Mets sign Andy Cavazos

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, via Metsblog, the Mets have signed 26 year old minor league free agent RHP Andy Canvazos. He has been in the minors since 1999, and has had some major league experience. Last year with the Cardinals, Andy went 0-0 with a 10.05 ERA in 17 games. in 20 innings pitched, he gave up 16 walks while striking out 15. This signing is most definitely a low risk high reward type. Omar is trying to find cheap options for the bullpen and he was probley looking at Canvazos's AAA stats from a year ago:

2-5/3.21 era/44 games/47.2 innings pitched/48 k's/ 26 walks.

It seems to me that he walks to many hitters and that is what comes back to bite him in the rear. Maybe in February when pitchers and catchers report, Rick Peterson and Brian Schnedier can work with him and get his control back.

The Top 10 Worst Baseball Contracts

10 - Richie Sexson, 1B Seattle Mariners

THE DEAL: Four-years, $50 million (2005).

THE FALLOUT: After swatting 39 and 34 home runs in the first two years of the deal, Sexson slumped to just 21 taters and 63 RBI while batting .205 in 2007. We think it's fair to say the Mariners expect more than a .205 average for a $12.5 million cleanup hitter on a team with playoff aspirations. The good news? Sexson is a free agent at the end of 2008.

9 - Bobby Bonilla, RF New York Mets

THE DEAL: Five-years, $29 million (1991).

THE FALLOUT: 'Bobby Bo' finished third and second respectively in 1991 and 1990 NL MVP voting for the Pittsburgh Pirates while batting behind his good buddy Barry Bonds. So when the Mets made Bonilla the highest-paid player in team sports, they expected more of the same. What they got instead was a .249 average and 70 RBI in 1992, numerous run-ins with fans and New York media and a poster boy for the disaster that was the Mets of the early '90s.

8 - Albert Belle, RF Baltimore Orioles

THE DEAL: Five-years, $65 million (1998).

THE FALLOUT: In the winter of 1996 Albert Belle signed a 5-year, $55 million deal with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent, making him the highest paid player in baseball. But the deal had a clause allowing Belle to demand that he would remain one of the three highest paid players in baseball. Belle invoked the clause in 1998 and again became the game's highest paid player after signing with the Baltimore Orioles. But two seasons and 60 home runs later, a bad hip forced Belle to retire at age 34.

7 - Mo Vaughn, 1B Anaheim Angels
THE DEAL: six-years, $80 million (1998).

THE FALLOUT: Vaughn hit 30-plus home runs and knocked in over 100 runs in both 1999 and 2000, but he didn't play a single game in the 2001 season. He was traded to the New York Mets on December 27, 2001 for Kevin Appier, but retired following a 2003 season in which he played in only 27 games due to a knee injury.

6 - J.D. Drew, RF Boston Red Sox
THE DEAL: Five-years, $70 million (2007).

THE FALLOUT: J.D Drew's talent has never been questioned. His desire and ability to stay healthy have. Before joining the Red Sox, Drew hit .283 with 20 HRs and 100 RBI with L.A. in 2006. During his first season in Boston Drew hit .270 with 11 homers, and 64 RBI in 28 fewer at bats, making him an easy target for fans and media. And when you get benched in September for Eric Hinske, that pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

5 - Roger Clemens, SP New York Yankees
THE DEAL: One year, $28,000,022 (2007).

THE FALLOUT: A 6-6 record and a 4.18 ERA aren't bad numbers for a 44-year-old starting pitcher...if you're Jamie Moyer. But when you're paid a prorated salary of more than $28 million a lot more is expected from you than a .500 record. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner gave up three runs in 2 1-3 innings in his only playoff start before leaving with a strained hamstring.

4 - Kevin Brown, SP Los Angeles Dodgers
THE DEAL: Seven-years, $106-million (1999).

THE FALLOUT: Kevin Brown became baseball's first hundred million dollar man, at age 34. Brown won 18 games in 1999 and led the league in ERA in 2000, but injuries and poor performance (predictably?) resulted in him being shipped to the Yankees in 2003. Yankees fans remember him for starting and losing Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS at home to Boston, lasting less than two innings.

3 - Chan Ho Park, SP Texas Rangers
THE DEAL: Five-years, $65 million (2001).

THE FALLOUT: Chan Ho Park and his super agent Scot Boras managed to parlay a 15-11 season with the Dodgers in 2001, into one of the highest paid contracts for a pitcher at that time. In his first season in Texas, Park returned owner, Tom Hicks' faith by going just 9-8 in 25 starts, with a 5.75 ERA. The following season, he only started seven times going 1-3 with a 7.58 ERA. At the end of 2007 Park was pitching for the Triple-A Round Rock Express in the Astros' system.

2 - Alex Rodriguez, SS Texas Rangers
THE DEAL: 10-years, $252 million (2000).

THE FALLOUT: Has A-Rod produced the numbers at the plate? Yes he has. Has he delivered the playoff success the Texas Rangers, and later New York Yankees, were paying him for? Absolutely not. When you sign a guy to a 10-year deal, and essentially dump his salary in a trade three years later, if that's not a quarter-million dollar mulligan we don't know what is.

1 - Mike Hampton, SP Colorado Rockies
THE DEAL: Eight-years, $121 million (2000).

THE FALLOUT: Mike Hampton was a 22-game winner in 1999 with Houston and the NLCS MVP for the Mets the following year. Then the pitching-starved Colorado Rockies came a knocking. He went 14-13 with a 5.12 ERA in 2001 and then 7-15 with a 6.15 ERA in '02. The Rockies shipped him to Florida in '02, and later he was sent to Atlanta. After rebounding with 14 wins in 2003 and 13 in '04, Hampton made just 12 starts in '05 before Tommy John ended his season. He hasn't returned to the majors since.

Poll Results

After conducting a poll about weather or not you would trade our star SS Jose Reyes for Twins SP Johan Santana... A staggering 87% said NO. I'd have to agree with the majority on that one. Jose Reyes is an up and coming superstar and people need to look past his late season struggles last year. Reyes has many advantages over Johan Santana in my eyes..

1. Jose Reyes is 24.. Johan Santana is 29.
2. Jose Reyes plays every day.. Santana plays every five days.
3. Jose Reyes costs $25 million over 4 years.. Johan Santana will cost $140-$150 million for 6-7 years.
4. Lastly, we just can't trade away 1/2 of the heart and soul of our team.. the Mets should NEVER even consider splitting up David Wright and Jose Reyes.

We, the fans, know that we cannot trade Jose Reyes and I think Omar has made that very clear to the Minnesota Twins.. I still say that we wait it out and hope that the Twins hang on to Santana for the whole season, then we can pursue him via free-agency.

The Best Mets Nicknames

Okay it has been very slow in the baseball world. News sources are reporting that Omar Manaya is content with what he has in place now. Minaya refuses to OVER SPEND on a very weak Free Agent market and teams asking for the farm in trades.

That being said lets take a look at the best player nicknames that have passed through Shea Stadium. Nicknames. They are something that everyone is familiar with in one way or another. However, most people have little, if any, personal experience with nicknames. Nicknames play a major role in everyday life. Nicknames are formed with a certain unspoken format, and they have a particular importance. To the “outside world” the use of nicknames may bring to mind organized crime, or gangs, maybe it's just a family tradition.

Well lets get to it...

Alright lets start with the team name. The New York Mets:

The first run they ever scored came in on a balk. They lost the first nine games they ever played. They finished last their first four seasons. They were 100-l underdogs to win the pennant in 1969 and incredibly came on to finish the year as World Champions. They were supposed to be the replacement for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. They could have been the New York Continentals or Burros or Skyliners or Skyscrapers or Bees or Rebels or NYB's or Avengers or even Jets (all runner-up names in a contest to tab the National League New York team that began playing ball in 1962). They've never been anything to their fans but amazing-the Amazin' New York Mets.

1-Tom Seaver "Tom Terrific" or "The Franchise"

No introduction needed here. Seaver is considered one of the greatest players in club history. Seaver was the first true star for the Mets and led them to their miracle World Championship in 1969. This was the year that Seaver appropriately earned his nickname, he finished the year winning his last 10 decisions to end the year 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA.

2-Dwight Gooden "Dr.K" or "Doc."
Again no introduction needed. Gooden made his debut indoors, on April 7, 1984 in Houston. He tied the major league mark for strikeouts in two consecutive games, with 32 in starts on September 12 and 17, which, combined with his September 7 start, gave him a record 43 in three straight games. He went on to set a major league rookie record with 276 strikeouts in only 218 innings. The strikeouts earned him the nickname Doctor K and a rooting section in the upper deck that hung out a red K for each strikeout during his starts.

3-Lenny Dykstra "Nails"
Nicknamed "Nails" for his scrappy style of play, Dykstra did everything all out! He worked hard, played hard, and partied hard. Dykstra rose through the Mets' farm system, joining Seaver and Gooden. The pesky Dykstra helped ignite the Mets' offense from the top of the batting order.

4-David Cone "Coney"
In March of 1987 Cone was traded from Kansas City to the Mets for catcher Ed Hearn. Later call one of the worst trade in Royals' history. As the ace of the 1988 team, Cone went 20-3. At any point in an at-bat Cone was capable of pinpointing a cut fastball, slider, curve, changeup, or his lethal split-finger. Cone's mischievous manner and engaging personality made him a favorite with both fans and the press. Wearing the cones to Shea, many fans dubbed themselves "Coneheads" after the Saturday Night Live characters. Earning Cone his nickname.

5-Gary Carter "The Kid"

Carter was traded to the Mets for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans for the start of the 1985 season. Earned the nickname "The Kid" in his first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974, by trying to win every sprint and trying to hit every pitch out of the park. Carter will be forever remembered by Mets fans as the man who started the Mets 10th inning two out Game 6 rally in the World Series against Red Sox.

6-Howard Johnson "HoJo"

Johnson was traded to the Mets for Walt Terrell for the start of the 1985 season. Earned his nickname while with the Tigers. In 1987 he and Darryl Strawberry became the first teammates to both hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases, and Johnson's 36 homers set a NL record for a switch-hitter, which he would break four years later.

7- Edgardo Alfonzo "Fonzie"

Alfonzo was signed by the Mets as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1991. Alfonzo was part of the infield dubbed "The Best Infield Ever" on a cover of Sports Illustrated, along with Rey Ordonez, Robin Ventura, and John Olerud. I could be wrong on this one, but I believe Alfonzo was given the nicknamed Fonzie by teammates after the character Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli from the television show "Happy Days" .

8-Keith Hernandez "Mex"

Traded to the Mets for relief pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey in 1983. Nicknamed Mex for his Spanish descent. (Also part Scots-Irish descent.) Keith Hernandez may have been the best defensive first baseman in MLB history. Mets and Yankee fans are often found arguing over who's the better firstman was during the 1980s Mex or Don Mattingly.

9-Sid Fernandez "El Sid"

Obtained by the Mets with infielder Ross Jones for Bob Bailor and Carlos Diaz in a trade with the Dodgers following the 1983 season. Fernandez's 16-6 record in 1986 helped the Mets to a pennant, but he didn't start in the World Series. His best years were with the Mets from 1984 to 1993 and he was an integral part of the 1986 Championship team.

10-John Maine "The Maine Event" or "The Maine Man"

Maine was traded to the Mets along with Jorge Julio for Kris Benson in 2006. The New York media quickly nicknamed Maine after pitching 22 scoreless innings over three starts after being recalled from the DL on July 3, 2006. Maine's scoreless-inning streak reached 26 innings before he allowed a run. His streak was the longest ever by a Mets rookie starter.

Honorable Mention: Orlando Hernandez "El Duque" - Jerry Koosman "Cooz" - Mike Piazza "The Pizza Man" - Kevin McReynolds "Big Mac" - Wally Backman "Cabbage Patch" - Frank McGraw "Tug" - Dave Magadon "Mags" - Lee Mazzilli " The Italian Stallion"

It is pretty obvious that the tradition of nicknaming misses nobody. Nicknames are a part of baseball, and some of the best to ever play the game have nicknames. Ty Cobb "The Georgia Peach" and George Herman Ruth "Babe", "The Bambino", and "The Sultan of Swat".

Give Pelfrey a Chance

There have been many people that think RHP Mike Pelfrey should be moved to the bullpen. I have even touched on this subject... but I have changed my mind about Pelfrey. As of right now, I think that he should have the #5 spot in MLB or AAA starting rotation. Some people may say "he sucked last year or he was 3-7!".. I look past that.. He showed what he is really capable of at the end of last season (3-0 in September).

"Putting Mike Pelfrey in the bullpen is probably the worst thing you can do right now. The thing he needs to do is develop his secondary pitches. Putting him in the pen would be encouraging him to throw nothing but fastballs, and he wouldn't be developing his slider/changeup combination which in the end will make him a much better pitcher." said The Man at Mets Prospectus and I totally agree with that opinion. Lets take a look at Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux's first and second full seasons..

Maddux 1st full season: 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA
Maddux 2nd full season: 18-8 with a 3.18 ERA

Glavine 1st full season: 7-17 with a 4.56 ERA
Glavine 2nd full season: 14-8 with a 3.68 ERA

Convincing? Lets say last year counts as a 1/2 of a season for Pelfrey... Give him the chance to pitch every five days for us against major league hitters. Even if he has a mediocre season, we have four reliable starters in Pedro, Maine, Perez, and Hernandez.. the key to the 2008 Rotation is that they all need to stay healthy. Give Pelfrey a shot for atleast two more years, if he fails, put him in the pen.. He can get hitters out and will be a productive major league player. Hopefully in the Mets rotation. Look for him to breakout during the 2009 season.. but only if he gets the chance to start for a FULL season. I say that there are two options for Mike Pelfrey in 2008...

#1) Give him the #5 slot in the rotation.
#2) Keep him in New Orleans for ALL of next season.

Either way he needs to develop his secondary pitches and he need to do so on a consistent schedule.

Are the Yankees Giving MLB a Black Eye?

Yankees are giving baseball a Black Eye. First were weeks of steroid revelations brought into question (by the Mitchell report), the integrity of many of the heroes from those championship teams of the late 90s, none more so than Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens. Pettitte admitted to using PED's while Clemens wants to blame everyone else except himself.
Now former Yankee and 1996 World Series hero is charged with a DUI, vehicular manslaughter and charged with a first-degree misdemeanor count of damaging property and may face additional charges from the early morning crash that left a Plantation, Florida mother of two dead, police said. My only question here is, What in the world was a mother of two doing out at 3 o'clock in the morning?

This is starting to mirror the Mets of the early 90s when Vince Coleman, Gooden and Daryl Boston were named in an alleged sexual abuse incident against a woman near the Mets' spring training facility. Gooden was injured when Coleman accidentally hit Gooden's shoulder with a golf club. Bret Saberhagen threw a firecracker under a table near reporters. Coleman threw a firecracker out of the team bus window and injured three people resulting in felony charges, and Saberhagen was in trouble again, this time for spraying bleach at three reporters. To top it all off Gooden shocked not only New York sports fans, but baseball fans by testing positive for cocaine and was suspended by Major League Baseball for 60 days. Shortly after he began serving his suspension for the positive drug test, it was announced that he had again tested positive for cocaine and was now being suspended by MLB for one year. Their descent was chronicled by the book The Worst Team Money Could Buy: The Collapse Of The New York Mets by Bob Klapisch and John Harper.

Mets Salaries

I wanted to see how much The Wilpons are spending this year (08). These numbers are from Cots Baseball Contracts. The names that are bolded have options or are in their last years of their contract. Take a look.....

1. Carlos Beltran $18,500,000.00
   
2. Carlos Delgado $16,000,000.00
3. Pedro Martinez $11,000,000.00
4. Billy Wagner $10,500,000.00
5. Moises Alou $7,500,000.00
6. Orlando Hernandez $6,500,000.00
7. Luis Castillo $6,000,000.00
8. David Wright $5,000,000.00
9. Brian Schneider $4,900,000.00
10. Jose Reyes $4,000,000.00
11. Scott Schowenweis $3,600,000.00
12. Ramon Castro $2,300,000.00
13. Matt Wise $1,200,000.00
14. Marlon Anderson $1,050,000.00
15. Damian Easley $950,000.00

The Following players must go through the arbitration process or I cannot find the players salary. The estimated '08 salary for each player is listed to the right of his name.

1. Duaner Sanchez $ 700,000
   
2. Oliver Perez $ 4,000,000.00
   
3. John Maine $ 3,000,000.00
   
4. Aaron Heilman $ 1,000,000.00
   
5. Ryan Church $ 500,000.00
   
6. Brian Stokes $ 380,000.00
   
7. Endy Chavez $ 950,000.00
   
8. Jorge Sosa $ 1,000,000.00

So after getting dizzy from counting and typing all those 0's, the total amount the Wilpons will be forking out this season is about $110,500,000.00. This is including the ESTIMATED salaries above, and is not including the Draft, minor league players and other team expenses.

In past 7 years the Mets have spent over $100,000,000.00 four times.

• Opening Day payrolls for 25-man roster
  
• 2007: $115,231,663
  
• 2006: $101,084,963
• 2005: $101,305,821
• 2004: $ 96,660,970
• 2003: $117,476,429
• 2002: $ 94,633,593
• 2001: $ 93,674,429
• 2000: $ 79,800,000

Last year, only the Yankees and Red Sox spent more money than the Mets. In 2009, the Mets payroll might be lower than in 2008. This all depends on two things...

A) What free-agents the Mets sign.
B) If they re-sign any of our own players.

I'm hoping that the Twins decide to keep Johan Santana and let him become a free-agent at the end of this upcoming season. This will enable the Mets to pay him money and keep all of their prospects, as opposed to trading 5 player to the Twins for 1...The Braves 1B Mark Texeria is also a free-agent at the end of the '08 season. Look for Omar & Co. to try and sign some big name players next November.

Who's gonna be better?

With all the talk of the mets still in the mix for Johan Santana, we should take a look at the pitching prospects that have been mentioned. Who do you think will be the better MLB player?




Thanks for Voting!

The Mets, Call to Arms...

So far the Mets have been unable to land that much needed front-line starter. So like last season when we saw the likes of Dave Williams and Jose Lima, it again looks like Minaya will take the same approach in 2008. Several free-agent pitchers are being considered as fallback options, and the list is not pretty. Jon Lieber has joined Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon as the Mets look to add a starting pitcher with an incentive heavy contract. Add Kyle Loshe another below average pitcher to the mix and the scrape heap keeps growing...I don't like any of these options but when it came to free agent pitchers, Livan Hernandez may be Omar's best bet. The question is, Is he really only 32 years old? If the Mets are going to take on an injury risk pitcher may I suggest Jason Jennings.

Ed Coleman's Take on the NL East.

Eddie Coleman on his blog for WFAN takes a closer look at the NL East and how the teams stack up in 2008.
Among the most significant moves Coleman details are Florida Marlins taking the biggest hit, dealing Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers for LHP Andrew Miller and OF Cameron Maybin and four others. Miguel Olive has also departed. In lossing these three players the Marlins have trimmed payroll in half from $30.5 million to about $14.6 million. It's been said that the Marlins may start the 2008 season with a payroll less then $10 million! Can you say last place.

The Wahington Nationals acquired Lastings Milledge from the Mets and Elijah Dukes from Tampa Bay, and signed catcher Paul LoDuca. They re-signed SP John Patterson, and added pitcher Tyler Clippard. They lost Brian Schneider and Ryan Church in the Milledge deal. I agree with Coleman's take that the National won't win the east, but the Mets know they play hard under Manny Acta, and will be tough to beat. Look for another 4th place finish, I'm guessing that they improve on their 73 wins by a few games though.

The Atlanta Braves took Tom Glavine away from the Mets and added prospect Jair Jurrjens from the Tigers. Plus added the ageless Javy Lopez. They lost Andruw Jones as well as Edgar Renteria, hoping Yunel Escobar will be major league ready. The Braves bullpen took a huge hit, losing Oscar Villarreal, Jose Ascaino, Ron Mahay and Chad Paronto. They have taken a step back in my opinion. After winning the east 11 straight years, look for 3rd straight 3rd place finish in 2008.

The Philadelphia Phillies lost CF Aaron Rowand, Tad Iguchi, Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary. They picked up Brad Lidge who could be a huge X factor. They added Geoff Jenkins to replace Rowand and signed So Taguchi who led all N.L. pinch-hitters with a .406 (13-32) average. Only separated by about 100 miles, here are the Mets newest rivals. The Phillies took care of business in 2007 and now they wear the bullseye on thier backs. For the first time in history the Mets and Phillies finished back to back seasons with both teams finishing in first and second in the standings.

Look for a third straight year with these two teams battling it out for the NL east crown. All the Mets need to do is to replace Tom Glavine. How Omar Minaya plans on doing that, well wouldn't we all like to know...60 days to go.

Eddie doesn’t see a clear front runner in the East at this time, and aside from the Marlins downgrading significantly, nobody has drastically improved or regressed.

2008 Hall of Fame Candidates.

The 2008 Hall of Fame ballot has 11 new names added, this brings the total to 25 former players for the upcoming round of voting which writers must have posted marked by December 31, 2007. Voters are instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who receives votes on at least 75% of the ballots will be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 2008 candidates will be announced on January 8, 2008. Those candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee. Also as long as you receive 5% of the vote you have 15 years to be voted into the Hall of Fame. Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) will distribute 575 ballots.The BBWAA is responsible for voting on MVP, ROY, Cy Young, Manager of the Year, and the Hall of Fame.

Last years ballot lost players Orel Hershiser(4.4%), Albert Belle(3.5%), Paul O'Neill((2.2%), Bret Saberhagen(1.3%), Jose Canseco(1.1%), Tony Fernandez((0.7%), Dante Bichette(0.6%), Eric Davis(0.6%), Bobby Bonilla(.04%), Ken Caminiti(0.4%), Jay Buhner(0.2%), Scott Brosius(0%), Wally Joyner(0%), Devon White(0%) and Bobby Witt(0%). Steve Garvey was also lost, not making the Hall of Fame in his 15 years on the ballot. His highest percentage of votes came in 1995 with 42.6%.

Introducing the new players on 2008 ballot:

Brady Anderson OF: Career Stats: BA =.256; HR = 210; RBIs =761 Career Highlights: Anderson played 15 seasons and is a 3-time All-Star. In 1996 Anderson broke Frank Robinson's Orioles single season club record with 50 home runs. By hitting 50 home runs and stealing 20 bases in the same year, Anderson made baseball history becoming only the second player to accomplish this feat along with Willie Mays (1955). Ken Griffey Jr. (1998) and Alex Rodriguez (2007) have since joined the 50-20 club.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = No chance. Suspected of using performance enhancing substances.

Rod Beck RP: Career Stats: 38-45, 286 Saves, 3.30 ERA Career Highlights: Beck played 13 seasons and is a 3-time All-Star. Won Relief Man of the Year in 1994. Ranks 23rd on MLB Career Saves list. Holds San Francisco's single season record for saves with 48 in 1993. Seven seasons with at least 20 saves -Beck passed away on June 23, 2007, waiving the normal five-year period before eligibility. His death is still unsolved with the Phoenix police department.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = Borderline I'm leaning towards No.

Shawon Dunston SS: Career Stats: BA =.269; HR = 150; Hits =1597 Career Highlights: Dunston played 18 season and is a 2-time All-Star. Tied a MLB record with 3 triples in a game on July 28, 1990. Seven season with at least 20 plus doubles and two with at least 30 doubles.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = No chance

Chuck Finley SP: Career Stats: 200-173, 3.85 ERA , Strikeouts = 2610 Career Highlights: Finley played 17 seasons and is a 5-time All-Star. Led the AL in complete games in 1993 with 13. Led the AL in IP in 1994 with 183 1/3. Often finished in the top 5 in the league in strikeouts. Won at least 15 games seven times. Pitched at least 200 innings nine times. Three seasons with 200-plus strikeouts. His 2610 strikeouts ranks him 23rd all-time.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = No, but should be on the ballot for the next 15 years.

Travis Fryman 3B: Career Stats: BA =.274; HR = 223; Hits =1776 Career Highlights: Fryman played 13 season and is a 5-time All-Star. Won a Gold Glove Award in 2000. Won the Silver Slugger Award in 1992. Seven seasons with 20 or more Home runs and 9 seasons with 20 or more doubles. Three season with 100 or more RBIs.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = No chance

David Justice OF: Career Stats: BA =.279; HR = 305; RBIs =1017 Career Highlights: Justice played 14 season and is a 3-time All-Star. NL Rookie of the Year in 1990. AL Comeback Player of the Year in 1997. ALCS MVP in 2000. 2-time World Series champion, 1995 and 2000. Won two Silver Slugger Awards in 1993 (NL) and 1997 (AL). Three seasons with a batting average better than .300. Three season had 100 plus RBIs. Played in 6 World Series. In March 2007 inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = Has an outside shot but most likely No. Suspected of using performance enhancing substances.

Chuck Knoblauch 2B: Career Stats: BA =.289; Hits = 1839; Stolen Bases =407 Career Highlights: Knoblauch played 12 season and is a 4-time All-Star. Won Rookie of the Year in 1991. 4-time World Series champion 1991, 1998-2000. Holds the Twins single season record for runs with 140 in 1996. Holds Twins all-time record for most stolen bases with 276. Won a Gold Glove Award in 1997. Won 2 Silver Slugger Awards in 1995 and 1997. Led AL in doubles in 1994 with 45. Led AL in triples in 1996 with 14. Six seasons with at least 100-runs scored. Three seasons of hitting .300 or better.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = Yes, but not this year.

Robb Nen RP: Career Stats: 45-42, 314 Saves, 2.98 ERA Career Highlights: Nen played 10 seasons and is a 3-time All-Star. Led the NL in saves in 2001 with 45. Ranks 15th on MLB all-time saves list with 314. Four seasons with 40-plus saves and seven seasons with 35-plus saves. When Nen retired he held both the Gaints and the Marlins all-time record for most saves (Giants = 206, Marlins = 108) A World Series champion in 1997.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = Yes, Has an outstanding chance, but not this year.

Tim Raines OF: Career Stats: BA =.294; Hits = 2605; Stolen Bases =808 Career Highlights: Raines played 23 season and is a 7-time All-Star. Won the NL Batting title in 1986 with a .334. Won a Silver Slugger Award in 1986. Won the All-star MVP in 1987. Led NL in stolen bases four times. Holds the NL record for the highest stolen-base percentage with .857 with at least 300 or more stolen bases attempts. Led league in on-base percentage in 1986 and doubles in 1984. Ranks fifth all-time in stolen bases with 808. A two-time World Series Champion 1996, 1998.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = Yes

Jose Rijo SP: Career Stats: 116-91, 3.24 ERA Strikeouts = 1606 Career Highlights: Rijo played 14 seasons and is a 1-time All-Star. A 1-time World Series Champion 1990. Won the World Series MVP in 1990. Led NL in strikeouts in 1993 with 227. Five seasons with 13 or more wins. Seven seasons of 150 or more strikeouts.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = No chance

Todd Stottlemyre SP: Career Stats: 138-121, 4.28 ERA Strikeouts = 1587 Career Highlights: Stottlemyre played 14 seasons. A Two-time World Series Champion 1992-93. Eight seasons with 10 or more wins. Two seasons with 200 or more strikeouts.

DOES HE MAKE THE HOF = No chance

Rounding out the other 14 candidates are: (years on ballot and % of votes in 2007)
Harold Baines(2nd/5.3%), Bert Blyleven(11th/47.7%), Dave Concepcion(15th/13.6%), Andre Dawson(7th/56.7%), Rich Gossage(9th/71.2%), Tommy John(14th/22.9%), Don Mattingly(8th/9.9%), Mark McGwire(2nd/23.5%), Jack Morris(9th/37.1%), Dale Murphy(10th/9.2%), Dave Parker(12th/11.4%), Jim Rice(14th/63.5%), Lee Smith(6th/39.8%) and Alan Trammell(7th/13.4%)

Who's In in 2008: Rich Gossage and Tim Raines

Who's in after 2008: Bert Blyleven, Mark McGwire, Lee Smith, Chuck knoblauch, and Rob Nen.

Around the League

Around the League....

I will go through all the signings, trades, and re-signings since December 20th, 2007...

December 20th..

• The Padres signed C Michael Barrett to a 1-year deal.

• The Mariners made a horrible move by signing SP Carlos Silva to a 4-year $48 million contract.

• The Royals signed RP Ron Mahay to a 2-year contract.

• The Philies slightly upgraded their team by signing OF Geoff Jenkins to a two-year contract with a mutual vesting option for 2010 and SP Chad Durbin to a one-year contract.

• The Tigers signed SP Dontrelle Willis to a three-year contract extension.

December 21st..

• The Rangers acquired OF Josh Hamilton from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for RHP Edinson Volquez and Minor League LHP Danny Herrera.

• The Rockies signed RP Luis Vizcaino on a two-year contract with a club option for 2010.

• The Indians signed former Met, RP Matt Ginter to a 1-year contract and invited him to spring training.
  

December 22nd..

• The Mets signed RP Juan Padilla to a 1-year deal with an invitation to spring training.
  

December 23rd..

• The Phillies signed utility OF So Taguchi to a one-year contract with a club option for 2009.

December 24th..

• The Marlins actually spent some money and signed Infielder Jose Castillo to a one-year deal.

December 25th..

• Nothing Happened.

December 26th..

• Mark Prior Agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres. The deal is for $1 million Guaranteed and he can earn more than $3 million in incentives. The Mets made a lucrative proposal to him.
  

December 27th..

• The Royals signed C Miguel Olivo to a 1-year contract.
  

Sorry I have not been able to post regularly, I am in Florida on vacation with my family. But while I have been gone DJ Rielly of Mets 4 Life and John Young of Shea Nation have done an exceptional job of keeping this blog up-to-date. I'll be back posting regularly within the next week.

Mulvey On Trade Rumors and More

Don Burke at The Star Ledger writes about Kevin Mulvey, the recent trade rumors, him working out at his old college and making it in the Majors:

"You know there's nothing you can do about it," Mulvey said of the trade rumors. "It's not up to you what happens. You can't pack your bags, get on a bus and go to Shea and say, 'I'm in the big leagues now.' It's up to somebody else to call you up and give you your opportunity and, in the off-season, seeing your name mentioned in trade talks, I wouldn't say it's a bad thing because it means other teams want you. There's nothing you can do about that. If you get traded, you get traded. I just go about my day working out and trying to get better."

Mulvey throws all four of his pitches fastball, slider, curve, changeup -- for strikes, as evidenced by his strikeout-to-walk ratio (110-43) in 151 2/3 innings of work last season with Binghamton. Mulvey allowed just four home runs last season.

Mets Will Lose The 2008 World Series

Duncan Stewart at The Daily News Journal gives his predictions for 2008:

The Detroit Tigers will pull off a mild surprise and beat out the Red Sox and Yankees for the American League's berth in the World Series. Then they will defeat the New York Mets in a thriller.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take this time to wish everyone here at Mets 4 Life, a very healthy, happy, and safe Christmas. I would also like to let you know that I will be leaving for vacation at noon tomorrow... so there wont be many posts from m unless the Mets obtain Johan Santana or another star player.. Thanks for understanding, and have a very Merry Christmas!!

Why was Lo Duca Lets Go?

The question is, why was C Paul Lo Duca given his walking papers? There could be many possible answers.. but one that did not catch my train of thought was this:

From Dom D's Mets Fan Blog: I have a good source (Friend of Paul Lo Duca's), who said to me that the reason why Paul Lo Duca was let go by Mets is that he was dragging David Wright down a path of drinking and partying. David was seen (by this source) with Pauly almost everywhere they hung out in clubs or bars. The Mets are trying to protect David Wright's future. The best thing for the Mets to do was to at this time was to let him go and let David flourish as a player. Everyone knows that David and Paul grew tightly as friends. Right now, It's Wright's time. Every one thought it was about steroids, but it was more than that.

That is definately a shocker... I thought they let him go because:

1. He was a below average defensive catcher.
2. He was a Double-Play machine.
3. He pissed off the wrong people

Never did it cross my mind that Paulie was turning David Wright aka "The Franchise," into a party animal. If this is the actual reason that he was let go, then I'm very happy that he is in Washigton now. David Wright needs to continue to grow into a MVP player. Lo Duca might have been a distraction, and I'm glad the front office saw that.

Roger Clemens denies Steriod Use.. Again

Roger Clemens has released a video denying steroid use on his website, rogerclemensonline.com. During the 1:48 video, Clemens said...

"Over the last 15 days, it's been extremely difficult, for my family, my children, my extended family, I'm holding up better than they are. I'm almost numb to these suggestions that I used steroids. It's amazing to me that I'm going to lengths that I'm going to have to defend myself." Clemens said. "I faced this last year when the LA Times reported that I used steroids. I said it was not true then. Now, the whole world knows it's not true now that that's come out."

"It's surfaced again later now with this Mitchell Report. Let me be clear -- the answer is no, I did not use steroids, human growth hormone, and I've never done so. I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or human growth hormone into my body, either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays, or the New York Yankees. This report is simply not true."

"I'm angry about it. It's hurtful to me and my family. But we are coming upon Christmas now and I have been blessed in my life. I've been blessed in my career and I'm very thankful for those blessings."

Weather he is guilty or not, there will always be a blemish on his record.... Curt Schilling has also chimed in on this situation. To look at what his opinions are, go to his blog, 38pitches.com.

Taguchi Signs with Phillies

On a slow Sunday afternoon, the Phillies finished up some holiday shopping and forked out $1 million to 37 year old OF-- So Taguchi. Taguchi will join SP Chad Durbin, and OF Geoff Jenkins as the three players that the Phillies have signed in the past four days. Last season with the Cardinals, Taguchi batted .290 with 3 Home Runs and 30 RBI. Taguchi's greatest value to manager Charlie Manuel is his ability to play all three outfield positions, and be a longer-term solution in center field should Shane Victorino suffer an injury such as the strained right calf that cost him most of the final two months of 2007. Assuming the Phillies go with 12 pitchers, Taguchi completes a five-man bench that also consists of Jayson Werth, catcher Chris Coste, Eric Bruntlett and whoever doesn't start at third between Greg Dobbs and Wes Helms.... This really won't effect the outcome of the NL East.. The Mets will still win the division.

Juan Padilla Back in Mets Uniform!

ANTHONY McCARRON of the Daily News is reporting:

Juan Padilla, a right handed reliever who has missed the last two seasons because of two elbow surgeries, agreed to a minor-league contract with the Mets on Friday and said he hopes to compete for a spot in the team's crowded bullpen.

Padilla, 30, was 3-1 with a 1.49 ERA in 24 games for the Mets in 2005 but hasn't pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery and another operation on his pronator tendon (in the forearm). But, he said in a telephone interview yesterday, he will be healthy for spring training. He threw a bullpen session recently and was "95%," he said.

"I want to get back on that mound," Padilla said. "I won't be a question mark anymore. I'll be the Juan Padilla from 2005. No one will have to ask me, 'How are you doing?'

"There'll be competition, but I know if I'm healthy, I'll be a tough decision. I won't make it easy for them (to send him to the minors)."

....Added by Ty Flo....

After not making strides to improve the bullpen early in the off-season, it seems as if Omar has picked up the pace. The Mets have many options for the bullpen coming into the 2008 season. This off-season the Mets have acquired...

• Juan Padilla
• Matt Wise
• Steve Register

Hey Omar, add Akinori Otsuka to that list.

1 point for Clemens?

The Mitchell Report claims that Roger Clemens used performance enhancing drugs. Roger Clemens says that that is completely untrue. Most people don't believe him, including me. I was never a fan of Clemens and after he threw that bat at Mike Pizza, I hated him. Listening to Yankee fans defined Clemens after that bat throwing was down right sickening.

But even I have to give Clemens a point here:
In October of 2006, the LA Times reported names from the Jason Grimsley affidavit.

According to the Times, their reporter had seen the affidavit before the names were covered up and therefore was able to accurately report on it. In an article that month, the Times named 5 players who were on the affidavit and therefore users of performance enhancing drugs. They were Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts, Jay Gibbons, and Miguel Tejeda. All five of these players were later included in the Mitchell Report. Roger Clemens denied both that his name was on the affidavit and that he used performance enhancing drugs. Most people believed him at the time, but once the Mitchell Report backed up the story in the Times, all bets were off.


Except that the LA Times was wrong. When the Grimsley affidavit was unsealed, 4 of the 5 players named by the Times were not on there. There was no Andy Pettitte, no Brian Roberts, no Jay Gibbons, and no Roger Clemens.
Clemens has scored some points, He wholeheartedly denied that his name was on the affidavit and we now know that he was telling the truth. Perhaps now we will think that he is telling the truth about other things too.

The fact will always be that the only way to know if anyone is or was using performance enhancing drugs is to have them admit it. Beyond that we are forced to speculate and what happens is that the players we don't like are automatically guilty and the players we do like are innocent. Making matters worse is the fact that most of our opinions are shaped by the Sports Media.

Sid Fernandez on Steroid, come on!

The Radomski affidavit revealed that former Mets pitcher Sid Fernandez had written Radomski a $3500 check in February of 2005.

Problem is,El Sid last pitched in MLB in 1997, eight years previously.

He had a very solid career that lasted parts of 15 seasons. He never won more than 16 games and his girth made it difficult for him to stay healthy. But when he was good to go, he was a very dependable strikeout pitcher. During his peak years that lasted from 1985-1993, El Sid had a great 3.12 ERA to go along with a very good 8.4K/9IP and 2.47K/BB ratio (As a comparison, over the same period, Roger Clemens had a 2.85 ERA with 8.21K/9 and 2.54 K/BB).

But perhaps his greatest statistical accomplishment is the fact that over his entire career, the behemoth of a man only allowed 6.85 hits per nine innings pitched, which ranks fourth best in MLB history behind only Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, and Pedro Martinez. All in all, not a bad career by any stretch of the imagination. Despite this, in a move that served as a microcosm for how under-appreciated he was, he received a total of two votes in his only appearance on the Hall-of-Fame ballot back in 2003.

But what in the world made Fernandez seek out help from Radomski in 2005? This was 8 years after he last took the big league mound (He tried to make a comeback with the Yankees in 2001 but made one start in Columbus before retiring once more). I don't have the answer to that one, I'm afraid. We don't even know what that $3500 check paid for, but lets hope it was NOT for steroids so he could "help" the kids that he coaches back in Hawaii. (In 2000, Fernandez was the pitching coach of the semi-pro Hawaii Island Movers, and in 2004, Fernandez served as a coach in a Hawaii high school baseball all-star game.)

If anything positive can come out of this, it's that maybe Sid can shoot some holes into the credibility of the Mitchell report.

Reds Deal OF Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton, the former Tampa Bay Ray and Rule 5 Draft pick, was traded earlier today to the Texas Rangers. The Reds acquired RHP Edinson Volquez and LHP Danny Herrera. Last season with the Cincinnati Reds, Josh Hamilton hit .292 with 19 home runs and 47 RBIs in 90 games. Hamilton was once touted as one of the best prospects in the game when he was drafted by the Rays. He lost that title when he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and was out of baseball for a few years, until last year when he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

Josh Hamilton should be a productive player in the middle of the Rangers lineup for as long as he is there. Look for him to hit more homers in Arlington. I'll make a prediction right now...

Josh Hamilton in 2008 will hit: 287 with 34 home runs and 96 RBI...

Any thoughts?

New Writer - - DJ

This past week has been busy for Mets 4 Life. We have joined the Shea Nation Network, have been looking to upgrade the template and header and now, Mets 4 Life will have a new writer. His name is DJ. I'm not sure when or how often he will be posting, but he has very good writing ability and has good opinions. I think that will lead to a lot of Mets 4 Life readers to enjoy his posts.

Geoff Jenkins to Philadelphia

According to Ken Mandel at MLB.com, OF Geoff Jenkins has decided to go to the Phillies, accepting a two-year, $13 million contract with a vesting option third season that could bring the deal to $20 million. The deal is pending a physical. Jenkins is in Philadelphia completing that process. Geoff has long been on the Phillies radar.. even more so since CF Aaron Rowand signed with the Giants. Last season with the Brewers, Jenkins hit 21 home runs to go along with a .255 AVG. The Phillies lineup will now look like this.

SS Jimmy Rollins
CF Shane Victorino
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
RF Geoff Jenkins
3B Greg Dobbs
C Carlos Ruiz

According to many, that could be the most potent lineup in the National League.

Pelfrey to the 'Pen?

According to Buster Olney, via MLBTR, the Mets could trade OF Carlos Gomez, SP Kevin Mulvey, and SU Aaron Heilman to the Oakland Athletics in return for SP Joe Blanton. I really don't like this deal for the Mets. You would have to give up your second best reliever and at least one 5-star prospect in Carlos Gomez. In addition, you would have to include SP Kevin Mulvey, who could end up being very similar to what Joe Blanton is now. I say NO DEAL.

If that fore mentioned deal was to be offered to the Athletics, and excepted, who would be the new Set-up man? Ted Berg at SNY seems to have an answer. Convert RHP Mike Pelfrey into a reliever. As I have stated before, Pelfrey could benefit from having more time to work with pitching coach, Rick Peterson. Berg does not think that we should give up on Pelfrey, noting that Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux both struggled when they were called up to the Majors for the frist time. This would just provide the Mets with a Set-up man while giving Pelf more time with the jacket. Shea Nation also has a post on this topic.

I also have an idea. Sign Octavio Dotel to a 2-year deal. Keep Pelfrey in the minors or bullpen and hope that Dunaner Sanchez can come back at least at a middle reliever.

One deal I would make with the Athletics is this...

Mets Get:

SP Joe Blanton
OF/1B Nick Swisher

Athletics Get:

OF Carlos Gomez
SP?/SUAaron Heilman
SP John Niese
RF Ryan Church
SP Kevin Mulvey
SP Phillip Humber

Sounds like a fair deal to me.. Maybe a young arm from the A's in return. What are your thoughts?

Mets Are Front Runners For Lohse

George King at The New York Post writes about Kyle Lohse and the Phillies backing out:

The Mets' primary competition for free-agent pitcher Kyle Lohse has dropped out of the bidding.

According to Phillies assistant GM Ruben Amaro, Philadelphia's refusal to go beyond three years for the right-hander ended their pursuit of Lohse, who finished last season in Philly.

It's believed the Mets have made an offer to the 29-year-old for four years, but it's not known if it is for the $10 million Per he is seeking.

Mets 2008 Draft

There are many prospects throughout the Minor Leagues. Many of which come out of the draft like David Wright in 2001. Others, like Jose Reyes, come from International scouting. Omar Minaya has done a very good job in the International Department. Since 2004, when he took over as GM, he has signed the top two Mets prospects, OF Fernando Martinez and SP Deolis Guerra, through International Signings. He has not done bad with the draft considering not having a 1st round pick in all of those years due to free-agent signings. Since the 2005 Draft, the Mets have drafted some good prospects...

Noteable International Signings

OF Fernando Martinez
SP Deolis Guerra
C Fransisco Pena

2005 Draft:

RHP Mike Pelfrey
2B Hector Pellot
LHP John Niese
RHP Eric Brown
SS Jose Castro

2006 Draft:

RHP Kevin Mulvey
RHP Joe Smith
OF Daniel Stegall
3B Daniel Murphy
RHP Tobi Stoner
OF Dustin Martin.. Traded to Minnesota

2007 Draft:

RHP Eddie Kunz
RHP Scott Moviel
LHP Nathan Vineyard
RHP Brant Rustich
RHP Stephen Clyne
1B/OF Lucas Duda
LHP Michael Antonini
RHP Dylan Owen

The Mets have drafted all of these prospects all without having a 1st round pick. Not too shabby. The International signings have made up for that. In 2008, the Mets have three very good draft picks. The 18th, 22nd, and 33rd picks during the first and supplemental-first rounds of next June’s draft belong to the Mets. Look for the Mets to get good talent with these picks and even more talent in the later rounds.

M's give 4-year deal toCarlos Silva

According to Jim Street, The Seattle Mariners and free-agent SP Carlos Silva have agreed on terms to a 4-year $44 million dollar deal. Just last year, the Twins were skeptical to give Silva a 1-year deal for $4 million. In his career, Silva has had sucess against the AL West, posting an overall 16-8 record with a 3.48 ERA. Silva is an innings eater.. thats it. He strikes out very few and had a 'career' year in '07. I think that the Mariners will end up regretting this deal within the next few years. I'm glad Omar stayed far away from Silva. Paying $11 million per year for an 'innings eater' would not have been a smart move by Mr. Minaya. Meanwhile, there has been a few more signings today...

• According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazelle, the Phillies have agreed on terms with former Detroit Tiger, SP Chad Durbin. Last year, Durbin went 8-7 with a 4.32 ERA. No big deal really.

• Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports, is reporting that the Royals have signed free-agent reliever, Ron Mahay. The Braves will receive a compensatory pick for the signing. Mahay turned down three-year deals from other clubs to accept a higher average salary from the Royals, sources said. He split last season with the Rangers and Braves, going a combined 3-0 with a save and 2.55 ERA in 67 innings.

Mets Kick The Benson Tires

From Shea Nation:

Barry M. Bloom at MLB.com writes about the teams who went to see Kris Benson throw 60 pitches in Arizona on Monday. Among the many teams were the Mets:

It was 60 degrees and sunny on Monday in Phoenix as scouts gathered to watch Benson take his surgically repaired arm out of mothballs. Among the group were members of the Yankees, Mets, Astros, Nationals and Phillies, all looking for pitching help.

Reports were good, as Benson showed little wear and tear after missing the 2007 season in Baltimore because of surgery to repair a torn labrum. Benson felt no pain, said his agent, Greg Clifton.

....Added by Ty Flo....

I really don't think that Kris Benson will want to return to the Mets. In his last tenure with the team, his wife messed it all up for him. He was the #3 starter on an up and coming team. She wanted out, so he got dumped to Baltimore. Anna Benson wears the pants in his household, not Kris. Now im not complaining that we dont have him anymore, we have John Maine. Ill take Maine over Benson anyday.. that was by far the top trade Omar Minaya has made with the Mets.

Mets sign RP Matt Wise

According to Metsblog.com, the Mets have signed relief pitcher Matt Wise to a one year contract. Last year with the Brewers, Wise was 3-2 with one save and a 4.19 ERA in a career-high 56 games. I am glad to hear that the Mets are actually thinking about the bullpen. Now to acquire a decent starter and we're set for '08. Heres the list of potential pitchers for the '08 bullpen.

• Billy Wagner
• Scott Schowenwise
• Joe Smith
• Matt Wise
• Dunaner Sanchez
• Carlos Munis
• Eddie Kunz
• Jorge Sosa
• Pedro Feliciano
• Aaron Heilman
• Willie Collazo

Not too bad if all of them can stay healthy, which is doubtful. How about we go after Akinori Otsuka? The Mets need to take a look at his medical records first and see if hes healthy.

Silva Market heating up

According to Shea Nation, MLBTR, and Charley Walters, the Royals have made an offer to free-agent SP Carlos Silva. The offer is supposed to be for $30 million over 3 years. Silva is long compared to the Royals last year free-agent signee, Gil Meche. Lets Compare these two pitchers in their walk years..

In 2007 Carlos Silva was 13-14 with a 4.19 ERA. He pitched in 202.0 innings last year and gave up 229 hits while striking out 89 batters.

In 2006 Gil Meche was 11-8 4.48 ERA. That year, Meche pitched 186.2 innings while giving up 182 hits and striking out 156 batters.

Meche's ERA and Innings pitched improved by a lot in '07 while pitching for the below average Royals. During the off-season of '06, Meche signed a 5-year $55 million contract.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Mariners are also after SP Carlos Silva. Rosenthal notes that the Mariners are in "serious negotiations" with Carlos Silva for a deal worth at least four years, $44MM. If Silva can be a second coming of Gil Meche, then I'm all for the Mets offering him a deal.. but by the numbers, Meche and Silva are totally different pitchers. Meche strikes out more guys and gives up less hits. So if i was Omar, I'd pass. It seems as though he won't sign Silva but Kyle Lohse isn't a better option either, in my opinion.

Newest Member of Shea Nation Network

I am proud to announce that I am the newest member of the Shea Nation Network. If you don't know about Shea Nation, check them out.. they are a very informative and reliable site. I will be contributing to Shea Nation, and sometimes, some of the contributing writers at Shea Nation will post a segment or two on Mets 4 Life.

I would like to thank Mr. John Young at Shea Nation for this opportunity. Christmascame early this year! =D

Welcome all Mets fans and bloggers!

Houston offers deal to Prior

According to ESPN News and MLB.com, the Houston Astros have offered a deal to SP Mark Prior. The right-hander was not tendered a contract from the Cubs earlier this month and he has garnered interest from approximately 10 teams, maybe even more. The Astros offer is rumored to be a 1-year deal with incentives. Prior will not be ready to pitch until late May, maybe even later. The Mets have expressed preliminary interest in Prior earlier this week. As I have said before, this is a low risk, high reward type of move. The Astros are definitely in the market for pitching.. they really have no one behind RHSP Roy Oswalt in their rotation. If Mark Prior could return to form, the Astros would have a very good 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation. Omar should really consider Prior because of the low risk, high reward factor. Just imagine a rotation of...

Pedro Martinez
Mark Prior
John Maine
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey

To have a guy go 15-10 with an 3.56 ERA in your #3 or #4 spot would be very good for the Mets. Not to mention that Mike Pelfrey is still only 24 years old and has time to mature into a star.

Did you know that Oliver Perez is listed as the Mets #1 starter on their depth chart? The depth chart on Mets.com is as follows:

1. Oliver Perez
2. Orlando Hernandez
3. John Maine
4. Pedro Martinez
5. Mike Pelfrey

That is very interesting.

Mets offer contract to Kyle Lohse

.....Woo Hoo 100th post....

According to Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports, RHSP Kyle Lohse is considering offers from both the Mets and the Phillies 'both of which could go to four years.’ Last year,with the Phillies and Reds, Lohse pitched to a tune of 9–12 with a 4.63 ERA. Lohse is a very durable #5 starter but he is also very hittable. Spacious Shea Stadium would help his ERA a little bit, but id rather see Philip Humber or Mike Pelfrey in that rotation spot. Maybe the Mets are actually thinking about bringing Pelfrey up to the Majors to pitch in the Bullpen for a year?.. That way, he can get more time with Rick Peterson to work on his secondary pitches.. I'm still very hopeful that both Humber and Pelfrey can live up to the hype and become serviceable Major League starting pitchers.

Little Secret

I have not revealed this before, but I am a Dolphins fan. As embarrassing it is to say that, we FINALLY won a game today. 22-16 was the score against the Baltimore Ravens. Miami WR Greg Camarillo caught the winning TD pass in Overtime.The win was the Dolphins first in the last 16 games, their last win was on December 10, 2006. Wayne Huizenge, the owner of the team, was seen crying in his press box. "In my suite it was like winning the Super Bowl. It was up and down all game, and with the 17-0 team here and being honored at halftime, to pull it off in this game for those guys, that was special. It was very emotional for me" he said to the AP. This is a very important win for this team, it definitely gets the monkey off their backs. So, as it looks right now, the Dolphins will go 2-14, and the other win will be against the Patriots next week.

Even though we won, I hate to see Brett Favre pass Dan Marino in the all time passing yardage category. Too many Dolphins records have been broken this year, so we must beat the Patriots next week to prevent another undefeated season in the NFL history.

Game Stats:

Passing:
Miami QB Cleo Lemon was 23 for 39 with 315 yards and a touchdown pass.
Baltimore QB Kyle Boller was 10 for 19 with 159 and 1 TD pass and an INT.

Rushing:
Miami RB Samkon Gado rushed for 43 yards on 18 attempts with a touchdown run.
Baltimore RB Willis McGahee rushed for 104 on 29 attempts.

Receiving:
Miami WR Greg Camarillo caught 3 passes for 109 yards and the game winning TD.
Miami WR Marty Booker caught 8 passes for 88 yards.
Baltimore WR Derrick Mason caught 3 passes for 45 yards and a TD.

Overall this was an amazing game to watch. Oh yeah, all you other fans, you'll be jealous on Draft day when the Miami Dolphins have the #1 overall pick! =P

Yankees 2000 World Series Champions*

With the Mitchell report uncovering some of the secrets of the "Steroid Era", many Met fans feel animosity and even more hate towards the Yankees. Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite were named to the report. Pettite recently;y admitted that he used HGH twice in 2002 to recover quickly form an injury. Do you think we deserve the 2000 World Series Trophy?

New Homes for MLB Teams

As we all know, Shea Stadium (Pictured Above) will be torn down after the '08 season. Citi Field will then be our new home. Many fans are clamoring about "saving the apple", which I would like to bring over to Citi Field also. The thing is, many MLB teams are re-building. Lets take a look at how many new stadiums have been built since the year 2000.

1. AT&T Park opened in 2000. It is the home to the San Fransisco Giants.
2. Busch Stadium opened in April of 2006. The St. Louis Cardinals call this place home.
3. Opening in 2004, the Phillies home is Citizens Bank Park.
4. Home of the Cincinnati Reds, The Great American Ballpark opened on March 31, 2003.
5. In my opinion, one of the better looking stadiums around is Miller Park, home to the Milwaukee Brewers. It opened in 2001.
   
6. Minute Maid Park, the home to the Astros, opened in 2000.
7. Petco Park opened in 2004 and is the home to the San Diego Padres. The cost: $411 Million.
   
8. PNC park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the '06 All-Star Game opened in 2001.

Thats 8 new stadiums in the past 7 years. Now lets take a look at the future ballparks of the MLB...

• Cisco Field will be the home to the Oakland Athletics somtime around the '09-'12 seasons.
  
• Citi Field will be the home of the Mets starting in April of 2009. The stadium will cost $632.1 million dollars to be built. The new stadium will seat 44,100 people.
• The National will opn 2008 in a new stadium. Though they dont have a name yet, the stadium is said have more of a future look to it more so than the "Classic Style."
• Yankee Stadium II is under construction now and the team will begin to play there in April of 2009, just like the Mets.
• Many teams including the Twins, Marlins, and Rays have hopes and plans to build new homes in the near future.

That is alot of money being spent for ballparks. The average cost for a MLB ballpark these days is around $450-$500 million. Sheesh.

Catching Up

I've been very busy lately with Christmas, school, and work so bare with me on this one. During the past week there have been many subjects that i have not touched on so here they are...

• Hiroki Kuroda has offically signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 3 years and $35.3 million.

• Cliff Floyd has signed with the Rays for 1 year and $3 million dollar deal. The former Met LF hit .284 with nine homers and 45 RBIs in 108 games for the Chicago Cubs last year.

• The Yankees and Red Sox are both still in discussions with the Minnesota Twins but the Yankees refuse to part with both Phillip Hughes and Ian Kennedy in the same trade. The Red Sox refuse to part with Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury in the same deal. I wish the Mets farm system was stacked with prospects. Sigh...

• The Phillies have shown interest in former Met CF Mike Cameron and former Brewer RF Geoff Jenkins.

• The Mets have increased ticket prices for the '08 season. I personally think this is a bunch of crap because they didn't even make the playoffs or trade or sign any big name players. I was suspecting rises in ticket prices for the opening of Citi Field in '09, but this came as a shock to me. Head over to Metsblog.com for a better look at this situation.

Any questions?
Contact me @ TyFloMets4life@yahoo.com or just simply leave a comment.

Edmonds to San Diego

According to MLB.com, the Padres has have acquired the 37-year-old Jim Edmonds for 25-year-old 3B David Freese. Freese was not named on the Padres top 10 prospect list by Baseball America. The Padres will pay $7 million of the $8 million due to him in '08. Last season Edmonds hit .252 with 12 home runs and 53 RBI in 117 games. Edmonds is a 8-time gold glove award winner and a four time All-Star. I think this was a salary dump for the Cardinals. I'm surprised to hear that they didnt get more in return for him. On the other hand, the Padres recieve a viable option in CF for the '08 season, and they don't have to give up much to get him. Overall this was a good move for both teams.

Yankees, Mets, Nats looking at Prior

On Wednesday, the Cubs non-tendered SP Mark Prior. I wrote a post about it and i said that Omar needed to make a phone call. Maybe he read my blog haha. Well, according to Ed Price, the Mets, Nationals and Yankees have all shown preliminary interest in the right-hander. I think this would be a steal for either team that gets him. He should be ready by the All-Star break and if he is half the pitcher he was in '03 ill be happy. Go get em Omar.

Dan Haren delt to Diamondbacks

According to MLB.com, the Diamondbacks have acquired SP Dan Haren and RP Connor Robertson from the Athletics for for pitchers Brett Anderson, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland, OF Carlos Gonzalez, OF Aaron Cunningham and 1B Chris Carter. This deal gives the Athletics the prospects to re-stock their farm system and the Diamondbacks a formidable 1-2 punch in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. The Diamondbacks love this acquisition because they now have a "cheap" starter untill at least the '09 season. Haren will replace the innings that Livan Hernandez pitched last season.
The Diamondbacks Rotation now shapes out like this:

1. Brandon Webb
   
2. Dan Haren
   
3. Randy Johnson
4. Doug Davis
   
5. Micha Owings
   

That will definately give the Diamondbacks the edge in the NL West. In other news, the Diamondbacks dealt closer Jose Valverde to the Astros for pitcher Chad Qualls, infielder/outfielder Chris Burke and pitcher Juan Gutierrez. I really don't know why the Diamondbacks did this deal. In my opinion, the Astros got the longer end of the stick on this deal. Who will close for them now? No one knows.

Omar must make this phone call.

Omar, call John Boggs. If you don't know who that is, thats the agent for RHP Mark Prior. The former All-Star, 18-Game Winner, and #2 overall pick in the draft. Call Mr. Boggs and let him know that the Mets could use him and offer him a 2-year deal for $7 million with incentives. Prior has compiled a 42-29 record and 3.51 ERA since he made his big league debut in 2002, but his career has been interrupted by injuries. Including all of the 2007 season and possibly half of the 2008 season. It shouldn't matter. Even if he doesn't return to the majors in '08, you have a good-great starting pitcher, depending on if he can get back to his '02-'03 form, with very good stuff for the '09 season. While at Wrigley Field in September, Prior said:

"The goal is, obviously, to come back, I expect to come back. This day and age playing, we're fortunate to have medicine and technology that gives us a second chance."

I have to agree with him on that one. Omar should take a risk here. This is a Low-Risk, High-Reward type of deal. Just think of a possible rotation of:

1. Pedro Martinez
2. Oliver Perez
3. John Maine
4. Mark Prior
5. Orlando Hernadez

Mark Prior would be higher in the rotation if he re-claims his command and form that once gave the Cubs hope in winning a World Series. I think he can do it. Take a Chance Omar, Take a Chance.

Oh yeah, while your at it, take a gander at 3B Dallas Mcpherson. Maybe he could be a good bench player for the Amazins.

Rowand Agrees with SF

Former Phillidelphia Phillie, Aaron Rowand, has agreed to a 5-year approx $60 million deal with the San Fransisco Giants. Last season with the Phillies, Rowand batted .309 with 27 home runs and 89 RBI. This really doesn't make sense to me because the Giants are a few years away from contending again. Why would he want to go there? But I'm happy he's not in Philly anymore, one less bat that we have to worry about. Philly fans must be bummed that the Giants #5 overall pick in the draft is protected, so as compensation, the Phillies will receive a second round pick and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds. That is still significant though, because our very own 3B David Wright was a sandwich pick back in 2001.

Tejada Traded to Houston

Today the Orioles traded SS Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros . The Orioles will recieve OF Luke Scott, P Matt Albers, 3B Michael Costanzo, P Troy Patton and P Dennis Sarfate. The Astros have been trying to acquire the shortstop for two years now. Tejada signed a six-year, $72 million deal with the Orioles in December 2003, a little over a year after winning the American League Most Valuable Player award with the Oakland Athletics. At his introductory news conference, Tejada vowed that Baltimore would no longer be home to a losing baseball franchise. He lied. Last year Tejada hit .296 with 18 home runs and 81 RBIs. Speaking with the Associated Press via telephone, Tejada said:

"I feel very happy with this trade, because it's something that I've been really looking forward to." "I was in Houston last week and I've played in Minute Maid Park in the All-Star game, so I think I'll do great in that city."

Tejada also said that his mind set is to produce everywhere and help the Astros make the playoffs. Miguel Tejada is now a Houston Astro and will remain at the shortstop positon. The Mets were rumored to have interest in Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard at the Winter Meetings.

Japanese Market Sizzling...

With SP Hiroki Kuroda, OF Kosuke Fukudome, 2B Tadihito Iguchi, and RP Kazuo Fukumuori all signing with MLB clubs today, the Japanese market is heating up. Lets take a closer look..

• SP Hiroki Kuroda it headed to Los Angeles to meet with his agent. When he arrives in LA, he and his agent will discuss the four offers that they have recieved. It has been reported that he will sign with the Dodgers. Not really sure on that one yet.
  

• OF Kosuke Fukudome has signed with the Chicago Cubs for 4-years and $48 million. Though, the Rangers offered the most money and the White Sox weren't outbid, Fukudome was just simply intrigued by the Cubs and liked the idea of being their first Japanese born player.
  

• 2B Tadihito Iguchi has agreed to a 1-year $4 million deal with the San Diego Padres. This is the second year in a row that the Padres have dipped into the free-agent market for a second baseman.
  

• RP Kazuo Fukumuori is on the verge of signing a 2-year deal worth approx 3 million with the Texas Rangers, According to Evan Grant of the Dallas News. 10 teams were in on Kazuo, including the Yankees and Red Sox.