Heading down to spring training, anticipating seeing quite a few 7Line shirts down there. Figure I will keep myself occupied and play 7Line Bingo. Each time I see a shirt I will mark it off. I wonder how quickly I will shout BINGO
7Line Bingo
PDF Version: 7Line Bingo
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Even though the Mets have significant need for a catcher, I don’t trust the longevity of the position to give up such desirable chips as Dickey or Niese. Mets should hold out for a difference maker such as Meyers from the Royals or someone similar.
Yes, a productive catcher can be a real difference maker, but it seems like catchers are like relief pitchers – except for a few good catchers don’t stay good for too long. In recent memory, I think of Russel Martin and Giovanni Soto; 2 or 3 years in they looked like game changing studs. But they quickly dropped off to the point they were either released or non-tendered.
JP Arencibia may be a plus catcher, but I think that there is just too much of a risk to be a cornerstone for a trade that would include Dickey or Niese. I would target JP using other prospects like Wilmer Flores, or even any of the pitching prospects (except Wheeler). I can see JP pulling a Martin or Soto and in 2 years we’d look back and hate the trade.
As a long suffering Met fan, if Mets give up a productive fan favorite like Dickey or someone with the upside of Niese, I just need it to be less of a gamble… but even that I’m afraid we’d get screwed…
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Lets go Mets. I think the Mets will have an exciting 2012. The worst and the past is behind us, opportunity is infront of us…
Inspired from the youtube sensation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq–Nw&context=C4b99092ADvjVQa1PpcFMN…
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZ-UBtbVs4&context=C4e13301ADvjVQa1PpcFMN…
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I’ve seen reports that Picard’s firm has been paid over $400 million so far – he gets paid by the hour, not a percentage of what’s recovered. It is in his best interest to drag it out as long as he can. I think it is crazy that the courts are basically enabling Picard’s golden goose.
I have to think this ruling is a built-in appeal. Yes, the requirement for “proof of good will” exists in bankruptcy court, but they are not in bankruptcy court – you can’t pick from column A and column B.
Think of a wrongful death civil suit vs. a criminal murder trial; in civil court it is the “preponderance of evidence”, in criminal court it is “beyond a reasonable doubt”. A judge in criminal court can not decide that he is will use the “preponderance of evidence” criteria.
Also, the goal of the bankruptcy is to collect outstanding debt – not make a profit. Picard has lawsuits that are greater than the amount lost.
[Not a legal expert but] I believe the judge has made a huge legal blunder. I believe even with this criteria the Wilpons will win, but I believe it is a guaranteed appeal if they loose.
Filed under Rumors & Rants
Great news article in the Daily News
After U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed most of the counts in Irving Picard’s $1 billion lawsuit against the owners of the Mets in September, the trustee in the Bernie Madoffliquidation case embarked on an aggressive campaign to dig up dirt….But according the Mets’ filing, Picard did not find any evidence that Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katzknew Madoff was running a massive Ponzi scheme, or that Wilpon and Katz had willfully turned a blind eye to Madoff’s scam. Instead, the filing says, Picard’s investigation confirmed that Wilpon and Katz did not know about Madoff’s scheme until it was too late.
by Michael O’keeffe AND Teri Thompson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
I am very optimistic about Tejada. He’s no Reyes and he’s no Ordonez, but I really don’t want him (nor does the team need him) to be either. I am going way back and saying the short stop he is most like in Met history is Bud Harrelson; a plus fielder, and successful in the ‘high-leverage’ hitting situations.
Keep in mind as well as he hit and fielded last year, he was split time between short (when Jose was hurt yet again), second, and the bench (when Mets were committed to testing Murphy at 2nd). Knowing he is the short stop should stabilize his game. I am not convinced that the pressure will get to him; I think there was more pressure on him last year as his play would be a primary component in the commitment level the Mets showed Jose. Being a completely different player batting lower in the order will be enough of a separation as to not pressure him to BE Jose.
Alex Rodriguez is one of the best players of our generation. I can’t stand the guy, but you’d have to think he’s nearly impossible to replace. Lets take a look at the 2 teams that had to replace him:
1) After the 2000 season where the Mariners won 91 games, A-Roid left Seattle for Texas where he made $22million in 2001. Seattle Mariners replaced A-Roid with Carlos Guillen (salary $285k) and won 116 games. That +25 games and a savings of $21,715,000. Texas went from 71 wins in 2000 to 73 wins in 2001; that $11,000,000 per win.
2) After the 2003 season where the Rangers won 71 games, A-Roid was traded to the Yankees where he made $22million in 2004. The Rangers replaced A-Roid with Michael Young (salary $450k) and won 89 games. That +18 games and a savings of $21,550,000. Yankees won 101 in 2003 with Robin Ventura ($5 million) and won 101 games in 2004. That’s zero added wins for $17,000,000
I am not saying that the recipe for success is to get rid of a star, but if a guy like Alex Rodriguez can get replaced twice and the team that got rid of him has a has an average uptick of 21.5 wins (25 and 18), it’s not the end of the world. Young had some talent, but he was not A-Roid, Guillen was not better than what Tejada is now.
I guess for some it is fun to panic and whine, but the reality wins and losses are based on performance – not pedigree.
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GREAT post!
No matter how old some of the readers here are – young or old will surely remember the “Gloved One”, Rey Ordonez. Known for his defensive wizardy at shortstop, Rey-Rey debuted with the Mets in 1996 and was the Mets’ starting shortstop for the next seven seasons. He was a key component to what Sports Illustrated tabbed “The Best Infield Ever”.
The great Ozzie Smith once said of Ordonez after watching him throw out a runner at home from his knees, “I can definitely say he is the second-coming of me.” (Isn’t Wiki wonderful?)
Oodonez went on to win three consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Mets and even set set a Major League record for shortstops by playing in 101 consecutive games without committing a fielding error…. more
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Great post by MetsMerized Online:
I’m a big Daniel Murphy fan. I love his determination, I’m impressed by his plate approach, I believe in his value as an offensive player, and his enthusiasm is totally awesome. That said, I just don’t see him as part of the master plan. I’ve heard and read all the quotes about him being the everyday second baseman next season, but I’m not at all thrilled at the prospect of that.
There seemed to be some interest in Murphy during the Winter Meetings in Dallas, and to be honest I was excited at the prospect of shipping him to a team where he would be allowed to play at his natural third base position or even makes his bones as a designated hitter in the AL…. more
To see full post go to MetsMerized Online post
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As with a lot of Met fans, I am disappointed that Jose is no longer a Met. However, I feel the Mets did the right thing by not matching the Marlins offer;
So beyond the passionate response of me missing Jose, I wanted to understand how important a premiere Short Stop was to a championship team. So I took a look the starting short stop for the last 11 World Series winners. I was surprised, the only premiere short stops where Derek Jeter and Edgar Renteria; Rafael Furcal was close at one point in his career, Eckstein was servicable, but Lugo, Uribe, Cabrera and Womak are hardly the players you dream of when you are putting together the blueprint of a championship team.
In fact, if you take out Jeter, the average salary of the starting short stop for the World Series Champions was under $4.5 million.
OK, just because teams have won with a non-premiere short stop, that certainly doesn’t mean that if you have a premiere short stop, if you get rid of them you increase your chances; but it does give some comfort that not having a premiere short stop isn’t the end of the world.
In the end, I am sad to see Jose leave the team but I am glad that Sandy and company is sticking to the plan, not mortgaging the future, and we’ll have a nice core of young players to root for. Jose was the future at one point (just like Hubie Brooks, Greg Jeffries, Mike Vail, Daryl Strawberry, etc.), but now there is a new core of players that we will one day be sad when they leave.
| Year | WS Winner | Short Stop | Salary |
| 2011 | Cardinals | Rafael Furcal* | $ 7,800,000 |
| 2010 | Giants | Edgar Renteria | $ 9,000,000 |
| 2009 | Yankees | Derek Jeter | $ 20,000,000 |
| 2008 | Phillies | Jimmy Rollins | $ 7,000,000 |
| 2007 | Red Sox | Julio Lugo | $ 8,000,000 |
| 2006 | Cardinals | David Eckstein | $ 3,250,000 |
| 2005 | White Sox | Juan Uribe | $ 2,150,000 |
| 2004 | Red Sox | Orlando Cabrera | $ 1,500,000 |
| 2003 | Marlins | Alex Gonzalez | $ 1,700,000 |
| 2002 | Angels | David Eckstein | $ 280,000 |
| 2001 | Diamondbacks | Tony Womack | $ 4,000,000 |
| Average (All) | $ 5,880,000 | ||
| Average (Excluding Jeter) | $ 4,468,000 | ||
| * Annualized amount paid by Cards | |||
Keep in mind Jose dialed it down a bit (no triples since July) this year to try and stay healthy (so as to not impact is impending free agency); I wonder if he isn’t dialing it down, how likely is it will he get hurt?
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Brewers made somewhat of a risky move when they offered K Rod arbitration; he made $11.5 million dollars and even though he was a set up man, he pitched will and is likely to get a raise to somewhere between $13 million and $14 million.
By rule, he has to make at least 80% of what he made last year; that would be $9.2 million. I do not see Brewers risking actually offering him a lower salary because the way it works is the player and the team both submit a salary offer for a new contract; the arbitrator chooses one number or the other – he/she can not pick a number in the middle. If Brewers offer too low of a number, the arbitrator will certainly pick K Rods number.
I do not know what the arbitrator guidelines are, but I do not think that he/she will take into consideration that K Rod is no longer closing; I am fairly certain that the arbitrator will simply evaluate him as a reliever – a premiere at that.
K Rod had a 1.86 ERA fro the Brew Crew (2.64 overall) and a 1.80 ERA in the post season. Given his track record he has to be considered an elite pitcher. If a almost over the hill Joe Nathan got $7 million (for 2 years), not as elite Papelbon got $12.5 million (for 3 years), and the immortal Mariano Rivera makes $15 million (for 3 years), the single season saves leader coming off a good year will certainly get $13 million for one year.
So if you are K Rod, how comfortable are you that you will get a contract that tops $13 million?
My guess is that K Rod calls the Brewers’ bluff (not really a bluff, but an attempt to get extra draft picks) and accepts arbitration. This will leave the Brew Crew in a bind forcing them to make a trade; to say… Boston?. This is where Boras will work his magic and work in an extension.
Players have until 11:59 pm ET on December 7th to accept arbitration.
This may be why Boston has not been linked to any rumors regarding any closers; after losing Papelbon – isn’t that odd? Yes they just hired a manager, but ordinarily that does not preclude player transactions for critical roles as a closer.
Boston may be thinking, “if I sign K Rod now, I have to negotiate and loose draft picks, but if he accepts arbitration, I can keep my draft picks, give up a non-prospect of my choice and let an arbitrator set the price so I don’t have to tangle w/ Boras.”
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