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December 14, 2011 11-12 Offseason Joe Janish

Non-Tenders to Consider

This year, the pickings are slim from the “second release” of free agents — i.e., those who were non-tendered on Sunday night.

I only see a few men worth kicking the tires on for the New York Mets:

Jason Jaramillo
A switch-hitting catcher who hits with equal mediocrity from both sides of the plate. However, his defense is above-average, particularly with his ability to throw runners out. Not someone to get terribly excited about, but definitely worth mulling over considering that the Mets catching depth consists of Josh Thole, Mike Nickeas, and nothing else.

Jeff Keppinger
His offense dropped off last year, and that’s his main value — other than the emotional tie of him being a former Met.

Jeremy Hermida
I don’t know why, but I have an obsession with this guy’s natural talent. He’ll be 28 by spring training, and at this point, it doesn’t appear he’ll be anywhere near the player he looked like he might become during his promising 2007 season as a 23-year-old. What the heck happened with him?

Luke Scott
Might be fun to see Scott platoon with Jason Bay. It won’t happen.

Ryan Theriot
A rich man’s Joe McEwing, Theriot likely projects to be a better all-around second baseman than Dan Murphy or Justin Turner. But, it seems that the Mets will try to inJ.R. Murphy at 2B again.

Micah Owings, Jo-Jo Reyes, Joe Saunders, Andy Sonnanstine
We looked at these pitchers in today’s earlier post on starting pitchers.

Peter Moylan
Can’t ever have enough bullpen depth.

Rich Hill
See Moylan, above. Hill is coming off of arm surgery but is expected to be back in action by April/May. He has potential as a LOOGY.

Thoughts? Did I miss anyone?

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. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Dan B December 14, 2011 at 2:41 pm
    What ever happened to the “place setter” free agent? You know, the type of free agent that signed for a year or two at a relatively cheap salary (though not as cheap as the list of players that Joe is talking about). Teams would sign them when they had a need but didn’t want to prematurely call up a minor leaguer. I am talking about bonafide starters who lacked star power. Is it too much to dream that my team would fill the roster with honest to goodness professional baseball players?
    • Izzy December 14, 2011 at 5:11 pm
      Those guys cost to much for a team whose owners would have been forced to sell by any commissioner not called bud selig.
  2. gary s. December 14, 2011 at 5:54 pm
    We can only afford the free agents with the sign around their neck that says “will work for food”
    • Peppermint Patty December 16, 2011 at 1:04 pm
      This is precisely why the Wilpons are viewed as such good men within the community.

      They’ll award these “will work for food” candidates with $3MM contracts, when no one else will!

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  3. SiddFinch December 14, 2011 at 6:56 pm
    I would add Spilboroghs to your list, though he’ll probably wind up back in Coloado
    • Joe Janish December 14, 2011 at 10:42 pm
      Thanks. I thought about Spilborghs, but figured he’d be redundant to Andres Torres. And as you suggest, he’ll likely return to Colorado.
  4. Rob December 15, 2011 at 1:57 pm
    Hey Joe: Just heard Adam Rubin interviewed on MLB Radio with Kevin Kennedy and Jim Duquette. Not a pretty picture. None of these guys will be signed because the Mets are not spending any more money. They’re going to comb the list of minor league free agents and injured players coming off down years to get those bargain basement deals. We’re finishing in last place and I think that everyone should simply acknowledge that and move on. At least we’ll get the draft picks over the next three seasons to restock our minors. In the interim, I’m hoping that the financial situtation forces the Wilpons to sell so that the next set of ownership will have the money to spend in a rebuilding year. That’s what really pisses me off here…that the Mets aren’t going to spend even moderate amounts of money to address their starting and lineup needs. Yeah, they’ve rebuilt the bullpen…but they’re starting staff is going to be filled with a bunch of 3 and 4 starters, no ace (Santana isn’t going to pitch this year…that’s my pessimistic prediction from the sampling of all pitchers who have had this type of injury) and nothing in the minors that will be available until 2014. I think I’m going to go and slit my wrists and soak in a warm bath for the next 12 months.
  5. Mike B December 15, 2011 at 2:40 pm
    Rob please to kill yourself over these bums, this team isnt worth the price of admission never mind your life. Did you expect any less?

    I mean it would only make sense to sign a couple of these guys to high end 1 year deals cause you could always dump them at the deadline for more rebuilding chips.

  6. mic December 16, 2011 at 2:17 pm
    I am thinking the force out is coming.
  7. mic December 17, 2011 at 8:27 am
    http://macksmets.blogspot.com/2011/12/flash-gio-agents-told-6-mets-untradable.html