bmfc1

Hitting refresh on this thread reminded me of an IGT.

ESPN says that Clemens is on the Mitchell List. First of all--NO KIDDING? DUH! Second--this confirmation makes me very happy, despite the embarrassment the game will face that one the "poster boys" took the stuff.

Letter to the Editor, [u:1e5a7d6bb5]The Washington Post[/u:1e5a7d6bb5], 12-08-07: --------------------------------------------------------------- A Baseball Deal With the Devil? Saturday, December 8, 2007; A16 Three years ago, I gave up a lifetime of hometown baseball loyalty to the New York Mets to pledge my allegiance to the Washington Nationals so that my daughter could grow up with a hometown team to embrace. It was utterly painless, and our family has fallen in love with the team's spirit and the frequent player interactions with fans. We attend games often. In the Dec. 4 Sports section, I read that Nationals President Stan Kasten and General Manager Jim Bowden have added Elijah Dukes to the roster; his many accomplishments, by age 23, apparently include death threats against his ex-wife and her children, three arrests for battery and one for assault, drug use, three restraining orders, "at least" five children by four women, and "several" lawsuits for being a deadbeat dad. And that's off the field. Let's watch what happens when a call doesn't go his way. Are we to accept that in a world knee-deep in talent in every pursuit that this poor excuse for a ballplayer is the best we can do? Mr. Bowden says Elijah Dukes has the potential to produce 25 to 40 homers a year. Somewhere in an attic there is a portrait of Mr. Bowden. I don't know what else to say, except "Let's Go, Mets." AUDREY MULHOLLAND McLean

Neil Best mentions Andy Freed: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2007/12/tampas_andy_freed_in_mix_for_m.html#comments

The Rule 5 Draft will be held at 10 today. Normally, I wouldn't care too much but after last year, when the Nationals took a player from the Mets system, Jesus Flores, who helped beat them in important games, I'm more interested. However, if the Mets system stinks as much as some of the writers say, then we have nothing to worry about. The draft will be shown live via mlb.com.

"Success has many fathers...."

"But somebody for the Nationals...." The story is that "somebody" was Davey Johnson who was under contract to the Nationals as a consultant.

I was stunned to read that Omar thinks that Church will be in the everyday RF. He wasn't good enough to start on the lousy Nationals, so how can he start on a team that wants to win the WS next season? The excellent http://www.mlbfleecefactor.com agrees--Omar got fleeced! "In essence, the Mets traded away a young, cheap and promising major trading chip for a 31-year old, light-hitting catcher (their third catcher technically, meaning Johnny Estrada will be non-tendered next month), and a 29-year old OF with minimal upside. Now I know Milledge has had his run-ins with management, but the New York Mets could have done better then Church/Schneider, right? On SNY this evening, Ken Rosenthal appeared as a guest. He said rival baseball executives were shocked at this deal, primarily because the Mets dealt Milledge away without getting ANY pitching in return. You would think they would have pushed harder for Jon Rauch, Chad Cordero, or even Luis Ayala to help their bullpen. Omar baffles us all yet again. Schneider is a fine defensive catcher, and Church is a useful player as well, but is he an everyday rightfielder on a competing team? I don�t think so. And it seems that espn.com writer Keith Law agrees that the Nationals won out on this deal (Insider article). It was a pretty cold in NY today� maybe Omar felt like purchasing himself a warm FLEECE?! Between the Torrealba situation, purchasing Brian Stokes from Tampa Bay, letting Lo Duca walk without even trying to re-sign him (a fan favorite in NY), giving Luis Castillo a multi-year deal, and now trading Milledge for two �decent� players (neither pitchers), Omar Minaya is in the midst of a horrific off-season. This, of course, coming after a horrific collapse. The Mets do not have the chips to deal for a Johan Santana, Danny Haren, Jake Peavy, Erik Bedard, or even a Joe Blanton for that matter (it would appear). If Minaya decides to sign Livan Hernandez at next week�s winter meetings, he deserves a stern talking to from Mets� management at the very least. Bad job, Omar. WAKE UP!"

I checked three Nationals message boards (Capitol Punishment, Ballpark Guys, [u:c9adb7863d]Washington Post[/u:c9adb7863d])... most dopey Nationals fans (redundant) are ecstatic. E.g., "Nice salary dump by the Nats with Schneider due to pull in $5 mil and Church expected to pull in over a mil when he goes to arbitration this winter for a young stud making around the league minimum." A few say they will miss Schneider. E.g, "I understand the trade and don't really doubt it was probably a good one. But man, I'm crushed. Of all the players, Schneider deserves most to experience the new park and to experience a winning Nationals team. I love that guy. He's so smart, so classy. I so wanted him to be the one guy from the Expos who made it all the way through. Sob....hold me." Press conference at 3. Omar on FAN at 4.

As a Mets fan in DC, I've come to like Brian Schneider. You'll like the way he gives signals to the infield. Church--feh. I'm not a fan. I think it was Frank Robinson that sent him to AAA two seasons ago when he slept through spring training.

For background on Ryan Church, Vlad and Edgy know this, Church is either a dumb guy, a country bumpkin', or an anti-Semite. I prefer to think he's just ignorant: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR2005092002093.html

="metirish"]I like it, pretty simple. Like Phillies fans! Oh snap!

This guy? http://www.will-harris.com/stokes.html

Adam Rubin, in today's New York [u:18ef91603b]Daily News[/u:18ef91603b], has the following: Possible replacements include Devil Rays broadcaster Andy Freed, Braves/ESPN announcer Jon Sciambi, the Phillies' Scott Graham and Triple-A Pawtucket broadcaster Dan Hoard. Sciambi's good but I'm not familiar with the others. Anybody? Here's an article on Hoard: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/03/31/pawtucket_proving_to_be_pipeline_for_broadcasters/

On behalf of Edgy and Vladius--the Mets make 3 trips to DC and all are during the week? WTF?

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/schedule/tentative.jsp?c_id=nym&year=2008

Hey Tom, you don't leave NY for Philadelphia... if you are lucky enough to get a job in NY, you stay as long as you can instead of going to a second-tier city. I don't think G-FAFIF is upset. I just hope that Ed Coleman doesn't get the job. He's OK as a fill-in but not good enough for full-time work in NY. In Philly, yes but not NY.

HahnSolo wrote: Lots of guys who voted him 5th place and below. Surprising. Plus, four clowns didn't even have Wright on their ballot!

I don't know how to insert a chart the fancy way that some of you do. I pulled the numbers for the last 3 seasons. I was surprised that Livan is 32 years old (really?). Glavine has indeed been better than Livan over the past 3 seasons. Maybe there are better alternatives out there than Livan. All I know is that a) he wants to play at Shea he's a FA so no trade has to be made and c) he doesn't have a home in Atlanta. Year Ag Tm W L G GS CG SHO GF IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP Livan 2005 30 WSN 15 10 35 35 2 0 0 246.3 268 116 109 25 84 147 13 3 1065 14 2 3.98 4.06 102 1.429 2006 31 TOT 13 13 34 34 0 0 0 216.0 246 125 116 29 78 128 4 1 959 6 0 4.83 4.41 91 1.500 2007 32 ARI 11 11 33 33 1 0 0 204.3 247 116 112 34 79 90 6 3 913 1 2 4.93 4.70 95 1.595 Glavine 2005 39 NYM 13 13 33 33 2 1 0 211.3 227 88 83 12 61 105 3 1 901 5 0 3.53 4.10 116 1.363 2006 40 NYM 15 7 32 32 0 0 0 198.0 202 94 84 22 62 131 6 1 842 7 0 3.82 4.36 114 1.333 2007 41 NYM 13 8 34 34 1 1 0 200.3 219 102 99 23 64 89 4 2 855 2 0 4.45 4.26 96 1.413

OM can sign Livan Hernandez who pitches 200 innings without a problem. Unlike Glavine, Livan will be happy to be a Met because his half-brother is on the team. Unlike Glavine, Livan's heart will reside, at least for '08, in Flushing, not in Atlanta. I also have confidence that Livan will do better than to give up 7 runs in one-third of an inning in an important game.

Maybe the Mets were leaked the word that Torrealba is on the Mitchell List. That's just a maybe, just speculation, don't sue me Torrealba legal team.

That was funny... it's probably just a coincidence. Don't call Long Island Jewish Hospital for an opinion.

Since the Forum sorta bears his name, we should wish Ed Kranepool a happy birthday!

This is allegedly the package that OM turned down at the trade deadline. If he did it then, it might have saved the season. If he didn't do it then, he had a good reason (giving up too much) so why should he do it now?

Congratulations to Elster88 on winning the CPF Pick-'Em Contest! 1 ELSTER88 65 2 METS MARATHON 55 3 IUBITUL 40 JOHNNY DICKSHOT 40 5 BMFC1 35 KID CARSEY 35 7 TRANSMONK 30 YANCY STREET GANG 30 9 G-FAFIF 20 VLADIUS 20 11 A BOY NAMED SEO 15 GWRECK 15 HAHNSOLO 15 NYMR83 15 15 METIRISH 0