Monthly Archives: December 2007
…first off, tomorrow is the start of a new year…and, wow, 
i’m very excited about putting 2007 behind us…way, way behind us…while looking forward to the 2008 season…
…lastly, thank you for reading MetsBlog.com…it’s been a great year for this site, complete with a new partnership with SNY and a strong, loyal and growing readership…in fact, MetsBlog.com will crack the two-million hits-per-month mark in December for the first time ever…2008 will mark the site’s fifth year, and i can’t thank you enough for allowing me the continued opportunity to blog my thoughts, experiences and opinions…
…so, here’s to 2008, five years and, hopefully, finally, a World Championship for the New York Mets…
…happy new year…
Tagged MetsBlog |…from what i can gather, the Mets will not have a Media Caravan this off-season, just like they did not do last 
off season…which is a bit disappointing, frankly…i always enjoy that day, while getting to hear what every one has been up do, how they’re approaching next season, etc…however, i sense it is just too difficult to get every one together…plus, i suspect it’d just be easier to leave them alone, put last season behind them and officially start fresh in Port St. Lucie…you know, looking forward not back…
…speaking of getting people together, it also appears that the team will not do an official mini-camp, like it had done the previous seasons…typically, the event collects one or two major leaguers and a whole bunch of minor-league players, as well as coaches and media…i suspect it just isn’t worth the aggravation…
“Even though he is entering his first year of arbitration eligibility, there’s already talk that Scott Kazmir‘s days as a Ray are numbered,” writes the St. Petersburg Times.
According to the report, the Rays approached Kazmir about a long-term extension last year, ‘but nothing developed.’
In early November, in the New York Post, citing ‘an executive familiar with the team’s thinking,’ Joel Sherman wrote that the Rays may entertain offers for Kazmir, depending on how the market develops for Johan Santana.
…first off, i vowed to stop taking the bait on rays rumors years ago, after they sat on Aubrey Huff and Danys Baez…that being said, good god…could you imagine if the Mets ever re-acquired kazmir and he got hurt, or stumbled or fell apart…it’s not a reason to deny a trade, but it’s certainly a reason to hesitate…i mean, they’re finally at a point in which we never mention his name, and then bam, here we go again…
Kazmir is eligible for arbitration this off season, for the first time in his career, and is eligible to be a free agent after 2010.
In three seasons with the last-place Rays, Kazmir is 33–26 with a 3.53 ERA while striking out 576 hitters through 537 innings.
…by the way, how badly do you think the Yankees would love to sign this guy when he becomes a free agent in a few years…not only would they get an outstanding, young, left-handed pitcher, but it would make me and every other Mets fan sick…
Tagged Scott Kazmir |…i was cleaning out a closet over the weekend and found an old video tape from my childhood that featured a bunch of Mets highlights through the mid-1980s…great stuff…it’s very sporadic and random, but entertaining nevertheless…
…so, i did some additional searching on YouTube and found the following clips…hope they bring back a few memories for you, as they did for me…
The following is an ad that ran on WOR aiming to promote the 1985 Mets, saying, “Catch the Rising Stars.”
The following is a Ch.9 introduction from 1986 by Kiner and McCarver, prior to the Mets winning the NL East.
The following is another preview to the 1985 Season.
…yes, i’m eager for this next season to start…can you tell…
…MLB Offices are closed through January 2…my sense is that the off-season may pick up steam again during the middle of this month, since pitchers and catchers will be only four weeks away from reporting at that point…
…from what i can gather, the Mets remain oddly confident regarding their talks with the Twins about Johan Santana…the thing is, not much has changed on that front…which, frankly, i view as a good thing…
…at any rate, the buzz around shea continues to suggest that the Mets have interest in Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon…frankly, i sense they’ll end up signing one of the two starting pitchers to a one-year deal, because it only makes sense from a risk-reward stand point…colon, by the way, is getting a lot of good reviews while pitching in the Dominican Winter League…
Colon, who has been battling shoulder and elbow problems since 2006, has a career record of 146-95 and a 4.10 ERA in 306 starts.
…the buzz during the Winter Meetings had been that the Mets were the front runners for garcia, but were holding back until they knew how best to proceed in the trade market…
Garcia, 32, is rehabbing from shoulder surgery on his labrum and rotator cuff and should be ready to pitch by midseason.
During his nine-year career, he is 117-76 and has a 4.07 ERA – though he was just 1–5 last season for the Phillies.
…i also sense that the Mets continue to have strong interest in Octavio Dotel, but that may depend more on the future of Aaron Heilman than anything else…additionally, i feel any reported interest in Kyle Lohse and Livan Hernandez may be severely overblown, unless one of the two pitchers is willing to accept much less of a commitment than they’re demanding…
…lastly, there is not much of a buzz in Oakland connecting the Mets to Joe Blanton…honestly, it seems like the mini-market for pitchers, such as colon, garcia, blanton, etc, are all more or less waiting on Johan Santana…
Tagged Octavio Dotel |According to a weekend report in the Allegheny Times, free-agent RHP Matt Clement may look to sign with the Indians or Pirates – in an effort to remain close to his home in Pennsylvania.
If you recall, Mark Prior recently signed a one-year contract with his home-town Padres, despite getting ‘lucrative offers’ from the Mets and Rangers.
…it makes total sense to me, especially for these sort of pitchers who are trying to re-establish themselves due to a previous injuries…
The Mets signed minor-league free agent RHP Andy Cavazos, reports Joel Sherman in the New York Post.
He played in the Rangers system from 1999 through 2002, after which he spent five years in the Cardinals organization.
In 17 games for the Cardinals last season, the 26–year-old Cavazos allowed 25 runs, while walking 16 in 20 innings pitched.
According to Jerry Crasnick earlier this week at ESPN.com, the Mets are still interested in acquiring A’s RHP Joe Blanton, but not at the expense of Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey and Aaron Heilman.
In a recent post to Athletics Nation, Nico writes the following about Blanton…
“It’s difficult to say exactly how good Joe Blanton is….He has never missed a start, he rolls (literally) out of bed and gives you 200 IP, and the guy has won 42 games in 3 years…The consensus around the league is that Blanton’s best seasons are behind him, not ahead of him…Blanton’s weight has scared off teams that think it reflects either a lack of conditioning, or a poor work ethic, a risky tendency, etc., and they believe Blanton is not nearly as good a health risk in the future as he has been in the past…Yes, Bartolo Colon and David Wells made it work for years on an ample frame, but many others didn’t. If I saw Joe Blanton at the hardware store, it would be difficult to convince me that he was a top athlete who could make the strapping young All-American boy-wonder look foolish on a slow curve.”
…so, nico, you’re saying that he literally eats innings…sorry, i had to do it…it’s an obvious joke…
Last season for the A’s, Blanton was 14–10 with a 3.95 ERA through 34 starts, during which he allowed an average of just one walk per start.
He made at least 32 starts in each of the last three seasons.
He is eligible for salary arbitration this off-season, and the two after that, and is eligible for free agency after 2010.
…he’d be a nice fit, especially switching his game to the National League East…however, gomez, mulvey and heilman is a hefty price tag for a picther who, though he did well last season, had a 4.82 ERA in 2006…
In a recent chat for ESPN.com, Keith Law said the following when asked how the Mets should proceed, assuming Johan Santana and Erik Bedard are not an option…
“I think if they’re not getting either of those guys, they should skip the Joe Blantons of the world and roll the dice on Pelfrey and maybe Humber. You liked these guys enough to take them in the first round, and both did well in the minors. Pelfrey in particular still has #1-2 potential. Jerking these two guys up and down isn’t going to help the big club or enhance their trade value.”
…to me, if santana is not an option, and the Mets are confident heilman can be replaced, i would pull the trigger on that deal for blanton, because he, John Maine and Oliver Perez will make a solid, young foundation to build upon over the next few seasons, plus it means keeping pelfrey and humber…and, it is quite clear that the only way to acquire above-average starting pitching is to overpay in prospects…
…plus, though i’d be disappointed to not get santana, starting Pedro Martinez, blanton, maine, perez and, say, Bartolo Colon, would be a good-enough rotation – especially when compared to the rest of the division…
[poll=37]
Tagged Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Poll |
…a friend of MetsBlog, who i trust, recently bumped in to Phillies OF Pat Burrell while at dinner in Arizona…her table was introduced to him as a group of Mets fans…he was much nicer than she expected he would be…however, according to burrell, he would be open to playing for the Mets when they enter Citi Field in 2009…upon hearing this news, our friend stopped talking and refused to shake his hand as he walked away…
…i don’t blame her, though i am sure he said this in an effort to get a rise out of people he knows must despise him…
…the thing is, the Mets should consider signing burrell to a ten-year contract, while sticking him in the stands and forcing him to sell foam fingers…seriously, i don’t want him on the Mets, but i also don’t want him facing the Mets…
In his eight-year career, Burrell has 218 home runs, of which 20 percent are against the Mets, as are 104 of his 741 RBI.
Tagged Pat Burrell, Phillies |In today’s New York Post, Joel Sherman writes that the Red 
Sox remain the ‘strong favorite’ to acquire Johan Santana from the Twins.
According to Sherman, a) the Yankees are still unwilling to trade Phil Hughes and are reluctant to give Santana a six-year contract extension, while b) the Mets lag because Minnesota still wants to get back one or two players who can instantly contribute at the major-league level.
Therefore, Sherman concludes…
“For the Mets to land Santana, they would probably need these stars to align: a) The Twins feel they must deal their ace before spring training and, thus, take the best package available some time in the next six weeks; b) The Mets assemble a package that severely depletes their system, the Twins decide to accept volume as the key to the deal and neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees alter their offers.”
…again, as i have been saying, it’s all about hughes…if the Yankees will trade him, they’ll be able to acquire santana…now, whether they’ll pay him remains to be seen…on the other hand, if the Red Sox stay pat in their offer, the Mets are going to need to over do it, such as Carlos Gomez, maybe Fernando Martinez, and a variety of pitchers, which could include Aaron Heilman…this is why the Mets keep telling people they are ‘monitoring the situation,’ because there is nothing they can really do right now, short of including Jose Reyes, which is not an option…otherwise, Omar Minaya has no choice but to wait and see how the Yankees intend to behave…once that is decided, or the Twins get antsy, whichever happens first, it’s going to come down to whether the Twins want less players, who are more immediate (from Boston), or a lot of players (from the Mets) with high upsides who need more time to develop…
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