennon, an overhaul is most likely in the works to fix the Mets Achilles heel over the past few seasons. From today's Daily News:

Other than Joe Smith, Brian Stokes and Pedro Feliciano, the bullpen should look drastically different in '09.
---
Mets COO Jeff Wilpon has spoken about addition by subtraction, meaning Aaron Heilman (two years from free agency), Scott Schoeneweis (one year, $3.6 million remaining) and Luis Castillo (three years, $18 million) all potentially are goners. Since the Mets would have to eat so much of Castillo's contract, or trade for an equally bad contract, they may be stuck with him.

Stokes really came out of nowhere at the end and surprised the team with an above-average fastball and ability to go multiple innings.

Smith and Feliciano are the opposites of each other, which means they are delegated mostly to a specific batter, either LH hitter or RH hitters. The Mets are going to need a lot more versatility out of the bullpen, and they're going to have to sign, trade and promote to fill out the pen.

Eddie Kunz, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and Jason Vargas are all players who may find themselves either starting or in the bullpen in '09. Players available via trade include perennial-rumor name Huston Street, J.J. Putz and George Sherrill.

One big name who filed for free agency on Thursday is Chad Cordero. Cordero is working back from an injury and surgery of a torn labrum, and it's said he'll be ready by spring training. The Mets have been linked to Cordero for a while, so I'd expect some interest from Omar Minaya. We all saw Cordero before he went under the knife, and his fastball was flat and slow. If those problems are solved, and he's the Cordero of old, I'd be more than happy to have him on the Mets.

Any way you look at it, it's going to be a busy off-season for Minaya, and the bullpen is a major point of concern, especially if the young guys cannot perform up to snuff.

The Pedro quandry

Should the Mets re-sign Pedro Martinez? It's a tough one.

In short, I don't think they should. He can't stay healthy, can't get through six innings, and is going to want more than one season in his contract.

But, and there is always a but with me, he might be able to give you some quality innings. Nothing spectacular, but decent fifth starter type starts, allowing three runs over 5 2-3 innings or something to that degree. Would you take that out of Pedro Martinez?

With a one-year contract, worth a couple million, I wouldn't be against it. It would give security heading into spring training, if guys like Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell aren't as ripe as we all hope. He could also serve as a mentor to the young guns as they prepare to embark on their MLB career.

I don't think it would hurt to sign him again, for something short and something cheap, because he won't be breaking the Mets bank. He seems to enjoy pitching and being a part of New York City, so I figure he'd be willing to stay, maybe even for a bargain.

It truly depends if he even returns at all. He's in the twilight of his career, and with his father's passing this year, his heart may just not be in the game anymore.

I'd like to see him back, but won't be heartbroken if he retires or ends up elsewhere.

Where the heck is Al Reyes? Redux

On Monday, I wrote:

Way back on August 20th, the Mets signed pitcher Al Reyes. He went to the minors to work back into shape before coming up in September to supposedly help the beleaguered bullpen.

Well, he's up, and he's yet to pitch.

And now he's gone.

The Mets released Reyes before he ever threw a pitch. Apparently, his performance at Double-A Binghamton before he was called up was sub-par, and the Mets decided not to roll the dice with their third Reyes.

It seems the Mets are happy using the same guys out of the bullpen, even if they are getting overworked a bit. Last night, with a five run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Scott Schoeneweis entered the game.

Why?

Where the heck is Bobby Parnell? In his one inning of work, he retired the side in order. Why not give him the ninth inning, with Schoeneweis up in the bullpen if anything goes wrong?

I love Jerry Manuel, but this is Willie Randolph-esque bullpen management. Give the kids a shot, especially with a big lead like they had last night.

September call-ups

Joe Janish beat me to it. Check out Mets Today for a complete rundown of the call-ups and who can and can't be added.

I'm not going to put a lot of stock into Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell. There seems to be too much hype behind them, and I don't think they're going to come up and have a huge impact on the team.

Guys like Al Reyes and Ricardo Rincon should help, simply because another arm in the bullpen cannot hurt at this time. It's a crap shoot in the pen right now, and Luis Ayala worked for a few games. Lightning in a bottle could be found anywhere. Hopefully one of these guys can be a lightning rod.

Marlon Anderson will be nice to have back, as long as he can recapture his pinch hitting prowess.

Don't look for a huge help from the September call-ups, but Niese will get the start on Tuesday against the Brewers. Maybe he could do something special against the streaking Brew-crew. Wouldn't that be nice?

Shut down John Maine NOW

I love John Maine as much as the next guy. He's a good, young, pitcher and he was a steal. But right now, he's not helping the team, and he's potentially hurting himself in the process.

It will be tough to go through the rest of the season without him, but in my mind, many good years outweigh one month of tough pitching down the stretch for a playoff berth. Please, Mets, for the good of John Maine's shoulder, please shut him down.

Call up Jon Niese, who has been struggling at AAA over his last two starts. Being him up and pitch him. Pitch Brian Stokes. Pitch anyone but Maine. It's been said that he can't technically hurt his arm any more than it is, as it's "only" a bone spur. I call shenanigans. If he's hurt, he can easily hurt it more.

He's not helping right now, so the team won't be losing anything but five innings of 100 pitch baseball. Niese, Stokes, Bobby Parnell, Ruddy Lugo...anyone. Please.

Early Morning Madness: Maybe we need a reliever edition

With the trade deadline fast approaching, the Mets seem to be trying to land an everyday left fielder more than anything. I think Omar Minaya needs to step back and look at his bullpen a little bit more.

First of all, Fernando Tatis is hitting better than almost everyone else on the team right now. Obviously, this production isn't going to last, but once Ryan Church returns, the LF spot could see Tatis, Endy Chavez, Damion Easley, and Marlon Anderson all sahring time depending on who is hot, who is pitching, and the like. It will be serviceable enough to work as one left fielder, some with plus bats, others with plus gloves.

I think the Mets real problem here is the bullpen. To put it simply, Carlos Muniz and Willie Collazo are not going to cut it. Muniz hasn't turned in a string of solid performances...ever. He's been riding the shuttle back and forth from New Orleans long enough I'm sure he know each and every flight attendant by now and they throw him an extra bag of peanuts on the flight. He's doing this for a reason, Omar. He's just not good enough to stick around.

Collazo recently came up, but to me, they are the same person with the same sort of stuff. Either way, these two aren't going to help the team. And now I see that Scott Schoeneweis' name is being tossed around in trade rumors. Well who is going to take his spot, I want to know?

Unless Omar is crazy enough to start promoting Eddie Kunz and Bobby Parnell ASAP, we're going to be stuck with relievers who can't seem to make it out of the minors, and have to depend on them down the stretch to the postseason.

The team doesn't have many chips to trade away, but I think the most pressing need right now is a new bullpen arm. Omar, I trust you and have since you took over. Sure, you've made some crappy moves, but you've also pulled out some gems. And right now, this team needs a gem.

New York Mets rumors for the deadline

One of my good buddies and fellow bloggers, Will Sommer recently conducted an interview with Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com. Here are the highlights:

WS: How hard are the Mets looking for a corner outfielder? / How much would the Mets have to give up?

TD: It seems to be their top priority. They are trying to get someone
decent without giving up Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese, or Bobby Parnell.
The Mariners want Niese for Raul Ibanez though. I don't think they'll do that.
---
WS: If you were Omar Minaya would you trade Fernando Martinez for any of
the available corner outfielders?

TD: If I could get Jason Bay straight up for him, I'd think about that one for a while.

I don't see the Mets parting with any of that young talent unless they can land a star. Not happening.

And F-Mart for Bay, straight up is a quandary. I would probably pull the trigger, but that's because F-Mart has struggled with injuries lately and that worries me. You'd be swapping a Mets prospect for an ex-Mets prospect, so maybe in 10 years the team could trade for F-Mart again.