Mark it down on your calendar May 27^th it will be Banner Day at Citi Field and before you read anything else today you MUST read Mets Police posting today on what Banner Day means and how you should properly behavior on this day.

Yeah, Yeah I know the owners suck, team sucks, Citi Field sucks yada, yada and more endless yada. That’s why it is time for you to stop all of your sobbing (right Ray?) and get involved in something that is fun and a big part of the fabric of what it is to be a Mets fan.

I hope all you red-ass Mets fans know that any derogatory signs or banners you feel is your right to bring to Citi Field that day will never make it on to the field and before you kill the Mets for screening the banners that will be on display think about what’s worse screening banners or being refused access to use the rest room during God Bless America?

How great is it to be Steve Cohen? Cohen is a true hedge fund impresario. He is in the running for ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers but he also is buying a minority stake in the Mets. It’s a win-win all around for Cohen, if he gets the Dodgers, he becomes sole owner, if he loses out on the Dodgers, he’ll still have his wallet in the door to be sole owner of Mets. In fact I wouldn’t be shocked if Bud Selig is working a backroom deal with Cohen, Wilpon and MLB to drive up the sale price of the Dodgers with Cohen getting a bigger piece of the Mets, still a minority share but more that 10-20% with the agreement that is the Wilpon’s have to sell they sell outright to Cohen.

Posted under Uncategorized

A staple at a baseball game is a hot dog and a beer, in some stadiums it can break your budget in others the combo is quite affordable as we see in this beautifully put together chart by the folks at webstaurant.com. I knew that the Cincinnati Reds sold hot dogs for a buck but who knew the Rays had the highest priced wieners in all of MLB? Maybe that’s what keeping the fans away in St. Pete?

Posted under Uncategorized

A quick post for today as I’m heading out to Citi Field for another Mets bloggers event.

Former Mets cleanup hitter (still can’t believe this guy was the opening day cleanup hitter last season) Mike Jacobs has become the first professional baseball player to be suspended for HGH usage. Jacobs took the banned substance to help with rejuvenating his body from series of knee and back injuries he suffered as a member of the Colorado Sky Sox . I feel bad for Jacobs as here was a guy who played in the big leagues, drawing a big league paycheck but flopped to the point he headed back to the bushes.

Jacobs was worried that he’d become just another guy and be forgotten by MLB GM’s even with his 23 HR and 97 RBI so desperate times call for desperate actions it seems.

To his credit, Jacobs has taken full responsibility for his actions:

“A few weeks ago, in an attempt to overcome knee and back problems, I made the terrible decision to take H.G.H.,” Jacobs said in the statement, a rare confession of doping in a sport where many players who have tested positive denied ever knowingly using a drug. “I immediately stopped a couple of days later after being tested. Taking it was one of the worst decisions I could have ever made, one for which I take full responsibility.”

50 games is a serious sentence and most likely Jacobs’  done as a big leaguer. Sad

The Mets have suffered from a Humpty Dumpty defense this season (All the mangers horses and all the mangers coaches, couldn’t put the Mets defense back together again, or something like that) Manager Terry Collins to his credit has gotten the team to participate in taking infield before games, which no other teams do, but as Andy MuCullough lays out nicely in this piece in the Star-Ledger, it hasn’t help much as the Mets are statistically one of the defensive bottom feeders in baseball. Add the lousy bullpen and shaky starting pitching it’s quite shocking the club is near the breakeven point in wins and losses.

Welcome back K-Rod, the trade the worked out well for both sides. Again, well played Mr. Alderson

Posted under Uncategorized

I don’t blame him. We all know as does Beltran that he will not be a Met much longer.  The rest of MLB seems to know the same. The Giants gave him and Jose Reyes a lift to Phoenix for tonight’s All Star Game, a round about way of collusion I guess and Beltran being a vet of being wooed in the last year of a deal, is enjoying the dating process.

Not only are the Giants  interested in a relationship with Beltran but the Red Sox seem to want to pitch some woo too.

It will interesting to see where Beltran lands and what Sandy Alderson gets back in return. As Mets fans we should enjoy the last days of Carlos Beltran becuse we will miss him when he’s gone.

Now the Frankie Rodriguez has signed his soul away by joining forces with Scott Boras, Sandy Alderson should allow Boras to to be his broker in dealing K-Rod out of  Flushing.  Now when he’s dealt no tears will be shed.

What’s wrong with Mets fans not tuning in to SNY to watch Mets games? Seems the eyeballs that tune into to watch the Amazin’s have dropped off significantly and that is puzzling to me. This team is not only winning more than we thought they would but they a very easy to root for. I know it’s not the troika of Gary, Keith and Ron who are the best in the business.  I’d blame Chris Carlin, I think he scares kids when they see him on TV.

It’s hot as hell upstate  so the scout masters lodge is full to capacity as we bask in the air conditioning. Yes, we are a bunch of candy asses I admit but there ain’t a breeze to be had out here and after cooking a breakfast of bacon and eggs I feel I deserve a little me time. Besides all the kids are at merit badge classes so we have no one to yell  at.

Go NL Go

Posted under Uncategorized

A quick note before I get rolling here, posting will be sporadic the next four days as I head off to a mini family vacation in Pennsylvania, after an 8:30AM baseball game tomorrow I’ll be off to the Pocono’s where I may or may not have a lot of internet access. I will try to fit in some posts in the mornings if I do since I get up with the roosters even on days off if not here I may just throw some stuff out on Twitter (follow me there @ kranepool )

My heartfelt condolences go out to Willie Harris and his wife on the loss of their child. I cannot think of anything more heartbreaking than what the Harris’ are going through. My prayers and thoughts are with them.

I thought that gesture the Mets make when they reach base when the put their hand over there head was a way to say the spotlight is on you. I thought I read that or heard some place early this season but I guess it’s not. It seems it’s similar to what the Texas Rangers made famous last season as the Antler but the Mets call it the “Claw” which is quite ironic since the owners are involved in a claw back suit against them by the Madoff trustees. If Irv Picard wins this case and wipes out the skill sets I wonder if he will give the “Claw” in the courtroom.

Being that I’ll be away for the Subway Series, I doubt I’ll get to see any of the games live (my  wife decided tonight would be a good night to go see “Catch Me If You Can” on Broadway) unless of course I can get everyone to agree to a late lunch/early dinner at restaurant with a TV, a good possibility, but this should be one of the better Subway Series in a while. Both teams are playing winning baseball; the Highlanders are the hottest team in the game, closing in on the Phuck Phaces for the best record in MLB. They have gone 21-9 in their last 30 games. The Mets though are not that far behind them winning 18 of their last 30. As it is, this series is more important for the Mets as they try to continue to keep pace in the NL Wild Card Race. They come into the series on a high note (Yesterday’s loss the exception as Mike Pelfrey was bad again, more on Pelf in a minute) taking 4 of 6 on the road from the Rangers and Tigers and really needing to keep winning series. We have reached July 1 with the end of the month the trade deadline so if the Mets want to put the pressure on the front office and ownership to decide to buy and not sell at the end of the month they need to continue this string of winning. If the team is in striking distance of a Wild Card spot, no more than 5 games behind, Sandy Alderson will have to make an effort to upgrade the bullpen as it’s the bullpen that will decide if the Mets stay in the post season hunt. As well as the team has played the last two months, the bullpen is a problem and it doesn’t look like there are any candidates in Buffalo or Bingo to help out. Since Jeffey Skill Sets proclaimed that Alderson can add whatever he feels is necessary to make run. We’ll see. Talk is cheap.   

What to do with Big Pelf? Yesterday was his second straight bad start as he proclaimed after the game that just like Arlington, he could not command his fastball for strikes. So his fastball contributed to his walking 5 batters and falling behind in the count and coming in with pitches that were quite hittable, led to Pelf’s downfall. You wonder what the front office makes of Pelfrey? Terry Collins does what any good manager would do, he protects his player, although I don’t think he even believes the positive spin he has put on Pelfrey’s last two starts but I’m sure Alderson already feels like Mike Pelfrey will not be a Met in 2012. Pelfrey makes a shade under $4mil and is arbitration eligible I believe for the last time this off season so what kind of deal do you offer him?  A multi year deal? Hell no! A one year deal at $5mil+ ? Not with the tight budget the club is projecting for next season. So with that it looks like either Big Plef gets dealt or non-tendered. Kinda sad though but deserved.

Posted under Uncategorized

Tonight at 10PM ET on Blog Talk Radio, I will be hosting the Baseball Bloggers Alliance Baseball Talk Podcast. My guests will be Jeff Pearlman, author and contributor to Sports Illustrated and Zachary Ball of Pro Draft Central.

I will be discussing the news of Gary Carter’s fight with brain cancer, the lastest problems with the law and Lenny Dykstra and get Jeff’s take on the direction the Mets are headed in the near future

Zachary and I will discuss the MLB Entry Draft and look at some of the teams that made big news in the draft and a look at some of the picks made by the Mets

Posted under Uncategorized

So the doctors said David Wright could resume baseball activity in six weeks. The Mets thought that meant six weeks from the time the injury occurred. But the doctors say no, six weeks from the time of the diagnosis. What we have here is a breakdown of  communication  (just like in season’s past which was supposed to end with Sandy Alderson as boss) or Alderson was using Abbot and Costello math.

Either way when the worst news of the night isn’t the fact that  the team has become the first team in the history of MLB to lose six games at home while having a lead after seven innings but that your nice kid somewhat of a superstar third baseman has suffered the first major injury of his career and won’t be back until maybe after the All-Star break well, “you’re snake bitten baby”

Gary Cohen said last night, there are reasons the Mets blow these leads late in the game and it’s the difference between good teams and bad teams. It may be a cliché but it’s true the little mistakes add up to turn wins into losses. Whether it’s Daniel Murphy’ lack of instinct on the base paths, or Izzy coming in a game with two outs and walking a struggling Dan Uggla, Josh Thole unable to stop a pitch in the dirt (again) and Jose Reyes picking the worst time ever to make an error, it all adds up to failure.

Terry Collins was quite calm after the game. Maybe he’s come to the realization there are some things a manger can’t dictate,  like instinct .

Posted under Uncategorized

The Skill Sets are very tight lipped lately about the state of their finances and that of the whole franchise. They’ve gone from wanting to sell 25 % of the team to now going as high as 49 %. Steve Cohen it seems was approached by the Skill Sets last year prior to the Madoff shit hitting the fan and he turn his back on a mere quarter share of the club as it seems he wants to buy the club outright since he’s worth $8 Billion, I guess he thought he could pursued the Skill Sets to accept one of those billion’s plus a little pocket money for the right to be the sole owner of the NY Mets.

Now that the Skill Sets are holding on for dear life to retain ownership and to stay financially solvent the have upped the ante to 49 % of the club for a mere $200 mil and you get the right to sit on the board and have a vote on finances such as players salaries and contracts.

The fact that the Skill Sets have gone from 25% to 49% that they are looking to sell, leads me to believe that the debt on the club is enormous. If Cohen is the guy who gets to buy in I’m sure he is also getting the right to buy the majority share. This would come as great news to Mets fans except Cohen is being looked at by the Feds as part of an insider trading probe. Cohen has not been charges or accused of any wrongdoing in fact he has stated he would not only help any investigation but he’s pay for any cost needed to look at his hedge fund company.

The final say comes from Bid Selig who will have MLB lawyers do a though search and background check on Cohen. Selig has two causes in this sale, the health of the NY National League franchise and his close personal friendship with Freddy Skill Sets.

Hopefully everything works out with Cohen and he gets to spend his money as a partner and gets some much need money invested in this franchise. When you look at all the problems the Mets have it’s not pitching or hitting that are the fans biggest concern. What the majority of Mets fans worry about is the team not having money to compete on the big stage.

Posted under Uncategorized

The Mets bullpen situation is such that Sandy Alderson and his staff are trying to do some creative bookkeeping to by some time.

The Mets have asked Jason Isringhausen to stay an extra week in St Lonesome so to make sure his elbow is sound. The biggest fear the team has is keeping Izzy and he craps out in May. They have asked Blaine Boyer to accept a minor league deal when Boyer figures if he’s released he’d get a major league deal in a heartbeat.  The two moves come with the realization that Many Acosta and his 90+ fastball will be snatched up on wavers as well.  For a team that everyone feel s is a MLB bottom feeder, it seems there is some talent worth scheming for.

I’d like to see Izzy staying an extra week just to prove he can pitch without pain. The Mets want him on this team badly and if it weren’t for the pop he heard in his elbow a week ago, all this maneuvering wouldn’t be happening. Izzy is on the record as saying he will not take a minor league deal it’s big leagues or retirement for him . Boyer is interesting as he has also has an out in his deal with the Mets and they love his 90+ fastball that he gets down in the strike zone that converts to tons of ground ball outs.

I’d let Acosta go and hope Boyer agrees to a Minor League deal, if he doesn’t the you have no choice but to let him go as well and take a chance on Izzy even though you know he could be done by June.

One thing I better not see is Bobby Parnell getting optioned to Buffalo that would be a Minaya-like move.

Posted under Uncategorized

I will be a guest tonight on a 2011 MLB preview show on “What’s On Second:The Seamheads.com Radio Hour on Blog Talk Radio at 9PM ET

Posted under Uncategorized