About Citi Field...

No big deal. The Mets can always try and get a new marketing deal. How does Lehman Field AIG Field Merrill Field Wachovia Field WaMu Field Mets Field sound?

Hold on there...

Looks like the Wilpons may want to hold off on cutting any more checks. Apparently Citi Group is considering backing out of their 20 year, $400 M marketing deal with Mets. That's quite a shortfall!

Here We Go Again...

SHK, better load up on your Prozac:

Ollie's back for the next 3 years at $12 mil a pop.

No 4th year option for either side though.

I sooo would've preferred Sheets but go figure, Omar went with the guy whose last name ends with a "z."

Oh, well.

Abreu is a bag

And yet, this is pretty impressive. From the Slimes:

Ed Wade is the last man to sign Bobby Abreu to a contract. It was nearly seven years ago, when Wade was the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and Abreu was an emerging star. To keep him out of free agency, Wade signed Abreu to a deal that eventually paid $80 million over six seasons.

Abreu drove in at least 100 runs in every year of the contract. The only other players to do so in each of those years were Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.

Offense?

Manny and Abreu are--amazingly--still available in February. Are the Mets considering moving on either one? Both would make a huge impact on the lineup. And both are, let's face it, Manuel's kind of player. Whatever that means.

UPDATE:

Well, never mind.

What the...

OK, I don't watch much tennis anymore. In the days of Mac and Connors it was fantastic, but Sampras' decade of bland dominance pretty much ruined things.

But I couldn't help notice this madness on Drudge.

I mean really, Roger, try and man up. That's just embarrasing.

And kudos to Nadal for handling it with class. I mean--awkward!!! How do you respond to that??

He must've been a little tempted to go with a, "lighten up, Alice, you can still make me pancakes in the morning."

New role for Reyes

Manuel plans to give Reyes more responsibility next season. It's an interesting managerial decision that I like. If this type of move doesn't force the guy to get more serious - and along with it the rest of his pals - then nothing will. If we're not trading him, might as well try to push him to the next level. I like it and hope it works out well.

Manuel has also revealed how he plans to give Reyes more responsibility and a greater leadership role this season.

Reyes has been criticized at times for immaturity or lack of focus, but either despite that or because of it, Manuel believes Reyes is ready for a bigger leadership mantle.

"No question," Manuel said. "He has to be. I consider him to be coming into [a leader], yes. No question. I think that's the next level for him, is to add responsibility to him. That to me is maturation.

"You can be 50 years old and have no responsibility so you never mature. But if you have some responsibilities, then the maturation process takes over. And I think the more responsibility he has, obviously the more maturity he has, the better player he becomes."

To that end, Manuel plans to have Reyes handle the entire infield's defensive responsibilities, not just those of the shortstop. That might involve where players are positioned or alerting teammates to defensive calls. In essence, Reyes could essentially become some type of defensive infield captain.

Every once in a while,

when you read the comments over at nypost.com after the articles, you pick up a really solid idea from some average joe out there in cyberspace. To wit:

TRADE LUIS CASTILLO, DELGADO , SCHNEIDER , FOR PUJOLS

Posted by: Ameer in NJ on January 26, 2009 6:49 PM

Thanks Ameer! Great idea.

Sing it Joe, sing it

This tell-all from Torre has some real gems that those of you who need to mock your Yankees colleagues will greatly enjoy.

Signings

A couple of real barnburners:

Alex Cora is already signed, sealed and delivered.

Freddy Garcia is imminent.

Oh. Good. Eeee.

What's wrong with the flyin' mowers we got?

They kill pretty good. What's some of them other deadly flying things?

Are you a fan of Top 10 lists

And a fan of the NFL?

Then you'll love to read this one.

Just when I thought I'd heard of every shred of evidence that the Jets franchise was cursed, #3 really hit me hard. I actually needed to verify it.

Which I did.

Here.

If You Want to Have Any Respect for the Organization, Don't Read this Link

Otherwise...

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090114&content_id=3743789&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

Some people don't like the Mets CitiField inaugural patch

See here.

Money quote:

They could've held a coloring contest among preschoolers and still ended up with a better design than the one above.

Luckily, if the Mets decide to answer the outcry by taking another stab at the design, they won't have to look far for a few pointers. Here's the patch the Yankees will be wearing for their inaugural season at new Yankee Stadium this year:

Another Brick in the Wall

Well, the #5 spot is filled.

Tim Redding has signed a 1 yr/2.25m deal with the Metties (incentives may raise the value to 2.5).

I feel much better now. He was far and away the best option for the 5 hole and now I'm not as concerned about Lowe. Don't get me wrong--I still want to see Lowe a s a Met but I think the drop off to Perez or Wolf is much lower than some of the other bottom feeders we were looking at to round out the rotation.

After all, Redding managed to win 10 games for one of the biggest s-box teams in recent history...

And as an aside, I'm reading that Omar prefers Ollie to Lowe (big shocker there).

I now have a dog in the Jets' head coaching search

Don't expect Rex Ryan to show up for his interview for the JetsNew York Jets ' head coaching vacancy armed with Power Point presentations, flow charts or any other fancy displays.

His sales pitch is simple.

"I know I'm a great football coach, and I know I'm a leader of men," said Ryan, the Ravens defensive coordinator who will interview with the Jets next week. "I think that's probably my edge over other people."

Heh, heh. I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I know a certain contributor at this blog that likes to remember the heady days of yore, when Rex's Daddy was throwing punches at his OWN team's offensive coordinator for running the "chuck and duck."

"I'm not blessed with a silver tongue like some of these guys," Ryan said. "What you see is what you get."

Ryan, 46, doesn't need to do much talking. He can just point to what the Ravens' defense has done. It finished second in the NFL (in total defense) this season, and will be on display again on Saturday against Tennessee. No one has rushed for 100 yards against the Ravens in two years.

At the end of the day, everything you need to know about Rex Ryan can be captured in one play: in last week's Ravens win over the Fins, watch Reed's INT TD return. The minute he intercepted the pass, the whole Ravens defense went into "hurt someone" mode. I've never seen a more violent 20 seconds on the football field. I saw no fewer than 3 Dolphins players come within a hair's breath of decapitation on that one play.

Please let someone take this seriously...

Joel Sherman had a few interesting things to say today re: the Metties and BoSox.

He suggests that the Sox want to get a big bat with a good glove and are looking to make a trade. The Sherminator suggests a trade of Beltran for Dice-K and Ellsbury.

Dear God,

PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN!!!

Thank you,

dark commenteer

Other interesting tidbits include Boras and Lowe being pissed that Carlos Silva got more than Lowe is being offered (even though everyone in baseball considers that contract a terrible aberration). Suck it up, Boras--you d-bag!!!

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2009/01/3_up_bosox_hitt.html

Cowher = Jets

Cowher is looking like a strong possibility for next Jets coach. He wants to coach in NY area, be near his daughter (Princeton), and Jets are willing to shift Tannenbaum to accommodate his request to have his own personnel manager.

Good move I say.

And DC, we could end up taking Parcells as well...

Andruw to the Mets?

According to this report, it's a possibility. He's an awesome fielder, but I find him to be a bit of a d-bag. Also, not sure whether his bat has fallen off a cliff or he just sucked in LA for some reason.

The Brett is Dead

Long live the Chad!!!

Whoo-hoo!!!

Go Fins!!!

That's about right

Season on the line, destiny in their own hands, a game against a far inferior opponent, and... a loss. Of course. Except it wasn't the Mets stinking it up yesterday, it was the Jests.

For a team that has the most pro-bowl players in the NFL they surely are making a mockery of that accolade.

My thoughts. First, Matt Cassell better be a NYJ next year. The Jets will not be able to draft or trade for a better QB, so grab the free agent. He will not want to be a backup to Brady, he is EASY pickins'. Second, Jets better draft a good linebacker and receiver with speed. Third, offensive coordinator Schottenheimer better be gone by the Jets tee time next Monday the 29th. This guy's play calls have baffled me for two straight years. Fourth, if the Jets make the playoffs I'd say give Mangini another year to prove himself. If they don't, he's out.

Rotation, Schmotation

Courtesy of mlbtraderumors.com:

"Ken Davidoff of Newsday lays out the Mets' plans for their starting rotation. For Oliver Perez's slot, the Mets want to either re-sign Perez or sign Derek Lowe.  Randy Wolf, Jon Garland, and possibly Tim Redding are the backup plans to these two.

The fifth starter job has sparked an internal debate - it could be given to Jon Niese, or the Mets could bring in competition with pitchers like Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, or Eric Milton.  This decision will not be made this month."

Personally, I'd like to see Ollie or Lowe (I doubt we've got the cash for both--that would be 1st choice) and Redding. I've seen him pitch a few times and he's got some good stuff. I'm not crazy about Wolf and I think we'd have to trade to get Garland.

Colon, Garcia, and Milton are trash-heap guys and we all witnessed how well that's worked the last few seasons. Niese should get a shot but I'd rather have a bit more experience there this year...

The Dream of Many a Met Fan Has Finally Come True

The Scho has been traded for a Dunkin Donuts #3 combo.

I guess Omar finally owned up to a bad signing--he obviously views this trade as addition by subtraction.

Mets are "choke artists"

So says Cole Hamels.

Dude is dead nuts on, can't disagree.

And the Moves Just Keep on Comin'

This is why I looooove the Hot Stove League (and especially the Winter Meetings)!!!

3 teams--12 players

Basically, the Mets get JJ Putz (our new set-up man), OF Jeremy Reed, and RHP Sean Green (no, not that one..).

We gave up Heilman, Endy, Joe Smith, and Mike Carp.

I like this deal--I love Endy but you can't hold up a deal over a 4th or 5th outfielder, we get rid of Heilman, Smith became a wreck down the stretch, and as good as he did last year, Carp is pretty easily replaceable. We got Delgado for another year and you can always find a bat for 1B.

I think there's more on the horizon--Omar's been looking at Juan Pierre and I've seen talk about Michael Young. Could we be sending Reyes to Texas? Young can play 2B or SS, Pierre would step into the leadoff spot, and we'd have a full-time LF...
I guess Murph would then go to 2B unless he was part of the package.

I'd like to see us get Lowe and it sounds like Ollie may be back for 5/$70, or there about.

That would give us a rotation of Johan, Pelf, Maine, Lowe, and Ollie. Sounds good to me...

Bullpen has gone from an Achilles heel to a dominant strength (I guess we'll fill out w/Feliciano, Stokes, Schoenwies, and Knight?).

Only real questions left would be a finalization of 2B and LF and those may be addressed as above--stay tuned...

DC out

Mets sign K Rod

At a reasonable 3 yr, $12M per rate. Way down from his initial asking price.

Yet again, Omar targets a high profile FA, and manages to land him.

I know there is some mixed opinion as to his strategy, but his execution continues to be solid.

Breaking news

The Jets are driving me crazy.

The Pats blow, they have 8 or so starters injured, we should be 2 games up on them, and yet...

How's this, DC?

Looks like something is happening:

The New York Mets are reportedly closing in on a three-year deal for free-agent reliever Francisco Rodriguez.

Sports Illustrated, the New York Post and Newsday reported that the team has offered K-Rod a three-year deal. It is a one-year increase over the two years and $24 million the team is said to have initially offered Rodriguez, who broke the major league single-season saves record last season with 62.

Sports Illustrated and Newsday reported that the deal is worth about $37 million. "It's going to get done,'' a person familiar with the talks said, according to SI.com.

Rodriguez's agent, Paul Kinzer, said, "I am more optimistic than I have ever been" about finalizing a deal between K-Rod and the Mets, according to the Post. "We will know more in the next 24 hours, but so far everything has been positive."

Winter Meetings Round-Up--Day 1

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

BORING!!!

DO SOMETHING!!!

SOMEBODY!!!

So close, yet so far...

Apparently, we had a chance to unload Heilman on the Cubbies.

Omar was approached with an offer to send Heilman to Chicago and in return the Mets would get Jason Marquis, with the Cubs picking up about $4 mil of the $9.675m or so he's owed for next season.

I really don't understand this--turning down a chance to get rid of dead wood and pick up a solid back-of-the-rotation arm? Marquis is one of only 6 pitchers or so to record 10 or more wins in each of the last 6 seasons (or so they said on the FAN during the game he tripled and killed the Mets--didn't seem right to me, but what do I know?).

Anyways, I'm hearing noise that Omar may be packaging Heilman and Feliciano to the Rockies for Huston Street, who will either serve as a set-up man to K-Rod or Fuentes, or split closer responsibilities with Trevor Hoffman (a move that seems to be picking up steam).