D.Baby's Blog

This is a great recap of the entire Mets '09 season by Marty Noble. He hasn't overlooked too much. The only thing I see for the future with the exception of injuries, that will be better hopefully, is the inept management from the owners through the miserable M&M pair, is the same woeful finish. The same promises of signing new and better players are about to be laid in the dust with barely any worthy players signed to fill at least 3 spots that must be improved. At least in past years they did sign one or two free agents that were capable of improving the team performance. This year, nada, so far.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091220&content_id=7834458&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym&partnerId=rss_nym

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4772413&name=olney_buster&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d4772413%26name%3dolney_buster


New York Mets

Jason Bay hasn't taken their offer, so the Mets may soon abandon their pursuit of the outfielder and move on to other less expensive pieces. The Mets seem to have something in the range of $15 million to $22 million in payroll flexibility (their offer to Bay is heavily back-loaded). They need a left fielder, a front-line catcher, and Joel Pineiro is likely to be their No. 1 target in the market of starting pitchers.

Look, if the Mets don't sign Bay or Matt Holliday they're going to get ripped by those who think they should focus on big names. But the Mets must remember the No. 1 rule when it comes to decision-making in New York: If you win, the fans will come; if you don't, they will be unhappy.

So the Mets should forget about feeding a star-quality name to the chattering masses. At this point, ending their chase for Bay -- who doesn't really fit their ballpark, and who doesn't seem enamored of the idea of playing for them -- gets them closer to winning. By adding three or four players on short-term deals, such as Orlando Hudson and Randy Winn, they can create more depth for 2010 while maintaining more flexibility for next winter's market and beyond.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/26/mets.escobar/index.html

Here's a guy who's been out for 2 years and is 33 but the idiot doesn't try for Ben Sheets who could be a #2 starter. Is this guy's head screwed on right?
Of course there is nothing left on the shelf with the best of free agents gone.

How much longer will he wait on Bay because Holliday will eventually go back to St. Louis. Well, Pagan was good enough to help fend off the Nats from 4th place. No power hitting first baseman or catcher means we're dead for another half a decade. Meanwhile the Phils keep adding strength. They will probably wrap up the division in early September as far as the Mets being a threat.

 

... to everyone.

And if you don't care about Christmas, the merriest Dec. 25th to you.

And if you are Oliver Perez, get your fork out of that pie and your brain out from under that tree, because you're going to win 25 games and the Cy Young award this year.

I stopped in and took a look and you are really all keeping up with the Mets moves and rumored moves. Great articles referenced and very baseball oriented discussions.

I still feel that without POWER and HRs the team is in trouble so that starts with a big NO to Damon. I also feel that LISA IS RIGHT that if they won 70 or so games with what they had to fall back on, just geting guys back from injuries will up the wins maybe 20. I'm still for Adrian as a Met in my prayers at least....the best defensive firstbaseman who hit 40 homers in a park BIGGER than citi. Taylor made....but we can't trade anyone with a good salary and do our prospects really match their need for a righthanded hitting centerfielder, major league approaching catcher, and some young pitching. Delgado maybe the only possibility to up the power outage.

TIcket sales here exploded when they said the guy from Boston said he wasn't being traded, now rumors say he will.....wish mets had the pieces because that's the best defensive first baseman who hit 40 homers out of park even bigger than Citi.

No matter who the Mets get or do not get, wishing all on this forum all the best now and in the coming year. And as Lisa said here, next year IS GOING TO BE MUCH BETTER for the mets no matter who the other teams beef up. No injuries, we beefed up to.

The Mets ask you to trust them. They ask for patience, and for fortitude, for the benefit of the doubt. They keep asking you for money, too, having now extended their deadline for renewing season-ticket plans from Dec. 4 to Dec. 14 to Dec. 31, and you wonder if they will ever get that they could extend it all the way to April Fool’s Day for all the good it will do them.

Here is what the Mets haven’t done yet, two days before Christmas, three months after the curtain closed on one of the calamitous years in their long history of chronic calamity: They haven’t given you any reason to trust them. They offer no proof that your patience or your fortitude will be justified. Only your doubt.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/mets_fans_frustration_grows_as_bay_PrnXaJ8UxchoBOE26l1VWK#ixzz0adY1MjOl

Pierce out for about two weeks.

Merry Christmas Celtic Nation.

Red Sox brass had indicated after those signings that it wouldn't pursue Bay, largely because Boston's payroll was too close to Major League Baseball's $170 million luxury-tax threshold.

However, the ballclub may have been influenced by the Yankees' trade for Javier Vazquez on Tuesday. A Sox insider said Boston fans responded "as only Sox fans can," by screaming to the various talk shows about the need for the Sox to return fire on the Yankees.

Whether it was public pressure or the ballclub's feeling that the Vazquez trade was an answer to the Sox signing of Lackey, Sox brass apparently fears that it needs another big bat to compete with the Yankees next season.

So now, if the Sox do go after Bay again, it remains to be seen whether the Mets will outbid them, and whether that will even be enough. Bay apparently has been holding out for a fifth year to be added to the Mets' offer of four years, $65 million, but the Mets were determined not to bid against themselves, believing Bay had no other competitive offers.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2009/12/24/2009-12-24_sox_may_be_set_for_a_run_at_bay.html#ixzz0abyonKYu

Dear Mets Ticket Plan Holder:

Thank you again for your support of the Mets in 2009. We hope to see you back at Citi Field for the 2010 season.

This is a final reminder that the recent payment due date for Ticket Plan renewals has passed. In response to many account holder requests for additional time in making payment, we have extended the deadline for payment to the end of the year.

To retain your seat location, payment is due by Thursday, December 31, 2009. You can submit full payment by MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express.

Alternately, you may still select the convenient payment plan option to pay just half of your total invoice amount (including any credits already applied) by December 31. If choosing this option, your same credit card will automatically be charged half your remaining balance on February 1, 2010.

Click below to access your Ticket Plan invoice.

Happy Holidays Mets forum! And don't worry--the 2010 World Championship is in the bag; the GIFT BAG that is--I finally found a replacement 1986 WS Mets Ornament to replace the one my brother broke in December 2005 which started the Mets spiral of bad luck. Now all will be right with the world again. Here's to 2010!

Braves just picked up Troy Glaus for $2 million and incentives:
   http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091223&content_id=7848046&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
For what would be pocket change for the Mets this would seem to have tremendous upside so I wonder if they even inquired?  Maybe the Mets are working a deal for Delgado?  Seems a bit odd we've not heard anything from that front.  This signing would seem to hurt Delgado's price.  I would think the Mets could have had both Glaus and Delgado for well under $8 million which could be a lot of offense for the money assuming Glaus would accept a contract for that role.  Or maybe Delgado would?  Seems for both of them since they're trying to come back it would depend on the market, the money and the team offering.

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091222&content_id=7843580&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

Thankfully, it's just a minor league deal for R.A. Dickey. Which is really all he's worth. Remember, Buffalo needs pitchers too.

What does this mean? It means that they have 1 less outfielder and are also planning on letting Damon walk. They will end up with one of Bay or Holliday. While the Cards may end up with whoever's left.

If it worked once to save the face of this franchise, it may work again

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4763014

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/mets_edgy_as_bengie_bay_stall_VFJqI0CCEzFs9ZYmo09XiI

and the Boooober isn't even managing.

OTOH - the word in Japan is that the Mets are a great destination for third-rate older Japanese pitchers (like those erratic pitchers coming off reconstructive elbow surgery with 3M contracts)
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/former-teammates-influenced-igarashis-signing/

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4762287

One less mistake for Omar to make. Whew. The guy's arm has an expiration date of the All-Star game. Every year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/sports/baseball/22mets.html?ref=sports

You know, all along I've been saying "Wow, only 70 wins this season. They really sucked." But when you think about it--70 wins without Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, Maine and a host of others, is actually pretty damn good. The Mets won 70 games with scrubs. They lost 92. If the Mets had a full healthy lineup all season, don't you think they could have won at least 1/3 of those games? Right there that would have been 100 games, and I bet they probably would have won more.

Oh, what might have been!

Anyway. Here's to 2010...

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-strat-sider21-2009dec21,0,1864875.story

Just a couple of things about last night:

Positives:

Tony Romo. Once again he played an outstanding game. Made the plays with his feet when necessary and was lights out with his arm. I think last night he proved that he is the franchise and true leader on the team, and because of him they pulled out a huge win.

Felix Jones. Clearly was the best back of the night with props to Marion Barber for some good runs in key moments.

Demarcus Ware. If he doesn't play then we would have had hardly any defence. What a great game from a great player.

Anthony Spencer. Big game. Made key sacks when they needed him to come up big. IF he and demarcus don't play we lose because our defence sucks.

Keith Brooking. He has quietly been solid through every game this year.

Honourable mention Jason Witten, Miles Austin, Patrick Crayton, Mike Jenkins, John Phillips

Now last night they won a good one against a team that had been lights out up until now, but there were negatives on the night. I'll just point them out for everyone to see what needs to be worked on.

Roy Williams. Had an ok game, but the drop over the middle was key and could have cost us the game. The ball was right in his hands but since he is afraid of the hits over the middle then he dropped it. I won't harp on it too much because he did make a few good plays as well.

Flozell Adams. Time is up buddy. Too many missed blocks tonight. I don't think he can play anymore and I think his time has run it's course.

Bobby Carpenter. I can't for the life of me understand why he is on the field. He is slow and f's up pretty much every play. I wish they would bench him.

Nick Folk. I've said it before but how many kicks are they going to allow him to miss. That missed field goal could have cost us the game. I know it didn't, but thats only because the defence came up huge. Once again a miss in a key situation. Prediction, not only do we see him on the field next week, but I bet we'll see him miss a key kick.

Anyways, enough about that. A little anticdote before I leave. I was watching the game with members of my family who were all Cowboys fans. Before the game they were all chirping about how the Cowboys couldn't or wouldn't win this game, however I was shutting them down with facts about how they need and will win. I believed they could do it, and they did. I guess what I am saying is, on some days, like when we were children, it just feels good to believe in the unknown. Some days, just make you realize how great it is to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. How great it is to live and die with this team every year for the past 25 years since i was 3 years old. Well friends that day for me was yesterday and into today. HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091218&content_id=7830068&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym&partnerId=rss_nym

Let me explain why these signings are great for the Mets.

If we go into the season with the 2-3-4-5 starters we have or their equivalents we are going to need plenty of middle inning pitchers from the 4th inning on to finish up the games. As a matter of fact maybe we could trade K-Rod for a real starter because he won't be needed to close out any wins to speak of. :-)

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/klapisch-mets-should-trade-santana-121809

While I don't agree that the Mets would be wise to trade Johan Santana (plus, who would really take his giant contract at this point, especially coming off of surgery?) there are some good points in this column from Bob Klapisch. Namely, Jeff Wilpon's hyper-sensitivity to the public, and the goombahs on WFAN.