Free Agent or Die

(Note: A piece by Cheddar Ben about appears immediately below this piece by Sip.)

I don't fall asleep well. I don't know why, but this has always been the case. So last night, I am somewhere in that area between when your eyes first grow a little tired and that time where you really try to make that first effort to fall asleep when out of the corner of my eye I saw ESPN's ticker. (Note: I fall asleep with the television on)

"Vicente Padilla has agreed to three year extension with the Rangers for $34 million."

I jumped up like Pookie in New Jack City at the sight of crack rock. Baseball has gone mad.

In a world where Vicente Padilla, a Phillies castoff, is getting more than $11.3 million per year to be the Rangers #2 starter, I think I should get at least 1% of that for mentioning that bum in a New York sports blog. I guess this world just has fucked up priorities.

The only thing that didn't make me want to strangle myself was knowing that the Mets and Omar Minaya were not the ones to sign this guy. I just didn't want him, but like every player in the market, the Mets' name seemed to be attatched.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Baseball has gone crazy!

Such a swing in free agent spending would not happen in the other major sports. Both football and basketball have salaray caps that prevent teams from overspending.

I know us New Yorkers look at the Knicks and would disagree with my statement above, but that is why you have to realize how much of an anomaly the Knicks truly are. They are the dumbest run franchise in the history of the sports. But enough with that.

Vicente Padilla is getting $34 mil and he is not good. Ted Lilly, a guy who I sorta want on the Mets, but is risky, is about to get in the neighborhood of 4yrs and $36-40 mil from the Cubs.

Ted Lilly's agent, Larry O'Brien, is going about getting his client the most money possible using simple agent practices. That is, he is comparing his client to other similar clients -- like Jarrod Washburn -- and then using Washburn's contract as a starting point for his negotiation.

Lilly and Washburn are both semi-hard throwing lefties who have had success on the big league level, top out as a #2 starter and are more realistically #3's.

Washburn has a 4-yr, $36 mil deal with the Mariners so expect something similar for Lilly, who some consider a slight step beneath Washburn.

I bring you all of these contracts because it leads me to my point.

The Mets should not trade Aaron Heilman and Lastings Miledge. That is, of course, unless they are blown away.

In a league where Vicente Padilla is getting $11 million to stink in Texas, the Mets will pay Heilman around $1 million.

In a league where Gary Matthews Jr. is making $50 million dollars over the next 5 years, the Mets might pay Miledge about 1/10 or 2/10 of that, or $5-$10 million dollars.

With the insane inflation in salaries, especially those going to second tier players, there is nothing more valuable in baseball than an established young player.

Teams craving cheap closers would throw the farm at the Mets for either Aaron Heilman or Duaner Sanchez while teams craving a #4 starter would do the same for Heilman as well.

With a guy like Miledge, you have a ton of baggage. But you also have a ton of baggage at 400k per year for the next three years. That's especially attractive when you look at the options for 2008.

After this season, when Shawn Green and Moises Alou become free agents, who knows what the top tier free agents in baseball would be commanding:

$20 mil for Vernon Wells
$15 mil for Bobby Abreu
$12 mil for Carlos Guillen
Hell, $9 mil for Byrnesy

As an acquaintance and as his biggest fan, I love Byrnesy. But I would much rather pay young Lastings nothing to play left field than this guy $9 mil per.

What we all forget about young Lastings, between his scuffles with teammates, his sweet wooden crosses and his cocky demeanor, is that this guy is supposed to be an awesome baseball player.

Six months before this kid arrived at Shea, we were getting ready to see the next Carlos Beltran. But he struggled and was a prick along the way.

Jose Reyes struggled and got hurt all the time.

I'd much rather have a healthy cocksucker as a prospect, than an injury prone nice-guy.

We have the value in young Lastings and we all know the value of Aaron Heilman. In my opinion there is only way that we can trade these guys.

We would need an impact guy with multiple years left on his deal. We can't trade these guys for Javier Vazquez, a free agent in a year, because with one good season, this guy is commanding $15 mil per in NEW MLB dollars.

Unfortunately, as smart as we would be not to trade our kids, no GM in baseball is going to trade away one its top arms if they have a reasonable long term deal consisting of fewer OLD MLB dollars.

Which means one thing. Throw the bank at Zito.

Better to pay Zito 6 yrs, $100 mil, keep Miledge at $400k and keep Heilman at $1 mil than have Javy Vazquez/Freddy Garcia etc. at 1-3 years $10-12 per, and no Heilman and Milledge.

Option A looks a hell of a lot better in pretty much any way you look at it.

Believe.

Vaya con dios,

Sip