Daily Archives: October 24, 2007
In the Palm Beach Post, Joe Capozzi quotes free-agent OF Cliff Floyd as saying he is open to finishing his career with the Marlins, 
where he won a World Series and spent six seasons in the late 1990s.
According to previous reports, Floyd could retire, having spent roughly 40 percent of the last two seasons on the disabled list.
Floyd will seek a one-year, $3 million deal, similar to what he earned with the Cubs last year, writes Capozzi.
…i know there will be Mets fans who want floyd back at shea, to serve as a platoon for Lastings Milledge and Moises Alou, who will certainly be hurt at some point during next season…it’s not a terrible idea, it’s just that he’s as much of an injury risk as alou, if not more…i miss cliff as much as the next nostalgic fan, but he’s not the future…this ship has got to keep moving forward…
The David Wright Foundation is hosting their Third 
Annual Do the Wright Thing Gala on November 15 at the Hard Rock Times Square.
For more information or to purchase tickets, go here.
In his most recent report for SI.com, Jon Heyman writes…
“Ran into Omar Minaya at the World Series gala Tuesday night … and he said he couldn’t hire Rudy Jaramillo as hitting coach because he ‘couldn’t do that to Willie.’ Minaya said he didn’t want the appearance of a manager-in-waiting since Jaramillo was one of the ones he interviewed
before naming Randolph Mets manager. Jaramillo’s contract is expiring with Texas, which wants to keep him.”
…so, basically, it reads as like omar wants rudy, who he is very good friends with, but he feels such a move would undermine willie, which makes total sense…actually, if you recall, last week i wrote…
… jaramillo was a top candidate for the managerial job at shea before it went to willie, which would suggest that he could be willie’s obvious, some-day replacement, while sitting next to him on the bench all season long…
…it’s a shame, because rudy’s reputation is such that he would have made a great addition to this team’s coaching staff, while acting as a nice safety net should willie falter…however, if the Mets and omar believe willie is their man, then he needs to be respected and treated as such…
Heyman also provides information about the Yankees managerial search, while commenting on the future of Joe Torre.
…thanks to steven a for the link…
Tagged Omar Minaya, Rudy Jaramillo, Willie Randolph |In a photo series at SI.com, the 1986 Mets are listed among the 16 most 
‘Unsportsmanlike’ teams of all time, a list which also includes other New York notables such as the 1994 Knicks and the Bronx Zoo.
According to the SI write up…
“[The 1986 Mets] boozed, brawled and pranced their way to the World Series championship. No curtain call was too superfluous to pass up, and no slight was too small to get worked up over. As Jeff Pearlman noted in his book, The Bad Guys Won, the Mets were so rowdy they trashed the team plane on the way back from winning the NLCS in Houston. In fact, he reports that one of the reasons the team was dismantled over the next several years was to get rid of the bad apples - of which there were many.”
Meanwhile, in the Contra Costa Times, the 1973 Mets are listed among the hottest teams to ever enter a World Series, having won 29 of their final 42 games.
Tagged 1986 Mets |In a mailbag for MLB.com, A’s beat writer Mychael Urban suggests that, if the A’s are going to trade a starting pitcher, it will be RHP Rich Harden, not RHP Joe Blanton or RHP Dan Haren.
As Urban points out, Harden has missed roughly 60 percent of his starts over the last three seasons due to injury.
Of course, during his last 38 starts, Harden is 16–7 with a 2.95 ERA, having struck out 197 batters through 200 innings, while opponents have hit just .193 against him.
…tough one…very tough, considering it will cost at least Lastings Milledge…i mean, this guy stinks of Mark Prior, or Kerry Wood, i.e., great when healthy, but never healthy…that being said, Rick Peterson drafted harden in 2000, while with the A’s, and say what you will about rick, but he and Ray Ramirez have seemingly done a very good job of keeping their young pitchers healthy, which is supposedly one of rick’s strong suits…
By the way, at Gotham Baseball Magazine, Mark Healey has repeatedly written that if the Mets were to ever make a deal with the A’s, including Milledge, it will only be for Rich Harden or Dan Haren, not Blanton.
Last May, on the MetsBlog Podcast, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney talked about Oakland potentially trading Harden during the season, saying…
“I think they absolutely could pull the trigger…Now you have this great, young, talented pitcher, Rich Harden, who when he takes the mound, he’s definitely dominant, but…they don’t know if they can depend on him and right now he probably has a value where you could get two really good young players for him – and that’s the direction Oakland is going. I think if he gets five to seven good starts when he comes off the DL, and that will be in two weeks, and then I think, absolutely, they will put him out on the market and will try to get players who can help them with the rebuilding process, and I think that’s going to begin very soon.”
…of course, those comments were made in may, but i don’t know how the scenario changes just five months later, when more teams can be interested…
The 25–year-old Harden will earn $4.5 million in 2008, after which his contract contains a $7 million team option for 2009.
Tagged Rich Harden |
Rob Neyer of ESPN.com takes a look at baseball miracles and ranks his top ten.
Number nine on Neyer’s list is the Mets two-out comeback in Game Six of the 1986 World Series.
…i recently had a chance to watch game six in it’s entirety for the first time…yes, i know, i’m a terrible Mets fan as far as that goes, but hey, i was a six year old living in oregon at the time of the game and never had a chance to watch it until now…at least i took the time to watch it…
…what a terrific game…it’s funny, i mean, i knew what the ultimate outcome would be, but still, i was on the edge of my seat the whole time, just hoping the Mets would come through…to me, that’s the essence of a timeless classic…
…if you have only seen the highlights or specials on the game, i highly recommend you take the time to watch the entire game…
Head on over to ESPN.com for the rest of Neyer’s list, as it is a free preview article from ESPN Insider.
Tagged 1986 Mets, Mike Nichols |Last week, at his blog for the Journal News, Yankees beat writer Peter Abraham wrote that Mariano Rivera is ‘more determined than ever’ to test the free-agent market, considering the recent treatment of Joe Torre.
However, during a recent interview with MLB Radio on Sirius Satellite, Rivera explained that the absence of Torre will not impact whether or not he re-signs with the Yankees.
…people are framing this as mo flip-flopping, or back peddling from his initial remark, which, by the way, was not on the record, but via a source through abraham…to which i say, ‘so what.’…i mean, if he intends to test the market, he’d be stupid to insinuate that the Yankees are no better than any other team…i also don’t understand why our society loves to play ‘gotcha’ when a person simply changes their mind…why is this a bad thing, again…
…at any rate, the early buzz in new york suggests mo may have settled for a two-year deal from the Yankees, but could now pursue a third year, either guaranteed or as an option, all in the area of $12 million per season…
…and, yes, i do believe the Mets would have as good of a shot as any in landing him, considering he would not have to move homes and could be reunited with Willie Randolph, which, from what i can gather, is appealing to him…however, i think it is safe to assume that mo will pursue his own closer’s roll, instead, and not settle for being a set-up man or co-closer to Billy Wagner…
This past season for the Yankees, for the first time since his rookie year in 1995, the 37–year-old Rivera had an ERA higher than 3.00, while blowing four saves.
…ultimately, when it comes to mo, as wellas his buddy, Jorge Posada, i can only assume the Mets will be nothing more than leverage in their negotiations with the Yankees, where they’ll eventually return…
Tagged Yankees |In a recent report for SI.com, Jon Heyman writes that there is little chance of the Phillies bringing back free-agent OF 
Aaron Rowand, seeing as they have a ‘more cost-effective alternative’ in Shane Victorino.
…the early buzz from philly suggests rowand is seeking a six-year deal, worth roughly $14 million per season, though teams value him more in the range of Eric Byrnes, who recently signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the D’Backs…
Earlier this month, at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons made a variety of suggestions on how the Mets could improve for next season, one of which put Rowand in right field.
Over the last week, multiple reports had suggested that the Mets would not finalize Willie Randolph’s coaching staff until Rangers batting coach Rudy Jaramillo’s contract expired at the end of the month.
In the Daily News, Adam Rubin quotes Omar Minaya as saying he expects to bring back Howard Johnson as the team’s batting coach, while passing Jaramillo, who will soon be a free agent.
According to Minaya, it would be ‘unfair’ to Jaramillo, who had been interviewed for the team’s managerial position prior to Willie Randolph; and it would be unfair to Johnson, “who did an outstanding job as hitting coach.”
Meanwhile, at SI.com, Jon Heyman notes that the Rangers recently offered to keep Jaramillo as their hitting coach at roughly $500,000 per season. However, he told the team he intends to explore his options.
…as i have noted before, jaramillo and Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long are widely considered the Rick Petersons of hitting coaches, in terms of how they are changing the way the job is done…
Earlier this month, at his blog for ESPN.com, Peter Gammons wrote that the Mets should hire Jaramillo, among other moves, in an effort to help improve for next season.
Tagged Rudy Jaramillo |
