Citifinancial Stadium and Other Mets News

Hello Mets fans, far and wide! Time for your dose of less-than-breaking news and less-than-poignant opinions about the New York Mets.

First, the news of the day: The Mets have resigned Oliver Perez to a three year, $36MM deal. This is great news, as far as I'm concerned. I know Derek Lowe is "reliable," but his ace days are behind him and I would much rather have a 27 year old lefty who eats up the Phils and Junkees the way Ollie does than a 36 year old righty whose best years are behind him. And Lowe got 4 years out of the Bravos for $15MM per... if you ask me, the Perez deal is a steal. Fans may whine about the Mets not improving their rotation this offseason, but if you have Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Ollie P throwing for you and you can have Jon Niese compete for the 5th spot with Tim Redding and Freddie Garcia, I think the starting 5 is the least of our concerns.

The offense, however, is another story. This lineup has way too many holes. The left side of the infield is solid, of course, but you have to wonder which Delgado will show up in 2008, and enough has been written about the inadequacies of Luis Castillo already that I won't even bother to put my two cents in this space. The corner spots of the outfield are the biggest question marks of all. I love Ryan Church and Daniel Murphy, but they are definitely not sure things. The Mets need a righty bat in the worst way. Too bad there are none available on the free agent market...

I love Dennis Kucinich, and wish he had gotten more support during his Presidential campaign, and love that he is joining the call for Citigroup to back out of the naming rights for CITY FIELD, but I just don't see how the government can force their hand. I mean, of course I get that Citibank was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars to avoid collapsing so they really need to be not spending money on stadium naming rights and private jets for crying out loud, but if these idiots really think naming a baseball stadium is a smart marketing move then that is really their choice, right? Now, I will say that if fans keep on screaming and yelling, and sportswriters keep ranting and raving, and bloggers like me go on and on and on, about how what a tasteless, horrible, stomach turning move it is for a company that laid off enough people in 2008 to fill up the new Mets stadium go ahead and pay $20MM per year to plaster their corporate logo on that stadium then I would be the happiest kid in town to see the naming rights deal fall through.

Now, for a transplanted Mets update:

In case you missed it, Aaron Heilman has been traded from the Mariners to the Cubs. Good luck, Aaron.

Frank Viola has landed a gig as a baseball analyst for the Bright House Sports Network, whatever the hell that is. I still remember the Daily News headline: VOILA! METS LAND VIOLA!

Jesus Flores has recovered from his ankle injury and is ready to start for the Expos.

Jose Offerman will manage the Licey Tigres of the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean World Series this week.

Pitchers and Catchers in two weeks!

Bad News For Out Of Market Mets Fans

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, in case you missed it, but life as a transplanted Mets fan just got worse.  For those of you who live outside the New York market, and are unwilling or unable to purchase Extra Innings on DirecTV, often the only time you get to watch Mets games on TV is when they are on FOX or ESPN.  This is extremely painful because the respective broadcast teams of Tim McCarver/Joe Buck and Jon Miller/Joe Morgan are the two worst pairings to happen to baseball since the cream and the clear. 

 

Well, ESPN has decided to take their lousy team and make it even lousier, by adding disgraced ex-Mets GM Steve Phillips to the booth, making it a trio of terror!  Sorry, transplanted Mets fans! 

 

This makes the $15 a year Gameday audio feed on MLB.com an even better deal! 

Dwight Gooden Speaks Out - Transplanted Ex-Mets Update

I try to post as much ex-Mets news as possible, but I consciously avoided posting comment about the story where Kirk Radomski said he used to take drug tests for Doctor K. Well, call me an apologist, but I am going to take this opportunity to post Dwight Gooden's response in the New York Post:

“That never happened,” Gooden said. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’ve made mistakes through the years, and I’ve admitted them, but that never happened. And the way the tests were administered, it couldn’t have happened. I’ve done enough wrong on my own, I don’t want to get blamed for something I didn’t do.”

Well, I didn't belive iota of Roger Clemens' denials, but he had a lot more to lose than Dwight Gooden. Gooden has already lost pretty much everything - he has no reason to lie about things that happened 20 years ago, best as I can figure. So, call me naive, I'm going to take him at his word for this one.

Ex-Mets Catchall - Latest Transplanted ex-Mets News

Here's some updates from past Mets:

-Aaron Heilman will compete for a spot in the Seattle Mariners starting rotation this spring.

-Timo Perez has signed a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers. Perez spent all of 2008 with Detroit's AAA farm team.

-Ex-Mets manager Joe Torre shows his orange and blue bloodlines by taking some pot shots at A-Fraud and Company.

-The 1969 Mets are comin to town.

Manny Ramirez and The Mets

Here's my two cents on Manny ramirez, though you may be overpaying for my comments...

I've turned the corner on the whole situation a little bit over the last couple days, personally. I had been pretty much dead set against the whole thing. But I never put my thoughts down, so I might as well do so now. Here are(were) my reasons why I do(did) not want the Mets to sign Manny Ramirez:






The fans in Boston worshipped the ground this man walked on, he lived like a king, was paid a hefty ransom for his services, won two World Series, and he was - for some unknown reason - itching to get out of town. It was an annual rite of winter to hear about his trade request. Now, the last year he wanted a contract extension (raise) but prior to that his unhappiness was just accepted as "Manny Being Manny" and noone questioned it. Why was he so unhappy in Boston. And if he was miserable in Boston, why on earth would he be any happier in New York? If you ask me, low-key L.A. is the perfect spot for his demeanor. No one out there gets too worked up one way or another and if Manny wants to pout for God knows what reason, then he'll be able to do it pretty quitely. However, if he comes to New York, and doesn't dance with Jose Reyes one night, it will be fodder for the clowns who call into Schmuck Francesca's show for a week and a half. Although I've heard a few statements to the contrary, Manny Ramirez is a jerk. A guy who can hit the way he does leaves a playoff contending team, and his teammates don't miss him. His fans kinda celebrate! Hey, Mets fans: Why do we want this guy on our team? To be perfectly honest, I have had a lot of trouble liking the players on the Mets for the last year and a half. They have acted like babies too often, haven't shown much passion, so why do we need to import another unlovable clown?

Now, I won't lie that there is a part of me who whould have a bit of an adrenaline rush if Ramirez did find his way to Flushing. There's no arguing that this guy hits, and would be an inarguable difference-maker in the Mets dubious lineup. And, this guy would make it a little bit more fun to go to Citicorp Financial Field next season. And isn't fun the whole point of the whole thing? He'd put the fannies in the seats, boost the ratings on Snigh TV, and for that reason is probably even worth the financial outlay.

The tiebreaker between the point/counterpoint above is the sky high risk of yet another albatross around the Mets necks in 2010 and 2011 and perhaps beyond). I don't know what kind of contract would seal the deal for Manny to the Mets, and by pretty much all accounts it's not happening anyway, but thought of what kind of nightmare it would be to try and unload him if we had to is just something I don't want to explore. Bo Bonilla and Mo Vaughn fill up enough of the Mets history books with that kind of story.

Still... it would be a little bit more exciting than the signings of Tim Redding, Freddie Garcia, Alex Cora, Rob Mackowiak, and Cory Sullivan, huh?

The Jeff Kent Era Ends; The Jeff Can't Era Reignites

Boy, oh, boy. Proof yet again that among Mets fans, time does not heal all wounds. News that Jeff Kent retired brought no sentiment among Mets bloggers. Here are some of my favorite quotes from around the blogosphere:

Metstradamus: "Maybe now that you're retired you can come back to help christen Citi Field: The House Jeff Kent Had Nothing To Do With."

The Final Score: "think of how great his career would have been if he never played for the Mets."

Sully Baseball: "he will be missed by those teammates who enjoyed his company… both of them."

Hot Foot: Very good baseball player, but I am certainly glad to see him go.

Kranepool: "he was just the most miserable nasty redneck you could meet. As opposed to Wally Backman who is one of the nicest and most friendly rednecks you could meet."

The Mets Police: "I would still rather have David Cone."

A nice sendoff for Jeff Torborg's favorite Met, huh?

Ex Mets 2B Jeff Kent Retires - Transplanted Ex Mets Update

The  Mets player best known among Mets fans as being the guy we traded away David Cone for, and the guy we sent away to get Carlos Baerga, is set to announce his retirement from Major League Baseball.  Tomorrow or tonight I'll post more Jeff Kent Mets memories to commemorate the end of the era. 

Craig Swan The Dog Whisperer - Transplanted ex-Mets Update

How's this for a zany story? Ex-Mets pitcher Craig Swan has trained his dog to cart him around on a modified scooter. Head on over to the Greenwich times for this article, which somehow does not have a photograph attached, to learn about how the guy who pitched for the Mets from 1974-1985 figured out how to get his dog to pull him along for three miles a day at 20 mph.

Shooting From The Lip?

Apologies to Mike Lupica for the title, but something must have gotten under Anthony Rieber's skin to cause him to write such a cranky, bitter, over-the top (and dead-on correct) article today about the current state of The New York Mets.  Rieber makes Wallace Matthews look like a Mets flunkee compared to the ranting going on in this column.  Some highlights...

 

[The Mets] would have been better off trying to get out of the naming-rights contract and giving Citigroup back its $400 million (over the next 20 years). Oh, right, after what Bernie Madoff allegedly did to the Wilpons, they don't have the spare cash right now.

 

They've gotten some of the stink out of that bullpen, but not all of it. Remember, when Billy Wagner went down last season, Sanchez ran under a desk and hid rather than assume the closer role.

If they don't sign or trade for a bat, it's the same lineup as late last season. In fact, it's the same lineup as Opening Day 2008, other than Tatis or Murphy in leftfield. At least the Mets aren't waiting for Moises Alou to return from his 7,893rd DL stint.

Head on over to Newsday for more of the column, and get Rieber's take on Manny, Sheets, Ollie Perez and Pedro Martinez too.

 

Transplanted ex-Mets Update: Dwight Gooden

Head on over to Mets.com for a nice little piece on Doctor K, who is getting married soon, and proclaims himself "good."

Embarrassing Moments In Mets History

Buckle in folks, this going to be a long one. Why are we Mets fans? Are we masochists? Seems like the Mets can't go six months without making a move that makes us the laughing stock of baseball. The debut of the patch that will adorn the uniforms of the Mets during home games at City Field is only the latest in a long history of blunders.

Seriously, this is what we get? The Junkees introduce their patch, and this is ours? That's what we get for naming our stadium after a failing bank, and then letting the bank for chrissakes design the patch!

“It is compatible and consistent with Citigroup’s overall branding and graphic design elements,” Howard said. “That’s the connection. The Citi logo is a fairly simple logo. It’s ‘citi’ in lowercase, with a red arc. So they have more of a minimalist style to their brand and their logo. Obviously, as our partner for Citi Field, we’re going to give substantial deference to their design and graphic treatment.” Howard said the Mets were flattered that Citigroup designed a logo that incorporated the team’s blue and orange colors.

Flattered? Flattered!? It's a METS uniform that the patch will be sewn onto - don't the Mets get a say?!? Of course, if we left things up to the Mets designers, the same numnuts who came up with the Mets version of Turn Ahead The Clock Night and decided to embarrass their future Hall Of Famer Rickey Henderson by turning him into some kind of space mutant.

Not embarrassing enough for you? How about Shawn Estes missing Roger Clemens with a beanball? The beanball was supposed to be revenge for Clemens clocking Mike Piazza. Speaking of Mike Piazza, how about Piazza holding a press conference on the field to announce he wasn't gay? Or Steve Phillips holding a press conference to apologize for being a creep? This was reminiscent of Cleon Jones being forced to hold a press conference to apologize for a parking lot impropriety.

Speaking of parking lots, how about Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer getting into a fight with a local hooligan outside a pizza place in Florida? Speaking of food, how about Dirty/Tardy Sanchez screwing up the 2006 pennant chase by deciding he needed to get in a taxi and go for Dominican Food at 2AM? Speaking of Taxis, how about Tom Glavine busting out his teeth in a taxi accident? Remember Agent Tom Glavine said losing his teeth was "heartbreaking," but spitting the bit in the final game of the 2007 season was "not devastating".

Remember when the Mets were on the front cover of Newsday in 2002 for a marijuana scandal, "sparked" by the photo circulating of Grant Roberts smoking from a bong? Yeah, and we all really believed Bobby Cox when he said it was a *coincidence* when he sent Korean relief pitcher Jung Bong to pinch hit in the top of the 9th inning at Shea on the last game of the same season...

The Mets sure seem to finish seasons well, don't they? How about blowing a seven-game lead with 17 to play? And then duplicating the feat a year later?

How about allowing Tom The Franchise Seaver to go unprotected in a compensation pool and losing him to the White Sox, where he'd go on to win his 300th game at Yankees Stadium? How about Vince Coleman throwing a cherry bomb at fans in Los Angeles, or Bret Saberhagen spraying bleach from a water gun at reporters? Bobby Bonilla wearing earplugs to drown out the Shea Stadium boos? Kenny Rogers? Roger Cedeno? Allowing Fran Healy to man the TV mike for so long?

Folks, the reason why we put up with all this is not because we're mascochists. It's because we're fans. We're loyal to a fault, and we know that victory is twice as sweet when it takes a hard, rocky road to get there. Being a Mets fans means your not a front runner. Sure, you can go anywhere in the world and see a Yankees cap, but ask that person in that random city to name the Yankees starting rotation and you have a four out of five chance of getting a blank stare in return. But spot a Mets cap in Cleveland, and I'll bet you a Rheingold that the person bleeds orange and blue. Chin Up! We're in it together, Mets fans. And that's why I'll be at CityField this season, and that's why I'm excited that Santanas and Schneiders report in less than 30 days. Lets Go Mets in 2009!

Ex Mets Update: Rico Brogna

Head on over to LoHud for an update on transplanted ex-Mets first baseman Rico Brogna, who's been hired as an assistant football coach at Wesleyan University.

Pedro Martinez Won't Be Siging With Florida - Yet Another ESPN Deportes Reports Disputed

I wish I had been keeping track of all the ESPNDeportes reports that came out that later proved to be innacurate.  Maybe I'll do some researching and come up with a list.  In the meantime, here's just the latest example:

 

MLB.com says the Marlins aren't interested and The Palm Beach Post says Pedro's not going to the Marlins.

 

 

Ex-Mets on The MLB Hall Of Fame Ballot

On Monday we'll get to find out who has been elected to baseball's Hall Of Fame. Here are some articles about the chances of some Transplanted ex-Mets:

Jesse Orosco - If he gets the nod, he'll certainly go in as a Met,
"Mets, definitely," he said. "Many more memories there than anywhere else."

David Cone got his first, his last, and 81 in total, of his 194 career victories with the Mets, and spent close to six years as a Met (his careeer spanned 17 seasons over 18 years). He also had some success with The Junkees, but we'll forgive that for this week. He's a longshot to get in, at least for his first ballot, so we'll save the argument with Yankees fans over which hat he would wear on a more apropos occasion.

Rickey Henderson is spending Sunday night wondering if Rickey will be the first unanimous election to the Hall Of Fame. Rickey's exit from the Mets in 2000 was so acrimonious that he was the only player who spent any time on the team who didn't get a NL Championship Ring. The Mercury Mets handed out those rings to just about everyone in the organization and every player who had any kind of stint with the 2000 Mets, except Henderson. Steve Phillips explained it as saying Rickey was the only player who also played for another playoff team that season (Seattle Mariners).



Rickey was brought back into the Mets fold by Omar Minaya in 2006, and he had a short and somewhat controversial stint as first base coach in 2007. Needless to say I wouldn't even bet you a Cooperstown hot dog that he'll wear a Mets cap into the hall. (But I said it anyway just so I could make a sly reference to a hot dog).

Tim Redding Is In; Is Pedro Martinez Out?

Word on the scene was that Pedro Martinez was open to re-signing with the Mets on a one year, incentive-laden contract.  Well the Mets just gave a contract like that to Tim Redding, and suddenly now Pedro Martinez is now negotiating with the Miami-based baseball team that plays in Dolphins Stadium.  Is Petey about to be a Transplanted ex-Mets pitcher?  Stay tuned...