1 day until pitchers and 1,000,000 catchers march

Even though I nearly busted my ass walking down my ice covered driveway this morning (my kids took the tea pot and a broom outside yesterday and said they are starting the Staten Island Curling Club with my driveway acting as the home arena) it’s good to know that the Mets catchers have seen their shadows (I picture all these backstops standing around like birds on a wire) so that could only mean 6 weeks of spring training.

Speaking of catchers, yesterday the stories out of St. Lonesome had Henry Blanco as the one catcher with a roster spot sewn up but Omar Minaya says he’s not an everyday player. His tag team partner though changes everyday. One day the stories are about Omir Santos, then today we read about how Josh Thole can hit in whatever league he plays in plus he worked this off season with Bob Natal the Mets Catching Coordinator on his receiving skills. Now we are hearing that the Mets are working on signing Rod Barajas to either a minor league deal or a bargain basement ML deal. It’s to the point now that every pitcher in camp will have his own personal catcher.

JR of JR’s Sports Briefs did a video of the Mets Blood drive at $iti Field the other day. Usually the Mets do this drive in the spring but I guess with the shortage of blood in area hospitals they decided to go with a winter drive as well as a spring one as well.

Mike Silva is looking for the Mets promotional schedule on the team website but it’s no where to be found. I’m sure when they do decide to release the list of promotions it will be the same as every year, opening day schedule magnet, a couple of bobble head days,  drawstring bag day, notebook day, various t-shirts and lunch bag day.  Now I won’t kill these giveaway days as I have more Mets swag than I my basement can handle and I am a sucker for bobble heads but it would be refreshing to see something a little more imaginative from the Mets promo department. I don’t expect that though.

I don’t know why this bothers me but it does

Before we look at some Mets-Minutia and the fact that there are 24 days until pitchers and catchers,   a few football thoughts:

I guess this is not a great revelation but Peyton Manning is not just a great QB but he is an immortal football player. His dissection of the Jets secondary was surgeon like.

Sorry Lito Shepard for the kiss of death yesterday.

There is a fine line between confidence and assholeness and the Jets were heading to asshole-ness. None other than Peyton Manning made that known in his post game interview when he said his team knew when to keep their mouth’s shut. You know the rallying cry all week in Indy’s locker room was shutting up Sexy Rexy and his team, which is what Manning did.

I’m not a fan of Brett Farve as I feel is a lot over exposed and a bit overrated but I have new found respect for after yesterday. Farve is one tough sumnabitch.

Get ready for two weeks of Archie Manning career retrospective with the Saints and stories of the son of New Orleans, Peyton going against his daddy’s team and the team he grew up with.

12 men in the huddle late in a Championship game is unacceptable. Brad Childress is lucky he doesn’t coach in NYC, Philly or Boston  if he did he’d have to enter the witness protection program.

Back to baseball

Mets mini-camp opens today and Jerry Manuel will grace the club with his prescience. Adam Rubin (of course!) is on the scene with the first dispatch.

Mike Silva thinks that Ben Sheets is there for the taking for the Mets if they are creative.

Last week there were two great columns about Mariners GM and former Mets Scouting Director Jack Zduriencik who has made his mark and his team a contender this off season.

Scott Boras has entered the building and I agree with Mike Silva, Boras needs the Mets to get in the mix for Matt Holiday just to drive the price up. The Mets, Cardinals, Red Sox and maybe the Angels are Holiday’s best bets and with Boras blowing smoke up Mets managements ass about having the wherewith all to sign Holiday it’s quite clear that playing for a winning team is not paramount to Holiday signing a contract.

“The Mets have a network and they have an infrastructure there that is, I mean, it’s a juggernaut economically,” Boras said at the winter meetings Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve seen what NESN has done and they’ve become if not a multi-billion, over a billion-dollar franchise. The YES Network is a multi-billion dollar network and franchise. The infrastructure that they’ve built with the SNY network follows. They’ve got a brand new ballpark. They’re in New York City. Their revenues are in the top three or four in baseball. I mean, the New York Mets have a lot of choices. And the Wilpon family is very successful. Sure, the Mets can sign any player they want to if they so choose to.”

There is nothing in that statement that you can argue with. If you are a Mets fan, Scott Boras just did you the biggest favor of the off season by calling bullshit on the Mets inactivity. Of course he doesn’t give a shit about you or me or any Mets fan but by calling out the ownership to get in the game, we owe him some gratitude.

The piece of baseball news I’ve heard so far these winter meetings was that Peter Gammons has left the WWL and will join MLB.com and the MLB Network. I have had the pleasure of watching the Cape Cod League All Star game with Gammons a few years ago in Orleans and he was a real gentleman. We not just talked baseball but he is a real encyclopedia of Rock and Roll history as well. Congratulations Pete!

Wayne Coffey in today’s Daily News has a great two page story on Dwight Gooden and his road back into baseball and leading a life free of drugs and alcohol. Coffey zones in on Doc’ 1985 season which is one of the greatest pitching season in baseball history. I love that Coffey mentions that the Gooden phenomenon back then has not been matched in this city.  No player in any sport in this city can match what Gooden and the Mets did back then. I remember that any start Gooden made was a must see event and as hard as this is to believe where I lived in Brooklyn we did not have cable. So when any Gooden starts were not on Ch 9 the choice was either get to Shea or get to a bar that has one of those huge satellite dishes to watch his starts.

I’m glad that Doc is back in baseball as he is working for the Newark Bears but with this new found thinking of management bringing back players who actually have a winning pedigree with the Mets in coaching positions, you would think there would be a spot for Doc.

I know I’m late with this but kudos to Mike Silva and Joe DeMayo over at NYBD for breaking the story on the hiring of Wally Backman by the Mets to manage the Brooklyn Cyclones. Not only is great to have Wally back in the family but to manage Brooklyn makes it even sweeter.

By the way all of the folks who are attacking Mike and Frank Russo over his report that Carl Crawford has asked out of Tampa need to grow up. What, you think Crawford is going to retire a Ray?

To me the biggest question of the off season is still how much power does Omar Minaya have, Joel Sherman shines some light on the subject:

Rival executives and agents described a man not fully in charge of baseball operations regardless of what Mets ownership says. One NL official said that lag time between discussing business with Minaya and the time it took him to respond suggested he had to run the information through a committee.

An agent said, “You might not like what Omar had done in the past, but he was always aggressive and decisive. He looked old, beaten and without a plan this time.”

Executives and agents said they thought Minaya has yet to be told a true budget by ownership, and that is leading to the belief that the Mets do not want to spend big. A second agent said, “The Mets are not a destination spot right now, especially if you are a hitter. You would be going to a questionable team playing in a huge park. So if you’re Jason Bay, why would you leave the Red Sox for the Mets unless you were blown away (financially), or if you were Matt Holliday, why would you leave St. Louis for the Mets unless you were blown away?”

If this info is right then the Skill Sets fucked up again by not firing Omar and not giving the job to either John Rico or going out and hiring a younger more aggressive GM. This is what bugs the living shit out of me with Jeffey Skill Sets, all along he states that Minaya has “full autonomy “ over the baseball ops but according to Sherman’s sources he has to run his moves though a committee so in effect you’ve cut Omar’s balls off. Great move Jeffey, you little shit.

While the Highlanders, Halos, Phuck Phaces and Hollywood Hobo’s get ready for the LCS , we Mets fans still have some news of our own to contemplate:

Looks like Ike Davis picked a great time to put on a hitting display in the AFL. With the Brain (less) trust looking on, Ike delivered a monster Grand Slam HR  and 6 Rib Eye Steaks to power the Surprise Rafters to a win. So off this performance Mets fans are now wetting their pants over Ike. Yes I know Daniel Murphy sucks you people let me know it just about everyday. I’m not disparaging Ike, in fact watching Ike play in Brooklyn even with his low offensive production; you could see that by his frame and his collegiate pedigree, he has the look of a power hitter. But let’s not jump in the sack yet with Ike Mets fans, let the young man work on his craft and hope that he can be the player we hope he can be. How many times can you have your hearts broken? And you know how nasty you people can be when that happens.

Mike Silva brings up the name Tim Hudson and the fact that the Braves are looking to cut loose from at $12 mil option the have with the recently Tommy John post-op pitcher. Silva brings up the Mets making an offer to Hudson to bring him into the starting rotation fold. I’d be for it at a make good price. Hudson is a proven front line pitcher and as we know, coming back from TJ surgery is no longer the flashing red light that used to be, so why not talk to Hudson for a 2yr deal with an option loaded with incentives?

I don’t get it, what it is with famous folks and paying taxes? You think I enjoy giving my hard earned bucks to the government? HELL NO! But I also know that I have a better chance reasoning with the mob than I do the IRS, whose agents have no problem coming into your home and hauling your ass out in handcuffs. So much for a Yale education. By the way, between Koos, Nails and now Mr. P the Skill Sets may have to but a wing of the Mets HOF in Levenworth.

New pitching flavor of the month, Jenrry Mejiea will throw in AZ today. At 20 years old there is word in the organization that Mejiea and his cut fastball could start the season n the Mets pen with an eye toward moving him into the rotation. I have an idea, if the Mets can not sign John Lackey or make a deal for a front line starter this winter, how about letting all the pitching personnel know that come spring training, there are four spots open in the starting rotation and may the best four pitchers win. Take a page out the John Torterella book and base jobs on performance and not by over priced contracts.

Lot’s of news today, on what is the beginning of the last weekend of the summer and even with our dreadful season by our heroes in Flushing, this summer has flown by. I guess it’s due to the Mets being out of playoff contention for the first time in awhile that I am very excited about NHL training camps opening, Notre Dame-Nevada tomorrow and Week 1 of the NFL season starting next week.

But make no mistake it sucks not having a team fighting for the pennant. Wait it doesn’t suck, IT BLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

On to the news of the day:

The first question I had when I heard that Jerry Koosman was found guilty of tax evasion was it had to be a mistake. But now that Koos has been sentenced to 6 months in the slammer and also reading how he got taken in by an anti-tax group, the comment that had me sit up and say what the fuck, was Koos believing that only federal workers and residents of Washington D.C. paid federal taxes. Say it ain’t so Koos you can’t be that naive.     

Sad news out this morning about Ernie Harwell fighting incurable cancer. Harwell is not just one of the greatest announcers of all time but he is a first class story teller as well.

Carlos Beltran went 0-2 for the Brooklyn Cyclones last night in a loss to Hudson Valley as the’Clones in true Mets fashion have taken a dive down the home stretch of the season. The Staten Island Highlanders have surged into first place of the Mc Namarra Division however, the Cyclones have clinched a play off spot so let’s hope for a Cyclones-Baby Highlanders NY-PENN Championship showdown. Oh yeah, Beltran, he played centerfield and still says he’s not 100 % but wants to get back to the Mets some time this month. Someone has to be an adult and put their foot down and tell him see you in February.

The debate between Mets watchers is to rebuild or not rebuild that is the question, and I would fall in the burn it down and start over camp but realistically as Mike Silva points out in a terrific post on NYBD they don’t have the luxury of that option. Where Mike feels it’s due to giving the fabled “CORE” another shot at glory, my feeling is (and we discussed this last night at PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL) the Mets just don’t have many tradable parts. As much as I would explore moving Beltran or even Jose Reyes, both players are coming off season ending injuries and you would not get optimum return for either player. So in that case, bring them back and hope to build around them and Wright, Santana and Rodriguez. 2010 will not hinge on the “CORE” but on the Mets being able to find some starting pitching.

I don’t think D-Wright ditched the salad bowl for traditional batting helmet due to vanity even though that thing looked ridiculous. I’d bet anything that the helmet was extremely uncomfortable and he had a hard time running the bases with that condo on his head. Memo to Rawlings: go back to the drawing board fellows, that helmet is the Edsel of baseball equipment.

Dear Josh Thole,

Congratulations on your Major League debut. Two hits and some nice work being the plate has made you the Mets fan flavor of the month but don’t get used to it. Daniel Murphy was once in your shoes and the fans have turned on him because in his first full season in the bigs he hasn’t been Keith Hernandez. As much as I love my fellow Mets fans, they are at times a bunch of fickle fucks. So don’t get too much of a big head, they will turn on you the first time you go 0 for 4.

Sincerely,

The Eddie Kranepool Society.

The first game we went to at $iti Field my wife and kids look all around the City Walk at the bricks and my asked me “So where’s our brick”? I told her I didn’t buy one. She looked at me and said “You have every kind of Mets merchandise ever made but we don’t have a brick with our name on it in front the brand new ball park”? Uhhhh no. All I got was that disgust look that I have seen way too many times over the last 23 plus years ( I have a lot of Ralph Kramden in me ) So when I got the e-mail from the Mets that they were selling more bricks for the City Walk I broke down and bought one. So Honey, clear the mantel and make a place for our brick is on the way, I just hope that brick don’t land on the back of my head someday.

I don’t know what was scarier yesterday, the sight of Wright getting hit in the head and lying motionless on the ground or the fear that his health and safety is in the hands of the most incompetent bunch of fuckers in sports, The Skill Sets!

Can’t you just picture Jeffey Skill Sets visiting Wright in the hospital. “Dave how are ya”? “You know what take Sunday off in fact here’s free pass to Great Adventure go ride the Kingda Ka on me”

A must read this morning is from Metsradamus who correctly points out the softness of the Mets is what has fueled this pitching inside and may have led to Wright getting beaned. I have stated this here before, the word around the league is the Mets are as soft as two-ply Charmin. Pitch inside, dust them off the plate, hell drill ‘em in the ribs, the Mets will turn the other cheeck never a fear of retaliation isn’t near. Turk Wendell Mets fans turn their lonely eyes to you .

But finally FINALLY someone stepped up as Johan Santana there behind Kung Fu Panda (on purpose) and drilled Bengi Mollina (The one Mollina who needs to get drilled is Yadier but that’s another post for another time) Sure the Panda hit it out of the park after hitting the dirt but sometimes you lose a battle to win the war.

Check out Mike Silva’s NYBD and his post on the NY Times story on left handed catchers. He mentions Benny DiSteffano the pride of Bensohurst has the last lefty receiver in the bigs. When I started with the City 25 years ago I worked with DiSteffano’s sister. When he was with the Pirates their Mom, would make a pot of pasta, meatballs and gravy for the Bucos. Chuck Tanner was the manager back then and it was the highlight of his season when the club made the trip to Shea and Mama DiStefano’s home cooked meal. By the way, being a lefty myself I own a left handed catcher mitt.

Oh by the way, my sympathy for Matt Cain ended when he tipped his cap to the crowd as he was booed when he was removed from last night’s game. That was a real asshole move by Cain.

 The Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox hooked up last night in a game that if it were a post season game would be an instant classic. King Felix Hernandez and Mark Buehrle worked fast, threw strikes and neither one gave an inch. King Felix was helped out by great defensive plays by Adrian Beltre and Ichiro and Buehrle had impeccable command, The game went 14 innings until Junior Griffey drove in the game winner with a single to right to give the M’s a 1-0 win.

So Carlos Delgado has pulled an oblique muscle as he tries to come back from hip surgery. Only the NY Mets could get a guy hurt rehabbing from an injury. Nah, nothing wrong with the team training staff <eyes pointed up to the sky>

I watched part of Petey’s return and it gave me a big YAWN!!!! I watched the Philly telecast and Tom McCarthy nearly pissed his pants going wild over Petey hitting 91 on the gun. He looked hittable and I’d bet by his third start he’ll get his tits lit.

By the way Mike Silva has video of the Shane Victordouchebag getting a beer bath from some fat slob in the Wrigley bleachers. Phillies fans are outraged by the Cub fans gross behavior. That’s like Hugh Hefner calling Dennis Hoff a pimp.

The Mets have decided to wear throwback uni’s this weekend but they will not not be “Mets Throwbacks” but more like the uniform worn by the 1905 World Champion New York Giants. The difference though will be a Mr. Met patch on the sleeve and the sleeve cuffs will be blue and orange. Next season the Skill Sets have planned to rename the team the Bridegrooms.

Check out Pro Baseball Central tonight at 9PM EDST as Joe McDonald and I talk about the mess that is the NY Mets and what the future of the franchise looks like you can join the conversation as well at (646) 595-4462. If you can’t join us live you can listen on the podcast right here at TEKS or on our Pro Baseball Central site.  

More than Beltran, or Delgado or anyone of the dozen players on the DL The player who is missed the most is Jose Reyes, not just for his bat and glove but for his energy. Love him or hate him you can not deney this lifeless bunch of Mets could use a does of Jose-Jose-Jose.