Beltran for Dice-K and Ellsbury?

From Joel Sherman's Hardball Blog:

Let me ask Met fans, Red Sox fans and anybody else interested if you would be willing to do this trade: [Carlos] Beltran to Boston for Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jacoby Ellsbury?

In a word: No.

Beltran's 2008: .284/.376/.500, 40 2B, 27 HR, 112 RBI, 25 SB. Played in 161 games.
Ellsbury's 2008: .280/.296/.394, 22 2B, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 50 SB. Played in 145 games.

Yes, Ellsbury is a great fielder and sometimes Beltran makes a silly mistake in the field, but there is no comparing the two. Three straight Gold Gloves for Beltran is enough information here.

Ellsbury is six years younger and much cheaper, which is enticing, but there is just no replacing Beltran in the field. Easily one of the most embattled players on the team, with some fans loving every second of him and others thinking he is overpaid. You likely know where I lie.

Dice-K would be nice, no doubt. He'd fit in right behind Johan Santana and be an excellent #2 pitcher. But with the staff they have right now, I don't think the Mets need to give up a guy as valuable as Beltran to land a #2 pitcher. Rather, they need to focus on getting a solid 3/4 guy in the rotation. Mike Pelfrey will have a decent year, but won't match 2008. Hopefully, John Maine can come back and pitch effectively.

The team knows they need to spend here, and they've already made the intial offer to Derek Lowe. It came out to be a little low, but the market seems thin for him, so the Mets might catch a break here and get him for near what they want to pay. That's their best option right now, with Oliver Perez filing in behind him.

I still don't know where the Jon Garland talk is. He's a solid back-end of the rotation guy, and has proven himself and his nearly automatic 4.75 ERA (fixed) for years. Sign him for the 4th or 5th guy and move from there. It would put pressure on the rest of the pitching market to look to the Mets if they seriously consider them suitors.

But back to the trade, I'll pass.

The 2008 Met of the Year Award winner is...

By a landslide victory, Johan Santana was voted
The 2008 Met of the Year.For a larger image, click here.

Garnering almost 82 percent of the vote (295 total votes), Santana crushed challenger Carlos Delgado, who earned only 65 votes total.

Going 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA (and having at least 5 guaranteed wins taken away by the bullpen), Santana was more than deserving of the award.

Here is his personal plaque to hang on his mantle, likely next to his Cy Young's:
And here is the Met of the Year plaque, which will have each players named inscribed on it when they win:Thanks for voting. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Lowe-balled

The Mets pitched a three-year, $36 million offer to Derek Lowe on Tuesday. According to sources, Lowe will continue shopping for a deal elsewhere.

From the Extra Bases blog:

Part of the reason the Mets may have entered the bidding with a relatively conservative offer is because they believe Lowe has no other suitors in the Northeast, where the pitcher has expressed a desire to pitch. The Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies had only preliminary conversations with Lowe and none of those clubs is believed to be interested in the pitcher at this time.

The Mets will likely have to increase the offer by a couple million even to get Lowe to the table. He is said to be seeking a possible five-year, $90 million deal.

Jack Curry doesn't see the Mets going much higher than what they already offered, though:

But as much as the Mets like the veteran right-hander, they are not expected to radically improve their offer. Another million a year, for a total package of $39 million? Maybe. But there won’t be a fourth year added to the deal.

Maybe Lowe will strike out everywhere else and "settle" for the $36 million. With Scott Boras as his agent? Yeah, right.

Outfield assist to Ian from SOX & Dawgs.

Tidbits: Fuentes and Vargas sign, DeRosa traded, Marquis soon

A few tidbits on this one of many slow news days.

• Brian Fuentes finally found a team. He signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for two-years, $17.5 million, with a vesting option for a third year. A little cheaper than K-Rod, eh?
• Claudio Vargas signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. $400,000 base salary with up to $1.4 million in incentives. Why couldn't the Mets do this?
• The Cubs have traded utility man Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians for three minor leaguers. I expect Omar Minaya to land a utility guy for the Mets quite soon. I'm looking at you, Alex Cora.
• The Cubbies are also in talks to trade Jason Marquis to the Rockies for Luis Vizcaino. An upgrade from Heilman, if ever so slightly.

Fletcher wished his readers a Happy New Year, and I will too. Have a safe night and here's to a wonderful 2009 for you, yours and our Mets.

2008 Met of the Year Award: Championship Round voting

#1 Johan Santana vs. #1 Carlos Delgado -- May the best Met win.

Voting ends at MIDNIGHT.

2008 Met of the Year Award: Championship Round set

Here is your final matchup: #1 Johan Santana vs. #1 Carlos Delgado.

I guess I seeded them well.

It was a close match, with Delgado earning 56% of the vote (84 votes to 66) over #2 Mike Pelfrey.

Polls will open immediately and will close at midnight. Winner will be announced Thursday.

Mets offer Lowe three-year deal

According to Jack Curry of the NY Times, the Mets have offered Derek Lowe a three-year deal worth around $36 million.

This backs up a story from Dec. 24, in which it was noted Lowe and the Mets were "close" on a three- or four-year deal.

This would be much lower than the deal Lowe is seeking, which Curry noted to be for "five-years, $90 million."

Lowe, 35, is coming off a 14-11 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Black uniforms going from bad to worse?

Adam Rubin and Matt Cerrone both posted the same photo of this mysterious black Mets jersey found at a Sports Authority.

Taking a look at the shirt, it's as if the Mets thought that the black jersey wasn't ugly enough, and they decided to make it look even more detestable. It seems both Rubin and Cerrone believe this may be the rumored "changes" to the jersey that have been coming.

I think they've both been taken. There are things called "fashion" jerseys, and not only are they ugly, but they seem to be very popular. In fact, they have their own category in the Mets shop. That shirt isn't in there, but it's not in the official section either.

Why would a Sports Authority have the new uniform before the Mets even announced it? It just makes no sense. Many companies (outside of Majestic or Nike) make their own Mets uniforms that aren't "official." This seems like one of those shirts.

It's just another ugly jersey, not the Mets new uniform. At least, I hope so.

Update: I was right. Thanks to some snooping, commenter NYMetsGrrl94 and Ryan Punzalan sent in this: Majestic New York Mets Charcoal Fashion Replica Jersey. $79.99 for that? No thank you.

2008 Met of the Year Award: Final Four -- Piazza Division

With Johan Santana winning the Seaver Division, today is the day we vote for who will be facing him in the final.

Today's matchup: #1 Carlos Delgado vs. #2 Mike Pelfrey.

Voting can be based on anything from VORP to cuteness to game winning hits to game saving plays. Seriously, it's whatever you choose.

Here is the poll:

2008 Met of the Year: First Finalist: #1 Johan Santana

The top seed from the Seaver Division, Johan Santana crushed his Final Four opponent and will move on to the Championship Round.

Santana beat out #2 David Wright by 64 votes, raking in 73.53 percent of the votes (100 exactly). Wright garnered 26.47 percent (36 votes).

Santana will face the winner of #1 Carlos Delgado vs. #2 Mike Pelfrey match, beginning at 9:30 am.