Competitive Spring Training action begins today, as the Mets face Detroit at 1PM. For those of you lucky enough to get SNY, you can TiVo it this afternoon or watch the replay at 6.
Oliver Perez will make the start, probably pitch about two innings, and be followed by Alay Soler (he's still on the roster?), Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman and Jon Adkins.
The starters for the next four games are Tom Glavine, Chan Ho Park and Mike Pelfrey. Remember, all eyes are on which five guys will start the season off in the rotation.
Rotation battle speculation update:
Dayn Perry says the 5th spot is Chan Ho Park's to lose. Matt Cerrone concurs.
As for the bullpen, there are way too many guys to even speculate who will make the team, other than Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis. Duaner Sanchez may or may not be ready in time. Other candidates include Pedro Feliciano, Jon Adkins, Ambiorix Burgos, Jorge Sosa, Joe Smith, Juan Padilla, Jason Vargas and Dave Williams.
The other battles are for the 4th and 5th outfield spot, and the backup infielders.
The projected 25 man roster:
C Lo Duca
C2: Ramon Castro or Sandy Alomar
1B: Carlos Delgado
2B: Jose Valentin
3B: David Wright
SS: Jose Reyes
IF: Julio Franco
IF: Damion Easley or Anderson Hernandez
RF: Shawn Green
CF: Carlos Beltran
LF: Moises Alou
OF: Endy Chavez or Ben Johnson or David Newhan or Lastings Milledge
OF: Lasting Milledge or Endy Chavez or Ben Johnson or David Newhan
SP: Tom Glavine
SP: Orlando Hernandez
SP: ?John Maine?
SP: ?Oliver Perez?
SP: ?Chan Ho Park or Aaron Sele or Jorge Sosa or Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber or Jason Vargas?
RP: Billy Wagner
RP: Aaron Heilman
RP: Scott Schoeneweis
RP: ?Pedro Feliciano?
RP: ?Duaner Sanchez?
RP: ?Jorge Sosa?
Of course, that's assuming the Mets go with 11 pitchers. If they are worried about the ability of their starters going deep and want to have a 12 man staff, then they'll have to go with just 4 outfielders (Can you really imagine Endy Chavez not making Willie Randolph's team?), or 5 infielders (Damion Easley, we hardly knew ye).
Let's get on with it!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Transplanted Ex-Mets Update: Art Shamsky
Hat Tip to Regis at Mets Heads for pointing out that 1969 Met Art Shamsky will serve as coach for one of six teams in the new Israeli baseball league. fans of Everybody Loves Raymond will recall that Raymond's brother Robert (Brad Garrett) had a bulldog named Shamsky on the show. Jon Stewart also has a pit bull named Shamsky. Call me an anti-Semite, but I decided to name my French Bulldog Mookie.
My cousin named his dog Piazza, which also works pretty well as a dog name. Unfortunately, none of the current era of Mets have names suitable for canines, at least that I can think of. Moises? Milledge? Not as befitting as the three above, and none of them have the tenure deserving of naming your dog after them anyway.
I could see a Yankees fan naming their dog Jeter, but A-Rod might get upset if Jeter the Dog didn't sniff A-Rod's butt enough.
My cousin named his dog Piazza, which also works pretty well as a dog name. Unfortunately, none of the current era of Mets have names suitable for canines, at least that I can think of. Moises? Milledge? Not as befitting as the three above, and none of them have the tenure deserving of naming your dog after them anyway.
I could see a Yankees fan naming their dog Jeter, but A-Rod might get upset if Jeter the Dog didn't sniff A-Rod's butt enough.
Transplanted Ex-Mets Update: Edgardo Alfonzo Is A Long Island Duck!
OK, now I am mad. First, Mookie Wilson leaves his post as manager of the Kingsport Mets, just a month after I move within driving distance of the team's home. Then, Tim Tueffel takes over the Savannah Sand Gnats, but the team doesn't have any games in Greensboro this upcoming season. Now, one of my favorite Mets of all time, Edgardo Alfonzo, will play for the Long Island Ducks this season, and I don't live on Long Island! Man! Somebody send me a bobblehead!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Mets Spring Training Update
There are about a billion articles in the mainstream and not so mainstream press out there, though there is not much to report. Grapefruit League action kicks off on Wednesday, and Mets fans in attendance will see Oliver Perez make the start as the battle for the rotation slots begins. Here are the candidates:
Glavine (lock)
El Duque (lock)
John Maine
Oliver Perez
Chan Ho Park
Aaron Sele
Mike Pelfrey
Jason Vargas
Jorge Sosa
Phillip Humber
Not including Pedro Martinez, due sometime after the All Star Break, there's 10 pitchers for 5 slots, or really 8 pitchers for 3 slots, when you lock in Glavine and El Duque for the one and two positions. Of course, despite what Glavine says, when you have two men over 40 at the front end of the rotation it's tough to imagine them both making 35 starts each. So, this could be interesting. Over the next few weeks I'll try to keep track of the speculation of the "experts," to see who is predicting what. In the meantime, let's get on with it already!
Glavine (lock)
El Duque (lock)
John Maine
Oliver Perez
Chan Ho Park
Aaron Sele
Mike Pelfrey
Jason Vargas
Jorge Sosa
Phillip Humber
Not including Pedro Martinez, due sometime after the All Star Break, there's 10 pitchers for 5 slots, or really 8 pitchers for 3 slots, when you lock in Glavine and El Duque for the one and two positions. Of course, despite what Glavine says, when you have two men over 40 at the front end of the rotation it's tough to imagine them both making 35 starts each. So, this could be interesting. Over the next few weeks I'll try to keep track of the speculation of the "experts," to see who is predicting what. In the meantime, let's get on with it already!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
First Negative News Of Spring
Spring Training is supposed to be all about optimism, that is until the injury bug starts to hit. The Mets have had their first scare of the Spring, with Orlando El Duque Hernandez shipped up to New York for an examination. He reportedly has a pain in the neck, and he ain't talking about Jimmy Rollins. It turns out it's... arthritis. Yes, we know the Mets have some older guys on the team, but seriously, arthritis? Anyway, El Duque's headed back down to Florida, where he should resume workouts in a few days, and everyone's saying he's fine.
There's yet another Mets blog attempting to deliver all the news that your bandwidth can handle, it's called MetsHeads and you can find it at http://metsheads.blogharbor.com
Finally, since there's no real Mets news to talk about, I hope you'll excuse me for posting some non-Mets related news:
On February 15th, the Hershey Co. announced that they were cutting 1,500 jobs over three years as part of a plan to scale back production lines and move some manufacturing to Mexico. This really struck a chord with me because when I visited Hershey PA my wife and I learned that during The Great Depression, instead of laying off workers, founder Milton Hershey employed people to build such structures such as The Hotel Hershey, a community center, a theatre, a sports arena and a stadium in the chocolate factory's town in Pennsylvania.
My wife and I have now set up a website, www.kissesforhershey.com, where we've laid out our plans to help save the jobs at risk. We've set up a petition for people to sign, and we plan on sending one Hershey's Kiss to CEO Richard Lenny for every person who signs the petition by July 7th (Chocolate Day). Our goal is 3,000 signatures, one for each job at stake. We also hope to start a letter writing campaign, where people will send letters to Richard Lenny and ask him not to go forward with the layoffs.
Please check out the site, sign the petition, and tell five friends about this movement. It turns out 3,000 jobs are at stake!!
Thank you. We now resume our regularly scheduled Mets related blog.
There's yet another Mets blog attempting to deliver all the news that your bandwidth can handle, it's called MetsHeads and you can find it at http://metsheads.blogharbor.com
Finally, since there's no real Mets news to talk about, I hope you'll excuse me for posting some non-Mets related news:
On February 15th, the Hershey Co. announced that they were cutting 1,500 jobs over three years as part of a plan to scale back production lines and move some manufacturing to Mexico. This really struck a chord with me because when I visited Hershey PA my wife and I learned that during The Great Depression, instead of laying off workers, founder Milton Hershey employed people to build such structures such as The Hotel Hershey, a community center, a theatre, a sports arena and a stadium in the chocolate factory's town in Pennsylvania.
My wife and I have now set up a website, www.kissesforhershey.com, where we've laid out our plans to help save the jobs at risk. We've set up a petition for people to sign, and we plan on sending one Hershey's Kiss to CEO Richard Lenny for every person who signs the petition by July 7th (Chocolate Day). Our goal is 3,000 signatures, one for each job at stake. We also hope to start a letter writing campaign, where people will send letters to Richard Lenny and ask him not to go forward with the layoffs.
Please check out the site, sign the petition, and tell five friends about this movement. It turns out 3,000 jobs are at stake!!
Thank you. We now resume our regularly scheduled Mets related blog.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Mets Non-News From Camp Notes: New Slogan Revealed
Have you visited Mets.com lately? The new banner reveals the new marketing slogan: Your Season Has Come. Last season it was "Our team, Our time," with us all celebrating together, but it seems the new slogan indicates that now it's "my" season. So there! Now I can feel better about saying things like "we" when I talk about Mets accomplishments. This also makes up for the intense guilt I felt for years when I learned that Only I Could Prevent Forest Fires. Only Me.
Jason at Hot Foot alerts us to an article reporting that MLB is introducing new caps for 2007. Instead of the old wool hats, the new caps are polyester blend to help keep sweat off players faces, as well as resisting odors and staining. This reminds me of that episode of Seinfeld when George Costanza convinced the Yankees to switch to cotton uniforms because they would breathe better. Anyway, here's a look at the new batting practice cap:
Speaking of the Yankees, is this issue with A-Rod and Jeter not being best friends forever anymore just about the lamest storyline in all of sports? Even Don Zimmer asks "What do you want [Jeter] to do, put his arm around him and kiss him?"
By the way, for us out-of-market and transplanted Mets fans who want to get a glimpse of how construction of Citi Field is coming along, the Mets have launched a webcam. Well, they are calling it a webcam, but really it's not a live camera but actually a time-lapse video of everything that's gone on since the groundbreaking. It's actually cooler than a webcam, though it would be nice if there were an actual webcam to go along with it.
Transplanted ex-Mets update: Although it was previously reported that Kris Benson would miss the entire 2007 season due to surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, he's now decided to try an aggressive rehabilitation program that could get him back on the field sometime this season. The Orioles were prepared to go without Benson in 2007, signing Steve Trachsel the day after the announcement about Benson was made.
Well, that's pretty much it for the non-news. Unless you count Jimmy Rollins attempts to ignite a feud with the Mets. He says his team is "the team to beat" in 2007. Oh, okay, Jimmy. Call me when the Fillies get a bullpen.
Jason at Hot Foot alerts us to an article reporting that MLB is introducing new caps for 2007. Instead of the old wool hats, the new caps are polyester blend to help keep sweat off players faces, as well as resisting odors and staining. This reminds me of that episode of Seinfeld when George Costanza convinced the Yankees to switch to cotton uniforms because they would breathe better. Anyway, here's a look at the new batting practice cap:
Speaking of the Yankees, is this issue with A-Rod and Jeter not being best friends forever anymore just about the lamest storyline in all of sports? Even Don Zimmer asks "What do you want [Jeter] to do, put his arm around him and kiss him?"
By the way, for us out-of-market and transplanted Mets fans who want to get a glimpse of how construction of Citi Field is coming along, the Mets have launched a webcam. Well, they are calling it a webcam, but really it's not a live camera but actually a time-lapse video of everything that's gone on since the groundbreaking. It's actually cooler than a webcam, though it would be nice if there were an actual webcam to go along with it.
Transplanted ex-Mets update: Although it was previously reported that Kris Benson would miss the entire 2007 season due to surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, he's now decided to try an aggressive rehabilitation program that could get him back on the field sometime this season. The Orioles were prepared to go without Benson in 2007, signing Steve Trachsel the day after the announcement about Benson was made.
Well, that's pretty much it for the non-news. Unless you count Jimmy Rollins attempts to ignite a feud with the Mets. He says his team is "the team to beat" in 2007. Oh, okay, Jimmy. Call me when the Fillies get a bullpen.
Shawn Green's New Swing
Shawn Green, who underwhelmed Mets fans with his bat and his glove when he was acquired late last season, said yesterday in the Post that over the winter he found a mechanical issue in his swing, "a hand hitch," that he's corrected which should increase his power. He wants to show he is still the same hitter L.A. had in 2001 and 2002. I would LOVE to see the Mets have the 2001 Shawn Green! Can we also get the 1998 versions of Aaron Sele, Chan Ho Park, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernanez and Pedro Martinez while we're at it?
Monday, February 19, 2007
Goings On At Mets Camp
Here's a summary of the latest non-news at Mets camp in Port St. Lucie:
Lastings Milledge showed up to camp a day earlier than requires, but not still early enough for some reporters to speculate that he should have been there even earlier.
For reasons as yet unexplained, the Mets have signed catcher Sandy Alomar Jr to a minor league deal. Remember, his dad is the Mets bench coach. As long as his brother stays away from Shea, I couldn't care less.
Fred Wilpon says the "goal is to win the World Series," the Mets are good enough to win, and facing the Junkees in another Subway Series "would be the greatest." he also says Minaya's got room in the budget to make another acquisition if necessary. I should hope so, especially after reading that Freddy Skill Sets just gave a cool $12 million to the University of Michigan.
Here's a news item for you: Ever wonder about some of the music that players strut up to the plate with? well, we know David Wright was soliciting ideas for some new theme music, but it seems Jose Reyes has taken matters into his own hands. Some of the music heard during Reyes' at bats during the second half of last season was recorded by... Jose Reyes. Reyes recorded two reggaeton tracks last year at a New York studio, called "La Rompe Discoteca" and "Encen." Jose would sometimes walk to the plate to the former, but the latter can be heard on myspace at www.myspace.com/rickycash.
On Friday, the Mets claimed ex-Devil Ray RHP Marcos Caravajal off waivers, and designated Steve Schmoll. Schmoll cleared waivers, and will start the season at AAA New Orleans. 22 year old Caraval was 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in 39 appearances for the Rockies in 2005, but was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 38 games last season with the Rays' Double-A team, striking out 70 in 72 1/3 innings.
Pehaps the most intriguing quote of the spring, so far, is from Willie Randolph who said, of his tenure in the Bronx, "The things I'm doing now I was doing seven, eight years ago. I didn't get a lot of credit for it with the Yankees. I say that now because it's true and no one else said it, " Randolph said, "I feel like I was managing without the title," In the article, reporter Dave Buscema gave Willie a chance to retract his statements, and Randolph takes the opportunity. Buscema believes Randolph when he says he didn't really mean what he said, but I'm not so sure... Chew on that for awhile.
Lastings Milledge showed up to camp a day earlier than requires, but not still early enough for some reporters to speculate that he should have been there even earlier.
For reasons as yet unexplained, the Mets have signed catcher Sandy Alomar Jr to a minor league deal. Remember, his dad is the Mets bench coach. As long as his brother stays away from Shea, I couldn't care less.
Fred Wilpon says the "goal is to win the World Series," the Mets are good enough to win, and facing the Junkees in another Subway Series "would be the greatest." he also says Minaya's got room in the budget to make another acquisition if necessary. I should hope so, especially after reading that Freddy Skill Sets just gave a cool $12 million to the University of Michigan.
Here's a news item for you: Ever wonder about some of the music that players strut up to the plate with? well, we know David Wright was soliciting ideas for some new theme music, but it seems Jose Reyes has taken matters into his own hands. Some of the music heard during Reyes' at bats during the second half of last season was recorded by... Jose Reyes. Reyes recorded two reggaeton tracks last year at a New York studio, called "La Rompe Discoteca" and "Encen." Jose would sometimes walk to the plate to the former, but the latter can be heard on myspace at www.myspace.com/rickycash.
On Friday, the Mets claimed ex-Devil Ray RHP Marcos Caravajal off waivers, and designated Steve Schmoll. Schmoll cleared waivers, and will start the season at AAA New Orleans. 22 year old Caraval was 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in 39 appearances for the Rockies in 2005, but was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 38 games last season with the Rays' Double-A team, striking out 70 in 72 1/3 innings.
Pehaps the most intriguing quote of the spring, so far, is from Willie Randolph who said, of his tenure in the Bronx, "The things I'm doing now I was doing seven, eight years ago. I didn't get a lot of credit for it with the Yankees. I say that now because it's true and no one else said it, " Randolph said, "I feel like I was managing without the title," In the article, reporter Dave Buscema gave Willie a chance to retract his statements, and Randolph takes the opportunity. Buscema believes Randolph when he says he didn't really mean what he said, but I'm not so sure... Chew on that for awhile.
Want To Get Excited?
Spring Training is all about hype, especially about young pitchers, but if you are willing to get yourself excited by a young fireballer in the Mets system, look no further than new Met Ambiorix Burgos. Acquired from the Royals for Brian Bannister, Burgos is a 22 year old who regularly hurls fastballs clocked at 100mph+. Read Ben Shpigel's profile in the NY Times for 854 words that will have you believing the Mets have a potential superstar in the making.
Inundated
This was always my favorite time of year. After months of sports pages featuring barely a mention of baseball news, finally camp would break and we'd start to get some real nuggets of Mets knowledge. Newsday, The Daily News, and even The NY Post all did a fine job of reporting the goings on at Port St. Lucie. Not much really was ever going on down in Florida, mind you. A new acquisition would make his first appearance in a Mets uniform, or someone who had a lousy season the year prior would predict big things in the upcoming months. New batting practice uni's might debut, and the up and coming pitching prospects would be hyped beyond sufficiently.
Now, suddenly, it's different. Now every newspaper has a blogger to accompany their articles, posting photos, and then there's the full-time bloggers (who do an outstanding, tireless job), keeping us up to the minute on what's happening. And suddenly it seems there is so much happening! Even though nothing is really happening. That's a downfall of teh information age - too much information. It's the same plague that causes 24 hour news networks to analayze poll results 24 months before an election! How do I sort through the clutter. A big to-do was made about Lastings Milledge not showing up to camp early! Not late, but not early! Finally, he does report, a day early, but we wonder if it's early enough. I am exhausted!
I have felt a little bad about not posting much here lately, but really, what do I have to offer amidst the clutter? So, at least from now until Opening Day, my resolve for this space is to try and sort through the clutter for you. If you want every tidbit of news that comes through, the links on the right side of this page will get you started nicely. Otherwise, I'll do my best to post the most newsworthy of the items, along with my trademarked sardonic commentary where appropriate.
Happy Spring!
Now, suddenly, it's different. Now every newspaper has a blogger to accompany their articles, posting photos, and then there's the full-time bloggers (who do an outstanding, tireless job), keeping us up to the minute on what's happening. And suddenly it seems there is so much happening! Even though nothing is really happening. That's a downfall of teh information age - too much information. It's the same plague that causes 24 hour news networks to analayze poll results 24 months before an election! How do I sort through the clutter. A big to-do was made about Lastings Milledge not showing up to camp early! Not late, but not early! Finally, he does report, a day early, but we wonder if it's early enough. I am exhausted!
I have felt a little bad about not posting much here lately, but really, what do I have to offer amidst the clutter? So, at least from now until Opening Day, my resolve for this space is to try and sort through the clutter for you. If you want every tidbit of news that comes through, the links on the right side of this page will get you started nicely. Otherwise, I'll do my best to post the most newsworthy of the items, along with my trademarked sardonic commentary where appropriate.
Happy Spring!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
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.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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.
Monday, February 12, 2007
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
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.
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.
"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."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)