According to David Lennon of Newsday, the Mets will be making contract offers this week to Francisco Rodriguez AND Brian Fuentes. So if they both say yes, I guess the Mets will have both a setup man and a closer. Perhaps that suggests that they don’t see Fuentes as a closer? (Keep fingers crossed!)
Several sources are suggesting that the price for Francisco Rodriguez is falling quickly, and the Mets would do well to wait him out. At five years, $75M, K-Rod is a risk, due to his violent throwing motion and the 408 career appearances in his young career. At, say, three years and $40M, signing him is … Read more
According to sources in Japan, the New York Mets are considering making an offer to Japanese lefthander Ken Takahashi (link target is in Japanese). The always-excellent resource NBPTracker has more to the story and a profile of Takahashi. From NBPT: “It has been a wish of mine to play in America after qualifying for free … Read more
The Mets need to add this winter, at minimum, one starting pitcher and one relief pitcher. They would like to do that without trading away any of their few near-MLB-ready prospects, and without having to commit to an overvalued, long-term contract. Enter Japanse hurlers Koji Uehara and Kenshin Kawakami. Uehara is a veteran starter-turned-closer who … Read more
According to various reports, closer Trevor Hoffman will not return to the San Diego Padres. This of course is meaningful to Mets fans because the Flushing Fabulosos are in need of a closer. And why not the most prolific fireman in MLB history? It could make sense from the standpoint that Hoffman would be relatively … Read more
After winning a reality TV show called “The Million Dollar Arm”, two youngsters from India tried out in front of 30 Major League scouts. Nineteen-year-olds Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh each threw in the upper 80s, earning them a 6-month trip to the USA to work out with renowned pitching coach Tom House, and the … Read more
New York Times columnist Allen Schwartz suggested that the beloved bullpen crew of Scott Schoeneweis, Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano, et al, could very well return intact for next season — and has quotes from Omar Minaya to support the theory. Justified as these fans may be in wanting a completely rebuilt bullpen, they … Read more
