Looks like the Mets are in need of a starter. Please take Ortiz

[Lefty]

The Mets lost Zambrano for the year yesterday and called up Lima from triple A. I hope the Diamondbacks try and make a trade with Ortiz going to the Mets. New York has the money to spend and I would not be upset if Arizona had to eat a lot of the contract.

If not the Mets, how about Ortiz to Atlanta? The Braves are struggling and Russ pitched well when he was there.

I know it's a long shot that Ortiz will be traded, but I can dream.

 

[devilfan02]

Ortiz won't go anywhere until we cut him. He's absolutely useless. The Mets won't go after a guy like Ortiz, rather a former Cy Young in Barry Zito. The Mets have the caliber of prospects that the A's would want and the Mets are in extreme need of a starter. Their also a World Series contender and Minaya would give up prospects to strengthen their rotation

 

[boondockdrunk]

Ortiz won't go anywhere until we cut him. He's absolutely useless. The Mets won't go after a guy like Ortiz, rather a former Cy Young in Barry Zito. The Mets have the caliber of prospects that the A's would want and the Mets are in extreme need of a starter. Their also a World Series contender and Minaya would give up prospects to strengthen their rotation

Sorry, I have to disagree. While I think that the Mets should go after a guy like Zito, I do not think that they would have prospects that would entice the A's. Their only two impact minor leaguers (Pelfrey and Lastings). Lastings is a good prospects but he does not fit the A's typical mold for a player (i.e. he strikes out too much).

Minaya has shown that he will trade away prospects to help the major league club (last off-season in fact). This has left them with the MLB's worst farm system and if they trade away one of these guys there will be nothing left.

I think their best bet is to get a good middle of the rotation starter (which leaves us out of the question). Maybe a trade with Seattle for Gli Meche, Joel Pineiro, or Jarrod Washburn would be in the works. I do not think they will trade within their division but possible solutions like Patterson or Livan Hernandez.

However, it is too soon for teams to be seeking a big trade. Perhaps at the All-Star break there will be a big deal involving the Mets.

 

[devilfan02]

Sorry, I have to disagree. While I think that the Mets should go after a guy like Zito, I do not think that they would have prospects that would entice the A's. Their only two impact minor leaguers (Pelfrey and Lastings). Lastings is a good prospects but he does not fit the A's typical mold for a player (i.e. he strikes out too much).

Minaya has shown that he will trade away prospects to help the major league club (last off-season in fact). This has left them with the MLB's worst farm system and if they trade away one of these guys there will be nothing left.

I think their best bet is to get a good middle of the rotation starter (which leaves us out of the question). Maybe a trade with Seattle for Gli Meche, Joel Pineiro, or Jarrod Washburn would be in the works. I do not think they will trade within their division but possible solutions like Patterson or Livan Hernandez.

However, it is too soon for teams to be seeking a big trade. Perhaps at the All-Star break there will be a big deal involving the Mets.

I was listening to "The Baseball Show" today on ESPN radio and Steve Phillips talked about the Mets pitching situation to great depths. He said that while he was the GM of the Mets, Minaya was his assistant and always encouraged Phillips to trade away prospects to ensure a post season run (which we all know, Minaya trades away prospects all the time). The interesting fact that Phillips stated was that Billy Beane is in absolute love with Lastings Millege and he would trade Zito in a heartbeat for him. This is because he is the ideal "moneyball player"- walks more than he strikes out (I checked this out and it's not true. He does have a solid OBP but he struck much more last season in AA than he walked. This year in AAA, he has walked 20 times and KO'ed 20 times with an OBP of .450. Pretty solid) plays good defense, and is very cheap. In fact, Milledge was the only high school player that Beane has ever considered using a high draft pick on. The only thing Minaya is dragging his feet on is making sure he can extend Zito and he seems to think he won't be able to. He doesn't want Zito to hit the free agent market and for very good reason.

We will see how their pitching performs the next month or so but I think the Mets and A's making a Milledge for Zito trade is in the works

 

[boondockdrunk]

I was listening to "The Baseball Show" today on ESPN radio and Steve Phillips talked about the Mets pitching situation to great depths. He said that while he was the GM of the Mets, Minaya was his assistant and always encouraged Phillips to trade away prospects to ensure a post season run (which we all know, Minaya trades away prospects all the time). The interesting fact that Phillips stated was that Billy Beane is in absolute love with Lastings Millege and he would trade Zito in a heartbeat for him. This is because he is the ideal moneyball player- walks more than he strikes out, plays good defense, and is very cheap. In fact, Milledge was the only high school player that Beane has ever considered using a high draft pick on. The only thing Minaya is dragging his feet on is making sure he can extend Zito and he seems to think he won't be able to. He doesn't want Zito to hit the free agent market and for very good reason.

Phillips' numbers must be wrong then because in the minors Milledge has a 62/166 BB to K ratio. In fact, that has been the biggest knock on Lastings throughout his career with Baseball America stating that he has an 'inability to control the strike zone. He's a free swinger prone to chasing breaking balls out of the zone, and hasn't drawn many walks even though pitchers are wary of him.'

Furthermore, Phillips would be correct to say that the Mets had pitching depth but that is all gone through trades (ie Kazmir, Gaby Hernandez, and Petit). Right now, Humber looks like a guy Beane would be interested in as a polished pitcher but I just do not see what the A's could from the Mets as opposed to another contender.

 

[Lefty]

Sorry, I have to disagree. While I think that the Mets should go after a guy like Zito, I do not think that they would have prospects that would entice the A's. Their only two impact minor leaguers (Pelfrey and Lastings). Lastings is a good prospects but he does not fit the A's typical mold for a player (i.e. he strikes out too much).

Minaya has shown that he will trade away prospects to help the major league club (last off-season in fact). This has left them with the MLB's worst farm system and if they trade away one of these guys there will be nothing left.

I think their best bet is to get a good middle of the rotation starter (which leaves us out of the question). Maybe a trade with Seattle for Gli Meche, Joel Pineiro, or Jarrod Washburn would be in the works. I do not think they will trade within their division but possible solutions like Patterson or Livan Hernandez.

However, it is too soon for teams to be seeking a big trade. Perhaps at the All-Star break there will be a big deal involving the Mets.

Agree. The Mets don't have as much prospects as people think. The one guy they have shopped around the last year in possible trades is Heilman(sp) and he is now on the Mets roster.

I also think there will be teams interested in El Duque come July based on his success in the playoffs. I'm hoping there is a sucker out there that would make a trade for Ortiz.

 

[devilfan02]

Agree. The Mets don't have as much prospects as people think. The one guy they have shopped around the last year in possible trades is Heilman(sp) and he is now on the Mets roster.

I also think there will be teams interested in El Duque come July based on his success in the playoffs. I'm hoping there is a sucker out there that would make a trade for Ortiz.

All it takes is another GM to want one prospect and the deal is done. In this situation, it doesn't matter how many prospects the Mets have or don't have especially if Beane only wants Milledge. Ortiz is going nowhere, he's garbage. Melvin doesn't even have the confidence to put him in the pen which is the sole reason why he's on the DL

 

[devilfan02]

Per ESPN MLB Insider:

Mets to revisit Zito trade talks?


posted: Monday, May 8, 2006 | Feedback

Jose Lima is always entertaining, always fun to watch, with his multi-colored hair and the multiple personalities he seems to display on the mound. As Rick Peterson tried to speak with him in the Mets' dugout on Sunday, Lima was preoccupied with placing the trinket from his necklace in his mouth.
But it may turn out that Lima's short and ugly outing against the Braves is pretty much what he can offer as a pitcher. Inevitably, the Mets will tinker with patch jobs before they have this internal discussion, following up on cursory trade talks they've had with Oakland in recent months: "Should we trade Lastings Milledge for Barry Zito as part of our all-out effort?"
The Mets will occupy a strange place in the trade market. They don't have many quality Grade B to B-plus prospects that interest other teams, so when and if the Kyle Lohses and Gil Meches and Scott Elartons hit the market, the Mets will be at a competitive disadvantage in making deals. There is no way you would trade Milledge for any of those second-line pitchers, of course, but the Mets would probably lose out to other teams in the talent auction for those guys.
But if Zito is made available, the Mets would be the front-runners because they have Milledge. And three talent evaluators said over the weekend that Oakland GM Billy Beane loves the outfielder above all other prospects. "He'd make the deal [something built around Zito for Milledge] right now," says one scout.
Milledge hits for power, he has plate discipline, he runs; he's the whole package. Beane could plug him into the outfield and could have a star by Milledge's third year of service, maybe sooner, considering the player's terrific plate discipline. And Beane has a pitcher who can take over as Oakland ace in Rich Harden.
From the Mets' perspective, there are compelling reasons to consider a trade for Zito. They field an older team -- with Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, Billy Wagner and others on the back end of their respective careers. The 2006 season is extraordinarily important to the Mets, in the inaugural year of their television network. And it's evident that they are good enough to win the National League and the World Series.
On the night the Mets made the insanely horrendous trades for Victor Zambrano and Kris Benson, they were not serious contenders. They were six games out of first and the team was badly flawed. That is not the case now. They appear to be the best NL team on paper, with a strong bullpen (switching Aaron Heilman into the rotation is an option that should not be considered), a tremendous offense and lots of speed. Glavine and Martinez look great. The only potential problem is the depth of their rotation, and if they were to make Milledge available, they could have a rotation of Glavine, Martinez and Zito in front of Steve Trachsel and Brian Bannister.
The complication is that Zito is eligible for free agency, and it's unlikely that Beane would give the Mets a window to negotiate with Zito as a precursor to a trade. The Mets would have to learn as much about Zito's contract desire through back-channel communication before taking a leap of faith, believing that they could actually sign Zito. They would have to assume that signing the left-hander would cost them somewhere in the area of five years and $70 million to $80 million, which is what Zito could get, in light of A.J. Burnett's five-year, $55 million deal last fall.
Zito turns 28 Saturday, he's left-handed, he's got 88 career victories, he's won a Cy Young Award. Assuming the Mets would sign Zito if they traded for him, he could be the ace who becomes their bridge into the future as Martinez and Glavine move on.
Personally, I wouldn't trade Milledge for the left-hander, because Milledge is an extraordinary talent. But you'd have a very hard time finding fault with the Mets if they were to be aggressive and make a deal for the best pitcher available who would give them a chance to succeed in late October. The Mets' rotation is thin now, writes Ben Shpigel. Ken Davidoff thinks Dontrelle Willis is the answer.