MFS62

Maybe he's just holding out until he finds out if Suzyn Waldmann will be re-joining John Sterling when the broadcasts move to WFAN. Later

Where do I nominate Lynn Henning for the writers' wing of the HOF for coming right out and saying that he feels that a (mostly) DH does not belong in the HOF? I wonder if Frank Thomas is on his ballot? Later

Edgy MD wrote: Turned down seven years and $140 million from the Yankees .. What's the Korean translation for "schmuck"? I don't think he's going to get close to that from another team. Just my opinion, and, I may be wrong. LAter

Welcome a-Bordick, rookie. Now, get up on that virtual table in the middle of this virtual room and sing us your school's fight song. And you can tell us about yourself when you're carrying our bags for the next road trip. Later

If they re-signed Hefner to a minor league contract, who pays his medical bills if he's no longer covered by the MLP Health plan? Is there a minor league player medical plan? Will the team do it in good faith because they expect him to be a productive pitcher for them again? Later

Speaking of that egotistical prick: http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201312/derek-jeter-has-no-phone-policy-his-house Later

So, who was Fred "Punch in the Nuts" Cabbage? Later

February 15, 2014. What about the Mets are you most anxious to see, and follow, in Spring Training? Later

Is one of those things supposed to be Gaylord Perry? If not, that's my guess. Later

OK. Thanks. Later

A Boy Named Seo wrote: C'mon, man. Lighten up a little. That will be next Monday, when I go to the Doctor. He'll be making me lighter when he withdraws three vials of blood to test my blood sugar, like he has been doing every three months for over 20 years. And I laugh every time I have to check the label on something I buy to see how much sugar it contains. Yeah. Funny. Later

A Boy Named Seo wrote: At his most recent random drug testing, Bartolo Colon tested positive for diabetes. What was the reaction when you told that as a joke to a Diabetic? Later

Looks like a good week for fat pitchers. Heard the Tigers are close to signing Joba Chamberlain. It would be interesting to know if there would be a "Don't do anything (I debated if there should be a comma there) stupid" clause in his contract. OE, Olney reporting it is for $2.5 Million base plus "incentives". Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: That 170 for Lolich is legendarily nutty. Both the UMDB and Baseball-Reference have Lolich at 170 pounds. That was either his weight on the day he was originally signed, or he just had one foot on the scale. Later

All I meant that it was a net financial gain. But, as Edgy commented, that doesn't mean it has to be spent on player salaries. I could also go for other things, such as debt relief. Later

Hopefully, we will be spared the local paper headlines that would have read "Mets Bag Rosin". Later

Edgy MD wrote: C'mon, KEMP! I'll take Puig. OE: I just checked out their minor league teams, and they don't seem to have any shortstops the Mets might want. Later

Frayed Knot wrote: MFS62 wrote: If they trade one of their arbitration eligible players for someone cheaper, the cash difference goes into that pot. Again, this presumes that the payroll figure is a set, specific amount, No, it doesn't presume anything. If you trade away a $5 million/yr player and get a $2 million/yr player, you now have more money to spend. It is mathematically true whether there is a limit or not. Later

Yep, they drafted a pitcher named Rosin (how appropriate) from the Phillies. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=rosin-001set And they did not lose any of their players. Later

If they trade one of their arbitration eligible players for someone cheaper, the cash difference goes into that pot. Later

His clothing has two logos, Goodyear and Met Life. Later

Zvon wrote: We needed a guy who could eat innings. Well, the Mets certainly got one. He looks like he eats a lots more stuff than innings. But I don't care, as long as he continues to get batters out. 40 years old? He was my boyhood idol. Me gusta. Later

What a turd. I'm surprised he didn't say that the Wilpons are waiting to see how much money they make or spend in the Rule V draft (at $50 K a pop) before they know if they have any more money to spend on free agents. Or will that be his next article? And then there's Klapisch: Klapisch: LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. � This is supposed to be the year Mets fans are finally liberated from the dark age, but good luck to anyone out there who actually believes it. There�s no realistic reason to think the Mets will be better in 2014, or that the much-expected cash windfall from the expiring commitments to Johan Santana and Jason Bay will ever make it to the open market. In fact, as Curtis Granderson spoke about new beginnings during his news conference on Tuesday, the ceremony represented the end of the line for the Mets. With $15 million a year devoted to Granderson through 2017, GM Sandy Alderson hinted that the upgrade in center field was the winter�s last major move. That means you can forget about a much-needed shortstop like Stephen Drew; the money just isn�t there. Instead, Ruben Tejada, the very player the Mets have been trashing recently, is being recycled as an everyday asset. Of course, Jeff Wilpon won�t admit he can�t afford Drew, insisting shifting responsibility onto his general manager. �It�s a baseball decision because Sandy hasn�t come to say �Gee, we have to sign Stephen Drew� or anybody else for that matter,� Wilpon said after Granderson�s introduction at the Winter Meetings. �They�re looking at things on the whole. It�s not financial at this point.� Wilpon may or may not realize how such statements dishearten � or, more accurately infuriate � the very fan base he�s trying to recapture. Nearly half of the fans who paid to watch the Mets five years ago are gone, as attendance has slipped from a record 4.04 million in 2008 to the 2.06 million suckers who showed up in 2013, believing a rebirth was right around the corner. Instead, loyalists have been fed a steady diet of broken promises, starting with the day the Madoff scandal exploded and the Wilpons insisted the day-to-day operation of the ballclub would be unaffected. At every turn, there was a steady drizzle of false hope; in September, Alderson told reporters a $100 million deal for a free agent �was not out of question.� But the $60 million to Granderson, coupled with the $7.2 million to Chris Young, leaves approximately $11 million for the rest of winter. Anything more crashes into the hard-ceiling $85 million payroll for 2014. It�s inconceivable that a major-market team, with a beautiful, relatively new stadium and its own regional network estimated to be worth $2 billion could only pay its players $85 million. It�s not just inconceivable, it�s unacceptable. Once again, Alderson is being forced to build the Mets on the cheap. Lucky for the Wilpons that Bud Selig has such a soft spot in his heart for the family, and for Fred, in particular. The commissioner isn�t kind to his enemies � see what he did to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and what he�s attempting to do to Alex Rodriguez � but an MLB official recently said Selig believes Fred is �doing great.� Only, how? Admittedly, the off-season is still relatively young, and the Mets could, theoretically, engineer a surprise signing by opening day. But the more likely scenario is a handful of low-budget acquisitions like Freddy Garcia or Chris Perez, which means the Mets will struggle to match last year�s 74 wins. Yes, Granderson is a nice addition, even if, given a full season to do it, he�s good for nearly 200 strikeouts with his 35-40 HRs. But Granderson, with a career .828 OPS, is unlikely to exceed Marlon Byrd�s .847 in 2013. One more thing to remember: the Mets won�t have Matt Harvey, which means they have to find his nine wins � and the unquantifiable dominance � somewhere else. So swapping out Byrd for Granderson, subtracting Harvey and adding Young, who batted .200 last season, and you have the nucleus for another dismal summer. The difference, again, was supposed to be the money � until it was no longer there. Or perhaps never was. The first whiff of trouble came in mid-November when Alderson said he was shocked � shocked � that the market was exploding. The Mets believed they had a shot at Jhonny Peralta, but that was before it was obvious the shortstop was out of their price range. Peralta signed a four-year, $53 million deal with the Cardinals and the Mets acted as if that was lunacy. Alderson, one of the industry�s most respected executives, is too intelligent and certainly too shrewd to be caught off guard by the rising cost of signing a free agent. Then again, maybe Alderson realized all along he could never snare a hot commodity like Peralta, not when his bosses are still trying to recover from the Madoff fiasco. Just what do the Wilpons� finances look like today? They lost a whopping $70 million in 2011, although, by cutting overhead, limited their losses to $20 million in the last two seasons. Still, more than $600 million is still owed on a loan against SNY, due in 2015, and another $250 million loan taken against the team, due in 2014. The family�s best hope is to re-finance the loans, based on the re-valuation of the franchise. The fact that the Dodgers were sold for $2 billion in 2012 inflated the Mets� worth to $812 million, according to Forbes � an overnight boost of $100 million. Yet, the Mets� cost-cutting can last only so long. The banks will inevitably want to be repaid, and the Wilpons can�t keep borrowing against SNY forever. Sooner or later, they�re going to have to raise cash the old fashioned way � by drawing fans who�ll pay to see a winning team. And who knows when that will happen? Later

There was a picture of a meeting of the "Core Four" in today's Daily Snooze. After a moment of projectile vomiting, I tore it out of the paper and threw it away because I didn't want it in my house. I got better on my own, I didn't want Jeter to try to save me. Later

On WCBS radio, I heard "Mets (static) Bartolo Colon (static)" Did they sign him? Later