Could my wish of Bobby Jenks closing for the Mets come to frutition? According to John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus the rumor mill is stoked with the Mets sending Fernando Martinez plus to the South Side of Chicago for Jermaine Dye and Jenks plus maybe a few other pieces.  This deal is so good it can’t be real. Jenks will be 28 next season and is battled tested in post season play with a World Series ring to boot. Dye is the strong right handed bat we have been desperate for in the outfield. It also frees up trading Ryan Church for more pitching and puts Fernando Tatis in the super sub role and Dan Murphy the everyday LF’er.

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So how do you like the new design? Nice huh? Big thank you to Joe Mc Donald for dressing the place up as we go forward into 2009 

Not only have we spruced up the blog we are adding a podcast as you see the link on the right hand side on Blog Talk Radio. Tomorrow night at 9PM EST Joe Mc Donald and myself will roll out Pro Baseball Central. We will set the stage for the Winter Meeting of which Joe will be attending and we will have show each night of the meetings hopefully with tasty rumors and significant Mets news from Las Vegas. So join us live tomorrow night at 9-we will be taking calls at (646) 595-4462- or click on the link and listen to the podcast at your leisure.

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With a report that another group of “pirates”  (Does the leader of these swashbucklers give out “stars” for their headgear a la Pops Stargell?) have attempted to take over a cruise ship,  I wonder if the patrolman of New York’s Finest who patrol the Staten Island Ferry would cease flirting with the female passengers if the boat were over run by marauding pirates? Just the thought of that makes me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants. As for the SI honeys who take the ferry, it’s amazing Staten Island doesn’t have palm trees as the amount of Aqua Net these ladies use most certainly has put a hole in the boro’s ozone layer.

On to news and links:

How sad is that back page of today’s NY Daily News? Dead Eye Plax and Deadwood Steph both are looking pathetic and lame, in Burress’ case very lame.  How fucking stupid can someone be? The Giants gather all their players in training camp to tell them if they have any firearms they’ve brought with them from other states to surrender them and the team will secured them and give them back when the season is over. Then the NFL offers to have a guard accompany these nit wits with their bling and bullshit as they go out on the town and still you have morons like Plaxico Burress. Thank God no one other than Burress was injured so I can laugh my ass off that someone could so fucking ignorant on how to use a firearm as to shoot himself in the leg.  My thirteen year old son who has shot rifles and shotguns can’t believe what an asshole Burress is and has offered his services to the NFL as a good Boy Scout, to teach the rank and file of the NFL how to safely handle a weapon. Our Mayor Mike III is goin’ real Gangsta’ on Plax as he has put DA Morgenthau (no shit, DA Morgenthau is so old he is the last remaining Dutch settler on Manhattan island) on notice no plea bargain for Burress but a cot at Rikers instead.

As for Marburry,  as someone who has followed him since his Lincoln High School (I even attended his announcement that he was committing to Georgia Tech as it was held at Skinflints a bar/restaurant I frequented back in the day in Bay Ridge) this chapter in his career is not surprising. Marburry has always be a “me” guy and he will always be a “me” guy but that doesn’t get the Knicks off the hook as they should have ended his employment last summer when Isaiah Thomas was sent packing. Not only does Mike D’Antoni skive Stephon but his teammates despise him as well.

A very good read from the folks at Beyond The Box Score (by way of the fabulous Baseball Primer) with a comparison of Ted Williams and Barry Bonds by using fancy sabermetircs.

Brooklyn Mets Fan gives a look at Rene Rivera a catcher the Mets signed to a minor league deal

Joe DeMayo’ Rumor Mill over at NY Baseball Digest is a must read especially this tasty tidbit:

•Derek Lowe remains the top target to be signed as a starting pitcher. The Mets seem comfortable going into spring training with a battle for the 5th spot in the rotation between Jon Niese and a “scrap-heap” pickup type. If the Mets fail to land Lowe, then Oliver Perez, Jon Garland and Randy Wolf could come into play out of free agency, or via trade they can look at Tampa’s Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson, or the White Sox’s Javier Vazquez. A name that is starting to garner some buzz is Daniel Cabrera who may get non-tendered by the Orioles. If he is non-tendered, it’s possible the Mets would look at him to compete with Niese for the 5th spot.

Cabrera is a very interesting name to ponder. His numbers are not very good and he needs a Garmin to find home plate but if he is non-tender a switch to the NL could help him.

Mike Hampton has turned his back on the Atlanta Braves and has taken his broken down left arm to Houston as it seems he wants to be closer to his children who live in Arizona with his ex-wife. That’s one helluva school bus ride to Denver for his kids to get that quality education Hampton bragged about when he left the Mets.

I’ll leave you with this. On this date in 1991 Bobby Bonilla signed a 3yr/$29mil deal with the Mets some of which I think the Skill Sets are still paying off.

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Monday mornings after a long weekend are a bitch but it could be worse, I mean I could have shot myself in the leg with an unlicensed hand gun or I could have shown up to work and have my boss tell me go home until maybe Department of Buildings or Department of Transportation take my sorry ass in but no my fella’s welcomed me back with open arms, well as open as they can be when they are clutching ham and egg sandwiches. Anywhoo on to the news of day:

I wonder if the Mets are hoping that Oliver Perez turns down arbitration and would be happier with the draft picks than with OP. With all the non activity that has brought the Hot Stove to a crawl as I stated on Saturday I can not figure out Omar Minaya’s game plan at all. But this much I am sure of the natives in the Blue and Orange village are growing very restless and want to see some kind of move being made.

Toby Hyde on his Mets Minor League Blog posts about Nick Evans missing in action in the winter leagues. Hyde speculates that Evans who has been ineffective with the bat has been sent home. That’s not a good sign.

I find it very interesting that this morning at work we received our yearly e mail on how city workers are not to take tips or gratuities from the public and if you do we risk losing our jobs. Same thing with giving gifts to subordinates and bosses that is a no-no as well. But jacking up baseball executives for free use of a luxury suite with free grub and booze is fine for those employed at City Hall. As I always say never trust a guy in a shirt and tie.

From NY Baseball Digest by way of Baseball Prospectus it looks like Manny Ramirez could be on Omar Minaya’ mind come the Winter Meetings next week in Las Vegas. With over 4million fans packing the late Shea Stadium last year, there own state run television network and a brand new pleasure palace that has all it suites filled with New York City’ finest stuffed shirts the last thing me or any other Mets fan wants to hear from the Omar and the Skill Sets is cost cutting. My patience which is in short supply to begin with is getting depleted every day .

On this date in the year 2000, Turk Wendell signed a three year deal with the Mets for $9,999,999.99 to go along with his #99 on his jersey.

Nice little feature on Jon Matlack in yesterday’s Daily News. I wish it went a bit further as it would have been interesting to read Matlack’s recollection of the 1973 Ya Gotta Believe regular and his  post season performence especially the World Series where Matlack  lost game 1, then came back to win game 4 but lasted just 2 2/3 innings in game 7 .

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Greeting from the Catskill Mountains. Some how I got talked in to going up to hither lands for Thanksgiving Weekend and as I look out the big picture window of the lobby where it sure looks like winter and while my wife and kids go horseback riding( the last time I was on a horse was when my mother was putting dimes in the ride outside of Woolworth’s on 5 Ave in Bay Ridge) so while I have idle time I’ve read some stories on the direction the Mets are going for a closer and all I can say is I hope Omar is not the guide on the trial my family is riding on because I may never see them again.

I’m a bit cloudy on just what Omar’s strategy is when it comes to the pen. He doesn’t want to spend a lot of the Skill Sets dough on a K-Rod or Brian Fuentes and he could take out a patch up approach with Kerry Wood or Trevor Hoffman. He may trade for Bobby Jenks or Houston Street or he may just hand the job to Bobby Parnell and or Eddie Kunz. What Omar has become is the Johnny Rodz of baseball (old time wrestling fans remember The Unpredictable Johnny Rodz)

Hopefully this bullpen riddle will be clearer starting next week when the Winter Meetings kick off in Vegas.

As soon as that first snowflake fly’s I’m heading back to civilization

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Just wanted to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving and hope you are all surrounded by friends, family and food on this day. Even with the latest economic problems that we have in this country we are still blessed to be Americans and hopefully our new president will bring us the much needed change and hope we have been looking for.

Not much time to comment on the rumors such as Brian Fuentes asking for a 3yr/$30 mil deal which would be double the money per year he made last year. What did you expect as Fuentes and his agent know the Mets must sign a closer so why not shoot for the moon. Now it’s Fransisco Rodriguez turn to bid and it looks like who ever signs for less will be the Mets closer (I think Kerry Woods is the dark horse candidate here)

Interesting that the Mets supposedly turned down the Rockies bid of Houston Street for Aaron Heilman and Pedro Feliciano. Why would Omar turn this deal down if he didn’t have plans to use Heilman as a fall back pick in the rotation or if he has a bigger deal in the works? I can’t imagine that putting Felicano in the trade was a deal breaker, not when you still have Scott Schoenwies as the house LOOGY still on payroll and an other LOOGY Brian Shouse is on the free agent market to more than make up for a Feliciano departure.

Got to run as I have to travel a whole 6 blocks to my in laws for the day, got to beat that traffic.

Posting will be a bit spotty the next two or three days as my family talked me into a weekend trip to the Catskills but the laptop will be in tow so again enjoy your Thanksgiving and the weekend go get those sales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Great piece of writing by Howard Megdal in the New York Observer on making a case for putting Aaron Heilman into the starting rotation something I’ve advocated for the past two years. It’s so chi-chi for Mets fans to bash Heilman for his failures as a reliever and I’m not saying that it was unwarranted especially last year while I’m a Heilman fan he disappointed me greatly by not stepping up to grab the closer role when Billy Wags went down but maybe it was a bum knee or just that his mind set is always a starting pitcher mentality-and please don’t give me the horse shit refrain that he makes x ammount of money and should be grateful to be in baseball bromide that I am so sick of hearing, think about this on your job if your boss saw you cleaning up your work area and said “wow your so good at cleaning here’s a mop and do the bathroom” how would you react (me, I’d use the mop handle on him like it was a rectal thermometer)-Heilman lost out on a rotation spot in 2006 to Brian Bannister not because Bannister beat him out but due to the Mets wanting to keep both pitchers and with Heilman already in the bullpen the logic was to keep him there.

Think of how many rag armed pitchers have stepped on the Shea mound over Heilman and none of them with anything close to the talent of Heilman and I’m surprised he kept quiet this long.

As Megdal points out the free agent market for starting pitching will be insane especially if CC Sabathia stays true to his word and plays on the West Coast, the Highlanders and Red Sox will throw money around like they were hedge fund managers. I’m sure Sabathia will be getting phone or text messages from Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett and Ollie Perez to please take that Angels offer so they can’t become filthy rich.

So what would be so bad with keeping Heilman and Niese in the 4-5 spots and taking a flyer on Freddie Garcia or signing Jon Garland and spending that money saved on a payout or sweetener in trading Gimp Castillo and signing Orlando Hudson?

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I still don’t know what to make of the sslllllllllowwwwwww cooking hot stove but all this idle time has me making up deals in my head. Some of course are ridiculous like how about Aaron Heilman for Luis Puljos? Or Gimp Castillo and prospects for Roy Halliday (I came up with those after I ate some odd looking mushrooms) but one I came up could fly at least in my simple mind:

Gimp Castillo, Aaron Heilman, Brian Schneider a prospect and money (half of Castillo’s ill gotten gains) to the San Fransisco Giants for Bengi Molina and Randy Winn. The Giants get a second baseman for half price, plus a back end of rotation pitcher in Heilman and choice of a B level prospect (from a list the Mets provide) and they get relived of close to $15 mil in salary relief.  The Mets get a big upgrade at catcher plus a switch hitting bat for RF which in turn makes Ryan Church a bargaining chip for pitching.

Go ahead and flame away!

Saw these pics on Dom’ D’s Mets info laden site of Bailout Park. There is one shot of the bullpen that I hope is still under construction because I don’t see the Kevlar roof that will be needed to protect the relievers from the angry mob of Mets fans.

Mike Silva has a great post on his site on the 2^nd base black hole and the lack of leadership that is needed on the Mets. When we think of leaders we always go with fiery types like guys Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter but sometimes leaders are guys like Eli Manning who is far from being a spitfire in the personality department but he has stepped up and become the leader of the New York Football Giants by stepping up his game and remaining clam when tough and tense times occur. It also helped him immensely that two of his biggest critics and the biggest wash women on the team Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey were gone from the team and in turn Manning flourished. That’s why I would have loved to see Omar deal off Carlos Delgado to get not only max return off his stellar half season but them maybe David Wright would feel more comfortable to exert his leadership to the team. There is a part of that feels a team with mostly younger players would be more beneficial to the Mets winning than having older players. Maybe it’s still the hangover from the Famous Rays season but I like watching young guys bust their ass day after day than old ones drag their saggy butts around all season.

The Angels look like they are gearing up to offer C C Sabathia a Johan Santana like contract. I really don’t care where Sabathia goes but as long as he doesn’t end up in the Bronx just watching Mike Francesa look like more of a horse’s ass than usual will be a great holiday gift.

How come no one talks about Nick Evans? Talk about a forgotten man. Another reason why I’d move Delgado as a platoon of Dan Murphy and Evans at first would be more than adequate and then if the Mets made my Giants deal you could keep Church and Winn together with Endy Chavez and Fernando Tatis leading a strong bench (Omar go get Willie Bloomquist please)

Check out Toby Hyde’s Mets Minor League Blog as he has a post on Tigers catcher James Skelton who could be available as a Rule 5 draftee. Skelton is very slight in built especially for a catcher (5’11” 165lbs) but he has a good batting eye and could be converted to a 2^nd baseman a la Craig Biggio. It never ceases to amaze me how progressive thinking the Mets bloggers are compared to the organization which sometimes is stuck in the old time baseball mentality.

Do you think the message has sunk in to the Mets brain trust’ heads that there is no way on earth Mets fans want to see Gimp Castillo at 2^nd base on opening day 2009?

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