OT: Mets To Sign Shaun Marcum

[LittleOzzy]

The New York Mets have dipped into the free agent market, signing former Blue Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum to a contract, according to Jon Heyman. The deal, pending a physical, will be for one year.

Last season, Marcum started 21 games for the Milwaukee Brewers, posting a 3.70 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 4.21 xFIP and 1.4 fWAR in 124 innings.

The 31-year-old right-hander will join a Mets rotation that includes Johan Santana, Jonathan Niese, Dillon Gee and Matt Harvey, with prospects Jenrry Mejia and Zack Wheeler waiting in the wings.

In his career, Marcum owns a 3.76 ERA, 4.24 FIP and 11.7 fWAR in 174 games for the Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers.

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2013/01/2 ... un-marcum/

[satyr9]

I love deals like this for teams like the Mets. You slow down the clock on your prospects, making them force their way in, you are still trying to be competitive while rebuilding (top 5 picks are nice, but rebuilds work without them in baseball, which makes marginal competitiveness far more palatable than in other sports), and you likely give yourself some nice trade bait at the deadline. A decently performing Marcum on an expiring is that great value/performance hybrid where a team needs some back-end depth and doesn't want to part with top end pieces, but you can still get a nice B or 2 out of somebody. And everyone once in a while it gets you a Kazmir 'cause the Mets lose their mind. Unfortunately in this case that last part can't happen.

[evilRyu]

Speaking of the Mets, a very interesting appeal they are making to the Union regarding their draft pick and trying to get Michael Bourn:

The Mets currently hold the 11th pick in this year’s amateur draft, even though their 74-88 record was the 10th-worst in baseball in 2012. Under normal circumstances, the Mets would have had the 10th pick, but they were bumped one spot lower because the Pirates failed to sign Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, who Pittsburgh picked eighth last June. The current system calls for teams that don’t sign their first-round pick the previous year to get a pick one spot lower the next year.

Had the Mets stayed in the top 10, the pick would be protected, and signing a free agent such as Bourn would result in them losing only a second-round pick.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... -1.1246372

[satyr9]

Speaking of the Mets, a very interesting appeal they are making to the Union regarding their draft pick and trying to get Michael Bourn:

The Mets currently hold the 11th pick in this year’s amateur draft, even though their 74-88 record was the 10th-worst in baseball in 2012. Under normal circumstances, the Mets would have had the 10th pick, but they were bumped one spot lower because the Pirates failed to sign Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, who Pittsburgh picked eighth last June. The current system calls for teams that don’t sign their first-round pick the previous year to get a pick one spot lower the next year.

Had the Mets stayed in the top 10, the pick would be protected, and signing a free agent such as Bourn would result in them losing only a second-round pick.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... -1.1246372

Really, I think the Mets have a fair point. Getting knocked down because Appel wouldn't sign anything reasonable, which takes you from bad enough to be protected to not is pretty weak and seems like extra pain and suffering. Also, PIT's 14th pick would've gone if they'd signed a big FA right? If so then the new rules aren't protecting 10 teams, which I believe was the idea.

However, the league won't want to make an exception here, because of who it helps. Letting Boras mess up the new, supposedly best goes first, draft with his exorbitant signing demands, then adjusting the rules so he can get his draft pick compensation protected FAs to get the big deal. He's such an annoying figure to have clouding so many issues, but I have to give him credit for being absolutely amazing at his job. If he gets the Mets to meet his quote and gets the pick thing sorted out, after being the guy who caused the problem in the first place, it'll be totally hilarious. Only thing funnier would be if in exchange for his help in this situation he cut a deal for the Mets to mortgage the rest of their draft to sign Appel to his quote if he fell that far again.

[Waylon Mercy]

Like this deal for both sides and like what the Mets have been doing lately. Also glad that
Marcum stays in the NL still a fan of his hope he stays healthy. Looks like we won the Lawrie trade

[Hendrix]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather have signed Marcum to a 1 year deal, and kept D'arnaud.

[SharoneWright]

Marcum and D'Arnaud and Syndergaard with less payroll and 6 years of contol on the elite prospects.

Not too shab.

[Mak]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather have signed Marcum to a 1 year deal, and kept D'arnaud.

Marcum can't pitch in AL East. He'd be our 5th starter at best. We would have a nice almost make the playoffs team, but at least we'd have D'arnaud to miss the playoffs with for a while. He'd be ready to play once Bautista and EE start to slow down. Sigh, i don't get that thinking. I'd rather have a chance at the WS over the next 2-3 years.

[Hendrix]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather have signed Marcum to a 1 year deal, and kept D'arnaud.

Marcum can't pitch in AL East. He'd be our 5th starter at best. We would have a nice almost make the playoffs team, but at least we'd have D'arnaud to miss the playoffs with for a while. He'd be ready to play once Bautista and EE start to slow down. Sigh, i don't get that thinking. I'd rather have a chance at the WS over the next 2-3 years.

Speaking of not getting a line of thinking. How can you say Marcum can't pitch in the AL East when he pitched here for 5 seasons with a 3.85 ERA and averaging 3.1 bWar/200 innings?

Marcum is not a 5th starter on our team. He's just as good/better than Buehrle, and far better than Romero was last year.

I don't think the line of thinking is all that hard to get. Imo Dickey may be 1 or 2 wins better than Marcum. However, I think it's quite possible that D'arnaud could actually make up those 1 or 2 wins himself next year. He probably wouldn't completely make up for the disparity between Marcum and Dickey, but would probably reduce the gap close enough that the difference would be negligible. And, I feel as though having control of a couple of top prospects in Synder, and D'arnaud is worth more than a negligable gap in wins.

[Skin Blues]

Speaking of the Mets, a very interesting appeal they are making to the Union regarding their draft pick and trying to get Michael Bourn:

The Mets currently hold the 11th pick in this year’s amateur draft, even though their 74-88 record was the 10th-worst in baseball in 2012. Under normal circumstances, the Mets would have had the 10th pick, but they were bumped one spot lower because the Pirates failed to sign Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, who Pittsburgh picked eighth last June. The current system calls for teams that don’t sign their first-round pick the previous year to get a pick one spot lower the next year.

Had the Mets stayed in the top 10, the pick would be protected, and signing a free agent such as Bourn would result in them losing only a second-round pick.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... -1.1246372

Really, I think the Mets have a fair point. Getting knocked down because Appel wouldn't sign anything reasonable, which takes you from bad enough to be protected to not is pretty weak and seems like extra pain and suffering. Also, PIT's 14th pick would've gone if they'd signed a big FA right? If so then the new rules aren't protecting 10 teams, which I believe was the idea.

I don't think they have any case. It's a simple, straightforward rule. The top 10 picks in the draft are protected. Sucks for them that they're right on the borderline. I don't think the spirit of the rule is to help 10 teams, either. I think it's to protect the 10 most valuable picks, which are the first 10, regardless of who has them.

[Mak]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather have signed Marcum to a 1 year deal, and kept D'arnaud.

Marcum can't pitch in AL East. He'd be our 5th starter at best. We would have a nice almost make the playoffs team, but at least we'd have D'arnaud to miss the playoffs with for a while. He'd be ready to play once Bautista and EE start to slow down. Sigh, i don't get that thinking. I'd rather have a chance at the WS over the next 2-3 years.

Speaking of not getting a line of thinking. How can you say Marcum can't pitch in the AL East when he pitched here for 5 seasons with a 3.85 ERA and averaging 3.1 bWar/200 innings?

Marcum is not a 5th starter on our team. He's just as good/better than Buehrle, and far better than Romero was last year.

I don't think the line of thinking is all that hard to get. Imo Dickey may be 1 or 2 wins better than Marcum. However, I think it's quite possible that D'arnaud could actually make up those 1 or 2 wins himself next year. He probably wouldn't completely make up for the disparity between Marcum and Dickey, but would probably reduce the gap close enough that the difference would be negligible. And, I feel as though having control of a couple of top prospects in Synder, and D'arnaud is worth more than a negligable gap in wins.

Your point makes great sense if you think we'd get 2008 Marcum in 2013. Also i can make a pretty easy case that Buehrle is better than Marcum.

[Hendrix]

Your point makes great sense if you think we'd get 2008 Marcum in 2013. Also i can make a pretty easy case that Buehrle is better than Marcum.

Marcum's averaged a 3.62 ERA since coming back in 2010, including a 3.54 ERA year in the AL east in 2010. His velocity is just the same as 2008, and the last few years he's been just as good as 2008. So, I guess the point makes sense?

The only real knock on Marcum instead of Buehrle would be that with Buehrle you know you are getting 200 innings, and with Marcum you can really probably only expect 170 innnigs or something. And, that is valid. But, in terms of pitching I'd put Marcum right there with Buehrle, and maybe slightly ahead.


Lets just hypothetically say this year Marcum puts up 2.5 WAR, Dickey puts up 4.5 WAR, Thole puts up 0.5 WAR as a backup catcher, and D'arnaud puts up 1.5 WAR as a back up catcher. What would you rather have?

[MikeM]

Your point makes great sense if you think we'd get 2008 Marcum in 2013. Also i can make a pretty easy case that Buehrle is better than Marcum.

Marcum's averaged a 3.62 ERA since coming back in 2010, including a 3.54 ERA year in the AL east in 2010. His velocity is just the same as 2008, and the last few years he's been just as good as 2008. So, I guess the point makes sense?

The only real knock on Marcum instead of Buehrle would be that with Buehrle you know you are getting 200 innings, and with Marcum you can really probably only expect 170 innnigs or something. And, that is valid. But, in terms of pitching I'd put Marcum right there with Buehrle, and maybe slightly ahead.


Lets just hypothetically say this year Marcum puts up 2.5 WAR, Dickey puts up 4.5 WAR, Thole puts up 0.5 WAR as a backup catcher, and D'arnaud puts up 1.5 WAR as a back up catcher. What would you rather have?

Dickey?

[Skin Blues]

The only real knock on Marcum instead of Buehrle would be that with Buehrle you know you are getting 200 innings, and with Marcum you can really probably only expect 170 innnigs or something. And, that is valid. But, in terms of pitching I'd put Marcum right there with Buehrle, and maybe slightly ahead.

The only reason we have Buehrle is because the Marlins wanted us to take his huge backloaded contract along with Reyes, JJ and Bonifacio. I'm sure AA would be absolutely thrilled to be trade Buehrle for Marcum.

As for Marcum on a one year deal vs Dickey for 3 years plus an option and giving up the prospects, it's not even close. I'm ecstatic we were able to add a pitcher of Dickey's quality. We did the whole "good pitchers for bargain prices" thing for a while and though it's nice to finish above .500 it'll be nicer to make a run at a championship. The value of each win a player provides is not linear. The first couple WAR per player are cheap. It's the last few that are expensive, and rightfully so. It reflects the value of each roster spot.

[Randle McMurphy]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather have signed Marcum to a 1 year deal, and kept D'arnaud.

Marcum was a shell of his former self last year on the mound. Having watched many of his starts in 2012, I'll say that it wasn't pretty. He just didn't seem healthy at all (which makes sense, considering he missed over two months with an elbow injury).

With that in mind, it's no surprise that he got very little interest from GMs. Considering his injury issues and lesser 2012 form, he can't have been expected to produce anything close to what Dickey is going to for this team (for 2013 or for the next three seasons). I don't see anything to regret here.

[Kurtz]

Shaun signed for 4 mil with incentives that could take him to 6.

Massive coup by the Mets GM.

[Mak]

To tell you the truth, I'd rather have signed Marcum to a 1 year deal, and kept D'arnaud.

Marcum was a shell of his former self last year on the mound. Having watched many of his starts in 2012, I'll say that it wasn't pretty. He just didn't seem healthy at all (which makes sense, considering he missed over two months with an elbow injury).

With that in mind, it's no surprise that he got very little interest from GMs. Considering his injury issues and lesser 2012 form, he can't have been expected to produce anything close to what Dickey is going to for this team (for 2013 or for the next three seasons). I don't see anything to regret here.

yeah, this. Marcum also pitched in a division with Houston and Cubs. 2 of the 3 worst scoring teams in MLB, I don't know how many starts Marcum got against them but NL East is a much better hitting division.