Benjamin Grimm

Me, I'd like to see the Mets move on from both of these guys. Disagreeing with NY Mets' preference of Lucas Duda over Ike Davis BY Andy Martino ORLANDO -- It is not easy to argue that Ike Davis should be the Mets� first baseman of the future, not after last season, and the first half of 2012. But when the alternative is Lucas Duda, our opinion is subjective, intangible, unquantifiable, but firm -- trading Davis and anointing Duda would be a mistake. Here is a view cultivated from spending significant time around the Mets, for the entirety of Davis and Duda�s careers: Maybe neither player will develop into a star, but Davis is the only one with a chance. It is too soon to give up on a man who hit 32 home runs just one year ago. The Mets disagree. On Monday, two sources with direct knowledge of the team�s thinking told the News that the club would rather trade Davis than Duda. In fact, they are already working to do so, having engaged at least the Milwaukee Brewers. A person involved in those talks said that a deal was unlikely. The Brewers would rather sign a free agent, perhaps their own Corey Hart, than trade for a first baseman, and are unlikely to trade outfielder Norichika Aoki. Beyond the Brewers, the Mets have identified five or six teams that could be fits for Davis. Club officials would not reveal more than that, but a logical list would include Pittsburgh, Colorado and Tampa Bay. Although the team is also listening on Duda, there seems to be momentum toward a Davis trade, and I would be surprised if the 2008 first-round draft pick is a Met when spring training begins. Team officials feel genuine affection for Davis as a person, and insist they are making this decision on baseball criteria alone. They simply believe that two points make it more logical to trade Davis than Duda: He can net a better return, and he might benefit from a new set of circumstances, in a new city. Both points are probably true. People who know Davis well, when speaking candidly, concede that he might be better off starting over elsewhere. I still think he is a better bet for the Mets than Duda. Here�s why: After parts of four seasons in the majors, he still acknowledges dealing with anxiety that undermines him during games, specifically while hitting with runners on base. Duda deserves credit for his openness about this, and it would be cruel to mock or judge him -- in evaluating his baseball potential, though, Duda�s unrelenting nerves must be weighed. I made this point to Mets people, genuinely interested in hearing the counter-argument, and being convinced otherwise. They said that Duda has never been given the time and space to become comfortable, shuffling between Triple-A and the minor leagues, outfield and first base. �I could give you a long list of guys who took four or five years to realize their potential,� one Mets official said, noting that Duda might have been asked unfairly to be a middle-of-the-order bat before he was ready. So the arguments for Duda are that he has plate discipline to please Sandy Alderson, power potential, and has never been given a chance to settle in and become comfortable. There is logic there. But there is also the success that Davis has already enjoyed for the Mets, and the ceiling and talent that made him a top prospect and big-league power threat. This is not an enviable choice, but to me, it�s a clear one. The Mets beg to differ.

I liked it a lot too. Nice to see a movie with great special effects that also has suspense and characterization.

I enjoyed it, and was satisfied that they did a pretty good job. The attack on Asgard was a long stretch of special effects that made me feel like I was watching a video game. (That's not a good thing.) But other than that, it was fun. And I agree, better than the first Thor movie.

2012 with Miami: 160 games. 2013 with Toronto: 93 games. Total so far: 253 games. If Jose plays all 162 games for each of the remaining four years of his contract (and this poll) he'll end up with 901.

Of course, Jay Horwitz looks good in anything.

I saw the Mets play a couple of games in Atlanta in 1992, but that was in the old Fulton County Stadium days. I never got to Turner Field, although I suppose I had the opportunity. I was in Atlanta on business in October 1998 and there were still day-of-game tickets available for the NLCS. I considered heading down there and seeing the game, but ended up opting not to.

Yeah, I guess I overlooked that.

Carlos Delgado was 34 in his first year as a Met, and he worked out very well.

I know it's not gonna happen, but I'd like to see an American League team move into Turner Field.

Looking at Google Maps (and assuming I picked the correct intersection) it looks like the new ballpark will be about 13 miles north of where Turner Field is. 20-plus years is not a very long life for a baseball stadium. I wonder if they'll demolish it, or find some other use.

USA Today wrote: Atlanta Braves announce plans to move to new stadium ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves announced Monday morning they plan to move to Cobb County in 2017. According to a published report, the team is set to leave Turner Field after their 20-year agreement expires at the end of the 2016 season. Originally the Centennial Olympics Stadium, the venue was built for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies. After the Olympics, the stadium was reconstructed into baseball-specific Turner Field and the Braves began playing there in 1997. The team says they plan to build a new stadium on the northwest corner of the Interstate 75-285 interchange in Cobb County. "We are excited to announce plans to build a world-class stadium, which will open in 2017 at the NW intersection of I-75/I-285," the team said in tweets. "We have secured a large tract of property at this location & will work to build a world-class ballpark for our fans."

My hunch, despite the recent rumored overture to Furcal, would be Peralta or Drew.

In the Daily News, Andy Martino suggests that the Mets have been talking about Granderson: It is too far early to predict with confidence where Curtis Granderson will play next year, but when it comes to New York, this much is fair to say: He is more likely to be a Met than a Yankee in 2014. The free agent outfielder is set to cut all ties with his most recent team by Monday, the deadline to accept or decline qualifying offers. Granderson is likely, though not yet certain, to forego the chance to return to the Yanks on a one-year, $14.1 million deal. Multiple major league executives predict that Granderson will receive a multi-year contract on the open market. Two people familiar with the Mets� thinking said that the team has expressed preliminary interest in Granderson, but that their level of seriousness will depend on how the market develops. A quick primer on �preliminary interest� in early November: Teams cast a wide net at this stage of the offseason, discuss many players internally, and reach out to scores of agents. The names tossed around are not names that will necessarily end up playing for those teams next season. But the rhetoric about Granderson around the Mets is different from, say, the tone regarding Robinson Cano and Jacoby Ellsbury. The latter players are easy �no thank yous,� seen by the Mets as players seeking irrational contracts. Granderson, by contrast, is on their early list of outfielders to consider. Compare the soon-to-be 33-year-old to another possibility for Queens, Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier. Both are much stronger against righthanded pitching. Both are versatile defensively, able to play centerfield or a corner position. Ethier would cost the Mets in both salary and prospects, while Granderson will cost the team in salary, and the second-round pick they would lose by signing a player who declined the qualifying offer. Granderson also hit more than 40 home runs per season in 2011 and 2012, before a pair of freak hit-by-pitches left him able to play in just 61 games in his walk year. As a lefty batter, he certainly benefitted from Yankee Stadium, but not as much as some perceive; as Fox Sports� Ken Rosenthal noted this week, Granderson hit 47 home runs at home during those recent healthy seasons, and 37 on the road, a fairly equitable split. The Mets will have competition for Granderson. He has already been connected to the White Sox and Cubs, and in a market that offers little power, the veteran will be in demand. The complaints about Granderson are obvious -- his batting average and on-base-percentage could be higher, his strikeouts could be lower, his defense isn�t what it once was. But he hits homers, and there aren�t as many of those going around nowadays. I'd hate to sign a soon-to-be-33 player coming off an injured season for more than three years, but I suspect that he'll be able to get four years or even five from somebody. I don't expect that Granderson will be a Met, but I guess it is a possibility.

That didn't work out all that well for Matt Harvey.

Hopefully this will happen well before 2097.

Ceetar wrote: Brewers didn't make him the qualifying offer, suggesting they at least don't think he'll get something big. It really only means that they don't want to pay him $14 million next year.

Mike Puma, New York Post wrote: Mets interested in slugger Corey Hart The Mets� intention to �Never Surrender� in their quest for increased home-run production next season has them considering Corey Hart. About a dozen teams have interest in the former All-Star, according to industry sources, and the Mets are among them as they attempt to find legitimate protection for David Wright in the middle of their lineup. But the big question might be whether the Mets view the 31-year-old Hart as a first baseman or outfielder at this point in his career. Hart missed all of last season with the Brewers after undergoing surgery on both knees and there are questions whether he has enough mobility to handle a corner outfield position, even on a part-time basis. Hart batted .270 with 30 homers and 83 RBIs for the Brewers in 2012, splitting the season between first base and the outfield. But he had surgery on his right knee in January, and before returning underwent surgery last summer on the other knee, costing him the entire season. His best year in the major leagues came in 2010, when he batted .283 with 31 homers and 102 RBIs for the Brewers with a .865 OPS. Hart�s price tag likely would be considerably less than the $10 million he earned last year and likely wouldn�t preclude the Mets from pursuing bigger-ticket items such as Jhonny Peralta and Curtis Granderson. But with a glut of first baseman, the Mets could look to trade Ike Davis and Lucas Duda, giving Hart the job outright. According to a club source, the Mets almost certainly will tender a contract to the arbitration-eligible Davis, with the idea he can be used as trade bait if necessary, despite his disastrous 2013 season, a year after he rebounded from an awful first half. But there is still some thought throughout the industry Hart can play the outfield, leaving first base to either Davis or Duda in a potential platoon with Josh Satin. As it stands, the Mets have a serious need in the outfield behind Juan Lagares, who is expected to play center field on an everyday basis. Eric Young Jr. would ideally be part of a platoon in left field for the Mets and right field remains wide open. The internal candidates for outfield jobs include Matt den Dekker, Andrew Brown and Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Another reclamation project, Rafael Furcal, is of interest to the Mets as they seek an upgrade at shortstop. Bronson Arroyo and Phil Hughes are among the starting pitchers the Mets could pursue seriously as they search for a veteran arm in the middle of their rotation. I think I'd rather see him as a first-baseman, rather than an outfielder although I suppose that if he's playing next to Lagares he won't have to cover as much ground.

He probably led the team in 2013 in trips between the Mets and the 51s.

I certainly wouldn't ditch Tejada in favor of Furcal. But it's not a bad idea to add him to the mix so that we at least have an experienced alternative in the event that Tejada sucks as much in 2014 as he did in 2013. I'd like a much bigger upgrade at shortstop than this would provide, but maybe the Mets will spend whatever money they have elsewhere.

I come from a Brooklyn Dodger family, so that's where my allegiance would have been.

I like that he can scratch his ear with his foot. My dog can do that too!

I think he's the Mets most likely free agent signing.

Me too! I do have to wonder how I might have answered the question 25 years ago. At that point I probably either would have adopted an AL team or become a fan without a team.

Here it is, from January 2009, almost five years ago: Who Would You Root For?

I know that we've had this discussion previously. Maybe I can find it...