The main question I pose is simply- does him signing with the Mets make them a contender to overthrow the Phillies in the NL east? My answer to that is …no.

Jason Bay is a good offensive presence. He’s a good hitter who can make you pay in a variety of ways offensively with the obvious home run power- as well as being able to drive the ball the opposite way. Hitting on the road didn’t phase him last year either with 21 homers coming away from Fenway. I also don’t think his defense is as bad as advertised as I think his UZR was a little biased with the fact that he was playing left field at Fenway. I’m not going to sit here and say Bay is over rated or anything along those lines because he’s not. I like Jason Bay- I think he’s a good to great major league hitter- but when you look at the team the Mets are fielding, was signing Bay needed? They already are locked into monster deals with Beltran, Wright, Johan, and Reyes is under contract at a good market price. Now supposedly the Mets didn’t have alot of money to deal with anyway so the question I have to ask is why would the Mets spend 66 million on a player that frankly wasn’t needed.

Look at how the Mets are set up especially in terms of their payroll and downfall. Their bullpen is pretty bad if not terrible. K Rod had better rebound this year or his deal is going to loom even worse than it already is. They have no starting pitching after Johan who by the way is coming off elbow surgery himself.  They don’t have a catcher, and are stuck with Luis Castillo who may or may not stay healthy next year. 66 Million is ALOT of money when your talking about these many holes within an organization. Why not take that 66 million and go after a John Lackey a little harder. Why not take that 66 million and save it for someone like Cliff Lee who will be a free agent in all liklihood at seasons end. Josh Beckett is another one in that same boat. Are they going to have the same money next year to make a run at one of those guys for 8 figures a year? I just don’t think Jason Bay was needed in terms of the dynamics the organization is in right now. They aren’t going to outmash the Phillies next year, and they sure as heck aren’t going to out pitch Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, or JA Happ. So why? It’s just a curious sign to me because Omar Minaya has been under tremendous pressure to make a big splash this offseason. It almost seams like he made the sign simply to please the fan base. Maybe he feels he has nothing to lose. I dont know. All I do know is that Omar Minaya has made a series of bad moves dating back several years. Look no further than the JJ Putz deal. You trade a series of prospects for a guy you don’t resign…uhhhhh?

Does Jason Bay make the Mets better offensively? Yes. Does he make them a threat to win the NL East let alone the World Series? No. At least not with the holes they still have. If they sign Ben Sheets and/or Eric Bedard- we’ll re-assess the situation but as of right now…Sorry Omar but I think you fumbled the ball again.

Closer JJ Putz

The Mets didn’t pick up the 9 million dollar option of JJ Putz this week, thus making him a free agent. Anyone shocked by this? So where does Putz exactly rank nowadays? Is he a closer? A set up man? A middle reliever? And how do you pay him? Do you pay him closer money? Do you give him a 1 year incentive laced deal? What’s the market going to be for him and whose in need of back end help? Well I can give you 15 reasons for 15 teams why they should give Putz a shot, but I’ll stick to my love- Chicago Cubs.

Lets start with the Cons. JJ Putz had a brutal last couple seasons and had elbow surgery last year. He might demand to be the closer, and therefore might demand closer type money.Obviously the Cubs are a little cash strapped this offseason, they have a closer in Carlos Marmol, and I’m sure the elbow surgery doesn’t appeal to Jim Hendry so the odds of making a play at him are probably slim to really really slim.

Pros- JJ is still relatively young. He’s got great stuff when healthy. He’s got some experience being at the back end of the bullpen. Could be part of a nasty 7th, 8th, and 9th inning with Angel Guzman and Carlos Marmol.

Why I would go after him. JJ Putz clearly wasn’t healthy the last couple years, and speaking as a pitcher that’s tried to pitch through arm injuries- well I’ll be the first to tell you it’s extremely difficult if not impossible for anyone not named John Smoltz. His command really struggled which shows in his sub par numbers, but when your elbow’s hurting, you cannot locate consistently. Especially on the outer half when you literally have to reach farther than normal to get the baseball out there. Your arm angle can change and IMO Putz’s did slightly to compensate. That slight change in angles can really flatten out Putz’s bread and butter pitch- the split fingered fastball and it did. Well- Putz is going to be healthy next year. And a healthy JJ Putz could add to an already solid back end of the bullpen. Keep in mind, this guy has been a lights out closer/all star for Seattle 2 years ago, so it’s not like he’s completely forgotten how to pitch.

If I were Jim Hendry- it’s hard to ignore the fact that he’s out there and the Cubs could need some help in the pen. Sure, Jose Valverde is an option along with Rafael Soriano, but I would say there’s no chance because those guys are going to be high in demand and they’ll get their payday not to mention Jose Valverde being disgustingly over rated. If you look at the free agent class, there’s not a whole lot the Cubs are going to be able to do- so why not stock up in the pen if all possible? The odds of Zambrano or Lee being traded are slim to none even though I posted articles explaining why each one should be- so there’s not going to be a big opening in the payroll or a big opening in positions. Assuming the Cubs don’t make any trades this off season of significance, why not take some money and resign John Grabow and then bring in JJ Putz? Your now looking at the 7th, 8th, 9th innings of- Guzman, John Grabow, Putz, Marmol, John Gaub. That’s pretty deep and it shortens the game for a pretty deep starting pitching staff.

Regardless of what people say, the Cubs do have a little money they can spend- but they have to spend wisely. So again- I ask….Why not? JJ Putz 2 year deal worth about 8 million is not much different than Kevin Gregg’s 4 million last year, and I think it’s safe to safe, JJ Putz would scare more teams than Kevin Gregg did.

Why not? The Ricketts family said they’d do anything they could to bring a winner to Chicago and basically guaranteed it. Here’s your chance Ricketts family to prove it. You bring Putz in, resign John Grabow and you now have one of the better bullpens in baseball.