MFS62

But maybe not quite yet. Adam Rubin/ESPN Yesterday Fred Wilpon said of the financial troubles that have plagued the Mets over the past few seasons: "It's all in the rearview mirror." He added that the family's improved financial complexion also is the result of the rebound of real estate, his primary business, as well as stock-market gains and the thriving of SportsNet New York, the television network in which the family owns a majority stake. "It's all in the rearview mirror," Wilpon said about past financial woes Wednesday after arriving at the team's spring training complex. "... The family is in great shape. The family really is in great shape. Sometimes luck is the residue of design." Wilpon originally faced a $1 billion lawsuit regarding the Madoff scheme, but the settlement will result in the family ultimately having to pay no more than $60 million. Wilpon said the payroll, slashed in recent seasons under Alderson, could return to past levels if the team is prudent. The payroll went from a high of $148 million late in Omar Minaya's tenure as general manager to roughly $95 million last year. Wilpon pointed to bank debt as a primary reason for an un-New York-like payroll in recent years. The Mets have produced four straight losing seasons and have not reached the postseason since 2006. "It wasn't, as people have written, the reason," Wilpon said about the Madoff issue and payroll slashing. "It was a balance there, because we had to make sure the banks got paid off all of the debt. There's no one in my family -- there's the Katz family, the Wilpon family, kids -- [that now] has any personal bank debt. Zero. Everything has been paid. We don't owe a dollar to anybody. We have mortgages on buildings and stuff like that, but we don't owe a dollar. On other topics: � Wilpon said his expectations for the 2013 Mets do not match outside pessimism. "This team looks like basically a young team with some veterans, and hungry," Wilpon said. "I think Sandy and the staff did a terrific job of getting some real good prospects for the bullpen. ... I'm hopeful and optimistic. The hunger is throughout. And I think we have really good arms. You look at our pitching staff and, on paper, you've got to say they really have a good chance of producing W's. Any of the teams that have surprised people, whether it's Oakland last year -- just go through the last 10 years -- it's pitching that brings it up to that level. So I'm very encouraged about that." � The Mets do not plan to discuss extending manager Terry Collins' contract until the end of the season, when it is due to expire. "He's done an excellent job in all respects," Wilpon said. "He handles the public relations side very well. He's honest. You guys believe him. ... I think he knows talent. We will evaluate Terry at the end of the year, not only from where the club lands, but what his overall job was." � David Wright could be a Met for life. Wright signed an eight-year, $138 million extension in December. "David is a unique player. He's an All-Star," Wilpon said. "I think David is an All-Star in all things. He's a great person. To me, he's our [Derek] Jeter. And I think you need a core. I don't want to put it all on his shoulders. But he gets it. As far as I was concerned, he was not going anywhere." Later

A Baseball City to Be Divided on Opening Day By DAVID WALDSTEIN Published: February 10, 2013 Over in Queens, the Mets will host the San Diego Padres in what some will liken to a junior varsity event. Oh, fuck off already. His dad was a big Mets fan. I worked with him. He was an editor for a Tax publication service. I never suspected that little David would grow up to write stuff like that. Later

Clint Hartung, the "Hondo Hurricaine". He came up in 1947 ans was listed as a pitcher. He had twice as many games as a pitcher than he had as an outfielder in '47 and '48. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Hartung Later

Ashie62 wrote: Is cocaine a PED? I've tried to convince someone that in the case of Linebacker Lawrence Taylor, it could have been considered a PED. The position he played calls for (among other things) agression and playing through/ignoring pain. Cocaine enhances to those things. Why not? We now return you to the Kevin Young thread. LAter

Dykstra? Later

Swan Swan H wrote: Cervelli? First, hahahahahahahaha you fucking prick. Second, he sucked on PEDs. Without them he must have been Arnold Horshack. Kids will look at his numbers and re-think whether or not they want to take PEDs. Later

Signing Bourn without the assurance they will not lose their first round pick reminds me of those police dramas in which the cops tell a perp that if he testifies against his cohorts, he MIGHT get a reduced sentence. Then when he tells all, they tell him it wasn't possible. Later

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An experienced major league outfielder. A good pickup. Let's see what he has left in the tank. Later

He plays hard, but has to look suave doing it. When they used to compare DiMaggio with Mays, the term used at the time was "DiMaggio makes the hard pplays look easy. Mays makes the easy plays look hard". If they said that DiMaggio was suave, and it would have been a compliment. Later

Edgy MD wrote: He played in 130 of 142 games for Binghamton, so he couldn't have been hurt too bad. He got injured just after mid season. He was on the DL for a while then played through injury when he came back. In the final weeks, his average dropped about 20 points from where he was before the injury. (around .300) He had hit very well when he was promoted to AA the prior year, so I was following his progress pretty closely this year. I also noticed that when he hit 1 or 2 in the lineup (so he must have speed) he didn't do as well as when they batted him further down in the lineup. I think he's an option for an OF spot. Later

Just got the new Baseball Almanac. I noticed that Juan Lagares had 17 OF assists last year and has played all three OF positions in the minors. He was hurt at AA part of last year. I think a jump to AAA, playing in the hitter friendly PCL, he could get off to a fast start and might be up as at least a platoon player by mid year. Later

He was too young for the Yankees. Later

metirish wrote: Never ends with Francesa Mike Francesa Has A Police Escort To New Orleans For The Super Bowl The appropriate escort for him would have been to strap him to the back of a flatbed and had those "Wide load" warning cars in front of and behind it. Later

Relief PitchersSigned To Minor League Contract And Invited To Spring Training =#FF8000]58 =#0000FF]Scott Atchison DoB: 3/29/1976 I think this guy once played for both Topeka and Santa Fe. Rim shot. Later

The answer is in the "Signings" thread. I was typing it while you were posting this. Later

Scott Atchison to the Mets. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/3929/scott-atchison He elected not to have surgery. But if his arm has healed, he could be an excellect addition to the bullpen. Later

I hope he's smart enough to wear his seat belt. Later

Publishing patient information without the consent of the patient violates Federal law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act Later

Frayed Knot wrote: In addition to the injury/derailed career thing, what I'll remember about Johnson is how completely opposite he was in virtually every respect from his uncle Larry Bowa. Big vs small; lefty vs righty; slow vs quick; calm vs fuckin' maniac; patience vs kinetic energy; corner guy vs short-stop; power vs singles, and that's all before you get to the whole value being tied up in his bat against the supposedly gritty/non-boxscore value of uncle Larry. You forgot one - fielding. Larry had a decent glove at short. One year, Johnson made more errors per game than any first baseman in organized baseball not named Mo Vaughn. Later

Frayed Knot wrote: The idea would be that a contract with an opt-out would be an enticement for the Bourn/Boras camp to accept a shorter term deal than what they want. The Mets aren't agreeing to a five-year contract no matter what clauses you throw in there, but a three-year under the right terms could be acceptable and if it takes an opt-out clause to get them there well then maybe they agree. If he sucks well then three years is easier to swallow than five and they'd still have a quick and defensively superior CF. If he's good then the worst that happens is that it was like he signed a one-year deal to fill the team's biggest hole and maybe they even get a future draft pick out of the whole thing. Makes sense when you explain it. I got nervous when I read the words "Boras favorite". Later

Frayed Knot wrote: Sherman brings up the Boras favorite of the 'opt-out' deal where Bourn could sign for three with an escape clause after one, so if he plays poorly he has the comfort of a guaranteed deal, or he gets to bail and do this FA thing all over again next year if he has a good 2013. I could see the Mets agreeing to that if the dollar numbers aren't crazy. Why would they agree to that kind of deal? If he plays badly they're stuck with him? Weren't the long term contracts for unproductive players part of what got them into the current situation? Later

FA Juan Rivera might be a decent right field platoon/option. He's 34, a righty hitter with some pop, and IIRC a decent RF arm. Later

bmfc1 wrote: Pathetic. I didn't even know he was with The Post until he pulled off that hatchet job on RA. If he's considered to be the best, that doesn't say much for the rest of them. It says a LOT about the rest of them. Later

Pedro Martinez lands a front office job, but he might not be spending all his time in the front office: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/martinez-returns-red-sox-assistant-173954772--mlb.html Sounds like what AL Jackson did for the Mets, but I don't think he ever got a title like that. Later