Benjamin Grimm

Actually, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Murphy posted numbers similar to those of Jefferies', and that would be okay. I'd just hope he'd do it without all the drama and the pouting.

It really depends on how healthy he is. I'd have to think that if Freddy is ready he'll get the job.

]�All he talks about is hitting, hitting, hitting," says J.J. Putz. I remember reading similar quotes about Gregg Jefferies.

"The Vigilantes of Texas?"

Oh! Okay, I'll put down 25 on Redding and 25 on Garcia.

Redding 55 Garcia 35 Niese 20

You know, millionaire professional athletes have trouble getting the prettiest of women, and often have to settle for those who look like Willie Nelson.

That kind of rings a bell with me. (The gay Alomar rumors.)

I think they'd be more upset about his leaving if he had been part of a championship team, but he wasn't. I don't suspect it's his fault at all. The Phillies are a better team than they were a few years ago, but I don't think it's because of Abreu's absence. If the Mets signed Abreu I'd expect a five-man outfield of Church, Beltran, Abreu, Tatis, and either Reed or Murphy. You'd be able to mix and match depending on the opposing pitcher and who's hot and/or healthy at any given time. The one drawback to that that I see would be if Murphy ends up not getting much playing time. At this stage of his career I'd like to see him get his at-bats in so he can continue to develop. Ideally he'd get at least 300 to 400 plate appearances in 2009. Better to have them in New York, but if necessary some of them can be in Buffalo.

If she found out about the HIV (or AIDS) when he did then she's responsible for any decisions she made about any kind of contact with his bodily fluids. This seems less about a health concern than about a way to drag her ex-boyfriend through the mud after an (I assume) ugly breakup. Of course, we still don't know if Alomar has HIV, or anything at all, although my hunch is he probably does. If not, there would be little point in launching such a lawsuit. Alomar could easily quash it by taking a test and providing the results to the court. I have to wonder if the sudden decline in production that Alomar experienced in 2002 may have had something to do with illness. (Or age, of course, or "the pressure of playing in New York.")

According to reports I've seen, the Mets say they'll only sign him if he can be had for $4 million or less. I don't like hearing that kind of stuff, and hope it's not true.

I feel like I should know who Suzy Orman is, but I don't.

To tell you the truth, I couldn't read any further once I got to this part, which was in only the second paragraph: "baseball turns to Jeter as the last outpost of honesty."

Or maybe he was just a jerk.

Yeah, I can't imagine the Yankees eating $270 million over nine years. Sheesh! Madden also said that none of the other 29 teams would pick Rodriguez up for the major-league minimum. Yeah, right.

Those of you who collect autographs: How do you go about getting them? I keep getting e-mails from people asking me how they can get so-and-so's autograph, and I usually tell them to try writing to them c/o the Mets, but I don't promise that that will work. I got one just today from someone desperate to get Lee Mazzilli's autograph. A few months ago I would have told him to write to Lee at SNY, but it's probably too late for that now.

It doesn't look like there's going to be a top hat, does it?

It's nice how Jimmy is deferential and humble when he's talking about Derek Jeter, and brash and disrespectful when he talks about the Mets. Gotta love the guy.

I like how she walked down the aisle "followed by the arm of her father." Nothing livens up a ceremony like disembodied zombie limbs dragging themselves behind the bride.

="Newsday.com"] Mets now targeting righthanded hitter for bench BY KEN DAVIDOFF ken.davidoff@newsday.com 9:53 PM EST, February 4, 2009 The Mets, their major offseason goals achieved, will next target a righthanded hitter for their bench, a person familiar with the situation said yesterday. Some Mets officials like free agent Rich Aurilia, who has ties to both New York and general manager Omar Minaya. As of yesterday, however, the Mets had yet to reach out to Aurilia's agent, Barry Axelrod, according to Axelrod. Aurilia, 37, was born in Brooklyn and played for Xaverian High School there and then St. John's. When the Rangers selected him in the 24th round of the 1992 amateur draft, Minaya was part of Texas' front office. A former All-Star shortstop, Aurilia played in 83 games as the Giants' first baseman, 63 as their third baseman and one at second base in 2008. He put up a .332 on-base percentage and .413 slugging percentage. Against lefthanded pitching, those numbers ballooned to .377 and .526. Axelrod said that the Phillies and Giants have pursued Aurilia the most aggressively. Other available, veteran righty bats on the free-agent market include Nomar Garciaparra, Kevin Millar, former Met Jay Payton, Jose Vidro (a switch hitter) and, if the Mets are feeling masochistic, Moises Alou. The Mets have some interest in picking through the free-agent crop of lefty relievers -- Joe Beimel, Will Ohman and Ron Villone are among those still available -- but they believe they have viable non-roster options in Casey Fossum and Tom Martin. As first reported by The New York Post, the Mets are interested in trading catcher Ramon Castro and the $2.5 million owed him for 2009 and replacing him with Robinson Cancel. The Brewers discussed Castro internally -- Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin consulted his new bench coach, former Mets manager Willie Randolph -- and opted against such a deal.

They're paying him in cheese? Does the collective bargaining agreement allow that?

He's leading a "quadruple" life? Where does he find the time? I have my hands full just leading one life. How many "completionist" Mets collectors are going to add some "Art Shamsky Sucks" condoms to their collections? This is absolutely bizarre. At least it explains why Shamsky is getting a surge of hits on the UMDB.

It's starting to look more like the grandstand you'd see at a race track.

Note to self: Never play dominoes with Ambiorix Burgos. On the plus side, we like intense competitors, don't we?

They should call it by Shea's original name: Flushing Meadows Stadium. Or since "stadium" is out of vogue, they can replace it with Park or Field.