I feel like I've been watching every organization in baseball grow power bullpen arms all on their own, while the Mets are always shoveling money out to get someone that doesn't actually throw hard any more.

It does seem like having guys who throw hard but wash out as starters (lack of endurance, no second or third pitch) and who you can feed into the pen as necessary is one of the side-effects of well run organizations.

Dumb organizations draft guys who are never going to be more than bullpen pitchers, and if that's clear as of college, why would you ever do this? or guys who have nothing but are smart enough to get college hitters out. Smart organizations draft guys who strike hitters out and, as a result, wind up with a bunch of hard throwing bullpen arms in the system.

edit: Mets took Kyle Lohbstein in the Rule V and sent him to the Tigers for $$$. No idea if this is a good thing, but it's a boring thing.

It's out? Online version comes out 12-14.

Ooops. Turns out it was the MLB.com list. They did a nice job though, nothing hidden behind a pay wall.

Dumb organizations draft guys who are never going to be more than bullpen pitchers, and if that's clear as of college, why would you ever do this?

Eddie Kunz was going to turn the 2007 bullpen around immediately!

For 10+ years the Mets were usually targeting "polished" college pitchers. Even the international prospects ended up being polished control guys.

Gah. I remember Eddie all too well.

mlbtraderumors has the following:

Mets officials suggest the chances of Dickey remaining a Met are in the 55-45 range, says Sherman. The Mets' asking price remains high, as one rival executive tells Sherman: "Any team would take Dickey. But this is not Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee being traded. I would take him, but for top prospects, no."

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/ra-dickey-rumors-wednesday.html#4mjGrpHSoGGHUZrQ.99

If you can't get a top prospect for Dickey, what on earth is the point in trading him?

I don't have the means to look from here, but is it possible he's one of the few pitchers who actually do increase attendance on the days they're pitching?

The "rumors" were the same about Alderson's ability to get a top prospect for Beltran. Nobody's in a rush to trade a top hitting prospect for Dickey, but you have to see how the market develops. A team on the edge of contention stacked in the outfield but a starter or 2 short might very well make that deal once Greinke, Shields, etc. are off the table. Or it might not happen.

Thought this was amusing.

The Mets have money now.

And the proof?


Lil Jeffie was going around yesterday saying payroll is going to be a bit higher this year,

Ah, Jeff Wilpon said so is the standard of proof. Interesting.

If you can't get a top prospect for Dickey, what on earth is the point in trading him?

#55 - your Dickey comments are on the money. We're not debating whether Dickey deserves a 3/25 or 3/35 contract - we already have him next season. I would extend him at that price, but I don't know whether I jump up and down with joy to guarantee him $15MM per season in 2014 and 2015 if I don't have to.

I could see the Jays unloading Davis, given that he'll be an expensive 4th OF. He doesn't seem to have a lot of fans up there, eh?

I think he had the catch of the year, but in general he's regarded as a good OF filler with occasional bursts of excitement.

Man, Ollie Perez got 3/36. Come on Mets.

Seriously. If the Mets trade Dickey and let some other team sign him to a 2/$26 extension I may be done with the team for a very long time.

I think he had the catch of the year

It was probably the best display of skill (as opposed to speed or getting a good jump) I've ever seen. High arcing fly, he approaches the wall in plenty of time, then stutter steps for a second or so, times his final two steps flawlessly and pushes of the wall to catch the ball to rob a homer. Davis is about 5'-9" and he cleared the 10' wall with ease.

Or you could just watch it yourself. The weirdest thing about it is that Davis usually takes brutal routes. He has a decent arm and obviously speed to burn.

Seriously. If the Mets trade Dickey and let some other team sign him to a 2/$26 extension I may be done with the team for a very long time.

If nothing they've done to date has lost you, why would this?

Serious question.

@61: Whoa.

Maybe the best part was his grin afterwards.

That was awesome. I had forgotten about it, thanks for posting.

The Jays are in an interesting spot-- if Rasmus continues to stall, Gose can unseat him with ease. But if Gose starts knocking on the door, and Rasmus is hitting, does that push Gose, to RF, EE to 1B and Bautista to DH? First base seems to be the one glaring hole in that lineup (2B isn't great, but tolerable if they're getting good defense).

63: They might do that in the short term, but I don't think Gose's bat plays outside of CF. You'd have to think they'd make some kind of trade to fit it all together; Rasmus or Gose out, and someone who can really hit comes in to play RF/1B/DH.

I think he had the catch of the year, but in general he's regarded as a good OF filler with occasional bursts of excitement.

Personally, I think Snider's catch at Citi Field beats Davis. Snider scaled the wall and then some.

But if Gose starts knocking on the door, and Rasmus is hitting, does that push Gose, to RF, EE to 1B and Bautista to DH? First base seems to be the one glaring hole in that lineup

Encarnacion is the first baseman now. They're good. Lind (at DH) is unfortunately still around, though he's finally a hair away from finally being utilized properly in a platoon role.

If nothing they've done to date has lost you, why would this?

Serious question.

Before, the Mets were stupid but at least willing to spend. That's a recipe that will get you a winning team every once in a while, as it has with the Mets, who have had several pretty good runs during my lifetime (mid-late 80s, late 90s, mid-00s). Stupid and cheap would be another thing entirely.

Plus, how can you not bring back Dickey? He's got to be the most likeable player on the team, if not in baseball.

Lind (at DH) is unfortunately still around, though he's finally a hair away from finally being utilized properly in a platoon role.

I am coming around to the position that the ideal platoon role for Lind is one where the Jays have one guy who plays first or DHs (depending on Encarnacion) against RHPs, another guy who plays first or DHs against LHPs, and Lind sits at home and plays Skylander Giants.

Encarnacion smoked LH/RH's last year, so i'm fine with him holding the 1B crown all to himself. And as always, i'm all for catapulting Adam Lind into the sun. But, I can gather why Anthopoulos would try to ring out some value from him considering it looks like he'd have to eat the $5.15M he's owed to replace him entirely.

Yeah, I didn't mean that they should platoon Encarnacion; just that I have no preference about whether Encarnacion should be the first baseman or the DH.

Nor I. All I care about, is that the days of bending over backwards with opportunities, and making excuses for Adam Lind by management or anyone, are over.

But, I can gather why Anthopoulos would try to ring out some value from him considering it looks like he'd have to eat the $5.15M he's owed to replace him entirely.

I am willing to donate $100 towards the "Buy out Adam Lind's contract and get him out of town" fund.

Before, the Mets were stupid but at least willing to spend. That's a recipe that will get you a winning team every once in a while, as it has with the Mets, who have had several pretty good runs during my lifetime (mid-late 80s, late 90s, mid-00s). Stupid and cheap would be another thing entirely.

Plus, how can you not bring back Dickey? He's got to be the most likeable player on the team, if not in baseball.

Completely inarguable.

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If anything tells us how far the Mets have fallen, it's that a Met thread has been hijacked by Blue Jays fans.

Well, it was a pretty stupid Mets column, and thread, to begin with.
You're lucky to have learned something about the Blue Jays in this thread, and not just have it devolve into something about kitty names or navel lint. It shouldn't have gone further than 5 posts, with four of them being about the author owing a new keyboard.
(Sorry, Howard. I don't follow you closely, and I think in general you get it. I hope you drank four or five stiff ones before you penned this one. The Jays are not going to trade three major league shortsops in one offseason, even if they have assurances that they can extend a Cy Young winner at market value. The Jays right now have a very competitive starting four in the rotation. So I doubt they trade an All-Star hitter/fielder to get another pitcher, as good as he "might" be, and then have to start a placeholder SS like RTejada.)

Plus, how can you not bring back Dickey? He's got to be the most likeable player on the team, if not in baseball.

That's why I hope they trade him. Dickey would probably be the most popular player in America if he didn't play on a New York team. And aside the fact that all decent people in America outside New York hate New Yorkers (but only half as much as New Yorkers hate them), from New Yorkers' perspective Dickey has the worst kind of background and interests and maybe even personality for "star" value: relatively worldly and literate for any ballplayer but especially for one whose origins are in Appalachia, he'll never be more than a useful yokel to them.