We had this conversation briefly last night, but I think it’s important to raise the topic again. Carlos Delgado has been that good.
Back in April, May and June, Delgado, at 36, appeared done. The Mets would’ve paid him $14 million to go. His $4 million buyout for ‘09 was chump change, or so it seemed at the time. I don’t know if I buy the belief many of you share that he wasn’t trying. In breaking him down, however, fair is fair — he was hitting .215 as late as May 28th.
As we mentioned last night, all that has changed. He’s been the best power hitter in baseball since June 27th (19 HRs, 58 RBI) and has helped drive the Mets into first place in the NL East.
Now the issue: Delgado is in the last year of a four-year, $52-million deal. He has either: A) a $16-million vesting option, or B) a $12-million club option. Decisions, decisions.
According to a column written today by SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the only way Delgado can cause the option to kick in at $16 million is by winning the NL MVP, NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP. Unless something truly remarkable and historic happens between now and October (and I’m sure Fred and Jeff Wilpon would gladly hand over keys to the vault if he wins all three MVPs), it’s going to be up to the Mets.
The club can basically have Delgado for $8 million (they have to pay the $4 mil anyway). When you look at it that way, I don’t think it’s such a tough decision.
Before I leave you guys and girls to chime in, here’s what Delgado had to say about how the rest of the season jives with his contract situation:
“There’s no auditioning. If they haven’t seen it by now, they’re not going to see it. Definitely, I’m playing for me and to help the team. I’m not showcasing anything. It’s their decision. Obviously, I like the guys here. I think we’ve got a good club. But that’s beyond my control.”
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So last night, Steve Phillips said on BBall 2nite that Brian Fuentes (Rockies closer, 26/30 saves, 1.12 WHIP) went on waivers. Since the Phillies are now in the waiver line in front of the Mets, they’d scoop him up. He’s a lefty and would be a nice addition to Ayala. Let Ayala and Fuentes be the RH/LH setup tandem before Wagner and dump Heilman and Shornthrice. Anyone have any thoughts here?
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3554807
And check out this tidbit of Murhpy news from the rookie league…courtesy of the Mets Prospect Hub.
“According to milb.com’s preliminary writeup for the Arizona Fall League, Dan Murphy will be working out and playing at 2b. Of course, that assumes he’s not on the postseason roster for the big club (and why wouldn’t he be, the way he’s hit/walked in the majors?). Still, it’s good news that the Mets want him on the 09 team, and potentially signals the death knell for Luis Castillo.”
Good thoughts on Fuentes and Murph…The question is if not Delgado…then who? He is the real leader of this team right now….the Mets probably have no choice but the ante up.
Luis Castillo was just signed for 4 years and 25 million.Would he have been signed by any other GM in baseball if he was’nt a latin player I guess Omar might have to answer for this one.
Oh the latin comments. Maybe we should make them all learn to speak english dirty latins !
For 1 year 8 mil, it would be absolutey foolish to think you would find better than Delgado out there. Put all your free agency aspirations into one Mr. K-Rod and see if we can’t anchor our achilles heel of a bullpen.
“Since the Phillies are now in the waiver line in front of the Mets”
Ski; How does this work?.. this is the first I’ve heard that there is a “hierarchy” on the waiver wire.. Although now that I think of it, it does make sense… Is there anyplace online where you can see where the Mets rank in the waiver process?
Even if the Phillies pick up Fuentes (who I’d really like to get), we still can go after Dave Weathers (who has played in NY and I’d think would welcome returning to his old team for a playoff run)...
I personally think Ayala is going to eventually come back down to earth (although I certainly hope not) and I’d really like to pick up some additional bullpen help for the final weeks if we can… Anyone have thoughts on reliver help?
metsonfire…The waiver process gives teams the opportunity to claim players based on their order in the standings. If it is an NL player on waivers (like Fuentes), the Nats get the first chance to claim him…all the way down to the Cubs. Basically, the Phillies can block the Mets on every reliever because they have a worse record than the Mets.
After the NL teams all pass, then the player can be claimed by AL teams, starting at the bottom of the standings and working the way up to the top.
If it is an AL player, all AL teams are offered the opportunity to put in a claim before the NL teams.
Josh; thanks… Makes sense and I’m grateful to learn the process.
The Phillies though can only pick up so many relievers.. even if they get Fuentes, I would guess they wouldnt want (or need) Weathers, Cordero, and a handful of other relievers on the list.
Do you guys think Ayala is all we need until or if Wagner comes back.., I personally would still want to get another proven veteran arm in the bullpen for the last few weeks… especially the way our current group has a habit of blowing games late. In my opinion this is even more of a need because the Mets have a history of not scoring runs late in the game (the August 27th game against the Phillies excluded)
I’d really like to get other Mets fans perspective on this..
Anyone else have thoughts on this..?
On Delgado…
Without an obvious in-house replacement ready to provide anything close to Delgado’s power I see little reason to forgo re-signing him. Daniel Murphy has played the position, but the team is fitting him for a possible LF platoon with Tatis or even at 2B. I think Nick Evans is looking at another season on the farm.
The most obvious market-based solution is Texiera. I’d be all for pursuing Tex but that could get complicated. Those free agent dollars may be needed elsewhere. We could be looking at needing multiple new starting pitchers in a worst case scenario (i.e., Maine and/or Wagner end up with bigger problems than we think, Opie pitches his way into big free agent $s somewhere else, and Pedro decides he’s had enough). That’s not to even mention a bullpen overhaul that is almost certainly forthcoming. Delgado’s option might be worth it for no other reason than to have one less thing to worry about.
I agree, I really don’t think that we can afford to pursue Tex, especially with the Yankees in the mix. Other than the bullpen I really like the core of this team, it’s always nice to make a big signing but I’d rather see us resign OP than toss money at Sheets or CC. K-Rod would be nice but it sounds like he is going to want way too much money. If we can shore up the bullpen, keep the starting pitching intact (who knows about Maine though), and add a solid bat or two to the outfield, I think we’ll have a good first season at Citi Field.
Although I was one of Delgados worst detractors when it looked like he was just going through the motions in the first half, I have been consistent since that time in saying its a no-brainer to pick up his option for one more year. He saves a lot of throws in the dirt, which he does not get enough credit for. Never mind that the lineup is much weaker with him not in it. Next year he will be playing for a new contract, and that will ensure he stays interested. Texiera is not coming. I think we all have found out how important the closer is. I think K-rod will come in at Mariano money. Hey, in one more year, Wagner comes off the books. If there is one player the Mets need to get this offseason, its Krod. They havent shown much confidence in Kunz.
Great news about Murphy coming to the AFL, I will let you all know how he looks at second base :D.
bottom line is that there are no alternatives to Delgado except Texiera. Hank S will go crazy sepnding this off season so I doubt Jeff W can land him. After Tex, there is nothing out there.
Delgado will be back. You can’t rely on an unproven for the middle of the order. Evans, Murphy etc can be 2 hole or 7th or maybe even 6th. But you can’t expect one of them to just be an RBI guy right out of the shoot.
MetsonFire, I agree that it would be great to turn out some of the bums and get some new arms, it seems pretty unlikely to me. Stokes seems like a great find and Ayala is looking 100% better than I thought he would. IMHO, we need more innings out of the starters go 7 innings instead of 6, throw 120 pitches per game instead of 100, and do a better job of going with the hot hand out of the BP. It seems to me that we go wiht the lefty vs lefty/righty vs. righty more often than necessary, limiting a reliever on a good night to 1/3 or 2/3 IP. No reliever has been consistent and they have all looked good on occassion. I think that situational managing is formulaic and overused. I’d like to see some judgment out there. If Stokes is lights out for the 8th inning, would the East River freeze over if he pitched the NINTH?
The Phillies can continue to block block the Mets for RP’s or anything else. They put in a claim, the waiving team can either (1) let let the player go (getting nothing in return) or (2) make a deal with the claimant, or (3) recend the waiver keeping him. The Phillies can claim & refuse to deal leaving the waiving team option (1) or (3).
The risk is that the waiving team walks away from an expensive player that Phillies didn’t realy want, just “block.”