02-27-2004, 04:30 PM
<font="3">Mets keep eye on Sori</font>
Rangers still want to deal
PORT ST. LUCIE - The Mets were smart not to trade Jose Reyes when the Rangers asked for the 20-year-old phenom for Alfonso Soriano earlier this week, but they may have a tougher decision to make sometime in the next few weeks.
A person with knowledge of the talks between the teams said yesterday the Rangers are still interested in trading Soriano to the Mets, and will have scouts looking at their top prospects during spring training with a possible deal in mind.
"It's not dead by any means," the person said of a potential trade.
Mets GM Jim Duquette wouldn't comment on negotiations with specific teams, but one Mets official acknowledged that both clubs had left the door open to talk again after the Mets said no on Reyes.
The Rangers had told the Mets they'd need to get a major-league-ready player for Soriano, but apparently that could change as Rangers owner Tom Hicks continues to look for ways to cut his payroll, even after trading Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees.
The Rangers are also searching for ways to add good young pitching, and the Mets have some top prospects who might be enough to get a deal done. The question is whether the Mets would be willing to trade Scott Kazmir, Matt Peterson or Bob Keppel.
"It could be a tough call," a club source said.
On one hand, acquiring Soriano is an enticing opportunity. Bringing the ex-Yankee second baseman and sometimes-electric slugger back to New York would be good for the box office and give the Mets a little more star power to combat the A-Rod onslaught from the other side of town.
On the other hand, it has been years since the Mets have developed any highly touted pitching prospects, and they're building their future at least partly around the belief that their farm system is a year or so away from blossoming.
"We've never had a plan that combined a core of veteran guys with a core of signed-and-developed guys in our system," Duquette said yesterday. "Not since the '80s anyway.
"Now we've got guys coming through the system who are growing up together, learning to win together. I think that's important."
In Kazmir, a 20-year-old lefty who led all minor-league starters in strikeouts per nine innings last year, and Peterson, a 21-year-old righty who dominated the Class-A Florida State League, the Mets have a one-two punch that led St. Lucie to a league championship in 2003. They are the club's most prized pitching prospects, and could arrive at Shea sometime next year.
Keppel, another 21-year-old righthander, is a step closer to the bigs after pitching at Double-A Binghamton last year. Because he lacks the overpowering fastball the other two have, he's ranked slightly below them on the prospect scale, but his command and control of four pitches have him projected as a major-leaguer.
The Mets surely would have to give up some combination of those three - or one of them with other prospects - to get Soriano. To give up more than one of them would leave the Mets where they've been in recent years, when they've had to spend heavily in the free-agent market for the likes of Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel and Kevin Appier.
Still, prospects are only prospects, as the Mets know all too well, dating to their Pulsipher-Wilson-Isringhausen days. And Soriano is the kind of hitter, with his speed and power, who would make the Mets' lineup a force in the National League.
Consider the potential of Kaz Matsui, Reyes and Soriano hitting 1-2-3. Combined they might be good for 100 doubles, 60 home runs, 90 stolen bases and who knows how many RBI opportunities for Mike Piazza, Cliff Floyd, Jason Phillips and Mike Cameron.
But the Mets also know there are warning signs regarding Soriano. His horrendous postseason with the Yankees last fall has some baseball people wondering whether he'll ever develop better plate discipline.
In addition, the Mets would like to have some assurance he can play a respectable outfield, and it appears the Rangers have agreed to his request to stay at second base.
Finally, the Mets have heard the talk around baseball that Soriano's work habits aren't the greatest - that he likes the good life of being a rich, major-league star perhaps a little too much.
It's a lot to consider, and Soriano's $5 million price tag will grow with free agency two years away. If the Rangers offer him again for pitching prospects, it would be hard for the Mets to give away an important chunk of their future. But it might be harder to say no.
John Harper
NY DAILY NEWS
Rangers still want to deal
PORT ST. LUCIE - The Mets were smart not to trade Jose Reyes when the Rangers asked for the 20-year-old phenom for Alfonso Soriano earlier this week, but they may have a tougher decision to make sometime in the next few weeks.
A person with knowledge of the talks between the teams said yesterday the Rangers are still interested in trading Soriano to the Mets, and will have scouts looking at their top prospects during spring training with a possible deal in mind.
"It's not dead by any means," the person said of a potential trade.
Mets GM Jim Duquette wouldn't comment on negotiations with specific teams, but one Mets official acknowledged that both clubs had left the door open to talk again after the Mets said no on Reyes.
The Rangers had told the Mets they'd need to get a major-league-ready player for Soriano, but apparently that could change as Rangers owner Tom Hicks continues to look for ways to cut his payroll, even after trading Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees.
The Rangers are also searching for ways to add good young pitching, and the Mets have some top prospects who might be enough to get a deal done. The question is whether the Mets would be willing to trade Scott Kazmir, Matt Peterson or Bob Keppel.
"It could be a tough call," a club source said.
On one hand, acquiring Soriano is an enticing opportunity. Bringing the ex-Yankee second baseman and sometimes-electric slugger back to New York would be good for the box office and give the Mets a little more star power to combat the A-Rod onslaught from the other side of town.
On the other hand, it has been years since the Mets have developed any highly touted pitching prospects, and they're building their future at least partly around the belief that their farm system is a year or so away from blossoming.
"We've never had a plan that combined a core of veteran guys with a core of signed-and-developed guys in our system," Duquette said yesterday. "Not since the '80s anyway.
"Now we've got guys coming through the system who are growing up together, learning to win together. I think that's important."
In Kazmir, a 20-year-old lefty who led all minor-league starters in strikeouts per nine innings last year, and Peterson, a 21-year-old righty who dominated the Class-A Florida State League, the Mets have a one-two punch that led St. Lucie to a league championship in 2003. They are the club's most prized pitching prospects, and could arrive at Shea sometime next year.
Keppel, another 21-year-old righthander, is a step closer to the bigs after pitching at Double-A Binghamton last year. Because he lacks the overpowering fastball the other two have, he's ranked slightly below them on the prospect scale, but his command and control of four pitches have him projected as a major-leaguer.
The Mets surely would have to give up some combination of those three - or one of them with other prospects - to get Soriano. To give up more than one of them would leave the Mets where they've been in recent years, when they've had to spend heavily in the free-agent market for the likes of Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel and Kevin Appier.
Still, prospects are only prospects, as the Mets know all too well, dating to their Pulsipher-Wilson-Isringhausen days. And Soriano is the kind of hitter, with his speed and power, who would make the Mets' lineup a force in the National League.
Consider the potential of Kaz Matsui, Reyes and Soriano hitting 1-2-3. Combined they might be good for 100 doubles, 60 home runs, 90 stolen bases and who knows how many RBI opportunities for Mike Piazza, Cliff Floyd, Jason Phillips and Mike Cameron.
But the Mets also know there are warning signs regarding Soriano. His horrendous postseason with the Yankees last fall has some baseball people wondering whether he'll ever develop better plate discipline.
In addition, the Mets would like to have some assurance he can play a respectable outfield, and it appears the Rangers have agreed to his request to stay at second base.
Finally, the Mets have heard the talk around baseball that Soriano's work habits aren't the greatest - that he likes the good life of being a rich, major-league star perhaps a little too much.
It's a lot to consider, and Soriano's $5 million price tag will grow with free agency two years away. If the Rangers offer him again for pitching prospects, it would be hard for the Mets to give away an important chunk of their future. But it might be harder to say no.
John Harper
NY DAILY NEWS
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