Blogging Mets

Reports out of Dallas say the Mets are shopping Jonathon Niese, and to a lesser extent, Ike Davis. I have one question — why?

The Mets are apparently looking for several major league-ready players for Niese, including a pitcher and perhaps a catcher, outfielder or infielder. The New York Post reports several teams including the Yankees have inquired.

As far as Davis, the Beaver County Times reports that the Mets asked the Pirates for two top prospects. But SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt reports that his sources are telling him that Davis “isn’t going anywhere.”

I cannot fathom why the Mets would trade either of these guys. Davis has star potential, the kind of young player you build around, not send away. I don’t think Niese is ever going to be a Cy Young winner, but he is already a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy who is only going to get better as he enters his prime.

Of course, there are always things we don’t know about. Perhaps Davis’s ankle injury is the type that will hamper him throughout his career. Perhaps the Mets think Niese has hit his ceiling and will not progress any further.

The farm system is stocked with pitchers, but most of them won’t be ready until 2014. It seems premature to trade Niese in anticipation of the young guys taking his place.

Several teams have also asked about Mike Pelfrey, but Sandy Alderson was apparently not happy with the offers. I think a bag of infield dirt should get it done. Oh, and the Mets shopped Jason Bay. No one wants him. Shock of shocks.

The day that all Mets fans feared came today — Jose Reyes was introduced as a member of the Miami Marlins. And it turns out Sandy Alderson may have botched the negotiations (or lack thereof) big-time.

At his news conference in Dallas, Reyes recounted the Marlins’ pursuit of him, saying it began exactly one minute after the free agency period started.

“12:01. Those guys are crazy,” Reyes said of the meeting with Marlins brass at a Manhattan hotel. “They showed me a lot of love.”

It was love the Mets never showed him. The Mets famously never made a formal offer to Reyes, and to him, that was very telling.

“They didn’t make me an offer,” Reyes said. “They didn’t want me.”

When asked about the lack of an offer, Alderson smugly replied, “If you’re asking if I should have sent him a box of chocolates, um, perhaps I should have done that. But on the other hand, the box of chocolates wouldn’t have cost $106 million either.”

Perhaps it was a smart business decision not to make an offer and to allow the market to set itself. But Alderson must know that players have egos that need to be stroked. Reyes apparently needed to feel wanted, and he never got that feeling from Alderson. It is logical to make the assumption that the Mets never really wanted Reyes back. You just don’t act the way Alderson acted if you really want someone to stay.

Here is a clip from Reyes’s news conference. But a word of warning — it contains graphic images of Reyes in a Marlins uniform:

After losing Jose Reyes, Mets GM Sandy Alderson made quick strides Tuesday to further remake the team — Angel Pagan is gone, and the Mets now have a new center fielder and three new relievers.

Pagan was dealt to the Giants for outfielder Andres Torres and reliever Ramon Ramirez. Then Alderson signed Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch for the bullpen.

First the Pagan deal. I don’t know anything about Torres or Ramirez, but getting Pagan off the team instantly makes it better. And the fact that Alderson was able to get anything for the non-tender candidate is a huge coup. The 33-year-old Torres hit just .221 last season following a breakout 2010 in which he hit 16 homers. He can steal a base, though — 26 and 19 the past two seasons.

To the bullpen additions now — both Rauch and Francisco worked as closers in 2011, but Terry Collins confirms Rauch will be the eighth inning guy and Francisco will close for the Mets in 2012.

“I think our biggest priority when we came to these meetings was to try to strengthen our bullpen,” Collins told ESPNNewYork.com. “We knew we had to rebuild it. To get it done the way it happened today, I’m amazed by it. Those were three very, very good arms — power arms. It’s going to give us huge depth down there now. And I think it’s going to make a difference.”

As far as money, Torres and Ramirez will likely earn around $5 million combined in 2012, about what Pagan would have gotten.

Rauch signed a reported one-year deal for $3.5 million. Francisco got a two-year, $12 million deal. I am surprised the cash-strapped Mets would pay so much for an eighth inning reliever, as well as giving Francisco that much money. After balking at paying Jonathan Broxton $4 million, I didn’t think they would pay any closer as much as $6 million. I guess Alderson targeted the bullpen as problem #1. I think the starting rotation deserves that status, but what do I know?

All of this means the Mets spent upwards of $14 million for 2012 on Tuesday. Alderson said on Monday that he has $20 million to $25 million additional to spend on payroll. So add in the expected $6 million for Mike Pelfrey, that leaves $0 to $5 million to spend to round out the rest of the team. Don’t expect any superstars.

Sandy Alderson is quickly turning into Omar Minaya in that it is getting hard to believe the words that come out of his mouth. Or perhaps he is getting mixed messages from his superiors. Either way, it appears the Mets 2012 payroll will be far less than Alderson led everyone to believe.

As I wrote Sunday in the wake of the apparent departure of Jose Reyes, during the 2011 season Alderson said the payroll would be around $120 million in 2012. Then that was later estimated downward to $100 million to $110 million. And just last week he said it would probably be closer to $100 million. I predicted the Wilpons would pocket the Reyes money and the payroll would be around $90 million. Well, just one day later I was proven correct.

According to MetsBlog.com, Alderson told reporters in Dallas on Monday that the team had $20 million to $25 million to spend this off season. Let’s do a little math, shall we? The great website Cot’s Baseball Contracts reports that the Mets have $63,325,000 committed for 2012, not including Tim Byrdak’s mystery contract, which should be about $1 million. So let’s call the 2012 commitment $65 million.

If you add $20 million to $25 million to that $65 million, that’s $85 million to $90 million. Gee, that’s far less than $120 million, not to mention not even close to $100 million.

This is an embarrassment. A New York team with a payroll that low? If the Wilpons can’t afford to run this team properly, for the good of the team, its fans and the city, they should just sell to someone who can.

As far as Alderson and his truth-telling abilities, well, perhaps the Wilpons misled him, the same way they misled all of us. Remember the repeated cries of “The Madoff situation will not effect the Mets”? Lies. Damn liars. And it is the Mets die-hard fans who are paying the price.

The Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee has spoken, and once again it has denied Gil Hodges his rightful place in Cooperstown. Hodges garnered just nine votes, three shy of the 12 votes needed for enshrinement. The committee did, however, elect Ron Santo, which is puzzling because their statistics were very similar.

Santo hit .277 with 2254 hits, 342 home runs and 1331 RBIs. He was a nine-time All Star and won the Gold Glove five times. Hodges batted .273 with 1921 hits, 370 home runs and 1274 RBIs. He was an eight time All Star and won three Gold Gloves. It should be noted that the fielding award was first handed out in 1957, late in Hodges’s career. He won the first three. Both were regarded as among the top fielders at their respective positions during their careers.

Here’s where it gets interesting — Santo played in exactly zero post season games. Hodges was a leader on a Brooklyn Dodgers team that went to seven World Series. Hodges, of course, was also a manager, working miracles with the 1969 Mets.

Santo was never really close to getting elected by the writers; he topped out at 43% in his final year of eligibility. Hodges’s best total was also in his final year — 63%, the closest anyone has ever gotten without later being elected.

Santo was a fine ballplayer, and until he died last year, he was a high profile guy as a longtime radio broadcaster with the Cubs. He also garnered a lot of sympathy for his long battle with diabetes that resulted in the amputation of both of his legs. In contrast, Hodges has been dead for nearly forty years. He is long forgotten by many.

Some writers think Hodges is a marginal candidate at best. Even if that is true, his managing career should put him over the top. And if Santo deserves to get in, so does Hodges.

It is a sad night for Mets fans, as multiple reports say Jose Reyes has agreed to a contract with the Miami Marlins.

The reports say the deal is for six years, $106 million. There is an option for a seventh year at $22 million or a $5 million buyout. It was just too rich for the Mets blood, who reportedly only wanted to give Reyes up to $85 million and would not under any circumstance guarantee a sixth year.

Reyes waves goodbye

MetsBlog.com reports that Mets GM Sandy Alderson spoke to reporters at the winter meetings in Dallas Sunday night, saying  ”I wouldn’t say we’re happy that he could be leaving, but there is a substantial amount of risk. You have to draw a line somewhere when it comes to multi-year contracts.”

Surprisingly, Alderson admitted he never made an official offer to Reyes.

“There was an understanding on their part, as far as what we were talking about, as far as a complete contractual sense,” he said.

So Reyes is apparently gone. This is devastating for Mets fans, who have watched as every one of the team’s homegrown stars have left for greener pastures over the decades. We all thought the exodus would end with Reyes and David Wright. Now we sit and wait until Wright is sent packing.

The really sad part about this is that the Mets will not put the money they would have paid Reyes into other areas of the team. The cash will got right into the Wilpons’s pockets. Look for a 2012 payroll close to $90 million.

Remember during the season Alderson said the 2012 payroll would likely be around $120 million? Then he later said anywhere from $100 million to $110 million? Then closer to $100 million? All lies.

The Mets were a fourth place team in 2011 that finished 77-85 with the National League batting champion leading off. What can we expect without him in 2012?

So this Jose Reyes thing could soon come to an end. There are reports out of Miami that with the winter meetings about to begin, the Marlins would like Reyes to make a decision soon, perhaps as early as this weekend. The Mets are sitting back, hoping Reyes gives them a chance to match his best offer.

Depending on which report you believe, the Marlins have offered Reyes a five or six year contract ranging from $75-$90 million. It appears the Mets would go to five years and $80 million and not much more money than that. By all accounts the Mets will not guarantee a sixth year under any circumstances.

Given Reyes’s injury history, I don’t like the idea of guaranteeing six years either. But the Mets would be penny wise and dollar foolish if they let Reyes slip away because they don’t want to give him $16 million or so more. That’s because Reyes would be worth far more than that to the team in ticket sales and merchandising, not to mention his value on the field.

I can see the Mets offering Reyes a sixth year option that becomes guaranteed if he meets a games played or plate appearance threshold. This way they protect themselves in case Reyes breaks down, and if he remains healthy and performs well, the Mets would be glad to have him for another year.

I think Mets fans would understand if Reyes got some crazy contract offer and the Mets didn’t match it. But if he signs a reasonable contract and the Mets still won’t match it, there will be hell to pay in the form of fans staying away from Citi Field in droves in 2012 and perhaps beyond.

The list of New York rejects finding a home out West has grown (hey, I’m on that list!). Chris Capuano and Omar Minaya are moving far, far away.

Capuano signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Chris is an established major league starting pitcher who adds to our staff,” GM Ned Colletti said in a statement. “He made more than 30 starts last season was a reliable part of the Mets rotation.”

Notice Colletti never said Capuano was actually any good. Capuano was healthy but lousy with the Mets in 2011 — he will not be missed.

Neither will Minaya, who somehow managed to land another job with a major league baseball team after sitting home collecting Mets paychecks last season. He was named Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for the San Diego Padres.

“His experience, knowledge, evaluative skills and connections throughout the industry will be invaluable for us,”  Byrnes said in a statement.

Really? Knowledge? Minaya? Hopefully for the Padres and their fans, Minaya will not be allowed to make any decisions for the team. Mets fans know all too well Minaya and his intelligent decision-making process (cough cough Oliver Perez cough cough).

But seriously, good luck to both of those guys. Ah, who cares!

With Bobby Valentine being named manager of the Boston Red Sox, it got me thinking two things:

1) Valentine will likely never manage the Mets again.
2) It’s rare for former Mets managers to get other manager jobs.

It turns out being the manager of the Mets is pretty much career suicide.

The most recent former Mets to get another big league position was the awful Jeff Torborg, whom the Mets fired way back in 1993. He finally got another job in 2001. Davey Johnson was an emergency hire for the Nationals last year, his third job since leaving the Mets in 1990. Only two other ex-Mets managers landed other jobs — Yogi Berra and Joe Torre, and they managed the team in the 1970s.

Being a Mets General Manager is also a place where careers go to die. The last Mets GM to land the same job elsewhere was Joe McDonald, who was the Mets GM from 1975-1979. Aside from him, only Bing Devine got another GM job, and you have to go all the back to the late 1960s for that. I don’t see Steve Phillips or Omar Minaya being added to this list.

What is it about the Mets? In some cases it is because they hire older people who are at the end of their careers (George Bamberger, Frank Cashen). But in the many other cases, is it because they hire crappy people one else would want? Perhaps, but it is likely because the failure is so high-profile, what with it coming in New York City and all,  that no other teams would touch them.