10/21/09

More Stuff


New York Mets

I'm mentioning Steve Phillips because I don't want to be the one blog that doesn't. It's a nice juicy story about a good Mets villain and you can read about it in the Post. For whatever reason I just don't want to dish personal dirt. The goal of this site has always been to encourage the Mets to treat their fans with respect, dress nicely, and maybe win a World Series. I wish the franchise nothing but success.

As for Steve, my biggest problem with him is that he can't be bothered to get off speakerphone when calling 1050. It sounds like crap on every interview he does. What he does in his spare time is for other sites to discuss.

More importantly, can we start these playoff games at 7? I gave up after 5 and a half. It was 10:30. A typical regular season game ends around 9:45 so even accounting for the playoff starting 49 minutes later We shouldn't have to stay up until midnight. Half the population of the US lives in the eastern time zone.
Sent from my iPhonePlease visit www.metspolice.com and help stop black uniforms.


If the Mets non-tender (Jeff) Francoeur, they will likely end up having to spend about what they are paying him to replace him on the free agent market. Given that he seems to be popular with fans, media, and players; it’s probably worth keeping him around at that price, even if he ends up winning an arbitration award similar to this season’s salary. If he has a bad year, you cut him loose. If he has a good year, then you can take him to arbitration one more year, maybe even sign him to a long-run deal. Non-tendering him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and given the hold he seems to have on his managers, it might be best to not give his skipper the opportunity to put him in the line-up. The one thing that I would not recommend is signing him to a long-run deal now. What’s the rush? The worst thing that happens by not going long-term is that he has a good season and he gets a deserved raise in arbitration. And if Francoeur is desperate to sign a long-run deal—as he was hinting at the end of the season—then that is probably an indication that he doesn’t think he’s going to get much better either.
Don’t read me wrong here. I like Jonathan Niese. I believe he has a world of potential. His big frame, smooth overhand delivery, and sharp 12-6 curveball suggest that he has the raw tools to one day develop into a legitimate MLB starter. A great one? A good one? An average one? Who knows? The only thing that’s certain is Jon Niese is nowhere near ready to be counted upon to take the ball every fifth day for a championship club. He needs to learn better command of his fastball. That nasty curveball needs to be more consistent. He needs more work on the change-up. He may need to figure out what pitch is best as an “out” pitch against MLB hitters (a “strikeout pitch” in the minors doesn’t translate to MLB). The jury is still out on how he responds to adversity. He can hit fairly well, but otherwise we don’t know about the rest of his ballgame (bunts, fielding, holding runners, etc.). I see him holding a spot in the Mets’ rotation some day, but I don’t see it happening in April 2010.

http://www.metstoday.com/3943/2009-mets-evaluations/2009-analysis-jonathan-niese


This season you’ll be hearing about dozens of players who want to play for New York, accompanied by heart warming sentiments about how they grew up rooting for the Mets or Yankees.

Yesterday on WFAN, SI.com’s Jon Heyman said he believes the Mets would like to sign Holliday, and that he will most likely stay in the National League despite some heavy attention from the Yankees and Red Sox.

I have no problems with the Mets going after Holliday, however I am always skeptical of players who are motivated by the all mighty dollar and are looking for that big once in a lifetime payday.
Yesterday, Scott Boras compared Matt Holliday to Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. Is he kidding me?

http://networkedblogs.com/p15250224


According to a report on ESPN.com linked here (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4581715), the NY Mets actually profited from the Bernie Madoff scheme. Awesome. I don’t know if there is an award ceremony for the business that gets the most bad press in a calendar year, but HOW the NY Mets could even be runners up in that category in 2009 is beyond me. Right now, the Mets are neck and neck with David Letterman, and trust me, more people like David Letterman.

I don’t really have an opinion on this matter one way or the other. I could care less how much $ they have or don’t have. I want a roster of 25 baseball players that are watchable and have a legitimate shot at winning a pennant. If they don’t have the money to get that, then sell the team. If they do, then use it and don’t let us down. End of story. I really only posted this because it just came out and I figured some of you would like to discuss this.

I’m actually so annoyed with this entire year long saga of let’s play “How much the Wilpon’s have in their pocket?” that I am actually speechless right now.
I just want it to be April. I want all of the questions like “who should we sign?”, “who do we trade for?”, “how much $ will they spend on free agency?”, “Should Warthen be the pitching coach in 2010?”, all of this stuff, I want it gone. I’m tired of it.

No comments: