Edgy MD

Is the team not actually "saying" things but addressing the media through some electronic device.

Holy crap. A blue wall.

I was thinking about the Royals the other day, and thinking that it's amazing to think that twice in their history they hauled in (perhaps) the biggest free agent on the market. That led me to thinking... what was the best free agent heist for each Major League team? Not necessarily the free agent who turned out the best for them, but the one who was the biggest name on the day he signed, whether he worked out or not. And no re-signees either. Help me out. Baltimore Orioles: Boston Red Sox: Daisuke Matsuzaka? New York Yankees: Dave Winfield (Everybody else) Tampa Bay Rays: Toronto Blue Jays: Roger Clemens? Chicago White Sox: Albert Belle Cleveland Indians: Detroit Tigers: Juan Gonzalez Kansas City Royals: David Cone (Mark Davis) Minnesota Twins: Los Angeles (Anaheim) Angels Mo Vaughn (Rod Carew) Oakland A's: Seattle Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki (John Olerud) Texas Rangers: Alex Rodriguez Atlanta Braves: Miami (and Florida) Marlins: Carlos Delgado Philadelphia Phillies: Cliff Lee (Jim Thome, Lance Parrish) New York Mets: Carlos Beltr�n (Pedro Martinez, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Hassler) Washington Nationals (and Montreal Expos): Jayson Werth Cincinnati Reds: Dave Parker Chicago Cubs: Alfonso Soriano? Houston Astros: Nolan Ryan Milwaukee Brewers: Pittsburgh Pirates: St. Louis Cardinals: Arizona Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson Colorado Rockies: Mike Hampton Los Angeles Dodgers: Darryl Strawberry San Diego Padres: Steve Garvey San Francisco Giants: Barry Zito

Edgy DC wrote: Go, Jos� Oquendo! Oh, and... Stop, Bobby Valentine!

Surprised? Sheesh, if you needed me to tell you the difference between The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, Slate, The Daily Koz, and any other high-profile online news sources, you'd be in trouble. I get my news from The Brooklyn Eagle and El Diario, thank you very much.

You know, there seem to be a lot of plum jobs open this offseason.

The world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, was in New York Monday as part of his Guinness Book of World Records' world tour. The 8'1" Turkish man was re-measured and posed for pictures in Times Square before hitting Citi Park in Queens. And yes, Kosen did get to meet Mr. Met. Ah, good ol' Citi Park. Where the Meters play the in the borough of the Queen.

Wowza. I'm thinking, "I wonder if he included Young..." ---- and you have him at eight! Over an (almost) full-year-guy like Hairston, even.

Go, Jos� Oquendo!

Mets with Negro League heritage: [list:3ab23d6b][*:3ab23d6b]Brian Giles[/*:m:3ab23d6b] [*:3ab23d6b]Tom Goodwin[/*:m:3ab23d6b] [*:3ab23d6b]Donn Clendennon[/*:m:3ab23d6b] [*:3ab23d6b]Scott Hairston[/*:m:3ab23d6b][/list:u:3ab23d6b] Willie Mays played with the Chattanooga Choo Choos and the Birmingham Black Barons when he was a teenager. I imagine one or another early Mets played in the Negro Leagues.

My guess is he comes out of retirement for one last All-Star orgy of pitching changes. Oh, dear, they're not going to make him commissioner, are they?

That's my thinking. So, I guess we've officially --- if not linguistically --- de-recognized Taiwan's independence, so MLB isn't being as un-American as all that.

Rap Dixon, allegedly a relative/ancestor of Tom Goodwin. Rap moved from center to left to make room for young Oscar Charleston. Tom moved from center to left to make room for young Johnny Damon, so...

From a Baseball Prospectus interview: DL: Jackie Robinson was known for stealing home. You wore No. 42 in his honor. TG: I did. Dave Henderson had the number, in Kansas City, before I got there. I had No. 47 my first year there and then Dave left, in 1995, and he said to me, "Take care of No. 42 for me." I didn�t know what he meant at first and he said, "42 � Jackie Robinson. That�s why I wear it." I said, "OK, I got it." So I wore it, but unfortunately when I got to Texas, in 1997, they had already retired 42. I thought that I was supposed to be grandfathered in with that, but for some reason I wasn�t.

I remember the Terry Leach one-hitter vividly. I remember Tillman scoring the go-ahead run. I remember Giles catching the last out. But the losing pitcher was Porfi Altamirano? Who?

Announcements say that free agency starts today, but the way I see it, if one club has an exclusive on you until Thursday, you ain't free no how.

I was just joking. My guess is that he was on minor league assignment when the universal retirement went into effect. Either that or, when the Rangers said no, he didn't have enough professional juice to assert his rights.

Wow, 54 hits and no responses. Can I put a room to sleep or what?

Well, if you don't like this film, you're sure to be disappointed in the sequel, Bridesmaids Revisited. You just know it's coming.

Truth, rumor, and malicious gossip about the new Mets first-base coach. He was born, grew up, attended high school, and attended college in Fresno, where legends are made. Put off his professional career for a year to play in the Seoul Olympics and got himself a gold medal for it. First career homer came with two out in the ninth and his team down 1-0 to the A�s and against Tom Stottlemyer, who had been throwing a three-hit shutout. Cost the Mets a share of a division championship in 2000 by hitting a grand slam off of Dennis Cook. Had a sense of history, wearing Jackie Robinson�s 42 with the Royals and --- finding it retired and himself ineligible to get a grandfather exception when he got to the Rangers, Rockies, and Dodgers --- switched to Willie Mays' 24. I won�t bet he gets either of those numbers with the Mets. In addition to his 369 stolen bases as a major leaguer, stole 314 (in only 719 games) in the minors . Those include 23 steals in 27 attempts playing at 36 in 2005 for the Atlantic Surf in the independent Atlantic League. In his prime, was believed to be the fastest man in the American League. Pissed off a lot of Cubs fans by outing the 2003 team as a culture of corkers. Supposedly related to Negro League notable Rap Dixon.

She may not be talking about an actual tall man, but singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson, a Swede who bills himself as "The Tallest Man on Earth."

No, we don't. The context of my statement is a prior statement about scrapping league and division play.

I'm confident those guys represent the same team. Forgive my ignorance (gross ignorance, really), but when did we start calling Taiwan Chinese Taiepei? And why do I only really hear it referred to as such in baseball circles?

I wonder how regularly that happens --- pitch around one guy and you're out of alignment and can't get focused on the next guy.

Egyptian uprising prisoner Ilan Grapel. Report: Ilan Grapel told Mets won Series By Adam Rubin ESPNNewYork.com After being freed following a nearly five-month stint in an Egyptian jail during that country's uprising, Queens native Ilan Grapel received interesting news: The New York Mets won the World Series during his isolation. Mets blog Looking for more information on your Mets? ESPNNewYork.com has you covered. Blog The misinformation was a joke played by Rep. Gary Ackerman, according to the New York Post. In a news conference in Tel Aviv following his release, the newspaper reports, Grapel said: "There's so many people to thank, and after being cut off for the past five months ..." At that point, the Post reports, Ackerman chimed in: "We told him the Mets won the World Series." Grapel, a 27-year-old U.S.-Israeli citizen, was freed Thursday in a prisoner swap between Israel and Egypt. The Emory University law student arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport Saturday morning. He said he was arrested June 12 while attending a demonstration in Cairo and was accused of spying for Israel, which denied the allegation. Adam Rubin covers the Mets for ESPNNewYork.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Follow Adam Rubin on Twitter: @AdamRubinESPN