Well…welcome back fans. Though hard to do, in the event you did happen to miss either of baseball’s 2 blockbuster deals yesterday, know this first. It was nothing that any Mets fan wanted to hear. Not only did the free agent market’s best available starter John Lackey sign a 5-yr 82.5 million dollar contract to call Boston his new home, but the Phillies actually went and topped that huge announcement. They took part in a 3-team trade (4-teams technically with Oakland’s involvement today, all moved pieces outlined here) and reeled in the biggest fish in the deal: Roy Halladay.
Now while this trade is a great move on Philly’s part, there is a slight silver lining. Cliff Lee was moved in the deal, he’s now a member of the Seattle Mariners. That is mildly relieving. Halladay & Lee back to back would have been ridiculously disadvantageous. Lee, though his agent denies this, was rumored to be looking for a contract extension with an annual salary worth 23 million a year. On the other hand, Halladay has already inked a contract extension to remain a Phillie through at least 2013, at an annual salary of 20 million per year. That’s what’s so great about this deal for Philadelphia. They upgraded their ace, and have him for a smaller sum of money than the one that would’ve been necessary to keep Cliff Lee beyond this year. It’s a great trade for Ruben Amaro, who is looking like one of the best GM’s in baseball at the moment making two intelligent trades for both Lee and Halladay within a period of a handful of months.
I won’t stick a fork in 2010 yet for our boys, despite all the momentum clearly on Philly’s side right now. How many games do you think Lee will win next season? I’ll wager 18 or 19. For Halladay, my ballpark figure is 20, possibly 21. Though Philadelphia has very clearly upgraded their ace, especially with Halladay’s ability to pitch deep into ballgames, it’s not like he’s going to translate into 9 or 10 more wins. Maybe a half a handful or so? Though this stings, Halladay replacing Lee is not the end of the world for the Mets, at least in 2010 it’s not. With Lee likely going to walk after this season’s conclusion and the Phillies now make it no big deal sending him to Seattle and bringing Doc in…man this was such a smart trade. I’m desperately trying to put a positive spin on it here as you can see, but I just have to tip my cap, Amaro made a great deal. To think if he doesn’t make this, and Halladay winds up getting traded elsewhere this offseason, possibly to the Angels, beyond next season the ace of the Phillies staff is an unknown. Not anymore. Ugh, this really stings.
And to add insult to injury, the Mets can’t even counter this brilliant move by ponying up for John Lackey. Lackey likely wouldn’t have come to the Mets anyway. He never seemed all that interested in pitching for us, but it just hurts that we couldn’t even try to retaliate, due to the fact Lackey was signed by Boston before the news of the 3-way deal broke. So…here are the Mets, now hoping that Jason Bay accepts their contract offer to come and patrol Citi Field’s spacious leftfield. In all honesty, after this huge blow the Phillies have just dealt us, Bay just won’t cut it for me. He’s an improvement I know, but he’s not the best guy for the job. If it was Matt Holliday that the Mets were schmoozing with maybe I’d feel better, more optimistic. I’d be able to say, "You got the best pitcher this offseason, we got the best hitter this offseason, it’s go time! Something has to give!" Holliday even has a .321 BA against righties like Halladay, while Bay only has a .257 clip against them. No, face it. If Bay is indeed the Mets leftfielder in 2010, the Mets will only be receiving a silver medal as far as acquiring a power-hitting outfielder this offseason goes. They will have failed to improve that aspect of the club in the best possible way. As far as the overall offseason, the way things look I doubt the Mets will even earn a medal made of grass.
Bottom line, things look pretty somber for our team. Our chief rival just upgraded their ace, and locked him up for the foreseeable future. We won’t be able to counter that move with a brand new ace of our own. And the team appears bound and determined to lock up the second best possible solution for our power woes. Not to mention the team’s farm system looks rather parched, making a trade for a power-starving remedy or thin-rotation cure very unlikely. I don’t want to jump the gun and start my pessimistic realistic outlook, but it does look like Metland is about to see some dark times my friends. Very dark times.
What do you guys make of all this? Does Philadelphia’s acquisition of Roy Halladay more or less end our season before it’s even begun? Or do you feel like it’s not the end of the world and we’ll be OK? Will Jason Bay make you feel more confident, or is it Holliday or bust as far as 2010′s power hitting leftfielder vacancy is concerned? Comment below my dearest readers. And as always, thanks for stopping by to see what I have to say.
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