09-10 Offseason

Will Holliday or Bay Affect Francoeur?

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francoeur-nohatThe Matt Holliday / Jason Bay buzz is heating up, with the latest news that the Red Sox will not attempt to re-sign Bay but may go after Adrian Gonzalez instead. Further, word from San Francisco is that the Giants don’t have the ducats to pursue either of the free-agent outfielders — which if true narrows the market. Add in the fact that Jon Heyman tweeted that the Mets will pursue a “big-ticket LF” and it would seem that Omar Minaya and co. will be part of the bidding for one or both of Jason Bay and Matt Holliday.

But how will such pursuit affect Jeff Francoeur?

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Why and How the Mets Should Trade for Roy Halladay

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roy-halladay-2(NOTE: this article is by MetsToday contributing writer and resident stathead Matt Himelfarb — be kind, and keep an open mind)

Rumors of the Dodgers recent financial troubles due to the McCourts’ nasty split should be welcome news to the Mets. The only other potential Roy Halladay suitors that could fairly compensate baseball’s best pitcher appear to be the Jay’s inter-division rivals, the Yankees and the Red Sox. Both Boston and New York do not have unlimited payrolls, and figure to set their sights, both financially and in regard to prospects, on other priorities. The Jays might make a token attempt at competing next year, hoping to make reasonable run in 2011. Whatever the case, they probably do not want Roy Halladay pitching against them for at least the next half-decade.

Needless to say, the market for Halladay has been softening even more since July 31st. Unless Halladay decides to take a hometown discount, Halladay will be traded this off-season, as new General Manager Alex Anthopoulos recognizes that there is no advantage to keeping Halladay for 2010, or risk waiting until the trade deadline.

This is undoubtedly good news for Omar and co.

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Beltran to Boston?

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The buzz from the Boston Herald is that the Red Sox might consider calling the Mets about Carlos Beltran this winter, in the event that Jason Bay is not re-signed. (Hat tip to Ed at MetsFever) Note I stated “buzz” — not “rumor”, nor “report”. It’s pure speculation by the Herald’s columnist Michael Silverman. Still, … Read more

Holliday List Includes Mets

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matt-holliday-cardsAccording to Ken Davidoff, free-agent-to-be Matt Holliday’s first two choices are the Yankees and Mets.

Like Jason Marquis, Holliday is an intelligent man.

It’s no surprise that the New York Yankees tops his list. They do, after all, have the deepest pockets in MLB — and will have over thirty million dollars coming off the books this winter when the contracts of Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, and others expire. Assuming the Yankees allow all three of those individuals to walk, they’ll have a big hole in left field. Telling the world he’d like to fill that hole immediately gets the Red Sox involved in the bidding, driving up his price further.

With the Mets it’s a similar situation. Does Holliday really want to play in Flushing, or

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Championship Puzzles: Transactional Leadership

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I’m twisting the definition of “Transactional Leadership” for the purpose of a clever headline. For “part two” of what differentiates the Mets from championship teams, what we’re going to do here is briefly look at what the front offices of the current playoff teams have done in the past year, as opposed to what the New York Mets have used as a strategy in terms of acquiring ballplayers.

Around or after the July 31st trade deadline, the small-market Cardinals added

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