I Hope Santa Brings Me This
I kind of like the colors, and the bird is cute. Oh, and if FOX Sports’ sources can be trusted, it appears that R.A. Dickey will be a Toronto Blue Jay.
Per FOX Sports:
The right-hander agreed to a two-year, $25 million extension with the Jays on Monday, according to a major-league source.
His trade from the New York Mets to the Jays will become official once he passes a physical, the source said.
Dickey, 38, accepted the same terms from the Jays that he requested from the Mets, and is now under contract until nearly his 41st birthday.
He already is signed for $5 million next season and now will earn $30 million over the next three years — a below-market price for the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner.
The trade, as first reported by the New York Post and confirmed by a source, would send Dickey, catcher Josh Thole and a non-elite prospect to the Jays, with the Mets receiving catcher Travis D’Arnaud, right-hander Noah Syndergaard, catcher John Buck and another non-elite prospect.
Interestingly, the report from Toronto suggests that Dickey may be getting more than a $25M extension (Hat tip — pardon the pun — to Walnutz):
As reflected in his hands-on style, Jays’ GM Alex Anthopoulos prefers to meet players face-to-face whenever an important crossroads arrives. Anthopoulos is believed to have met with Dickey at his home. Reportedly, the Jays have been able to agree on the extension with Dickey, likely for more than the $26 million, two years, he had been seeking from the Mets, but still a bargain for three years compared to recent free agents Anibal Sanchez, Zack Greinke and, assuming Dickey’s higher expected return, than Ryan Dempster.
Regardless, Toronto is extending Dickey, which means he’s out of the Mets’ hand, and we can stop the double-entendre headlines. It also means that 2013 is officially flushed down the toilet in terms of the Mets trying to win, but on the bright side, one small step toward building a club that might resemble MLB-caliber in 2016.
Hey, with a little luck we’ll get to see R.A. — and Jose Reyes — at Citi Field in July1
Your thoughts?
I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me why a team can’t spend money on the 25-man roster AND build the farm simultaneously. Not every FA signing has to be a hamstringing multi-year deal.
The Mets could have had a legitimately competitive club in ’11, ’12, and ’13 if the Wilpons sold to someone who wasn’t broke.
I am a little confused here. I consider myself a Met fan that is very critical of the ownership, and frankly I don’t trust anything they say. That said, I am sensing from the remarks here that the Mets are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. I am as big an RA fan as anyone, but making this deal for the Mets is a no-brainer. That doesn’t mean it will work, we all know the risk associated with prospects and the low odds that even top rated prospects live up to expectations. Even with D’Arnaud not arriving in Flushing until May, we can count the C position as improved (frankly, I don’t know how much worse it could have gotten from 2012). Yes, Dickey leaves a big void, but let’s hold off on writing off the 2013 season until the team is set. They were going to be a long shot for the playoffs even with RA. Now, they may be a little longer, but there is still a lot of the offseason left. I know not to trust anything Jeff Wilpon says, but we can do simple math and there are funds available to fill some of these holes. Like you said above, there is no reason why you can’t build for the future and spend on filling holes and fielding a major league team, one with some developing players, but enough talent to keep the fans interested and have a puncher’s chance at a playoff run. School is still out. Let’s hear this official announcement on the RA deal and then see what else Alderson has in store.
I’ll wait, but I won’t hold my breath.
Lyon is essentially Jon Rauch, which is an arm the Mets need. Capps is better than Frank-Frank. So I like those ideas for rebuilding the ‘pen, but can the Mets afford them? How about adding Brian Wilson as well?
Also, I do not know that we will “have to wait until 2016 for a major league caliber club” at all. Now it’s 2016. Used to be 2015. Why not 2020?
What is MLCC anyway? One that has a respective starting five? One that has an infield of Ike Davis et. al.? I was not aware the catcher prospect here is three years away. I heard he might even have got a Sept. call up in 2012 if he wasn’t off an injury. With 40M, when Santana leaves, the teams can get something useful too.
They spent money on the roster last year — remember those three pitchers? — and you didn’t like them. I guess the idea is spending wisely there. Yeah. That would be nice. Meanwhile, it’s good not to spend badly, as they did for Bay et. al.
By that rationale, the Mets will never spend money as long as the current ownership is intact. Correct? Or will they suddenly become “smart” when there is “flexibility” a year from now?
Second, isn’t Sandy Alderson supposedly running the show? Or did Jeff Wilpon just make the trade with the Blue Jays? Or, do you think that Alderson also cannot be trusted to spend?
MLCC is subjective. In my subjective opinion, MLCC means a team has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs.
They spent money last year, yeah. What? $15M? They really opened up the pocketbook. And yeah, “wisely” spent on Chris Young’s rehab, Jon Rauch, and two years of Frank-Frank.
My definition of a MLCC = having just 1 starting outfielder that would start on any other Major league club.
Oh, even if he is not, any evidence they won’t find someone like that in you know like 2015? Whine whine whine.
I dont want to whine, just would like to see a decent team of MLB players. Today would be great if we havent been rebuilding for 3 years already.
The Yankees way (buy vs develop) worked the past 20 yrs for these reasons:
1. Steroids extended the shelf life of players.
2. Teams used the strategy of having a player for 6yrs before losing them to FA so the best players were reaching FA in their prime
3. The Yankees had 30 to 40% more to spend that everyone else.
These conditions don’t exist anymore.
The best players will not (by and large) risk steroids. The Melkys of the world will, but the best won’t for fear of turning into Barry Bonds. Thus player will now decline after 31/32
Teams now identify and sign their best players thru their 20s so the best players either don’t reach FA or get there in their 30s (Scott Boras excepting)
The Dodgers, Phillies, Angeles, Cubs, Rangers and one day even the Mets have the money to compete with the Yanks.
The pt is there’s less prime superstars in their 20s reaching FA and their are more teams with the dough to compete for them. That’s why KC and TOR had to pay a premium in prospects and the Dodgers had to pay a premium in $$ for starting pitching.
The Yankees are in trouble. Maybe not this yr, but soon. They will have bad, old players, a bad farm system and won’t be able to buy enough players to win.
Baseball has returned to the era of building from within, esp for starting pitching. So says the WSC Giants.
This was the right trade at the right time. The Mets have pitching. They needed a C they still need a bullpen but they have some young arms for that and they need some bats in the OF. But next winter they will have a payroll of 70m and will have some $$ for FA’s so long as they are judicious about it.
However, it’s not necessarily about throwing enormous, multi-year deals at superstars. It’s about spending SOMETHING, which the Mets have not done since the dollars stopped falling from the Madoff tree.
Also – you suggest the Yankees’ “way” won’t work anymore, yet they’ve been to the postseason 17 times in the last 18 years, and finished first in the toughest MLB division in three of the last four years. And by the way, the Yankees’ way is not to buy vs. develop, and never was — even before those conditions you point out stopped existing. It was always about balance of developing and spending.They didn’t buy Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Mo Rivera, Bernie Williams, Wang, Cano, etc.
The Mets don’t spend and they don’t develop. That “way” never worked in the past, and won’t work in the future.
Projection
The perfect world projection for Wuilmer Becerra would be an everyday left fielder capable of hitting 20 home runs and stealing 20 bases annually.
2013 Outlook, Risk, and ETA
The Blue Jays appear to have a relatively universal development path with young Latin America signees. In their first year, they get accustomed to the North American culture and lifestyle in the Gulf Coast League – where the Hispanic community is strong, and in their second year, they make the move to the advanced rookie level.
Despite playing in just 11 games last year I expect they’ll employ a similar plan with Becerra, so he should open the 2013 season with Bluefield in the Appalachian League. His long term outlook should be classified as extremely high risk, as in addition to the lack of professional reps, there are the questions regarding his hit tool that I touched on above.
The most optimistic ETA might be late 2016, but the more realistic expectation might be in the second half of the 2017 season.
I believe John Buck is fine as an everyday starter at least through July. I mean, if this organization thought Josh Thole was a starter …
My bet is Buck starts the season as the starting C, with Anthony Recker backing up. If Buck hits well, they keep playing him to drum up his value for a deadline deal. At the same time, if D’Arnaud starts out hot in AAA, they bring him up in late May / early June – when another year of control sets in.
Who can blame the Wilpons they are smart business men dont spend any money and keep raising ticket prices like the teams that do spend money.
It doesnt have to be upton but the Mets should be involved when the top tier names are on the board, Instead of talking about cody ross or resigning hairriston lets talk about Hamilton, Upton, bourne, Soriano. I know these guys cant be had for 1.5 million for 2 years like the Mets like but they are New York sports franchise with a new stadium and thier own cable network.
You don’t need to find 20 wins solely from the FA market, because there are a few wins coming up from the minors (Harvey, perhaps others), you count on Ike Davis improving, and there could be a few trades to make. But yes, there definitely are ways to get many if not all of those wins from the FA market — but a team needs to spend a little and take a few gambles.
Recker is this year’s Nickeas.
I have a BIG issue with “clearing a spot” for Ruben Tejada – he’s not the type of other-worldly player who you make room for by moving an All-Star and potential top-10 player. Tejada is a nice player who would have had even more value as a 2B and Reyes’ DP partner. The savings on Reyes has already been spent on David Wright, so thinking the Mets will spend dollars on Bourn or the like is a pipe dream.
Extend Reyes at a discount before he entered his FA year, sign BJ Upton this winter, make this RA trade for D’Arnaud, and the Mets are “strong up the middle” for the next 4 years. A championship club can built around strength up the middle. A team with one awesome corner guy and nothing else makes winning a mountainous task.
– I think RA is a big move for the Jays. I think he really will be a difference maker for them.
Joe: I think Buck is more of a backup ( a new Nickeas) who I see as Harvey’s personal catcher. But I think the Mets still need a catcher not named Recker. A .200 hitting catcher will not be acceptable.
– As for Reyes: His relevance to the discussion is Alderson did not recover ANYTHING for his loss. frankly I like Tejada and his potential and have no issues with opening that spot for him. But I think spending that savings on’ Mike Bourn’ or like.