I have a request for anyone writing about baseball: PLEASE KNOW ABOUT BASEBALL. I realize most MLBlogs are by fans, but … come on.If Johnson is available, the Mets should go as hard as they can for him, for several reasons. One, he is very young-25 years old. A pitcher that young is rarely ever available. Two, Johnson has great stuff, and is a workhorse, and could be a Cy Young candidate next year. It might not take that much to pry Johnson from the Marlins-he could be cheaper in terms of prospects than Roy Halladay.
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If I were the Mets, I’d be offering at least Fernando Martinez and either Brad Holt or Jenrry Mejia plus two more prospects. Josh Johnson would be a fantastic number 2 starter and is young enough that the Mets could have him for a few years without an extension being necessary. They also could extend him now, for cheaper than they might need to in the future.
I still feel that the Mets can be a competitive team, because they have some of the top talents in baseball in their core. But they desperately need to show their commitment to excellence by improving their supporting cast and doing so with urgency. Making an aggressive play for Josh Johnson would be a great way to do that.Really? REALLY? JJ is going to be cheaper than Halladay? Sure. The Marlins will just give him to the Mets, despite the fact that he’s not going to be a free agent for two more seasons, is just 25 years old, and, oh yeah, the Mets are a DIVISIONAL RIVAL. But sure. They’ll just hand their ace over to the Mets. That makes a TON of sense.
JJ is not going anywhere in 2010. In 2011, if he’s still not signed, then maybe, but I’m of the opinion that they WILL get him signed by then. The new stadium opens in 2012, and I’m sure they want him to be the starting pitcher on Opening Day.
Furthermore, if he’s not signed, and is indeed traded… look what the Marlins got for Josh Beckett (a similar pitcher) in 2005: Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, and two more prospects. And that was from Boston, a team in an entirely different league than the Marlins. For the Mets to end up with Josh Johnson, at any point in time, they’d have to empty out their farm system. There is no way in HELL that he is going to be “cheaper than Halladay”.
Brain. Hurt. Ow.
Co-signed.
