Wednesday, December 27, 2006

A Growing List

This Mets offseason is quickly turning into those police movies...where the local authorities pour their blood sweat and tears into a case, only to have the FBI move in and overrule the locals' jurisdiction.

Proof that you can never be too comfortable comes in the form of the news that the Yankees are looking into dealing Randy Johnson back to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I made the mistake of taking that story at face value when I perused the different versions of the story. There were no mentions of the Mets or Barry Zito until I read the headline on the Sports Illustrated website that read "Yanks dangling Johnson, eyeing Zito".

Of course I got worried, expecting to read a sentence in that story that started with "Sources say...". Instead, I read what amounted to be Jon Heyman conjuring up a scenario in his crystal ball, with a lot of "well, the Yankees haven't made any overtures towards Zito, but they could get him...you have to think they'd get him because they're the New York Yankees and, well, you know, shouldn't we all genuflect towards the New York Yankees?"

Of course, by dragging the New York Yankees into the Zito equation, Heyman has effectively given Scott Boras a larger commission. It's not a coincidence, as the Metstradamus crack staff uncovered a copy of this cancelled check from Scott Boras made out to Heyman (there are no holidays for the crack staff when it comes to uncovering the injustices of Scott Boras):


So in response to the manuscript by Boras' newest minion, this leaves other media outlets like the New York Times and ESPN's Steve Phillips to match the genuflecting, pushing the Yankees further into the Zito conversation.

Of course, the Johnson trade has to happen first. A smart GM would only trade for Randy Johnson if it were to help his club. When Johnson went from Phoenix to New York, it was in exchange for Javy Vazquez, Dioner Navarro, and Brad Halsey. Two years later, it would figure that Johnson would go the other way at a considerably lower cost to the Diamondbacks, especially if the Yankees don't pick up any of the salary which they don't want to do. So Arizona has two options. Either

  • Take Randy Johnson and his bad back for nothing but pick up his entire salary, or...
  • Take Randy Johnson and his bad back at a reduced cost but give up a good prospect or two and help restock the Yankees farm system.

Neither would seem like a decent option for the Diamondbacks...but GM's seem to have their IQ points drop by the bushel when they talk to Brian Cashman, probably because conversations seem to go like this:

Cashman: Okay, here's the deal, give us what we want and I won't send security to kill you.

Other GM: Deal.

So basically, it's a race against the clock for the Mets to sign Barry Zito before Steinbrenner and the Prince of Darkness conspire to bring the Yankees head long into the discussion. Remember, Boras tried this before with Carlos Beltran, but the Yankees didn't bite. So some advice to David Wright, Tom Glavine and company...while you're selling New York to Barry Zito, sell the fact that the future is brighter in Queens than in the Bronx. Sell the fact that it would be bright still with Barry Zito in Queens instead of the Bronx.

And sell it quickly.

5 comments:

Luis said...

Let the Yankees have him-if she doesn't want to pitch for the Mets, then let her go.

Anonymous said...

Well Damus, it's official. The Prince of Darkness sold Zito to the Giants. 7 yrs-126 mil. For that money, I'd rather go with Pelfrey or Humber anyway.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the King but maybe Dontrelle's DUI help us make a deal with the Fish...?

What say you? Either that or a deal with the Dodgers?

Anonymous said...

oh man...the Giants for 7 years?!

Obviously, Zito is not equipped to be on a winning team. He picked comfort over the challenge, he picked the familiar over victory,
and he has spurned one of the greatest opportunities in baseball that would have ever come his way.
To me, that spells LOSER.

A couple of hours ago, I really, really wanted him as a Met.
But now, Mr. Zito, you are dead to me. You never even wanted to come to NY. You used us to drive your price up.

When you pitch in Shea next year, and you feel the love that we have for our players,and the heart and soul of our team, and the drive that propels them back to the playoffs,and the intensity that we fans bring to the game, may
you feel everlasting regret. You will never experience that with the Giants.

NY was made for you, and you picked a big obscene contract over the excitement of playing in the greatest city ever.

The only consolation is that now we know where your priorities were, and they were not with winning.

Good riddance! You are dead to me.

Dear Metstra...please...take Suppan down from the Hate List, and put that money grubbing, yoga doing, satin pillow sleeping, stuffed animal toting airhead right at the top,where he belongs.

Don't f*@% with the Mets, Zito.

beezermess said...

The Mets had three chances to land a "top-notch" starter; one that will ease the wound of not having Pedro until August; one that would take the mound and ooze with confidence.....
Schmidt: Strike one
Matsuzaka: Strike two
Zito: Strike three (but not any strike three, it is the same strike that Beltran took from Adam Wainwright that ended the NLCS)
Seven years is a long time, I agree, but he would have been 35 at the end of the contract, not 41 like Kevin Brown and he has been durable. I think Omar choked on this one. He had the chance to put a stud starter in their with their two best players, Wright and Reyes. That would have been a great nucleus, but it is all for naught.
What now, Omar? Minor-league contracts and invitations to Victor Zambrano and Steve Traschel? Thanks for the non-gift!