GOING, GOING . . .
Jose Reyes (left) and David Wright are the only Mets remaining from their 2006 NLCS loss to the Cardinals, but there’s a chance neither will be with the team next season. (Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS — The last time the Cardinals reached the World Series, they had to go through the Mets in the NLCS. Yet the quirky element was this:
The organization that seemed best situated for the future in 2006 was the Mets, namely because of a burgeoning infield left side of Jose Reyes and David Wright. However, it was the Cardinals who returned to the playoffs in 2009 and who have another NL title now.
St. Louis has almost totally rebuilt its roster with just Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Chris Carpenter remaining from the 2006 champs (Adam Wainwright missed this season after Tommy John surgery).
The Mets, meanwhile, have just Reyes and Wright left from that 97-win team; and face an offseason in which they must decide whether to keep going forward with that duo. I spoke to five Mets executives and the sense I got was they believe Reyes will sign elsewhere and — at the least — they will be open-minded when teams inquire on Wright.
One Mets executive said of Reyes, “I don’t think it is happening with the shortstop.”
That is because a bunch of factors have perfect stormed:
1) Reyes endured two hamstring injuries in the second half that both reinforced to the Mets his long-term fragility and diluted some of the fervor they had felt from his powerhouse first half.
2) The Mets’ financial problems mean the payroll is dropping. One team executive fretted, “we already have too much payroll tied up in too few players.”
3) The belief that at least one club will ignore Reyes’ troubling leg history and make an offer he can’t refuse. As a Mets official said: “Someone always comes up with a reason to look past the problems and be that one team that blows away the field. Heck, we’ve done it.”
My suspicion is the Mets don’t want to offer more than four years with an option. But with Florida, Washington, Atlanta and Milwaukee as potential strong pursuers, Reyes just might get in the six-year, $114 million-plus range.
“We do want to re-sign Reyes, but not at something crazy,” a Mets executive said. “If that one team steps up and blows him away, I think he will be wearing another uniform. If not, we’ll be in play.”
The Mets know Reyes favors staying. But after fending off advances from other representatives, including Scott Boras, agent Peter Greenberg is under pressure to maximize Reyes’ contract; which likely means the shortstop leaving. The Mets expect Reyes to test the market and no deal to be reached before the Winter Meetings in December.
Between now and then, the Mets also expect teams to ask about Wright. Losing both of their signature players this offseason might be too large a hit for an organization already in bad stead with its fan base. However, plugging the leaky ship around Wright and Reyes since that fateful 2006 NLCS has not worked. It might be time to build a new boat.
“We’ll explore Wright’s market,” a team official said. “I think considering where we are as an organization, it would be foolish not to at least look at it. However, I expect actually pulling the trigger is a long shot.”
Another team official said: “We have no illusions where we are as an organization and so we will not be close-minded about doing what is best for the club.”
Every Mets official spoken to emphasized they would not shop Wright, have not taken a serious call on him yet and the odds of moving him were slim. If Wright is traded, his 2012 base salary climbs from $15 million to $16 million, and if he is traded in 2012, he can void a 2013 team option for $16 million.
“Here is the problem,” said an AL personnel man. “The industry values David Wright as a good to very good player who might already be trending the wrong way and is about to get very expensive. A lot of teams like the Rockies and Angels need a third baseman. But still the return package will be good, not great, and can the Mets sell a good, not great return to a fan base that still thinks Wright is a superstar?”
It is part of the Mets’ complicated offseason. The Cardinals are back in the Series with a Pujols-led team. The Mets are again home.
If it is any clue, one Mets executive did say this, “Pujols is a cornerstone, Hall-of-Fame player, no disrespect, but our guys are not in that league.”
Motte had to catch on as pitcher
JASON MOTTE blew a save and took the loss in Game 2 of the World Series last night. Before that, the Cardinals closer had been the breakout star of this postseason, retiring 24 of the first 25 hitters he had faced in these playoffs. He had been dominating with a 96-mph fastball.
When he played at Iona from 2001-03, Motte was a catcher and “for three years no team could run on us,” his coach then, Al Zoccolillo, said by phone yesterday.
Scouts saw that arm and saw a swing that might not make it at the next level. But Zoccolillo said he was not tempted to make the change then because Motte was the best catcher in the New York area, wanted to stay at the position and he was afraid of getting Motte hurt. But in 2006, three years into his career, Motte accepted the change and reached the majors in 2008. He still has the short-arming action associated more with a catcher than a pitcher.
“I am not surprised,” Zoccolillo said. “I knew if he couldn’t make it as a catcher, he would have a chance as a pitcher. You couldn’t even take a good secondary lead against us for three years, (Motte’s) arm was so strong he would just pick you off.”
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Brian Cashman will soon re-sign to stay as the Yankees general manager, but the rest of the AL East is having front-office upheaval.
The Red Sox’s soap opera drags on with the likely outcome being GM Theo Epstein leaving for the Cubs and his assistant, Ben Cherington, taking over. The Orioles are looking for a GM with Arizona’s Jerry DiPoto and Toronto’s Tony LaCava currently viewed as the front runners.
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While Angels owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino were in Tampa interviewing Yankees scouting head Damon Oppenheimer for their open GM slot, they also met with Rays GM Andrew Friedman. The belief is Friedman can have the job, and his friends say he is frustrated with the Rays’ stadium and financial difficulties.
But the expectation is he will stay because he has put down roots in the region and has a strong working relationship with owner Stu Sternberg and team president Matt Silverman.