Multiple reports out of Chicago continue to suggest that the White Sox hope to trade one of Javier Vazquez or Fredd Garcia for younger, more 
affordable starting pitching.
…the buzz in new york has been that the white sox are seeking a pitcher like Mike Pelfrey, or Aaron Heilman, in exchange for vazquez…
Vazquez must be paid $9.5 million next season, and can be offered arbitration in 2008.
In the Chicago Tribune, Mark Gonzales still feels that the Rangers match up best in a deal for Vazquez or Garcia, or Jon Garland, since Texas has three, quality, young starting pitchers in Nick Masset, Eric Hurley and John Danks.
…i will continue to say it, but i would rather see pelfrey in new york’s starting rotation next season than vazquez or garcia…
Meanwhile, according to multiple reports out of Chicago, now that the Cubs have signed Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez, they will turn their attention to rounding out their starting rotation, by 
either trading for a pitcher like Rockies RHP Jason Jennings or Indians RHP Jason Westbrook, or signing a free-agent like LHP Ted Lilly or RHP Gil Meche.
The New York Post and the Daily News both suggest that the Yankees may soon make an offer to Lilly, 30, who was traded by the Yankees in 2002 for Jeff Weaver.
…the market buzz seems to be that lilly, meche, Vicente Padilla, etc, are looking to net deals in the area of four-years, $40 million…
According to David Lennon in Newsday, the Mets intend to bid on exclusive negotiating rights with Japanese LHP Kei Igawa, who was made available last Friday by his team in Japan. Due to Thanksgiving, the standard four-day bidding period will extend to next Monday, so team’s have an additional three days to submit a bid.
Igawa, 27, went 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA last season in Japan. He struck out 194 batters, and lead his league in strikeouts in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
…the early buzz around igawa had been that he the braves would make a big push for him, since it is said that he prefers to pitch in a warm climate…
The Braves, however, will not make a bid for Igawa, according to the team’s GM John Schuerholz, who recently talked with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Mets OF Moises Alou is cousins with former-Mets RHP Mel Rojas.
…ouch…
…just kidding, i am sure mel is a great guy…but, wow, that was a dark time in shea…
…thanks to matt m, and wikipedia, for the information…
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As such, inCircle has built a customized chat specifically for MetsBlog.com, which has eliminated the audio, and appears more stable. I have placed the new chat in the left-hand sidebar.
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Next season, due to Interleague Play, the Mets will face the Yankees, Tigers, A’s and Twins, the four American League playoff teams from last season.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time in 10 seasons of interleague play that a team will face all four of the other league’s defending playoff teams in one year.
…ugh…
Also, while the rule tends to be that each team will play its league’s non-division opponents six times each, with a three-game series at home and on the road, the Mets and Dodgers will meet 10 times in 2007, with seven of those games in Los Angeles.
…apparently, it’s 1988 everyone…break out your starter jackets…
…meanwhile…
The Phillies will play the Blue Jays, White Sox, Indians, Royals and Tigers.
The Braves play the Twins, Indians and Tigers along with six games against the Red Sox.
The Marlins play the Indians, Royals, White Sox, Twins and the Devil Rays, who they play six times, by the way.
Lastly, the Nationals face the Orioles, Twins, Blue Jays, Tigers, and Indians.
…ok, enough already…
…ditch interleague, and go back to the balanced schedule…
…mlb is making money faster than they can count…interleague worked…now go back to being fair…
To view the Mets tentative schedule for 2007, go to MLB.com.
With 15 first-place votes, Twins DH Justin Morneau has been named the American League’s Most Valueable Player, according to the Associated 
Press.
…the buzz around new york had been that morneau and Yankees SS Derek Jeter would actually tie, though most people in new york, naturally, believed that jeter was worthy of winning the award by himself…
Jeter finished second with 12 first-place votes, while Red Sox DH David Ortiz finished third.
In a chat for ESPN.com, Rob Neyer and a reader had the following exchange…
Anthony: Rob, what’s your take the the Mets new stadium Citifield paying homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers with more than 2 statues and a few other memorial sites on the premises?
Neyer: My take is that an owner of a New York baseball team who builds a 42,500-seat stadium obviously has absolutely no regard for his team’s fans.
…neyer puts down the mets so often, i am starting to lose track of what he is griping about…
…is he irritated by the number of seats, which i agree with, but is standard practice for new stadiums, or is he irritated about the dodgers items, which are what the question is about…
Matt Meyers is a writer for Baseball America, and often covers the Mets farm system for the website’s invaluable minor-league coverage.
In early January, Meyers will publish his organizational report for the Mets, including his Top 10 Prospects, which will also be featured in Baseball America’s 2007 Prospect Handbook, which is due out in late January.
Meyers was kind enough to give me his opinion of Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick, who the Mets recently acquired in a trade with the Marlins, as well as his thoughts on Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez and Lastings Milledge, given the recent signing of Moises Alou.
To listen to this nine-minute interview, click the play button below…
During the conversation, Meyers had the following to say reading…
…the trade with the Marlins…
“I get the sense from the Mets perspective that they were dealing from a position of strength…the Mets bullpen is pretty locked in at the top, obviously Billy Wagner is there for the long haul, Aaron Heilman is there for a little while longer, I’m thinking they’ll bring Chad Bradford back, Duaner Sanchez will be back…so, there’s not a lot of room there for them to plug in these minor league guys. Not to mention that their third-rounder from this year, Joe Smith, they’re really high on and there’s a good chance he could factor in to the bullpen at some point next year, as well.
“From that perspective, I think the Mets were just trying to build from a position of strength and and sure up a weakness, which is starting pitching depth…and now they’ve added two guys, who are both left-handers, on the verge of the big leagues, in Bostick and Vargas, and while it’s hard to see either of these guys being stars, one of them could be a serviceable big-league starter.”
The team’s plan for Gomez, Milledge and Martinez, given the acquisition of 
Alou…
“It’s kind of hard to say, I mean, Martinez isn’t really a factor at this point because he is not gonna be big-league ready for at least a couple of more years – so, he’s a little bit more of a back-burner guy.
“I will say that Gomez really impressed me this season with his performance. I know last year,m when I was doing the calls for the Handbook and talking with a lot of scouts and people in the Mets organization, a lot of people said they thought Gomez was as good, if not better than Milledge – and I kind of scoffed at that. But, he really took a step forward this year and now I can see why they felt that way. He certainly has more impressive raw tools, in terms of speed and arm strength, and probably as a defender as well.
“I still don’t think the acquisition of Alou means that Milledge will definitely be traded. He turns 22 in April, so it would not be unheard of for him to spend another year at Triple-A”.
On the talent of Milledge and Gomez, specifically…
“They keep saying that the power is gonna come for Gomez…but I think the same can be said for Milledge, because of his incredible bat speed. That being said, I don’t think neither of these guys will be a 30–HR hitter. But, the thing that the Mets have in their favor is that, essentially, Carlos Beltran hits like a corner outfielder – so you might be able to sacrifice a little power from one of your corner guys.”
You can subscribe to future MetsBlog’s miniCasts by 
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You can download an mp3 of this interview by clicking here.
…well, i am pleasantly surprised to have received my credit for unused Mets playoff tickets…thanks to my cynical view of customer service in general, i was near certain this would drag out through the 
winter, potentially in to next spring…at which point i’d have to haggle with the team over getting cash, instead of some credit towards future tickets…
…the team announced that it would take four-to-six weeks to receive a full refund, and don’t you know we are at the five-week mark…amazing…
…well done, mets…i’m impressed…
…this is a long interview, but worth reading…
…i love that the core group of famous mets fans tend to be a bizarre collection of comics and musicians…i don’t know what this says about what it means to me a mets fan, but i suspect it says something…i need to think about this more…
Mets Walkoffs sets forth a list of commandments that we and the Mets must abide when welcoming newly-signed outfielder Moises Alou.
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