Here's the latest on ex-Mets in and around baseball:
Cliff Floyd is still kicking around, signing a one year deal with the San Diego Padres. Remember when Omar Minaya let Cliffy go because he thought he was getting older and couldn't stay healthy, and instead signed Moises Alou?
New St. Lucie manager and 1986 Met Tim Teufel showed up on the list of clients who invested with Bernard Madoff, according to a court filing released Wednesday night, along with Wilpon's best buddy Sandy Koufax. There's a Teufel Shuffle joke in there somewhere, but I'm not going to be insensitive tonight. I'm guessing Teufel's losses hurt a bit more than others.
I probably shouldn't even post this, but I found it notable how the New York Post and WPIX covered Art Shamsky's appearance at a New York celebration of the 1969 Mets, compared to how Newsday did. Neither article mentioned that Ron Swoboda was awarded the Thurmon Musnon award, presented by Ron Darling, at the event.
Trot Nixon won't go away, signing a minor league contract with the Brewers.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Citifinancial Stadium and Other Mets News
Hello Mets fans, far and wide! Time for your dose of less-than-breaking news and less-than-poignant opinions about the New York Mets.
First, the news of the day: The Mets have resigned Oliver Perez to a three year, $36MM deal. This is great news, as far as I'm concerned. I know Derek Lowe is "reliable," but his ace days are behind him and I would much rather have a 27 year old lefty who eats up the Phils and Junkees the way Ollie does than a 36 year old righty whose best years are behind him. And Lowe got 4 years out of the Bravos for $15MM per... if you ask me, the Perez deal is a steal. Fans may whine about the Mets not improving their rotation this offseason, but if you have Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Ollie P throwing for you and you can have Jon Niese compete for the 5th spot with Tim Redding and Freddie Garcia, I think the starting 5 is the least of our concerns.
The offense, however, is another story. This lineup has way too many holes. The left side of the infield is solid, of course, but you have to wonder which Delgado will show up in 2008, and enough has been written about the inadequacies of Luis Castillo already that I won't even bother to put my two cents in this space. The corner spots of the outfield are the biggest question marks of all. I love Ryan Church and Daniel Murphy, but they are definitely not sure things. The Mets need a righty bat in the worst way. Too bad there are none available on the free agent market...
I love Dennis Kucinich, and wish he had gotten more support during his Presidential campaign, and love that he is joining the call for Citigroup to back out of the naming rights for CITY FIELD, but I just don't see how the government can force their hand. I mean, of course I get that Citibank was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars to avoid collapsing so they really need to be not spending money on stadium naming rights and private jets for crying out loud, but if these idiots really think naming a baseball stadium is a smart marketing move then that is really their choice, right? Now, I will say that if fans keep on screaming and yelling, and sportswriters keep ranting and raving, and bloggers like me go on and on and on, about how what a tasteless, horrible, stomach turning move it is for a company that laid off enough people in 2008 to fill up the new Mets stadium go ahead and pay $20MM per year to plaster their corporate logo on that stadium then I would be the happiest kid in town to see the naming rights deal fall through.
Now, for a transplanted Mets update:
In case you missed it, Aaron Heilman has been traded from the Mariners to the Cubs. Good luck, Aaron.
Frank Viola has landed a gig as a baseball analyst for the Bright House Sports Network, whatever the hell that is. I still remember the Daily News headline: VOILA! METS LAND VIOLA!
Jesus Flores has recovered from his ankle injury and is ready to start for the Expos.
Jose Offerman will manage the Licey Tigres of the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean World Series this week.
Pitchers and Catchers in two weeks!
First, the news of the day: The Mets have resigned Oliver Perez to a three year, $36MM deal. This is great news, as far as I'm concerned. I know Derek Lowe is "reliable," but his ace days are behind him and I would much rather have a 27 year old lefty who eats up the Phils and Junkees the way Ollie does than a 36 year old righty whose best years are behind him. And Lowe got 4 years out of the Bravos for $15MM per... if you ask me, the Perez deal is a steal. Fans may whine about the Mets not improving their rotation this offseason, but if you have Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Ollie P throwing for you and you can have Jon Niese compete for the 5th spot with Tim Redding and Freddie Garcia, I think the starting 5 is the least of our concerns.
The offense, however, is another story. This lineup has way too many holes. The left side of the infield is solid, of course, but you have to wonder which Delgado will show up in 2008, and enough has been written about the inadequacies of Luis Castillo already that I won't even bother to put my two cents in this space. The corner spots of the outfield are the biggest question marks of all. I love Ryan Church and Daniel Murphy, but they are definitely not sure things. The Mets need a righty bat in the worst way. Too bad there are none available on the free agent market...
I love Dennis Kucinich, and wish he had gotten more support during his Presidential campaign, and love that he is joining the call for Citigroup to back out of the naming rights for CITY FIELD, but I just don't see how the government can force their hand. I mean, of course I get that Citibank was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars to avoid collapsing so they really need to be not spending money on stadium naming rights and private jets for crying out loud, but if these idiots really think naming a baseball stadium is a smart marketing move then that is really their choice, right? Now, I will say that if fans keep on screaming and yelling, and sportswriters keep ranting and raving, and bloggers like me go on and on and on, about how what a tasteless, horrible, stomach turning move it is for a company that laid off enough people in 2008 to fill up the new Mets stadium go ahead and pay $20MM per year to plaster their corporate logo on that stadium then I would be the happiest kid in town to see the naming rights deal fall through.
Now, for a transplanted Mets update:
In case you missed it, Aaron Heilman has been traded from the Mariners to the Cubs. Good luck, Aaron.
Frank Viola has landed a gig as a baseball analyst for the Bright House Sports Network, whatever the hell that is. I still remember the Daily News headline: VOILA! METS LAND VIOLA!
Jesus Flores has recovered from his ankle injury and is ready to start for the Expos.
Jose Offerman will manage the Licey Tigres of the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean World Series this week.
Pitchers and Catchers in two weeks!
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