Why Won't You Just DIE

This morning I opened up to the Sports section of the Times to the headline Mets Ready to Deal; All They Need Is a Trade Partner. Interesting, I think, and it's nice to see the Mets actually getting some of the publicity Freddy and Jeffy crave. In the paper it was only a small section on the front page, with the article continued inside. My face fell as I openend up the paper to see Alfonso Soriano grinning and giving the fist pound. I didn't even have to look at the caption or read further to know it would be about trading Soriano to the Mets for Jose Reyes. This is the Chucky of trade rumors; it just won't die. And why? Certainly not because Soriano is a better player than Reyes -- his numbers have been steadily declining since his monster 2002 season. Anyway, this trade has been shown by many bloggers other than myself to be ridiculous so I won't continue with that (yup, I'm lazy). Now taking bets on how long until it resurfaces.

The rest of the article doesn't provide much hope. There's talk of acquiring one of Oakland's Big Three, which would be fantastic to reunite one of them (preferably Zito) with Professor Rick. Unfortunately I think Oakland's asking price will be too high, most likely Jose Reyes (and this is the only group of players I can accept trading Reyes for). Zito will be a free agent after next season, the Mets will need a lefty to replace Tommy Gun's departure and Zito wants to go to a big market and I'm sure having the Perfesser to fix him back up to Cy Young performance would sway him our way.

But back to the article. Jenkins writes, "Over the past three years with the Montreal Expos, Minaya became known as the most popular general manager at every baseball bash, willing and able to take risks and part with young talent." Sort of like being the most popular chick at a frat house party, that's not necessarily a good thing. I hope this doesn't mean we can say goodbye to all the young talent the Deposed Duke stockpiled in his brief tenure as GM and hello to Steve Philips Redux. Memo to Omar: You don't have to make a splash right away to be a successful general manager, especially one that will royally screw the Mets and the fans over for years to come.

Take the Cannoli

According to the Hardball Times's Lee Sinins (whose Around the Majors report are the best baseball information you can have delivered to your inbox), Freddy Wilpon says John "the Don" Franco won't be back pitching in Flushing next season. Franco will test the free agent waters (but who's gonna want to sign a 44-year-old lefty?) or come back and serve either as a coach or work in the front office.

This opens up a spot in the pen for one of the many young arms the Mets had stockpiled under Jim Duquette's short tenure as GM. As the great Billy Beane once said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "You don't need to go out and get a closer, you can find one within your organization." (Eric Gagne anyone?) While we seem to be set at closer with Braden Looper, this sentiment can and should be applied by Mullah Omar Minaya to the rest of the pen. The team needs to get younger, particularly the pitching staff, so he needs to look for young pitchers in Double and Triple A with low WHIPs and a good BB/K ratio or those who have a strong spring training showing. Bottom line: we need young relievers who are able to blow away hitters, not old farts who nibble their way out of innings.

HOLY SHIT

Wow. Just wow. Congratulations Boston, and get those "Year Two Thou-sand" chants warmed up for next year.

I'm sure you'll hear about the game until you're ready to stick needles in your ears to burst your eardrums, so here's a few thoughts on some postgame things I saw:

1. Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore running onto the field to film a scene for their new baseball movie based on a Nick Hornby book about soccer (let's not go into that). Not only did the man manage to ruin Saturday Night Live by cracking up during every skit he was in (hey Lorne, it's called unprofessionalism), his movie is trying to steal the spotlight from the good people of New England. Here's a quote from an ESPN.com interview with him:
Jimmy Fallon: I grew up in Saugerties, upstate NY. I was never really serious with one team. I was into the Mets because my Dad worked at IBM where he got free Mets tickets, so I was into the Mets ... like two games a year. Then I got to "Saturday Night Live" where my boss (Lorne Michaels) has unbelievable New York Yankees tickets, so he invites us to the games. I'm going to all the games, so I might as well root for the team I'm gonna go sit with. I became a Yankees fan for a few years. But now, I gotta say, I'm really rooting for the Red Sox.
Read the rest of the interview then repeat after me: "What the fuck?!"

2. Kevin Millar should team with Senator Al Leiter for president in 2008. Johnny Damon is being interviewed by Fox, the first player to be interviewed, and guess who shoves his way into the frame? That's right, the Junior Senator. Now the karaoke video was pretty funny, and "Cowboy Up" was a good sentiment at first, but then Millar wouldn't give up the spotlight, first refusing to let "Cowboy Up" die and then trying to come up with another hokey phrase this year ("You tell them we're coming!" from Tombstone). Fortunately that didn't make the cut. WWJDD works just fine for me.

3. Couldn't Fox have picked someone better than Jeannie Zelaskie for the postgame trophy presentation and interviews? She was completely unprofessional, acting like everyone she was interviewing was her brah. Couldn't they have pulled Pat Summerall out of the cryogenic freeze they keep him in between Sundays for this? "Uh-oh...there's a man down."

4. From irrevocable waivers (and rumor that he was going to be placed on them again this offseason) to World Series MVP. What a year for Manny Ramirez.

5. I hope Dan Shaugnessy has sent all his kids through school, because he won't be able to pound that "Curse of the Bambino" shit down anyone's throats anymore for a quick buck.

But enough ranting. This moment is about Boston and New England. Enjoy it. Except for you, Mr. brand-new-Red-Sox-hat-wearing celebrity.

Movin' Mets?

First off I must admit I'm a bit biased cause I live on the Port Washington branch of the LIRR, so it's just hop on the train and a six-pack later I'm at Big Shea.

But a stadium in Jersey makes me retch. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Jersey -- in fact I think it's a nice state once you get away from I-95 (which is the only thing most people see).

The Wilpons already have an inferiority complex, no need to exacerbate it by being the team that plays outside New York. There's talk of moving the Marlins there if Loria, who's a New Yorker, doesn't get his stadium in Miami, which is better than the Mets. Jersey is obviously willing to build a park, and Loria's looking for one. Heck, because it's to the west of New York it could even have a nice view onto the skyline and make them feel like they're a New York team. A match made in heaven, or should I say the swamplands (sorry Jerseyites, couldn't resist). If the NY metropolitan area can (or should I say did) support three NHL teams, it certainly can handle three baseball teams. It's 1903-1957 redux.

Boston Mike Bloomberg has an opportunity here to create a rival to the Meadowlands right in Flushing, but unfortunately he's too concenred with his and Michigan Dan's Olympic wet dream to see it. Not to mention the whining of Trust Fund Baby Woody Johnson's need to put the second-rate football team smack in the center of the city.

The Iron Triangle is a piece of shit, an area of the city with a lot less character than Hell's Kitchen. Sure, Bloomberg doesn't recognize this because it's not corporately co-opted by Disney, but it's one of the last few authentic New York neighborhoods left in Manhattan. Bloomberg needs to scrap the plans for the West Side stadium (like he the way he put the kybosh on the Mets' and Yanks' stadium plans that Rudy approved) and concentrate on creating a baseball, football and tennis complex in Flushing. Tennis is already in place with Arthur Ashe Stadium and the surrounding environs, baseball currently has a home at Big Shea, he just needs to convince Woody that the Jets would be better served by a home in Queens. The fans would actually be able to tailgate, a football tradition that they'd be denied by the West Side Stadium.

More to come on why the West Side Stadium is a bad idea, as well as a wish list for a new Mets ballpark.

And so it begins...

Well I decided it's time for me to try my hand at this whole newfangled blogging thing, and what better to blog about than my favorite subject, sports. More to come, but it's late right now.