The worst thing about Cliff Lee going to the Phillies

It's bad enough that the Mets will have to face a powerhouse Phillies team the next few years. But what's even worse is that the Phillies have become the kind of team star players take less money to join.

Last year, Roy Halladay signed a three-year contract extension with Philadelphia for $60 million. Halladay could have been a free agent after the 2010 season. Imagine what his market would have been. But Halladay was willing to give up future tens of millions of dollars to go to the Phillies. Now Cliff Lee has also left tens of millions of dollars on the table for a chance to play with Shane Victorino.

Most free agents end up where the most money is. But one would hope that, the money being equal, some players would prefer the Mets over other clubs. Instead, the Mets have often had to overcome a star's reluctance to join them. Flushing was reportedly "Beirut" to Jason Bay. Carlos Beltran reportedly was willing to take less money to go the Yankees. Carlos Delgado turned down a chance to play for the Mets in 2005 before the Mets traded for him the following year.

Under the new regime, I have confidence that the Mets will soon become a place where stars want to play and that Sandy Alderson and company will spend money, but do so wisely. However, I still expect that the Mets, like just about every other team, will ultimately have to outbid other clubs to get the players they want.

But it's hard to imagine players taking less money to join the Mets.

Alderson may eventually close the talent gap with the Phillies, but now he must close the likeability gap as well. As with the Phillies, the Mets need to become the kind of club that players want to join for reasons besides money.

W.C. Fields must be turning over in his grave. Who would have thought that, on the whole, star pitchers would rather be in Philadelphia?

How my Baseball Bloggers Alliance NL awards picks stacked up

So far, two of my three choices for NL awards have come through, and the third one lost by only one vote.

For best NL starting pitcher, I had Roy Oswalt higher and Tim Hudson lower. Oswalt's 13-13 record, despite his other strong stats, apparently didn't go over as well as Felix Hernandez' 13-12.

Jon's vote
1. Roy Halladay, Phillies
2. Adam Wainwright, Cardinals
3. Roy Oswalt, Astros/Phillies
4. Josh Johnson, Marlins
5. Ubaldo Jiminez, Rockies

Baseball Bloggers Alliance Walter Johnson Award
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia (19) 133
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis 66
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado 52
Josh Johnson, Florida 43
Tim Hudson, Atlanta 16
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco 7

Cy Young (Baseball Writers Association of America)
Roy Halladay 224.0
Adam Wainwright 122.0
Ubaldo Jimenez 90.0
Tim Hudson 39.0
Josh Johnson 24.0
Roy Oswalt 14.0

For Manager of the Year, I went for Dusty Baker, while the BBA and BBWAA both choice Bud Black. But it was a very close vote, with Black winning the BBA vote by two and the BBWAA vote by just one. I picked Baker over Black because Baker won his division while Black's Padres fell short.

While San Diego did exceed expectations this year after a 75-win 2009, so did Cincinnati. The Reds won 78 games in 2009. Take note, 79-win Mets!

Jon's vote:
1. Dusty Baker, Reds
2. Bud Black, Padres
3. Bobby Cox, Braves

BBA Connie Mack Award
Bud Black, San Diego (9) 53
Dusty Baker, Cincinnati (7) 51
Bobby Cox, Atlanta (2) 33
Bruce Bochy, San Francisco (3) 29
Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia (1) 27

BBWAA NL Manager of the Year
Bud Black, 104.0
Dusty Baker, 103.0
Bruce Bochy, 30.0
Bobby Cox, 28.0
Charlie Manuel, 20.0

The rookie vote was supposed to be a battle between Buster Posey and Jason Heyward, but everyone ended up picking the same top three.

That is, except for the NL New York BBA chapter, which picked Ike Davis third. Sorry Ike, I couldn't put you ahead of Garcia, who was one of the better pitchers in the league much of the year, but I'm glad to see you finished in the top five in the BBA and top seven in the BBWAA vote.

Jon's vote
1. Buster Posey
2. Jason Heyward
3. Jaime Garcia

BBA Willie Mays Award
Buster Posey, San Francisco (15) 103
Jason Heyward, Atlanta (10) 86
Jaime Garcia, St. Louis 20
Starlin Castro, Chicago 7
Ike Davis, New York 7
Gaby Sanchez, Florida (1) 6

BBWAA Rookie of the Year
Buster Posey 129.0
Jason Heyward, 107.0
Jaime Garcia 24.0
Gaby Sanchez 18.0
Starlin Castro 3.0
Neil Walker, 3.0
Ike Davis, 2.0

It's always sunny in Philadelphia

If only Ken Burns had more "Baseball" episodes. MLB Network had been showing the classic series on Thursday nights over the last few weeks. But tonight, they aired Yankees-Phillies. CC Sabathia against Roy Halladay.

Met fans can look forward to a better year in Queens just on the basis of fewer injuries (we hope). But the misery at the end of the year is not going away. The Yankees and Phillies are still the defending pennant winners, and are favored to repeat.

I could not bring myself to watch much of the game, so I do not know if anyone explained that it was a day game being shown on tape delay. Or maybe they let viewers think that the sun is always shining on the Yankees and Phillies.

So what if Halladay was making his Phillies debut. The Mets also had a starter making his debut with the team - R.A. Dickey. Halladay and Dickey were both were first-round picks in the middle of the round in the mid-1990s. Halladay went 17th overall in 1995 and Dickey went 18th in 1996.

And there the similarities end. Even though it is only the first week of exhibition games, something tells me that the pitchers' performances offer a hint of how they will perform when the games count:

Halladay: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 hits
Dickey: 2 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 7 hits

Dickey does have one thing going for him, however. He will never have to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow - because he does not have one. As the Star-Ledger's Brian Costa notes, what better pitcher for the 2010 "Prevention & Recovery" Mets?

Now the Mets just have to find a backup shortstop who is missing a hamstring tendon.

Twittering twit John Henry is missing in action

I wrote a piece for The Faster Times today wondering when Red Sox co-owner John Henry would Twitter again. Not-so-shockingly, he hasn't written on Twitter since the David Ortiz/Manny Ramirez scandal broke. Go here to read it.

In other news, I was missing in action myself last night. After getting some sun, I got home and fell asleep just before six p.m. last night. I was so exhausted, I ended up sleeping through the game and missing the whole thing! So not only did I miss seeing the Yankees beat up Roy Halladay, I also missed seeing if the fake umpires made a return to a Yankees-Blue Jays game!

What a nightmare it was to wake up in the middle of the night, and feel like I was on another planet, after sleeping so long! Hopefully, I'll be able to stay awake for tonight's game.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Joba rules - and pitches another quick game - as the Yankees have great eight

I'm out of town this weekend - I'm in Washington, D.C. - so I missed seeing last night's game. I wasn't surprised that the Yankees won. But I was very pleasantly surprised to see that Joba Chamberlain not only won, but continued to pitch quickly - the game finished in less than three hourss.

I think those two items - pitching well and pitching at a fast pace - go hand in hand for Joba. As Derek Jeter, who was happy with Joba's pace, said to the media:

"I told him that after the game, he did a better job of working quick," Jeter said. "The last thing you want to do when you're out there on defense is play slow."

Ain't that the truth. It seems like there are many more errors when Joba moves slowly, than when he picks up the pace. Good to see that Joba is turning it around this year.

But what's going to happen when he reaches the Yankees' innings limit? Is he really going to go back into the bullpen? If so, Mike Francesa will be very pleased!

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In other news, I saw this headline, "Wang may meet with Andrews on Monday," and at first I wondered why the heck Chien-Ming Wang was going to talk with Erin Andrews! Was he going to express sympathy on those peephole pix or something? Then I realized it was James Andrews he was going to meet with. Yikes!

One of our readers emailed me to ask if my thoughts on the Yankees making any trade deadline deals. My guess is that they have to assume Wang is out for the year. So I wouldn't be surprised to see them trade for a fifth starter - they've already said they won't move Phil Hughes out of the bullpen anytime soon.

But will it be Roy Halladay? No chance. And that goes for the Red Sox, too. Why in the world is J.P. Ricciardi going to give his team's franchise player to somebody in their division? I just can't see it happening.

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Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger has done a great job in his first year as a Yankee beat writer. Check out his touching piece on the wonderful carnival the Bombers put on for the kids of Camp Sundown.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Roy Halladay would not fill Mets' biggest needs

When the Mets traded for Johan Santana, he looked to be the missing piece for a potential championship team. Unfortunately, the Mets are no longer one piece away. While Roy Halladay would look great in the Mets' rotation, the cost in prospects and salary would likely not result in a title team.

Let's assume that the rumored price of Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and Ruben Tejada was true. Let's also assume that the Mets won't miss any of these players now or ever (always a possibility). Let's also assume that the Mets sign Halladay to a long-term contract using the money they save by saying goodbye to Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner. So Halladay would not be just a rental.

Finally, let's assume that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are completely healthy going into next year.

Assuming everything breaks right, the Mets would still have big problems with their lineup. They would be lacking a power hitter in the middle of the lineup as Carlos Delgado was in his Mets prime. Unless Jeff Francoeur magically regains his 2006 form, the Mets are going to need a big bat to replace Delgado.

Even when the Mets had their core at full strength, the lineup was front-loaded last year and in the first part of this year. Daniel Murphy may be decent in the field at first, but as of now he is no corner infield hitter. Along with Murphy, the Mets would have weak hitters at catcher, second, left field and possibly right field, depending on how Francoeur fares.

Perhaps most importantly, the Mets would still have big problems with depth. The Mets have had really bad luck with injuries this year. But you can't assume no injuries at all next year.

As for pitching, the rotation would certainly be great with Halladay slotted in behind Johan Santana. But the bullpen would be weaker without Parnell, and J.J. Putz would probably be gone as well. While Putz is hurt now and Parnell has been shaky recently, if both leave, the Mets will have to find pitchers to replace them.

Last year, the Mets addressed their pressing bullpen needs, but neglected everything else. Now they have a great closer, but lack the lineup to get him a lead most days.

Trading for Halladay now sends the wrong message. It says that the Mets have an unrealistic view of how close they are to being a championship team. It continues the failed policy of having a top-heavy team with a few superstars and a lot of filler.

Instead of spending the money and prospects on Halladay, the Mets could, for argument's sake, sign possible free agents such as Jason Bay and Orlando Hudson, while retaining Parnell for the bullpen, Niese for the rotation and F-Mart for outfield depth and the future.

The Mets should not be sellers at the deadline or move into rebuilding mode. They should plan to contend in 2010. But even if money is no object, and that does not appear to be the case with the Mets, they have to do something about their organizational depth so that Jerry Manuel can't even joke about playing Livan Hernandez in the infield.