Well I Guess I Can't Make Fun Of The "Junkees" Anymore...

...or I at least have to come up with a similar moniker for the Mets.

Hot Foot tips us off that it's just been reported on WFAN that Guillermo Mota will be suspended 50 games starting at the beginning of the 2007 season for using steroids. Mota was acquired by the Mets in midseason but is now a free agent. I think it's safe to say we've seen the last of him in a Mets uniform.

This is bad news for Aaron Heilman. Keeping Mota was Heilman's best chance of getting a crack as a starter, either with the Mets or elsewhere. Now the Mets have to keep Heilman in their bullpen, at the very least until they see what they'll get from Dirty Sanchez.

Speaking of starting pitching, sometime in the next two weeks, bidding will commence for the right to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. There will be a ton of teams bidding, but once the Seibu Lions accept a bid, only the winning MLB club can sign Matszaka, who will be represented by Scott Boras. Not sure how Boras will be able to rake the winning club over the coals though, since the team won't have to compete with any other club at that point. Like I'm sure most Mets fans are, I'm a little gun shy with the Japanese imports, but it sounds pretty cool to have a gyroball pitcher on the club!

Glavine Set To Pitch For Mets in 2007. 2008, Too!

This, from the Daily News:

Glavine and the Mets are deep in discussions about a two-year, $25 million contract that should be completed shortly

I am surprised to hear myself say I am really happy about this. In 2005 I was rooting against him. I didn't want him to get to the amount of innings necessary to kick in his 2006 options. I didn't want him to rack up wins. I hoped he got no-decisions every time out. I thought he was a whiny, excuse-making, baby.

But I was wrong. Something kicked in after the 2005 All-Star Break, and he's been a different guy ever since. I'd be thrilled to see him get to #300 with the Mets, and beyond.

Of course, if he does go back to Atlanta I'll be calling him scum again.

In any case, the funniest part of the article is the reason given for Tommy G wanting to pitch for two more years:

Glavine, who has shared a stage with John Smoltz and Greg Maddux throughout their distinguished major-league careers, would prefer not to enter the Hall of Fame in the same class as Maddux, according to a source. Maddux figures to retire after the '07 season, meaning Glavine would need to pitch through '08 to ensure they are in separate classes if both are elected on the first ballot.

For that reason, along with his rebirth as a pitcher, Glavine appears intent on pitching two more seasons as he nears his 41st birthday during spring training.

So much for those rumors about Glavine and Maddux wanting to "team up" and go back to Atlanta for a reunion together. I always thought that was a bunch of bologna. I thought it was pretty well stated that these guys didn't get along all that well. Glavine and Smoltz are tight, and we all read how Glavine wanted the Mets to try and trade for Smoltz during the 2006 stretch run, but this rumor about Maddux and Glavine conspiring for an Atlanta reunion? Sounds very unlikely. Guess will find out soon enough, if and when this two-year deal with the Mets goes through.

If Mets fans need any more assurances about Glavine's intentions, in the New York Post we read this quote:

"Tom wants to come back to the Mets," his agent Gregg Clifton said yesterday. "He has some unfinished business with them. He wants to win a World Series with the Mets."

Kind of hard to backtrack from that statement.