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I understand fans concern with this deal from the standpoint that Bladergroen was the No.4 prospect according to some sources in our organization. But the fact that he is our No.4 prospect is more because of our system taking hits in trades and promotions. Don't get me wrong Blade is a nice player, but even with those numbers he didn't crack the top 20 in the Sally league. He has potential but a lot to prove. If I were the Mets and we were looking to deal Mientkiewicz(to be someones starting 1st basemen) I would want someone with at least potential coming back the other way. That's what the Sox got. If our minor league system was where it should be, which basically means minus the Zambrano/Benson trades Bladergroen probably doesn't make the Top 10. That's when our system was in the top 10 in baseball now its more like in the upper teens to low 20's area.

I don't disagree that it would take someone like The Blade to net Mientkiewicz. The argument is that the Mets could have had Travis Lee for zippo. Given that, the only decision to make is whether Minky is enough of a better player than Lee to warrant the Mets giving up Bladergroen.

As far as where Bladergroen would rank were the Black Friday trades not to have happened, you're probably looking more at #7 or #8. Kazmir would be #1, Peterson and Huber would be Top-6, when Phil Humber sliding in somewhere as well. That puts Bladergroen at #8, which is still pretty good. Of course, and to many fans' chagrin, Black Friday can't be undone, and The Blade was the Mets' #4 or #5 prospect (if you count Humber, which you should).

True Eric, I was just trying to make the point that Balde isn't technically that much to give up to get Mienky. If we were talking Petit, like it was rumored earlier, then I would understand the argument against the trade more. Otherwise I think the trade was fine and would rather have Mienky instead of Lee. Obviously though I wanted Delgado, but can't get them all.

I feel Saber in many cases , does not take into account injurys , and that's a major handicapp when accessing a players value .

Does anybody want to compare Menk's totals against Lee's totals last year ? Of course not . Lee played in 15 games last year . Coming off a very serious injury , he is also older than Menk .

I would have prefered Valent \ Galarraga in there . Valent had a surprising 10 + rating in Range Factor , and an excellent power ratio , and Galarraga still hits leftys well .

But a choice between Menk and Lee . It's Menk , hands down . Younger , and injury free .

Gsharpe,

Nice try. You're right that statistical analysis doesn't take injuries into account, but neither does any other kind of analysis, with the possible exception of your schoolyard comparison of who played more games last season.

If you bothered to do your homework, you would know that Travis Lee is about a year YOUNGER than Mientkiewicz, not older as you claim. I won't contend that Lee is better than Minky: he is not. He also isn't that much worse.

Eric Valent only had 89 at-bats as a first-baseman last season, so when looking at his numbers keep in mind that you're dealing with a very small sample size. I would guess that he would even out over time, and is probably a league-average first-baseman, range-wise. His pickin' skills over there, though, are probably well below average.

Wow , I lost all credibility with my very first post here ! lol That's a record .

I don't know how I got the wrong impression of Lee . I thought he was much older . My deep apologies to everyone . Please don't get the impression I don't research . I do . It was a bad oversight on my part .

But , to be fair to me , I stand firm on the fact that Lee's injury has not come up in the comparisons laid out . That's just as bad an oversight as my own , in my humble opinion .

Big Saber fan , and a strong believer in Valent's offensive potential in the right platoon spot . I agree it's not a great defensive sample to draw on , but it's all I have . Before last year , he hadn't had an extended look .

Here's hoping my second post is better than my first . (smile)

Gsharpe -

No worries. I agree that Lee is not an ideal candidate, but I also don't think that Mientkiewicz is a long-term solution. We're probably looking at a couple of years tops for either, so Lee would be a reasonable investment on one-year deals for that timeframe.

Again, Minky is the better player, no question, just not worth trading your only first-base prospect for, particularly when a player who is very similar can be had for nothing.

I like Valent's bat, too, and he should see plenty of action off the bench, as well as filling in for Floyd during his inevitable stints on the disabled list.

This was my least favorite move of the year. We have paid a lot to put plus offensive players ain traditional defensive spots (Piazza, Reyes, Beltran). That is diluted by taking a spot that is usually offensively oriented (1b, and putting a below average (for the position) player in there. It is like Timo in RF.