Vic Sage

i'm in.

1) In choosing a name for the new stadium, they were obviously going to sell the naming rights. the money is too significant for them not to have done so. And its not like Jackie Robinson had anything to do with the Mets. And beloved Shea was named after a lawyer. 2) Given the premises of (1) above, "CitiField" (or "City Field") is less reprehensible than alot of other names they could have been stuck with. It feels right for a team called "Metropolitans" to play on a City Field.

now put together your 25-man roster from that list, like i did.

nobody in 76 or 77, either 77 - Simmons, Garvey, Morgan, Templeton, Schmidt, GFoster, Luzinski, Parker 78 - Simmons, Garvey, Morgan, Concepcion, Schmidt, GFoster, Griffey, Cedeno i didn't check on pitchers, though.

Alpaca Boy? I wonder what superpower that connotes... yeah, mcdowell or lockwood over wagner. i'm not going to fight about it. plus we need more righties in the pen.

Wagner was one of the best closers in the league this year. And he's signed for a few more years. Would you rate any of Lockwood's years ahead of his?

oh, hell, i'd take him in a heartbeat.

This is an off-season exercise we've engaged in for years. I put this list together a few years ago. But, given the development of certain players, it needs updating. As follows: C - PIAZZA. With either Carter backing him up, and/or Grote as a late-inning defensive replacement. Aside from pitching, this has been the best position for the franchise, with Grote, Stearns, Carter, Hundley, Piazza and now LoDuca. 1B - HERNANDEZ. Kranepool can be the waterboy. Olerud was a close second, but Rusty will be the backup because of OF/PHing expertise, and his semi-mascot status. Now, if Delgado keeps it up, he enters the picture. 2B - FONZIE. Kent and Jeffries had their best years elsewhere. Backman was a platooner. Millan was a decent player, but nothing memorable. And Matsui certainly doesn't enter into the discussion. 3B - HOJO. His three 30-30 seasons still keep him a tiny bit ahead of Wright, who has only had 1 great year, as did Ventura. Of course, if David keeps it up, he'll certainly supplant Hojo. Hubie Brooks? Not bad. He played some OF and SS, too, as did Wayne Garrett. Either would be a nice utility player on the bench, but... SS - REYES. Originally, I had Harrelson ranked #1, but even after only 1 great year, Jose is clearly the best we've ever had. Buddy was the decent-est the longest and helped win a ring. Ordonez can suck my wee willie winkie. I still keep Buddy, however, over Garrett and Brooks, as utility infielder. LF - CLEON JONES. Over the redneck from Arkansas who shall remain nameless. Although i suppose the unnamed redneck would have to make the team as a backup. Floyd had one excellent year. Not enough, though. CF - BELTRAN. Originally, I gave Mookie the nod over Agee, for length of service and mascot status. But Carlos's 2 seasons so far have been better than any years by the other 2. Mazz? close, but no cigar. RF - STRAWBERRY. Oh, what he could have been! But what he was didn't exactly suck. Rusty is a backup RF/LH PHer/1B. Bench (6): Carter, Wright, Staub, Mookie, Harrelson, McDickhead. SP (5) - SEAVER, KOOZ, GOODEN, LEITER, CONE (with SID FERNANDEZ in the pen in case we need an extra starter). Pedro has had 1 excellent year, and is unlikely to have too many others. Matlack and Darling are both a dollar short. Glavine's met career not better than any of these guys. RP (6) - BENITEZ, FRANCO, OROSCO, McGRAW and now WAGNER. With FERNANDEZ in long relief. Originally, i included Lockwood in the pen, but Wagner bumps him because Skip was only good by Met standards.

The Padres just traded Josh Barfield for 2 prospects. If Barfield was on the block, should we have offered milledge? Barfield is exactly the kind of young, fast, powerful, cheap, good defensive 2bman I'd love to have. Too bad we missed out on him. Back to the options: 1) Soriano - Philly wants him for LF. He'll likely get too many years and too much $$ to be worth acquiring. I still hope we'll take a shot at him. 5yr/$75m. If he goes for more, so be it. 2) Garciaparra - probably will re-sign with LA, but, despite health concerns, is the kind of bat i'd love to have at 2b. 3 yr/$27m, ($33m with incentives). 3) Durham - coming off a great year, but injuries still an issue.(3 yr/$25m) 4) Valentin, Aurilia, Loretta, Kennedy, DeRosa, Lugo, Belliard, T.Walker - Mediocrities, one and all. A Valentin/Aurilia platoon might work. 5) Anderson Hernandez, Gotay - minor leaguers with no bat. Other Options?

$25m

O: Kooz should have won the CY in 76 over junkballer Randy Jones. F: The `69 Mets is the only WS winning team in at least the last 60 years to have 2 starting pitchers with ERA+ of 160 or better.

metirish wrote: ] By MARK HALE November 6, 2006 -- Mark Loretta may be one of the Mets' top choices to play second base. They have shown more interest in him than any other club so far, Loretta's agent told The Post last night. plans to fill hole at 2b: Plan A: Soriano Plan B: Garciaparra Plan C: the cheapest available option from amongst: Valentin, Durham, or Loretta (and sign Aurilia as UT/backup) Plan D: the cheapest available option from amongst: Aurilia, Kennedy, DeRosa, Lugo, Belliard, T.Walker Plan E: Anderson Hernandez? Uh oh.

love this movie. Maybe Baldwin's best performance ever.

Endy is great as a 4th OFer, but i don't think starting him in LF makes sense. He doesn't hit enough for a corner OFer. We'd be better off with better defense at 2b, by signing somebody cheap like Aurilia, and playing Soriano in LF, where he is less likely to cause alot of damage. Reyes (s) Wright ® [with his patience, baserunning and discipline, hitting 2nd behind Reyes would be like they MFY's Ricky/Mattingly 1-2 punch] Beltran (s) Delgado (L) Soriano ® - surrounded by a guy with a .400 ob% in front, and a decent contact guy behind him, and his speed breaks up the slowpokes. Green (L) LoDuca ® [finally hitting where he belongs] Aurilia (L) - punch at the bottom

I don't know why Soriano should expect "beltran money". When Beltran signed his deal, he was younger, a premiere defensive CFer, and played well with others. Soriano is 31, a defensive liability, and a bit of a headache. Plus, his style of play (lack of strike zone discipline, relies purely on talent) is the kind that, IMO, generally shows an earlier career decline than those players whose production is based on skills and savvy rather than pure talent. Of course, price is dictated by the marketplace, so if there are a number of teams in desperate straits bidding on his services, he could get "beltran money". But I'd rather the Mets overpay him for 3 years than pay "market value" for 5 years or more.

alright, then... lets call it a Festivus Present.

i agree he'd only be an option after Schmidt, zito and D-mat (maybe even Vincente Padilla), but if he could be had for 1-2 years at around $8k/yr, thus leaving enough room to sign soriano and/or lee, i'd be okay with it. But signing him with Aurilia and Alou would not make me happy. we've got 3 slots to fill. we probably can't afford top-tier guys for all 3 slots, but we need at least 1, and i'd prefer 2.

current free agents: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ArXO6XuO12g5WmvP0sL4s2ARvLYF?slug=freeagentlist&prov=st&type=lgns Now all we have to do is fill our holes with: 2b: -Soriano -Garciaparra -Durham (+ sign Aurilia as UT; he can also be a fallback option at 2b) LF: -Soriano -Carlos Lee (Alou as fallback) SP: -Schmidt -Zito - D-Mat (V.Padilla as fallback; also, take a flyer on injured guys with upside like Kerry Wood, Mark Mulder, Tomo Ohka) Soriano, Lee and Schmidt would be a nice Xmas package, don't you think?

Michael Pelfrey: Shut Down from the AFL RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com Friday, November 3, 2006 Update: Pelfrey has been shut down from throwing in the Arizona Fall League because of general soreness and nothing more, the NY Newsday reports. GM Omar Minaya said. "When you get aches and pains this time of year, why not shut him down?" Recommendation: Pelfrey should be fully healed from his lat injury by spring training and could get a shot at earning a spot in the Mets' rotation depending on what the team does this offseason.

Mars to Edgy... Mars to Edgy... message coming in.... "thanks for saving me the time. Yours truly, Vic." message received. That is all.

REVISED: [u:fb6b8aaab8]major league experience[/u:fb6b8aaab8] Milledge, OF Bell, RHRP Ring, LHRP [u:fb6b8aaab8]top 15:[/u:fb6b8aaab8] Pelfrey, RHP Humber, RHP F.Martinez, OF C.Gomez, OF Bannister, RHP Owens, RHRP J.Flores, C Carp, 1B Coles, OF Guerra, RHP Neise, LHP Soler, RHP Mulvey, RHP J.Smith, RHRP M.Abreu, 1B [u:fb6b8aaab8]next 20 (in no particular order):[/u:fb6b8aaab8] Wylie,RHRP B.Harper, 1b Parnell, RHP D.Martin, OF G.Marte, RHRP S.Henry, OF M.Garcia, 2b T.Stoner, RHP N.Evans, 3b J.Holden, OF Nall, RHRP Tomasiewicz, RHRP M.Perez, RHRP Devaney, RHP C.Stewart, of Collazo, RHP Lindstrom, RHRP Cullen, RHRP Privett, LHP Maldonado, RHRP It looks like the Mets prospects are mostly RHPs, OFs and some 1Bs, with very few middle infield or LHP prospects. 20 kids from 2006 draft were signed and played in the Mets system last year, and the productive ones were almost exclusively RHPs. Dustin Martin (of) was the only non-pitcher to show promise, and Duane Privett the only LHP to make progress.

A tentative prospects list, based on info gleaned here and on last season's performance: [u:25f99d686f]major league experience[/u:25f99d686f] Milledge, OF Pelfrey, RHP Bannister, RHP Bell, RHRP Ring, LHRP Soler, RHP [u:25f99d686f]top 10:[/u:25f99d686f] Humber, RHP C.Gomez, OF F.Martinez, OF J.Flores, C Owens, RHRP Guerra, RHP Neise, LHP Carp, 1B Coles, OF Mulvey, RHP [u:25f99d686f]next 20 (in no particular order):[/u:25f99d686f] Abreu, 1b Wylie,RHRP B.Harper, 1b Parnell, RHP D.Martin, OF G.Marte, RHRP S.Henry, OF M.Garcia, 2b T.Stoner, RHP N.Evans, 3b J.Holden, OF Nall, RHRP Tomasiewicz, RHRP M.Perez, RHRP Devaney, RHP C.Stewart, of Collazo, RHP Lindstrom, RHRP Cullen, RHRP J.Smith, RHRP

glad to see some of youse coming around.

I'll take Theriot, thank you very much. Oh, and they can throw in Matt Murton, too.

Kennedy? Loretta? Puhleez. They're probably 2 of the least appealing options. 2b options: [u:5260289d03]name (age - - `06 OPS (career OPS)[/u:5260289d03] Aurilia (35 - R) .867 (.775) Belliard (31 - R) .725 (.751) DeRosa (31 - R) .812 (.735) Jiminez (28 - S) .601 (.727) Kennedy (30 - L) .718 (.730) Lorretta (35 - R) .706 (.765) Lugo (30 - R) .762 (.742) nobody on this list sparks much enthusiasm or represents an upgrade over Valentin. This, combined with the dearth of talent in our farm system, means 2b will remain a significant question (?) mark this season, unless we sign Soriano or make a significant trade.