Oct 31 2006 09:56 AM
Perhaps I haven't paying enough attention but there are a few names in this article that I haven't heard before...
October 31, 2006
Re-Signing Glavine Is the Mets’ Top Priority
By BEN SHPIGEL
With the World Series completed, 29 teams will spend the next four months trying to be like the St. Louis Cardinals. For the Mets, their off-season plans revolve around making sense of a muddled pitching situation headed by Tom Glavine.
Re-signing Glavine, who will be 41 next season, is the Mets’ top priority, but Glavine has said several times that only the wishes of his family, who lives in Atlanta, would dictate whether he wins his 300th game as a Met or a Brave.
“Tom could sit around for months, and the factors aren’t going to change,” said Gregg Clifton, Glavine’s agent. “Nothing new’s going to happen. It’s the same ownership, the same pitching coaches, the same stadiums. He realizes the value and benefits and the unfinished business he has in leading the Mets to the World Series. The only variable is his family, and for Tom, that’s what this is all about.”
Glavine, who has 290 career victories, has two options in his contract with the Mets. There is a player option for $7.5 million that must be exercised by Nov. 10 and a team option for $14 million that must be picked up by Nov. 20, but neither side is leaning in those directions. Clifton said that he intended to persuade Glavine to make a decision in the next few days. “If I’m handicapping it now, I’d say he’s leaning toward New York,” Clifton said.
Glavine is more valuable to the Mets than Pedro Martínez, who will be recovering from shoulder surgery through next summer. Glavine could sign a one-year deal in the $10 million-$11 million range.
After Glavine, the Mets have a reservoir of young pitchers who come cheaply, including Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Pérez and Brian Bannister. The team will be thrilled if two or three of those pitchers earn a place in the opening-day rotation. But that does not eliminate the need to find a solid veteran to back up Glavine. Orlando Hernández, who filed for free agency and may seek a contract longer than the Mets may be willing to offer, could be an option. More likely, it may be someone who pitched for a different team last season.
Unless the Mets win the Daisuke Matsuzaka sweepstakes, they seem more inclined to upgrade their pitching through trades and fill other holes — second base, left field, the bench — via free agency. Of the two top free-agent pitchers — Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt — the Mets appear to have a better chance at signing Zito, a durable left-hander who worked with the Mets’ pitching coach, Rick Peterson, in Oakland. But the Mets do not seem inclined to pay top dollar for someone they view as a No. 2 or a No. 3 pitcher.
The Mets have two first-rate trading chips in Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman and may use them, in the same or separate deals, to acquire the pitcher they desire. With their surplus of starting pitching, the White Sox would be an attractive trading partner. Chicago would like to open a rotation slot for Brandon McCarthy and would not hesitate to trade Javier Vázquez or Freddy García. Vázquez pitched in Montreal when Mets General Manager Omar Minaya worked there.
Whether the Mets part with Heilman may depend on Duaner Sánchez’s recovery from a separated shoulder and their success in re-signing Guillermo Mota, which they intend to try to do. The Mets also want to re-sign Chad Bradford, a valuable and versatile right-hander. His agent, Rex Gary, said last week that Bradford would test the free-agent market.
In Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano, there are two right-handed power-hitting free-agent left fielders. The Mets do not figure to get heavily involved in bidding for either one, even though Soriano, who could also play second base, has intrigued Minaya and the Mets. They could also pursue Moises Alou, but that would make sense only if they intend to keep Milledge. Alou, 40, is an injury risk, but he could help until Milledge is ready.
Among free-agent second basemen, Julio Lugo, a native of Brooklyn who played last season for Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Dodgers, is the most dynamic option, but two other players are also intriguing. Mark Loretta, who committed four errors last season playing for Boston, is the best defensive player of the group and is a career .299 hitter. But there is also Ronnie Belliard, who played for the World Series champion Cardinals and has been where the Mets want to go.
INSIDE PITCH
Carlos Delgado had surgery for tennis elbow on his left arm yesterday, his second operation in eight days. Delgado’s right wrist was operated on Oct. 23 for carpal tunnel syndrome. The Mets said they expected him to be ready for spring training. (AP)
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