I suppose this deserves its own thread if the Ayala deal does...I like it. He has closer experience and we didn't give up anything. Certainly adds decent depth to the bullpen.
It would be nice to see Omar break from his playbook of a) player he had in montreal b) aging, washed up hispanic player c) offering obscene amounts of money to get some guys in here.
To hell with that, 'roid the fucker up so long as he doesn't get caught until the offseason and then say sayonara.
How do you mean, excell in garbage time down the stretch of the regular season and then get put into high leverage situations in the playoffs and ruin the Mets season?
Hey, if he didn't excel then, someone else would've screwed it up. I don't really see the downside of this signing, is really my point.
There isn't much downside but there isn't much upside either. The guy is 37 and has been out twice this year already with arm problems, and got so stumbling drunk that he was knocking shit down in a bar and picking a fight with a guy. It's not like the bullpen became a problem last week, yet nothing was done until we got to the point we're at now where the player move equivalent of closing your eyes and throwing at some pitctures on a dartboard is considered "worth a shot".
I think he's better than that; I think he's better than some of the garbage we have in the pen. I would rather make this signing than not make it, so I see no reason to dwell on Omar's past fuck ups, which I agree are plentiful.
What obscene amout of money? He wasn't waived, he was released. Tampa Bay is picking up the remainder of his major league salary. When he joins the Mets, they might be willing to pick up a portion of the minimum salary to pay him - but they are not obligated. They guy, by the way, had over 25 saves last year for "last years" Tampa Bay Rays, who sucked.
Why? Omar said we would go to battle with the kids and what we have. The Mets are in 1st place. Hank made excuses and quit in early August.
Its amazing how young the Met team actually is. And thats the FIRST PLACE Mets. 40% of their 25 man roster - (10) players are in their 20s. People are misconceived by the Mets AVERAGE age because it is heavily skewed by a few OLDER players - Martinez, Alou, Delgado, Wagner, Marlon Anderson. Santana (29), Maine (27), Perez (27), Pelfrey (24), Evans (22), A. Reyes (25), Wright (25), J. Reyes (25), Daniel Murphy (23), Church (29)
Actually, the current Mets 25-man roster has 13 players in their 20s (you left out Stokes, Heilman, Sanchez, and Smith, and shouldn't have included DL'd Church). Among NL teams over .500, the Cards have 15/25, the Marlins have 19/25, and the Diamondbacks have 20/25, so the Mets are right in the middle of that group - it's the Diamondbacks who have been amazing given their age. Their average age is no more skewed by a few large values than it is skewed by a few small ones - the average age of the current roster is 29.2 years, and the median age is 29.
But what impressed me with the Met roster is that they are a FIRST PLACE TEAM. Any team can field a young team. To field one and be competitive and in first place is another. Additionally, I think, the Met young players have tremendous upside. Everybody knows about Santana, Reyes, Wright, Pelfrey, etc. BUT just yesterday Nick Evans was named the best DEFENSIVE first baseman in the Eastern League, and Daniel Murphy was named the most outstanding hitter. AND Fernando Martinez is right around the corner.
Wow I never realized how many young guys they really had. Always think just Reyes and Wright but they have a good crop.
People think Reyes and Wright because they're about a million times better then the other positional guys we're talking about. People need to realize that these guys are only up here now due to a number of injuries, combined with the dearth of talent at the AAA level. A Reyes can't hit, he is what he is, a decent glove bench player, certainly nothing to get excited over regardless of his age. Evans will almost certainly not be on the team next year and unless/until he develops this power that Omar insists he's capable of he doesn't have the bat to play at 1b or a corner OF spot in the majors. Murphy has really been impressive with his approach at the plate and in a perfect world this offseason he makes the transition to 2b and wins the starting job there next year. If the Mets don't attempt or he's unable to make that transition then like Evans I've got concerns about his bat being good enough to hold down a corner OF position.
