Showing posts with label New York Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York Post. Show all posts
Friday, December 16, 2011
Book says Wilpon asked MLB to doom Einhorn’s Mets deal - NYPOST.com
All the more reason why Fred and Jeff Wilpon must go and Bud Selig must follow them out the door. This is collusion at its worst solely to protect the narrow interests of someone lacking the intelligence needed to own a baseball team by someone lacking the intelligence to run a major sports league.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Trading a 29-year old superstar...
Picture for a moment a team with a 29-year old superstar that is considered the face of the franchise. He plays for the team he cheered for as a boy and is loyal to them beyond dollars and cents. His team is a few years removed from contention but is not considered to be in contention in the near future regardless of what the ownership or diehard fans believe. Thus the team considers moving him to another team, for whom he could be "final piece to the puzzle", in exchange for bodies to fill the roster.
No, I'm not talking about a potential David Wright deal. I'm talking about Mike Piazza. The only difference is that, in 1998, the Mets were the team on the cusp of contention that needed Piazza. And no one is going to argue that Piazza meant less to the Dodgers in 1998 than Wright means to the Mets today.
Much has been written about whether or not the Mets should trade David Wright, including by me. Joel Sherman wrote an excellent column outlining what the Mets could get back in exchange for Wright. The blog Metzilla shared its thoughts on moving Wright, as did the SNY Why Guys.
If Sherman's reporting is accurate, I wonder what kind of bidding war could take place between the Angels and Rockies (the two teams rumored to be interested in Wright) if the Angels were to include Peter Bourjos and the Rockies were to include Dexter Fowler in a potential deal. I admit, these aren't marquee names. However, they could be pieces to build upon until the potentially marquee names of Wheeler, Harvey, Familia, Flores, Nimmo, et al arrive in Flushing.
Met fans were deeply depressed when Lee Mazzilli, the homegrown Brooklyn native and lone All-Star of the 1979 Mets team, was traded for two minor league pitchers. However, one of those guys netted in that deal was Ron Darling and the other, Walt Terrell, was flipped later for Howard Johnson. Of course, it only helped the psyche of anyone still hurting from that 1982 deal that Maz was a free agent in the middle of the 1986 season and was re-signed for the stretch run for the eventual 1986 World Champions.
Met fans got over Mazzilli, Dodger fans got over Piazza, and Red Sox fans certainly got over Garciaparra. This will be a sad off-season if Reyes signs elsewhere (which he probably will) and Wright gets traded (which he likely could.) However, life will go on for Met fans and eventually the core will be re-built to establish a consistent year-in, year-out, level of superiority and respectability.
My only request: keep Wright and Reyes out of the NL East and, preferably, both of them end up in the American League on different teams. Beyond that, I can only say as a fan, best of luck and thanks for the memories. Too bad there wasn't more to the minor league talent pool beyond those two guys to create something sustainable beyond 2006.
No, I'm not talking about a potential David Wright deal. I'm talking about Mike Piazza. The only difference is that, in 1998, the Mets were the team on the cusp of contention that needed Piazza. And no one is going to argue that Piazza meant less to the Dodgers in 1998 than Wright means to the Mets today.
Much has been written about whether or not the Mets should trade David Wright, including by me. Joel Sherman wrote an excellent column outlining what the Mets could get back in exchange for Wright. The blog Metzilla shared its thoughts on moving Wright, as did the SNY Why Guys.
If Sherman's reporting is accurate, I wonder what kind of bidding war could take place between the Angels and Rockies (the two teams rumored to be interested in Wright) if the Angels were to include Peter Bourjos and the Rockies were to include Dexter Fowler in a potential deal. I admit, these aren't marquee names. However, they could be pieces to build upon until the potentially marquee names of Wheeler, Harvey, Familia, Flores, Nimmo, et al arrive in Flushing.
Met fans were deeply depressed when Lee Mazzilli, the homegrown Brooklyn native and lone All-Star of the 1979 Mets team, was traded for two minor league pitchers. However, one of those guys netted in that deal was Ron Darling and the other, Walt Terrell, was flipped later for Howard Johnson. Of course, it only helped the psyche of anyone still hurting from that 1982 deal that Maz was a free agent in the middle of the 1986 season and was re-signed for the stretch run for the eventual 1986 World Champions.
Met fans got over Mazzilli, Dodger fans got over Piazza, and Red Sox fans certainly got over Garciaparra. This will be a sad off-season if Reyes signs elsewhere (which he probably will) and Wright gets traded (which he likely could.) However, life will go on for Met fans and eventually the core will be re-built to establish a consistent year-in, year-out, level of superiority and respectability.
My only request: keep Wright and Reyes out of the NL East and, preferably, both of them end up in the American League on different teams. Beyond that, I can only say as a fan, best of luck and thanks for the memories. Too bad there wasn't more to the minor league talent pool beyond those two guys to create something sustainable beyond 2006.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Selig: Mets never threatened over cap flap - NYPOST.com
Here's more proof that Bud Selig is, and always will be, way in over his head as the commissioner of Major League Baseball. The fact that he could be so clueless as to the importance of the Mets wearing the first responder hats like they did in 2001 is pathetic and sad. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog, Adam Rubin of ESPN, John Harper of The New York Daily News, and George Willis of The New York Post agree that the Mets should have been wearing the NYPD, FDNY, and PAPD hats for 9/11.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Mets thrilling fans with mix of attitude & energy - NYPOST.com
Larry Brooks explains the reason I watch every single night.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Joel Sherman, NYPOST.com: Time for Reyes, Wright to show Mets why team should keep them together
Joel Sherman quotes an AL team staffer in explaining why Reyes and Wright need to step up these next few weeks:
"“There is a shallow talent pool at both positions (shortstop and third),” an AL personnel man said. “And it is not like they have a Starlin Castro-like prospect at either position ready to no doubt take over. They are both in their prime and both have shown the ability to be top five at their position, maybe even top three. You have to keep an open mind about keeping both.”"
"“There is a shallow talent pool at both positions (shortstop and third),” an AL personnel man said. “And it is not like they have a Starlin Castro-like prospect at either position ready to no doubt take over. They are both in their prime and both have shown the ability to be top five at their position, maybe even top three. You have to keep an open mind about keeping both.”"
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Mets are laying down the claw - NYPOST.com
The Mets with another big win without Jose Reyes last night, thanks in part to ... THE CLAW!!
"Oh no... run ITS THE CLAW! NOTHING CAN STOP THE CLAWWWW!"
"Oh no... run ITS THE CLAW! NOTHING CAN STOP THE CLAWWWW!"
Friday, June 3, 2011
More David and Jose thoughts...
A few more nuggets about Jose Reyes and David Wright. Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote yesterday that the Mets unlikely to get a lot back for veteran stars. Additionally, Jeff Bradley of The Newark Star-Ledger wrote that Sandy Alderson is familiar with the Jose Reyes situation:
"The date was June 21, 1989, and Alderson, then the 41-year-old GM of the Oakland A’s, fleeced the Yankees for Rickey Henderson, sending pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk, and outfielder Luis Polonia east for the greatest leadoff hitter in major-league history. Four months later, the Henderson-led A’s were World Series champions.
At the time of that deal, Alderson believed Henderson — in his walk year — was most likely going to be a short-term rental for the A’s. But taking Henderson was a risk he took on behalf of Oakland that translated into that team’s one and only World Series title during an era the A’s appeared ready to dominate."
I remember the Henderson trade, remember the buzz created by Caderet, Plunk, and Polonia. The buzz was especially loudest about Polonia growing up blocks away from Yankee Stadium and that the Yankees got back the fireballer Plunk, who they sent to Oakland when they traded to get Rickey Henderson a few years earlier. The only other buzz thereafter was when Luis Polonia was arrested after an incident involving a 15-year old girl in a Milwaukee hotel room.
[On a side note, any Met fan over the Reyes era can tell you that Jose's mindset as a leadoff hitter or focus as a basestealer didn't really solidfy until the Mets hired Rickey Henderson as a baserunning coach. I don't think it's a coincidence that is when Reyes' game really picked up.]
Which is why Ken Rosenthal's column at FoxSports.com today is so appealing. I mentioned in my blog post yesterday that replacing Reyes would be much more difficult than replacing Wright and I even made some comparison to Nomar Garciaparra. However, Rosenthal makes some great points that I hadn't considered that replacing Wright isn't so simple either:
"Let’s see if I can build a market for this ne’er-do-well third baseman, whose OPS-plus from 2008 to ’10 — as pointed out by Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger — was comparable to Mark Teixeira’s from ’06 to ’08 at a similar age.
Wright would fit for both Los Angeles teams, both Chicago teams, the Rockies, Orioles, Twins, Tigers and Mariners. He could replace Scott Rolen in Cincinnati, Chipper Jones in Atlanta and Aramis Ramirez with the Cubs.
That enough?
No, the Mets probably wouldn’t trade Wright to the Braves or Phillies. But I’d bet that the Phillies’ uber-aggressive GM, Ruben Amaro Jr., would move heaven, earth and a killer prospect package to get Wright’s right-handed bat at Citizens Bank Park.
I’ll say it again: The entire discussion is ridiculous. If so many teams could use Wright, then maybe, just maybe, the Mets could use him, too."
"The date was June 21, 1989, and Alderson, then the 41-year-old GM of the Oakland A’s, fleeced the Yankees for Rickey Henderson, sending pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk, and outfielder Luis Polonia east for the greatest leadoff hitter in major-league history. Four months later, the Henderson-led A’s were World Series champions.
At the time of that deal, Alderson believed Henderson — in his walk year — was most likely going to be a short-term rental for the A’s. But taking Henderson was a risk he took on behalf of Oakland that translated into that team’s one and only World Series title during an era the A’s appeared ready to dominate."
I remember the Henderson trade, remember the buzz created by Caderet, Plunk, and Polonia. The buzz was especially loudest about Polonia growing up blocks away from Yankee Stadium and that the Yankees got back the fireballer Plunk, who they sent to Oakland when they traded to get Rickey Henderson a few years earlier. The only other buzz thereafter was when Luis Polonia was arrested after an incident involving a 15-year old girl in a Milwaukee hotel room.
[On a side note, any Met fan over the Reyes era can tell you that Jose's mindset as a leadoff hitter or focus as a basestealer didn't really solidfy until the Mets hired Rickey Henderson as a baserunning coach. I don't think it's a coincidence that is when Reyes' game really picked up.]
Which is why Ken Rosenthal's column at FoxSports.com today is so appealing. I mentioned in my blog post yesterday that replacing Reyes would be much more difficult than replacing Wright and I even made some comparison to Nomar Garciaparra. However, Rosenthal makes some great points that I hadn't considered that replacing Wright isn't so simple either:
"Let’s see if I can build a market for this ne’er-do-well third baseman, whose OPS-plus from 2008 to ’10 — as pointed out by Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger — was comparable to Mark Teixeira’s from ’06 to ’08 at a similar age.
Wright would fit for both Los Angeles teams, both Chicago teams, the Rockies, Orioles, Twins, Tigers and Mariners. He could replace Scott Rolen in Cincinnati, Chipper Jones in Atlanta and Aramis Ramirez with the Cubs.
That enough?
No, the Mets probably wouldn’t trade Wright to the Braves or Phillies. But I’d bet that the Phillies’ uber-aggressive GM, Ruben Amaro Jr., would move heaven, earth and a killer prospect package to get Wright’s right-handed bat at Citizens Bank Park.
I’ll say it again: The entire discussion is ridiculous. If so many teams could use Wright, then maybe, just maybe, the Mets could use him, too."
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Jon Heyman's NL East Predictions - SI.com
Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com already predicted the Mets would finish last in the NL East, now Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated gets into the act with not only a last place finish but a 74-win season.
Oh, and he doesn't seem like he thinks much of K-Rod either:
"The only safe prediction for the coming baseball season regards Francisco Rodriguez's $17.5 million vesting option for 55 game finishes. He won't be getting it, the games or the money.
K-Rod was brilliant this spring, and he may well continue that brilliance. But he isn't getting those games. Certainly not from the Mets. Nobody wants to pay more than Mariano Rivera money to another closer, least of all a team that has, shall we say, financial problems."
I personally prefer David Wright's sunny optimism:
"We have a bunch of guys with chips on their shoulders."
Let's Go Mets. Two more days until Opening Day.
Oh, and he doesn't seem like he thinks much of K-Rod either:
"The only safe prediction for the coming baseball season regards Francisco Rodriguez's $17.5 million vesting option for 55 game finishes. He won't be getting it, the games or the money.
K-Rod was brilliant this spring, and he may well continue that brilliance. But he isn't getting those games. Certainly not from the Mets. Nobody wants to pay more than Mariano Rivera money to another closer, least of all a team that has, shall we say, financial problems."
I personally prefer David Wright's sunny optimism:
"We have a bunch of guys with chips on their shoulders."
Let's Go Mets. Two more days until Opening Day.
Monday, August 9, 2010
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