With it clearly being a weakness for the New York Mets, an Executive Decision has been made: the 2015 club simply won’t play defense. Continue reading →

It’s Day Three of the Winter Meetings and I’ll bet Mets GM Sandy Alderson can’t wait for this afternoon’s daily rumor-squelching conference with the media. I wonder how he felt about the need to suppress Mathew’s rumor candy about Noah Syndergaard for Jurickson Profar. Bad enough he has to deal with Jeffy. Now he also has to muffle his youthful in-house shill.

I gotta hand it to Alderson. He is unflinchingly staying the course. The angst amongst the faithful is palpable as the Winter Meetings wrap up and once again, the Mets are spectators. 2015 should be year “the plan” bears fruit (although I still think 2016 is the first season they really contend). It would be real easy, one would think, to cave into the pressure from the fanbase and the many media sources and bust a move or two. The problem is that some of these moves look smart in December and really dumb by August. Think Lucas Duda for Matt Joyce, or the passel of other rumors about Duda soon on the move last winter.

Dillon Gee is this year’s Duda. The most prominent rumor has him going to Texas for INF Luis Sardinas. Really? Check out Sardinas’ slash line. Ruben Tejada V2 anyone? Plus, the Mets shouldn’t be so quick to run Gee out of town. While he isn’t as flashy or as personable as some of their other arms, he probably ranks around #6 on the rotational depth chart right now.  Remember, of the guys ahead of him, one is coming off of major arm surgery, two others are candidates for the same procedure, the fourth was a rookie (albeit an impressive one) last year and the fifth is 41 years old. Behind him are mostly untested arms with mixed minor league results. Gee represents something of an insurance policy, a semi-valuable asset, especially for a team that in their own words, fancies itself a contender next season.

If Sandy is indeed hell-bent on trading Gee,  he should ask his LA counterpart if is there is any truth to the Dee Gordon rumor. Long a fave of this board, Gordon had a semi-breakout last year, before tailing off (likely due to over-exposure) in the second half of the season. Gee has a higher career WAR than Gordon, but this move saves the Mets a potential $4M in salary. Gordon represents an upgrade over the departed Eric Young Jr. At 26 Gordon is three years younger than EYJ and has out-slashed him over his career. He gives the bench the speed element it needs. His presence would support, without upsetting, the Wilmer Flores/Daniel Murphy middle infield apple cart. It really appears that Flores is the starting shortstop in 2015. If he bombs, they will have to go outside the organization and more than likely sacrifice a pitching prospect to get a replacement.

This trade and the rumored acquisition of former Lehigh Valley Iron Pig John Mayberry Jr. would give the Mets a few different options for their 2015 bench. If Gordon and Mayberry are added, there are potentially eight players vying for five spots. Most of these guys have options, meaning they could be stashed in Vegas and called back up when needed. A versatile, deep bench is an often overlooked component on the type of team the Mets recently have talking themselves up as.

Speaking of talking, it’s your turn.

Per Ken Rosenthal, Jon Lester has agreed to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Per Jeff Passan, the deal is 6 years, $155M — $20M more than was offered by the Boston Red Sox.

One of the main dominoes of the offseason has fallen, and we’re still two weeks from Christmas.

Further, it means the Cubs are “all in” for a 2015 playoff berth.

But are the Mets? They’re looking to dump Dillon Gee‘s $5M salary and are kicking the tires on John Mayberry, Jr. You tell me, in the comments.

Looking for a gift for the Mets fan in your life who has everything?

How about buying him/her a lunch with Dwight Gooden? Continue reading →

According to various sources, the Chicago Cubs have acquired catcher Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nice move by the Cubs, who missed out on signing Russell Martin. Though the 30-year-old’s OBP and power numbers have reduced drastically over the past two years, Montero should provide similar production to Martin, both at and behind the plate. I’ve always liked Montero’s catching skills; he receives pitches well, has good feet, and an above-average arm. His bugaboo is lefthanded pitchers, but, if the Cubs hold on to RH-hitting Welington Castillo, the two could combine for a productive platoon — Castillo crushed lefties last year.

Did you think the headline referred to the Mets trading Rafael Montero?

Also, the Dodgers have swapped backstop Drew Butera to the Angels. The Dodgers recently picked up Ryan Lavarnway from the waiver wire, making the defensive-minded Butera expendable.

Additionally, the Pirates have reportedly re-signed starting pitcher Francisco Liriano to a three-year, $39M contract.

Finally, there is buzz that the Padres could be close to acquiring Matt Kemp from the Dodgers.

That’s all for now from the winter meetings.

Fearless prediction: Dillon Gee will wind up in Texas before the end of the winter meetings. And I have rock-solid information to support it. Continue reading →

Other than the Mets not trading for Didi Gregorius and not signing Andrew Miller, there were a few moves happening in the first day of MLB’s annual winter meetings. Let’s do a quick run-through. Continue reading →

Daisuke Matsuzaka leaves New York to find out if he can still be Big In Japan. Continue reading →