Daily Archives: December 14, 2007
According to MLB.com, the Diamondbacks have acquired RHP Dan Haren from the A’s for for pitchers Brett Anderson, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland, OF Carlos Gonzalez and Aaron Cunningham and 1B Chris Carter.
In a separate deal, the Diamondbacks sent RHP Jose Valverde to the Astros in exchange for IF 
Chris Burke, RHP Chad Qualls and Juan Gutierrez.
Valvede led the National League in saves last season with 47, while also posting a 2.66 ERA.
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…so, as a reader pointed out in the comments section of this post, the D’Backs essentially traded their eighth, seventh, third and number one prospect for haren, as well as two other pitchers, which would sort of be like the Mets giving up Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Jon Neise, at minimum…the problem is that the D’Backs system, as a whole, is ranked significantly better than the Mets, so i am not sure Omar Minaya could have even competed with arizona’s offer – nor, apparently, could 28 other teams around the league…
…if you recall, all indications out of oakland had been that for the Mets to get haren, given their current crop of minor-league talent, minaya needed to part with John Maine, which was never going to happen any way…
…for what it’s worth, i don’t think Erik Bedard is much of an option for the Mets at this point, either…in other words, it has always been, and will continue to be, Johan Santana or bust, which is equally frightening and exciting at the same time…
This morning on WFAN, morning hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton 
pointed out that one-third of the Yankees roster from the 2000 World Series had been mentioned in yesterday’s Mitchell Report.
…since yesterday, actually, i have been getting e-mail after e-mail mocking the Yankees, calling them cheaters, noting how the Mets should get a ring, etc, and on a day like today i think it is fair to raise and debate this question…personally, i rather not, mostly because there is still so much unknown…so, to debate this as though we have all the facts, to me, is unfair…however, as Anthony De Rosa wrote at Hot Foot, while no title should be stripped from the them, this is certainly fun to bug Yankees fan about…and that, i totally agree with…
…my thing is that we just don’t know the truth, and probably never will…i mean, who is to say that more Mets from 2000 were not doped up as well, and have not yet been caught…i don’t think this is the case, obviously, but who knows…
Steve Phillips, who was GM of the Mets in 2000, had the following to say while on ESPN News, according to the Star-Ledger…
“With the Mets, I thought four, five, six guys over a six-year period of time were using it. What was I to do? You had nowhere to go as a general manager. I wasn’t going to go through every shoe box or every locker in the clubhouse and say, ‘I wonder if there are syringes in there’ I wasn’t going to expose it and not have the ability to penalize the player. We had assumptions…but you had nowhere to go on the hunches you had (about) the players.”
Nevertheless, The Lede, a blog from the New York Times, takes a closer look at this discussion, while quoting MetsBlog, Toasty Joe and Metstradamus. Additionally, Mets Refugees provides a fantastic graphic to mark the conversation, while providing some stats that will sadden Yankees fans.
Lastly, SNY is asking readers, “What’s your opinion of Roger Clemens after the allegations in the Mitchell Report?”
To vote, click here and scroll down.
Tagged Yankees |Speaking on WFAN a few moments ago, host Mike Francesa said…
“I ran in to a few people…I did learn one bit of information…There has not been a conversation yet between the Mets and Twins, and they
are on going, where the Twins have made an offer to the Mets or a counter offer that has not included Jose Reyes. So, reports are not true. Reyes has been a deal breaker, from Minnesota’s stand point. The Mets are hoping, by January, that that will not be the case. The Mets are hopeful, they think they will be serious players for Santana. Reyes has been a hang up. They have not come off of Reyes yet…And that’s from the horse’s mouth. All I know is this, the Twins have never ever asked for anything less than Reyes.”
…in the same statement, he referenced that the Mets moved on from Paul Lo Duca for baseball reasons, and it had nothing to do with the Mitchell Report…
…so, knowing that francesa has a fairly strong relationship with Mets GM Omar Minaya, and others within the Mets organization, i guess we have to believe him…the thing is, i have never heard anything like this, nor has Jon Heyman from SI.com, who last week wrote of two offers being discussed, neither of which included reyes…also, from what i recall, a Twins reporter also wrote that reyes is off the table, as far as both sides are concerned…
…my hunch is that francesa was just used to disseminate a bit of spin, but time will tell…either way, we essentially know one thing for sue, which is that reyes will not be traded…
According to the St. Petersburg Times, radio broadcaster Andy Freed said he will stay with the Rays and withdrew from consideration for a job with WFAN and the Mets.
Freed, as quoted by the Times…
“I feel like my future is with the Rays. I love the people I work for, I love the person I work with, I feel like I fit here. I’m happy with the Rays.”
…well, that’s something you don’t hear every day…
Tagged WFAN |According to the Insatiable Critic, a restaurant called Fish Shack will be located in the right field concession area during Citi Field ‘s 
second season, and will be run by chef David Pasternack from Esca.
If you recall, according to New York Magazine, the Shake Shack will likely be among several restaurants featured in Citi Field, as well.
For more on Shake Shack, go here.
According to T.R. Sullivan at his blog for MLB.com, the Rangers initially tried to trade RHP Akinori Otsuka to the White Sox, who rejected the deal after seeing the pitcher’s the medical reports.
Instead, the Rangers non-tendered Otsuka on Wednesday, making him a free agent able to sign with any team.
The Phillies may be interested in Otsuka, writes the Philadelphia Daily News.
…during last year’s trade deadline, there had been a lot of buzz around baseball linking the Mets, Braves, Phillies, Tigers and Brewers to otsuka…
…if the White Sox were reluctant to trade for him, though, it raises a huge red flag over his health right now…
In 236 career relief appearances, for Texas and San Diego, Otsuka had a 2.44 ERA having struck out 217 batters through 232 innings pitched.
He finished with an ERA under 3.00 during three of his four major-league seasons.
…hat tip to MLBTR and RangersFan for the link…
The Rangers have signed free-agent 2B-3B Edgardo Alfonzo to a minor-league contract.
Alfonzo has not played in the majors since 2006.
According to ESPN, the U.S. Congress will hold a second round of hearings to investigate the use of steroids in Major League Baseball, while using information from yesterday’s Mitchell Report.
For a complete breakdown of the report, in Q&A fashion, check out the New York Times.
…actually, the Times Q&A, which is my 
favorite, regular feature they run, is a must read, as it acts like a Cliff’s Notes for the report…
Additionally in the New York Times, columnist Harvey Araton creates his version of the All-Juiced Team, given yesterday’s developments.
The name most mentioned in the report, obviously, is Kirk Radomski, who worked for the Mets as a clubhouse attendant prior to selling steroids.
To learn more about Radomski, read the Detroit Free Press.
Meanwhile, reporters from Slate.com recently conducted a roundtable about the Mitchell Report, and it’s impact on society and the game.
In an update to FoxSports, Dayn Perry writes a ‘By the Numbers’ review of the Mitchell Report, including this gem…
“3,200: Number of dollars Mo Vaughn paid Kirk Radomski for two kits of HGH. Why HGH? Vaughn didn’t like steroids because, according to Radomski, he was ‘afraid of the big needles.”’
According to Mike Pagliarulo, at Dugout Central, the Mitchell Report is baseball’s version of the DaVinci Code.
Lastly, according to Ian O’Conner, in the Bergen Record, yesterday, December 13, 2007, ‘goes into the books as the second-best day baseball ever had.’
Tagged Steroids |At the Hardball Times, Dave Studeman writes, using a variety of statistics, that Jose Reyes should not ‘hit more balls on the ground,’ as so many 
people suggest, since, ‘The guy is a line drive hitter.’
…thanks to nash for the link…
…as i mentioned earlier this week, while trying to understand why reyes struggled so much in the second half, most people seem to feel he beat himself in to a pulp last season, either from playing every day or stealing too much, and so on, which triggered some very sloppy play by jose, including him dropping his back shoulder a lot, which led to a ton of pop ups…
Mets C Brian Schneider recently talks with Nats 320, a Nationals blog.
…first off, while keeping tabs on team blogs from the NL East, i’m noticing more and more animosity from Nationals fans towards the Mets…i think the Mets may actually be their top rival…
Schneider talks with the blog about dealing with the media; how he heard about the trade; how he would rather win a ring than hit 30 home runs; and his goal for next season, on which he says…
“My goal this year is, obviously, to make sure that (what happened to the Mets last season) does not happen again and get us into the postseason. Hopefully, go as far as we can go. And, Win The Championship. I am getting that opportunity right away. So, I am happy to have it and hope to take advantage of it.”
The second part of Schneider’s interview will be posted tomorrow.
…i look forward to having a stable, defensive-oriented catcher behind the plate, which is something i value far more than offense…however, if Carlos Delgado struggles again, and Moises Alou gets hurt, and Ryan Church struggles to adjust, etc, schneider’s bat will be super exposed…with Paul Lo Duca, the Mets had a catcher who was a decent hitter and a decent defender…with Johnny Estrada they would have had a better hitter, but a weak defender…with schneider, it’s the other way around, which, considering the level of speed in the NL East, especially on the Phillies, defense may end up being the more wise option…assuming everything else fails in to place…
…great work, Nats 320…and, hat tip to Hot Foot for the link…
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