A few quick hits:

Yesterday we were told not to worry about Lucas Duda’s balky back that he was rested yesterday to spare him a long bus ride and he will be good to go today when the team buses to Viera (90 min trip) to meet the Nats. Well, Duda wasn’t on that bus and will sit out again today.

David Wright we were told will take a day or two off with some discomfort in his rib cage, nothing serious just a precaution. Wright has yet to play this week.

Pedro Beato has some soreness in the rotator cuff but it’s nothing serious a little rest and he should be fine.

Scott Hairston still has not responded to treatment of his re-strained oblique muscle and it looks like he will not start the season on the 25 man roster making a tissue thin bench even thinner.

But don’t worry we’re told, it’s early in spring these are little nagging things that will work its way out. In the Brooklyn neighborhood I grew up in there was an old saying “Don’t worry is doing 15 years in Sing Sing”

This is why Mets fans hang and cringe on every pitch that Johan Santana throws as we know it’s just a matter of time before his arm falls off.

Can a team use the disabled list for players that have a psychological injury? I ask this because if you can, Jason Bay is a candidate for shutdown. Reading the stories on how Bay is placing his feet differently in the batter’s box and thinking so much about his approach at the plate to where he knows he needs to be more selective and lay off pitches off the plate it just seems his biggest problem is he’s thinking too much and not reacting at all at the plate. It seems he spends his at bats thinking about 1,001 ways to get a hit and while his head is filled with all this distraction, he’s become absent minded to reaction to pitches.  That Capt Kirk/Jason Bay platoon in left field looks better and better every day.

When did Omar Minaya become the GM of the NY Jets? So Eli Manning coming off a Super Bowl win, the second of his career and his second Super Bowl MVP award restructures his contract down instead of asking for a well-deserved raise so his team has money to sign players that will help the Giants add to their trophy case while the Jets extend the contract of Mark Sanchez whose leadership qualities are questioned in his own locker room. Stunning.

I’m not saying you can’t win a Super Bowl with Mark Sanchez, you can, but you have to have a plan and signing free agents with questionable character is not the way to do. Rex Ryan preached “ground and pound” but the Jets do not practice that mantra. It still amazes me how Mike Tannenbaum stays below the Jets fans radar, if I were a Jets fan I’d want him fired.

For all of us Mets fans who want the Skill Sets to sell the team, let’s be careful what we wish for.  If the Mets were up for sale, Jim Dolan and his Cablevision billions will be front and center with a bid. Now if I knew Dolan would treat the Mets like he does the Rangers, it wouldn’t be too bad but if he’s hands on like he is with the Knicks that would be an unmitigated disaster.

The Mets need another Nelson Doubleday to take over ownership of this team.  I found this article from the New York Observer from October 30^th 2000, right after the Subway World Series, that details how Doubleday and Freddy Skill Sets had opposite views on how the direction of the team and of Shea Stadium.

In the beginning, Doubleday Publishing owned 95 percent of the team. Mr. Doubleday gained a reputation as a hands-off owner who let general manager Frank Cashen make all the baseball decisions. The strategy paid off in 1986, when a Mets team filled with young players cultivated by Mr. Cashen won the World Series

And when it came to Shea Stadium, Nelly D was in favor of renovation to save money and to preserve Shea:

Mr. Wilpon’s allies maintained that the stadium controversy was just a misunderstanding. Mr. Doubleday, they say, simply did not know the status of Mr. Wilpon’s negotiations. That may be true, but Mr. Doubleday apparently hasn’t changed his mind. “I’m not particularly interested in seeing a whole lot of taxpayer money going into a New York Mets fancy-dancy stadium,” Mr. Doubleday told The Observer while watching batting practice before Game 3 on Oct. 24. “We could [renovate Shea Stadium] over three years, section by section. This is a pretty nice place to play ball.”

I don’t know how much of Doubleday’s wanting to renovate Shea rather than build Citi was more his love of Shea or using that money to better the on field product or if it was just Nelly breaking Freddy’s balls. Either way I like Doubleday’s style.

Attention New York Rangers Fans: Keep Calm, Carry On Coach Torts will get this team to “Fuckin’ screw it on straight”

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Cheap trick – i want you to want me by la_shivi>

Seems the Mets can’t even get through a choose up game without controversy.  It was reported that Scott Hairston has re-aggravated the left oblique muscle that knock him out for the last month of last  season. We also found out that David Wright will be held out of spring games until Wednesday the earliest with a tweak of his left rib cage, LHP Robert Carson had an injection to ease the pain of an injury to his intercostal muscle and then the news broke that Ike Davis has/hasn’t Valley Fever. Whew! I need two Tylenol just typing that out.

The reaction to Ike’s illness was a bit over the top as the blood test he took in Manhattan last week showed no sign of the disease but a Mets doctor felt he had the symptoms of Valley Fever. Ike says he feels great and doesn’t think this is a big deal, if he feels fatigued he will let Terry Collins know and take a day off if he needs it. Right now he says he doesn’t so we move on. One thing though, Sandy Alderson has to be a wee bit concerned if Ike has to take a day or two off a week if this illness is more than we think and having Justin Turner as Ike’s caddy at first base just won’t cut it.

Whenever I hear of a Mets players going down with a muscle pull or tightness, I get very Jerry Seinfled-ian and clinch my face and fist and yell out “RAMIREZ”!!!! as in Ray Ramirez, the Mets head trainer.

Three players, three muscle strains one of which was suffered last year, has to bring up a red flag about this training staff and it’s head guy Ray Ramirez.  I have no idea why the three have suffered muscle problems this early in spring but if I were the GM, I’d have my head trainer in my office first thing in the morning and he better have a damn good explanation for why this happened.

Mets single game tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10AM and this season it seems the Mets will have a Concert Series after some games.

The first of the series kicks off June 15^th with REO Speedwagon. Back in the day we referred to bands like this as “milk and cookie” bands just too sweet and safe for our musical taste and quite frankly they are still too sweet for my taste.

Now the second concert will feature Cheap Trick who I did like way back when. They always put on a good show as Rick Nielsen was very entertaining with his various axes and Robin Zander’ vocals were just near borderline milk and cookies but my favorite band member was Bun E. Carlos on drums. Carlos always had a Charlie Watts vibe about him I thought.  It is kind of sad to see that they have become post game entertainment in the twilight of their careers but its work I guess. This one I will make an effort to attend.

Mercy Me is the name of the third band and they will play on August 10^th after the Mets-Braves game. I had never heard of this band and when I found out they are a Christian Rock band I knew why I had never heard of them.

You don’t really need Newsday to tell us that the Mets stadium revenues have been sliding every year since Citi Field opened in 2009. All you had to do was go to a game in July and August to see it up close and personal. Many games last year the parking lots there were so many spots that you could take up four of them and no one would complain. Many games I went to in that time span and sat in the Promenade and saw the only food concession open were the ones in the Promenade food court. Even if you didn’t come out to Citi Field and just watched on TV you saw all the seats behind home plate from dugout to dugout lacking ass’ in them.

But don’t worry Freddy and his Fins say, it’s all good.

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WOW, Springsteen just gets better and how about Tom Morello joining him? SO you have the E Street Band, Rage Against The Machine and The Roots all under one roof, take a bow Jimmy Fallon

Yes by the way this video is taking my mind off the news that Scott Hairston re-injured his oblique (ob-la-da) muscle and David Wright felt a “twinge” in his back today so he didn’t play in today’s inter-squad game , Of course the Mets tells us to move on nothing to see here, when it fact we’ve seen it all before

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Yesterday was the day that always has the Mets PR department breakout in a cold sweat, the day the Three Schmendricks show up at St. Lonesome. For the past three springs, I’ve pleaded with Freddy, Jeffey and Uncle Saul to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE refrain from giving a state of the organization address because it always ends badly.

Freddy Skill Sets has turned into the uncle we fear will fuck up a family function.  When asked about his finances, Freddy reaches into his pockets to show he has a fin or two to his name and proclaims himself solvent. He then proclaims “Yeah get used to me I’m gonna be here awhile” and with that the phones in the Mets ticket office at Citi Field go silent.

If Freddy’s presser wasn’t depressing enough, along came the word that Jeffey Skill Sets had gotten in touch with his inner Vera Wang and fancied himself as a t shirt designer with his Underdog t-shirt. Now I’m not against t-shirts for a cause but the one that Jeffey came up was a disgrace, cheap and childish but it did match his footy pj’s.

My idea for t-shirt for the team would be a fist holding Phillies, Marlins, Nationals and Braves players in it with the word BEWARE in blue underneath it, a nice macho, more testosterone than Ryan Braun’ urine, manly t-shirt. Not some bullshit cartoon superhero that would have gotten his ass kicked by Crusader Rabbit, Mighty Mouse and Courageous Cat, all superior cartoon animal super heroes.   

I asked the question yesterday on Twitter , which player would have the balls to step up and call bullshit on that shirt? I’m proud to say David Wright showed cojones to voice his displeasure with the whole underdog label.

Speaking of t-shirts this is the kind of t-shirt I love and thinking of getting one.

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Really not much Mets stuff to talk about, we’ve already covered Johan Santana and his left arm, the new dimensions of the outfield walls at Citi Field and Daniel Murphy playing 2^nd base.

We’ve discussed Sandy Alderson on Twitter (@MetsGM), the schedule for Mets bobble head days (no Kranepool bobbler though, sad!) We talked about the pessimistic/optimistic Mets fan, ticket packages, Ike Davis ankle, David Wright’s back and Lucas Duda outfield prowess.

We’ve learned that Josh Lewin will be Howie Rose’s tag team partner in the Mets radio booth, and that John Franco (not Edgardo Alfonzo) will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. The new/old uniforms are back, that’s been discussed and of course the financial state of the Skill Sets and the club has been expounded upon by experts and those who have trouble making change for a dollar.

Just think we’ve discussed, debated and beaten to death these and other subjects about our beloved Metsies even while Super Bowls were won, hockey team looking like Cup Champs and a kid from Harvard has stolen the heart of hoops fans of NYC.

The manager, coaches and many players are in camp. Dispatches with the address Pt. St. Lucie are now showing up on the fish wraps, soon SNY will transmit pictures and sounds of our heroes in action and not a moment too soon as me thinks some of the fan base needs a baseball fix badddddddly.

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At halftime of last night’s Super Bowl, the Mets/Giants fan contingent at the party I was at huddled in a corner worried as all hell that Tom Brady and the Patriots had turned the momentum of this game around and had taken total control. The biggest complaint was that the pass rush of the Giants wasn’t putting enough pressure on the Pats OL and thus giving Brady way too much time in the pocket.

The Highlander/Giants fan section just looked at us and laughed. “Hey, fuck Tom Brady, Wes Welker and that cripple Gronk” but “don’t you guys see this momentum swing”? To that they reply, “Have you seen Eli in the 4^th quarter” then came the kick to the Mets fans nuts “He ain’t David Wright you know” it wasn’t the knock on Wright that hurt but the laughter that came with it.

The Highlander/Giants fans look at Eli now as they do Derek Jeter. Eli is now New York Sports royalty. Two Super Bowl trophies and two Super Bowl MVP’s, have moved him to the front of the line with the likes of DiMaggio, Mantle, Jeter, even I dare say Messier close to Willis Reed right there with fellow Giants immortal Lawrence Taylor. It’s one thing to be a one-time champ in this town but when you get not only multiple titles but the MVP both times, you are in the rarefied air of NYC sports icons.

Again I never saw this coming, and I doubt any Giants fan did either. The story line here is on December 19^th the word on the NY sports street was Coughlin’s got to go, Jerry Reese too, in fact clean house altogether. The defense, the corner stone of the Giants franchise, was one of the worst in the league statistically but as the injured returned and the pass rush led by neophyte All World DT JPP and Justin Tuck taking the heat off the secondary was key for this Giants resurgence.

Now the coach, GM and QB are Teflon, no more criticisms, no more second guessing of this group after two championships in four years, a fan can get used to this.

Maybe this and the NY Rangers resurgence is a good omen for the Mets. Both teams’ foundations are built on home grown players that were drafted or signed and traded for using comprehensive scouting. Mets fans have to hope the front office can find a baseball equivalent of Victor Cruz an undrafted free agent. Or make a deal that brings back a Ryan McDonagh type that has the great confluence of youth, toughness and talent.

I’m livin’ La Vida Loco of my sports fan life right now, one of my teams of rooting interest will be parading downtown tomorrow morning , right by my office and my favorite hockey team is not only leading the leading their conference but they are the toughest bunch of Rangers to skate the MSG ice and my beloved Celtics, who all the experts claim are too old to make a run not just relying on the Big 3 but on a deep bench that makes major contributions of late, especially the maturation of Avery Bradley and the rookie Boilermakers, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twan Moore (ok sorry about the Celtics tangent)

Maybe Terry Collins will use this Giants victory a physiological tool for his team, which the majority of those who follow baseball believe this coming season to be a train wreck. Collins should tell his team that the same Mets nay-sayers buried the Giants too and drive home the no one loves and respects us but ourselves. Then show them the Canyon of Heroes parade and the fact the champions eat and drink free in NYC.  

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David Wright held his Vegas Night charity event in Virginia Beach last night and gave some quotes to the media about the upcoming season.  I don’t know if this means much of anything but Wright it seems, has spent a lot of time back home in Virginia that I can remember in an off season. He was at Citi Field for the unveiling of the new uni’s but since then there hasn’t been much site of Wright around town.

Wright seems already agitated about hearing about trade rumors and being quizzed on a daily basis about his next baseball destination. He’s quoted as seeing Jose Reyes getting grilled about relocation last season and he doesn’t want to go through that. I wonder what that says about Wright? Maybe I’m being too critical of Wright but maybe it’s time he grew up and realized he’s not going to be a Met 4 Life.

Doesn’t Wright see the handwriting on the wall? First, he plays for a team whose owner is like a co-worker who lives pay check to pay check and for a GM who has no emotional ties to him. Just like the GM had none to Jose Reyes. He will make $15 mil this season and has a $16mil team option for 2013 with a club buyout of $1mil. You know how many bargain basement pitchers you can buy for $16 mil?

Wright should take a page from Reyes and Carlos Beltran, especially Beltran who knew his Mets days were numbered and used it as motivation to bounce back and get sent to a contender. Wright needs to get in the same mind set, stop worrying about being traded (for Christ sake Babe Ruth, was dealt away) and not worry about the Mets and just worry about himself.

Between the Wilpon’s money woes and Sandy Alderson’s distain for long term contracts, it’s easy to see that these are the final days of David Wright as a member of the NY Mets. Is it sad? Sure it is. We all wanted to see Wright play his full career as a Met with a couple of championships and Hall of Fame credentials on his resume but neither is going to happen. Maybe the fan base needs to grow up a bit as well.

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Now that we have the holidays out of the way, we can now look forward to spring training for what should be quite the interesting Mets season.

Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue had an interesting post today on how bad will the Mets be in 2012? Of course the number one item on his list of things that will impact the season is the Skill Sets financial situation, something that will most likely overshadow what goes on, on the field but Simon also touches on the health and availability of Johan Santana, the hitting of Jason Bay and David Wright and where the offensive production lost from Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes will come from.

So my question to you my loyal readers, what is your expectation for the Mets this coming season? What is a realistic expectation of this team and what will be their standing in the NL East, a division that could be up for grabs if the reports of Prince Fielder signing with Washington are true. Can you see anything short of a last place finish in the division? Right now, I can’t.

Where do you see Johan Santana this season? For me, I’d be surprised if we see Santana pitch for the Mets before June.

What to do with David Wright? Wright is not a player, right now that could realistically bring back a treasure trove of young talent but what if he is invigorated by good health and more friendly dimensions of Citi Field and puts up a .300/.380/.500 line with 15-17 HR’s and 75-80 + RBI by the All-Star break, do you keep him and hope a new owner comes in with cash to re-sign him or is the lure of young robust baseball players to tempting to turn down in a trade?  I’m still undecided on this one but I am leaning towards a deal if the Mets get back a blue ribbon prospect or a young Major Leaguer under club control.

When I go to opening day at Citi Field, who else will be there? If you are a true blue Mets fan and having been going to Mets games your whole life I can’t see how now you decide to sit this season out. No one has a right to tell you how to spend your time or money but as Boggy said, “a hot dog at a ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz”. So true, I mean today when I left for work I had on a sweater, coat, scarf and wool hat. You know what? That sucks. I want to wear shorts and t-shirt and have a scorecard in my hand. I have made peace with myself that the Mets will not be very good this season to the point that 100 losses would not shock me. However, there is still a part of me that small sliver of Mets fan naivete` that still has me holding out hope that this season could be full of surprises and I want to be there to enjoy them.  I know all the die-hards will be out at Citi Field on Thursday April 5^th at 1:10PM, will you be there? If not tell me why not?

It’s funny the other teams I root for in other sports are playing at a level where they are contenders for championships in their respective leagues but it’s the Mets that are on my mind the most  and my biggest concern. Crazy shit eh?

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I’m sure many of you have read the stories concerning former Philadelphia Inquirer baseball writer Bill Conlin and the sickening accusation that he sexually abused children, some who were his niece and nephew, over 40 years ago. It’s so sad that these people have had to carry this burden around with them for all these years and now due to the statute of limitations, Conlin cannot be arrested and prosecuted for the alleged crime he committed which is a shame.    

I bring up Conlin here because I got an e mail to moderate a comment on this sight from a poster named Edgy DC who found a post I wrote here back in November 2007 about a feud I had with Conlin back then via e mail.  Check out the post from November 23, 2007 where I discussed with Conlin that a Phillies blogger wrote about how he felt David Wright was more deserving of the NL MVP award than Jimmy Rollins. The back and forth I have with Conlin is pretty comical but with the severity of the allegation against Conlin now, I feel bad I didn’t wait for outside Shea Stadium and beat the living shit out of him.    

Big thank you to Edgy DC for finding this post and linking it back

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For some reason, I have centerfielders on my mind

All’s quiet in Flushing and according to Adam Rubin, it will stay quiet until the team meets in Port St. Lonsome. Seems the Mets are close to reaching their budget ceiling of $90Mil

The only thing that has me thinking the signing of Yu Darvish is a good move is that Nolan Ryan is running the Rangers  and if he didn’t think Darvish was worth it, the Rangers would never have bid over $50 mil to obtain his rights. Imagine having $50 mil to throw around just for a bid on a player? SIGH!  I miss those big market days    

Happy Birthday to David Wright who is 29 years old today and still a Met.  Rumor is he wanted a strawberry shortcake birthday cake but got a cherry filled cake instead #BlameBeltran

Mets Police has his released his Airing of Grievances today after giving out his awards for 2011 (The Mazzilli’s)

Frank Fransisco is officially a Mets after passing his physical two weeks after agreeing to a deal. The hold up was the club was trying to scrape together the co-pay.

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed Jason Kubel to a 2yr/$15 mil contract yesterday. This relegates Gerardo Parra, the 2011 Gold Glove winner, to fourth outfielder status. If I’m the GM of the Mets ( I just play a GM here on the internet) I am on the phone right now with Kevin Towers trying to find a way get Parra to the Mets to play center field.

Finally Happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate the holiday

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