The Mets’ offseason was unspectacular, but they are not alone in the National League.
The complaints about GM Omar Minaya not signing a legitimate starting pitcher, catcher or first baseman to accompany the Jason Bay pickup are legitimate. The bitter feelings about last season’s 70-92 are well-deserved. The jokes about the Mets’ offseason being devoted to bringing in backup catchers were funny, but in a sad way.
But the Bay signing, along with the slew of other minor moves, make the Mets’ offseason better than most of their competitors. Which National League team brought in a better player than Bay? The Phillies’ acquisition of Roy Halladay made the biggest splash of the offseason, but that came at the cost of another ace, with Cliff Lee being shipped to Seattle in the three-team trade.
And though every team deals with injuries every year, it’s difficult to remember any team more crippled than the 2009 Mets were by trips to the disabled list. Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Johan Santana all missed time. The injuries to Reyes and Beltran were the most significant, with that pair missing a combined 207 games.
Beltran will start the year on the DL after offseason knee surgery, but Reyes claims he is in the best shape of his career.
Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco won’t remind anyone of Mike Piazza, but they are better than the combination of Omir Santos and Brian Schneider.
In a perfect world it would have been Bengie Molina, not Barajas, starting the year as Mets catcher. And Randy Wolf would be jumping in behind Santana in the rotation, instead of Josh Fogg competing with Fernando Nieve for the fifth spot.
But the Mets either didn’t have the money or the desire to spend it on the free agents available. But they will be adding more talent to their roster, either because of injuries or additions, than most — if not all — of the other teams in the NL.
Here’s a look at what all the NL teams did:
NL East
Mets
Additions
Gary Matthews Jr.
Jason Bay
Henry Blanco
Frank Catalanotto
Kelvim Escobar
Josh Fogg
Ryota Igarashi
Mike Jacobs
Rod Barajas
Losses
Brian Stokes
Carlos Delgado
J.J. Putz
Tim Redding
Jeremy Reed
Brian Schneider
Gary Sheffield
Cory Sullivan
Braves
Additions
Melky Cabrera
Troy Glaus
Eric Hinske
Takashi Saito
Billy Wagner
Losses
Rafael Soriano
Javier Vazquez
Ryan Church
Mike Gonzalez
Kelly Johnson
Adam LaRoche
Quick analysis: Lost their best starting pitcher (Vazquez) in trade to bring in Cabrera. Tried to patch up bullpen with 40-year-old Saito and 38-year-old Wagner. Let’s see how that’s working out in September.
Marlins
Additions
Mike MacDougal
Seth McClung
Jose Veras
Losses
Jeremy Hermida
Matt Lindstrom
Alfredo Amezaga
Ross Gload
Nick Johnson
Quick analysis: Florida did what they could on a limited budget, but will this trio help their problematic ‘pen?
Phillies
Additions
Roy Halladay
Danys Baez
Juan Castro
Jose Contreras
Ross Gload
Placido Polanco
Brian Schneider
Losses
Cliff Lee
Clay Condrey
Pedro Feliz
Pedro Martinez
Brett Myers
Chan Ho Park
Matt Stairs
Quick analysis: New ace, who could be better than Lee this season. But their bullpen, which was their Achilles’ heel last year, got worse.
Nationals
Additions
Brian Bruney
Miguel Batista
Matt Capps
Eddie Guardado
Adam Kennedy
Jason Marquis
Ivan Rodriguez
Tyler Walker
Chien-Ming Wang
Losses
Austin Kearns
Mike MacDougal
Quick analysis: A lot of solid signings, but no stars, which may not be enough to fill gap between them and the rest of the NL. At some point this season, fans will watch Marquis pitch against the Mets and be thankful their team did not sign him.
NL Central
Cubs
Additions
Carlos Silva
Marlon Byrd
John Grabow
Kevin Millar
Xavier Nady
Chad Tracy
Losses
Aaron Miles
Aaron Heilman
Milton Bradley
Neal Cotts
Kevin Gregg
Rich Harden
Reed Johnson
Quick analysis: Silva is not the answer for the Cubs.
Reds
Additions
Josh Anderson
Jose Arredondo
Orlando Cabrera
Aroldis Chapman
Losses
None
Quick analysis: Arredondo has a rocket for an arm, but couldn’t put it together for Angels. Chapman won’t have significant impact this season. Cabrera was good pickup.
Astros
Additions
Matt Lindstrom
Pedro Feliz
Brandon Lyon
Jason Michaels
Brett Myers
Cory Sullivan
Losses
LaTroy Hawkins
Jason Michaels
Miguel Tejada
Jose Valverde
Quick analysis: If Lindstrom and Myers pan out, Astros could be surprise contender in NL Central.
Brewers
Additions
Carlos Gomez
Doug Davis
Mark DiFelice
Jim Edmonds
LaTroy Hawkins
Scott Schoeneweis
Randy Wolf
Gregg Zaun
Losses
J.J. Hardy
Mike Cameron
Frank Catalanotto
Jason Kendall
Seth McLung
Corey Patterson
Quick analysis: Wolf will help Brewers rotation, Davis will not.
Pirates
Additions
Akinori Iwamura
Brian Bass
D.J. Carrasco
Ryan Church
Neal Cotts
Bobby Crosby
Losses
Matt Capps
Quick analysis: Pittsburgh needed more than this to compete, but most of the team will be traded by July anyway.
Cardinals
Additions
Brad Penny
Losses
Rick Ankiel
Mark DeRosa
Troy Glaus
Khalil Greene
Joel Pineiro
Todd Wellemeyer
Quick analysis: They re-signed Matt Holliday, but only addition was Penny.
NL West
Diamondbacks
Additions
Aaron Heilman
Ian Kennedy
Edwin Jackson
Bob Howry
Kelly Johnson
Adam LaRoche
Losses
Daniel Schlereth
Max Scherzer
Doug Davis
Scott Schoeneweis
Chad Tracy
Quick analysis: Lost some young pitching, gained some young pitching.
Rockies
Additions
Rafael Bettancourt
Melvin Mora
Miguel Olivo
Tim Redding
Losses
Garrett Atkins
Jose Contreras
Josh Fogg
Jason Marquis
Juan Rincon
Yorvit Torrealba
Quick analysis: Was Colorado too content to stand pat after making playoffs last season?
Dodgers
Additions
Alfredo Amezaga
Jamey Carroll
Brian Giles
Reed Johnson
Losses
Juan Pierre
Jon Garland
Orlando Hudson
Guillermo Mota
Will Ohman
Jim Thome
Randy Wolf
Quick analysis: Owner Frank McCourt’s marital problems may limit Dodgers spending.
Padres
Additions
Scott Hairston
Jon Garland
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Matt Stairs
Yorvit Torrealba
Losses
Kevin Kouzmanoff
Henry Blanco
Brian Giles
Quick analysis: Way too far away for any of these minor moves to matter this season.
Giants
Additions
Mark DeRosa
Aubrey Huff
Guillermo Mota
Todd Wellemeyer
Losses
Ryan Garko
Bob Howry
Brad Penny
Randy Winn
Quick analysis: Huff may be the most underrated signing of the offseason. Still may regret not adding more offense to go with the young pitching.
