January 4, 2013 12-13 Offseason Joe Janish

Mets Sign Omar Quintanilla

The flurry of free-agent signings has begun! We may be at the beginning of a blizzard!

Omar Quintanilla returns to the Mets on a minor-league deal with a spring training invite. Great deal, from my perspective, because it means the Mets won’t waste money on Ronny Cedeno. Don’t get me wrong, I like Cedeno, but it looked to me like Quintanilla could provide the same if not better performance at the MLB minimum. And as long as the Mets are counting pennies, it doesn’t make much sense to waste money on lavish luxuries such as Ronny Cedeno.

Joe Janish

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.

Izzy January 4, 2013 at 9:05 am

Yes, indeed it is a great signing. Every penny that can be kept in the Wilpon bank account is a victory for every National League trying to make the playoffs. Hopefully, these teams will donate to the Wilpon poverty fund for helping them and their fans enjoy successful seasons. And if Q is as good as last year the great Alderson can sell him again in lieu of a player to further help the poor Wilpons. After all, after the decades long free ride their pal Bernie gave them, they need all the cents they can get.
DaveSchneck January 4, 2013 at 9:26 am

Joe,
So, who else is out there that you left off your list? Q will fill a hole – backup to Tejada since Tovar is not ready – so that’s another good thing. That said, it’s time for Sandy Alderson to move off the clearance aisle for his next purchase or I’ll go back to calling him Sandy Wilpon, and I don’t mean to but Izzy a pizza.
murph January 7, 2013 at 12:28 am

Makes sense. The Mets wanted to keep him last year, but he didn’t clear waivers when they tried to send him down to AAA. The Orioles claimed him. He did a good job filling in last year when Tejada & Cedeno were both injured.
jerseymet January 7, 2013 at 9:01 pm

Nice to have him back. Sandy must have paid his less than half of what he paid Cedeno.