Mets Articles

No Winter Fun for Mets Fans

I just came back from a trip to New York, where it was cold and miserable, with the promise of it only getting colder and miserabler (I love inventing words). That’s why I live in Los Angeles, where it only gets sunnier and warmer. One of the few things Mets fans could always look forward to in the dark days of winter were the trade and free agent rumors that could possibly land some new players in Queens. Well, we don’t even have that fun anymore.

metsAs it was made abundantly clear during the just-concluded Winter Meetings, the Mets won’t be doing anything exciting during this off-season — unless you are titillated by the signings of the likes of backup catcher Ronny Paulino and middle reliever D.J. Carrasco. Things are so bad, Sandy Alderson suggested there may not be enough money to even sign an injury-riddled, mediocre, back-of-the-rotation starter.

Alderson was quick to notify Mets fan in advance that there was not much flexibility on the roster or with the payroll, so expectation were low to begin with. But while several teams were busy improving themselves, it was sort of frustrating to watch the Mets stand pat with a team that won 79 games in 2010.

I’m not blaming Alderson — he inherited a team with a high payroll filled with players that no one else wants. I was hoping he might be a bit more creative than Paulino and Carrasco, and he probably still will be, but so far, there’s not much to be excited about going into 2011. I’m sure Alderson has a long-term plan, but we’ve got to live in the short-term as well.

The one player for whom Alderson could get a good return and cut  payroll would be Jose Reyes. I don’t want to see Reyes get traded, but if Alderson has no intention of signing him to a contract extension after 2011, he should just trade him now and begin the process of changing the team.

*****

The Mets picked up two new players in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday — second baseman Brad Emaus and righty reliever Pedro Beato. Both of them had pretty good minor league stats last season, and would have to remain on the 25 man roster all season if the Mets want to keep the, so we could be seeing more of them in 2011.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Why ask?