Daily Archives: November 20, 2006
Phillies 1B Ryan Howard was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player, according to the Associated Press.
…thome, what…
Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols finished second with 12 first-place votes. No other players received first-place votes beside Pujols and Howard.
Mets OF Carlos Beltran received one second-place vote and five third-place votes, while Mets 3B David Wright received one third-place vote, as did SS Jose Reyes.
…another way to look at this is that the mets got 402 points from mvp votes, spread out over beltran, reyes, wright and Carlos Delgado, more than any other team combination…
…Update…3:01 pm…
…actually, it appears that howard and Chase Ultey total out at 486 total votes, more than the mets foursome…
…booooooooooo…
…oh well…
With the Cubs and Alfonso Soriano having agreed to an eight-year, $136 million contract, Ken Rosenthal, at FOXSports.com, writes that the Blue Jays should realize they have no chance of signing OF Vernon Wells to a contract extension, much like the Braves with OF Andruw Jones, as well.
According to Rosenthal, Wells and Jones are much more valuable to a team than Soriano, who will earn $17 million per season from his new contract.
…the buzz from toronto had been that the blue jays could look to trade wells, assuming he could not be re-signed to a long-term deal…however, another school of thought out of toronto suggests that, despite his extreme value going forward, the blue jays intend to keep wells, do their best to win, and hope to woo him back with the team’s success…
…meanwhile, the buzz from atlanta is that jones is being shopped quite heavily, right now, having been linked to suitors such as the Angels and Orioles…
MLB.com is auctioning off a Carlos Beltran, game-used batting helmet from Game Seven of the 2006 National League Championship Series.
…yikes…
Jeff O, a reader from MetsBlog, asks via e-mail, “If you wear it, do you turn into a Stone too?”.
…as much as it still hurts, that’s pretty funny, jeff…
At his blog for ESPN.com, Buster Olney writes that the Cubs have interest in free-agent OF Cliff Floyd, who would fill out a Chicago outfield with Alfonso Soriano and Jacque Jones.
…the cubs have been interested in floyd for years, it seems…remember all the floyd for Sammy Sosa chatter from a few years back…no, you don’t…oh, i see, you erased it from your memory…i don’t blame you…
…seriously, cliffy would do well in wrigley, back in his old stomping grounds…i hope he is happy…
…from what i can gather, the mets will continue to pursue free-agent LHP Barry Zito, regardless of what happens with Tom Glavine, who will most likely become a free-agent tonight, but who many suspect will eventually return to shea…
…the buzz around the big apple suggests the mets game plan may be as follows…
…sign zito and sign glavine and be done with the starting rotation…unless, of course, a worth-while trade can be made to bring on a young starting pitcher for the future, particularly left-handed, like Marlins LHP Scott Olsen, in exchange for a guy like Lastings Milledge…
…if they lose out on zito, but can retain glavine, they’ll aim to sign a younger, free-agent, left-handed pitcher, like a Ted Lilly, or Randy Wolf…
…if they can get zito, but not glavine, they’ll aim to trade for a second-tier, veteran starting pitcher, like a Javier Vazquez, or sign a veteran pitcher, like a Mark Mulder, who will warrant a one-year, incentive-laden contract…
…if the above comes to fruition, we could be watching a pitching rotation that could look, essentially, as follows…
1. Glavine or Zito
2. Zito or Vazquez
3. Orlando Hernandez or Mulder or Lilly
4. John Maine
5. Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, El Duque, Brian Bannister
6. Pedro Martinez (due back in august)
…the buzz from baseball still seems to be that the Dodgers, Cubs and Mets will be the most serious suitors for zito, while the Dodgers and Mariners remain the most likely destination for free-agent RHP Jason Schmidt…
…also, the rangers appear quite serious in their efforts to trade for one of the White Sox starting pitchers, whether Jon Garland, Mark Beurhle 
or vazquez…
…the word from baltimore is that the o’s have been in talks with the Braves regarding Tim Hudson…if the Braves trade hudson, i wonder if that will free up money to throw at glavine…of course, this does nothing to clear up the inevitable no-trade clause issue…
Meanwhile, at FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal believes the Angels may look to make a big push to sign Zito, having promised to make a big move in this market, while having already lost out on Alfonso Soriano.
…i can totally see the angels going overboard and offering up the seven-year deal that zito and his agent, Scott Boras, are seeking…the word in new york is that the mets are willing to sign him to a deal similar to what Roy Oswalt got from houston, such as five-years, $70 million…
Rosenthal also points out that the Cubs, who have already signed Soriano and Aramis Ramirez this off-season, will now turn their attention to upgrading their starting rotation, as well.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs like free-agent RHP Gil Meche, who is reported to be seeking a four-year deal worth $8 million per season.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Phillies have interest in free-agent C Mike Piazza.
…damn…as much as it pains me to say this, signing piazza makes a ton of sense for philly…plus, he’s a local guy for them…
…if he returns home, though, he has to go back to rocking the mullet, the wristbands and the pencil-thin, handle-bar mustache…it’s the right thing to so…
Over the weekend, free-agent Nomar Garciaparra and the Dodgers agreed to a two-year, $18-million contract, reports the Los Angeles Times.
…this was inevitable, seeing as most all buzz in baseball believed nomar, and his wife, who love los angeles, would never leave their home…
Also, the Times reports that the Angels have signed right-handed reliever Justin Speier to a four-year, $18 million deal.
…four years…for a right-handed reliever…who is 33 years old…with a 4.09 career era…wow…i mean, wow…what is going on out there…
Lastly, according to the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers and free-agent OF Frank Catalanotto have agreed to reunite by signing a three-year deal worth more than $13 million.
…when the market opened, and i noticed catalanotto’s name on the free-agent list, my first thought was that he’d make a perfect fit for the mets, as he could play left-field, as well as second base…he’s smart, he’s scrappy and he plays hard…i bet the rangers are thrilled to get him back…
This weekend, the Cubs and free-agent OF Alfonso Soriano agreed to an eight-year, $136 million deal.
…the thought of soriano ever being worth $17 million when he is 38 years old is near laughable…
…anyway, with soriano off the market, as well as the mets having likely filled left-field with Moises Alou, taking new york off the map, the rest of the outfield market appears to be picking up steam…
Though the Giants and Astros are said to be the most aggressive suitors for free-agent OF Carlos Lee, don’t be surprised to see the Orioles make a serious push for his services, reports at Jayson Stark at ESPN.com. At FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal agrees, adding that Lee may ultimately land a six-year, $100 million deal thanks to the price set by Soriano.
…it would seem to me that by making a heavy push to acquire lee, and getting him, would suggest that the o’s will be keeping Miguel Tejada, because tejada followed by lee is pretty serious…
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros have offered Lee a deal worth $12 million per season over five years.
…the buzz around baseball has long been that lee will eventually sign in houston, but i’m thinking they may need to step up that figure thanks to soriano…
Meanwhile, the Angels, whose owner vowed to, “do something big,” this off-season, may look to acquire a power-bat via the trade market, such as Red Sox OF Manny Ramirez, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The Mets have until 11 pm tonight to accept or decline a $14 million option that could guarentee Tom Glavine will be with the Mets next season.
According to endless reports over the last few weeks, all signs suggest the Mets will not accept the option, thus allowing Glavine to test the free-agent market.
…the option for next season also includes a $2 million bonus should glavine make the all-star team, meaning he could essentially cost the team $16 million when all is said and done, which is more than the mets appear to be comfortable paying…especially since their only competition, the braves, will never meet that price on the open market…
Glavine has repeatedly told reporters that he will consider pitching only for the Mets or the Braves.
…word from atlanta is that glavine intends to take this week off, spend some time alone with his family, weigh his options and hopefully make a decision next week, in the days prior to the winter meetings, which begin in orlando during the first few days of december…
Braves GM John Schuerholz recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he would like to speak with Glavine, and has interest in bringing him home to the Braves, but added that his organization cannot afford to spend top money to do so.
In the New York Times, Ben Shpigel characterizes the Braves as, “very interested in Glavine.”
…the buzz from new york seems to be that the odds are in favor of glavine returning to the mets, signing a one-year deal worth around $10 million, possibly with an option for 2008…
On Friday, in his blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dave O’Brien wrote that a major sticking point between Glavine and the Braves may come down to the pitcher’s request for a no-trade clause, something Schuerholz has made a policy of refusing, whether to Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, and so on.
…the mets will give him a no-trade, though…at least, they did in his last contract, so it is safe to assume he will get one from the mets again…
…if o’brien is correct, this is good news for those of us who hope glavine remains with the mets…
…i mean, how on earth does he turn down more money, an option for the following season, a no-trade clause and a team on the rise, to return home to atlanta, who may or may not do well next season and whose fans wrote him off as a traitor years ago…
…sure he could sign with atlanta, but if his reasoning is to be close to his family, how will that be the case if in, say, august, he’s traded to a team on the west coast for the rest of the summer because atlanta is not winning again…
…it’s not worth the risk, tommy, come back to shea…one more year…get a new york ring and your 10 wins and live happily ever after with your kids in atlanta after next season…
Over the weekend, multiple reports, citing a variety of sources, reported that the Mets and free-agent OF Moises Alou are 
close to agreeing on a one-year, $8 million deal with an option for 2008.
According to David Lennon in Newsday, the Mets spent Sunday working with Alou on the deal, which is expected to be announced early this week.
…the buzz from shea suggests that, while the Mets will not confirm that alou will soon be signed, they have acknowledged that the two sides are in negotiations…
At his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin relays a conversation with Henry Schulman, who covered Alou and the Giants for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Schulman, who talks to Rubin about Alou’s health and offensive ability, notes…
“I talked to Mo briefly Saturday and he sounded pumped about New York. He wants another ring.”
Also around the blogosphere, at Metstradamus, John compares Alou to a potentially-stale container of sour cream, while the Mets are Better than Sex sees Alou as a ‘brilliant’ signing.
