Estrada a Met…Seriously

Multiple sources are reporting that the Mets have acquired catcher Johnny Estrada from the Brewers for reliever Guilermo Mota. Estrada hit .278 with 10 homers last season for the Brew Crew.Personally, I love this deal. Mota had worn out his welcome in Shea, while Estrada is a significantly better hitter than Yorvit Torrealba.  Pairing Estrada with Ramon “Baby Eater” Castro will giv the Mets the largest pair of starting catchers in the history of baseball.

 Boyce, Concurring:

As Chris stated earlier, I love the fact that Mota is gone, and while I’m not all that hot on Estrada, mostly due to injury concerns, I think he’s much better than Yorvit Torrealba as far as the plate is concerned and he’s not poor behind the plate either. He is a little old though, and he hasn’t shown me all THAT much since that wonderful year in Atlanta, but I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.So in short, lets see what Estrada is gonna be all about, and you know…screw Stephon Marbury.

Castillo Limps Back to the Mets…

 

 The Mets have come to an agreement with free agent second baseman Luis Castillo on a 4 year, $25 Million Contract.This deal comes after the Mets were rumored to be wining and dining David Eckstein. Eckstein is believed to have been asking for a deal in the 4-year, $36 Million Dollar range.

I would concur with Omar in choosing Castillo over Eckstein, who I believe is overrated due to his percieved “hustle” and “scrappiness”. Castillo comes at a cheaper price, but the length of the deal is worrisome. Castillo is s a slap hitter with very little power, and thus very dependent on his legs. As a result, Castillo’s numbers have seen a steady decline over the last couple years as he experienced knee problems, probably linked to his time on the Metrodome’s carpet. Castillo hit .296 with 1 home run and 8 doubles after coming over to the Mets this past season. Castillo underwent surgery this offseason, and his recovery will go a long way in deciding whether this deal is a good one. 

There were several other options at second, both via free agency (Eckstein, Tadahito Iguchi) and within the organization. Ruben Gotay had a breakout season last year, hitting .295 with a .421 slugging percentage. He also had 4 homers and 12 doubles (compared to 1 and 19 respectively for Luis Castillo in almost twice as many). The Mets traded for Gotay because of his perceived upside, but now have decided to keep him firmly anchored to the bench. While I understand that going into spring training with Gotay as the starter could be too risky given his relative lack of experience, but I hope Ruben still gets some starts. I am nervous about Castillo’s knees, I hope Omer knows more than I do.

Boyce, Concurring in Part, Dissenting in Part: FOUR YEARS? SERIOUSLY?

What has Luis Castillo shown us that warrants a four year deal? A guy who was never a great hitter, has serious knee problems, and his one greatest asset, his speed and defensive range don’t outway his negatives in any way shape or form anymore. This deal is ridiculous.

What I wanna know is, who did Reuben Gotay piss off? I know I might be the only one that cares, but didn’t this guy hit pretty well and didn’t play awful defense. Is he Castillo in the field? Probably not, but he offers more pop in his bat, and at this point can sure as hell run better than Castillo. I was ok with Castillo for one year, maybe two…but four years is absoultely absurd, and makes me assume that Omar is spending most of our payroll on bad tabs of acid.

Oh and did I forget to mention the fact that Castillo is supposedly a horrible influence in the clubhouse?

Mets Return Glavine, Ask For Refund

According to several sources, Tom Glavine will return to the Braves, signing an 1 year, 8 Million Dollar Contract. This was pretty much a foregone conclusion from the minute Tom walked off the mound at shea on the last day of the regular season.

The Mets have the option of offering Glavine arbitration. Assuming Glavine declines arbitration, the Braves would owe the Mets a compensatory draft pick (a first rounder, if I am not mistaken). The only potential drawback would be that Glavine could agree and return to the Mets at a salary set by an arbitrator.

I understand that Glavine ate up alot of innings and brought professionalism to the Mets clubhouse. Tom Glavine is a Hall of Fame pitcher…but not for what he did with the Mets.

I will do my best to relay my judgments on Tom without being caught up in his last start. Tom proved this season that he is no longer a 1 or 2 pitcher in a rotation. At this point, Tom is completely dependent on umpires giving him an extra couple inches on the corners. When Tom doesn’t get the calls on the corners, he is completely ineffective. While Tom had his share of solid starts this season, he was wildly inconsistent and pitched the Mets out of several winnable games.

The big question is how will the Mets replace Tom. Tom pitched 200 innings, and made 34 starts of which 23 were “quality starts“. On the other hand, Tom’s ERA of 4.45 was unremarkable. For comparison, Mike Pelfrey put up a 4.88 ERA after the All Star Break when he seemed to find his groove.

Personally, Tom didn’t instill much confidence in me this season. I was much more confident on days Ollie or Maine were coming to the mound. Personally, if we are going to have a wildly inconsistent pitcher, I would rather have it be one of the kids from the farm*. I thought Pelfrey really started to come on towards the end of last season and at least his struggles would be a learning experience for the future. I am not too concerned with the loss of Glavine.

*Note: An upcoming post will be devoted to the Mets pitching situation in general and possible offseason moves.

Yorvit NOT a Met…

I had finally come to peace with the fact that Yorvit (who names their child that?) Torrealba would be the starting catcher for the Mets next season. But now, apparently he isn’t.

I had my concerns with Torrealba, which I voiced last week, but I did temper my criticism by acknowledging the relatively small number of available catchers. Now it appears that the Mets will have to wade back into the free agent waters. Paul LoDuca (Who apparently won’t be brought back), Michael Barrett, and Jason Kendall are available through free agency. Miguel Olivo and Ramon Hernandez may be available via trade (however the Mets are rumored to be hesitant to trade any young talent that could be used to acquire pitching).

I would be more concerned, but really, how much worse could we do than Yorvit? Ominous sound effect…

Backstop Blabbering

The only real pertinent news that any of us Met fans need to worry about is that we got Ramon Castro back. Now why exactly would this be important? He’s only the back up catcher right? Yes, he is only a back-up catcher, and anyone who thinks he could start full time is out of their mind. If he caught full time, how would he get his Ben and Jerry Sabatical’s? If he caught full time, who would be there to take Carlos Gomez to the Bronx Zoo on off-days? If he caught full time, who’d stop the arguments between Wright and Reyes about who got the Window seat on the charter flights? Not Ramon, cause he’d be too busy icing his knees.

All kidding aside, Ramon Castro is more important in that clubhouse than Julio Franco ever was. He’s the jokester, the breath of fresh-air, if guys like Doug Sisk were still around Castro would be the first man appointed to the new chapter of the Scum Bunch. Castro keeps this franchise afloat even when things aren’t going well, whether it be putting bubble gum on peoples hats or wearing rally caps or any of the other silent silly things he does. Ramon Castro is one of the best people this young team could have, and it’s a BLESSING we re-signed him.

Now Yorvit Torrealba is a mystery to me. He had a good year this year in Colorado, don’t get me wrong. He’s got a great resume about handling a pitching staff, and with Paul LoDuca’s nagging injuries really begining to hamper him, we need a good defensive backstop that can handleyoung pitching. This guy might have that in spades, there’s only one problem…Can…He…Hit. As my colleague already stated, he hit .212 away from Coors. TWO TWELVE. Fifteen Million Dollars for a guy who’s completely unproving outside of the crisp Rocky Mountain air does not exactly have me sold. Now I know that my anxiety about this subject is more likely a great thing for all you Mets fans because I completely poo-poo’d the Alou signing and look how that turned out. I’m not saying Yorvit is going to be horrible, he’s not going to be Gary Carter, Mike Piazza, or even Todd Hundley for that matter, but then again, he’s probably not going to be Mike DeFelice either. My advice would be to be patient with the new guy, let him feel his way around, and who knows, maybe this taste of success in Colorado will spark his bat in a lot of positive ways, I certainly don’t think that if he gets into a slump he’s going to be screwing himself into the ground like A-Rod does, that’s for sure.

So yeah, we lost Paul LoDuca, a guy that really did bleed blue and orange his two years here, but lets be honest here people, Paul LoDuca is a jerk. A mean, ill tempered, jerk. He was just OUR jerk, so we let him off the hook. Maybe having a surly guy like that out of the clubhouse could be a surprisingly good thing.

I mean it could be worse, we could have Jayson Phillips again. Think on THAT.

-BTB

Rosa: Concurring in Part, Dissenting in Part

Concurring on Torrealba: I have been critical of the Torrealba signing, but I should soften that stance in two ways. First, the catchers market was very poor this offseason, and if the Mets had decided that the trade price was too high for Laird or Hernandez, then perhaps Torrealba was a good signing. Second, despite my criticism, it is time to get behind Torrealba. Mets fans can’t carry their offseason uncertainties with them. Torrealba is not Paul LoDuca, for better or for worse.

Concurring On Ramon Castro: I believe that Ramon is one of the better catchers in the league. This seems like a big statement until you look at some of the trash behind the plate for other teams. Unfortunately, due to Castro’s build, Ramon’s playing time needs to be limited to a great degree. He simply can’t take the pounding of catching every day, as he’s shown.

Dissenting On Paul LoDuca: Paul LoDuca may have become over priced, but I don’t believe he was a jerk. Fiery? Yes. Blunt? Yes. A Jerk to umpires? Yes. I believe LoDuca was well liked in the clubhouse. Is that a reason to bring him back if the money was wrong? No. Paul was a great met for his short time here.

Soulless Player Rejoins Soulless Team

The A-Rod saga ended almost before it began. Just weeks after the Yankees claimed they would not pursue him, A-Rod will sign a ten year, 275 million dollar deal to remain a Yankee.

On one hand I am happy. I never wanted A-Rod to become a Met. I don’t like his style of play. I agree that he would’ve made the Mets better, but I remain unconvinced that buying the best players available is the way to win a World Series. I have always criticized the Yankees for throwing money around and creating a Yankee team stocked with non-Yankees. The talk of the Mets pursuing Posada and A-Rod put me perilously close to being forced to acknowledge that the Mets are doing the same. Luckily, the Yankees went back on whatever principles they might have and signed A-Rod. The current Yankees and A-Rod are a match made in heaven.

On the downside, I think A-Rod does improve the Yankees chances of continuing their playoff streak next year. Boo…

Hide the Children! Baby Eater is Coming Back

Ramon “Baby Eater” Castro* is evidently close to re-signing with the Mets. The deal is rumored to be 2 years, 4 million dollars.

I, for one, am glad that the Mets are bringing Catro back. Castro has great pop off the bench and has an above-average arm behind the plate. He seems to step up when he is called upon to start and fits well with the perosnality of the team. Castro is also a favorite of the “Put It In The Books” (PIITTB) writers (see below).

*”Baby Eater” is a reference to the size of Ramon Castro. The full history behind the name has been lost. At some point, a Mets fan at Shea Stadium held up a sign that said “Ramon Castro Eats Babies” as a reference to his huge head and angry expression in Jumbotron pictures. The joke has stuck among the writers of PIITB.

The Argument Against Santana

Santana Hysteria is here!

The feeling from Mets fans and New York media is that the Mets should do whatever is necessary to acquire Johan Santana. It has been taken as a given by the local media that any deal for Santana would be a good deal for the Mets regardless of who or how many prospects the Mets would have to give up in return.

Johan Santana is an amazing pitcher, a true ace. I just want to start by saying that. My beliefs on whether or not the Mets should deal for Santana are not based in any way on my beliefs about his ability. He is a young lefty who has dominated the American League at a young age. I can’t think of any player I would rather have on the Mets. Having said that, does it make sense for the Mets to trade for him?

The Twins are going to demand a King’s ransom in return for Santana. Let’s begin by assuming it would take John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, and Lastings Milledge. That package may not even be enough, but for now let’s assume that it is. What are the Mets getting in return? One year of Johan Santana and a chance to re-sign him.

The question then is how valuable is that added chance of re-signing. Many people seem to believe that this increased chance of signing him long term is very valuable. Let’s be clear, Johan Santana is going to demand one of the most expensive pitcher contracts in the history of baseball. Does anyone truly believe that Santana will sign an extension without at least finding out his value on the open market? Santana will become a free agent next summer, regardless of whether he is traded or not.

Once Santana becomes a free agent, he will not be giving the Mets a discount. If the Mets are the highest bidder, they will retain him. If the Yankees outbid the Mets, Santana will cross town. Basically, after the 2008 season, the Mets will have the exact same chance of signing Santana whether or not they trade a sizeable portion of our young nucleus for him or not.

The Mets can control Milledge, Pelfrey, and to a lesser extent, Maine for several years. To give up all these players for one season of Johan would be unconscionable.

Yorvit a Met…

According to multiple sources, the Mets will sign catcher Yorvit Torrealba to a 3 year contract today. Speculation is that Yorvit will form a catching platoon with Ramon “Baby Eater” Castro (more on that later).

The Mets front office has evidently decided that resigning Paul LoDuca would be too costly given his age and recent injury concerns. I don’t necessarily disagree with that assessment. That said, I am not completely behind signing Torrealba.

Yorvit hit only .212 outside of Coors Field last season. Additionally, Torrealba has bounced around with several teams judging him to be unfit for a starting position. I fear that this signing is motivated by the fact that Torrealba is coming off a sold post season with a surprise World Series Team.

Torrealba is reportedly a good defensive catcher and pitch-caller, as well as a fiery competitor and good leader. The Mets were opposed to trading for a Catcher with the other needs, and the free agent market was somewhat thin. Still, I am unconvinced that Yorvit is a good deal in the 13 to 15 million dollar range.

A Post of Things To Come…I hope

Well here we are, the first in what I can only hope will be many posts. This blog is dedicated to the those lovable, darling, New York Mets.

So, lets start with my very own introduction. My name is Chris Boyce, and I’ve been a Mets fan for as long as I can humanly remember. Whether it be the glory years that of Straw, and Doctor K, or the less than stellar some of time that followed including such names as Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Kent, and my personal favorite Mo Vaughn. Now that’s not to say that there weren’t a few diamonds in the rough throughout my tiny chunk of history, guys like Melvin Mora, Edgardo Alfonzo, hell David Cone probably didn’t even get the credit he deserved. That is neither here nor there now though, as we have come upon what can only be considered the Wright/Reyes era, and hopefully over the coming months, and maybe even years, we here Put It In The Books, will become part of the Mets World.

This isn’t going to be your typical sports blog with nothing but boring stats and rehashed articles. We’re serious about our team, and hopefully you are too, so let us know what you think. What you like, and what you despise, we’re all ears.

The Offseason is upon us folks, and hopefully we here at this lovely little slice of the internet will be able to bring you the mirth and merriment you so rightfully deserve.

Until Next Time…

-Boyce