Over at Mets Fever, Ed Ryan did a little research and found out who was still out there on the FA market. Well, there isn't much...
The only names that intrigue me are Shawn Chacon, Jaret Wright and Freddy Garcia. They have all had success in the past. Lets take a look at each of them.
Shawn Chacon:
Chacón was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 3rd Round of the 1996 Draft. Chacón made his MLB debut in 2001 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. He developed into a capable starter and was Colorado's 2003 All-Star representative, finishing 11-8 with a 4.60 ERA. Chacon was traded to the Yankees in July 2005, and finished the season with a stat line like this... 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA. Pretty good, considering many Yankee fans hated the trade. During the July 31st 2006 mid-season non-waiver trade deadline, he was dealt for the less expensive Craig Wilson. Chacon was used as a starter by the Pirates, making 9 starts and going 2-3 with a 5.48 ERA. During this past season, Chacon was mainly used as a reliever by the Pirates, but also made 4 starts. He went 5-4 with a 3.94 ERA in 64 games for the Pirates in 2007. Chacon has a 88-92 mph sinker, a big curveball, a slider, and a changeup.
Jaret Wright:
The son of former major league pitcher Clyde Wright, Jaret attended Katella High School.As a prospect with the Cleveland Indians, Wright threw a two-seam fastball that topped out at 98MPH, along with a hard curveball and a changeup. Currently, after battling shoulder injuries, his fastball tops out in the low 90s. Wright had one good season with the Indians, but never fulfilled his potential while with the team. In 2002, he became a free-agent and signed with the Padres. He did not fare well in San Diego, going 1-5 with an 8.73 ERA in 39 games, all in relief. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in August. He was unscored upon in all but one his 11 appearances with the Braves, going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA, and was told that he was going to be made a starting pitcher again for the next season. That next season, Wright became the Braves best pitcher, going 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 starts that season while amassing 159 K's in 186.1 IP. He then signed with the Yankees for 3 years and $21 million. He has battled injuries throughout his contract and is now a free-agent once again. Maybe he could turn it aroud again, but some people feel that he may retire.
Freddy Garcia
In 1993, Freddy Garcia was found by a Houston scout and was signed as a undrafted free-agent. Garcia was acquired by Seattle in 1998, along with Carlos Guillen and John Halama--in the trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros. During the 1999 season with Seattle, Garcia went 17-8 with 170 K's and a 4.07 ERA in 33 starts. After going 9-5 in his second season, he went on to win 18, 16, 12, 13, and 14 games over the course of the next five seasons. He ended up with the White Sox, and won a Championship with them. In December of 2006, Garcia was traded to the Phillies for two very good prospects, but never lived up to the hype of Phillie fans, due to injuries. He is now a free-agent and could possibly return to his form of the early 2000's. If he was to become what he once was, he would be a HUGE asset for the Mets. Garcia throws a fastball that can get into the 90s and a hard slider. He also throws a two-seam-fastball, a curve ball, a changeup and occasionally uses a splitter.
Here is the stats of the last 3 years for each player...
Freddy Garcia:
05- 14-8/3.87 ERA/33 GS/228.0 IP/ 60:146 BB:K ratio
06- 17-9/4.53 ERA/33 GS/216.1 IP/ 48:135 BB:K ratio
07- 1-5/ 5.90 ERA/11 GS/ 58.0 IP/ 19:50 BB:K ratio
Jaret Wright-
05- 5-5/ 6.08 ERA/ 13 GS/ 63.2 IP/ 32:34 BB:K ratio
06- 11-7/ 4.49 ERA/ 27 GS/140.1 IP/ 57:84 BB:K ratio
07- 0-3/ 6.97 ERA/ 3 GS/ 10.1 IP/ 9:7 BB:K ratio
Shawn Chacon-
05- 8-10/ 3.44 ERA/ 24 GS/ 151.2 IP/ 66:79 BB:K ratio
06- 7-6/ 6.36 ERA/ 20 GS/109.0 IP/ 63:62 BB:K ratio
07- 5-4/ 3.94 ERA/ 4 GS/ 96.0 IP/ 48:79 BB:K ratio
Freddy Garcia has been a pretty consistent work horse at the top of a rotation, but he won't be ready until June or July. Chacon looks like a pretty good option out of the bullpen. Jaret Wright looks like a long shot wherever he goes. There are a lot of risky moves that can be made, but they could end up paying off in the end. If you could sign one of these players on the list above, who would it be?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Free Agent Options
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Possible Moves for Omar
We have reached the slowest part of the off-season and well, there is simply nothing to write about unless the signing of Matt Clement and Josh Towers.. but that has no effect on the Mets... but I've been thinking, what smart moves could Omar make? Well, here is a few suggestions from me...
Trade for Johan Santana...
I love our prospects but we need to get an edge. I would perfer that Omar waits until he becomes a free-agent next off-season but if we can pull a trade off that doesn't include Fernando Martinez, then I'm fine with it. Although most fans would haunt Omar Minaya for years if one of those prospects backfired in our faces, just like Scott Kazmir.
Sign Freddy Garcia to an incentive-laden contract with an option for 09'...
Freddy Garcia won't be ready until near the All-Star break but we need options. Gracia seems interested and there just simply aren't any better options. Unless you count Bartolo Colon, but he isn't even touching 90 MPH in the winter leagues. If Garcia would come back to form, the fans would love Omar Minaya again.
Sign Octavio Dotel to a 1-year contract with a vesting option for 09'...
Dotel is a very good reliable reliever out of the pen, when he is healthy. The thing is, he can't stay healthy.. but when he is, he can be a Duaner Sanchez type of pitcher. We need depth in our bullpen and that is what we lacked last season. Adding Octavio to the mix would definitely help solve that problem.
Sign Kevin Mench to a 1-year deal...
The recently acquired RF Ryan Church, is a very light hitting outfielder against left-handed pitchers.. so we need a platoon partner that can absolutely mash left-handers. Kevin Mench is our man. Last season, in 156 at-bats against Left-handers, Mench hit .314 with 8 homers and 26 RBI's. Combine that with Ryan Church vs right-handers, and we have a two headed monster in RF for 2008.
Sign Jason Jennings to a 1-2 year deal...
I know most of you are totally against him but in 2006 he was very good for the Rockies... and in the first half of 2007 he was decent with a 1-4 record and 4.07 ERA in 10 games started. The reason his record is so bad is because the Houston Astros offense was anemic all of last season... but he did blow up in the second half of the season, but thats the risk that your going to have to take.
Trade for Huston Street, and Joe Blanton...
Bullpen help? Check. Starting Pitcher? Check. Lets kill two birds with one stone. I would be more than willing to give 4-5 good prospects for a very good young closer and an innings eating SP. All I ask is that we do everything in our power to keep Fernando Martinez in a Mets uniform. Any prospect beyond him is as good as gone if we can get a package of both Huston Street and Joe Blanton.
I think all of these moves would be smart, but some would be risky. Either way I still believe that Mike Pelfrey should start for a full season in Flushing. If one of these starters were to be signed, we would just simply put Orlando Hernandez in the bullpen and keep Pelfrey as our #5. In my opinion, Kevin Mench would be a very smart signing for the Mets, and we should wait for Santana to be a free-agent at the end of the season... but if Omar pulls the trigger, I'll be fine with that too, just as long as we still have Fernando Martinez.
