Think about this for a minute, the Mets have lost their closer for the remainder of the season and maybe part of next season and instead of panic and angst, Mets fan are celebrating like the team just won the NL Pennant. Francisco Rodriguez has torn ligaments in his right thumb, HOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any other season the scramble would be on to find someone to pitch the 9^th inning, instead Mets fans are full of optimism that the team will void Rodriguez contract. Fans don’t even care if they can legally do this it’s more like the want to see Rodriguez suffer and maybe that the great legal mind of David Howard can take on the MLBPA and win, what could be the most important contest the Mets have been involved in two years. 

Speaking for myself, I don’t care if the Mets have to pay K-Rod the rest of this year and next, although I’d think if the Mets could win a case against Rodriguez a ticker tape parade down Roosevelt Ave would be appropriate, I just want to see the front office show some fight and send a message that they actually give a shit about the team and are tired of being portrayed as bungling douche bags.

Maybe the tide is turning in Flushing, as the Mets not only signed their number one pick RHP Matt Harvey but they went over slot price as well.

As another Mets season goes down the shitter, what better time to worry about next years contract right? That’s what’s on the mind of Pedro Feliciano. Daily Pedro will be a free agent after this season and is looking to re-up with the Mets and raise up his salary from this years $2.9 mil. I’m sure Feliciano will be looking for a healthy bump in pay and years but at what point do the Mets say farewell as the price in both cash and time becomes prohibited? A LOOGY on a mediocre team is a luxury you don’t really need so it’s more the Mets missed the boat at the trading deadline by not dealing Feliciano. I’m pretty sure you can find a Quadruple A or league average player to play the LOOGY role for a fraction of the price of Daily Pedro.

  9 days until pitchers and catchers

I’ve had it uptohere with everyone panicking over the impending snow storm heading to NYC by tonight. Yes it is going to snow and snow a lot, about a foot and yes all the assholes will attack the local supermarket to buy 10 gallons of milk and 15 loaves of bread because we all know a snowstorm in NYC is worse than an earthquake in Port A Prince. 

Its fucking incredible how people shit themselves when they here of a snow storm coming. It snows, you shovel, it piles up and guess what? IT GOES AWAY!!!!!!! In the fifty-one years I’ve been breathing and living in NYC THIS HAPPENS EVERY WINTER. DDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL WWIIIIIITTTTHHHHH IIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT !

Now that I got that out of system, The Mets will now slice the center field wall in half to a new height of 8 ft. Also the player’s moms will be responsible on a rotating basis to provide orange slice for each home game.

Marcus Thames (as pointed out by our resident Highlander fan Michael) has signed a minor league deal with the Bronx Bastards. I called Omar Minaya for to ask about the Mets having any interested in Thames or any other free agent still on the market. Here is a transcript of our conversation:

EKS: Omar, with the team not making many moves this off season and basically going with the same starting pitching staff that was dreadful last season, is there any interest in a pitcher like Jarrod Washburn?

Omar Minaya: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

EKS: Marcus Thames signed a minor league deal with the team in the Bronx. A pretty good righty bat who can play outfield and first base, did you have any interested in bringing Thames into the Mets fold?

Minaya: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

EKS:  Thanks for your time Omar.

Sorry I got to go now and head to Shop Rite before all the olive loaf and liverwurst is gone. I don’t know if you heard but a BIG FUCKING SNOW STORM IS COMING!!!!!!!

As a Mets fan, I’m starting to feel like a weary traveler standing at the airport luggage carrousel waiting for my bags, and my bags have gotten lost.

Pitchers have gone around the free agent carrousel and the Mets just stand there waiting and waiting and waiting to the point where they are the lone team standing around with nothing to show.

Ben Sheets for $10 mil is a very steep price to pay but give the A’s and Billy Beane credit for taking a chance with Sheets. Beane is taking a shot that of the three things that can happen with Sheets, if  two of the scenarios work in the A’s favor, Beane and the A’s come out a winner.  He can stay healthy and become the Ace of a very young and potentially strong starting rotation and the A’s can be big time contenders in the NL West, or he can stay healthy and the rest of the team not play up to expectation and fall out the race where by Beane can flip Sheets for a couple of top prospects, or the worst case scenario, Sheets breaks down like a ’76 Pinto and the A’s are stuck with an expensive invalid.

But then again, Beane and the A’s management are competent and have watched Sheets throw and checked his medical reports and have given him a full medical by doctors who have cleared Sheets good to go, so with the odds in his favor Beane decides to spend Lew Wolf’s money and go for a post season berth.

Jeffey Skill Sets on the other hand, will take the money saved on buying much cheaper baseball labor to build an extension of his Hamptons mansion.

At some point one of our fine beat reporters in this town should really try to get through the Wall of Horowitz and get a sit down interview with Jeffey Skill Sets to get answers on how he feels that the baseball team he runs is the laughingstock of the industry.  The Mets have gone from an organization where every player agent made sure that the Mets were involved with their client during free agency to an organization that has become Plan Z (welcome Jason Bay) The Mets wanted John Lackey but John Lackey wanted no part of the Mets.  A pitcher coming from the American League refused to even talk to a team in the NL, that plays in a pitchers ball park, in the greatest city in the world, for a team with a big income. Stunning.

Jason Marquis begged the Mets to sign him but the Mets treated him like he had cooties. Bengi Molina? He’s a Met the MSM told us, it’s just a matter of finding a pen with ink in it. Molina is back with the Giants.  Randy Wolf? Never called Flushing.  “Mr. Minaya, Joel Piniero on line 1” WHO? Responds Omar. Jon Garland? No! Chone Figgins? No! Orlando Hudson? No! Aroldis Chapman? No! If he were 45 years old then YES! Russell Branyan? No! and on and on and on…………………………

This perception of the Mets is not a figment of Mets fans imaginations, it’s real, the baseball world shakes its head and says “How the fuck?” We can rant all day and night about Omar Minaya and Fire Omar, and Omar this and Omar that. Get over your Omar hate, this is beyond Omar. Omar Minaya is a bit player in the Mets moves these days.  If Omar were the baseball boss, Molina and Piniero would be Mets and Carlos Delgado would have a 5 year deal. But nothing gets done until Jeffey Poo says it’s done. That’s why we’re fucked.

I give Johan Santana a ton of credit not just for showing up at the mini camp but for coming on WFAN with Joe Bada Bing and Tinkerbell and being positive and optimistic about this team. The right man in charge could play this “the whole world thinks you guys suck” as a rallying cry but the guy that would play that angle perfectly has to prove himself on Coney Island this summer, while Cool Breeze Jerry works on his lounge act in Flushing.

I swear to Henry Chadwick that I hope I’m wrong that Wright and Reyes explode with career years and Daniel Murphy hits like I believe he can and that Bay and Frenchy  prove to be “corner-stones”, and Beltran comes back like a track star that hits 30 HR’s  and Big Pelf pounds that strikezone like a blacksmith and this team is not just competitive but contends for the NL East crown.

As negative as I’ve been all winter and I’m sure other Mets fans will say the same thing, none of us wants to go through another summer like last year.  As I look down the line on the big decision makers though in this organization though, it is very hard to get enthused.  Jeffey is clueless and Omar is ball-less, and the manager couldn’t care less.

All I have is my ace pitcher preaching to me like Bob Marley, I hope he’s right. It’s hard to find Three Little Birds when it’s so damn cold outside

Oh boy lot’s of stuff to ponder today so let’s have at it:

METS SIGN ALEX CORA AND  CHRIS COSTE

Alex Cora is what he is, a backup infielder who most people around the Mets claim is a positive influence in the clubhouse and a manager in waiting. One more name to add to the “who will succeed Jerry Manuel by Memorial Day” list. What I can’t get through my thick skull is the amount of money and contract he received, 1yr with an option for 2011 and $2mil. Now 2 mil to the Mets is nothing but what I don’t get and the thing that makes my blood boil about this idiotic operation is, they never go over slot on a draft pick but they will overspend for JAG’s (Just Another Guy) and with all his leadership and his ability to play hurt last year Cora is a first class JAG and they come much cheaper than 2 mi. This is a typical Mets move. The Mets front office is as clueless when it comes to spending money on players as trailer park white trash hitting Mega Millions. At least the trailer park trash spends their fortune on malt liquor and cigarettes.

I read Chris Coste’ book and even though he had the stink of Philadelphia all over him, I admired his hard work and perseverance in making the big leagues. When I heard last night that he had signed with the Mets, again even with that Phillies stink all over him, I looked past that and thought, well he’s hard working vet who not only can catch but play some 1^st and 3^rd base and would be a great help to Josh Thole, but then Coste made a major blunder and inserted his foot and shin guard in his mouth:

Of all teams to come calling, Coste wasn’t expecting to sign a free-agent deal with the hated New York Mets. But that’s just what he did on Monday afternoon, agreeing to a one-year split deal.

“It was the Mets,” Coste told CSN. “It’s the last team I ever saw myself playing for. I knew I was going to accept it, but had to think about it for a few days.”

“I will always be a Phillie,” Coste told CSN this evening.

It it wasn’t my choice to leave Philly,” Coste said. “I never wanted to leave Philadelphia, I will always consider myself a Phillie.”

Are you kidding me? Wait let me rephrase that, Are you FUCKING kidding me?  If this doesn’t prove how clueless Mets management is it’s this signing. It’s bad enough that Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard have big mouths, in a way I can accept that as they are big time players, but when a bush leaguer comes out with this bullshit…Are you FUCKING kidding me? If the Mets don’t void this broken down busher’s contract after that…………..well……..ahhhhh who am I kidding there isn’t a pair balls in the whole organization.

CATCHER KELLY SHOPPACH TRADED TO TAMPA

Shoppach had a sub-par season in 2009 but was fantastic in 2008 and is a strong defensive catcher and is 30 years old. So of course the Mets had no interest. If he forged a birth certificate to show he was 38 years old and born is Santo Domingo, he’d be a Met today.

ROYALS DO NOT OFFER ARBITRATION TO CATCHER MIGUEL OLIVO

(Me outside $iti Field) HEY JEFFEY!!!! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. WAKE UP GOD DAMIT!!!! OLIVO IS AVAILABLE REMEMBER HIM? HE WAS READY TO KICK JOSE REYES’ ASS BACK IN ’07. HE HITS WITH POWER AND HIS VERY GOOD BEHIND THE PLAT AND HE’S DOMINICAN!!!!!! SURE HE’S ONLY 30 AND I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE OLDER MEN BUT HE’S DEFENITLY WORTH GOING AFTER. JEFFEY HEY…………….TELL THESE GUYS TO GET THER HANDS OFF ME…………….HEY…………..JEFFFEY…………..ALLRIGHT……….I’M GOING………I’M GOING…………

PALACIDO POLANCO NOT OFFER ARBITRATION BY TIGERS

Let’s see Polanco is a terrific fielder with great range at 2^nd base. He hits doubles and has some pop in his bat. Won a  two Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger and he’s DOMINICAN!!!! Ah but do we do with Rogers Castillo?

METS HIRE WAYNE KRIVSKY

I agree with Joe Janish, this could be the dark horse signing of the off season.

BRIAN SCHNEIDER SIGNS WITH PHUCK FACES

I don’t think Schneider will be quoted saying “I’ll always be a Met” but you know he’ll go 4 for 4 the first time he plays against the Mets. So anyone still think the Lastings Milledge for Scheider and Ryan Church was a win for the Mets?

STEP RIGHT UP AND SEE US SUCK AT PREMIUM PRICES

Metsgrrl has received her invoice for her Mets season tickets and it’s safe to say she is not a happy consumer but then again when it comes to customer relations the Mets make the Dept of  Motor of Motor Vehicles look like the happiest place on Earth.  I’m holding out hope that there will be more 97 cents days at $iti in 2010

Oh boy lot’s of stuff to ponder today so let’s have at it:

METS SIGN ALEX CORA AND  CHRIS COSTE

Alex Cora is what he is, a backup infielder who most people around the Mets claim is a positive influence in the clubhouse and a manager in waiting. One more name to add to the “who will succeed Jerry Manuel by Memorial Day” list. What I can’t get through my thick skull is the amount of money and contract he received, 1yr with an option for 2011 and $2mil. Now 2 mil to the Mets is nothing but what I don’t get and the thing that makes my blood boil about this idiotic operation is, they never go over slot on a draft pick but they will overspend for JAG’s (Just Another Guy) and with all his leadership and his ability to play hurt last year Cora is a first class JAG and they come much cheaper than 2 mi. This is a typical Mets move. The Mets front office is as clueless when it comes to spending money on players as trailer park white trash hitting Mega Millions. At least the trailer park trash spends their fortune on malt liquor and cigarettes.

I read Chris Coste’ book and even though he had the stink of Philadelphia all over him, I admired his hard work and perseverance in making the big leagues. When I heard last night that he had signed with the Mets, again even with that Phillies stink all over him, I looked past that and thought, well he’s hard working vet who not only can catch but play some 1^st and 3^rd base and would be a great help to Josh Thole, but then Coste made a major blunder and inserted his foot and shin guard in his mouth:

Of all teams to come calling, Coste wasn’t expecting to sign a free-agent deal with the hated New York Mets. But that’s just what he did on Monday afternoon, agreeing to a one-year split deal.

“It was the Mets,” Coste told CSN. “It’s the last team I ever saw myself playing for. I knew I was going to accept it, but had to think about it for a few days.”

“I will always be a Phillie,” Coste told CSN this evening.

It it wasn’t my choice to leave Philly,” Coste said. “I never wanted to leave Philadelphia, I will always consider myself a Phillie.”

Are you kidding me? Wait let me rephrase that, Are you FUCKING kidding me?  If this doesn’t prove how clueless Mets management is it’s this signing. It’s bad enough that Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard have big mouths, in a way I can accept that as they are big time players, but when a bush leaguer comes out with this bullshit…Are you FUCKING kidding me? If the Mets don’t void this broken down busher’s contract after that…………..well……..ahhhhh who am I kidding there isn’t a pair balls in the whole organization.

CATCHER KELLY SHOPPACH TRADED TO TAMPA

Shoppach had a sub-par season in 2009 but was fantastic in 2008 and is a strong defensive catcher and is 30 years old. So of course the Mets had no interest. If he forged a birth certificate to show he was 38 years old and born is Santo Domingo, he’d be a Met today.

ROYALS DO NOT OFFER ARBITRATION TO CATCHER MIGUEL OLIVO

(Me outside $iti Field) HEY JEFFEY!!!! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. WAKE UP GOD DAMIT!!!! OLIVO IS AVAILABLE REMEMBER HIM? HE WAS READY TO KICK JOSE REYES’ ASS BACK IN ’07. HE HITS WITH POWER AND HIS VERY GOOD BEHIND THE PLAT AND HE’S DOMINICAN!!!!!! SURE HE’S ONLY 30 AND I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE OLDER MEN BUT HE’S DEFENITLY WORTH GOING AFTER. JEFFEY HEY…………….TELL THESE GUYS TO GET THER HANDS OFF ME…………….HEY…………..JEFFFEY…………..ALLRIGHT……….I’M GOING………I’M GOING…………

PALACIDO POLANCO NOT OFFER ARBITRATION BY TIGERS

Let’s see Polanco is a terrific fielder with great range at 2^nd base. He hits doubles and has some pop in his bat. Won a  two Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger and he’s DOMINICAN!!!! Ah but do we do with Rogers Castillo?

METS HIRE WAYNE KRIVSKY

I agree with Joe Janish, this could be the dark horse signing of the off season.

BRIAN SCHNEIDER SIGNS WITH PHUCK FACES

I don’t think Schneider will be quoted saying “I’ll always be a Met” but you know he’ll go 4 for 4 the first time he plays against the Mets. So anyone still think the Lastings Milledge for Scheider and Ryan Church was a win for the Mets?

STEP RIGHT UP AND SEE US SUCK AT PREMIUM PRICES

Metsgrrl has received her invoice for her Mets season tickets and it’s safe to say she is not a happy consumer but then again when it comes to customer relations the Mets make the Dept of  Motor of Motor Vehicles look like the happiest place on Earth.  I’m holding out hope that there will be more 97 cents days at $iti in 2010

 

The thought of free-agent left fielder Matt Holliday signing with the Mets is good for a chuckle. Some who know Holliday say he would prefer not to play in New York. Also, his power to right-center makes him a poor fit for Citi Field. The Mets would not be so desperate to upgrade in left if Fernando Martinez had justified talk that he might be a left-handed Manny Ramirez …

 

Hey Ken , who’s Holiday’s agent ? Scott Bora$ right? Bora$ will have Holiday sign with the Tehran Burkamakers if the price is right. Who’s your source on this one, the same source who told you that no way C.C. Sabathia would never come to New York, Money talks, and bullshit is employed by FOX, dickhead.

 

Dierkes also puts Randy Wolf and Brad Penny in Mets Blue and Orange. Wolf I can see but Brad Penny? Unless it’s to work as a bouncer at the Acela Club I don’t see it.

 

Dave Duncan is pissed off at the Cardinals and the St. Louis media for the treatment of his son Chris who was sent to the Red Sox for nothing. Duncan is in the last year of his contract (as is the Stinkin’ Genius Tony LaRussa) and is talking like he wants to go elsewhere. And what a better place to go but Flushing NY.

So if the Skill Sets want to prove they mean business then make Dave Duncan the number one targeted free agent this winter. 

How much is it worth to the Mets to have Duncan work with Big Pelf and Bobby Parnell? Or how about Ollie Perez? If Duncan can get anything positive out of OP he gets a street named after him in Queens

 

Low budget sure keeps me on my toes
I count every penny and I watch where it goes
Were all on our uppers were all going skint
I used to smoke cigars but now I suck polo mints

 

 

A lot of times I can be very dense (hard to believe I know) like when putting together Ikea furniture or stuffing too many clothes in the washing machine and now I can add to the list, under estimating the Bernie Madoff rip off on the Skill Sets. The reason I’ve looked at this situation in a different light is due to my favorite ESPN.com writer Bill Simmons who has a column up on the NBA that brings out the leagues money woes. If someone were to write a No Benjamins Assciation about MLB (Money Left Behind) the Mets would play the lead in the story.

 

If it were just a weak economy the Mets would have a dented piggy bank but the Madoff rip off has put a torpedo blast in the bow of the SS Skill Set.

 

Why is Manny not a Met? Money, the lack there of is why. It has nothing to do with attitude or fitting in with the team as Manny would be fine on both points. It’s money. In fact you won’t see another Big Ticket free agent signed by the Mets for a long time and I bet they are now putting money aside for when Jose Reyes and David Wright come up for new contracts in 2012 and 2014 respectively and thankfully Johan Santana became a Met last year as if the same scenario was playing out this season he would never be in Orange and Blue.

 

 

With all the talk about the inefficiency of the 5^th starter spot and how Petey is looking rejuvenated unless he signs for $1 mil Petey’s not coming back here. Same with Pudge Rodriguez he’s not coming here either and it’s not so much the talent equation but the money situation.   

 

 

 

Randy Wolf (MLB Headshots)

With a nod to Duran Duran, the Mets have opened up to free agent Randy Wolf in order to fill the void in the rotation.

According to Marty Noble, Wolf acknowledged that interest and is also intrigued about returning to the northeast.

As you may remember, Wolf, 32, spawned the Wolf Pack in Philly where a group of fans would wear werewolf masks when he pitched. Hopefully that doesn’t come to Citi Field.

Wold pitched for San Diego and Houston last season and went 12-12 with a 4.30 ERA, but was 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA with the Astros.

After offering the bidding Sunday night with a 2-year deal for around $24 million, the club has upped the offer guartanteeing the third year to make it a $36 million contract.

With Mets COO Jeff Wilpon on the trip with Omar Minaya, the Mets seemed determined to come away with a closer and Rodriguez is the best one on the market. Originally the former Angel wanted a five year contract worth about $75 million, but because the closer market was satuated, the Mets seemed willing to wait as the money dropped.

Now after two meeting with Rodriguez and agent Paul Kinzer, the price seems to be in the Mets comfort zone and by getting him so cheaply, it opens up doors for the club to revamp the entire bullpen, which was one of the worst in the National League last season.

Last season, the free agent reliever went 2-3 with a 2.24 ERA and a Major League record 62 saves.

A deal may be announced later today.