Tag Archives: Mets

Pondering Stephen Drew

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Stephen Drew falls down, I bet he made a funny noise when this happened.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Stephen Drew falls down, I bet he made a funny noise when this happened.           (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

As we near the start of spring training, their is one player left on the market that both the Yankees and the Mets could desperately use in the upcoming season. Stephen Drew is the best, and really only legitimate, shortstop still available. While he would be a massive upgrade for either team, there are some very good reasons why he is still available a week before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. So, lets take a look at why Stephen Drew is still available, and who his primary suitors are.

The Yankees

As has been the case for the past 18 years, Derek Jeter is penciled in to be the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, this is not the Jeter we have been used to seeing all these years, this is a 39 year old Jeter, coming back from a season that was plagued with leg injuries.  Of course the captain won’t go gently into that good night, no, he will hang on until they have tear that precious #2 off his back.

Compounding the problem of old man Jetes not wanting to move off of short is the fact that there really is no replacement waiting in the wings. Sure, they have Eduardo Nunez, but lets be real, the possibility of Eduardo Scissorhands being the future starting shortstop is terrifying to Yankee fans, and likely hilarious to all other baseball fans. The Yankees have also signed Brendan Ryan to be the back up shortstop, but he is not the future, at least he shouldn’t be. The man is a career .237/.299/.320 hitter and spent the past 2 year below the Mendoza line. Sure, defensively he’s one of the best, but his wet noodle bad is unacceptable for a starting position player on a team with hopes of contending.

So we can see how Stephen Drew would fit right into the mix with the Yanks, except for the fact that he wouldn’t. Jeter isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, he is the face of the franchise, this is a man that got a raise after missing almost the entire season with serious leg injuries, he’s not moving over to third to make room for Drew. Sure the Yanks could put Drew on second or third, but he has never played there in his career. If he came to the Yankees it would be as a super utility guy, he would essentially replace Eduardo Nunez. But you don’t pay someone the money that Drew will demand to be a utility player, and everything we have heard says Drew wants to stay at short, so my guess is he won’t be coming to the Yankees this off season.

The Mets

Coming into the off season I thought it would be a no-brainer, the Mets would sign Stephen Drew. And yet here we are, a few weeks away from spring training games and once again the Mets are going into the season with Ruben Tejada and Omar Quintanilla as their starting shortstops. It really seems like Drew to the Mets would be a match made in heaven, they have an obvious need and the Mets are the only team that could guarantee he would be their starting shortstop.

So why hasn’t he signed yet? Could it be that he would be tied to a draft pick? I don’t think so, the Mets first round pick is protected, and they already gave their second rounder to the Yankees for Granderson, so they would only have to give up the 85th pick in the draft. Maybe the Mets would rather wait until next years crop of free agents? There are some good names there, Hanley Ramirez , J.J. Hardey, and Asdrubal Cabrera to name a few. Good players, but not all will reach free agency, rumor has it the Dodgers and Orioles are trying to lock up Hanley and Hardey respectively.

My guess is the Mets really do want Drew, but at their price, and their years. Its a game of chicken, they see no one else is making a move, so they feel no rush to make theirs. 2014 isn’t going to be the year they make a push; so why overpay now? If they lose out on him, oh well, there’s always next years crop, but if he gets desperate for a deal, the Mets will be their, contract in hand, just waiting for him to sign.

The Red Sox

Drew’s former team, the Red Sox offered him a qualifying offer this year, and of course he turned it down. That does tell us though, that they would consider bringing him back at their price, that price being $14.1 million for 1 year, a deal which at this point is off the table.

Boston presents and interesting playing situation for Drew, he would likely end up as a utility player, bouncing between short and third. This is because prospect Xander Bogaerts came up at the end of last season and proved he belongs in the majors. They also have Will Middlebrooks who may still prove to be a legitimate third baseman, though the jury is still out on that. My guess is that the Red Sox want to see how the kids do, rather then go out and spend on free agents.

All in all, I can’t see the Red Sox offering a deal better then the qualifying offer Drew already declined, maybe a 1 year, $12 million offer gets in done and he can go back out on the market next year, but everything we have heard says he wants a multi-year deal, with an opt out clause.

So where does Drew end up? If you put a gun to my head, I’d probably say the Mets. They have the biggest need and the clear path to playing time, which seems to be the most important thing to Drew. As for the deal? I’m thinking 3 years $36 million dollar deal with an opt out after every year, similar to the Raphael Soriano deal with the Yankees a few years ago. Drew to the Mets would make the most sense, but this is baseball so we all know that won’t happen.

Deep Thoughts By Luke Lowry

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What to write?.. That is the questione’… As I sit here, in late October and watch a very memorable World Series, I can’t help but imagine how cool it’d be if the Mets were in it. I can see it now. David Wright playing the David Ortiz role, hitting .750. Game 6 being the hottest ticket in Mets history. And hey look over there, it’s Cowbell man saying he needs me to get the crowd pumped up. Ok Cowbell man, l can do it. Whats that? This isn’t real and I should just run blindly into the next paragraph without a segue.

I’ve never gotten to truly enjoy a Mets World Series. In ’86 I was 3 and in 2000 I was a senior in high school and lets just say I was a little preoccupied with other things (like being a punk and general horrible person, apologies to Laura Nealon. More on my horribleness in columns to come) In ’06 I was all in, was at Shea for Endy’s catch in game 7, but it wasn’t meant to be. Now, if this group of young Mets, plus whatever reinforcements Sandy Alderson brings in, can get to a World Series. What a wonderful world it would be. Now I don’t claim to be an A student. Sorry, got side-tracked there, just watched Animal House. So, where was I… Right, so I’m not an A student. Whoops, need to go back further. Oh yeah, the Mets and the World Series. Now that’s a combo that does not deserve to be put on double secret probation.

5 Reasons to be pessimistic about the 2014 Mets season

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Now that Luke has given Mets fans a reason to be somewhat cheerful going into next season, it’s my job, no… my duty, as a Yankee fan to rain on his parade. So, here are my 5 reasons why Mets fans should be pessimistic about next season.

1) No Matt Harvey: This was the obvious reason to worry about 2014, Matt Harvey will miss the entire season due to Tommy John surgery. When word got out that Harvey’s season was ending due to elbow discomfort there was an audible gasp from the baseball community. He’s a young man with great mechanics, how does he blow out his elbow while Chris Sale gets to whip his half cooked noodle arm around and finish the season just fine, is there no justice.

No. No, there isn’t, and that means the Mets will be missing their ace for the what, the 3rd year in a row. And while they are lucky to have Zach Wheeler ready and able to step into the top of the rotation, this means that they will likely have to sign a free agent starter, and the names are not good. Fans should prepare themselves for someone like Josh Johnson, Aaron Harang, Tim Lincecum or even Johan Santana (I kid, we all know he will find someway to once again destroy his shoulder.)

2) Weak free agent class:  It’s pretty much a  guarantee that the Mets will sign a free agent outfielder this winter. That means that one of Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, Curtis Granderson, or Nelson Cruz will be wearing the orange and blue next year. While the names are good, everyone of those players has a significant shortcoming, whether that be a lengthy injury history, terrible platoon splits, or a recent PED suspension. There is also the very good chance that one of more could be a dud, think Jason Bay 2.0, does anyone have faith the Mets will choose the right one, history says no.

3) Shortstop issues: Mets shortstops hit a collective (.208/.286/.247), and that’s just terrible. Offensively the position is a black hole. While you can afford to have a poor hitting position player, this is the NL, you already give up an at bat when the pitcher comes up, two week hitters in the 8 and 9 holes can be the death knell for a team with hopes of contending.

Quintanilla and Tejada are back up players, if the Mets don’t sign a strong hitting SS this off-season I fear for the bottom of the order, they will be giving away outs that they aren’t capable of making up defensively. Fortunately Sandy Alderson is no fool, I can only assume he is going to go hard after Stephen Drew.

4) Dropping down the dial: After 26 years of being heard on WFAN 660, the Mets have been dumped by their long time radio partners. What this means for the crew calling the games is still unknown, what is known is that the Mets will now be heard on WOR 710, or as they are also known… who?

While this really doesn’t effect the on field performance or the fan base (both stations are 50,000 watts,) it can’t feel good to be dumped by a long time broadcasting partner. It also has to really hurt to not have been picked up by ESPN radio, which had been in the running for the Yankees but lost out to WFAN.

5) Kicking the can down the road: 2014 was supposed to be the year of the Mets, or was it 2013. Well, none of that matters, cause now its 2015! A fan base gets tired of hearing next year, year after year. Eventually its going to take a toll on the fan base, though from what I have gathered Met fans are a somewhat masochistic hardy bunch.

Top 5 Reasons Mets Fans Should Be Optimisitc Heading Into 2014

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1) The progression of Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler was 7-5 with a 3.42 era and a 1.36 whip. But a met fans optimism doesn’t come from the stats alone. For that, you need to just watch him. His pure “stuff” is undeniable. Although he seemed to be a little too jacked up at times early, one assumes that will continue to decrease over time. With Harvey now officially out, Wheeler has a huge opportunity to take the reigns of this pitching staff and this is one mets fan who believes he can.

 

2) The emergence of Eric Young Jr and Lagares

When you hear people talk about these two the consensus seems to be, the Mets have a starter in the outfield in Lagares and a good 4th outfielder in EYJ. I think its the other way around. Lagares hit .242 with 4 homers, 35 runs scored, 34 RBI and 6 steals in 421 plate appearances. EYJ hit .251 with 1 homer, 48 runs scored, 26 RBI and 38 steals (which tied him for the most steals in the NL) in 418 plate appearances. I’d go with the guy who is at least elite at one thing than the guy who is average (at best) at multiple things, and the Mets need speed somewhere in this lineup.  Now yes, Lagares is 24 years old compared to EYJ’s 28 but besides that, I think the edge goes to EYJ. The reason for optimism here is the fact that we are even having this conversation after how bad our outfield prospects looked going into 2013, and that we fell, decently backwards, into these answers.

 

3) The questions of d’Arnaud, Syndergaard and Montero

With backwards upside down lowercase p ‘Arnaud, you just gotta hope all the scouts that raved about him and called him the best catching prospect in the game weren’t wrong. Because there wasn’t much, as fans, to hang your hat on with his 2013 performance. As far as Syndergaard and Montero you’re still going on what you hear from the “experts”, but what you’re hearing is that they have a chance to be special. Baseball America ranks Syndergaard as the top pitcher in the Eastern League(aa), and behind only Xander Bogaerts and Miguel Sano overall. Montero came in at 13 on that list. With both expected to make their major league debut next year, joining d’Arnaud on the Major League level, these three are certainly something for Mets fans to look forward to next year.

 

4) The promise from ownership that money will be spent this off-season

Alright this is the off-season that we’ve been told the purse strings will begin to open again, and the Mets can start to bring in free agents once more, like George Foster and Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman and Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar and Kaz Matsui and Jason Bay and the list goes on. Oh joy, NOW the Mets will be good because were going to sign  some free agents from this great class that includes guys, who you just know are going to earn every dollar of their contract,  like Ellsbury, Choo and, dare I say, Beltran. Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a column about optimism?

 

5) The fact that you can still Tailgate and park for free

Although the Willets Point Development plan has been approved, with 3 billion dollars being earmarked from the City for the retail, hotel, and residential mega-plan, we Met fans still have sometime before the gentrification onslaught begins. What does that mean for me? Free parking & Tailgating will not be going away in 2014. How long it will be around after that? Its hard to say. But for at least one more year Mets games will still be one of the better deals in NYC for your entertainment buck, for no other reason than the free parking. (If you know where to look)