Daily Archives: October 5, 2007
John Delcos of the Journal News reports that Tom Glavine has declined his $13 million player option for next season.
By declining his option, Glavine will recieve a $3 million buyout.
…nothing unexpected…Glavine is now free to listen to offers from other teams, but we can all see the writing on the wall here…
Tagged Tom Glavine |Since the Rotoworld article this morning, we have heard a lot of questions about Japanese OF Kosuke Fukudome.
With that in mind, check out Fukudome’s page at ArmchairGM for more information, as well as a host of video clips.
In August, the 30-year old Fukodome underwent endoscopic surgery to remove bone fragments from his right elbow. It is not expected to affect his value on the open market, as he should be ready for Spring Training.
Teams with interest in Fukudome will not have to go through a posting system, as the Red Sox did with Daisuke Matsuzaka last winter.
Tagged fukudome |...as referenced in the post regarding Peter Gammons‘ column, Rudy Jaramillo is sure to be among the most sought-after coaching free-agents this off-season…a Texas-native, Jaramillo just finished the final year of a three-year contract as hitting instructor for the Rangers, the same role he has had with the club since 1995…for those not familiar, he is well-regarded around baseball for his tutelage of young players as well as his knowledge of hitting mechanics…quite frankly, his players swear by him…with all that said, is it really worth bringing him to the Mets…
…remember, Jaramillo was a candidate to be manager of the Mets just three years ago…and, if the team gets off to a slow start next season, face it, the New York media will be waiting for the other shoe to drop…another thing, Jaramillo will be looking for a substantial raise…would it be fair to give Jaramillo similar money to what Willie Randolph earned in his first season as manager of the Mets…that is a very shaky scenario…if hired, the leash on Randolph, which will already be short, would suddenly become a lot shorter…also, would bringing Jaramillo aboard be fair to Howard Johnson, a man who guided the Mets to a league-best .284 batting average in the second-half of the season…if Rick Down was fired for the offense struggling during the first-half, well then why should Johnson be shuffled out when they actually perform well…
…trust me, i do realize that i might be giving the hitting instructor too much credit for second-half success at the plate…Johnson could certainly move back to his role as first-base coach while Jaramillo could step right in as hitting coach and a mentor for Jose Reyes, but for a team looking for unity, i fear this may cause more friction and second-guessing of the current skipper than its truly worth…
…of course, this will be all moot if the team goes out there and wins…
Tagged Howard Johnson, rick down, Rudy Jaramillo, Willie Randolph |
According to the Associated Press, Orioles Vice President of baseball operations Jim Duquette resigned Friday after two seasons with the team.
Duquette joined the Orioles in October 2005 after working in the front office of the Mets for 14 of the previous 15 seasons, including 1 1/2 years as general manager.
Duquette is best known by Mets fans for trading pitching prospect Scott Kazmir to the Devil Rays for the injury-prone and unproductive Victor Zambrano.
…thanks to steve from nc who also points out that on last night’s law & order, some key characters were supposedly named Minaya, Beltran, and Delgado…i am yet to confirm that this is true or not…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
At his blog for ESPN.com, Peter Gammons provides a listing of what the Mets should do this off-season.
Gammons believes the Mets should learn from their failure to maintain their seven-game lead down the stretch by looking at the their division foe to the south, the Phillies, writing…
“The Phillies are a player-driven team, the best kind of team, and tinkered only with the pitching staff. No one had to psycho-analyze the Phillies, because Jimmy Rollins and Aaron Rowand and Chase Utley come crashing to the park every day and grill it up. Do the Mets need more of that? Yes.”
Gammons even goes so far to suggest the Mets try and sign Rowand, who is a free-agent at the end of season, to play right field.
According to Gammons, Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph need to develop a “stronger partnership,” such as Indians GM Mark Shapiro and Manager Eric Wedge.
Gammons also believes the Mets should hire Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, trade Lastings Milledge for a Joe Blanton-type pitcher, let Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber develop, trade for C Ramon Hernandez, and, of course, stop worrying about the Yankees.
…i agree, for the most part, with gammons on all fronts, especially when it comes to the idea of acquiring a few ‘Eric Brynes-types,’ or as gammons puts it, “wall-crashing gamers”…
Over at his blog for WFAN, Eddie Coleman provides a solution for the Mets this off-season, as well, writing…
“Get Johan Santana.”
Coleman believes the Mets should do so by trading Pelfrey, Humber, Aaron Heilman and Milledge to the Twins for Santana.
…mighty high price to pay eddie c., mighty high…and to the twins, that might just be a starting point…my firm belief this off-season is that omar will attempt to deal one of each tandem of pelfrey/humber and milledge/Carlos Gomez for a starting pitcher…i wouldn’t be shocked to see all four get dealt, but that, of course, is pure speculation on my part…
Tagged Mike Nichols |At Rotoworld.com, Matthew Pouliot projects his hypothetical 2008 lineups for eight of the 16 National League teams.
For the Mets’ potential lineup, Pouliot predicts:
SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
LF Moises Alou
RF Kosuke Fukudome
C Ramon Hernandez
To read more about Pouliot’s predictions go to Rotoworld.com.
…let the guessing games begin…it’s going to be a long, rumor-filled winter…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |For the month of October, longtime Mets fan and author of the book “The Knuckleball From Hell”, Michael Wayne, is offering his book as a free download to “help alleviate the suffering” for Mets fans. The book is a humorous story about a fictional Mets team that has hit on hard times.
Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post called it a “sweet, funny, baseball novel.”
You can download the e-book at his website, knuckleballfromhell.com.
…if nothing else, read wayne’s self-written bio…hilarious…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
