Mets Do Not Take Riske
The Kansas City Royals are about to sign reliever David Riske to a one-year, $2M contract.
Granted, this is not the type of signing that is headline news. However, it’s alarming that they were able to wrap up a fairly decent, healthy middle reliever for so little money and only a one-year commitment in this insane market.
Now I understand that the Mets are focused on Barry Zito and/or other starting pitching options, but I’m a bit miffed that they didn’t consider making an offer to Riske — especially since he would be so cheap.
The 30-year-old Riske is no star, but a very reliable reliever who has worked in all bullpen roles at one point or another — long relief, situational, setup, and even as an emergency closer. He’s not a strikeout pitcher, but his career WHIP is excellent at 1.265 — and he did this in the American League. Had the Mets signed him, Riske would have stepped right into the departed Chad Bradford’s role, and would be a fine replacement if the Mets chose to trade Aaron Heilman or move Heilman to the rotation.
Personally, I’d like to hunt down Riske, get him out of that Royals contract before it’s too late, and become his agent. It’s unbelievable that a guy with his numbers, in this market, was unable to get a 2- or 3-year deal for somewhere in the $7-10M range.
More Boras Spin
The latest out of the Scott Boras propaganda mill is that FIVE teams have made contract offers to his client Barry Zito.
Ha!
C’mon, Scott, you’re really blowing your image now. Math may not be my best subject, but I can add things pretty well when the numbers are less than the fingers on my hands. And last I checked, the only teams interested in Zito were the Mets, Giants, Rangers, and Mariners. That’s four, and the Mets are adamant that no contract has been offered, so now we’re down to three.
Boras has already been caught in one lie … when it was “leaked” that the Rangers made a $100M offer. The Rangers not only refuted that offer, they called it “science fiction”. If Scott Boras keeps crying wolf, the GMs around the league will continue to gain leverage against him. Would be a nice thing to see.
