Nick Johnson and Other Rumors
A week ago, rumors were swirling around Nick Johnson and his possible move to either Boston or New York. Today, Ken Davidoff writes that Johnson, Austin Kearns, and Josh Willingham are the top pieces of trade bait for Washington. And according to Gordon Edes of Yahoo, the Nationals are scouting Jonathan Niese, Mike Antonini, and Eddie Kunz.
However, I’d be surprised if the Mets pulled the trigger on a deal now, as they seem content to give Fernandog Martinez a full shot in right field, and Dan Murphy has cemented himself at first base for at least two weeks after a three-hit, five-RBI day against those same Nationals.
In other news, the Yankees are supposedly looking at Mark DeRosa, another guy who looked like a target a week ago. But with Alex Cora coming off the DL next week, and, again, Murphy doing the job at 1B, it would seem that if DeRosa does come to New York, he’ll be in pinstripes.
Other players rumored to be changing uniforms between now and the end of July are Jake Peavy, Jermaine Dye, Aubrey Huff, Jose Guillen, Chad Tracy, Matt Holliday, Adam LaRoche, Eric Hinske, and Brad Hawpe.
Discuss …
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers.
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This is another moment in time where the mets can assume the best case scenario will happen or where they can cover their bases. As you alluded to in your post, it seems like the mets will choose the former. F-Mart will be a great player but he’s very young, too aggressive, and slow to get into a productive hitting groove (look at his stats coming back from injury or starting a season.) Daniel Murphy is good player, and will be for some time, but for all that has been made of his professional at-bats, he doesn’t walk all that much and doesn’t hit for much power (even when not in a terrible slump.) Sheffield is Old and might get injured, as that what older players for the mets do. He might also not hit at the same rate. Beltran’s knee is balky, and Reyes has revisited his leg injuries era.
Omar should make a move or two (without trading F-Mart) while the team is winning. I guarantee when Sheffield gets injured, or Beltran doesn’t come back fully healthy, or some other typical mets problem happens the price will go up.
I know its a pain dealing with too many productive able bodied ballplayers, and that someone’s feeling’s might be hurt if we had to split time between two 1bs, or demote an outfielder, but that’s how you win championships
I gotta disagree, 86′ed. You win championships by having a solid, young, home-grown core, with veteran role players intertwined. If winning championships meant trading away every last prospect to have a stacked bench *in case* someone gets hurt or goes into a slump, then the Yankees would have won every World Series since 2001. And we know how well things have worked out for them recently.
I do not want any part of Nick Johnson. Oh, he’s a terrific player, no doubt, and would likely give the Mets an offensive boost if acquired. But his cost is going to be too high for what the Mets will get in return. Why? Because the Red Sox are about 15 minutes away from giving up on David Ortiz, which would mean they’re on the hunt for a 1B/DH. The Nats have said they want Manny Delcarmen, which the Red Sox could easily afford what with their unbelievable RP depth. Delcarmen’s equal on the Mets is Bobby Parnell, whom I feel the Mets can ill afford to lose, both for this year and for the years to come. Especially for a player in Johnson who may be no more contributive than a 2-month 1B fill-in, as well as a free agent at year’s end to boot. If Boston agrees to trade Delcarmen, I have no idea how the Mets are able to better that without including Parnell. So let’s kiss the thought of Johnson playing for the Mets goodbye.
As far as everything else goes, I don’t see any reason why the Mets should, once again, start dealing away young players for temporary questionable solutions. Because then the main problem isn’t what to do with all the extra players, but instead what happens if the Mets don’t make the playoffs or win the World Series? Now we’re down a handful of more young players, we’re left with a bunch of holes in the roster with no one in the system to help fill them, and no ring. The team is floating, or dare I say succeeding, with the current cast of characters, which doesn’t include Ollie, Reyes, Delgado, Church, Beltran, Cora, or Schneider. And all are due back at some time if the current season, which leads me to believe that not only do the Mets already have the pieces in place of winning when their big guns are out of the lineup, but that they will hypothetically get better once the big guns return, which is really saying something for a team that just won 2 of 3 in Boston and convincingly swept the Nationals. So I say, unless there’s a deal on the table Omar just can’t say no to, he shouldn’t be looking to deal at all if it’s going to leave the organization further thinned out in the minors and further bogged down with mediocre, yet expensive talent.
Agreed isuzu, the farm system is so thinned down as it is, the team is holding their own right now, even without the majority of starters. Castillo, Wright and Sheffield will need to be monitored, but all things considered, all 3 of them combined with the younger, less experienced players are doing a great job.
i agree…partially.
- Dan Murphy is in finding his home is good enough to at least have a shot of being the ist baseman. DM Carried the mets yesterday. I just hope he can get his confidence and get back to the line drive hitter he has been. In LF he gave games away….as a 1st baseman he just saved 6M and 3 prospects.
- With Alex Cora coming back thats another save.
- I envision that now the LF experiment is over, a mercenary may be had either in July or the offseason. F-Mart gets RF, CB will have CF, Pagan and Sheff are great as the 4th/5th OF with Tatis as supersub.
- Farm…Fmart is here, Tejada just had a 3-4 night at AA as a 19yr old and is at .270 playing 2B AND SS alternating with Jose Coronado.
- brad holt has been good. Dillon Gee might have been rushed and Niese just has no control right now. But these are 22yr olds at AAA. Reese Havens gets his shout outs but Ike Davis has been no slouch, and Lucas Duda is doing fine. So is Thole and I feel that Nick Evans will break out eventually.
Bottomline there are guys in the minors and Majors to swap.
…If there was someone on the Nats worth trading for …based on this series it was Adam Dunn…again a nice fit in LF.