Gwreck

metirish wrote: I bet he's looking forward to his visit to NY with the Jays.... Not happening this year.

June 20, 2006: Cincinatti at New York: METS 8TH: COFFEY REPLACED MERCKER (PITCHING); Valentin tripled to center [Valentin out at home (center to catcher)]; Nady homered; Milledge struck out (catcher to first); CHAVEZ BATTED FOR HEILMAN; Chavez grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Reds 2, Mets 9. I thought there was a second one, but Retrosheet doesn't support that. I have this recollection of Manny Acta twice waving guys around only to get thrown out on would-be inside-the-park HRs. Maybe it was someone else?

Anyone see the "UltimetMoments" thing SNY has been running? Chris Cotter hosted, and they did an hour-long season in review highlight show...which completely omitted the playoffs. Then, they did a half-hour "UltimetMoments - Long Balls" of homerun highlights. Of course, in their comprehensive review of homers, they neglected to acknolwedge Matsui's three-seasons-in-a-row of leading off his season with a homer. I know he's gone and all, but it woulda been approrpriate to show it. Besides, it was one of the two inside-the-parkers we had this year. (Personally, I was hoping they would show the two triples that Jose Valentin got thrown out at home trying to stretch into homers...but no dice).

Edgy DC wrote: Interestingly, they probably almost never appeared in a game at the same time. Last day of the regular season, 2006, they did. (Anderson and Roberto). I don't remember about 2005 -- when they didn't have the A. or R. on the uniforms, either, I think.

Looking at that chart, one could theoretically argue that Willie might be a little overpaid. Almost every salary over one million on that chart has either 10+ years experience and/or a World Series Championship. The only exceptions are Gardenhire (playoffs 4 of 5 years), Wedge and Tracy.

Delgado: 'My child comes first' Associated Press Link - ESPN SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- New York Mets star Carlos Delgado could miss a few games at the start of the regular season for the birth of his child. The first baseman said his wife was due to give birth to the couple's first child within a few days of the Mets' April 1 opener at St. Louis. "My child comes first," he told the newspaper El Nuevo Dia. Delgado did not say whether his wife, Betzaida Garcia, planned to give birth in New York or his native Puerto Rico. The Mets said Tuesday they were aware of the pregnancy. Delgado, who had surgery on his left arm in October, hit .265 with 38 homers and 114 RBIs in his first season with the Mets. He then batted .351 with four homers and 11 RBIs in the postseason.

Seems to me he was one of 5 (?) along with Pedro, Duaner, LoDuca and Heilman.

My recollection is that it's usually the 3rd (?) Sunday in February.

She could be in here:

I think you misunderstood my post. They've never guaranteed postseason purchase options with the 7 or 8 packs. They wound up offering it last year as a reward.

For what it's worth, buyers of the seven-game packages (it was 8 last year) *did* get a postseason purchase option. I believe it was up to 4 tickets for one game of the NLDS or one game of the NLCS. Of course, it was something that the Mets did as a reward to the 8-pack holders -- it's never been guaranteed with those 7 or 8 ticket packages they offer each year.

WFAN's Kevin Burkhardt will replace Chris Cotter for 2007. from Hotfoot.metsblog.com: WFAN's Kevin Burkhardt to Replace Chris Cotter by James on Tue 09 Jan 2007 08:26 PM EST Earlier today on the Mike & the Mad Dog Show, WFAN reported that Chris Cotter who was the Mets pre-game and post-game reporter for the Mets during the 2006 season, has been replaced by Kevin Burkhardt who frequently does the 20/20 updates on WFAN. There is no word on whether or not Cotter will re-sign with SNY with a different role for 2007 or if he was fired.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2726797 New Blue Jay Thomson rips Lo Duca's catching Associated Press TORONTO -- John Thomson was surprisingly candid Wednesday about one of the reasons he chose the Toronto Blue Jays over the Mets: He didn't want to pitch to New York catcher Paul Lo Duca. Thomson agreed to a $500,000, one-year contract with the Blue Jays on Tuesday and will get a chance to win a spot in their rotation during spring training. The right-hander said the Mets also offered a major league deal, but he wasn't interested. "As far as just looking at Paul Lo Duca across the field, I'm not really into how he acts behind the plate," Thomson said on a conference call. "I know a bit about [Toronto catcher] Gregg Zaun and I know he wants to win and he's not going to let anything get in his way to do that, and I like that. "And then with Vernon Wells in center field, I'm not really concerned about the outfield with him out there. ... Just watching the Mets' outfield, if Cliff Floyd is still there it's not a real good fit for him out there. He can hit the ball, but as far as defense, he's a little shaky. "I just liked what's happening in Toronto." Floyd is a free agent and almost certainly won't be back with the Mets next season. Thomson pitched for the Mets in 2002, going 2-6 with a 4.31 ERA in nine starts. Lo Duca and Floyd weren't with New York at the time. Thomson said the Mets initially offered a minor league deal before offering him a major league contract. He said Toronto offered more money in performance bonuses, but that wasn't a factor. Thomson will get $1.5 million if he makes the Opening Day roster. General manager J.P. Ricciardi said Thomson can earn as much as $4 million based on how many starts he makes. Thomson went 2-7 with a 4.82 ERA in 18 games, including 15 starts, for the Atlanta Braves last season. The 33-year-old Thomson pitched only 80 1/3 innings in 2006 because of mild fraying in his right shoulder and blister problems on his throwing hand. "Everybody else I was talking to was offering minor league deals," said Thomson, whose last two seasons have been marred by injury. "A bunch of the teams were kind of leery about signing me because of my shoulder problem that I had last year at the end of the season. As of right now it's fine. It was fine at the end of last year. There's nothing structurally wrong. I didn't have to have surgery on it." He asked Braves manager Bobby Cox to pitch in late September so he could he prove his health. "It was very important," Thomson said. "I sat down and said, 'Bobby, look, I'd like to get into a game toward the end of the season."' Thomson pitched a scoreless inning against the Mets on Sept. 27 with Atlanta leading 13-1 in the ninth -- his first appearance since July 9. "I threw nine pitches. I threw eight strikes and I got three outs so I was pretty happy," Thomson said. He said he's been told his spot in the rotation is his to lose in spring training. He'll compete with Josh Towers, Casey Janssen and Shaun Marcum for the two open slots behind ace Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett and Gustavo Chacin. Thomson went 14-8 with a 3.72 ERA with Atlanta in 2004. He is 62-84 with a 4.69 ERA in 214 career games (210 starts) spanning nine major league seasons. He also has pitched for Colorado and Texas. Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Willets Point wrote: Tom Glavine, because no matter how bad he is he'll never lose his spot in the rotation. Anthony Young better watch out. Given that as a Met he's never been bad enough to warrant losing the spot...how do you justify this allegation?

Mets Sign DiFelice to Minor League Deal One would think the Mets would've figured out after the first two tries that he just-can't-hit.

Vic Sage wrote: yes, history is always irrelevant, until it repeats itself. Perhaps I should have been more clear. I think drawing comparisons to repeating/not repeating as division champions based on past trends isn't meaningful. Since the 3-division era of play began, there have been 72 division champions (6 divisions, 12 years). We can ignore the most recent 6 since we don't know if they'll repeat yet. That leaves 66. Of those 66 division champion teams, exactly 33 repeated as champions the next season. Exactly 33 did not.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: He also thinks the Mets are going to run away with the division again, which I consider very unlikely. The 1986 Mets didn't run away two years in a row, and they were a better team. Of course, they also had a strong division rival in the Cardinals; the Mets may or may not have a strong competitor in the East in 2007. I think you mean 87. Regardless, I don't think that's in any way a convincing argument. What happened 20 years ago is irrelevant. ]But last year's early lead helped the Mets get away with a shakey starting rotation that had a lot of turnover. I can't imagine them being that lucky again this year. They may repeat as division champs, but I think it will be much more of a struggle. I don't anticipate any magic number updates in May. I'd tend to agree here, although I think the team could easily hold on to first place wire-to-wire again, although not necessarily with the same lead.

I think it's terribly ironic (wiping the egg of my face here). They might be old but they're not exactly Floyd-injury-prone-esque.

If the Mets want that bona-fide ace ™, Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs is a free agent after 2008. Of course, if Zito is 126/7, you'd think Zambrano would be 150/6 or 7.

It's just a projection. Given that Williams was re-signed and Pelfrey, Soler and Humber all have options, it seems most likely -- as of today -- that Williams will start the year as the number 5 starter.

Nymr83 wrote: Omar did ok backing up the fragile old men. Needless hyperbole - check the numbers. Green has played 149+ games the last 9 seasons. Alou might be a bit more fragile but has produced solidly desipte missing time the past 2 years.

Vic Sage wrote: 1) Problem: We had an old, broken down LFer that needed to be replaced- Omar's solution: hire an older broken down LFer to replace him. This analysis is flawed. Alou might be older but he's in far better shape than Floyd and I'd suggest likely to give the Mets more than Floyd did in '06. Not to mention he signed him for a one-year deal, at a reasonable price. ]4) Our starting pitching does not have single top flight starter in the prime of his career; the rotation is comprised of the old (Glavine, El Duque), the young (Maine, Perez, Pelfrey, Humber), the mediocre (Williams) and the wounded (Pedro). - Omar's solution: do nothing. Stating that Omar "did nothing" is flawed -- what you mean is that he didn't acquire a "top flight starter in the prime of his career. I'm curious, however - which "top flight starter in the prime of his career" should the Mets acquire? I'm sure they could have outbid San Francisco for Zito if they wanted to -- and that would've been terribly unwise. I'll agree that I don't think Omar had a great winter. I don't think our bench and bullpen is better than last year, either. I do think you're not giving Omar a fair shake in this analysis. I think his options were too limited for starting pitching and prime outfielders. I also think that given the Mets offensive stars, having Green and Valentin at 7th and 8th might not be ideal but is hardly disaster-waiting-to-happen.

Alomar definetly compares favorably to Whitaker. He's pretty close to Sandberg, but I'd think I'd take Alomar over Sandberg, slightly. Overall, Alomar has the best HOF credentials of the 3, I think. Can't forget the 2 WS wins, with some good postseason performances, including an ALCS MVP. Defense compares favorably for him over both, as well.

I could stand taking a flier on Joel Piniero. My prediction is that a mid-season deal is more likely. Given that we did just fine this summer with the pieced-together rotation, we might be able to win some games and worry about major acquisitions around July. I hope the bullpen is up to the task.