Over at the Rising Apple, Ben Berkon suggests that the Miami Marlins’ Chris Volstad might be a guy worth pursuing this offseason. Chris Volstad was mentioned as a non-tender candidate on MLB Trade Rumors today and if the Miami Marlins do end up declining to tender him a contract, the New York Mets would be able to pursue him in free agency. Despite poor numbers over his three-plus seasons of Major League experience (4.59 ERA/4.52 FIP, 5.83 K/9) I agree with Ben – I think it would be a solid idea for the New York Mets to check in on him. With that said, I wouldn’t want to see the New York Mets trade for him unless it was for a spare part in exchange.
Volstad was the Marlins’ top prospect back in 2007, but even back then the scouting report indicated that he was too hittable – a puzzling trend considering his size and solid stuff. The guy is only 25 though and there is a non-zero chance that he can find a consistent groove as he continues to mature as a Major League starting pitcher. Normally I’d be considerably cooler on Volstad since he would essentially be a second Mike Pelfrey (also a No. 1 prospect in 2007) in the rotation. The Mets don’t have anything to lose though and if they can get a pitcher capable of eating up a good chunk of innings at the back of the rotation there is no reason not to at least kick the tires. I would just make sure that I didn’t expect anything much more than the mid-4.00 ERA/FIP that he has posted throughout his career thus far.
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Sure, why not. The Marlins are suddenly acting like the NY Yankees, attempting to throw around hunderds of millions in cash to every prominent free agent, including our own Jose Reyes. So, while the Miami Marlins go on a shopping spree let’s watch the Mets scoop up their unwanted leftovers. The fact that Volstad is both a physical AND statistical clone of Mike Pelfrey? Well, that’s just icing on the cake, isn’t it.
How embarassing to see the Mets acting like the Marlins of old (i.e., shrinking payroll, shedding big contracts) while the Marlins attempt to spend like the Mets of the mid-2000′s. Hopefully Miami will have as much success with their spending spree as did the Omar Minaya era Mets! LOL So, thanks a LOT Fred, Jeff, and Saul for maxing out your credit cards and getting the Mets into the financial mess we see before us today.
Well hopefully we won’t have to watch the Mets take this thrift store approach for too long. The thing about the Mets right now is that they’re not built to compete for the next couple of seasons so throwing money around to make a splash is probably counterproductive. They just gotta be smart with their money, make some shrewd moves and hope the kids develop. Rebuilding is not always a fun process, but sometimes the end makes the journey worth it.
I agree. Spending a ton of money isn’t the way to go right now because there just isn’t enough there to compete with the Braves and Phillies at this point. Spending wisely is the key, and always will be. While I won’t fault Omar Minaya for signing Pedro, Carlos, Wagner, and the K-Rod I will fault him for not spending enough on the farm system. Yes, those free agents cost the Mets a number of high draft picks. But it seems like there wasn’t a lot of effort put into building up the farm system through smart scouting and willingness to spend to get sign high ceiling talent. I would say the 2008 draft that landed them Ike Davis and Reese Havens and ’10 when they took Matt Harvey are the exceptions to this. Outside of those drafts it seems Minaya’s regeime preferred safe, signable, but low ceiling college players. So my point I guess is that they have to spend wisely, not just on the free agent market but in the amateur draft as well. The good thing is that now signing free agents will not cost you a 1st or 2nd round pick unless you reach the tax threshold that would cause you to lose those picks as a penalty.
Yea, the conservative draft approach was extremely frustrating. Minaya’s regime was notorious (maybe that’s a bit strong) for refraining from over-slot signings. There really was no excuse for it either as nobody else really followed the slot recommendations. He did spend aggressively internationally though. That was the only thing that kept the Mets’ farm system at any level of respectability. The new regime will be more aggressive in the draft, but unfortunately the new CBA ties their hands a little bit.