Tag Archives: WFAN

Earlier today, Mets manager Jerry Manuel made the first of his weekly appearances on WFAN’s afternoon show.

In case you missed it, here is a quick recap of Manuel’s interview:

• Manuel said he pulled Johan Santana with two outs in the sixth inning on Monday to keep him under 100 pitches for his first start.
• Believes Gary Sheffield was a great addition due his presence from the right side of the plate, but Sheffield’s play will be based on performance and may not get a start until next week with his first at-bat coming sometime this weekend.
• Manuel said Sheffield and Ryan Church will not be in a straight platoon, but will play based on matchups and who gives the best chance for the team to win.
• Fernando Tatis may start at second base when the team faces a right-handed starter.
• Believes Daniel Murphy is a work-in-progress in the field and will be replaced late in games, but loves Murphy’s intelligence and gamesmanship.
• He said it’s tough to predict Mike Pelfrey‘s performance due to his lack of history.
• John Maine needs to gain confidence he can perform and be comfortable on the mound.
• Oliver Perez loves to improvise on the mound, but needs to be consistent with his delivery.

To listen to Manuel’s interview in it’s entirety, check out WFAN.com.

Tagged Mike Nichols, WFAN |

According to Neil Best over at Newsday, Mike Francessa announced on his NBC show “Mike’d Up” last night that he and Mets 3B David Wright spoke for 45 minutes to clear up their differences. Wright refused to appear on Francessa’s WFAN show last week when he was broadcasting from Mets camp, and to even meet with Francessa this winter.

Last week, after Wright and Ryan Church refused to appear on his show, Francessa said, “I think he’s being very immature because he’s had a straight ascendancy and he doesn’t want any criticism… He needs to grow up.”

…first of all, thanks to Neil Best for watching francessa’s show so we don’t have to… brave, brave man…

…wright has always met criticism head on, and taken more than his fair share of responsibility for the team’s September collapses, so clearly francessa is mistaken on that point…

…like matt, i’ve always had a problem with the WFAN featuring such a loud mouth Yankees fan as the face of the station, especially one with such a giant ego, so it’s nice to see Wright give him a piece of humble pie…

Added to by Matthew Cerrone:

…well, i don’t think i ever said i have a problem with francesa being the face of WFAN… instead, my gripe is that there is no check on his anti-Mets slant, during what is the most-popular sports talk radio show in New York…

…fact is, the rest of the day’s programming is hosted by mostly Mets fans… it’s just, during that drive-time show, when the most people are listening, mike is able to slam the Mets over and over agian, which is totally fair…. however, there is no Mets-counter voice to bring the conversation back to reality… and so, he ends up spreading all sorts of unrealistic anti-Mets talking points around the city, which is frustrating to watch go down…

Tagged WFAN |

According to public documents released yesterday in a Manhattan bankruptcy court, the Mets had 13 accounts, some with Shea Stadium addresses, with direct ties to Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

In Newsday, Wallace Matthews explains:

“Fred Wilpon gets 75 mentions alone.  The name of his brother-in-law and partner in Sterling Equities, Saul Katz, is mentioned in 39 entries.  There are 15 accounts for Citigroup and 13 accounts for The New York Mets, including one for The Mets Foundation… There are (six) accounts for Jeff Wilpon… Sterling Equities, the parent company that owns the Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones has a full 2 1/2 pages worth of accounts, more than 100 in all… And yet the Mets continue to insist that it is no big deal.”

Richard Sandomir says in the New York Times, “No dollar figures were cited, so it is impossible to determine how much the team alone lost or what those accounts were earmarked for.”

However, he adds, “The team remains financially sound,” according to a statement from the team.

…we’ve all been thinking, but carton says it best below…

This morning on WFAN, host Craig Carton said:

“Now, we’re not gonna sit here and be naive, and think that the Mets would open up an account with Bernie Maddoff for $50,000… It’s my guess that you’re talking about tens of millions of dollars that the Mets had invested with Maddoff in these 13 separate accounts…

“It would make complete sense to me then that the Mets franchise, while clearly not cheap at all – they will have one of the top two or three payrolls in all of baseball this year, so you can’t say they don’t spend any money, so you can’t say they’re cheap and you can’t say they’re nickel and diming guys, they did go out and K-Rod, they went out and got Putz, they got the guys they coveted and spent what they had to spend, they brought Perez back, so I want to be fair – but, had the Mets not lost tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars you’ve got to believe they would have signed Manny Ramirez, and here’s why…

“The manager of the Mets has come out repeatedly and said, ‘I want Manny Ramirez.’  The GM has said nothing but great things about Manny Ramirez, but basically said, ‘He’s not in our plans.’  And ownership, guys I have a great deal of respect for and know personally, they have never said, ‘We have no interest in Manny.’  They’ve kind of been coy about it… If you’re the Mets, and you recognize the need a) for a right-handed bat and b) the best hitter in baseball, who fits two needs for you… How would the Mets not go after him…

“A year ago, when they were flush with cash and no Maddoff problems and they spent the world to get Johan Santana.  So, you have to believe a team that was willing to get Santana, a team that spent money to get Beltran, that got Piazza, to write the big check for one or two guys, why wouldn’t they do it this year if not for their financial problems…

“I’m not saying they’re out on the corner pan-handling… but the reality is, you have 13 accounts with Maddoff… I’ve read accounts that overall the Wilpons and their investment folks lost anywhere from $300 million to $900 million… How much of that was Mets money, with 13 accounts with Maddoff.  So, you wonder, why are the Mets so reluctant to get Manny Ramirez, or even make a two-year offer?  I believe the reason is financially their coffers are not as full as they were a year ago.  That’s my belief.”

To listen to WFAN live from your computer, click here.

Meanwhile, in Newsday, Anthony Rieber does a fantastic job of exposing the other 21 financial companies to receive bailout money who also have naming rights deals, just like Citigroup and the Mets.

Rieber points out the Yankees are slated to receive roughly $20 million from Bank of America, “as a potential signature sponsor in the new Yankee Stadium.”

Top executives from Citigroup and Bank of America, among others, have been called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee next Wednesday.

Tagged WFAN |

Mets GM Omar Minaya appeared live on WFAN’s Boomer and Carton show, which you can listen to by clicking here.

During the informative, and entertaining, 15-minute interview, Minaya said, ‘We got ourself a bullpen, now we’ve gotta get a starting pitchers,’ while adding:

He met yesterday with his staff, and they’re in the process of ranking starting pitchers, while considering who to make offers to.

On the last day of the Winter Meetings, he met with Scott Boras, who represents Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe, to get an idea of the parameters of what his clients are looking for, ‘without talking specific numbers.’

He is looking for ‘possibly’ two starting pitchers, ‘even though we feel very comfortable with Jon Niese and Robert Parnell.’

Francisco Rodriguez loves the energy of New York, and truly wanted to pitch in this city, even if it meant taking less money – all while knowing the Angels may have jumped back in, in the event they did not sign Mark Teixeira.

J.J. Putz is a ‘competitor and a team player,’ he’s ready to compete, ‘and he wants to win.’

When asked if he will make an offer to Manny Ramirez, he said, ‘No, I mean, No.  Although he believes Ramirez is a ‘great player,’ he intends to keep focusing on ‘pitching, speed and defense,’ and will look at offense later, or during the season.

Despite news of Fred Wilpon and Bernie Maddoff, he has been told by the ownership to continue to puruse his ‘A-list,’ and to keep working to improve the team as he sees fit.

Again, to listen to Minaya’s entire interview, click here.

Tagged Omar Minaya, WFAN |

Apparently, Mike Francesa just called me out on WFAN for my post this morning, while accusing Ryan Church of essentially being a liar.

He was referring to this post, from this morning, in which I link to Ryan Church’s recent quote to MLB.com, which refuted Francesa’s statement that Church hated New York, and supports Adam Rubin’s report in the Daily News.

…Update…5:18 pm…

According to a transcript, he said of me, “He’s annihilating me about Church,” which is funny.

Annihilate?  That’s pretty funny.  Click back, you be the judge.

Anyway, he then goes on to say of Church:

“I have no issue with Church.  He has denied what I said.  I’ll say this, I know the guys who have listened to Church come out and sit on the bench and listen to Church moan and groan about this team and the clubhouse and the music in the clubhouse… OK, he keeps denying it.  If he needs me to prove who said it, I will.  Because, I don’t care enough about the Mets to make this stuff up about them.  Why would I bother?  I don’t care, to make this stuff up…

“If I say something its because someone I trust told me something… If he can’t face the music that’s Church’s problem… He’s not telling the truth.”

…Update…5:31 pm…

Lastly, Francesa says, with regards to my linking to a message board report suggesting he may soon be teamed up with Kim Jones, “As far as some guy on a blog telling me about the future of this show, you wanna believe that??  Well, I’ve never heard of or met Matt Cerrone.  So, the idea that he knows the future of the show is a little comical.”

I don’t know the future of the show, Mike.  I never claimed to.  Not that I expect you to know the difference, but I simply linked to a story that claimed to know the future.

The funny thing is, I like Francesa being on the drive-time show on WFAN.  He makes for good drama.

My point this morning was that he should be teamed up with a person who is knows the Mets, so to curb the pro-Yankees, anti-Mets talk that dominates his show, which I will defend all day long by the way.

…thank you to Peter Wade for the transcription…

Tagged Ryan Church, WFAN |

In early October, on WFAN, Mike Francesa said he has been told that Ryan Church ‘hated it here,’ while adding, ‘I know for a fact that he didn’t like the Mets, he didn’t like the city and he was not a happy guy here.’

In a chat and on his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin explained that the opposite was true, that Church truly enjoyed playing in New York, adding that Church is even open to signing a long-term contract here.

That said, in a great report yesterday for MLB.com, which chronicles a long, difficult season for Church, Marty Noble quotes the left-fielder as saying of Francesa’s comments:

“I say just, consider the source.  I never said anything like that, never thought anything like that. With all that happened, I really enjoyed my time playing.  And when I finally got back, the way I was received, it was great.  I love it there.  I want to play there, I want to finish [my career] there.”

Speaking of radio, according to MikeFrancesa.com, citing an inside source, WFAN may be leaning towards Kim Jones as Francesa’s co-host during WFAN’s Mike’d Up.

…great, so, once again, instead of teaming up francesa – a Yankees fan – with a knowledgeable Mets personality, they may team him up with jones, who spent the last two years working for YES, traveling with and covering the Yankees…

…so, again, instead of having a balance of Yankee knowledge and Mets knowledge on the most influential talk-show in New York City, it will be Yankees and Yankees…lovely…

…hat tip to NY Baseball Digest for the link…

Tagged Ryan Church, WFAN |

In Newsday, Neil Best is asking readers to vote for whom they feel should be Mike Francesa’s permanent co-host on WFAN.

To vote, click here.

Personally, I would like to see either Mets beat reporter Ed Coleman or mid-day host Evan Roberts get the job.

Coleman is the station’s Mets beat reporter, while Roberts is a young, thoughtful Mets fan – both co-hosts would bring balance to Francesa’s anti-Mets slant and his constant praise of the Yankees.

Otherwise, the city’s most popular sports talk-radio show will continue to spin negative rhetoric about the Mets without any hint of reality, which is what has occurred for the last 20 years.

Unfortunately, so far, of the 2,100 voters, only 9 percent feel Coleman should be Francesa’s co-host, while only 12 percent feel it should Roberts, which is disappointing.

Joe Benigno, who is a Mets fan, but who also borders on irrational and mostly pessimistic, is second in the voting with 20 percent.

Tagged WFAN |

The Mets and WFAN have agreed to an extension of their broadcast partnership for live play-by-play coverage of Mets pre-season, regular season and post-season games.

Additionally, according to a press release, for the first time, all of WFAN’s Mets content, including game broadcasts, will be available on FM radio at 92.3 HD3.

Tagged WFAN |

According to Neil Best’s blog for Newsday, citing ‘three industry sources familiar with the negotiations,’ the Mets are likely to remain with WFAN beyond this season. 

Tagged WFAN |

Mets manager Jerry Manuel recently made his weekly appearance on the WFAN.

In case you missed it, here is a quick recap of Manuel’s appearance:

• Manuel said Ryan Church may join the team this weekend if he continues to progress with his minor-league rehab.
• Luis Castillo will need to perform in order to play every day, as Manuel likes Damion Easley and Argenis Reyes at second base.
• He said he is concerned about Mike Pelfrey‘s innings pitched and will continue to watch him closely.
• Manuel stated there is no clear-cut choice for a closer and is hoping someone, like Aaron Heilman steps up and takes the roll.
• He is not considering moving a starting pitcher into the bullpen.
• Is expecting Carlos Beltran goes on one of his “big runs” down the stretch.

To listen to Manuel’s interview in it’s entirety, go to WFAN.com.

Tagged Mike Nichols, WFAN | ← Older postsNewer posts →