Daily Archives: November 8, 2006
Given that former-Redskins QB Heath Shuler (D-NC) won a House seat in North Carolina last night, and that former-Steelers WR Lynn Swann failed in an attempt to represent Pennsylvania, and given that former-SportsCenter anchor Keith Olberman was co-anchor for last night’s MSNBC Election Coverage, Deadspin.com asks, “Do sports and politics mix?”
…i hope so…
…as some of you know, politics, writing and language are my true passions – not sports…however, sports is where i am making a small name for myself…i would like to think i can find a bridge between the two…
…if you have any ideas, let me know…
In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Todd Zolecki reports that the Phillies are expected to make a five-year, $80–million offer to free-agent 2B-OF Alfonso Soriano when the free market opens on Sunday.
…from what i can gather out of new york, the mets have limited interest in soriano, if any…for starters, it is not wise to have two similar players tied up with two similar long term contracts…also, though he is athletic, the buzz around shea has long been that Willie Randolph is not a fan of soriano’s lack of discipline at the plate or on the base paths…
…the phillies, however, are considered the front-runners to land soriano, who rumor has it is seeking a no-trade clause…
…the Dodgers, Angels, Tigers and Cubs all figure to be interested in soriano…
Towards the end of October, Soriano rejected a five-year, $70–million offer from the Washington Nationals, according to the Baltimore Sun…
…the buzz from d.c. is that soriano is seeking a seven-year, $100 million deal, much like the one given to Carlos Beltran by the mets…
Mets SS Jose Reyes hit a walkoff, two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning last night to give his MLB All-Stars a 5-3 win over Japan and a sweep of the five-game series.
…from what i can gather, the japanese crowd began singing the jose-jose-jose song following the home run, which is awesome…
According to an anonymous stork, Jason Mollica, a guest blogger for 
MetsBlog.com, and his wife gave birth to a baby girl this past weekend.
Meanwhile, Old Backstop, whom you know from this site’s comments section, and his wife gave birth to a baby girl last week, as well.
…congratulations, gentlemen…
In Newsday, Jim Baumbach points out that the Mets have contacted free-
agent 2B Adam Kennedy.
…i suspect Willie Randolph must like kennedy, since the 30–year-old second baseman has played in a ton of post-season games and while he may not be the greatest defensive second baseman in the league, he plays hard and makes the necessary and smart play almost all of the time…the buzz from anaheim suggests kennedy is open to playing for the mets…he is said to be seeking at least $3 million per season…
In a column for the New York Times, Murray Chass offers up a variety of 
interesting questions and insinuations about how the Mets may proceed this off-season.
According to Chass, the Mets will tackle the starting rotation as follows: do their best to acquire either Japanese RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka or Marlins LHP Dontrelle Willis, if neither can be had they will seek out free-agent LHP Barry Zito or trade for a pitcher like Padres RHP Jake Peavy.
Daryl Strawberry recently talked with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, to whom he talked quite candidly about his night’s in New York City during the 1980s.
For more, check out Hot Foot…
Last week, the Associated Press reported that Guillermo Mota will be suspended the first 50 games of 2007 after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs.
Mota is a free-agent this off-season.
…prior to the suspension, the buzz from new york suggested the mets would make a serious attempt at re-signing mota, who pitched great for them since joining shea in a late-season trade…
In 18 appearances for the Mets this season, he had a 19-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio while going 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA.
According to Jim Baumbach in Newsday, the Mets were impressed by Mota’s apology.
…this is a tough situation…
…how do the mets value this guy…i mean, how much of an impact did the drugs have on his sensational performance at shea…also, regardless of drugs, the odds of a relief pitcher having back-to-back great seasons are slim to none…
…on the flip side, if he is sorry and clean, he should be forgiven, i think…from a baseball stand point, he’ll certainly be fresh when he re-joins the team in late may…
…like i said, tough call…but i suspect the mets will offer him a minor-league deal, or something to that affect, which he’ll except since few teams will gamble on giving him more…
Teams have until 5 p.m. today to submit a sealed bid to the commissioner’s office for the right to negotiate with Japanese RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka.
According to a report from Japan, Matsuzaka’s current team, the Seibu Lions, will have through Tuesday, November 14, to review these bids, at which point them will announce the winning bidder.
…from what i can gather, the bid will not be made public…however, i suspect it will leak out through other channels…
Once the Lions accept a bid, the MLB team will have 30 days to negotiate with Matsuzaka. If a contract is not agreed upon, the player will return to Japan, and the bid-money will return to the MLB team.
…the buzz from japan suggests that the lions expect to get five to six bids, one from the mets, cubs, rangers, d’backs, red sox and yankees, who are considered the favorites…the orioles and mariners were once interested, but neither team has or will submit a bid…
In the New York Post, Michael Morrissey quotes a major-league official as saying Matsuzaka is certainly a top-of-the-rotation starter, comparing the 26–year-old pitcher to a young Greg Maddux.
