Daily Archives: January 3, 2008
In a report for SI.com, Jon Heyman makes a list of the previous year’s winners and ‘non-winners’.
Among the winners he lists Jimmy Rollins, Tom Glavine, Luis Castillo and Pedro Martinez, of whom he writes…
“Returned sooner and better than anyone expected after serious shoulder surgery, garnering his 3,000th strikeout, providing the Mets a rare late-season bright spot and giving them a continuing excuse not to try harder to land the young ace they so desperately need.”
Among the non-winners he lists the Mets and Omar Minaya, of whom he writes…
“Likeable exec who made nary a misstep in 2006 erred last winter by trading away Heath Bell, Brian Bannister and Matt Lindstrom. Spent this winter failing to land a No. 1 pitcher, an almost annual rite.”
…i guess he’s against calling people ‘losers’…there’s clearly not much going on right now as even heyman is resorting to lazy lists about last year…i did enjoy his dig on eckstein and a few other comments, but i’m ready to move on and look forward to spring training…
During his appearance on WFAN today, SI.com’s Jon Heyman said that the Twins know they must trade Johan Santana, and the ‘general sense around baseball’ is that they will.
According to Heyman, the Yankees and Mets are most interested in Santana, but Yankees GM Brian Cashman does not want to make a move.
The Mets, however, notes Heyman, are very serious - so much so that ‘some Mets people’ believe they have made the ‘best offer so 
far,’ i.e., ‘any four of their prospects.’
…first off, this would suggest that i should zip it when i say, ‘Omar, pull the trigger,’ because, from what heyman is saying, it’s not a matter of omar pulling a trigger, it’s about the Twins pulling a trigger…
…that said, i had written something similar to heyman’s comments last week, noting how people connected to the Mets seemed ‘very optimistic,’ but that people connected to santana continued to see boston as a favorite…that disconnect, as a Mets fan, has always been alarming to me…i’m glad that at least heyman is hearing a similar sense of positivity, not that it makes me any more or less confident in santana ending up in queens…
Heyman also discussed his Hall of Fame votes, the Nick Swisher trade, the future of Roger Clemens and the relationship between Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez.
To listen to Heyman’s full interview, go to WFAN.com.
Mets 1B Carlos Delgado recently appeared as a guest on 
WFAN, and talked about being a new father, why teams love beating New York, the attitude in the Mets clubhouse, and he had the following to say about the ‘collapse,’ and his poor performance last season…
“I’m ready to go…It was very disappointing for us. We were definitely better than that…You put it behind you, learn from it and make it better next year…We can analyze it all we want, but it’s not gonna do us any good…I’m personally hungry and looking forward to next season because we are better than that…We try to do the absolute best we can to win for the fans, win for us and win for the city. I won’t lie to you. It was tough. The same way they looked in the stands, so did we. The one message we have is that we’re gonna make it better, we’re gonna play better next year. We are not happy about what happened last year, it was terrible for us and for the fans, but we’re definitely gonna make it better in 2008…
“This is the same team that was playing in April, May, June and July. It didn’t have anything to do with passion. Every body was fired up to get back to the playoffs and finish what we started in 2006…
“I showed up in spring training and felt good. I had a bad year. My timing was off. I didn’t make adjustments as quickly as I needed to. I didn’t have a good year. I’m preparing myself to having a better year, like I am used to having and that’s my goal for 2008.”
Delgado also discussed Extra Bases, his charity that has raised and will present $500,000 in mid-January to youth and education organizations in Puerto Rico.
To listen to Delgado’s entire interview, go to WFAN.com.
By the way, earlier today on a conference call with reporters, Delgado said that, while it would be great if the Mets acquire Johan Santana from the Twins for the right price, he believes the team can win as is.
Tagged WFAN |During a discussion on WFAN a few moments ago, host Mike Francesa said the following…
“I spoke to Omar Minaya yesterday, and one thing you
can take to the bank is that when we get to spring training Jose Reyes will be there - anything else you hear is nonsense. And they have not backed off Reyes, the Twins are still asking for Reyes, they are at a stalemate with the Mets over Reyes.”
…of course, francesa doesn’t say whether omar is the source for him knowing that the Twins continue to insist on reyes - though he certainly makes it seem that way …if omar is the source, i find it very, very odd that he would leak that sort of information on record to a radio show…unless it’s deliberate, which is equally as uncharacteristic…
For what it’s worth, in a recent report for ESPN.com, citing ‘one source with knowledge of the discussion,’ Jayson Stark wrote, while the Twins originally asked for Reyes, that possibility was dismissed ‘a long time ago.’
Also, last week at his blog for the Star-Tribune, La Velle E. Neal III wrote that the Mets remain a ‘viable destination’ for Santana, while adding, ‘The Twins like enough of their players that a deal could be worked out without Reyes being part of the package.’
According to the Washington Post, Nationals 1B Nick Johnson recently told reporters that intends to be ready for Opening Day.
Johnson missed all of 2007 with a broken leg. He will earn $5.5 million each of the next two seasons, after which he is eligible to be a free agent.
In 147 games in 2006 for the Nationals, Johnson hit .290 with 23 HR and 77 RBI, while walking 110 times in 500 at-bats.
According to a team press release, manager Mako Oliveras 
and pitching coach Ricky Bones have agreed to return to the Double-A Binghamton Mets for the 2008 season.
Luis Natera, who spent last season with Single-A St. Lucie, will replace Nelson Silverio as Binghamton’s hitting coach.
The B-Mets finished last in the Eastern League Northern Division with a 61-81 record in 2007, Bones and Oliveras’ first season with the team.
Bones was named in the Mitchell Report in December.
…oliveras stold reporters last season that he wanted to be back with the club - and i’ll admit, i didn’t entirely believe him…
…even though the B-Mets struggled, they had a good clubhouse…with Fernando Martinez likely returning to binghamton - if he isn’t traded - the move makes sense…
During a chat with the Boston Globe, ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons said that Mets are currently trying to build up inventory to trade for Johan Santana, adding that Twins GM Bill Smith may be ‘waiting to see if any offer gets better.’
…hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors for the link…
…i’m not sure what that means exactly…does he mean minor-league inventory…or, inventory on the major-league roster, which can make a player like Aaron Heilman more expendable than he may be today…man, i am so eager to see how this all plays out, for better or worse…
In Gammons’s opinion, the Red Sox and Yankees should both sit tight and not make a big trade for Santana, adding…
“There are days when I really believe that the Red Sox and Yankees wake up and hoping somehow the Mets can find 4 or 5 good prospects in the organization and make the trade, but right now, that’s highly unlikely.”
…however, the big news from the chat is that peter is not a very big Hall & Oates fan…i’m sure you will sleep much better tonight knowing this…
…big, bam, boom, peter…big, bam, boom…
The A’s have traded OF Nick Swisher to the White Sox for LHP Gio Gonzalez, RHP Fautino De Los Santos and OF Ryan Sweeney.
For more, go to Baseball Digest Daily.
In a report for FoxBusiness.com, Matt Egan takes a closer look at how and why teams sell naming rights to 
corporations for their news stadiums, such as the Mets have done with Citigroup and Citi Field.
Egan talks about the subject with Yankees COO Lonn Trost, Jeff Knapple of Wasserman Media, and me, Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com, who says…
“I’m far more concerned with what they are doing on the inside of the stadium than the name on the outside.”
…i will say this, though, my only issue with naming rights, which i told egan though he did not mention it in the report, is that it would be quite annoying if the name on the stadium changed every other season like it does for some teams…of course, the name will hardly impact whether or not i buy tickets to a game, which is all the team is concerned with i would bet…
…hmm, $400 million divided by 20 years is $20 million per year…hey, so, assuming Citigroup is still in business next season, how about they kick in a few more million, the Mets trade for Johan Santana and they write Citigroup on his back instead of his last name…
…that’s a joke, by the way…
…i could not stop laughing on New Years Eve when Alex Rodriguez inserted himself in to pop-culture, again, with an impromptu appearance, coincidentally at midnight, on Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve…priceless, man…
…the show’s host, Carson Daly, who is clearly a huge Yankees fan, could not control himself as rodriguez slid on to the stage…daly, who can compose himself around Jessica Alba and Scarlett Johansen, lost his mind upon seeing rodriguez…i mean, he damn near started blushing…
…with a mic in hand, and a Yankees hat on his head, a-rod could not stop praising New York City…it sounded like he was running for mayor, complete with talking points, canned answers and an on-queue twinkle in his eye…
…the guy just makes me laugh…he really does…i don’t know if he does this sort of thing deliberately, or if it’s truly as coincidental as he makes it seem…what’s more, i can’t tell if it helps his stardom and pop-culture status, or if it hurts…
…it’s hard to believe that only six weeks ago it seemed semi-realistic that a-rod could have ended up on the Mets next season…on one hand, it would have been great to get this guy’s bat in the Mets lineup…on other hand, we’d have to endure this sort of nonsense all of the time…
The following poorly-produced clip is of Rodriguez getting trash thrown at him while on stage with Daly…
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