Monthly Archives: November 2006
In conjunction with New York Cares, he Mets will hold a Holiday Coat Drive at Gate D of Shea Stadium on Thursday, December 14, and Friday, December 15, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Fans who donate a new or ‘gently worn’ winter coat will be eligible for tickets to select 2007 Mets home games.
New York Cares is a nonprofit organization serving more than 850 diverse nonprofit agencies, public schools and other deserving organizations throughout New York.
Last night, I made two posts that may have been glossed over during the barage of morning news and note.
First, for a state of the Mets bullpen, go here.
Next, for a rant about the Mets and signing older players, go here.
…enjoy…
According to Murray Chass, in the New York Times, Omar Minaya and Red SOX GM Theo Epstein have not talked about Manny Ramirez during this off-season.
Chass, however, makes a solid case as to why Minaya should reconsider.
Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that the Dodgers and Padres remain the most likely landing place for Ramirez. The Giants, who had interest, do not have enough talent to offer the Red Sox, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
…it would seem that the Padres and Sox must be talking about Jake Peavy and Scott Linebrink, two players who many, many teams, including the Mets, would presumably have interest in…meaning, once again, manny and Epstein will hold up the rest of the markets…
…ugh…
…also…any team that is interested in acquiring ramirez will most certainly pay attention to the following…
In the Toronto Star, Dave Perkins points out that OF Vernon Wells is suspiciously missing from all of Toronto’s marketing materials for next season, leaving Perkins to 
believe the Blue Jays may look to trade Wells “sooner rather than later.”
…the Angels are rumored to be very hot for wells, who would certainly cost them RHP Ervin Santana, who the White Sox are rumored to be after in a deal that would include RHP Freddy Garcia, who many teams, such as the Mets, have inquired about…and so on and so on…
…in other words, we’re looking at a little market grid-lock, folks…
Teams must offer salary arbitration to their free agents by tomorrow night, December 1.
By offering arbitration a team assures itself of draft-pick compensation if the player signs with a new team.
In the past, the deadline was December 7, but was moved up to occur prior to the Winter Meetings, which typically begin in 
the first week of December.
The player has until December 7 to either accept or decline arbitration. If he accepts, the player is considered as re-signed by his old club, with his salary to be determined by a court later in the off-season. If the player declines, he remains a free agent and can negotiate a new deal with any team in major league baseball, including his former club.
For more on salary arbitration go to MLB.com, and for more on free-agent draft-pick compensation read Keith Law at ESPN.com.
In the Denver Post, Troy E. Renck inplies that Roberto Hernandez has joined the Indians.
…renck refers to this union in past-tense, yet it has not been officially reported, as far as i can tell…for what it’s worth, there was buzz in cleveland nearly a week ago that the indians and bert were talking, but no announcement was ever made…
…the buzz from around the pitcher’s market is that these type of relievers can expect roughly $1 million, maybe $2 million, over as many as two-years…
According to the Associated Press, in addition to getting $50 million over five years, Gary Matthews Jr. has a no-trade clause covering the first four years of his deal with the Angels.
Free-agent OF Cliff Floyd has told the New York Post that he has drawn 
interest from the Orioles, Indians, Mariners and A’s.
…i’m sure floyd’s agent appreciates his public memo…
The Post also quotes on Floyd on his feelings towards the Mets, who made very little effort to bring the left-fielder back to Shea.
At his blog for ESPN.com last week, Buster Olney noted that the Cubs have interest in Floyd, who the player lists as his top choice.
A few days ago at Pick Me Up Some Mets, Zoe officially said goodbye to Floyd, who she was totally in love with.
Over the last few days, SNY’s website has been running a two-part Q&A with Marty Noble, who currently covers the Mets for MLB.com.
…this has been an outstanding series…you may disagree with noble from time to time, but the fact remains that he is legendary, not just for being an outstanding writer, but because he has been writing about the Mets for nearly the team’s entire existence…he started at the Bergen Record, then went to Newsday for seemingly forever, and recently moved online to MLB.com…
…i often get a ton of flack from veteran journalists about the minimal attention i have received for writing this blog…the sense i get from them is that i have not paid my dues, or that i am only capable of criticizing other reporters…of course, any one who reads this site knows i have nothing but adoration for nearly every sports columnist, so much so it is embarrassing at times…second, i do not want to pay dues…i do not want in any club…i like my role just fine the way it is…nevertheless, noble, who is a veteran’s veteran, has always been kind and respectuful to me in our limited exchanges via e-mail or instant messenger…and i appreciate that…
…speaking of sportsnet ny’s website, i have a question…
How often do you read SNY.TV, the online home of SportsNet NY?
At Gets By Buckner, Mugs puts forth the idea of using Pedro Martinez in the bullpen next season, such as the Braves did with John Smoltz after he returned from shoulder surgery, writing, “His arm just may not be cut for 100 pitches at once.”
…this will never happen, but it is worth discussing…
…for starters, he has such a wicked array of pitches that it i assume he would be very tough to hit, though, from memory, i do recall him getting hit pretty hard early on in games the last few seasons, so who knows….
…my other concern is that pedro tends to be a tad less effective when pitching from the stretch…i suspect he is not capable of generating his much-needed torque when starting his arm action from a stable position…
…again, this will never happen, mostly because of his stature and ego, but it is an interesting baseball debate nevertheless…
Yesterday, Martinez told the Associated Press that his rehab from shoulder surgery is going ‘better than expected,’ though he still does not expect to re-join the Mets until midseason.
At Baseball Analysts, Jeff Sackman, using a series of statistics and insights, offers up a list of the best defensive players in the minor leagues.
According to Sackman’s analysis, though Mets Double-A OF Carlos Gomez is just out of the top 10 for center fielders, Mets Single-A 3B Jon Malo turns up as the best defensive third baseman in the minor leagues, while Mets Single-A OF Joel Pacheco is the best defensive corner-outfielder.
