Edgy MD

Adam Rubin get's the better story out of the non-story.

Piazza: teasing the press corps. Former Mets slugger Mike Piazza says he's 'probably' interested in buying a piece of a baseball team BY Peter Botte DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Saturday, March 5th 2011, 10:54 AM Theodorakis/News PORT ST. LUCIE - Mike Piazza admits he has thought about buying into a baseball team one day. But the former Mets great said he's currently "not involved in anything specific," including being part of an investment group to help bail out the cash-strapped Wilpons. "Would I be interested in possibly getting involved in a group to buy a team someday? Probably," said Piazza, who was at Mets camp as hitting coach with Team Italy. "I've been thinking about it ... But as far as anything in the forefront, nothing. Down the line, we'll see." Asked if he's been approached by anyone to be part of a group to purchase a stake in the Mets, Piazza smiled and said sheepishly, "I can't confirm or deny that." "Let's just say that I've talked to some people who have interest in getting into the game," he added. "It doesn't cost anything to talk, at least not yet. "But as far as anything right now, any talks, or putting any groups together, no, I'm not involved in anything specific."

I'm pretty sure she's a twofer.

I rememember how excited she was when Mookie Wilson debuted!

Going to bat for Dwight Gooden, Jeff Pearlman.

I have no problem with calling a CD an album. Or a digital package of downloadable songs for that matter. Anybody who corrects you on this should be avoided.

Clearly, the picture starts to get ugly around $100 million and below. Baseball teams have certainly experienced success below that figure, but they did so on the backs of young, cost-controlled talent. Unfortunately, the biggest liability Sandy Alderson inherited from Omar Minaya was a lack of near-ready minor league talent. This is fun to say but terribly untrue. The big liablilities are the team's financial liabilities above. After that (and far after) come poison pill contracts like Perez's and Rodriguez's.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: What's funnier than the rogues' gallery of owners photos posted above is that you all think that the Wilpons are better. The McCourts? Dan Snyder? It's not hard.

And I've never heard their ownership described as "flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants." A change may happen. And if it does, it's becaus eof Bernard Madoff's criminal behavior. It can be cartainly argued that they only won the team thaks to Bernard Madoff's criminal behavior, but I still can't bring myself to root for them to go down like this, or to believe the next owner, by definition, brings deliverence.

Valadius wrote: Fans like a "Plan" and stability. They don't like flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants ownership that can't pay their bills. Come on.

That may be wishful thinking.

One more professional funnyperson from my high school. It's freaky.

I didn't put much stock initially in the idea that Bud directed the Mets to hire Alderson, but knowing now that MLB would have understood the seriousness of their financial troubles, it's kinda easy to see Alderson as the equivalent of a "turnaround specialist" brought in to lead a company when its lost its way financially. Coming to realize then that the Mets got this guy not because they got religion about baseball metrics but because he's got a rep for making it work under difficult financial circumstances is a real blow to my fandom. I don't know. Six of one, half dozen the other way. His professional responsibility and the crisis that necessitated it will likely (it now seems) cost the team Reyes, but in general, saving the Mets' financial ship and getting the organization to perform better should certainly dovetail.* I mean, nobody gets religion like those who've hit bottom. *Just, maybe not particularly soon.

Dwight Gooden, celebrity rehab.

Well, twelve is a pretty impressive field from my seat.

Frayed Knot wrote: 15 Points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists per game. Pretty sweet assist numbers for a big man.

Must not read.

I think it's more than starting. But I think a lot of folks are setting themselves up for disappointment --- sort of like the Wilpons --- by seeing what they want to see.

I keep thinking "Matt Young," so I expect he'll get called that a few times by Ralph Kiner.

Christopher Ryan Young Pos: SP; BR-TR. Born: May 25, 1979 in Dallas, Texas. (He'll be 32 in 2011.) Birth Context Karma: Such ambiguity! Young was born during the infamous "Fog Game" Joel Youngblood hits a routine fly ball lost in the mist that falls for a triple and rather than the Mets turning that into the winning run, the umps pull the plug. Acquired: Signed as a Free Agent with the Mets, January 20, 2011, for a base salary of $1.1 million, plus incentives.. 2010 Stats: TmLgWLW-L%ERAGGSGFCGSHOSVIPHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPBKWPBFERA+WHIPH/9HR/9BB/9SO/9SO/BBBB-Ref WARFG WARSan�AntonioTL (AA)01.00067.501100000.67255040100079.00027.00.054.013.50.25PortlandPCL (AAA)00.0001.422200006.332111204000230.6322.81.42.85.72.00TotalMinors01.0007.713300007.004661605000301.4295.11.37.76.40.83SDPNL201.0000.9044000020.001022111015001824161.0504.50.55.06.81.360.90.2TotalAll21.6672.6777000027.0014882170200011121.1484.70.75.76.71.18 Number: 55. Fifty-five has been worn by three Mets pitchers --- Orel Hershiser, Shawn Estes, and early Pedro Feliciano. It's a debateable point who has served the number most well, but I'm going with Hershiser and hoping that Young ends all ambiguity. Wife: Elizabeth Patrick, granddaughter of Lester Patrick, for whom the NHL's Patrick Division was named. That sort of blood gets you into Princeton, baby. Nicknames: "CY" and "El Hombre Grande" go back to his Princetonian days. Namesakes: Best Day in 2010: That final day, five innings of shutout ball for the victory, had to be satisfying. Last Word: Young is going to get either the fifth or the fourth slot in the Mets rotation, but how long he lasts will be a function of his health and his control. Having a history with the GM and the Mets not having a lot of options could give him a little bit o' rope, but Boof Bonser lurks. Ever lurking, he is. What do you expect of Chris Young Wright in 2011?

I think that MLB's anti-trust exemption is un-American, an offense to the Sherman act, an assualt on logic, and terribly unhealthy for baseball as a cultural institution. ="Justice Douglas, dissenting in United States v. Columbia Steel Co."]We have here the problem of bigness. Its lesson should by now have been burned into our memory by Brandeis. The Curse of Bigness shows how size can become a menace--both industrial and social. It can be an industrial menace because it creates gross inequalities against existing or putative competitors. It can be a social menace...In final analysis, size in steel is the measure of the power of a handful of men over our economy...The philosophy of the Sherman Act is that it should not exist...Industrial power should be decentralized. It should be scattered into many hands so that the fortunes of the people will not be dependent on the whim or caprice, the political prejudices, the emotional stability of a few self-appointed men...That is the philosophy and the command of the Sherman Act. It is founded on a theory of hostility to the concentration in private hands of power so great that only a government of the people should have it.

Not to go all ceetar on you, but there're a lot of glaring misrepresentations there.

If the 'Pons stubbornly decline to hang on despite their fortunes continuing to fail, the team will transfer, because unlike the children of Charles and Joan Payson, they don't own the team outright, but through a series of tremendous loans that they are taking out tremendous loans to pay off. If they can't meet their obligations to their creditors, they'll either be forced to sell or have the team siezed. Under either circumstance, I don't see it languisihing as a neglected asset. Baseball is a much bigger and more competitive business in today's world.

So I'm not sure why anyone would necessarily root for the Wilpons to fail here. A process is in place that you may or may not believe will benefit the team and them. But if you do believe it...