I’m having some major computer issues today so that’s why this post is sooooooo late. I’m internet (as I posted on Twitter) was as slow as Ramon Castro going first to third and has surpassed Mo Vaughn after lunch slow to Bengi Molina slow so that’s why I’m shutting everything down and going out to hang out with James Gandolfini and Steve Shrippa out here in TriBeca. 

Before I write about the Mets today a word or two on Lawrence Taylor. What happened yesterday with  LT is a major kick in the nuts to all NY Giants fans of my generation. Taylor was not just the greatest Giants player of all time but arguably one of if not the greatest football player to ever approach the line of scrimmage. I don’t know if he was set up by the girls pimp or what the whole story is with this girl who was portrayed as a runaway and now from reading the news stories this morning, had a falling out with her family and removed from her home to live with an uncle, it’s such a sordid affair and a story that will just grow as more information comes out. But with all that the fact that the girl was 16 will be what sends LT to the slammer and if he did have sex with this girl, who allegedly was sent to LT against her will and was beat up by the pimp before hooking up with Taylor, then LT should go to prison for a long time.

I’m not throwing my 56 jersey in the trash just yet. I’m holding out hope that this was a frame job and that may be naive of me but LT is in my pantheon of New York sports legends so he gets the benefit of the doubt right now.

The Hall Of The Very Good has a Q & A with ex-Met and Hall of Famer, Gary Carter. An interesting exchange in this post is Carter’ take on Tim Raines making the Hall of Fame:

HOVG: This July, you’ll be on that stage in Cooperstown when “The Hawk” finally makes his way to Cooperstown. How long until Raines gets his call?

 

CARTER: It may be a long time or maybe never. He has good numbers but that is a tough call.

Interesting to say the least

The Mets Police has a couple of interesting items today one is a photo of $iti Field with the walls painted Mets blue and the old skyline that was above the (bow heads) Shea Stadium scoreboard and is now above the Shake Shack and Blue Smoke incorporated into the new scoreboard. This looks fabulous, absolutely fabulous. Then Mets Police Chief Shannon Shark brings up an interesting argument, should the Mets wear either their Los Mets or a roadie made up with Nueva York when the go to Puerto Rico to play the Fish and then wear them to Phoenix when they play the Snakes ? As Shannon says I don’t want to start a political shit storm here, but I’m sure long time readers can figure out where I stand on the law passed in Arizona, I would definitely vote to wear Nueva York jersey’s as they make more sense than Los Mets.

 

 

I guess I should be gracious and congratulated the Highlanders on not only winning the World Series but finally putting an end to this miserable baseball season, and thankful they ended before the season’s first snowfall.

 

For all of my fellow Mets fans who wanted Pedro Martinez on the team to fill a starters spot, and second thoughts? Even though Hideki Matsui has not had much success against Petey over the years, the way the at bat was going in the second inning you just knew Matsui was going to tag him. Matsui was like a boxer sizing up his opponent, jabbing, jabbing with foul balls, then just missing with a left but the jabbing again then going for the knockout with the home run.

 

The best line I read all morning came from Mike Vaccaro when talking about whether Charlie Manuel should have pulled Petey in third before Matsui plated two more runs with a single:

 

     Everyone inside the ballpark knew that Martinez had no shot against Matsui, who’d gotten so many great swings in that first at-bat, Then he pulverized a Pedro pitch that barely fell foul down the right-field line, missing a bases-clearing double by inches.

It was here, if Pedro’s name was Pete Martin and he wasn’t a proud future Hall of Famer, Charlie Manuel might have said “Enough!” and gone with a left-hander like the warming J.A. Happ to try to finish the at-bat and keep the Phillies close. But this isn’t Pete Martin. It’s Pedro Martinez. And he tried to sneak a fastball past Matsui that wouldn’t stay snuck. A two-run single followed. And the first bursts of bedlam fell from the stands.

 

Remember the praise I gave McCarver after Game 1? Well I would like to retract the compliment as Mac-C transformed back into Tim McFullofshit the rest of the way.

 

Remember back, oh about nine years ago when Matt Franco was a Met? Wasn’t it known that his uncle was none other than actor Kurt Russell? And didn’t Russell parade around in a Mets cap during the 2000 World Series? But now that his “step-daughter” Kate Hudson is shacking up with Alex Centaur-riguez he’s cheering for the Highlanders like he grew up on the Grand Concourse. And what’s up with Rudy Giulliani and his wax figure wife (and that hair Geez Louise Judy G find a stylist will ya!) looking like a couple waiting for the early bird special. And why does Rudy squint like that all time making that rat face?

 

 

 

 

Now that the 2009 baseball season is over, let’s role up our sleeves and get to work we got a lot to do. Grab a shovel!!!!

The knee jerk reaction from fans is that Sheff is an ingrate and should kiss the ground that $iti Field was built on that the Mets took him in but the reality is both sides needed each other.

Sure Sheffield, no matter what, was going to paid $14 mil bucks whether he played baseball this season or watched on TV from a hammock at his Tampa estate but take into consideration that Sheff is a border line Hall of Famer and one of the top players of his era and as much as cashing checks would soothe the hurt of being dumped by the Tigers it was still an embarrassment to be told “we will pay you NOT to play” Not only was his pride and ego bruised he was told “you stink, get lost”

Now along come the Mets who sign Sheffield to a bargain price of $440K and most fans thought “oh shit, here he comes the malcontent he’s going to mess the chemistry of the team” and all he did was be the consummate pro. He played through hurting legs when the team was short of sluggers he went out and played a better than average left field. Sheffield produced more than anyone could have hope for. So with the Mets clearly out of contention the logical move would be to put him on waivers, see who bites and if someone does,

make a deal. General Managing 101. Minaya got two bites, the Giants and allegedly the Marlins. The Giants were ready to deal but if the reports are true Minaya asked for a top prospect for Sheff. Now we don’t know who he asked Brian Sabean for but Omar could not a cajones to ask for LHP Madison Bumgrner or C Buster Poesy but I would think any prospect would be fine return for Sheff plus you’d be rewarding Sheffield for his service when it was needed the most by the Mets.

But of course, Omar couldn’t get it done. It seems that sums up the last three years of Omar’s reign as GM “Couldn’t get it done” It’s a lot easier to throw millions of dollars at players even fans with a rudimentary knowledge of baseball know who the super stars are but it takes a real savvy GM to deal off the Gary Sheffield’s and bring back a youngster with upside.

Hopefully Minaya won’t screw over Billy Wagner now that Wags has proven to the baseball world he is of sound elbow and body. Wagner’s hard work should be rewarded and not wasted in this embarrassing organization.

With 21 days until pitchers and catchers open the gates at St. Lonesome, FINALLY, there is some Mets news:

 

Last night on Pro Baseball Central Joe McDonald and I got into a spirited conversation that started out as a positions by position comparison of the Mets and Phillies and then morphed into a debate of whether Carlos Delgado is a Hall of Famer. Joe says “Yes of course” and I say “No way”

 

Am I the only one reading the words of Jeffey Skill Sets as a cryptic message that Manny could be a Met? I’ve seen where Omar has soured on Manny about how he acted in Boston last year but I have to think that Scott Boras is on the phone right now with Omar to talk Manny.  Am I just getting my hopes up? Am I just so delusional that I’m holding out hope? Maybe but unlike when Cliff Floyd played under the Art Howe reign of error I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I’m happy with the Freddy Garcia signing and I hope he makes his $9mil which he would get if he meets all the incentives in his minor league deal.

 

Great story on D Wright in the NY Daily News and I like this statement by Wright:

 

Wright is ready to be more vocal in team meetings - he says he started to feel right about speaking up only last year - and active in uniting the factions of a diverse clubhouse.

 

“I try to reach out to the free agents we sign, and the players we trade for,” he says. “When young players come up, I will try to steer them toward doing things the proper way. . . . I grew up in a military town, where there is a ton of diversity, so I’m used to talking to different people. I’m getting more confident in that as the years go by.”

 

It’s time for Wright to take over the team, there is no need to name him Captain-it should be accepted already in the clubhouse- but J-Man should just let it known that Wright is THE MAN. This is why I’m still holding out hope on Manny as a Met because Wright has made it known he is on board with Manny.

 

Then there was this little nugget that needs some clarification:

 

While he worked, Wright was the subject of much scrutiny and criticism. He says that none of the post-collapse chatter affected him as much as his own disgust.

 

“Nobody enjoys hearing they should be traded,” he says, shrugging. “You never want to be disliked, but I understand that with the position I’m in, in the market I’m in, it’s not going to be happy-go-lucky all the time, like it was it ‘06. You have to take the bad with the good.”

 

 

I know of no Mets fan that ever said D-Wright should be traded and I know some of the Shea disdidents have booed Wright which is ignorant but Wright has to know that the only person in this town that even utter the word trade with Wright’s name was the mid day blow hard in Astoria and no one gives a rats ass about his opinion when it comes to the Mets.

 

Are the Phillies serious about this?

 

The site Amazin’ Avenue has a great post of Mets on the cover of Sports Illustrated from 1962-1985. WOW brings back memories.

 

 

 

 

Of course, he’s the best pitcher on the market, but is he worth it? Think about it. Lowe will be 36 in June and if the Mets have to give him a four-year, $60 million contract, the team will be paying him $15 million to pitch when he’s 40. To me, that’s not a good investment.

Sure Lowe will give you over 200 innings a year and will throw to a low-3 ERA, but for how long. Just looking at the recent history of four-year contracts the Mets gave out to pitchers in their mid to late 30s, you can see how the team has gotten burned.

Tom Glavine never regained the Hall of Fame form he had in Atlanta and while he had some good seasons, they were dominate. Pedro Martinez’s arm went out during his second season of a four year contract and Billy Wagner will get paid around $10 million in 2009 to rehab his arm.

This is not to say Lowe will be like those players, but he’s hardly a Hall of Famer, and if history shows us one thing, it’s that older pitchers break down much, much easier.

Personally, I would like to see the Mets re-sign Ollie Perez, who is 27 and has shown no signs of breaking down. A four year contract will put him at 32 when a four year deal ends, since his birthday is in August.

The Mets are better off paying a guy for what he will do, not what he did for other teams.