Frayed Knot

Yogi has become his own cottage industry at this point.

The Sunday NYTimes article that Irish quotes from above mentions several ways that "rigging" of the process could occur. It also says that Selig has the right to review any and all paperwork and could step in and award the rights to the 2nd highest bidder if he thought some sort of fraud was concerned. My earlier answer that this wouldn't happen was that the set-up does not automatically revert the rights to the next highest bidder simply due to Matusaka/Boras not being about to strike a deal with the highest.

btw, Baseball America started its parade of team-by-team 'Top-10' lists today, beginning with the Orioles. Since they usually do these things by league & division, they'll first complete the AL; East, Central, then West, at a rate of about 2 weeks per division. Adding in a bit of time off for the holidays and you can figure them to get to the NL East & the Mets maybe just after New Years

As in when the pronounciation of Akinori Otsuka went from Oat-Soo-Ka when he first came over into Oats-Ka as Americans got corrected and the middle syllable got swallowed in the process. So that mainly leaves us with the final syllable question ('Kay' vs 'Keh') as the initial 'Dais' as 'Dice' is pretty much the same as your 'Guys'. Maybe 'Dize' would have been a better choice for the writer of the Newsday article.

]Have there been reports of actual friction? Between Randolph & Peterson? ... No. Just speculation of differeing philosophies. ]Minaya kept Duquette on. Randolph kept Peterson on. Maybe it was a peaceful turnover Well it's not like Peterson being kept on was Randolph's call. Rick was in the middle of a multi-year deal and 1st-time skippers rarely get to pick their entire staffs much less kick out incumbents who pre-date them. I think the fact that Peterson will be back - presumably a new, maybe multi-year deal - means that the anti-Rick faction in the front office (something that HAS been reported before) has either moved on, been stifled, or simply won over.

Well, he IS a gay icon.

"Didn't get along" was never offered as a reason, more like the two were just closer to opposites - Willie managing "by his gut" teamed with Ricky the number nerd - and not neccesarily in synch all the time. Remember also that Peterson preceded both Willie & Omar here and was considered a Howe/Wilpon hire. The real perceived anti-Pete cabal was among some of those "senior advisors" that Fred & Jeff layered themselves with for a time.

I saw a small item in one of the papers the other day saying that all of the current coaching staff had been asked back for next year and that all had accepted -- although Manny Acta is still on the interview circuit for a few managers jobs. Not real earth-shattering news I realize, but for a while there were more than a few stories concerning Rick Peterson's shakey future here which are now put to rest. I remember Adam Rubin saying that a year or so into his tenure he was sure there'd be no way he'd last. But I guess his detractors in the front office have either been replaced or silenced by the Minaya contingent, and that the occasional stories about him not really being in synch with Willie go by the boards as well.

]...but let's try not to out-pedant me. as if anyone could

Edgy DC wrote: If he fails to reach an agreement after X (30?) days, doesn't the posting team get to offer negotiating rights to the next highest bidder? Nope, it's a one-shot, all-er-nuthin' deal. Matsuaka will play this year for the team that wins his MLB negotiating rights or with the JPL team that currently owns him. ]Would Torontimore just be delaying and (angering) the Yank Sox? Probably. But teams throwing wrenches into the works of opponents is nothing new.

ESPN's Buster Olney put forth another shady arrangement; one where some team like Baltimore or Toronto puts in a sky-high bid and then low-ball the Mataszka/Boras team in negotiations. With no other teams to bargain with, he'd have to return to Japan and try again next year when he'd be a true FA. Meanwhile, the O's & Jays would keep him out of the hands of the Yanx & BoSox for at least one more year. Olney said he did NOT expect this to happen, only that it could. btw, the first name is apparently pronounced along the lines of Dice-Kay Decent article in today's Newsday about DM and the concept of "doryoku".

]England the Premiership attendence is down, only a few teams sell out, rating on SKY TV are down, in Italy attendence has hit an all time low Except that baseball attendance is at an all-time high, both major league and in the minors. WS TV ratings are down for any one of a number of reasons, but uniquely so in baseball because so much of the viewing is focused on the in-season local games. It never has been the nationwide/network kind of ratings-buster that football is, but that's also not the source from where they derive the main part of their income. I just read where MLB revenues are up over 50% from just 4 years ago. So let's hold off on the funeral procession, OK?

At least part of the 'Anti-Soriano' feeling here was in response to the occasionally suggested [u:6a10d8c2e0]Soriano for Reyes[/u:6a10d8c2e0] type swaps. And just to play devil's advocate here' - he's coming off a career year, meaning we'd be paying for that while probably getting somewhat less - already 31, a lengthy contract takes him until age ... ??? - the one place our offense ranked below par this year was in OBP, exactly the kind of guy Sorino is NOT - (reportedly) wants superstar money for a less-than complete player who does not play a middle position - a bit of a non-hustler with occasionaly bouts of on-field brain-farts None of which screams 'DON'T TOUCH HIM', just that there's always a price at which you go to plan B

]and the fact that the Mets signed him for a one-year contract this year means they no longer have an option on his services, unless one was specifically put into this contract. The 6 year rule has nothing to do with his situation. Sure it does. Players get released all the time, sometimes when they're young and in their early years, sometimes before they even reach the majors. But just because he may have been a FA at one point (or more than one) on account of being cut loose by a team doesn't negate the fact that 6 full seasons are needed before he can declare himself a FA. The Mets control his rights for next year unless they choose otherwise. Probably is arbitration eligible. ]you could just put "Later" as the top line of your signature Can't do that. That's where "Earlier" goes.

BTW, Met FA classifications: [u:694c5d99b9]Type A[/u:694c5d99b9] FAs Chad Bradford Cliff Floyd Tom Glavine (option) Roberto Hernandez [u:694c5d99b9]Type B[/u:694c5d99b9] Guillermo Mota Orlando Hernandez Darren Oliver Jose Valentin - [u:694c5d99b9]Type A free agents[/u:694c5d99b9] yield the signing team's first-round pick (provided it's not in the upper half of the first round) plus a supplemental first-rounder. - [u:694c5d99b9]Type B[/u:694c5d99b9] compensation, previously the signing team's first-round pick (with the same upper-first-round protection), is now just a supplemental first-round choice; as per the new CBA. The losing team still needs to offer arbitration to receive compensation for a departing FA.

="metirish"]And to think I spent over ten freaking minutes looking for this thread.....seriously I really didn't think the ramblings of Wally warrented a new thread.It's not like I want to seem like just because I've been here longer than a lot of others here that I'm trying to tell everyone else how to post - but this topic has been bugging me for a while now and I just happened to pick your post to tee off on it. And it's more I case that I want to squash this idea that there are strict rules around this place about where folks are allowed to put things or that you need some kind of senoirity before you can start new threads..Maybe Matthews doesn't deserve his own thread but shirley Soriano does.Hey guys, what do you think of signing Soriano? That dork Matthews thinks we HAVE TO [linky here] but we all know that he rapes farm animals in his spare time ... Something along those lines is a whole lot better IMO than seeing it buried in a multi-purpose thread simply because the topic started with a column.And again, I'm trying to get away from rules not make them. But it's not only perrnitted, but often an improvement, to let old threads die and start new ones up. "RMPL" is a joke that stems from an old board where there were people so interested in being the one to "break news" that they wouldn't even read the front page before starting a new thread on a topic that already had 5 concurrent discussions going. A minor amount of common sense avoids that, and if you start a thread that no one's interested in they'll simply ignore it. Ain't no biggie.

Exactly. For a 2-year deal (assuming similar money) he'd be a better investment than Glavine. He just won't be as easy to get at those rates as, unlike Tommy G, we won't have the inside track on him. Mussina has always expressed a preference for the AL, but singing with the Mets means he woulnd't have to move his residence so he'd be a fool not to consider the Mets who would be foolish not to consider him. Like was already said; not a lot of "news" here.

[soapbox]Have I ever explained how much it is I hate this thread and want to see it join Elvis? (assuming he's really dead)Nothing against the original idea of this thing neccesarily, but - like the 'Brogna' thread last year - I hate what it's become and the length of time that it's lived.The signing (or not) of a FA the magnitude of Soriano is a topic that SCREAMS for it's own thread where it can be discussed and/or disgusted. But, instead, it'll wind up getting lost in a 6-month long, 30-whatever page thread simply because it was once mentioned in a newspaper column the same way the whole Bobby V leading his team to the Japan Championship was buried in a mega-thread because someone was under the impression that they were "supposed" to put it in the ex-Mets thread on account of Bobby having once been a Met.You're allowed to let old threads fade away and start new ones folks ... and you don't even need special permission to do so.[/soapbox]

Teodoro (Teddy) Martinez was one of several infielders pressed into emergency outfield duty down the stretch in 1973 due to a rash of injuries. Masato Yoshii?

]I also think that Feliciano, Zambrano and Parra (once activated from the 60 day DL) are also eligible. Nope, none of them are 6-year players. Now the Mets could (probably will in the case of Zambrano & Parra) cut any or all of them loose thus making them FAs, but none are in position to declare themselves to be one on their own.

The AL list was announced late Thursday: P - Kenny Rogers (5th one) -- There's got to be a punchline somewhere about a Tiger pitcher winning a fielding award. Guess the stick'um really helps? Oldest ever to win? C - Ivan Rodriguez (12) -- I guess Joe Mauer will have to wait for Pudge to retire or die 1B - Mark Teixiera (2) 2B - Mark Grudzeyechart (1) SS - Derek Jeter (3) -- I was thinking (hoping) that Alex Gonzalez might win. He's clearly a better defensive player but missed a lot of time in the 2nd half . Plus, he's not, y'know ... Jeter. 3B - Eric Chavez (6) OF - Vernon Wells (3), Tori Hunter (6), Ichiro Suzuki (6) -- As usual, they pick 3 CFers (Ichiro split time between RF & CF). Gary Mathews Jr may have been snubbed although that still wouldn't have solved the too many CFers problem. NL to come out today.

The only reason he had an emory board in his back pocket was that he couldn't figure out a way to hide the belt sander and extension cord.

Had a 23 game hitting streak soon after his callup Jay Hook?

This guy was born the same year as Babe Ruth folks. "Simmons also outlived all of his [five] children." That's one of the drawbacks of living that long

"Hi, I'm Si Simmons, and you'll never see the word 'SALE' on any of my uniforms"