Edgy MD

2-3, 3.86. Put on a sort leash so it's hard to earn a whole lot of decisions in his 8-10 starts.

Jim Cramer on Hardball: "If anybody knew about what Madoff was doing, it was the Wilpons." Cramer thinks it's suspicious that Madoff went out of his way to exonerate the Wilpons while trying to bring down other institutions in the Times. I think it's suspicious that you pay attention to Jim F. Cramer.

If Johan pitches for the Mets in May, I'll cover spring training in a Speedo. There, I said it.

That's not 100% crazy. It's 53% crazy, but I can live with that.

I think it's useful information. Heck, the Times has been running stories spoon-fed them by Picard the last few weeks.

I don't think it really matters. A prison witness is an asset even if his character is not. Sometimes a biased witness is better to have, because you don't have to worry about his character and can instead measure his credibility purely against his interests. (Which is why Congressmembers shoudn't have been so abusive toward Brian MacNamee and dismissive of his testimony.)

In a prison interview with The New York Times, Bernie Madoff cleared the Wilpons, even as he suggested several banks must of had an idea what he was up to.

Johan Alexander Santana Pos: SP; BL-TL. Born: March 13, 1979 in Tovar, Merida, Venezuela. (He'll be 32 in 2011.) Birth Context Karma: On the day of Santana's birth, the Mets traded Mardie Cornejo to the Detroit Tigers for Ed Glynn. Also on that day, Maurice Bishop successfully executed a coup and took control of Grenada. Acquired: Traded by the Twins to the Mets for Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, and Kevin Mulvey. WLW-L%ERAGGSGFCGSHOSVIPHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPBKWPBFERA+WHIPH/9HR/9BB/9SO/9SO/BBBB-Ref WARFG WAR119.5502.98292904201991796766165521442228171311.1768.10.72.56.52.624.9 (0.5 on off)3.5 Number: Heinz. Wife: Yasmile. Big Lion King fan. Nickname: He's too good for a nickname. Namesakes: I'm not sure. He may be too good for a namesake, too. Best Day in 2010: Good days are common enough if your name is Johan Santana, and I'd be tempted to single out his contribution to the Phillies sweep, except Captain Freaking Hook didn't leave him in, so I'll go with his next start, a 4-0, four-hit shutout of the Roxx in which he fanned 10 and walked two. This was August 12, and his record at the end of the day was 10-5. He'd win one game the rest of the way and get only four more starts in before ending his season. Last Word: Johan's recently started playing catch, and the Mets are loathe to announce a target date for his return, though they surely have one. He's likely due after the All-Star break, and as with Billy Wagner in 2009, the Mets will have, as part of their goal, to make that return date matter. Hopefully that time will allow him to put his legal problems behind him as well. What do you expect of Johan Santana in 2011?

Sheesh, I'd sooner have a Seinfeld group. I'd sooner a Newman group.

I enjoy people who puncuate their comments with "By God."

Best case scenario: he gives the team the wiggle room it needs to move Francisco Rodriguez.

Timo Perez gets a minor league deal with Detroit.

Jack is a limo driver with horrible hair under a nearly omnispresent touque and is about as anonymous as anybody in the the NYC region --- until he gets fixed up with Connie, a pastey introvert noticed only by the perverts she seems to be a magnet for. Despite both their lack of experience or self-esteem, they stumble into a relationship. As they progress, though, the couple who fixed them up turns out to be a disastrous cautionary tale. For those of you who bemoan the stupidity and shallowness and contriveyness of relationship movies, here's one about real people --- but it may (or may not) make you long for the fluff of the Amy Adams/Ryan Reynolds type of dealios, because while the DVD box promises hilarity, there's little forthcoming, but rather odd snickers and occasional graces (and graces are wonderful things) among terrifically awkward long silent shots and real --- but mortifyingly embarassing --- situations. Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars, produces, directs... caters too, I guess.

Frayed Knot wrote: Best/Worst Tool: Speed/defense That's always an unsettling combo.

He was pretty obscure after 2009 --- ranked somewhere in the 30s among Mets prospects --- but Omar liked him and he was the one who came up with the Mejia comparison, even though Rodriguez was two years older and still behind Jenrry. But his damn solid year with great so-bb numbers in the Sally League vindicated Omar to some extent, and he'd probably find himself somewhere in the 11-20 range now among Met hopefuls. He's a big kid and that seemingly fed his durablity as he finished strong, but he's not getting any bigger and his fastball tops out at 93. He gets down low and drives foreward like Seaver, and Tom will tell you that's part of how you keep the ball down, but his motion seems more violent. W2a4Q_7lw88 Here's more.

It looks like down at the Javitz Center Auto Show, nobody wanted to pose with Spidey.

Well, then, I'd argue that if Jeter has 100% Jeterness, and that's the extra he's being paid for, Reyes has 80% Jeterness. And then Mets would say, "What?! Are you serious?!! He's got, like, 20% Jeterness." After a lot of vicious back-and-forth, we'd settle somewhere in the middle on his Jeterness, but each bit we agree on would have moved the needle north of where it would have been without the Jeter precedent.

Armando Alberto de Jesus (Guzman) Rodriguez . Pos: SP (RP also, but not since 2007); BR-TR. Born: January 28, 1988 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. (He'll be 23 in 2011.) Birth Context Karma: Nothing going on in Metland, but Muhammed Hosni Mubarak was dining at the White House. The next day, The Washington Post went with "Mubarak's Firm Line; At the White House Dinner, Egypt's President Speaks Out Against Israeli Policies." Perhaps we're a little over-worried about the next regine in Egypt being possibly hostile to Israel. Acquired: Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur foreign free agent on June 6, 2007. . TmLgAffWLW-L%ERAGGSGFCGSHOSVIPHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPBKWPBFWHIPH/9HR/9BB/9SO/9SO/BBAwardsSavannahSALL (A)NYM890.4713.08272700001461166150546015211526071.117.20.32.89.43.3SALL Pitcher of the Week, 8/30/2010 Number: 66 Wife: Unknown Nickname: I don't know, but I'm sure he'll be compared to Benitez. Namesakes: Best Day in 2010: This must've been pretty good, as it helped get him named Pitcher of the Week. Last Word: Somebody thinks he's the next Mejia. The main question this spring is whether he'll start with St. Lucie or Bingo, but with a power punchout arm, it isn't inconceiveable --- though it's certainly unlikely --- that he gets a few bullpen innings from the Mets this season. What do you expect of Armando Rodriguez in 2011?

I'm intrigued by the white warmup suit.

�liver P�rez, goaded by reporters and blogs (along with Luis Castillo) for not reporting early, actualy reports early, and takes the the time to say a dozen postiive things to boot.

Let's take a trip. Amazin' Avenue talks with Fish. Tanya doesn't think David Wright has the nads to be captain. Metstradaums feels differently. (I tend to think the captain argument is a non-starter.) Rising Apple debuts in the thread, talking with Steven Matz, who continues to be less than convincing while insisting on his Mets fandom. Patrick Flood, counting down his top 50, writes about writing scab Rick Reed into video games.

Joel Sherman published the following cryptic tweet: All Ollie Perez stories must cease now until one begins: The #Mets today released Ollie Perez ... #notinteresting Which was cryptic enough that folks misinterpeted it to read that the Mets had, in fact, released �liver P�rez, which they of course had not. It was a small seismic tremor in the blogosphere. You could feel it if you were on a high floor.

The Second Spitter wrote: 4. Tulowitzki benchmark -- makes it difficult for Reyes to make a case for more than $15M/year. What about the Jeter benchmark? If I'm his agent, I cite that, if only to move the needle.

I think he'll have a great year in terms of extra base hits, and he'll get 50-55 steals, but his decline in walk rate last year was disappointing and I don't expect that to rebound. Neither do I expect his fielding to come back much.

Jos� Bernabe Reyes. Pos: SS; BS-TR. Born: June 11, 1983 in Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic. (He'll be 28 in 2011.) Birth Context Karma: The 1983 Mets, one week into the interim skipperhood of Frank Howard, started the day in the wee hours completing a marathon 17-inning walkoff win over the Expos on a ball Dave Kingman hit "to Connecticut." (Within weeks Keith Hernandez would be a Met and Dave Kingman would be packing his bags.) Later that evening, Scott Holman took the loss in some 5-2 Expo payback. Ex-Met Jeff Reardon, coming off two innings in the extra-inning game the night before, threw three shutout innings for the save. Acquired: Signed by the Mets as a foreign amateur free agent August 16, 1999. TmLgGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSOPS+TBGDPHBPSHSFIBBBB-REF WARFG WARPosAwardsSt.�LucieFLOR (A+)1440000010000.000.000.000.000000000NYMNL133603563831592910115430103163.282.321.428.749103241824342.2 (2.5 off)2.8ssASTotalAll134607567831592910115530103163.280.313.425.73824182434 Number: 7 Wife: Katherine Ramierez Nickname: "Tongue." Namesakes: Best Day in 2010: A lot of people peaked in the Philadelphia sweep, but none like Reyes: Game One. Game Two. Game Three. Last Word: Jos� is coming to camp with no contract beyond this year. Maybe they sign him to an extension before the season. Maybe they have no idea what the budget is for 2012. Very cloudy. What do you expect of Jos� Reyes in 2011?