Leave it to Graziano for the doom and gloom -- Too bad he's right

Dan Graziano has a very sobering article up. In it he details how "painfully slow" the off-season has gone for the Mets, and the outlook on 2009, as of now. Let's take a look at the more important pieces.

Earlier this off-season, the Mets had the opportunity to trade Aaron Heilman for a 30-year-old pitcher who's averaged 32 starts and 13 wins for the past five years while his teams won four division titles and a World Series. As part of the deal, the Chicago Cubs were willing to pay part of the pitcher's $9.875 million salary in 2009, the year before he became a free agent.

That pitcher in question was Jason Marquis. If this deal was straight up Marquis-for-Heilman, and the Mets didn't pull the trigger, than they're downright silly. Marquis would have been a nice back of the rotation pick up, and would have rid the team of Heilman, a win-win situation if I've ever seen one.

He then begins to break down the Mets rotation behind Johan Santana. All of which he labels as big question marks.

-John Maine. He's coming off of shoulder surgery, has never had any sustained health or success without Rick Peterson as his pitching coach and probably can't be counted on for anything reliable until we start seeing it.

-Mike Pelfrey. Big, strong kid who had a breakout year in 2008 and could be headed for big things. But his innings total jumped by 50 from 2007 to 2008, which makes him a potential breakdown candidate and, at the very least, a candidate to not be as good next year as he was last year.

-Jonathon Niese. Yes, it's true. The Mets have made an internal decision to bring Niese to camp as a projected member of their starting rotation. They believe he's got the talent to succeed in the majors right now. That belief is fortified by the success Pelfrey had last year, and their hope is that Niese can follow in his footsteps.

I do think Maine will bounce back. He's matured as a pitcher and should be able to hold his own. I've noted Pelfrey's coming troubles in the past, but hopefully he can pitch close to the level of last season.

Niese, I am worried about. I don't understand how the Mets think he will easily transition into the rotation. He's going to have growing pains, just like Pelfrey did. If they expect him to hold his own in this league, they're in trouble. They need to sign some low-risk / high-reward veteran to challenge him in spring training.

He then wonders why the Mets are holding back and fearing to spend to too much. He lays out the idea that with a blossoming TV network, brand new ballpark and $20 million a year from Citigroup, they still choose to not spend a lot of money.

I have to agree with him here, again. The Mets need to spend spend spend because they have so many holes to fill. I understand they don't want to be the ones to set the market standard, but there comes a time when you have to break the bank. This is one of those times. After two awful collapses of just missing the playoffs, they need to do something to make the fans trust them again. The new ballpark is nice, but if the teams stinks, it won't matter.

Graziano's theme is that the Mets are overvaluing their 2009 team.

You can't expect similar numbers out of Fernando Tatis, the second-half Carlos Delgado or even the first 120-AB's of Daniel Murphy's career. The core is nice, but they have two gaping holes in their rotation, with no solid outlook on who will fill those holes. They are so focused on picking the right closer, which won't matter if you don't pick the right rest of the bullpen to get the leads to that closer.

Omar Minaya has A LOT of work to do, and it should just be getting started. Hopefully Jeff Wilpon is ready to sign some checks.

Happy Birthday, Cliff Floyd

Today is Uncle Cliff Floyd's 36th birthday.
Floyd signed with the Mets on January 9, 2003 and ended up spending four seasons with the team, appearing in 468 games.

Floyd is currently a free agent after coming off a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. He may retire if the right team doesn't come along. He continues to struggle with injuries, which would be the reason he would leave the game. If he does retire, he put up .279 career batting average, with an OBP of .359 and knocking 233 home runs overall.

Strangely, I had a dream involving Floyd last night, in which he was the Atlanta Braves first base coach next season. Very odd.

Mets Rumors: Mets prefer K-Rod

Though this may not come at a shock to anyone, Marty Noble reported today on the Hot Stove Blog that the Mets prefer Francisco Rodriguez over any of the free agents or available closers.

A few days ago, a poll finished up in which I asked which closer fans would want more. K-Rod led the poll, garnering 41 percent of the vote, with Brian Fuentes getting 27 percent. A lot of fans have brought up Rodriguez's decreased velocity over the last few years, and commenter Paul Mannino has continually brought up the fact that Fuentes led Rodriguez in VORP last season.

(VORP, for those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, stands for Value Over Replacement Player. It is compiled as (((League Runs/Game + 1) - RAvg)/9)*Innings Pitched. Enjoy that.)

Noble also notes that the Mets are likely to come away from the Winter Meetings empty handed.

Again, I don't care who they sign, as long as he doesn't break the Mets bank.

According to Jeff Wilpon in an article in today's Daily News, Omar Minaya has been working the phones.

I know that there is a lot of activity with Omar on the phone talking to different GMs right now trying to get something done in a trade or maneuvering so that he's ready when we get to the winter meetings and go from there.

I also love this little quote.

He's [Minaya] like, 'Listen, we'll take care of business.' He's on the phone all the time now with other GMs trying to set things up.

I can just imagine Minaya turning to Wilpon and saying "Listen, we'll take care of business!"

Well, get it done, Omar. Take care of business.

Playing for Peanuts [Episode 3]

Here is the third installment of Playing for Peanuts.

Enjoy while my computer goes in for surgery.







As always, check out PlayingForPeanuts.com!

Link: GM for a day

Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus acts as Omar Minaya for a day on SI.com.

Definitely worth a read.

Down and out

My computer is on the fritz as I try and squeeze a few more months out of her before I cave in and buy a new one...

A few quick hits:

• Don't trade Fernando Martinez, especially for Jermaine Dye.
• J.J. Putz is seemingly available. If you're going to trade F-Mart, make it for someone worthwhile, like Putz.
• Kahlil Greene looks like he's heading from San Diego to St. Louis. Boy, the Padres are going to be miserable next season.
• Winter meetings are only four days away. Prepare for an onslaught of news.
• I'm taking suggestions for what the next laptop will be.

Mets sign four players

According a press release, the Mets have signed four players, all to minor league deals with non-roster invites to spring training.

Nelson Figueroa heads up the list, along with Andy Green, Rene Rivera and Adam Bostick.

From the press release, via David Lennon:

Figueroa, 34-years-old, made six starts for the Mets in 2008. He worked 45.1 innings, surrendered 48 hits, 26 runs, 23 earned, with 26 walks and 36 strikeouts. He was also 4-7 with a 4.43 ERA in 20 games (16 starts) for New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League last year. He has a 10-20 record with a 4.64 ERA in 90 major league games, 39 starts.

Bostick, 25, had his season limited to 11 games after undergoing left knee surgery on May 27. Adam went 2-2 with a 6.04 ERA with New Orleans last season. In 44.2 innings, he allowed 48 hits, 30 runs, earned, with 20 walks and 30 strikeouts.

Green, 31, split the year between the Cincinnati Reds’ Louisville team of the International League and the Mets’ New Orleans club. He was released by Louisville on July 1 and played his first game for New Orleans the next day.

Primarily a second baseman, Green hit .233 with 15 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 19 RBI for Louisville and .331 with 10 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 28 RBI in 52 games with the Zephyrs.

He played in the major leagues in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and has a .199 career average in 136 games. In 2007, he played in 18 games with the Hokkaido Nippon Hamfighters of the Pacific Division of the Japanese Professional Baseball League.

Rivera, 25, had been the Seattle Mariners’ organization since 2001. Last year, he performed for two teams: Jacksonville (AA) of the Southern League and Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. He hit .231 in 38 games with Jacksonville and .271 in 38 contests for Las Vegas.

Rene performed in 53 games with the Mariners in parts of 2004, 2005 and 2006 and has a .227 big league average with seven doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.

Can't go wrong with these kind of signings.

Figueroa quickly became a fan-favorite last season, so hopefully he can rekindle some of that magic if need be. Always nice to have a young catcher around, even if he can't hit much.

Bostick came to the Mets with Jason Vargas in a trade for Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom. The team probably wishes they could have that one back right about now, even though Vargas could break into the Mets rotation at some point this season.

Again, can't complain.

Accidents waiting to happen

While looking at more and more photos of Citi Field, I'm wondering about how they set up this outfield wall.Left field has the 16 foot wall, which Ken Davidoff noted could be bumped down to eight feet if the hitters feel they're getting cheated. This would move the home run mark from clearing the wall to clearing a yellow line they put halfway up the wall.
On the other hand, it looks like the right field wall will cause outfielders some problems. The bullpen wall seems to be made up of a chain link fence. Unless the Mets intend on putting some other wall up, which is unlikely or it would have been done already, it looks like whoever is manning RF in Citi better not be afraid of walls made of metal.

Everyone surely remembers Aaron Rowand's ridiculous catch in 2006 at Citizen Banks Park. Going back on a Xavier Nady ball, Rowand made the catch and promptly slammed face first into the chain link fence in center field.

Only a portion of that wall was chain link, as the bottom padded like a normal outfield wall. The wall in Citi looks like an eight-foot chain link fence, top to bottom.

Back to talking about CBP, they have a chain link wall in right, but that wall in 15 feet tall. This one looks as if a player could, and would, be able to make a play into or at the wall, possibly crashing into it in the process.

Good luck, rightfielder of the future. Ryan Church better have a helmet on when (if?) he plays right field next season.

Also, take a look at the blueprints. That is one wacky outfield wall configuration.

Images via Stadium Page.

The green seats

As we got our first look inside the nearly complete Citi Field yesterday, I must say it is absolutely beautiful. Except for one thing.

The green seats.

At Shea (after the renovation, at least) we were blessed with four areas of different color seats. Blue, orange (both of which make sense), red and green. Now, in Citi Field, it looks like the Mets have gone with just one color.

And that color is not blue or orange. It's a dark, dark green. That's not anywhere near any of the Mets colors.

Maybe is has something to do with the fact that Citigroup is dishing $20 million a year to put their name everywhere (green : money :: blue and orange : Mets).

Also, have you ever tried to sit or touch anything black, or very dark green in this case, on a hot, sunny day in the summer? Those seats are going to be boiling hot for most day games. I'd recommend bringing a damp towel with you to cool it down on hot days. That, or a pack of hot dogs -- you might be able to grill 'em up right on your seat.

Blue! Orange! Not green!

[BMF ranted about this as well]
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Video: Inside Citi Field

The Star Ledger did a spectacular job of covering today's tour of Citi Field. Here is a video, complete with a Jeff Wilpon interview, that was just posted on NJ.com.

Citi Field is almost done

Well done, whoever put this together.

Ed. note: I have no idea why it's formatted like it is. Enjoy it anyway.