According to Bart Hubbuch in the New York Post, like Lastings Milledge and Paul Lo Duca, “Add Ruben Gotay to the list of ex-Mets vowing revenge against their former team.”
…be sure to check out hubbach’s column, in which he provides a variety of exclusive quotes from gotay, who seems to blame Willie Randolph for his release, and whom he has no intention of speaking with before tonight’s game in Atlanta…
In the Daily News, Adam Rubin talks with Tom Glavine, who played with Gotay last season, and who had plenty of positive things to say about the young player.
Speaking of the Braves, in the New York Post, Mike Vaccaro believes that the coming week will provide an early-season test for the Mets, as they’ll play the Braves and Phillies.
Lastly, at Chop-n-Change, a Braves blog, Kristi Dosh talks with Joe Janish of Mets Today in a preview of the Mets.
{ 207 comments }
Lo Duca = cheater
Milledge = thug
Gotay = 25th man who didn’t play the positions we need our 25th man to play
What are you trying to do–form a church choir or a baseball team? Sure, it’s a great idea to put a 25-yr old ~.300 hitter on waivers to retain a 38-yr old.
Your “we” doesn’t include me, politico.
when did Gotay become a .300 hitter outside of 2 months of his career? Is that what gets you that kind of praise these days, to throw around the term “.300 hitter” for 2 months of work? I feel like to be a “.300 hitter” you have to do that for more then 2 months.
Maybe if they gave him a shot, he would have proved either way, whether he was a .300 hitter or not. Just playing devil’s advocate here. The whole point is he didn’t get a chance.
Well, to play devil’s advocate, Gotay was a career .276 hitter in the minors.
Because he was out of options. Maybe the fact that every Met that leaves the team feels the need to take potshots in the media should teel you something . . . about them, not the Mets.
That’s fine, but some guys are late bloomers.
Understood. Just backing up darkstar that it’s way premature to call Gotay a ~.300 hitter.
Understood as well. I wasn’t calling him a .300 hitter either way … just pointing out he didn’t get the opportunity to prove it either way. “small sample size” only becomes “large sample size” when they play you for an extended period.
FYI: “~” = “approximately” (Gotay: 98 games, .295–if that’s not “approximately” .300, the term doesn’t exist)
Gee, nobody attacked the age comparison. How surprising.
(Some of you seem to be losing your objectivity, & seem blinded by your enthusiasm for our favorite team.)
Tobe, I was against the Easley signing from the very beginning … way before Gotay was put on waivers.
Tobe, I know what ~ means. I’m saying it’s premature to say that Gotay is an approximately .300 hitter at the ML level. He was last season, but only for a brief period of time. As Mikey noted above, with such a small sample size, it’s pretty much impossible to project a “~.300 hitter” label on a guy, particularly one who wasn’t at that level in the minors.
Had you said “a guy who hit ~.300 in limited time with us last season” I would have taken no issue.
Between just those 2:
-Easley can hit against left-handers
-Gotay can’t
The Mets wanted someone who could.
Objective enough?
My dislike of Easley being brought back had more to do with the guaranteed contract and roster spot. It had nothing to do with Gotay, at the time.
Yes Easley is a good right handed bat off the bench, but he’s also 38. I don’t think he’ll repeat what he did last season. Again, I’m not speaking in absolutes … this is my opinion and I could be wrong.
Objective enough for you?
I agree with you on the age thing and wish we could have someone a litte younger. I still think Easley’s the better option between the two of them though.
Yes in terms of the two of them, for what this team needs ( a right handed bat off the bench), he would seem the better choice. Maybe getting a guy like Mench would have been smarter though, instead of rushing to bring back Easley.
toomanyuniforms: “Maybe the fact that every Met that leaves the team feels the need to take potshots in the media should teel you something . . . about them, not the Mets.”
Ok pal, whatever you say.
Yeah, that’s right tough guy, everyone who leaves the Mets was seriously “disrespected.”
The guy got cut, he’s pissed, and he showed poor judgment by yapping about it. End of story.
Oh, yeah, & I forgot–VIVA MEXICO!
(an undeported liberal)
I agree with your logic, and I support Willie around here more than most, but the comments Randolph has made since the waiver I thought were really throwing Gotay under the bus. He did a good job for us and maybe was over his head, but unless Gotay was plotting some kind of Julio Franco-esque movement to undermine Randolph from the player-level, I really don’t get what Willie’s issues were.
I’m thinking, “personality conflict”.
If he could play defense I’d agree with you, LIB.
Fair enough.
If that’s what it takes to get you motivated, go ahead.
It will be interesting to hear Milledge talk to the NY press.
It must be wonderful to play for the Mets since every player who they cut is always so hurt by it when they leave.
Oh no! Ruben Gotay is MAD at us….and LoDuca and Milledge too? OMG, we’re doomed, I’m sure this news will have all the Mets just quaking in their boots, awaiting the dreaded “Revenge of the Ex-Mets.”
Maybe these guys should have gotten a little more “angry” and motivated to beat the opposition when they were Mets…and they might still be Mets. I haven’t noticed any chirping from Church and Schneider about getting “revenge” on the Nats.
LoDuca didn’t play with enough emotion? He was the team’s emotion. This year instead we’ll just pray.
LoDuca’s “emotion” always seemed to be all about Paulie, and not directed at the opposing team. All his dramatics didn’t help the Mets last September, did it?
Nor the talk about “waiting to lose”.
Steroids make you emotional!!!!!!!
What idiocy!
Not really fair.. Lo Duca did stick up for his pitcher rather gallantly. Although it was a bit more ego-centric with Milledge, he certainly played with some fire too.
Paulie complained to the press too much.
while he may not have fit the team perfectly, it did always seem like willie randolph didnt like gotay. considering that he always hit pretty well and was working on his defense, I can’t blame gotay for feeling slighted by willie. its not the first, and won’t be the last guy willie rubs the wrong way.
this is also not the first guy to hold a grudge with the mets (see todd hundley, al leiter et al) but i’m not thrilled with the trend. Its dangerous to build bad report with players in such a small market of player-agents.
plus im still just annoyed the mets let him go in the first place – especially to the braves
Let’s look at some of Gotay’s stats from last year:
vs. RHP: .318 AVG, .835 OPS
vs. LHP: .194 AVG, .508 OPS
As starter: .288 AVG, .786 OPS, .343 BAbip
As sub: .310 AVG, .741 OPS, .391 BAbip
So he stinks – really stinks – against lefties. He’s not as good as a sub (40 points less OPS despite that crazy, crazy BAbip, and despite the fact that he presumably faced a higher percentage of righties as a sub).
BTW, his career BAbip is .306, somewhere close to what you’d expect it to be, so last year really looks like an abberation for him.
He just didn’t fit for this team. Time to get over it.
Wow, I never looked at his BAbip. I had no idea it was so off-the-charts. Leads you to believe he’s due for a drop in performance if further exposed to ML pitching.
In this case, I’m inclined to believe in the predictive power of BABIP, because it may show that opponents hadn’t figured out how to play him.
His expected BABIP was .365 because his line drive percentage was 24.5%.
His BABIP was in line with what you would expect given the fact that he smoked the ball consistently last year.
Good point.
If it’s so expected, why’s it so massively out of line with his previous seasons?
Are you really saying that he hits the ball cleaner than David Wright (Career .340 BAbip), Albert Pujols (.316) and Ryan Howard (.347)?
I’d be very surprised if he ever produced at last season’s level again.
sounds like a pretty logical move:
“The Mets explained their decision to Gotay by telling him they wanted a stronger right-handed bat off the bench. They also felt Easley was a more versatile infielder while viewing Gotay as almost strictly a second baseman.”
“Gotay also was out of options and didn’t help himself by suffering a severe ankle sprain the first week of spring training, an injury that sidelined him for much of the Mets’ Grapefruit League schedule.”
How about putting him on the DL and buying some time?
That only addresses the second part of the problem. Putting him on the DL doesn’t make him more versatile or better able to hit RH pitching.
You know what makes you more versatile? The team not burying you on the bench, and actually letting you play. “Veterans” play new positions all the time to become more “versatile”. What does that tell you?
the braves are burying gotay on the bench. he’s the back-up for another lefty-htting 2b.
Well if the coaching staff has no faith in your glove, they’re not going to give you much ML time to prove them wrong.
Could the team be wrong about Gotay’s glove and overall defensive effectiveness? It’s entirely possible. That being said, I understand the reasoning behind letting Gotay walk.
OK zen, but Cox will use him and get plenty out of him.
I understand the reasoning too … I think there is a lot more than that “reasoning” though. I think he wasn’t liked, and it had more to do with his glove on the field. Hey, I could be wrong, that’s just my opinion.
i agree with the reasoning and your point. i think milledge and gotay are gone b/c they were immature and were influencing reyes.
notice the team has nobody who reyes can joke around with in a negative way in terms of those dances.
Excellent point zen, about Reyes. I agree there is definitely something to that, for sure.
great point regarding reyes for sure… this is a broad statment, but last year at the end of the season, when there were dugout shots and guys were messing around, and grinning, even when losing, it was usually some combo of reyes, gotay, gomez, and milledge…(gomez probably the least). The only one left of that grouping is jose.
Mikey: The Mets were trying to get Gotay more playing time, by letting him be a starter at AAA. Unfortunately, for that to happen, he would have had to clear waivers.
I don’t think the Braves did Gotay any favors.
Also, apropos of the Braves burying Gotay . . . there’s a pretty good chance the Braves will drop, or at least try to waive, Gotay once Omar Infante returns from the DL. It’s either Gotay or Martin Prado and I suspect the Braves would rather keep Prado.
Martin Prado and–when he returns– Omar Infante will both likely be ahead of Gotay on the depth chart. And that’s just as backup 2B (though both play other positions as well).
Fair points all around.
Hey Gotay….Be a man. Be a professional. Just play the game. And STFU!!
AAAAAAMEN!!!…
Millionare professional athete CRY BABIES…
There are guys his age getting their arms blown off in a BS war…..thank GOD you get to play a game for a living and shut up….
This “we/I dont get any respect” crap needs to stop. Your’re a friggin entertainer….
…perfectly stated Saltzy.
i get that gotay has a chip on his shoulder but saying “I’m not going out of my way to talk to willie” made him look like a scorned child.
I imagined him folding his arms and stomping on the ground like a kid
with that said, i liked him on the mets and wish him luck (just not this weekend).
I could care less about Milledge and Gotay.
They both have upsides, but Gotay (liked stated above) can’t play well in the posistion that was required of him. Milledge is a punk as probably mad at everyone who hasn’t praised him recently.
I was listening to the Phils broadcast yesterday and they were ripping his character a new one. They almost called him a punk themselves.
Do you know Milledge personally? Do you know he’s a punk? This is so much more complicated than you allow.
P.S. Acta seems to love Milledge.
The Nats seem intent on turning themselves into the last refuge for baseball players in need of attitude adjustment.
It’s a good way to acquire talented players on the cheap, but you get what you pay for so it remains to be seen whether they can keep any team cohesion throughout the long season.
You’re not comparing Milledge to Elijah Dujes are you?
Because that would be ridiculous.
Dukes*
Not really… I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be citing praise from their organization as evidence that a player has a trouble-free personality.
Well, considering the team Acta has, and the potential Milledge has, doesn’t he have to show him some love? Whether it be real or false, just to get his best game from him?
He goes way past showing him some love. He praises Milledge while basically pointing the finger back at the media for the way he has been treated.
I haven’t heard Carlos Gomez complaining. He seems to be happy to be a starting CF for a major league team, and playing well.
Gomez complained at first, too.
Look, these guys are humans and nobody likes to be traded/waived.
Exactly. I don’t see any player cut at the end of Spring Training for any team saying, “yeah, I can see why they cut me. I really don’t have what it takes to succeed for them. My manager, who was an all-star at the position I play, didn’t think I was a solid enough defender at the position, and I agree with him. I’m not. I’m going to give him a huge bear hug and a gift certificate to PF Chang’s when he comes to town.”
Still Laughing!
I didn’t hear anything I’d describe as complaining from Gomez… maybe an expression of sadness that he was leaving NY, but there was this quote on MLB.com when the trade was announced (even before the extension was signed):
And Gomez’s initial reaction to the news? Excitement.
“This is my opportunity to be a center fielder,” Gomez said. “I have to prepare for a new organization, but I’m ready. The only thing I want is to play baseball and play every day.”
You cherry-picked the one part of the quote that wasn’t Gomez being really disappointed.
Disappointed that baseball reality takes you in a different direction than you’d intended is one thing.
Anger that a team dared to cut you when you obviously didn’t fit their needs is an entirely different situation.
Oh, and I didn’t cherry-pick the quote. The article it came from contained no indication that he was even disappointed (although I do recall reading others at the time with some expression of disappointment), let alone anger. That was the only quote that directly related to being traded.
yeah, but no one could understand what he was saying.
i love how people complain about losin these guys and conveniently forget they complained about aquiring loduca and gotay in the 1st place. they also are the ones who kept changing their minds on what to do with milledge depending on how the prior few days went for him.
Do you expect anything different on the intarweb?
Stumped, that’s not everybody. Maybe we should all stop “generalizing”. It’s the biggest problem.
never said everybody who complains, so no generalization there.
Fair enough.
yawn
sniff sniff whaa whaaa.
There one this one time that I went to the zoo and I spent all my money in the 1st gift shop and then found out there was a much cooler gift shop that all my friends were spending their money on. There was this cool jumping frog that only cost 2 dollars but I was out of money. My parents were chaparones on the trip but would not give me any extra money. I was mad at them for a long time and then one day about 15 years later they bought me that frog.
What does this have to do with this situation, nothing….. Nor does Ruben Gotay being mad have anything to do with the Mets. Move on.
Thinking Angel Pagan will make us forget about Gotay as the 25th man
their was no room for him when Alou came back and Clark will accept a minor league assignment
It was the right move and so was sending Register back to Colorado……….when healthy the team was not able to carry either one and tey would of been gone at some pt………
my theory and likely theirs is start the year with the troops that will be their the whole yr
I have very little patience for a major league baseball player whining to the media about getting cut from his team. He was out of options and can’t hit RHP. If I understand correctly, being picked up by the Braves won’t give him new options and the Braves are strong at his position(s). He is going to be a bench player as long as someone is hurt and then he will be cut again. Will he cry (!) and go straight to the AJC when that happens, or will he start to realize that the issue is simply…He Is Not That Good?
he can hit RHP, not LHP
sorry-typo
How about any athlete complaing about ANYTHING related to their jobs in general…
‘I dont get the respect I deserve”….’The organization didnt treat me the way I deserve to be treated”…..wahhh wahhh…
The problem is that A. These guys(many of them) have NO perception of reality. I really think some of them think EVERYONE makes millions. I’ll always remember that Ewing quote about he whole ‘lifestyle’ thing…
B. We keep feeding into the ‘Theyre more important than us’ mentality. Hey, me too….I pay for tickets, watch the games, etc….but for me they have one use. Baseball. Thats all. These guys actually think they are ‘important’ But we put them on such a pedistal I guess I see why they are so skewed….
Gotay makes nothing close to millions.
Sigh…
I really think some of them think EVERYONE makes millions(OR mearly hundreds of thousands a year in which case you’re probably a bench player that essentially has no pressure on them day in day out and get you paid to have the best season tickets in the house, and eh….every once in a while go play MLB)…
Is that better?
Haha. I laughed.
Basically, you don’t get a whiff of the majors w/o supreme confidence in your ability. So, when you’re cut or benched, etc., it does violence to your psyche. He probably honestly thinks he could hit like David Wright if “given the chance.” His judgment here is questionable, and yes, he should shut his yap and not be vindictive, but generally, this type of pouting doesn’t bother me as much as the “do you know who I am?!?!?” off-the-field behavior that creates the Chris Henrys of the world.
Jordan was also one of the fiercest competitors of our time. It’s rare for an athlete to be that mentally tough. Most have their insecurities just like us.
**peers at US Weekly “Stars, They’re Just Like Us!” section, sees Courtney Cox reaching high for a can of mixed vegetables at the grocery store**
**smiles, content**
you know, i am really getting tired of how stupid former mets are. why do they not realize this is a business and their services were not needed. jeeze!
Yeah, no one ever complains when they get fired. They just realize “it’s business.”
Get a clue, man. They may be athletes, but they ‘re still human.
‘Hey you’re fired’….that sucks…
The closest competetor picks you up the next day….same money, more PT…
yea…what….I see what you mean…must be really REALLY hard.
I’ll bet the 80,000 newly umemployed guys reading the quote in the paper while they were on the unemployment like must have been tearing up….
Lets all pitch in $5 for the ‘Save Ruben’ fund…
Can you separate sympathy and understanding? I totally understand why Gotay is upset. He’s human, and that’s how many humans react when they feel they’ve been mistreated or disrespected. Do I feel bad for Ruben Gotay? No, he’ll be fine; as you noted, he makes a lot of money. Again though, there’s no need to portray him as a crybaby.
He wasn’t even fired – there was no point at which he was up to be unconditionally released.
The closest analogy to what happened to Ruben was a temp. being returned to their agency when the person they were covering for comes back from maternity leave.
man thats the way the kookie krumbles, what can i tell you?
would he rather be in triple A right now, without that huge braves buffet spread?
An aside: that article about Glavine recommending Gotay to the Braves was annoying to me. Then again, seeing a picture of Glavine makes me nauseous.
So, Gotay is really gonna be pissed when Infante comes back from the DL and he is out of a job again?
Yup, we’ll see which AAA team he winds up on.
i can’t wait until it’s Willie chirping about the Mets not giving him a fair shake, when he’s on the unemployment line.
How come no one was dissing on Lo Duca’s emotion and its negative effects on the team during the 2006 season?
because hindsight is 20/20, of course…
Probably because he was having a career year.
Last year he stank, but I don’t remember him holding himself accountable while he was complaining about the rest of the team. And actually last year he was a lot closer to his career norms than he was in ‘06.
You guys are taking the bait from the media too much. How exactly his he “vowing revenge” with these quotes? They probably asked him how he felt about being waived and he commented that he was mad and thought he deserved to be on the team. So what? It’s not like it’s crazy for him to think he had more of a right to be on the team than Brady Clark.
“Vowing revenge” is saying something like, “I can’t wait to have a huge season against the Mets and make them regret letting me go.”
And so what if he doesn’t want to talk to Willie. Would you want to talk to your old boss a week after he basically fired you?
No but I would not be talking to the media about it and burning bridges. If it were just he was man #26 and the Mets were upset over losing him he would understand that the Mets will most likely have a chance to pick him back up when the Braves cut him because he gets Escobar injured in a DP. However, I think there was more to it. Willie values defense at 2nd base and Gotay’s was horrible. Also, I would expect that they ask him to get better at other positions and he just did not.
this story got way too much life. the mets had to put him on waivers last year too, and he passed thru. they were trying to get a man WITHOUT minor league options back to AAA because there was no role for him on the major league team. Easley and Anderson must be on the team for their PH ability. They went with Clark because they have NO FRIGGIN IDEA when ALOU will be back and if CHURCH can hit LEFTIES. gotay needs to play everyday in AAA.
Teams have to try to put guys thru waivers all the time when they run out of options.
The Braves were looking to F with the METS. I Have no doubt about that. He will not have a role with the Braves either.
“Milledge = thug”
Why is Milledge a “thug?” Is it because he use to have corn rows and was in a rap song? Thugs are criminals, he’s just a baseball player with an immature/bad attitude. Why are people still so ignorant?
Because he wants to be viewed as one.
Thug= tough or violent gangster (according to Webster).
So listen to some of his rap songs and then come back and tell me he does not want to be a thug.
Laughable.
listen to the lyrics of rap song wright comes to bat with.
we all understand where the hate for milledge comes from. we can leave it at that and wish the kid well in dc
Oh, shut up. The dislike of Milledge comes from Milledge’s BEHAVIOR. And I say that as someone ambivalent about Milledge. Where I see race coming into play with Milledge is with the people who assume he’s a hero because he wore cornrows, and self-righteously see any criticism of him, whatsoever, as some sort of sinister, racially motivated hatred. If I accuse someone black of being a jerk, and you assume that I must think he’s a jerk because he’s black, which one of us is maintaining a racial stereotype?
reading a little too deeply into my statement? you see what you’re looking for.
not true…. if you came out and said he was a jerk or he has a terrible attitude – i would totally understand. i would be ignorant to think hes a saint. but when somones uses words like thug, i do get that impression
and yes, i had race in mind when i made that comment. jeff kent was always known has a jerk coming up earlier in his career- did people ever refer to him as a thug!???
The “thug” description is dripping with racial tones.
Just keeping it real.
I think I love you….
Marry me?
NO…you cannot make assessments of anyone cultural choices. Dont you know that makes you racist? I mean…sheesh…hes black. You think he had a choice to go the ‘thug’ route? What kind of ‘real’ black guy has professionalism? You need to ‘represent;…. Black=thug=you are RACIST…
Barry Sanders was just an uncle tom who acted respectifully towards his opponents so he could kiss the white mans ass….HES the racist….
No Kent was called a redneck or hick.
Because mostly minorites are in gangs and a thug is a gangster. Unfortunately the media portrays being in a gang as ok.
Zen:
I haven’t kept tabs on exactly who says what about Milledge, but given the context, can you see why I drew the conclusion I drew about your (apparently nonexistent) subtext? I apologize for reading your statement wrongly, however, if, in fact, I did.
Bilal:
Re: “thug,” I’ve never thought of it as a racially charged term (used to refer to a veritable Benetton rainbow of meatheads as “thugs” — again, behavior, not race), but perhaps I’m wrong. I would think of Jeff Kent as an a-hole, Milledge’s behavior as closer to “punk,” and someone like Brett Myers as a “thug.”
I seriously dont care if a ‘gang’ consists of black guys, white guy, or purple guys…
IMO, THIS IS the racial issue in this country. The ‘50 Cent culture’ has been marketed and sold as acceptable and even DESIRABLE!!!…You know why? Cause it sells. ‘Bling’ is big business, and you think companies care about the deteoriotion of society? Pfft…they want to take morons MONEY….
The issue is its NOT DESIRABLE/COOL/POSITIVE in anyway what so ever….im sorry. If you think Tony Montana is a hero, you are a MORON….I am NOT a racist….
you’re not a racist. you’re a fascist. in america people have the right to be and dress however they want as long as they don’t break the law. you also have the right to voice your opposition.
the idea that it’s deteriorating society is silly. humans societies haven’t changed in 4,000 years. the same issues have always been there from ancient egypt (read the bible) to the roman empire to modern society.
“There’s no disrespect. It’s not anything,” Joba said. “If people take it as offensive, that’s on them…If people want to talk about it, let them talk about it.
“I’m Joba Chamberlain, and I pitch for the New York Yankees. I’m going to be me. There’s no getting around it.”
OHHH….I was under the impression that drive-bys, ‘making it rain’, pimpin, being strapped, slingin’, gangbangin, etc were illegal activities…
Nuts, though…you’re gonna say freedom of speech and its only words in songs though and yadda yadda….well, THANK GOD the people listening to this stuff arent taking it literally and forming gangs, perpetuating black on black crime, and filing up the prisions, cause it kinda looked like the line between it being a persons image, and their whole demeanor has been blurred. Thanks for clearing THAT up…
I mean its clearly not society being told that if they dont accept this culture where you refer to your friends by the MOST racist word there is in this country with an ‘a’ in lieu of ‘er’ at the end as equal to other cultures that you are a facsist, racist, ignorant, stupid or worse….Gotcha. All actions are equal if they are legal…I have to start remembering that….
relax. it’s metsblog.
stay away from sharp objects.
This issue really gets me going. What do you want me to say. I really think outside of the war and economy its absolutley the biggest problem in this country. No one will ever will talk about it, cause it IS a touchy subject. Thats the problem. You cant even say ‘I hate the thug culture’ without being labeled a racist or ignorant. I am neither. All I do is read.
All that does is getting guys like me(and clearly many others) who ARE NOT RACISTS REALLY MAD….when all we are doing is pointing out that the CULTURE is inherently, objectively inferior. Not the friggin color of the person that is part of it. THE CULTURE. Its objectivly worse because it promotes violence, woman abuse, gun play, and horrendous grammar… Those are INFERIOR cultural traits…sorry….
Give him a break. Who among us doesn’t want to have “a different bitch for every night”…
Have you heard any of his rap songs? If so, quote some of these lyrics you’re talking about.
another was tribe called quest: oh my god
just livin like a hooker, the harlett sounds
now when I say the harlett, you know I mean the hott
V-A-V-A-Vader, the brothers in the spot
Jalick, Jalick ya wind up ya hit
Captain of the poets, I’m the #7 pick
lick, lick, lick boy on your backside
lick, lick, lick boy on your backside
Can I gotta Gringo
we got mikes when do we go
know a little n*gga who can ryhme when you ask me
short, dark, and plus his voice is raspy
umm…the comment was to show which of lastings milledge’s lyrics were “thug”…not wright’s at bat music. Plus, the music someone comes to the plate blasting has nothing to do with the music someone writes and records on their own. There’s a difference between listening to music and making music.
You’re right, but it’s amusing is this context that your handle is “donnywahlberg”
yea I was asking for the lyrics of milledge’s tracks. and using a tribe called quest to prove your point that wright listens to “thug” rap music is not a good example.
thank you. The ab music doesnt define Dwright or anyone for that matter.
DMX’s “Party up” isn’t “thug” read those lyrics
who cares about DMX’s lyrics?? I can’t figure out what you’re trying to prove with all this. Read the lyrics to “Step By Step” by New Kids! That’ll show you what thug is about.
my point is that milledge and wright are thugs. any one who listens to this type of rap or hip hop is a thug especially if you wear the clothing styles.
*sarcasm
Ok, if you wear the clothing style, act like one when interviewed, make your own rap song eluding to it….
At what point would it be that you are wanting to be viewed as a thug?
I have not heard the song but i found these lyrics on the web. I think its him:
true player get chose by the top notch h*s
Gettin high
makes a ni**a flip both ways like pancakes at IHOP
your girl cam to me cryin and beggin
I said turn around spread ya legs bend ya kness and touch your toes
collect my money and go this ain’t monolopy
dancing in the streets bad Bob Barker reminds you to have your pet spayed or neutered
dancing in the streets h*s
I’m the king of all bling cam to lay down the evidence
LMillz not George Bush is the President
No, I think that was Keats.
not keats, but certainly allen ginsburg’s the howl
I just wanna toss in here again that apparenly there will be a ‘Posse Lounge’ in our $800 Million stadium…
I dont wanna be racist though and say how incredibly STUPID that is though…woudnt wanna ruffle feathers….
posse? that’s very 1988, lol.
There’s going to be a WHA? They’ve obviously hired the same ad agency McDonald’s uses.
baseball-fever(dot) com…
Stadium thread. Citi Field updates. I actually am villified ther because I obvioulsy have um, voiced my displeasure rather vocally….
This guy is on the job as a construction worker (amazing pics) and has stated multiple times that next to the ‘Family Lounge’ the blueprints list a room dubbed the ‘Posse Lounge’…
I sh*t you not….
Very true. He was a big part of the minor league Mets family and not a bad citizen. Wagner picked on him, and he deserved it a bit, but by no means a thug.
He had a racy rap song, big deal. I guess it was too much to take for the God Squad in the org.
He’s off to a great start in DC, and I mean beyond the field. I wish him the best.
If we were going to trade him, I wish it was when he was pulling in some value.
OHHHH….so hes not a thug….
Hes JUST a player with a immature and bad attitute…GOTCHA…
For a second I thought thugs were people who prided themselves on their ‘bad attitude’….being a badass….rockin the ‘bling’…I thought that WAS the definition of being ‘gangsta’…
I was clearly mistaken…
Nope, I have addressed this earlier. He is not a thug, he just wants to be one. That’s even better right?
I think he meant, wanna-be thug–which is way worse.
FWIW, Wes Helms was DFA by the Phils. Should the team be looking for a backup 1B/3B/OF that can hit lefties, he’d be a good option on a minor league deal. .861 OPS against lefties the past three seasons.
Probably adds more value than Clark at this point, especially with Pagan playing well.
Let’s see what happens when he clears waivers and they won’t get stuck with a $3mill. salary (that can stay with thePhils!)
Of course, then you have the issue again about what to do when Alou comes back, but cross that bridge when (or if!) you come to it.
I can not believe we are arguing about Ruben Gotay….I’m still not over getting rid of Darryl Strawberry!
I couldn’t agree more! It’s Ruben Gotay…seriously. WHo wants a guy that crys and moans with a “Feel sorry for me attitude”? Rediculous. There are bigger issues than Gotay to worry about when it comes to this team.
a darkened locker room, at the end of the bench, a player sits hunched over and clutching a baseball cap. He stares intensely, insanely, at the interlocking NY, clenching and unclenching his hands around the sweat-stained wool. His jaw is tight, yet he whispers through his teeth the same phrase over and over, tenderly, almost lovingly: “You will pay…Ruben will make you pay…”
lol
I like the alliteration, intensely, insanely, interlocking. Nice…
Kudos for making me spit out my lunch in laughter.
lol
Anyone know if Santana is pitching Sat or Sunday? If he pitches Sunday he misses the Philly series. I want him to go tomorrow so he can pitch in that series. Anyone know?
as of right now hes pitching on Sunday. they’ve only comfirmed that oliver is moving up to start on Teusday
I think they should pitch him on 4 days rest so he can pitch the Philly series.
i agree, but maybe willie doesnt want to mess with johan’s off day regimen that he was expecting to follow right before pedro got hurt. or maybe he wants to treat the phillies series as a normal series since its so early in the year.
I would be surprised to learn that Johan did much different on his first day after pitching depending on whether he was expecting to go again after 4 days rest or 5.
It’d definitely make more sense to me for him to go Saturday.
Weather permitting, of course.
looks like rain may throw off all of the great pitching order plans…
scattered t-storms tonight and tomorrow in atl, clear skies in the forecast sunday. Doesn’t look like any games will be missed..tonight maybe, but then I’d think Maine would just go tomorrow and we’d skip Pelf first time through. I just pray Santana stays on for sunday, as I”ve said I’ve got tix!
when Gotay actually becomes a good player, people can complain. until then, they released a guy who was out of options and there was not any room.
Willie has been and always will be a veteran guy. he’d much rather have an easley than a gotay. last time I checked, the Mets just signed castillo to a contract. where and when was he ever going to play anyway? you have Chucrch and Beltran and martinez for the future in the OF. wright, reyes and castillo. gotay sure as hell doesn’t ahve good enough numbers to be the 1st baseman of the future.
Gotay at best would have always been a bench player. if people really want to whine over a bench player go ahead, but I will spend my time watching the players who still wear Mets uniforms.
goodbye Ruben. good luck to you. now shut up and earn playing time.
Johan has to stay on normal rest to pitch twice against the Phils.
I wouldn’t pitch him on short rest of course, but it would be idiotic to give him an extra day, meaning the PelFiggy will get 2 starts against the Phils instead of Johan.
Exactly. If the rotation stays as is and there are no rain outs, Santana misses not one, but BOTH Phillies series this month. Just dumb.
This sucks..”Showers and thunderstorms likely. Chance of rain 70 percent.”..I was looking forward to tonight’s game too. Weather doesn’t look good for tomorrow either until Saturday night.
Is that here or out in sin city?
He was out of options!!!
So, since he just wasn’t good enough defensively or at the other positions to make the team, they tried to pass him through waivers. How can you take this personally? It’s the rules of the game.
I would have thought that if the Braves ever give up on him, the Mets might try and get him back. Now, he unprofessionally burned his bridges. Sorry, Ruben…
Same fans crying STILL about Gotay were the ones trying to convince everyone what a disaster It would be cutting Tim Bogar and/or crying over what would become of Hundley after
we got Piazza. Come-on guys!, there are far larger issues—
Like the 50 million $ which will be wasted on Delgado, Alou,
Pedro and Duque this year while they don’t produce and we
look toward the likes of Pagan, Figueroa and Pelphrey to give
us what the others did in their prime.
Whatever happens this season, this team MUST STOP
rewarding “name” players with fat-long term contracts
when in their mid 30s for what they did some place else.
Such as the contract that Omar gave……
Oh I don’t know, Alou & Duque (After he cost us—
–a championship) But I not just talking about Omar
I’m talking about this team over the years.
Glavine,Eddie Murray etc.
with fat-long term contracts. Alou was 1 year with an option and Elduque’s was 2 years at a reasonable price.
Admitedly in the past preOmar the team did had out too many LT contracts to bad players, Vaughn, Bonilla……
But that already seems to have changed. Now if you want to say the rely too much on older players then I can agree with you.
you can argue that they should have never given castillo 4 years. it MAY be a good argument but they needed Castillo this year.
once castillo was signed, Gotay had zero chance of ever giving the mets anything.personally I like castillo. I just think 4 years is a mistake. that was what he was going to get though so the Mets hands were tied.
if Gotay proves himself down the road, then we can criticize but I don’t think he will ever be more than an average bench player.
I realize it is still just the beginning of 2008 season but I am excited about the money coming off the books this year.
pedro – $13M
Duque – $6.5m
alou – $6M
Delgado- $14M
That is about $40M coming off the books.
That can go a long way toward resigning Perez, bringing in one more pitcher, Plus finding a young terrific soon to be Free agent 1b (texiera anyone?)
We can get young in a hurry with just one more season to get through with Alou Duque Pedro and Delgado
Think about the age…..
Next year
Rotation – Santana (30). Maine and Perez (27) Pelfrey (25) plus new guy.
Positions – Catcher (31) Texeira (29) Beltran (30 – 31), Reyes (26) Wright (26) Castillo (32), Church (30)
Plus a young pen
No one is saying cutting Gotay is a disaster, it’s just another example of Omar getting rid of youth for age
Or mediocre for average.
Thak you, I forgot the Castillo contract which was, is and will be a disaster for this team in the next couple of yrs..
mid 30s does not apply to Castillo either. Come on now. The contract was too long but get the facts straight, Castillo should be still in his prime.
No mid 30s age-wise doesn’t apply to Castillo
but mid 50s body-wise does. Plus as I stated
ALL OFF SEASON, BOTH Alou contracts have
been a waste of 20Mil. and while I hope he has a
good life the waste of money w/Valentin is typical
Omar. You do know that if not for his latest boo-boo
He’d be on this team contributing much the same
as Julio Franco–another waste of a 2 yr contract.
I’m confident the games will be played. And another reason why I want Santana to go tomorrow is because I don’t want Pelf or Figgy throwing in that Philly series. Even though Bergman 1-hit them.
People who call Milledge a thug are just morons.
Why? Explain what a thug is? Answer this question, do you think he wants to be viewed as a thug?
Ah, yes–I think that’s exactly what he wants to be thought as. After all in the 21st century isn’t that
where the money is?
In the end, this is just another phoney-anti-Met
story. What’s glavine (note the small g just like
his outtings in big spots) gonna say?
“Gotay is lucky to have a job in the majors?” OR
“I hope he’s not behind me when I’M pitching?”
Skyking unfortunately you are right, thug sells. Only because the media has made it that way. It’s much easier to make a rap star than it is to make a movie or other types of music star.
Funny how most of these rappers seem to come from middle class homes not even in the city.
Lotta truth there but ya know what Chris Rock
says about blaming the media and image when
walking over to an ATM.
But again, alotta truth in your post.
You can’t get phonier or richer then the likes of
sean combs for one.
A thug is someone who is dangerous and frequently in trouble with the law. Last time I checked, Milledge is neither of those things. If you think that rap defines him as a thug, then I guess you and Tipper Gore would be great friends.
Forget about the weak wanna be rap star junk,
this kids found trouble since high school.
It’s not because everyone else is wrong that
the vets on this team had to put him in his place.
Letting Gotay go was a BIG mistake by Omar. And if Gotay blames Willie, he’s 100% right. Willie constantly downgraded Gotay’s defense and the fact is, it was all overblown. He is not a gold glover at second base, but he CAN play the position, and he was never given enough time to work at and play the position. He was never even in the discussion to be the everyday secondbaseman. Don’t get me wrong — he’s no Ryne Sandberg — but with time and work, I think that he would be adequate. But Willie never liked him and he was determined to make sure that he got no shot.
No Ryne Sandberg?—He’s not friggin’ Mark Lemke!
Yeah!!! it’s Willie’s fault!! hence Omar bidding against
himself for Castillo both in terms of length and cost of
contract. Willie musta put a gun to Omar’s head w/that one
Damn you Willie!
Plus, its safe to assume Willie knows nothing about
2B or second basemen, Right???
As I’ve said in defense of Gotay over the winter, he was given the starting job at secondbase over Easley until they acquired Castillo. If Willie really didnt like him, that never would have happened, but it did. Maybe Willie did ask Omar to find him another secondbaseman and thats why we have Castillo now. I understand the reason they let Gotay go and it was due to which side of the plate he could hit from. He was adequate defensively at 2B, SS, and 3B to be a backup. But same as they couldnt take the chance of whether Milledge could hit well enough to help them win this year, they couldnt take the chance if Gotay could hit from the right side well enough to help them win. My question is if Willie thought Gotay’s defense wasn’t good enough, how good could he have thought Easley’s defense have been if he took the 2B job away from him and put Gotay there?
Well O.K.!—Easley hasn’t been a productive everyday
player since the 20th century, Gotay had a real-good
MONTH and I’m sure Omar’s talking marching orders
from Willie. But atleast your trying to make a good
argument for Gotay. Is he a relative?
Where did I say we should have kept Gotay? I wasn’t being sarcastic up there but I catch yours. This is what happened. Easley was 37 and now 38. Yes he’s been very productive through his career, but his skills as does everyone’s reaching that age are deteriorating and it was beginning to show. Willie makes the lineup and says who plays. Easley was on the bench and Gotay was playing second. This is fact. My reply was to what was written (Willie never liked him) above, if Willie didnt like him why was he playing and not Easley. That if Willie really didnt like him, maybe it was because Gotay was hot and Easley wasn’t able to handle the position on a daily basis, that forced him to play him. As for your “Omar’s taking marching orders from Willie” remark, you’re kidding right? Managers and GMs work together all the time when it comes to the roster. If Willie didnt like Gotay as it was stated and was forced into having to play him because Easley couldnt handle it for the reason I gave above, then yes, Willie, or any manager for that matter, could ask for another secondbaseman. Doesnt mean he would get one but he definetly can voice his concern and reason for wanting one. But thats not what may have happened anyway. Omar might have went on his own to get Castillo. One last thing. Why does everyone have to use that “Is he a relative?” question? Its so childish.
This conversation reminds me of when people were complaining when the Mets DFA’d Chip Ambres last year.
Uh, because Chip Ambres had one hit for the Mets that won one game. And as far as I can tell, he hasn’t yet signed with a competitor in our division, which would, of course, have him poised for the inevitable Mets killing that is bound to ensue.
why r people forgetting that ryan church bashes the nats after the trade, he even made allegations about them, why have i not heard anything about that?
Because this is a Mets blog and not a Nats blog? Duh.
or because they want to ignore it, and attack anyone who rips the mets, the same ones that got on milledge and gotay, want to ignore church’s choice words
I think you are missing the point. This is Metsblog, and full of Mets fans. Why would Mets fans care if Church goes off bashing another team like the Nats?
But hey, I hate to be the one making generalizations here. Anyone care?
but there’s a double standard. everyone applauds wright because milledge “bashes” his former team, but don’t hear nothing about church.
i’m calling a spade a spade, plus someone here said church didn’t say anything about washington, so one of the posters actually mentioned it first, so i’m telling the facts
I hated what happened to Gotay, but I think I speak for most Met fans when I say, shut the f**k up, Gotay.
Just read the article. I couldn’t care less about him, but he doesn’t say anything outlandish, and where’s the revenge in his comments? What did I miss?
At the end of the post article by Mike Vaccaro he said Johan is pitching tomorrow. I think this is the right move but didn’t have the faith in Willie to do it. I haven’t seen this written anywhere else. Does he know something the rest of the world doesn’t?
No team with a worse record than the Braves claimed Gotay. So either all those teams fell asleep at the switch, or Gotay really isn’t considered all that valuable. In other words, he wasn’t good enough for teams like the Giants or Royals to even pick him up.
Many of you aren’t being objective and are seriously overrating his potential. Yes he had one hot streak against righties last year, but he’s a 31st round pick who’s put up mediocre numbers throughout his career at all levels (in contrast to Keppinger who had a much better college/minor league career…)
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