Michael Bourn Wants at Least Five Years; Banner Day Moved to May 11th

So, this sounds pretty typical of someone represented by Scott Boras. It may or may not be Michael Bourn making these contract demands, but even though Spring Training is less than two weeks away for a few teams, Boras remains steadfast in his demand of at least a five year deal for his client, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Needless to say, Sandy Alderson and the Mets are not willing to go that far to acquire Bourn.

While there are plenty of baseball people surprised Bourn is still without a team as we approach February, it sounds equally crazy that Boras won’t change his mind and say he’d accept a two or three-year deal for the 30-year-old center fielder. When he depends on his legs for most of his game (stealing bases and playing defense), it’s tough to still command that long of a contract when his market is virtually non-existent, and it just got smaller now that the Mets will not go after him if this is what he’s looking for. It’s odd to me that Boras is not budging on Bourn; he originally said Rafael Soriano would commond four-years and $60 million in the open market, but decided to settle for two-years and $28 million guaranteed from the Nationals.

May 27, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; Radio announcers Howie Rose , Evan Roberts , former New York Mets players Dwight Gooden and Rusty Staub during pregame ceremonies celebrating banner day at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

I’m glad the Mets won’t meet this enormous asking price for Bourn, as my limit for him would have been a three-year deal. However, it would have been nice if they went after Scott Hairston a little harder and brought his 20 homers and 57 RBI back to be a part of a platoon. I understand he wanted to be a starter, but Alderson didn’t have to low-ball him with the contract offer, either. Watching him sign with the Cubs was a bigger blow for me than seeing Justin Upton head to the Braves or seeing Bourn eventually sign elsewhere. We’ll see if there are any tricks left up Alderson’s sleeve…although it looks like there’s absolutely nothing.

There was never a chance of Ronny Cedeno coming back to play in Flushing this season, but it became official yesterday, as the middle infielder signed a one-year/$1.15 million deal to join the St. Louis Cardinals. Although Cedeno wasn’t happy about not getting a starting job last year, he will likely be a back-up again in 2013, but could start the season as a regular, with Rafael Furcal possibly not being ready for Opening Day. According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Brandon Hicks is the favorite to take Cedeno’s spot, as he’s already on the 40-man roster. Omar Quintanilla will also be trying to make the team out of Spring Training, and will be competing with Hicks.

Even after signing Shaun Marcum to a one-year deal late last week, the Mets are still rumored to be in the market for another starting pitcher, but it definitely won’t be Carl Pavano, who recently suffered a ruptured spleen, and will be out 6-8 weeks. His agent said he is OK now, but it was a very serious condition, as the right-hander lost a lot of blood. I’m glad he’s going to make a recovery, but also glad he won’t be a Met. New York has also shown an interest in Javier Vazquez, but the hurler hasn’t indicated yet whether or not he wants to pitch this year, and will be out for at least another 2-3 weeks after getting meniscus in his right knee repaired.

The organization left the decision on when to have Banner Day this year to the fans, and they have spoken, as it has been changed from May 26th to May 11th, a 1:10pm game against the Pirates. The original date against the Braves was also supposed to be a 1:10pm start, but ESPN recently selected it to be moved to 8:05pm for that week’s edition of Sunday Night Baseball. Fans that have already bought tickets for the 26th can email bannerday@nymets.com to get them switched to the 11th. I think it was a nice gesture by the Mets to give fans the opportunity to choose when they wanted to have this event, since the event truly is about them. However, I thought it was a little weird that they didn’t just move it to another day game themselves, but it was cool to have a say in it.

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