Meat Loaf Is A Moron

A friend of mine said he read somewhere that the title of Meat Loaf's latest album, Bat Out Of Hell III - The Monster Is Loose, is a reference to Mike Piazza. My buddy, knowing how much of a fanatic I am, asked me if I felt any allegiance to Meat because he made a Mets reference.

My response? HELL NO!

I know Meat Loaf is a baseball fan, but he is also an unabashed Yankees fan. In 1978 he was a Yankees fan, he's playing a Yankees guitar on his website, and he's even arranged for his ashes to be scattered over Yankee Stadium when he dies..

So, no, I feel no allegiance to the guy because the name of his lousy new album misquotes John Stearns, (um, the monster is "out of the cage," not "loose.") Go here to see video proving that MeatLoaf didn't even see the game or the quote that inspired him so much. He read it in a newspaper.

Besides all that, mostly I can't stand Meat Loaf for the simple reason that his music stinks (Paradise By The Dashboard Light is only good if you're a wedding DJ and you need to use the restroom) and because nowadays when the fat old man does duets with young women he looks really creepy, like he's going to eat them or something.

Meat Loaf can take his Mike Piazza reference and go to (bat out of) hell.

Post Of The Day: Toasty Joe

As the countdown for pitchers and catchers to report dwindles down, check out todays hysterical post by Toasty Joe, where he picks out key highlights from an appearance by Junkee Shill Suzyn Waldwan on WFAN.

Transplanted Ex-Mets Update: Trachsel is an Oriole

Apparently Jim Duquette has a quota on ex-Mets. After learning Kris Benson would miss all of the 2007 season with a rotator cuff injury, the Orioles scooped up Stephen Christopher Trachsel, signing him to a one year deal worth approx. $3.1 million. According to the Baltimore Sun, Trachsel "will be compete with prospects Hayden Penn and Garrett Olson for the No. 5 spot in the rotation," but that sounds unlikely to me. If a team hands a guy $3mil in guaranteed money, they are slotting him to pitch.

Off-season Wrap Up

This post attempts answers the question "What have the Mets done since the end of last season?" I'll re-post this summation once we reach Opening Day and the roster gets sorted out, but this should do a good job of catching you up on anything you may have missed this offseason, as teh Mets get set to break camp in a couple days:

October - Carlos Delgado (right wrist, elbow), Aaron Heilman (elbow), Paul LoDuca (thumb), Chris Woodward (left shoulder) and Roberto Hernandez (right knee) undergo surgery to repair injuries suffered during the season.

November 1st - Guillermo Mota is served with a 50 game suspension after testing positive for steroids. This news seemed to serve as the end of the Mota era for the Mets.

November 10th - Hotfoot breaks the news that the Mets are set to announce naming rights for their new ballpark, to be dubbed Citi Field. Also, Manny Acta is named manager of the Washington Nationals.

November 13th - Free Agent Jose "Mr. Porn Star Mustache Man" Valentin re-ups with the Mets on a one-year deal.

November 14th - El Duque re-ups with the Mets.

November 15th- Royce Ring and Heath Bell get shipped to San Diego for RHP Jon Adkins and Xavier Nady clone Outfielder Ben Johnson.

November 17th - The Mets sign super-sub Damion Easley to a one-year contract worth $850k. This blogger has not forgotten Easley's disclosure that he grew up "a die-hard Yankees fan."

November 18th - The Mets sign Moises Alou to a two year contract, making him their new left fielder and essentially ending Cliff Floyd's tenure with the New York Mets.

November 29th - The Mets lose Chad Bradford to the Baltimore Orioles, who sign him to a three year deal.

December 6th - Omar Minaya ships Brian Bannister to the Kansas City Royals for 21 year old righthanded relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos.

December 13th - Darren Oliver signs with the California Angels.

December 19th - Howard Johnson "HoJo" joins the Mets major league coaching staff.

December 20th- Chris Woodward signs with the Atlanta Braves. The bastard.

December 28th - Barry Zito does not sign with the Mets.

January 6th - The Mets sign lefthanded supersub David Newhan to a one year contract. Mets also name Ken Oberkfell the new manager of their new AAA franchise, the New Orleans Zephyrs. What is a zephyr?

January 10th - The Mets sign free agent relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis to a three-year deal.

January 12th - The Mets sign righthanded pitcher Jorge Sosa.

January 24th - Cliff Floyd signs with the Cubs.

January 25th - The Mets sign 36 year old righthander Aaron Sele to a minor league deal. Willie Randolph agrees to a new three-year, $5.65-million contract that runs through 2009.

January 31st - Victor Zambrano signs with the Blue Jays.

February 10th - The Mets ink 33 year old righthander Chan Ho Park to a one-year, $600k contract.


New Mets -
Chan Ho Park
Aaron Sele
Jorge Sosa
Scott Schoeneweis
David Newhan
Ben Johnson
Jon Adkins
Ambiorix Burgos
Moises Alou
Damion Easley

Newly Transplanted ex-Mets:
Steve Trachsel
Victor Zambrano
Brian Bannister
Cliff Floyd
Darren Oliver
Chad Bradford
Royce Ring
Heath Bell
Chris Woodward

Transplanted ex-Mets Update: Kris Benson to Miss Season

According to Ken Rosenthal, transplanted ex-Met Kris Benson will miss all of the 2007 season due to a partially torn rotator cuff.

"To replace Benson, the Orioles could sign a free agent from a dwindling list that includes right-hander Steve Trachsel, left-hander Ron Villone and left-hander Mark Redman."

Tough break for the O's, who were hoping to put together a solid season, after adding Aubrey Huff and Danys Baez, as well as ex-Mets Chad Bradford, Roger Cedeno and Jay Payton.