Visit to Citi Field: Vision of a Dark Future

I nearly went to Thursday's game, but ended up at Wednesday's instead. Big mistake. Instead of seeing a spectacular comeback that will no doubt end up in the slim catalog of SNY Mets Classics, I got to see what a Met infield would look like without Jose Reyes or David Wright.

I did not find out until well after the fact that Terry Collins was even more annoyed than I was about the shoddy infield play that resulted in a steady stream of infield hits and helped the Pirates turn a 2-0 deficit into a 9-3 win. But what Collins really needed to be annoyed with was that Willie Harris is still on his roster and that Sandy Alderson has been no better so far at building a bench on the cheap than Omar Minaya was.

Things got a lot brighter Thursday when Reyes returned to the lineup and Harris returned to the bench. And then there was that comeback for the ages. So I deleted the gloom and doom post I started Wednesday night. After all, I did have a good time going to my first game of the year.

But ownership should know that even if fans can still have fun at the ballpark watching a lousy lineup playing a lousy game, my tickets in the fifth row of the promenade behind home plate were only $6.50 each, plus StubHub fees. And unless I missed it, they didn't bother to put the attendance on the scoreboard. It wasn't too long ago when the Mets would ask you to guess the attendance and put up four different figures, all much higher than whatever they are drawing now.

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If the Mets want to reduce the gloom and doom surround the club, how about putting an end to rumors that they might aim to keep Reyes, but then they would have to move Wright. What's next - Shake Shack will only have hamburgers or shakes, but not both? I actually read somewhere that this could be the best time to trade Wright, before his value goes down more. Yeah, when he's on the DL with a stress fracture in his back - that's the time to move him!

Wright, like Reyes, is a very good player who has done well in New York, unlike, say, Jason Bay. Nobody should be untouchable, but moves just to cut costs can help you end up with an infield like Wednesday night's - Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, Ruben Tejada and Willie Harris.

Why Are Mets Promoting Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran for All-Star Game?

Just got an email from mets.com: REYES, BELTRAN NEED YOUR VOTES! Yeah, that's the way to cheer up a fan base - tell them to support players that may not even be in Met uniforms by the All-Star Game.

Maybe Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran would have more votes if their owner hadn't publicly criticized them last week.

Perhaps Fred Wilpon can make it up to Reyes by voting for him - just so long as he doesn't get Carl Crawford vote totals.

And Wilpon can vote for Beltran, but fill out multiple ballots with other outfielders so Beltran only gets 65-70% of his support.

The one thing we won't see from the Mets is truth in marketing:

Vote for Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran - increase their trade value!

Vote for Reyes and Beltran - it may be years before another Met has any hope of being voted onto the team!

Enjoy these Met All-Star performances while you can - starting in 2012, the Mets will only get someone on the team because every team has to have an All-Star. (But at least Justin Turner will be able to tell his grandkids he was an All-Star.)

I'd love to vote for Reyes - to sign a new contract with the Mets. As for Beltran, I vote for him to find a team that appreciates him.

In the end, many fans, including this one, will be voting with their wallets. And the exit polls on that score are looking pretty grim.

Perhaps the person most in favor of the Mets' latest dubious marketing ploy is incoming investor David Einhorn. ESPN's Adam Rubin suggests that Einhorn may be counting on the team to tank financially so that he can eventually take it over.

And a good way to make Met fans even angrier is to ask them to cast their All-Star votes for Reyes and Beltran - to think of them as the stars they are, just as ownership is no longer able or willing to pay for stars.

Remembering Dana Brand

Lisa and I had the pleasure of meeting Dana Brand at a SABR event in February 2010. Dana read from his book "The Last Days of Shea: Delight and Despair in the Life of a Met Fan." Almost all of the mainstream media wrote about Shea Stadium as a dump that would not be missed. It was refreshing to hear someone discuss Shea, the ballpark of most Met fans' formative years, so passionately and eloquently.

Now Shea is gone and, shockingly, so too is Dana, way too soon at 56. Not only was Dana a central part of the Met blogging community, but he also was willing to help out a Yankee fan like Lisa when she interviewed Met bloggers for a piece she wrote for The Faster Times.

Dana inscribed my copy of "The Last Days of Shea" as follows:

To Jon
A fellow long-suffering still-believing Met fan.
Someday. . .
Dana Brand
2/6/10

I still can't believe that when someday finally comes, Dana won't be there to share it with all of the long-suffering, still believing Met fans.

Lisa and I send our thoughts and prayers to Dana's family.

We really regret that we only got to meet Dana and hear him speak that one time. Here are two remembrances from people that knew him much better - Greg Prince and Howard Megdal.

Subway Series and the End of the World

Apparently, the world will end just before the second game of the Subway Series. This would mark the second straight Saturday night Yankee game preceded by an apocalyptic event, following last week's Posada Adventure.

As Squawker Lisa never fails to remind me, the Mets experienced their own form of doomsday during the Subway Series two years ago courtesy of Luis Castillo. That dismal year also included Francisco Rodriguez walking Mariano Rivera with the bases loaded. Unfortunately for me, Lisa and I were at both of those games.

Last year, we were lucky enough to get to sit in Legends seats for a Subway Series game at Yankee Stadium. Here's how long ago that game seems - Mike Pelfrey and Phil Hughes were both 9-1. Pelfrey's loss that day sent him into a weeks-long tailspin. Hughes went into a tailspin in the second half and still hasn't come out of it. And now he's on the DL.

At least Jose Reyes hit two homers that day. But it'll really be doomsday if Reyes is hitting homers next year at Yankee Stadium in a Yankee uniform.

This will be the first Subway Series in years without Castillo and Oliver Perez on the roster. Castillo's time with the Mets wasn't all bad, but in 365 games, his overall OPS was just .691. It's hard to win with that kind of OPS in your lineup.

But Lisa, the Yankees sure seem willing to try, with Derek Jeter (2011 OPS .636) and Jorge Posada (2011 OPS .672) holding down two lineup spots.

And Jeter and Posada are making a total of $28 million this season, which is a lot more than the $18 million the Mets are paying Castillo and Perez for 2011.

Prediction: Mets take one of three. Bleacher Creatures do roll call for potential future Yankees Carlos Beltran and Reyes. Mets GM Sandy Alderson tries to lead them in a chant for K-Rod. Beltran homers and John Sterling has a home run call ready to go: "A belt for Beltran!"

Jose Reyes' George Brett Pine Tar Moment

In 1983, George Brett went berserk when an umpire's controversial call cost him a homer and appeared to cost the Royals a victory over the Yankees. Last night, Jose Reyes went berserk when an umpire's controversial call cost him a triple and appeared to doom the Mets to defeat. But the Royals would eventually win that game, and last night, the Mets ended up winning as well.

See video of Reyes' reaction after getting called out at third.

See video from the Pine Tar Game (Squawker Lisa was at this game!)

Unlike the Royals, the Mets did not have the call overturned, but they also did not have to wait 25 days to finish the game and get the win after the American League ruled that Brett's homer should be allowed and the game would have to resume at that point. Instead, the Mets rallied, not once, but twice, in the late innings to beat the Nationals and win their sixth straight.

If this turns out to be a magical year for the Mets (not that I think it will, but that's the nature of magical years - you can't predict them) the magic began last night. How else do you explain Daniel Murphy homering to tie the game right after Reyes was called out, making a bad play at second in the bottom of the eighth to help the Nationals score the go-ahead run, then doubling in two runs in the ninth to seal the win?

The most magical thing I will hope for this season is that the Mets find a way to keep Reyes. He's the catalyst who hit a clutch extra-base hit in the eighth inning of a 2-1 game and legged it out for what should have been a triple. Then, when he was called out, he displayed fire you wouldn't see from most Mets.

The reality check is that, even after winning six straight, the Mets are still 11-13, but at least they are out of last place and look headed in the right direction.

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One final note on last night's game - Rick Ankiel had to give up pitching because he couldn't control his pitches from the mound to the plate, yet he was able to make an unbelievable dead-on throw from the outfield wall to third base on the Reyes hit.

Omar Minaya Appears at Fordham; Mets Keep Winning

When the Mets were in free fall earlier this month, I grew sick of Terry Collins' postgame news conferences, when he kept insisting that the Mets would turn it around and go on a long winning streak. At one point, I think he mentioned winning nine of eleven, another time, something like winning six straight. I just wanted the Mets to win one straight.

Turns out Terry was right - the Mets have now won five straight. 5-0 since Jason Bay returned. And 5-0 since R.A. Dickey, after the team's last loss, said:

We can't just keep telling ourselves, 'Oh, we’re a better team than this.' We may not be. And we've got to be honest about that, and identify what we're doing wrong, and do it better. That's the only way you have any real growth…

Dickey is one of the few Mets to show leadership qualities. Now let's hope he can snap his own losing streak Wednesday and help the Mets continue to win.

Before the game, I went to see a panel discussion at Fordham moderated by Lenny Cassuto, co-editor of "The Cambridge Companion to Baseball." The panel included former Met GM Omar Minaya, baseball historian John Thorn, baseball writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Alan Schwarz and Matthew Jacobson, a Yale professor and contributor to the Cambridge book.

It was a lively discussion on topics ranging from the declining number of African-Americans in baseball to instant replay. Some of the sharpest exchanges revolved around steroids. Thorn saw no need to make any changes to the record book, even going so far as to suggest that if Babe Ruth played today, he would be Matt Stairs. Schwarz said that he did not look forward to telling his young son that the home run record was held by Barry Bonds. Thorn replied that Bonds was the best hitter he's ever seen, and Thorn had seen Ted Williams play.

The panel was also not always in agreement on baseball's popularity in the U.S. When Minaya said that he saw plenty of baseball fields whenever he was on a plane coming in for a landing, Schwarz asked if anyone was on those fields and Cassuto said that he had just read that more and more baseball fields are being paved over.

When Minaya said that his purest experience of seeing a baseball game might have been in Cuba, Schwarz noted that "they have a hell of a salary cap."

Minaya said he would not want to see a robot determining balls and strikes because you need to be able to "go out there and argue."

Minaya mentioned that he had played ball in Tuscany, which made me think of Rick Peterson's statement when the Mets got rid of him that they were replacing a hardwood floor with Tuscany tile.

I'm still not sure that the Mets are better off with Dan Warthen, but the way the pitching has been the last few days, the Tuscany tile is looking pretty good.

Win Tickets to Mets Home Opener

Anthony Marsala of Long Live Shea Stadium has alerted us to a chance to win tickets to the Mets home opener on Friday, April 8th, 4:10 PM, vs. the Nationals.

Jersey Shore Bracelet Company is running the contest.

Here is what you need to do:

1) “Like” the Jersey Shore Bracelet Facebook page: Facebook

2) Repost the contest information/fan page as your Facebook status

3) Fill out the form on the Jersey Shore Bracelet web site specified on the Facebook page

Another option for those of you who are on twitter:

1) Follow LongLiveSheaS and JSBracelet.

2) Re-tweet the contest information

3) Fill out the form on the Jersey Shore Bracelet web site.

Want to increase your chances of winning the tickets? For any order placed during the entry period (March 23rd- April 1), you will get an additional entry into the contest.

The winner will be announced on April 2nd.

Spring Cleaning Continues: Goodbye and Good Riddance, Oliver Perez

Saying goodbye to Luis Castillo was great, but Oliver Perez calls for the real celebration. Castillo at least made an effort and was a legitimate part of the competition for 2B (though that says more about the Mets' lack of good options). Ollie was just plain useless. Most importantly, the Mets were finally willing to eat an eight-figure salary.

Squawker Lisa has graciously offered to help me celebrate Castillo's departure by providing links of various calls of his dropped popup against the Yankees, a game we had the misfortune of attending. I have declined all of Lisa's generous offers. I don't need to see that play again - it's seared in my memory along with Lisa's laugh and the long walk out of Yankee Stadium and into the crowded subway surrounded by gleeful Yankee fans.

But Ollie's departure does bring back memories of games we attended that I am more willing to revisit. One was the first time I went to Citi Field. It was the second exhibition game against the Red Sox. Lisa and I were excited to try the new food options, and with Shake Shack already packed, we started with Blue Smoke. It had a long line as well, and by the time we got our ribs, the game was underway. We didn't mind because it was an exhibition, and we didn't think we'd miss much anyway. But by the time we got our food, the Mets were losing, 6-0, and it was still the top of the first.

Of course, the pitcher was Ollie, who did his part to inaugurate the new ballpark by giving up a grand slam to Jed Lowrie. Ollie was just starting his three-year deal and was already getting boos following his shaky spring, when he was accused of not staying in shape when he was participating in the World Baseball Classic.

(By the way, is it worth noting that Ollie was at least a serviceable pitcher before appearing in the WBC, but has been a disaster ever since?)

Last August, Lisa and I went to see Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Frank Cashen and Davey Johnson inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. The ceremony was great - the game, not so much. By the eighth inning, the Mets trailed the Diamondbacks, 10-1. It was Ollie time. He gave up a run in the eighth, earning another inning.

As the ninth inning started, Lisa and I, not sure why were were still there, realized that it would be a good time to visit the Mets Hall of Fame. So we were taking pictures of the new plaques while Ollie was giving up three more runs to make the final score 14-1. A perfect day to celebrate a time when the Mets were actually a great team.

Looking over the box score, I now see that when Ollie entered the game, so did Castillo. Talk about garbage time!

I didn't make it to another game after that, so that was the last time I saw Castillo and Perez in Met uniforms. (And, perhaps, major league uniforms.) On Mets Hall of Fame Day, Lisa and I got to say farewell to proud members of the Mets Hall of Shame.

The Five Stages of Luis Castillo Remaining on the Mets

Stage 1 - Denial: There's no way a new regime that wants to make a fresh start can bring back Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez.

Stage 2 - Anger: If these symbols of Met ineptitude are still on the team, I'm not going to buy any tickets to games.

Stage 3 - Bargaining: If you cut Castillo today, I'll buy tickets to three games. If you cut both Castillo and Perez, I'll buy a five-game plan.

Stage 4 - Depression: Who am I kidding - I'm going to go to some games whomever is on the team. And the ballpark will be a ghost town, except for the huge line which will somehow still be there at Shake Shack.

Stage 5 - Acceptance: The Mets have made a good-faith effort to find alternatives, auditioning four other players. Maybe Castillo really is the best choice at second base in this group.

But once I get to stage 5, I remember that Castillo has played under 90 games two of the last three seasons, so the odds are good that the Mets will need another second baseman at some point during 2011. And the person they pick will be someone who was beaten out in spring training by Luis Castillo.

Now, as far as Castillo is concerned, I'm back to stage 4.

As for Perez, I'm still at Stage 2.

Rangers' Mark Teixeira Trade Bad Model for Mets

No Met should be untouchable. But if the Mets are going to trade a franchise player like David Wright, it shouldn't be for prospects.

The Wall Street Journal's Brian Costa offers three things the Mets can learn from how the Texas Rangers succeeded despite their financial difficulties.

1. Don't be afraid to trade a franchise player, if the timing is right and the market is strong.
2. Don't skimp on the draft.
3. Find value where others don't see it.

All three of his suggestions are valid, particularly the second one. It's a disgrace, as Costa points out, that the big-market Mets are next-to-last in spending on draft picks over the last five years.

But there are a couple of problems with Costa's explanation of his first suggestion:

The first major step in the Rangers' rebuilding process was trading Mark Teixeira to the Braves in 2007. Now, two of the four prospects the Rangers acquired in that deal, shortstop Elvis Andrus and pitcher Neftali Feliz, are vital (and inexpensive) components of their present and future.

The equivalent for the Mets would be trading David Wright. We're not suggesting they should do that, but if they find themselves out of contention in July, they would have to ask themselves: Are we another year away from competing for a championship? And if not, would trading Mr. Wright now make us more likely to compete for a championship in 2013 and beyond?

The Rangers' haul for Teixeira was one of the great acquisitions of prospects in recent history. How many times does a team land not one, but two impact players in such a deal? I can only think of one recent example off the top of my head - Montreal's trade of prospects Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips for Bartolo Colon. And that trade had the mitigating circumstances of Montreal facing contraction, compelling Montreal GM Omar Minaya to mortgage the future to try to win immediately.

Even if the Mets manage to land one prospect that quickly pans out in a trade for Wright, it won't be long before that player needs some big money as well. After the 2008 season, the Rockies traded franchise player Matt Holliday for a package including prospect Carlos Gonzalez. Just two years later, Gonzalez finished third in the MVP balloting and recently signed a seven-year, $80 million deal.

Trading someone like Wright is only worth it if the Mets plow the savings into helping the team. The goal should be to land players like Gonzalez, and then pay to keep them around.

The contracts for Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo are a waste of money. Carlos Beltran is likely to be quite overpaid this season. The jury is out on Jason Bay.

But just because the Mets have made some bad choices and have had some bad luck with many of their big-money contracts (I still think the Beltran deal was worth it, since he lived up to it when he was healthy), doesn't mean that all big-money deals are automatically bad. If the Mets are going to be a big-market team, they must have a big-money payroll.

The financial uncertainties surrounding the Mets should mean that the Mets may face temporary spending difficulties. It can't mean that big payrolls are suddenly bad, as Sandy Alderson appeared to imply recently. Alderson was supposedly brought in to spend money more efficiently, not to spend less of it.

The Mets also need to think about their history and how few homegrown stars have played most of their careers with the team. Maybe a franchise player shouldn't be untouchable, but those "face of the franchise" players can still get fans out to the ballpark when the team is out of contention.

Could Jose Reyes end up on the Phillies?

If Derek Jeter wouldn't switch positions for Alex Rodriguez, he isn't likely to do so for Jose Reyes. But plenty of other teams could be in the market at the end of this year for an under-30, All-Star caliber shortstop. And one of those teams could be the Phillies.

Here's a quote from an NL East GM at the end of last season:

I think we'll probably let things, at this time, play out. There's some concern about his production the last couple of years. He's a much better player than he's played. We just have to make sure he's healthy.

Sounds like Mets GM Sandy Alderson talking about Reyes today. But it was Phillies GM Ruben Amaro talking about Jimmy Rollins, who is now entering the final year of his contract. Rollins just turned 32. Last season, he played in just 88 games, and had an OPS of only .694. In 2009, Rollins' OPS was just .719.

It's hard to imagine the Phillies replacing Rollins with a hated Met, especially Reyes. But a few years ago, it would have been even harder to imagine that the next regular Yankee centerfielder after Bernie Williams would be Red Sox "idiot" Johnny Damon.

Rollins will make $8.5 million this year. Raul Ibanez, whose contract also expires at the end of the season, makes $10.5 million. If the Phillies decide to part ways with Rollins, they will have money to spend at shortstop.

Today, Alderson claimed that the financial situation now facing Mets ownership won't affect whether or not the Mets re-sign Reyes:

I fully expect that decision will be made as it would have been, in the best interest of the team on the field, and the best interest of the overall sort of financial health as well as baseball future of the Mets -- as it would be with any other team.

But Alderson also said today that the Mets may not be plowing all the money that will come off the books after 2011 back into the team:

You may know recent Mets history better than I. I don't know if we've gotten this high in the past. One never wants to rest at one extreme or the other. My sense is that our payroll is a little higher this year than I would have liked to have been, but we are where we are. Whether that means we drop back in future years to some extent, I don't know. But we will continue to expend money at very high levels and I think be among the highest payrolls in baseball."

It's hard to believe that Alderson and his "dream team" are unaware of the Mets' payroll history. And if they don't know recent Mets history as well as they should, they should look back to 2005-8, when Reyes earned MVP votes four straight years and was the offensive catalyst when the team was a playoff contender.

If Reyes can't stay healthy yet again this season, the Mets have a difficult decision to make. But a healthy Reyes belongs on the Mets. Not on another team such as the Red Sox, which might also need a shortstop. And certainly not on the Phillies.

The worst thing about Cliff Lee going to the Phillies

It's bad enough that the Mets will have to face a powerhouse Phillies team the next few years. But what's even worse is that the Phillies have become the kind of team star players take less money to join.

Last year, Roy Halladay signed a three-year contract extension with Philadelphia for $60 million. Halladay could have been a free agent after the 2010 season. Imagine what his market would have been. But Halladay was willing to give up future tens of millions of dollars to go to the Phillies. Now Cliff Lee has also left tens of millions of dollars on the table for a chance to play with Shane Victorino.

Most free agents end up where the most money is. But one would hope that, the money being equal, some players would prefer the Mets over other clubs. Instead, the Mets have often had to overcome a star's reluctance to join them. Flushing was reportedly "Beirut" to Jason Bay. Carlos Beltran reportedly was willing to take less money to go the Yankees. Carlos Delgado turned down a chance to play for the Mets in 2005 before the Mets traded for him the following year.

Under the new regime, I have confidence that the Mets will soon become a place where stars want to play and that Sandy Alderson and company will spend money, but do so wisely. However, I still expect that the Mets, like just about every other team, will ultimately have to outbid other clubs to get the players they want.

But it's hard to imagine players taking less money to join the Mets.

Alderson may eventually close the talent gap with the Phillies, but now he must close the likeability gap as well. As with the Phillies, the Mets need to become the kind of club that players want to join for reasons besides money.

W.C. Fields must be turning over in his grave. Who would have thought that, on the whole, star pitchers would rather be in Philadelphia?

Twist ending for Met fans: Cliff Lee spurns Yankees, but picks Phillies

Cliff Lee turning down the Yankees should have been the highlight of my postseason. For once, Steinbrenner millions can't buy everything. Now Brian Cashman will have to think for a change instead of just taking out the checkbook. And then I found out where Lee was going.

I didn't believe it when I first heard that the Phillies might be in on Lee. After all, they had gotten Roy Halladay to agree to a three-year deal for $20 million a year, with an option for a fourth year. How could they give Lee a much bigger deal after the year Halladay had?

The story is still unfolding, but whatever Lee ends up getting, I have to think that Halladay, who was the unanimous choice for Cy Young, pitched a perfect game and added only the second no-hitter in postseason history, will get a contract extension real soon.

It appears that Lee took a lot less money than he would have gotten from the Yankees, and less than he would have gotten from Texas as well. Good for Lee for following his heart and not just making a decision based on money, especially when the Players' Association always wants players to take the biggest deal.

But why did Lee's heart have to be in Philadelphia?

I called Squawker Lisa and woke her up to tell her the news, and she was suitably outraged, though it should be pointed out that Lisa has been one of the few to write consistently that the Yankees were not going to get Lee. Once Lisa calmed down, she was able to mutter that Lee was taking his talents to South Street.

Don't worry, Lisa, now the Yankees can trade for Joe Blanton, since the Phillies will probably be looking to move him to cut salary to make room for Lee. And maybe Cashman, who gave Javier Vazquez a second chance, can hope the second time's a charm with the second-best free agent pitcher available this year, a fellow named Pavano.

Or Cashman can mortgage the farm system for Zack Greinke, a great pitcher who isn't likely to be great in New York.

How can I hate Lee when he personally called the Rangers to tell them they were out, while he had his agent call the Yankees?

As for the Mets, well, it's not as if they were going to beat the Phillies next year anyway, but now 2012 and 2013 don't look so great, either.

Not that I expect - or want - Sandy Alderson to suddenly start channeling Omar Minaya, but this latest Phillies blockbuster is going to put more pressure on the Mets to go after big-money players once they have payroll flexibility a year from now.

Almost everyone in the mainstream media predicted that the Yankees would get Lee. One of the reasons why some thought it might not happen was that Lee's wife had complained about some unruly Yankee fans. So the Lees end up turning down the Bronx - for Philadelphia.

Red Sox show Mets that big contracts can work

I'm on board with Sandy Alderson's strategy for rebuilding the Mets and I understand the need to get out from under the bad contracts of the previous regime. But when the Red Sox leave the Winter Meetings with Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez while the Mets take home Ronny Paulino and D.J. Carrasco, it feels like Charlie Brown on Halloween getting only a rock. Tightening the belts in for 2011 will be worth it - as long as they can be loosened again in 2012.



It's not a problem for a well-run big-market team to have some bad contracts. Look at what the Red Sox paid the following players in 2010:

John Lackey: $18 million
J.D. Drew: $14M
Mike Lowell: $12M
Daisuke Matsuzaka: $8M

That adds up to $54 million for players worth a lot less than that. And only one of these players (Lowell) came off the payroll after 2010 - Drew is signed through 2011, Matsuzaka through 2012 and Lackey through 2014.

But the Red Sox also have plenty of top players who are comparatively underpaid. Here are some other 2010 Red Sox salaries:

Jon Lester: $3.75M
Dustin Pedroia: $3.5M
Clay Buchholz: $443,000

And the overpaid Red Sox players at least provided some production. Lackey won 14 games while Dice-K won nine. Drew hit 22 homers. Lowell filled in at first after Kevin Youkilis got hurt and ended up starting 38 games there.

Compare that to the Mets' bad contracts for 2011. Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo do not belong on a major-league roster. Johan Santana will be lucky to make it back by the All-Star break, and even then is unlikely to be in ace form. Carlos Beltran and Jason Bay are big question marks. Francisco Rodriguez has significant off-the-field issues and is coming off an season-ending injury to his pitching hand.

These six players are owed an astonishing $86.5 million for 2011:

Johan Santana: $22.5M
Carlos Beltran: $18.5M
Francisco Rodriguez: $11.5M
Jason Bay: $16M
Oliver Perez: $12M
Luis Castillo: $6M

Even the Red Sox would find these numbers hard to write off.

I continue to defend the Beltran, Santana and Rodriguez moves. All three have performed at a high level when healthy. None was considered an injury risk when signed, and nobody foresaw K-Rod's off-the-field issues. Signing any starting pitcher to a longterm deal is a risk, as whomever signs Cliff Lee will find out.

If this list consisted of only those three players, it would add up to $52.5M, slightly less than the $54M on the earlier Red Sox list. And the Mets would still have an extra $34M to play with.

The problem, as always, comes down to the zero value of Perez and Castillo. And at this point, the Bay signing doesn't look too good, either. Even if Bay makes a great comeback, he has a long way to go to be worth $16M next year.

Last year, the Mets needed a righthanded power-hitting outfielder. Bay was available and would cost almost half of much as the other top OF available, Matt Holliday. I liked the Bay signing at the time.

But in hindsight, the Mets would have been better off spending more to get Holliday or passing on both of them. Holliday will likely end up justifying his contract much more than Bay will because Holliday actually is a great player, while Bay is, at best, a very good one.

The Mets needed a starting pitcher when Perez was a free agent, and you know the rest.

But just because the Mets ended up with some very expensive rocks doesn't mean they should avoid all big-name free agents. As the Red Sox have shown, it's possible to incorporate big-money acquisitions into an overall strategy that leaves your team with a lot more treats than tricks.

Looking for the next Ron Gardenhire

Managerial candidates Wally Backman and Jose Oquendo were middle infielders on the Mets in the '80s, as was Tim Teufel, now managing in the Mets' system. But the best choice among those Met '80s-era middle infielders is unavailable - he was just named AL Manager of the Year.

In nine years as Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire has finished first six times, second once and third twice. He finished under .500 only once, going 79-83 in 2007. Since the Twins traded Johan Santana, they have won at least 87 games all three seasons. All this with a team that had a limited payroll until 2010.

Gardenhire played for the Mets from 1981-1985. He was the starting shortstop in 1982 in an infield that included Backman, Dave Kingman and Hubie Brooks. The only other year Gardenhire got significant playing time was 1984, when he shared shortstop with Oquendo, who was on the Mets from 1983-1984.

If Backman, now one of four finalists, gets the job, that will mean that managers will have come from players who started games at three of the four infield positions on the 1984-85 Mets, since Ray Knight managed the Reds in 1996, 1997 and one game in 2003.

Who would have guessed that the only 80s-era Mets infield position with no managerial possibilities would be Keith Hernandez' first base?

If you count catcher as part of the infield, the mid-1980s Mets also produced a manager there. Sorry, Gary Carter, it was John Gibbons, who played briefly for the Mets in 1984 and 1986 and managed the Blue Jays from 2004-2008. Gibbons was both hired and fired by then-Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi, who was also Gibbons' roommate in the Mets' farm system. Gibbons, now the Royals' bench coach, reportedly took himself out of consideration for the Mets' job last month.

If the new Mets' moneyball front office ends up hiring Teufel down the road, it would bring things full circle - when the Mets acquired Teufel from the Twins before the 1986 season, one of the players they gave up was Billy Beane.

Terry Collins and Gerald Ford

Metsblog has unearthed video of Mets' managerial candidate Terry Collins that is disturbing on a couple of levels. It took place on a notorious date in Mets' history and it made me think of an ill-fated campaign from the Ford administration.

The video shows Collins being introduced as manager of a Japanese team, the Orix Buffaloes, on October 19, 2006, which coincidentally was the day that things started to go sour for Omar Minaya's Mets - Game 7 against the Cardinals. The video is mostly in Japanese. We don't get much from Collins other than this:

"The goal is very, very simple. In English, W-I-N, it's spelled. That's my goal."

The video repeats the statement later, in case we needed a refresher on the spelling.

Collins doesn't come across all that well in the video, but considering that he is addressing a group of people for whom English is not their first language, it's not fair to use this clip to judge him on this side of the Pacific.

Overall, I'm not all that excited about Collins, or the other apparent frontrunner, Bob Melvin. It was just a few months ago that Melvin was said to be the boring in-house choice to replace Jerry Manuel. It may not be fair to Melvin, but Sandy Alderson needs to go in another direction if he wants to establish from the start that he's his own man.

As for Collins, there's a lot of talk that he has inspired player revolts at places where he's managed. But when a leader of one of those revolts was Mo Vaughn, it's hard to get too worked up over that.

But if Collins does become the Mets' manager, I hope he leaves W-I-N behind. I know I'm dating myself, but it made me think of President Gerald Ford's 1974 campaign to "Whip Inflation Now." Ford unveiled his strategy on October 8, 1974, complete with red and white "WIN" buttons.

As it turned out, inflation was not whipped at that time. The following month, Ford's Republican Party, still reeling from the August resignation of Richard Nixon, failed to WIN at the polls, losing 49 seats in the House of Representatives.

No manager should need to announce that his goal is to W-I-N. What else would his goal be - to H-O-P-E F-O-R T-H-E B-E-S-T?

*

Our condolences go out to Alderson on the loss of his father.

Image from Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

Different Hot Stove for Mets

For most of the past few years, the Mets' offseason has focused on which big-name player they can acquire via free agency or trade. This year, though, is going to be different. The Mets have already made most of their big-name acquisitions - in the front office.

Squawker Lisa compared the front office big three of Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi to the Miami Heat's dream team, lamenting that there was no ESPN special in which they would announce that they were taking their talents to Flushing.

But Alderson did appear on SNY's "Mets Hot Stove Report" tonight, and I liked what I heard, except for the part about him planning to meet with Luis Castillo. It's one thing to talk to Carlos Beltran about waiving his no-trade clause and his willingness to play right field. But what is there to talk to Castillo about, other than telling him goodbye?

All the sabermetrics in the world can't make 23 equal 25. And keeping Castillo and Oliver Perez on the roster means the Mets are playing with a 23-man roster. It makes sense to see if Perez can somehow regain some value, though he's already off to a bad start in Mexico. Perez had great potential at one point and he is still a lefty under 30. If the Mets cut him loose, someone will take a chance on him for the minimum salary. But who's going to pick up Castillo?

But while the Castillo and Perez situations are still unchanged from the last regime, it was refreshing to hear Alderson say that the Mets need to find more starting pitchers for the rotation. The same was true last year, and everyone knew it except for Omar Minaya, who went into the regular season with John Maine and Perez holding down two rotation spots.

I especially liked Alderson saying it was important to have lots of good players in the farm system to create depth for the major-league club. Seems obvious, but not to the previous regime, particularly in 2009 when triple-A Buffalo seemed to consists mostly of retreads in their mid-thirties. Things did improve last year, but there is still a long way to go.

I also like that Alderson is interviewing plenty of candidates to be manager. There doesn't seem to be the same urgency of a few weeks ago to find a big name and/or someone with personality. The Mets already have that in Alderson.

So far, this different sort of offseason is off to a good start.

Mets don't need advice from Scott Boras

Good times for Met fans - the Yankees and Phillies are off and running, Roy Halladay pitches the second postseason no-hitter ever, K-Rod is back in court and now Scott Boras has weighed in on what the Mets need in a new GM:

"The GM has to establish his control," Boras said. "In 30 years of doing this, the best and most successful general managers have the biggest rubber bands and know when to flex them and when to retract and rebuild. If a GM doesn't have the ability to sign an impact player, it can impact a club for years."

Boras neglected to mention that when a GM has the ability to sign a Boras client like Oliver Perez, that will also impact a club for years.

And if Boras has ever actually praised a GM for knowing "when to retract and rebuild" instant of signing one of his high-priced clients, I have yet to see it.

I'm not even sure what Boras means when he talks about "flexing" and "rebuilding" with "the biggest rubber bands." Is he suggesting that the Mets create the world's biggest rubber band ball?

Boras ignores all those empty seats at Citi Field to praise "success" in "operating revenue issues":

"The New York Mets are probably in the top five in baseball as a model of what can be done," Boras said. "The business and infrastructure is run very well by the Wilpons. The issue is transferring the success they enjoy in business and operating revenue issues and getting it to the field.

Uh, I think even the Mets would concede that the last year has not exactly been top five business model material.

If Boras really wanted to help the Mets find success, he would encourage Perez to do what another Boras client, Alex Rodriguez, did three years ago and opt out of his contract.

Photo from Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Omar Minaya and the search for the next Jose Valentin

Omar Minaya started the season with a roster that included Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs, Frank Catalanotto, Fernando Tatis and Alex Cora. No wonder he ended the season out of a job.

Much has been written about Minaya's big-ticket acquisitions, but the small ones are just as important. You can't win a pennant with a few stars and a bunch of scrubs. Yet that's what Minaya increasingly seemed to try to be doing.

It's one thing to have one or two such players. Tatis was a valuable complementary piece in '08 and Cora held down shortstop for a good part of '09. But when you are hoping to squeeze one more year out of a full one-fifth of your 25-man roster, you are asking for trouble.

Minaya learned the wrong lessons from one of his best moves, signing 36-year-old Jose Valentin for the '06 season. In 2005, Valentin hit .170 for the Dodgers with two homers in 147 at bats. But in 2006, Valentin took over the Mets' second base job, hitting .271 with 18 homers and 62 RBI.

It was a great move by Minaya that helped build the powerhouse 2006 team. And it made sense to bring Valentin back in 2007 at age 37, so long as you didn't expect the good times to last forever. But Valentin couldn't make it out of April without getting hurt, and 2007 turned out to be his last season.

Minaya's first replacement for Valentin was another 37-year-old, Damion Easley. Once again, Minaya's move worked in the short run, with Easley rebounding from batting .233 in '06 with Arizona to hit .280 with the Mets in'07 with 10 homers in 193 at bats before declining in 2008.

Later in 2007, Minaya acquired another second baseman from the Twins, and this move also worked out at first. Luis Castillo hit .296 with 10 steals in 199 at bats.

At the time, Minaya's moves seemed to be working, so it was mainly seen as quirky when he gave 47-year-old Julio Franco a two-year contract in '06. Franco was able to contribute primarily off the bench in '06, but ending up getting released in July of '07.

But Minaya was raising the stakes in his pursuit of players near the end of their careers.

Before the 2007 season, Minaya signed 40-year-old Moises Alou to play left field. This move cost the Mets a first-round draft pick for someone who would probably play just one year.

In fact, Alou only played half a year, missing the other half with a torn quad. But that didn't stop Minaya from picking up the '08 option for Alou, now 41 and coming off a serious injury.

In 2008, Alou only played in 15 games due to a hernia and torn hamstring.

Also in the 2007 offseason, Minaya signed Luis Castillo to a four-year deal. Minaya had put so much faith in much older players that perhaps Castillo, 31 at the time, seemed like a youngster. A two-year deal might have been reasonable. Giving Castillo a four-year deal helped get Minaya fired.

By 2010, Minaya was filling out his roster with players who made Alou and Castillo look like the All-Stars they used to be. Jacobs had been cut by the Royals. The Angels were so eager to get rid of Matthews that they were willing to eat $20 million.

Tatis spent most of the year on the DL. Cora was picked up by Texas in August and released three weeks later. Matthews was briefly in the Reds' organization and is now a free agent. Catalanotto is also a free agent. Only Jacobs is currently active - in the Blue Jays' farm system.

So at the end of the season, one-fifth of Minaya's Opening Day roster was not on any MLB roster as an active player, and it was likely that some or even all of them might never play in the big leagues again.

Jerry Manuel deserved to be let go, but he did start with a disadvantage having to work with such a roster, which was only made worse by the Mets' refusal to eat the contracts of Castillo and Oliver Perez.

Minaya's strategy of desperately seeking the next Jose Valentin could work as long as the roster was already filled with quality ballplayers and there were only one or two open spots. But in his sixth year of being the general manager, Minaya didn't have enough quality players in his system and had to roll the dice with one-fifth of his roster.

Even Minaya admitted today that the Mets needed to make a change at GM.

***

Squawker Lisa, my condolences on the loss of C.C. the Squawker Cat.

Yankees have wild card while Mets have wild Oliver Perez

Maybe Jerry Manuel just didn't want his final game to end. Why else would he pull his two best hitters, David Wright and Jose Reyes, in the ninth inning, just so they could leave the field to standing ovations? It's the sort of thing you do when the game has already been decided, not when it's a 1-1 tie and neither team is generating any offense. When the game went into extra innings, the announcers soon began making comparisons to April's 20-inning game.

Sure, it didn't really matter who won or lost the game (though a Met win would have given them a tie for third with Florida instead of a second straight fourth-place finish). But the few remaining fans at Citi Field would doubtless have preferred to save their cheers for the end of the game with a walkoff win, which now had that much less of a chance of happening.

The game staggered into the 14th inning (with Reyes and Wright's lineup spots batting twice each) before Manuel decided it was time to put this miserable season out of its misery.

He brought in Oliver Perez.

For me, the highlight of the game came when Ollie actually struck out the first batter he faced and the remaining fans began a loud chant of "M-V-P!" Ollie, perhaps panicked by what he took to be increased expectations, quickly reverted to form and hit the next batter before walking the next three to force in a run.

Now the game, and season, were all but over. But Manuel had one last dubious managerial decision left. Pat Misch pitched eight innings on Friday night, but that didn't stop Manuel from bringing him back to pitch in relief on one day's rest. The way Manuel deals with injuries and injury risk, his next job really should be in football. Fortunately, it only took Misch three pitches to get out of the inning with a double play.

Now the Mets are done and I get to hear Squawker Lisa get insulted over the Yankees selling wild card t-shirts. Met fans don't even get "Tied for Third Place" t-shirts. At least we have our own postseason fireworks to look forward to, perhaps as early as Monday. Regime change can't come soon enough.