Hot Stove: Mets Make Offers to Jason Bay & Bengie Molina

As the 2009 Winter Meetings concluded, Omar Minaya did not disappoint. Mets fans returned home after a long day at the office or school to find out of 2 contract offers.

Jason Bay, the left fielder of Boston, was offered a 4 year deal around $65 million. This slightly topped Boston's 4 year $60 million offer. If the Mets add a fifth year to this deal, they could beat out Boston for the Bay sweepstakes as they are focusing on pitching help this offseason.

Bengie Molina, the catcher and former Giant, was also offered a 2 year deal believed to be worth $12-16 million. Molina is likely to sign with the Mets.

Some Mets fans would rather the Mets use their money signing Lackey than Bay. I, however, think the Mets should sign Bay, Molina, Marquis and Delgado. Yes, Delgado. I don't have faith in Murphy, and I can't forget the memorable second half of 2008 for Carlos. Sign him to a incentive based contract, and if he wins the spot in Spring Training, we get 1 more year out of the slugger. If not, happy trails to him. Like?

Mets Express Update

Yes, I know. I have not posted in over 2 months. Quite frankly, there hasn't been much to blog about. I will be posting more often about free agent news, signings and more.

D-Backs Win, Cards Next

Well, the Mets split the first 2 in this Arizona series, but lost the next 2. Jon Garland pitched a complete game on Sunday, and after trailing 6-0 in the second inning, the Mets chipped away at the mighty Dan Haren. The Amazin's scored 5 runs off him, but it wasn't enough. Nelson Figueroa was the goat in this game, getting a chance to play for the big club an ruining it. Well, once again the Mets turn to their ace, Johan Santana to get the team back to winning ways against the Cardinals, who he beat in a pitchers duel vs. Chris Carpenter earlier in 2009. He will be opposed by Joel Pineiro. Jon Niese will start game 2 vs. Kyle Lohse to wrap up the mini 2-game-series and the 10 game homestand.
The Mets are now 8 games behind the Rockies in the Wild Card standings, and 10 back of the Phillies in the division.

A Gift From An Angel!

The Mets won the 6th of their last 8 tonight against Arizona. Oliver Perez pitched a solid performance, giving up 3 runs on 5 innings. The Mets put together a 4 run 4th inning, and added one more in the 5th to take a 5-3 lead. Bobby Parnell gave the lead up in the 6th. Then in the 8th in a 5-5 ballgame, Angel Pagan hit a huge grandslam to give the Mets a 9-5 lead. After Brian Stokes gave up a run in the 9th, Francisco Rodriguez shut the door, earning his 24th save. The Mets will take on the D-Backs again at 1:10 tomorrow (Mike Pelfrey vs. Jon Garland).

Mets D-Backs Series

Tonight is game 2 of a 4-game set vs. Arizona at Citi Field. The Mets lost a tough game 1, and goes on the long list of "The '09 Mets" type of loss. Not a dropped pop-up or missing 3rd base, but Sean Green threw a wild pitch which allowed the winning run score for Arizona. Final score: 3-2. Livan pitched well, he gave up 2 runs and was taken out on 81 pitches when Angel Berroa pinch hit with the bases jammed. What do you know? He swung at the first pitch and grounded out, not to mention Livan has a better BA than him! Good job Jerry! On a bright note, David Wright and Daniel Murphy both hit solo home runs.

Game 2: 7:10... Oliver Perez (2-3) vs. Matt Scherzer (6-6)
Game 3: 1:10... Mike Pelfrey (8-6) vs. Jon Garland (5-10)
Game 4: 7:10... Tim Redding (1-4) vs. Dan Haren (10-6)

Trade Deadline Update

Hi everybody! First, I would like to apologize for not updating the blog for about 10 days, but I am back. As most of you know, the trade deadline was 1 day ago.

Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco has been traded to the Phillies for 4 minor league prospects (Not including Kyle Drabek or J.A. Happ).

Jarrod Washburn was traded by Seattle to Detroit.
Victor Martinez was traded to the Red Sox for Justin Masterson and 2 other prospects.

The Pittsburgh Pirates sold most of their players worth watching.

The Marlins added Nick Johnson.

Jake Peavy was shipped to the White Sox at the last minute, and he approved the trade after vetoing it back in May.
Scott Rolen to the Reds, and Joe Beimel to the Rockies were among other moves.

And Roy Halladay eventually stayed in Toronto.

Mets Lose to Nats Once Again

Who would have guessed that Mike Pelfrey and Craig Stammen would take part in a pitcher's duel. Well, the Mets lost to the Nationals tonight 3-1. Stammen picked up his 3rd victory of the year and Pelfrey with his 6th loss. The Nationals struck first on a Ronnie Belliard sacrifice fly. Angel Pagan responded with a triple, then scored on a throwing error by Cristian Guzman, and a nice defensive play. Mike Pelfrey then gave in and allowed a game winning 2-run-homer by Josh Willingham. Pelf pitched 7 innings. The Mets fall to 44-60 on the season, and are still 10 games behind the Phillies. This is the first time the Mets are 6 games below .500 since 2004. On another note, Luis Castillo was ejected for the first time in his 13 year career for arguing with second base umpire, Hunter Wendelstedt. It is only a matter of days before the Met faithful lose hope in the team. Get ready for an empty Citi Field come September.

Mets vs. Nationals Game 3 Preview

The Mets (44-49) play the rubber game of a 3 game series with the Nationals (27-66) tonight. Mike Pelfrey (7-5) takes the mound for the Amazin's against Craig Stammen (2-5) for Washington. The Mets look to bounce back from yesterday's loss as Mike Pelfrey also looks to bounce back from his worst outing of the year in Atlanta.

Starting Lineup:
CF. Angel Pagan
2B. Luis Castillo
1B. Daniel Murphy
3B. David Wright
RF. Jeff Francoeur
LF. Cory Sullivan
SS. Angel Berroa
C. Brian Schneider
P. Mike Pelfrey

Tony Bernazard Tirade

According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, Mets vice president Tony Bernazard ripped off his shirt and challenged Double A players to a fight. The reason was said to be due to poor actions both on and off the field. To me, I read a new thing about this guy everyday, and none of them have been positive. The Mets need to fire him and get someone who actually knows how to manage a farm system.

Roy Halladay Rumors

John Heyman of SI.com has reported that the Mets had rejected a trade offer from Toronto for Roy Halladay in return for RHP Bobby Parnell, LHP Jon Niese, OF Fernando Martinez and SS Ruben Tejada. Omar Minaya refused to comment on the trade talks afterwards. However, the next morning, the possible offer was shot down by numerous reporters including someone who once worked with J.P. Ricciardi (Blue Jays GM). To me, Toronto could be using the Mets to up the anti from Philadelphia or to get more teams involved. But, if the deal was really offered, I would have accepted immediately.

Mets Shutout by Nationals

The Mets were shutout by the Nats and John Lannan tonight. The final score being 4-0. Lannan pitched a complete game, giving up just 7 hits. Oliver Perez took the mound for the Mets and started strong, but got hit hard in the 4th and 5th inning, giving up the 4 runs. Oliver pitched 6 innings with 4 hits, 4 runs and 4 strikeouts. He still struggled with control, walking 6 batters. Stokes and Parnell followed with shutout innnings. On the bright side, Jeff Francoeur continued surging with two more hits. The Mets fall to 44-49 on the season and sit in 4th place. The Mets chances at catching red hot Philadelphia seem slim, as they wait to get healthy.