The Rundown

Here's the latest Mets-related news:

It looks like the Boston Red Sox have won the bidding process to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka. As interested as I am to see this guy pitch, I am a bit relived that he didn't go to the Mets, or the Yankees for that matter. If he succeeds for the Red Sox against the Yankees, great. If he's a total flop, I won't care.

Hot Foot broke the news that the new Mets stadium naming rights will go to Citicorp, with a groundbreaking ceremony set on Monday to announce the opening of CitiField in 2009.

Manny Acta has been hired as manager of the Washington Nationals. This could mean HoJo or Kid Carter get a coaching job with the Mets. Hate to say it, but I don't think Carter would last long as a big league manager. I think he always tended to get on the nerves of his teammates, and I wonder what kind of leader he would be to young players.

There's one less Junkee in New York, with Gary Sheffield being shipped off to the Tigers for three minor league pitchers. Sheff got what he wanted, which was a two-year contract extension. Way to go. His uncle Doc also got out of prison yesterday. Gooden went to McDonalds almost immediately after getting out. Really! He almost relapsed when the cashier asked if he wanted a Coke with his meal. Not really.

The Tom Glavine waiting game continues. My buddy Tubby speculates that "maybe he's just trying to get more money by acting like he might leave? He should give the Mets a discount after the first two awful years he gave them here." Exactly.

Hot Foot Scoop: New Mets Stadium To Be Named CitiField

According to a posting on HotFoot, a couple readers whose daddies work for CitiBank tipped him off that the groundbreaking on the new Mets stadium will occur Monday (Finally!)* and it will be announced that the name of the new park will be CitiField.

I agree with one poster on that site who said the new name didn't bother him, but it will if 5 years later it becomes Sprint Field and then Googlefield a few years after that.

*So, if the groundbreaking is Monday, what do they call all the construction that has gone on since the summer in the Shea parking lot? The ground looked pretty broken to me.

Reaction to Tom Glavine's Indecisiveness

Tom Glavine is still very noncommittal to coming back to the Mets. He filed for free agency yesterday, and said he has "little sense of what I'm going to do." My buddy Scott summed up our feelings with an e-mail this morning:

"Glavine's a jerk. He's never been a true Met.....hasn't tried to be one.....and let's be honest, he's never had an answer to a question that sounded genuine or not practiced for a day or two before being said.

Anyway, after four years......I find it VERY annoying that he has "no idea" what he's doing, that he still has to talk about it with his wife. Believe me.........they know if they like NY. They know if they terribly miss Atlanta. They know what they want to do. He's being a shady rat about the whole thing.

Do I want him back? Yeah......only because of the overall current outlook of the starting staff. Would I miss him? Nope.....he's a fake liar."

Here, here, Scott! Personally, I have been so back and forth with my emotions towards Tom Glavine. The thing I want to know is, why haven't we read one iota of an item that Atlanta actually wants him back, and that they are willing to pay him? Does Glavine know something we don't? Or is he just assuming he can get ten million dollars out of the Braves?

Devil Rays New Name

In January 2006 it was announced that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays would change their name for the 2007 season. If you have any doubt as to what that new name will be, just check out the home page for their official website.

It's Rays this and Rays that. They sell jerseys with the word RAYS across the chest. All the headlines start with Rays...

In May, team president Matt Silverman said he realized that there wasn't enough time to implement a name change by 2007, so he pushed it back to 2008.

"May 31, 2007 would be the deadline for submission to Major League Baseball [for the 2008 season], then you have finalization of any of those changes," Silverman said. "And the licensee starts producing the new product. So it would be possible that by the end of the 2007 season we would have an announcement of what the name is and what the uniforms look like. The hat, the logo, the colors and a new product would be available," he said. "Any changes we do make to our uniform, our team name, our colors, our logos, will be done and effective for the 2008 season."

But sometime next season there will be a press conference where they announce their new name is the Florida Rays, which will be the most anticlimactic press conference in the history of baseball. Those of you hoping for Tampa Bay Tarpons can forget it. That is, assuming that anybody still gives a crap about this team. C'mon! Move to Charlotte and get it over with.

But first trade Carl Crawford to the Mets.

Delgado Ain't Goin' Nowhere

It's not too surprising to read that Carlos Delgado won't demand a trade, which would be his right as a player traded in the middle of a multi-year contract, but even better news is that he's decided not to strong-arm Omar Minaya into picking up his 2009 option.

"Carlos has notified us today that he is very happy to be here," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said during a telephone conference call. "He enjoys being with the New York Mets and enjoys being in the city and enjoys everything about this organization.

"He wants to be a Met for the rest of his career," Minaya said. "I'm hopeful that at some point in time we will exercise that option. Right now we feel it's not the right time."

Whew!

Bobby Valentine Casts His Vote For Next San Diego Manager

Bobby V, who's been managing in Japan for the past four seasons, says another American managing in Japan should be the next manager of the San Diego Padres, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Even though Trey Hillman has never played or managed in the major leagues, Bobby V calls Hillman a “very good choice” for the job.

“Trey is a hard-working, intelligent baseball man,” Bobby Valentine said yesterday. “He has developed over the years and is now ready to manage anywhere in the world.”

Hillman has been managing the Nippon Ham Fighters for the past four years, and previously worked in the Yankees system as a minor league manager.