If it’s so bring them both back to NY. After reading this post, I too would be surprised if Jim Bowden traded Milledge (Wait a minute we’re talking Jim Bowden here just get him liquored up and he might do it) but if he went to the Phillies that would out and out suck. Now Wiggy would fill a great spot for the Mets with his righty bat, versatility and bull dog attitude (add Wiggy and Murphy and the Mets would have that much needed grit) and of course I’d welcome Milledge back to Gangsta’ Land in a heartbeat.

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As per Metsblog, Daniel Murphy whose whereabouts has been the topic of much speculation is suffering from sprain of the right knee. Hopefully this is minor and maybe it’s a blessing as the kid could use a break but the ultimate gym rat that he is I’m sure as soon as he’s healthy he’ll be off to Winter Ball.

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If I were building a football team I’d build I’d do it from the inside out. Which means I’d build my offensive and defensive lines first then go with running backs, linebackers and so forth. It looks like the Mets plan is similar as they look to be going from back to front.

The first order of winter business seems to be closer which is now between Francisco Rodriguez and Brain Fuentes which is fine by me. What isn’t fine is the way the Mets are going about signing these players as they are using the government contract rule where the lowest bidder gets the deal. As someone in government and as a daily passenger of the Staten Island Ferry (4 boats that are less than five years old at a cost of $30mil a piece that breakdown for months at a time) I can tell you this method of business doesn’t always work out for the best.

What Omar and Co. need to do is decided which closer they want and damn the money. If K-Rod checks out medically and he’s the guy then if it takes four years guaranteed then do it. If Fuentes is your man then sign him. Don’t dick around here pick your guy and sign him.

I think they want K-Rod but at a reduced price than he wants and I have a feeling Rodriguez’ agent is at a disadvantage going up against Omar and Tony B.

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I’m moving to a new desk today (a nice corner spot) so I wanted to post some items before I get busy with the heavy lifting so here we go:

 

No one is a bigger fanboy of Petey than me but no way, no how does Omar bring him back. Thank you Petey and good luck. See you in Cooperstown.

 

Okay all you commentators who told me I was out of my mind about bringing Jason Varitek to the Mets, after further review you guys are right I’m nuts. It just that I am not impressed with Brian Schneider both with the stick and especially behind the plate.

 

Anthony (or as we say in Brooklyn ANT-NEE) has a post on Hot Foot on the culinary treats awaiting us at $iti Field. If I were on the concession planning committee I would add an old time New York candy store at the ballpark as well. Have penny candies, Pretzels, Mets periodicals and of course EGG CREAMS!!!! If Freddy Skill Sets doesn’t have a spot for an Egg Cream concession then he’s not as Brooklyn as I think he is.

 

Speaking of $iti Field, Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball posts on how the name $iti Field will still be atop the ballpark even with the firm throwing 50,000 workers out into the street a month before Christmas.

 

 

Do you get the feeling that Francisco Rodriguez’ agent Paul Kinzer is in a bit over his head in negotiating a contract for his client? How do you not have the medical records from the Angles to show the Mets or any other team interested in K-Rod?

 

Happy Birthday Jay Hook. Also the late Cal Koonce was born on this day.

 

Omar better keep an eye on Brain Sabean as he is looking to grab all the fringe relievers on the market. I’m not a big fan of Sabean as I feel he is very overrated as a GM but the signing of Jeremy Affeldt was solid and the word is he is looking to lock up Joe Beimel and Juan Cruz as he sees the NL West as weak enough for the Giants to make a run at the division in ‘09

 

In this post by Joe Posnanski he writes about listening to football on the radio and how football in person is much tougher to watch than on TV as you need to see replays from three or four angles to appreciate what happened on every play. The best part of the post though is that Posnanski is writing a book on the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. I will be all over that book when it’s released. Back in those days, as much as I was a Mets fan the Mets were pretty bad and I just found the Big Red Machine fascinating.

 

WCBS880 has pics of $iti Field (with its grass in place) and the demo of Shea Stadium. I wish Shea was demoed already as watching these pics is torture. I hate watching Shea just waste away Please give the place the dignity it deserves.

 

I know hockey does not have the pizzazz of baseball or football in this town but Henrik Lundquist should be a much bigger deal in NYC than he is. Hopefully he and the Rangers will enjoy a Stanley Cup during his Ranger career as his goaltending will lead to his 30 to hang from the Garden rafters. 

 

Legendary basketball coach Pete Newell has passed away at 93 and big men everywhere are sad.

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Still trying to get the cobwebs out of my head from a hectic weekend. I spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday morning on the USS Massachusetts in Fall River MA. We left Staten Island at 6:00AM Saturday. The Massachusetts has quite a history and we spent most of the day going through out the ship from the boiler room to the area where the guns were loaded to the hospital on board and it was very interesting. Then we set up our quarters for the night as we slept on the ship along with 200 other people mostly Boy Scouts (our party had 30 boys/fathers in it)  Our “beds” were four cots hung in bunk like fashion on a big chain down a row. We made sure some of our “bigger” members didn’t take a top bunk. I was in a second from the bottom bunk and one of the scouts who took the top was tossing and turning all night. It was like sleeping on the Wonder Wheel. Not that I slept much as when lights out was given at 11pm the boys all went back to their bunks the adults went upstairs to a room where we played a game called “Pigs” it’s two little pigs that you toss like dice and how the pigs land determine the amount of points you receive or loses. Of course we made up different rules as we went along as the night got later and later the rules got even more ridiculous such as expulsion from the game if your pigs landed in an “inappropriate pig touching manner”. The game broke up a 1:30 AM as some people trying to sleep below us begged us to keep quiet and with 6:30AM revelry we deiced to call it a night. Only one father in our group severed in the armed service and he was in for 15 years. As we were going to our bunks he said to the group that he was thankful none of us served with him as he was sure we all would have wound up in the brig at one time or another.

 

Happy Birthday to The Franchise who turns 64 today.

 

The more info I get on the Mets obtaining a closer the more my head hurts but one thing is for sure they are in the driver seat and they will get THE closer they want. The way it looks is they are torn between Franscio Rodriguez and Brain Fuentes and who ever takes the 3 years plus option on a fourth year will be the man. The one consistent in the reports you read is the most important feature in making a deal for the Mets is length of contract and not money.  As much as I started the Bobby Jenks bandwagon if the price is F-Mart and Bobby Parnell that’s to much to give, unless Jermiane Dye is in the mix and Ryan Church could replace the Teen Age Hitting Machine in the deal, but the Mets Brain Trust is as high on Parnell as a player as they are on F-Mart so unless the price were to drop significantly on Jenks that deal will die.

 

The more you read about Kerry Woods the more intriguing a candidate he becomes and I’m a little surprised that the Mets are not mentioned more when it comes to Wood. After reading this post from ChicagoCubs online my interest in Wood piqued even more.

 

It looks as though the bullpen for the 2009 Mets could look as follows:

 

K-Rod/Fuentes

Juan Cruz

Joe Biemel

Joe Smith

Pedro Feliciano

Kunz/Parnell/Brad Holt?

 

Throw Chad Cordero in the mix on a spring training contract and I would bring Brandon Knight in camp as well. Also we still have to see all the non-tenders (Jason Issringhausen?) Rule 5’ers minor league free agents and international free agents as well but if Omar can get the closer he wants and adds Cruz and Biemel I’ll be impressed.

 

Is “$iti” Field on life support? Not the ball park but the name as it seems CitiGroup is some tough financial shape an looking to layoff personnel. If that happens how does the company continue to pay the Mets for the naming rights of their play pen? Can you say Shea II? Or Gil Hodges Field?

 

 

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Some days you have to fish for something to write about and then there are days like today where the stories come fast and furious. Before we get to the Mets news a little bit about the Jets-Pats game last night. You all know I’m a fan of the NY Football Giants but I was very happy the Jets won last night maybe it’s a kinder sprit that Mets fans have with Jets fans as we both live by the “what can go wrong, will go wrong” mantra so when I saw Randy Moss catch that 16 yard TD to tie the game all I could think of the Mets/Jets fan out there questioning what awful deed they had done in their life that sentenced them to this form of torture. One thing the Jets have over the Mets is Brett Farve; the Mets need a Brett Farve.

 

No way in hell am I getting my hopes up that the Mets will (a) Make a serious pitch for C C Sabathia and (b) go higher with a contract for Sabathia than that of Johan Santana. Now that’s not to say I wouldn’t want the Mets to pursue C C I’ve gone on record at the end of the season that I’d want the Mets to go balls out for the Hefty Lefty but it’s just not the Skill Set M.O. to go toe to toe with the Highlanders in a biding war. I still don’t understand the logic that the Highlanders have more dough than the Mets as what do the Highlanders have that the Mets don’t (besides the 26 World Series flags) Both teams have new homes, their own television network, and meddlesome kid owners so to me it’s not a question of topping the Highlander offer it’s more what effect would a bigger than his contract have on Santana. If Santana says to the Mets that he’s cool with his $22+ mil a year and gives his blessing to go get C C and make the Mets the most feared team on the planet then Omar should pull out all stops. If this is just a ploy to turn Pack A Day Hank into a chain smoking fool then back off because as much fun as that sounds to me I’m tired of getting all hot and bothered and then suffering with another case of Mets fan blue balls that this team has given us over the years. Either make a solid proposal to land the big Kahuna or stay the fuck out.

 

The Willets Point Project has been approved by the NYC Den of Thieves so now all the back room maneuvering can begin. I’m just wondering if this Sabathia talk is a coincidence now that Willets Point will go from a rat infested shit hole to a convention/entertainment area that you know will have Sterling Equities fingerprints all over it. That’s why I laugh at idiots like Mike Francesa who downplay the money the Mets have their disposal. King Mikey better watch his ample ass that the Skill Sets don’t purchase WFAN and make Manhasset Mikey the host of Mets Extra.

 

Boardwalk Lee Mazzilli will be looking for work as he was bounced from the analyst chair at SNY Mets Pre/Post Game.  Maybe Lee can get some work at Brennan and Car or at Randazzo’s Clam Bar. It looks like the suits at SNY are waking up and seeing the suckitude of the on air talent they foist on Mets fans. I’m not done with my investigation but I have a strong suspicion that Matt Yallof is either a cousin or nephew of the Skill Sets/Uncle Saul Katz family as how else would he keep his job.

 

None of it matters because starting Jan 1 2009 the Baseball Network will be on the air and I get to see Hazel Mae again in all her beautiful glory. As part of my bucket list I have Hazel Mae, Tila Tequila and me spending a weekend in a champagne glass hot tub at the Mount Airy Lodge in the Poconos.

 

For a thorough analysis of the Nick Swisher to the Highlanders deal (a good pick up by Pee Wee Cashman) check out Mike Silva’s NY Baseball Digest.

 

A post from Curt Schilling on his 38pitches site usually gives me a stomach ache but this one taking on the case for Jason Varitek was very good, so good in fact in the Red Sox don’t want Tek I’d love to see the Mets sign him as an upgrade over Brian Schneider. Hat tip to BBTF for the link 

 

No blogging this weekend as I’m going on a trip with my son and his Boy Scout troop to the USS Massachusetts up in Fall River MA. It’s an overnighter so by the time I get home Sunday evening after being surrounded by 20 kids in a confined area I’m going to need a sedative. All this to make sure my kids put me in the good nursing home.

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The Den of Thieves (A/K/A NYC City Council) votes today on the re-development of Willets Point so lets see if rats and chop shops win over jobs, housing and progress.

 

D-Wright says he will bang the Mets tom-tom for the franchise to any free agent looking to join the club. D-Wright is a true blue Met but I get a bit queasy when you have to recruit guys to join your team especially when you are a NYC team. The Mets will have no shortage of sutiors some with real interest in join the team others who are looking to up their ante with other clubs, and one of Omar Minaya’s strong suits is his street smarts to know how to separate the phonies from the players who have a real interest in being Mets.

 

The closer contest looks to be very interesting as the Mets will start there it seems on the road to revamp the ballclub. It looks like the shopping list will go in order, closer/relievers, starting pitchers (2), catcher, outfield bat.

 

Newsday states that the Mets are now looking at Bobby Jenks. My consultants check is in the mail I hope.

Jake Peavy to the Braves looks like a done deal and that puts a little extra pressure on the Mets to strengthen the pitching staff and it also helps CC Sabathia get even more of the Steinbrenner millions.

Hops Weiss has a very good column on the state of college basketball here in the NYC area.  None of the area Divsion I teams are predicted to do much this season or be a factor come tournament time. Wiess lays out how college hoops used to be when St Johns ruled the roost.

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Carlos Canal owns a towing business at Willets Point but he was more than happy to sell his parcel of land to the City of New York to move to a better facility for his business and for the redevelopment of this eye sore property and Mr. Canal feels his fellow Willets Pointers should do the same as the area is literally a dump and a health hazard:

 

{You get tired of this place. It’s a disgrace. It’s too dirty. It’s filled with garbage and dust, and there are potholes everywhere. You can’t keep anything in our shop clean. The area is filled with rats. If you put a piece of bread in the middle of Willets Point, a thousand rats would run out and attack it. The city has to do something with this property. It’s disgusting, and you can’t work here because it makes you sick.}

 

Even without the new ball park this area has needed an overhaul for years and now with the promise of affordable housing and jobs for area residents this proposal needs to pass the Den of Thieves (NYC City Council) if not maybe President Obama could assign a Special Prosecutor to investigate the area political hacks who oppose this deal to find out why?  

 

 

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You could say with a half descent bullpen behind him, there would have been a first time press conference at $iti Field today to announce Johan Santana as the 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner but instead the award goes to the Frisco Phenom Tim Lincecum and it’s hard to argue the choice. I know it really doesn’t matter who comes in 2nd or 3rd in these awards contests but how could 9 voters not give Santana either a 2nd or 3rd place vote?

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Rumors are rampant that Baseball Prospectus could be bought out by the WWL and added to it’s family of web based content. Here at the Eddie Kranepool Society we are still very independent and plan to stay that way, unless of course either Al Goldstein or Larry Flynt want to talk to to me about a buy out.

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