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Written by Mark Healey
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Thursday, 03 July 2008 |
 The New York Mets are trying to reach the postseason. Based on their
record, ability to add payroll and the added pressure to fill their new
ballpark next year, one would figure that the next few weeks will be
busy for the team's front office. However, according to several baseball sources, the Mets will not be
making any major deals. That news may put a damper on what is usually
a frenetic time for readers of this space, but it's reality, I'm told.
“I'm not sure how much New York can impact what should be a very busy market,” said one baseball executive. “The Mets have very little to offer , and I don't see that changing before the deadline.”
For the current Mets, making a deal for a impact bat would seem a necessity. Adding a brittle Moises Alou who couldn't even last a week after his last rehab stint, isn't the answer. But, because of “their vast wasteland of a farm system”, the acquisition of a player like Xavier Nady is “totally unlikely”, one NL scout told Gotham's Rumor Mill.
“Fernando Martinez is a special player, but he hasn't been healthy (for the last two seasons) and is really young still. If you're going to deal a player like that for an All-Star, he'd better be a max-value player. Fernando isn't quite there. Jon Niese and Mike Carp are having solid minor league careers, but you'd have to put them in a package together (or even with another prospect) to get Nady, and I don't think the Mets really want to do that.
“Plus, a lot of us are enjoying the fact that they're having such a inconsistent year. There's a great deal of arrogance in that organization right now.”
I pressed this scout for a explanation, saying that Minaya doesn't have that reputation around the league.
“You're right, he doesn't. It's the other guy (Tony Bernazard). According to him, the Mets have a deep farm system with all kinds of talent that (we) don't have the vision to see. I disagree.
“Let's just say that there are players out there that like him a lot. Nobody else does.”
One West Coast-based industry source disagreed with the Bernazard characterization, saying that “Tony is a hard-working guy that the New York media has decided to smear because they don't want to criticize Omar.”
“We like a lot of their guys, but we just don't have a match right now,” he added. It was a thought and statement shared by several other teams we spoke with. In this writer's opinion, the sentiment may not be as harsh as others, but the message is he same; thanks, but no thanks.
No matter the reason, the fact of the matter is that if the Mets are going to make the playoffs this year, they will have to do it largely with the players they currently have on the roster.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 July 2008 )
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