The best story of the winter was the plane landing on the Hudson. But what could turn out to be the worst story of the winter for the Mets is the failure to land Hudson.
The Dodgers signed Orlando Hudson for only about $3.5 million, plus incentives that could bring the deal up to around $8 million.
The Mets signed Freddy Garcia for $1.5 million if he makes the 40-man roster, plus incentives that could bring the deal up to $8 million.
The Mets signed Alex Cora for $2 million.
Maybe Garcia will turn out to be a great signing and Cora will be able to fill in if and when Luis Castillo comes out of the lineup. But as of now, for similar financial risk, I think the Mets would be better off with Hudson than with Garcia and Cora.
ESPN's Keith Law attacks the Mets for letting Hudson get away:
The big question here is where the Mets were in all of this. They have an expensive sieve -- no, black hole -- at second base in Luis Castillo, and Hudson would be an easy upgrade of almost two wins.
Based on the last two years, two wins could be the different between making the playoffs and staying home.
Then again, if instead of replacing Luis Castillo in the lineup, he gets moved up to leadoff, the Mets this year might get eliminated before the final day of the season.
6 comments:
it is likely that hudson will be a free agent again next year. if castillo bombs, again, then it is 1 less year we would eat on his contract and we can take another look at hudson. that is if hudson can stay healthy for this entire season.
km
JUst stunning that the Mets did not go after Hudson.
Ireally wonder if the Wilpons have any money to spend on the team now after the Madoff Scam.
why is it stunning? they are paying castillo $6 million a year and signed Cora for $2. were they to add another $4 million to the 2nd base equation? $12 million for 3 players at 1 position? their payroll is the same it was last year, and they addressed needs that they had. don't think the payroll is a problem at this point.
km
It's clear the Omar thinks that Castillo will bounce back to have a big year. That's why no Hudson. It's the same thinking that Cashman had year after year on Pavano.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
RE: METS- IN '08 THEY LOST THEIR STARTING LF, #2 SP & MOST OF THE SEASON FROM RF, GOT ONLY HALF A PRODUCTIVE SEASON FROM 1B, LITTLE PRODUCTIVITY FROM 2B, HAD 29 BLOWN SAVES, LOST THEIR CLOSER AT END, CHANGED MGRS. & STILL WERE ONLY OUTSCORED BY 1 TEAM IN THE LEAGUE. THEY'VE ADDED THE MOST DOMINATING BULLPEN TO AN OFFENSE THAT WAS NOT OUTSCORED IN THEIR DIV. WITH ALL OF THAT & DESPITE THE EVENTUAL WS CHAMPS HAVING CAREER YRS FROM LIDGE, VICTORINO, WERTH. THEY STILL WERE IN THE PLAYOFF HUNT ON THE LAST DAY OF THE SEASON. SOMEHOW ORLANDO HUDSON WAS "THE" GAME CHANGER NEEDED? WILL HE NOT BE AVAILABLE, AGAIN NEXT YEAR, IF METS' DID BLOW IT? IN CASE U MISSED IT, ALL OF THAT SCORING WAS ACCOMPLISHED WHILE PLAYING IN A RENOWNED PITCHERS' PARK & WAS TIED OR EXCEEDED BY HITTER HAVEN TEAMS. CITIFIELD'S DIMENSIONS > SHEA IN PLACES. PITCHING IS WHAT'S DERAILED THEIR EFFORTS FOR 3 YRS. '06 PLAYOFFS SANS 40% OF ROTATION & 50% OF SETUP TANDEM. '07 COMBO OF SOSA, MOTA, HEILMAN SNUCK GASOLINE ONTO BUMP. '08 'NOUGH SAID! ALL AVAILABLE FUNDS USED ON PITCHING. '08 + SANTANA. '09 + K-ROD, PUTZ,GREEN,REDDING,GARCIA,LIVAN WILL LIKELY START SEASON WITH 10 SP IN ORGANIZATION WITH MLB EXPERIENCE SANTANA,PELFREY, PEREZ,MAINE,GARCIA,REDDING,LIVAN, KNIGHT, NEISE,FIGUEROA. 2 ROTATIONS WORTH COVERING CITI & AAA. BULLPEN STRENGTH COMES FROM POWER ARMS 'STRANGE' TO NL. LEAGUE CHANGING HINDERS HITTERS & FAVORS PITCHERS AS 1 IP RELIEVERS FEW OPPONENTS TO GET MULTUIPLE AB.
WITH HUDSON HEITTING THE MKT AGAIN AFTER '09 SEASON & WITH OMAR HAVING NEARLY 30M MORE THAN ON BOOKS TO SPEND DELGADO(12M), WAGNER(10M), PUTZ(8M - 1M BUYOUT)
THERE WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT IF HUDSON SITOUT WAS ERRONEOUS; BUT REMEMBER BY SITTING ON AVAIL CASH NOW, THERE'S STILL OPPORTUNITY TO P/U A HIGH PRICED BIG NAME LIKE HALLADAY OR CARLOS LEE IN JULY. OPTIONS ARE ALWAYS BEST TO HAVE.
well said.
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