I wish I had some kind of good Mets news today besides Ryan Church signing for 1yr/$2.8 mil and Angel Pagan signing for $575K (how great a job is it being a fridge player on a ML team? Pagan was hurt nearly all season. When he was getting back in shape he got to play in Brooklyn, then his shoulder was still sore and he shut it down for the season for all that he gets a raise of a little less than $175K.) So now here is what the Mets outfield looks like:

Manny Ramirez (Ah, I’m just fucking with ya head!)

Really here are the outfielders:

Tatis, Murphy, Beltran, Church, Reed, Sullivan, Pagan.

If you take out Beltran you would have a real 1962 throw back kind of outfield. The lone true right handed hitter is Tatis with Beltran and Pagan going from both sides of the plate but Beltran hits all pitching but Pagan is a much better hitter  from where else but the left side of home plate. Hey it’s all right with the exception of Beltran they all work cheap. Oh and don’t forget The Teen-Aged Hitting Machine who hits (what else?) left handed.

  I’m at the point now where I want Omar to sign Ben Sheets and Randy Wolf and kick Oliver Perez to the curb. If by some outlandish way the Mets would over pay in years and money to OP it would have disaster written all over it. The longer OP holds out for a Mets contract the more pressure he puts on himself and the first game his gets his ass handed to him in the first inning and the $iti Field crowd boos him and calls him an over paid piece of shit it will be uglier than Amy Winehouse the morning after and all night bender.

 

 

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So last night Omar Minaya was a guest on SNY’s Hot Stove show and of course one of the big questions was about Manny Ramirez (is it me or are the Skill Sets the only folks in Metsdom who against Manny as a Met?) but Omar never answered the question in fact all he needed was fruit basket on his head because he did a great Carmen Miranda imitation:

From Matt Cerrone’s Mets Blog:

Asked specifically about Manny Ramirez, and whether he has recommended signing him to ownership, Minaya said:

{“Manny Ramirez is a great player… But, the reality is, we have been focused on pitching… If you don’t have the foundation with starting pitching, I just don’t believe you win championships… So, we have to address our starting pitching and our bullpen first… Like anything else, you put your team together, like all GMs, you have a game plan, but the bottom line is you have to focus on pitching.”}

Huh? Omar? Manny? The question was about acquiring Manny Ramirez? Yes we need pitching no doubt but a right handed hitting outfielder should on your shopping list as well. Omar seems to be ready to become a City Councilman. 

 

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The Mets will sign either Derek Lowe or Oliver Perez

 

Uh oh, fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner. 

 

But they won’t try to sign them both

 

I’m an excellent driver. 

 

The Mets have no interest in signing Manny Ramirez 

 

Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway every Saturday. ‘Course the seats were originally brown leather now they’re a pitiful red.

 

Even though Omar loves Manny and supposedly has full autonomy over the baseball operation

 

It’s a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Straight 8. Fireball 8. Only 8,985 production models. Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway. But not on Monday, definitely not on Monday. 

 

But Jeffey Skill Sets has the final say on all money spent

 

‘Course, three minutes to Wapner. 

 

The Mets have a dire need for a right handed bat in their line up

 

Uh oh fart. Uh oh fart. 

 

But they’re happy with a left field platoon of Dan Murphy and Fernando Tatis

 

Ten minutes to Wapner. We’re definitely locked in this box with no TV. 

 

But back to the pitching. Mets fans have been told that pitching is a priority but besides signing Frankie Rodriguez and trading for J J Putz, the starting rotation is in need of two more arms

 

 It’s definitely very small in here. 

 

I’m not excited about Tim Redding, are you?

 

 I don’t think so. No. Definitely not. 

 

And what about the second base situation, Gimp Castillio? PLEASE!!!!!

 

Serious injury book is a red book, that book is blue. 

 

You know I can’t get away from the pitching staff, I mean it’s great that the 8th and 9th inning is set but the rotation is awfully thin,  wouldn’t be worth the Mets while to try and sign both Lowe and Perez

 

Of course you can’t have pancakes without maple syrup. 

 

That’s what I’m saying, build a strong starting rotation to take the pressure off the bullpen.

 

Maple syrup is supposed to be on the table before the pancakes. 

 

YES YES I see it the maple syrup is the starting pitchers and they get you to the back end  bullpen which is the pancakes or the main part of pitching staff I see I see

 

I like to drive slow on the driveway. 

 

Like the Lowe negotiations? Well it’s one thing to “drive slow” but maybe you can step on the accelerator and sign Derek Lowe.

 

Course driving your car on this interstate is very dangerous. 

 

Yeah but maybe it’s time to make a move here on Derek Lowe.

 

Yeah? 

 

Yeah, if you’re asking me yeah do it make the move sign Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez Got that? DO IT! DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

  These are not boxer shorts. Mine are boxer shorts. These are Hanes 32. 

 

We’re fucked!!!!

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I’m having my living room torn apart and a massive redesign so between the noise, the clutter of furniture, debris and taking down Christmas decorations I’m sneaking in a post before the workers come back from lunch so just a quickie for today

Looks like the free agent market is starting to flow a bit with word that Omar and Scott Boras will sit down for lunch today and discuss Derek Lowe and Ollie P (you would think with all the fan pressure and media pressure even the Great Bloviator Francesa is on our side that the  Mets should find a way to get Manny Ramirez that the Skill Sets would let Omar even discuss it with Boras.) It looks like Omar wants to get his pitching in a row as he has offered deals to Tim Redding and is getting ready for Randy Wolf as the word is Mets pitchers and catchers are to report to St Lonesome on Feb 13.

A must read today is Curt Schillings 38 Pitches blog where he destroys Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe even using his “CHB” (Curly Haired Boyfriend) nickname. I hope Bob Ryan can give Shaughnessy some help getting the broom stick Schilling stuck up his ass removed

Remember tomorrow night at 9 EST Pro Baseball Central back on the air with the first show of ’09

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I’m having my living room renovated next week (my wife has some Highlander in her DNA as most people are cutting back on spending we are tearing apart our whole living room from the ceiling to the walls to the floors and remaking it at a cost that will have me strolling downtown Staten Island in hot pants and high heels to make extra dough) and I have had to move a lot of stuff down to my basement a/k/a The World Headquarters of The Eddie Kranepool Society. One of the items I brought down was a stereo receiver, turntable and speakers. I didn’t use it must upstairs because my family is not a big fans of the music I like which runs from Heavy Metal/Punk/ and 60′s Rock n Roll. But now that I moved all of these components downstairs I’m spinning vinyl like I’m Murray the K. So as I type this post I am enjoying DERRINGER LIVE with Robin Trower VICTIMS OF FURRY on deck. Now on to the post:

 

I’m coming to the realization that when spring training begins late next month in Port St. Lonesome, Manny Ramirez will not be walking through the clubhouse door. So it looks like the Mets will go with a Dan Murphy/Fernando Tatis platoon in LF which still makes me a bit queasy. I love Murphy and would love to see him play everyday at first base (Trading high on Delgado will come back to bite Omar in the ass this season ) but Tatis really has to prove to me that he is not a deal with the devil player. I still say losing him and Damien Easley was the most overlooked reason for Collapse II  but that doesn’t mean he will pick up where he left off plus right now the 6-9 spots in the Mets lineup scares no one but Mets fans:

 

Tatis-toss up

 

Schneider-sucks

 

Castillo-blows

 

Pitcher-automatic out

 

Mike Silva posts today that with the Dodgers restructuring the contract of Andruw Jones that it could be a sign that the Castillo-Jones deal is alive and what Jones would mean to the Mets especially if it means the Mets sign O Hudson. I just wonder what Fat Andy has left in his ample tank and could he co-exist with Carlos Beltran in CF? Remeber the last time the Mets played two centerfielder’s it was a Headbanger’s Ball.

 

Speaking of Manny, Henry Shulman of the SF Examiner has the Giants-Manny scenario laid out here.

 

Metsmerized Online has a Q & A that Larry Jones did with the Sporting News and Larry is not shy about his feelings toward the Mets, Phillies and Highlanders. I’ve always had a healthy respect for Jones even though he is an all time Mets killer but he’s a no bullshit kind of guy and I like that.

 

Last night I went to the Prudential Center for the first time to see the Devils play the Montreal Canadiens (a Christmas gift from Mrs. Kranepool Society) and I have to say it is one spectacular venue. I love the wide open concourse with plenty of room to walk around and how it connects right into the seating area which has plenty of leg room. I loved the organ music before the game and between periods intermission as it gave that old time feel to being at a hockey game, plus the urban setting is something I love in fact I may have been the only one in my family that was looking forward to going to Newark. The atmosphere in the arena was so much better than any time I’ve been to the Meadowlands, which always gave me a feeling of being in the middle of no where because I guess it is in the middle of no where. There were loads of Habs fans at the game most of whom were on a package trip to NYC for New Years, and they were loud and raucous. 

 

There were a few annoying things though. They have this guy who runs around the arena and dances and carries on like an real asshole between play stoppage. He has on about 30 t-shirts that say “Jersey’s Team” on them and he whips them off while he dances in the aisle and throws them into the stands. My wife said if one of those sweaty t shirts come near her she would kick his ass. My wife is my Dave Semenko. Then they have these “cheerleaders” who dance in the concourse. It’s real cheesy and the ‘cheerleaders” are all way to skinny (I like my ladies with some junk in the trunk) and should have a funnel cake or two. They don’t open the doors to the arena until an hour before game time I guess I’m so used to Madison Square Garden (I’ll be there tomorrow to see my Boston Celtics and to plead with Doc Rivers not to let Stephon Marbury anywhere near his team) where there is lots of people and you can hang out at ice side and chat with Al Trautwig or John Giannone and watch warm ups. You can’t do that at The Rock as you have to have a ticket for that section to get in but you can hang out on the lower concourse and watch the warmups/game from there while having something to eat or drink.

 

The best part though, from my garage to the front door of the Rock is just 17 miles. Easy to get to and back from. I’ll be making more trips there I’m sure.

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Everybody awake? How’s that hangover? That’s one thing I don’t miss from my drinking days as club soda has no kick but you wake up fresh the next day and what used to be a day to watch college football bowl games is now a day to watch the NHL Winter Classic and the debut of the MLB Network.

As a kid I loved New Years Day Bowl Games because there was real meaning to the games and at the end of the night there was a National Champion. Today, with the exception of the Rose Bowl (I’m a big JoePa fan go Nittany Lions!)  I couldn’t care less about any of these games. My focus today is the Blackhawks and Red Wings from Wrigley and hopping that next year the Winter Classic is played in NYC.

As expected Derek Lowe told the Mets that 3yr/$36 mil is not enough for his services and of course we’re not surprised. I’m not going to get my draws in a bunch with this as I know and we all know that the Mets will be the last phone call Scott Boras makes before Lowe signs any place else. It’s a slow dance and there will be a lot of foreplay before this union is consummated.

There is a petition on NYFS begging the Skill Sets to open the coffers for Manny Ramirez. I know the Skill Sets have a few minions who scourer the ‘net to see what the fans are thinking so hopefully one of those geeks stumbled over here to see that the fans base wants the ownership to man up for Manny.

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First and foremost a Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone and a huge thank you for your support of this site and of Pro Baseball Central and my wish to you is good health and happiness and hopefully post season baseball for our Mets.

 

Finally Omar has reached out to Scott Boras and Derek Lowe with an offer. While the Mets offer of 3yrs/$36mil is nowhere near the reported 5yr/$90mil that Boras was looking for, it is a starting point.  The Mets do not want to go more than 3 years with Lowe and with the big boys on the sideline (Highlanders and Red Sox) this looks like advantage Mets.  I could see a scenario where there is a 4^th year option and maybe the money goes up two or three million with Omar telling Scot Boras he’s doing it as a face saving measure and let Boras know he “owes him one” but it looks like this will get done soon.

Then it will be interesting to see where Omar turns next. The longer Manny Ramirez sits out on the open market the more pressure there is on the Skill Sets to get in the Manny game. Word is leaking out of the air tight front office bunker that Omar wants to get Manny in Blue and Orange but the stumbling block is getting the Skill Sets to release the purse strings. If Manny slips through the Mets hands due to Jeffey and Freddie not giving Omar FULL AUTONOMY  to make this deal and Manny Ramirez signs with GOD FORBID the Highlanders or goes back to LA for a 2 year deal I am putting the Mets on notice that whatever past posting here toward management they thought were venomous and nasty will look like love letters  compared to the carpet bombing I have in store for them if they pussy out with Manny. I’m not looking for them to go more than 2yrs for Manny so I don’t think that’s outlandish.

 

Long time reader of this site Nik Kolidas has a new Mets blog Kiner’s Korner which not only has a terrific layout but the content is first rate. Click on the link and bookmark the page and thank me latter.

 

Outstanding job by Amazin’ Avenue with their detailed comparison of Oliver Perez vs. Ben Sheets. If or when Derek Lowe signs with the Mets adding Ben Sheets to a 2yr deal would an outstanding outside the box move by the Mets. Which means it won’t happen.

 

Over at Mike Silva’s NY Baseball Digest there are a couple of items that are must reads. First Mike has a posting on January as the Month of Manny and this passage should be e-mailed to Jeffey Skill Sets or better yet I would love to hand deliver it to him and shove it in his face to make sure he gets the message:

   {The Mets, although improved, might need something to get past their 2007/2008 failures. Johan Santana should have done it, but the dour Willie Randolph negated all good will from that coup of a signing. The excitement of having two closers is nice, but putting Ramirez in left field would create a fresh buzz to the new ballpark. Imagine opening day and Manny hits a three run homer in the first. They may need to check the new buildings structure to ensure it’s ready for that kind of punishment. Manny would take a solid lineup and make it great. There is that g-word again. Unfortunately, there is no Hank Steinbrenner in the Wilpon family. Even an engaging salesman like Omar MInaya has been unable to convince Fred and Jeff on Ramirez. The fans remember Vladimir Guerrero and the winter of 2003. Maybe another rally with Craig Carton at Citi Field would help the Wilpon’s remember.}

 

BRAVO MIKE!!!!!

 

Also on NYBD is Frank Maniscalco who will be the sites Czar of Fantasy Baseball this year. You may know Frank as Frankie The Sports Guy and now he has added fantasy baseball to his ever growing résumé.

 

Good to see Charles Barkley getting that last DUI of 2008 out of the way early.

 

 

   

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So how was Christmas? Mine was outstanding but I have to work today so that sucks. I got a new NY Rangers jacket that I wanted. It has the big NEW YORK RANGERS crest on the back with the Stanley Cup years on the sleeve and was thrilled to open that on Christmas morning. So with all the hoopla yesterday I’m tired today and not really feeling like doing anything but I have work to do so I’ll just have this thought for the day.

 

The longer Manny Ramirez sits out on the free agent market the more anxious I get wanting the Mets to go out and grab him. I know the Skill Sets have said “No Way” and now it seems Omar is still interested in grabbing him but is finding resistance from the owners. Now if that is the Skill Sets position that the Mets are not players for Manny’s service I feel they have an obligation to Mets fans to explain as to why they are against this move.

 

Is it due to the monetary obligation? So far the best public offer has been the Dodgers 2yr/$44mil. So if you offered Manny/Boras say 2yr/$50mil with an option on a third year would the Dodgers top that? I doubt it. The only other serious bidder would be the Angels (although the Highlanders could bid just to show how they feel they are better than everyone else, “Hey, Pee Wee Cashman why do you wash your car with Evian”? Because that’s how us Highlanders roll motherfucker!) and even with their financial problems if the Skill Sets can’t afford to pay Manny that kind of coin then maybe Bernie Madoff should own the team.

 

If it’s Manny’s Manny Being Manny attitude then I call bullshit, because right know the attitude of the New York Mets sucks as they have been labeled as “chokers”, “losers” and “frauds” and no matter what you think of Manny Ramirez he is none of those. In fact if he would sign with the Mets a collective “OH SHIT” would be heard through out the National League none louder than in the Land of Cheesesteaks. Everyone on the Mets can be intimidated (except of Johan Santana) but Manny is never intimidated. In fact Manny is feared and no one on the Mets (except of Johan Santana) is feared

 

The longer Manny is on the market the more the pressure is on the Skill Sets to back up their words. Didn’t Jeffey Skill Sets say there is no budget and that even with the Madoof rip off didn’t he boast that the Skill Sets still had plenty of scratch? (go look it up like I told you I’m tired and now the more I write this post the more fucking cranky I’m getting) So back it  up Jeffey, Back it the fuck up and show me some balls and sign Manny Ramirez. The Mets are in dire need of a right handed bat and right in front of you is the best righty bat in the world and all it takes is money, money that you bragged about is still flowing into your pockets, that can secure this much needed bat. Manny is not a luxury item he is a neccisity.

 

I’m not on a rant because of the Highlander spending spree as my sights are on the  Phillies. That’s the team to beat and not only do I want to beat them I want them to pay for mocking the Mets and Mets fans. Yeah that’s right. Holiday sprit my ass. I want teams to look at that 2009 schedule and swallow hard and say “OH SHIT THE METS ARE COMING TO TOWN”.   You want to hate the Mets? Let’s give them something to hate a middle of the batting order with Manny-Beltran-Wright how’s that for hate?

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It has got to be tough for the main streamers who cover baseball as this is a limbo period of the hot stove where it’s rumor after rumor (some of them made up just to fill up media space and time) because it will be one more week before teams can make contract offers to free agents. So while we wait the baseball owners to stimulate the economy there are some very interesting article on the web such as:

 

Paul Greco at Gotham Baseball has a great overview of Mets and Highlander prospect playing in the AFL. Reading the scouting reports on some of our prospects in the league there it looks more and more that the demise of the Mets farm system has been greatly exaggerated. I was upset over the thumbs down from the scouts that Eddie Kunz received as he has had an uneven performance so far in the AFL. I watch Kunz pitch in Brooklyn and his pedigree as a top collegiate closer made me think he’d emerge a lot faster as a viable pitcher in the bullpen especially with the fact that he throws a good sinking fastball that you’d think would translate into ground ball outs. I’m not ready to give up on Kunz yet and hopefully neither are the Mets. As we learn with Big Pelf, you need patients sometimes with young arms.

   

So far the Highlander will sign every single free agent on the market and will go into the season with a 1.4 trillion dollar payroll. Not only will they sign CC Sabathia to 10yr/$200mil contract but they will give Manny Ramirez 4 yr/$190 mil deal and then sign Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett and Ryan Dempster to $100 mil deals each. Then Pack A Day Hank will buy the San Diego Padres franchise just to get Jake Peavy. He will then sell the Padres to Mark Cuban (because he can’t buy the Cubs) at discount as Cuban agrees to let the YES Network televise  Dallas Mavericks  games so this way the NY/NJ/Brooklyn Nets can go to public access TV. Hank will then remove all of brother Hal’s vital organs to sell to pay for Mark Texiera’s 20 yr/$500 mil deal. And with all that the Highlander will finish no higher than third place in 2009.

 

Daniel Murphy is REAL and he is SPECTACULAR.

 

Murray Chass is a cranky old bastard who hates bloggers but I am trying to follow President-Elect Obama’s message of reaching over the aisle for unity (just like when I saw the Pope and had a feeling of calm and patients and understanding like I do now with the Obama Presidency this won’t last long because people will continue to piss me off like the assholes who walk along the subway platform with those ridiculous fucking backpacks on wheels that people trip over daily. What the fuck are you carrying around that you need a backpack on wheels? There’s something wrong with you mentally if you are toting around some much unwanted shit that you can’t carry it on your shoulder but have to wheel it around and to the woman who took exception to me kicking her wheelie-backpack this morning at the Staten Island Ferry terminal, I’ll be on that 7AM boat again on Monday so bring your husband, son, grand son and other person you like and make sure they bring their wheelie backpacks too so I can kick them all the way to Whitehall Terminal. Man did I take the long way to link this Murray Chass column sorry for that marathon rant.)    Chass writes about George W Bush wanting the Baseball Commissioners job badly but The Used Car Salesman, while denying it while he relocated the office from Manhattan to Milwaukee grab the job. One more reason to despise Bud.

 

I like that Omar is headstrong on adding pitching which is where his priority should be but do you get the same feeling I get that Omar is lying in the weeds when it comes to Manny Ramirez? I could see a scenario where Omar waits to see what the offers are and goes to the Skill Sets asking permission to match or better the offer. If its 4years or more Omar will pass but it it’s 3 yrs I could see him offering up 3yr/ close to 90mil with incentives and some creative bookkeeping. 

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I hope J-Man shows a video in spring training of last nights NLCS game. It would help to show it to his ladies (they’ve kind of lost the honor to be called Gangsta’s) the tape is good way to show how a team is supposed to act and stick up for one and other something that is lacking in Flushing. What made it even better was that young Chad Billingsley was called out as a pussy by teammates for not retailing for the second time that Manny Ramirez had a Rawlings aimed at his coconut. Also it seems the young catcher Russell Martin has been told to take charge of this pitching staff and get his pitchers to throw inside.

Sometime you hear that phrase said so much on baseball telecast that it becomes a worn cliche but it really is the top baseball commandment to throw inside. Throwing  inside and throwing at a batter are two different things. As a pitcher you have to make that batter sooooooo uncomfortable in that batter box because not only is it one more thing for the batter to think about but also if you get that pitch inside over for a strike it just makes your pitching life so much easier as now the hitter has to work on protecting himself inside and he can’t extend his arms to drive the ball. This is what makes the Phucks pitching staff so good, they have the balls to throw inside and keep batters off balance. I hate Brett Myers but he is as intimidating a pitcehrs as there is and that leads to his success. 

 

I know I’m beating a dead horse here but for the love of God can McFullofshit and Doofus Joe stop already telling the same Manny bashing story for the 1,000th time? We get it, you guys hate Manny almost as much as the viewers hate you two hacks. Seriously do you get the same impression I get that Doofus Joe hates doing baseball games? There have been rumors that he yearns to be a late night talk show host and it shows. Doofus Joe is so bad that I’m looking forward to listening to Chip Carey on the ALCS today.

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