What Are Our Options?

Found a site that lists all upcoming free agents by position and includes their current ages:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/2009-mlb-free-a.html

So far, I'm hearing a lot of interesting rumors.
The Mets will not pursue Sheets, Sabathia, Burnett, Perez, or Martinez.
They are leery of offering big money to K-Rod after the Wagner debacle: $44 mil+ for 96 IP.
Despite sending Murphy to winter ball to learn 2B, they will pursue Orlando Hudson.
Schoenweis, Heilman, and Castillo will be traded with the Mets eating most of his remaining contract.
They will pursue back-end starters, specifically Derek Lowe and Jason Marquis.
Delgado's option will be picked up (cost to cut ties is $4 mil, cost to pick up is $12 mil so it only really costs $8 mil...). If they trade him from there is anyone's guess.

As per SHK's request for gritty, gutty players I perused the FA list and saw a few guys that fit the bill.
Mark Millar--OK glove, decent bat, huge fire. One of the real soul guys for the Sox in their comeback.
David Eckstein--doesn't fit a position as of now unless we move Reyes, leave Murph in LF, and abandon further 2B pursuits.
Ryan Dempster--probably high cost after this season but is reknowned for being one of the funniest men in baseball and a clubhouse leader.
Sean Casey--to paraphrase TR, "speak constantly and carry a small stick." Called the Mayor for a reason. Beloved by everyone, great defender, minimal O. Would need to get a thumper in LF to compensate.
OF prospects are pretty similar--no outstanding character guys. Quite a few quiet producers though...
Tons of middle men but who knows what you ever get there.
Closers are kinda sparse but I think they're overrated as big names. Find someone with good stuff and give him a chance rather than overpay on what amounts to a gamble.

Anyone see anything real attractive here? I'm typing this on my Blackberry so it's kinda tough to do major analysis right now.

And what are our REALISTIC trade moves? I heard Reyes+ for Doc Halladay but I think you need a ton more to land him.

There's only one question left to answer

Which is a bigger meltdown: the financial markets today, or the Metties?

Well, there is one thing we do know

Today's action was a sweet catharsis, and vindication, for Willie. At least he won't have to go through any of these press conferences any more, and can just laugh at his back-stabbing replacement.

That's about right

Same team. Same season. Same meltdown. Same inability to hold a lead, score runs when needed, or come from behind. Different year.

On the plus side, I'll have more free time this week.

Chip Caray of TBS

Most annoying douche announcer ever.

'Nuff Said

Since July 4, Santana is 9-0 with a 2.09 ERA in 17 starts. He threw his third complete game this season, and it was the sixth of his impressive career. The last Mets pitcher to throw a shutout on three days' rest was Dwight Gooden on Sept. 16, 1987.

First in the NL in ERA and IP, and up to 16 wins. Unlike Lincecum or Webb, Johan's kept his team in the playoff hunt down to the last day of the season. Cy Young?

So this is where we are

We're down to Johan possibly pitching on 3 days rest after a 125-pitch marathon outing. There's most likely 2 ways this goes: (1) Johan can only go 5 or 6 innings, after which the bullpen blows whatever good work he did, or (2) he goes 7-8 innings, but is now exhausted for possible Wed playoff game. I hope Johan has the arm strength to pull this off down the stretch, but it's definitely a reach.

I am a "Second Chance" NLDS ticket raffle winner

Meaning that the first set of winners said, "ain't no way we're making a deposit in the Bank of Shea, only to not get our money back for three months."

Bought four seats.

Shea Hey Kids contributors get first dibs if they'd like to come. SHK? DC? Tix are $67 each, Loge Reserved.

Now THAT's a box score

This is why Johan is the best.

IP: 8.0
H: 7
ER: 2
BB: 2
SO: 10
HR: 0
PC-ST: 125-86
ERA: 2.64

Omar re-upped

Omar on the verge of getting signed for 4 more years. Hmmm, so I guess when Wilpon said at the end of last year that it was Omar's decision on whether to retain Willie and he would "sink or swim" with him, he wasn't worried about sinking with Manuel?

At the end of the day someone has got to be held accountable for relying heavily on old and/or injured players with questionable futures (Alou, El Duque, Pedro, Sanchez, Valentin, and Castillo, to name a few). And that someone is Omar if we don't advance in the playoffs this year, especially given the payroll.

Let's be honest: while Omar has made some good trades, I think there are a lot of GMs who could step into his situation and do a good job. His situation being that he's given the largest payroll in NL (and consistently top 5 in all of baseball), and only needs to put together a 90-win team to make the playoffs each year.

Maine ready to go?

Simulated a 5 batter inning, with no ill effects. The plan is to have him in the pen pitching 1 inning per outing, maximum.

Please, please, please, get activated soon.

End of an era

Obviously, there are no major Yankee sympathizers on this blog. But yesterday was an important day in baseball history.

Yankee stadium's beginnings, in the early '20's, marked the period of time when baseball began to pass boxing and horseracing as our most popular sport. A greater collection of superstars played in the Bronx than any other stadium, and the number of chamionships speak for themselves.

Many current and former Yankee players are obviously classy guys, and it was good seeing Whitey, Yogi, Goose and Willie getting to revel in one last spin around the diamond.

That said, it's nice to think back to the beginning of the Yankee stadium era. The senior circuit team in NY, the Giants, had been the dominant squad in the first two decades of the century, had more titles and, in John McGraw, the greatest manager in the game at the time (and some would say of all time). With the rise of Ruth and Bronx Bombers, McGraw banished the Yankees from the Polo Grounds, causing the need for Yankee stadium. This was a turning of the tide in NY (and US) sports history.

I don't want to deny the greatness of the things the Yankees accomplished at Yankee stadium, nor the importance of the venue. But perhaps 2008 will ultimately be remembered for another turning of the tide, and the balance of power in NY will shift back to the senior circuit. And maybe in 80 years, when Citi Field is being replaced, people will think back on David Wright as a latter day Gehrig, and a dozen stars we don't even know about yet will get a similar and fitting tribute.

Hmmmm

That's strange, I could've sworn that I told Minaya at the end of last year to dump Blowenweis. Even if I didn't, surely he couldn't have been dumb enough to keep a guy who can't pitch to more than one batter, and even that one batter is iffy. So surely it wasn't "The Show" in there blowing another game today. Surely it was someone else.

And surely Minaya went out of his way in the offseason and before the trading deadline this year to beef up our bullpen, so we're not stuck with the same bunch of losers down the stretch this year as in '07. Never mind, what am I saying? We got rid of mota, how silly of me to forget.

Rejected

Well, I got my official form rejection email today from the Mets for NLDS tix. With some slight modifications we have this rejection for the Mets themselves:

2008 POSTSEASON TICKET OPPORTUNITY
-- Thank You for Participating
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mets Fan Player:

Thank you for participating in the online random drawing for
the opportunity to purchase tickets for potential 2008 Mets
postseason games scheduled to be played at Shea Stadium regular season.

While Since your entry was not selected to purchase tickets for
potential play in the National League Division Series games, YOU DO NOT REMAIN REGISTERED for random drawings for talent-based opportunities to purchase tickets for potential play in the 2008 National League Championship Series and World Series games most likely not scheduled to be played at Shea, should since the Mets will almost certainly not participate, and for any additional Division Series drawings post-season games.

Thank you again for your participation meekly folding.


The New York Mets MLB and Mets Fans.

When will he listen

Omar, if you want to turn the Mets into a team worthy of their enormous payroll next year, BEEF UP THE BULLPEN. I'm not sure how many times we need to make the point for him to listen, but with all the blown saves they've had this year, especially the ones where we gave up 3 or more runs to blow the lead, it is time to fix it. There's going to be a lot of spots to replace, since Sanchez, Wagner, Heilman, Feliciano and Smith all are useless. But that's what it's going to take. A wholesale replacement.

Which Mets Starter should become the closer?

Maine

Overall OPS: .694
1st inning OPS: .633
High Leverage OPS: .924


Perez

Overall OPS: .722
1st inning OPS: .814
High Leverage OPS: .631


Pedro

Overall OPS: .857
1st inning OPS: 1.053
High Leverage OPS: .750


Pelfrey

Overall OPS: .731
1st inning OPS: .737
High Leverage OPS: .656

And I thought Ayala was the answer.

No, not really. I'm just kidding.

I sure hope Maine comes back soon, and goes straight to the pen.

Remember this one?

Willie Randolph=Stay classy
Jerry Manuel=I'll cut you

The bottom line with Manuel is that he's a douchebag that sold out the manager that brought him here to get his shot. And he doesn't have half Willie's class.

If Manuel goes on to be a hall of fame manager (I'd bet the farm against that one) for the Mets and win 6 titles, I'll still think he's a douchebag.

I'll be happy for the Mets in spite of their manager, not because of him.

Manuel vs. Randolph

"Jerry has a different style and temperament," David Wright told The Post two weeks ago. "Willie was all business. Jerry likes to joke around a lot and keep everyone relaxed. There aren't as many rules about stuff off the field, like dress codes on the plane and music in the clubhouse.

"I'm not saying one style is better than the other, but there's definitely a difference."

Perhaps he meant to say: Under one manager we were losing, under the other we're winning. I'm not saying winning is better than losing, but there's definitely a difference.

Now THAT'S a good sign

Tonight I saw something on gamecast i haven't seen in a long, long time:

C. Delgado intentionally walked

What a change from the beginning of the year!

Ummm.....

From Newsday:

Burgos arrested

Ambiorix Burgos, the reliever whose career has been derailed by injuries, was arrested and charged with assault and harassment early Tuesday morning.

A spokesman for the New York Police Department said that officers responded to a call at 114th Street involving what appeared to be a domestic dispute. Police said the woman who filed the complaint was punched and kicked.

In a statement, the Mets said: "We're very disturbed by the allegations that led to the arrest Tuesday night. He was in New York for reasons unrelated to the New York Mets. We will closely monitor the situation."

Big win

Ollie spit the bit, but the team kept fighting back. This was a big one tonight. A character gaining, "refuse to lose," type win.

Glad I put in my entry for those tix.

Think positive thoughts

Time to register for your '08 playoff tix here.

Catching up with Mike Carp

Nice to see Carp finished up strong. In August, he had an OPS over .1000, including 16 extra base hits (and 5 HRs). In his first full season at AA at the young age of 22, Carp hit .299 with 17 HRs and 72 RBIs. At the same time, he showed a nice eye, and had an OBP over .400.

It will be interesting to see if the Mets plan to give him a shot next year (either on his own or platooning with Evans) or if they decide to bring in a bopper at 1B.

How quickly we forget

In the pre-steroid era, even the thought of 660 HR's was impossible. That's probably why the original Say Hey Kid was so revered. That, and the fact that he was the greatest CF to ever field the position.

Well, at least one of the Mets who came up in the '70's knew enought to pay his respects.

Coles stays classy

I don't know the "right" way to handle it, when your best friend gets uncermoniously dumped by the team, but you could do a lot worse than what Coles has done here. Both in honoring his friend while not becoming a distraction to the team.

Laveranues Coles, who was upset at Chad Pennington being released, yesterday ended his media boycott.

"I just kind of kept to myself and I wanted to wait until this day to finally let it pass us and let it be something that's in the rearview mirror," Coles, who had one catch for five yards, said. "Now it's come and gone and I can return to being me."

Coles said he was the first person Pennington spoke to when he learned he was being released.

"When you develop a special relationship like I had with Chad, of course it's something you take kind of personal," Coles said.

Coles made it clear he has never had a problem with Favre, saying, "There's been no quarrels between Brett and I at all. There has never been since day one."

Huh?

Check out this quote from Jerry Manuel on the news that Wagner is almost certainly gone for the year:

"It's bittersweet," Manuel said. "Bitter in the sense that we lost Billy Wagner probably for the remainder of the year."

Uh-huh, and sweet in the sense that...? (insert crickets chirping here) ....

I can only assume he meant sweet that they had just beaten the philthies 6-3, but still. Strange choice of words with no explanation..

PPD: Day-Night tomorrow with the Phils

So Schmidtty called us out.

And Myers shut us out.

God rained us out.

The Phils are only two out.

The offense better break out.