Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The following video was shot by SNY’s Ted Berg during our tour of Citi Field today, enjoy:

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I took the following photos while touring Citi Field today:

…and, of course…

I will post the full gallery and hi-res images tomorrow.

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In the New York Times, George Vecsey criticizes the Mets and Citigroup for continuing on with ‘the Citi Field deal,’ despite a $300 billion loan to the banking giant from the Federal Government.

Vecsey uses typical buzzwords like ‘socialism,’ while writing, “My rage gave way to pride, however, knowing that we are all, in a broad sense, shareholders in the Mets.”

I look forward to reading George’s next few columns, during which I am sure he will express an equal amount of rage in also being a shareholder of AIG, Chrysler, Bear Stearns, the airline industry, countless other banks, the police department, the fire department, my nephew’s public school, my grandparents prescription drug plan, and the countless other organizations our taxdollars help to support and finance.  I mean, the entire city of New York was bailed out in 1975 for Pete’s sake.

Anyway, I, too, am confused by the Mets, who are continuing their relationship with Citigroup.  But, I have kept quiet on this issue, because, frankly, at this point, what is there to say?

Whether it’s Citigroup, the Government, Tiger Woods and GM, the insurance companies, the auto manufacturers, ‘the bridge to nowhere,’ the credit industry or the Mets, it’s the same-old, tired, complicated story, all of which beat around the bush.  To me, it would be a waste of time to criticize one, and not criticize the other, all while never addressing the real, macro problem at hand.

That said, I am surprised the Mets have continued their partnership with Citigroup, strictly from a public relations point of view.  I mean, whether you are for it, against it, whether you’re ignorant like me, or you’re a financial expert, the partnership does look a bit gluttonous, which is never good.  Typically, the team is so paranoid of what other people think, so I am surprised this has yet to impact their thinking.

Frankly, I feel like the Mets should keep the name, take the money and give the cash to people who were laid off by the bank, or something to that affect – but what do I know.  I mean, I’m still hoping Apple steps in and names it The Big Apple.

By the way, I’ll be at Citi Failed today, I mean Field, taking pictures and video with SNY’s Ted Berg, which I hope to have uploaded before the end of the day.

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According to Joel Sherman, in a post to his blog for the New York Post, the Mets intend to a) acquire a front-end starting pitcher, b) also acquire a fifth starter, but c) give Jon Niese a chance to win the job in spring training.

In fact, Omar Minaya told reporters the above gameplan while at the GM Meetings in California last month.

That said, Sherman suggests the Mets look at Cubs RHP Jason Marquis, M’s LHP Jarrod Washburn and Tigers RHP Nate Robertson, all of whom will be available, to compete with Niese.

The Red Sox and Tigers had been discussing a potential swap of Dontrelle Willis or Robertson for Julio Lugo, but the deal is now ‘unlikely,’ according to the Boston Herald.

“How about Scott Schoeneweis and Marlon Anderson for Marquis,” asks Sherman.

“That would save the Cubs $5.1 million and essentially give the Mets a dependable fifth starter for $5.1 million.”

…actually, my sense is the Mets will wait on finding a back-end starter, let the off-season play out, see what prices drop, like maybe Jon Garland, while monitoring the trade market, such as Javier Vazquez, and seeing if any interesting pitchers are non-tendered and added to the free-agent pile…

…from what i can gather, the Mets have shown a slight interest in garland, who is seeking a long-term deal…

By the way, last off-season, the Cubs were shopping Marquis, and had interest in OF Endy Chavez, reported the Daily News.

…from what i recall, the Mets inquired about marquis during the 2006 season, and had checked in on him again as a free agent, but their interest was minimal at best…

The 30–year-old Marquis has won at least 10 games and pitched at 190 inning in each of the last five seasons, while posting a 4.58 ERA, during which opponents hit .261 against him.

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24 free-agents were offered salary arbitration, including Juan Cruz, Brian Fuentes, Orlando Hudson, Raul Ibanez, Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, Francisco Rodriguez and Jon Garland.

By offering arbitration, assuming he does not accept the one-year offer, if the player leaves to sign with a new team, that new team will owe the old team at least one compensatory draft pick.

The Mets offered salary arbitration to Oliver Perez.  However, they did not offer arbitration to Luis Ayala and Moises Alou.

Additionally, Adam Dunn, Pat Burrel and Bobby Abreu, as well as Andy Pettitte, Joe Beimel, Randy Wolf and Kerry Wood, were not offered arbitration, meaning they will not cost their new team a draft pick.

…i find it interesting that arbitration was not extended to dunn, abreu and burrell, which means their teams made a calculated decision suggesting these players could have so few enticing options on the open market that they’d be willing to accept a one-year deal…in other words, what is going on in the outfielder’s market…at the same time, these players will become slightly more attractive now that their new team does not have to part with draft picks in exchange for signing them…

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Free-agent OF Kevin Mench is close to signing a one-year contract with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan, according to NPB Tracker.

…this is a sign of the time, in terms of baseball and the economy, in that while the big-time players will get their money, it’s the mid-range guy, who can easily be replaced by a minor-leaguer, who is out of a job…

The Astros signed LHP Mike Hampton to a one-year, $2 million deal, bringing him back to Houston, reports FoxSports.com.

ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons is interviewed about the Red Sox on Fire Brand of the American League, during which he is asked, “How do you feel blogs, both as a tool for grassroots media like MVN, as a part of mainstream media.”

Lastly, according to MLB.com, citing ‘league sources,’ the Marlins have been shopping C Matt Treanor, in advance of possibly pursuing free-agent C Pudge Rodriguez.

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