"Corporate" Trading

Bits and pieces of news surrounding the Mets. First off, I'm extremely greatful to the Boston Red Sox for outbidding the universe for the services of an unknown Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Mets bid of $38 mill surprised me enough, but the Red Sox dug a hole to China and shot $51 mill thru it to negotiate for his services. With that kind of money, the Mets could buy an all-star starting rotation and 3 relievers. I don't hope the guy flames out by any means, but that is a ton of jack for someone who is getting out non-MLB talent. Add to the fact that he's thrown a ton of pitches over his career and I'm afraid they paid $51 mill for Tommy John surgery. Now Mets, go use some of that $38 mill you saved and get Zito to town....

The Mets also made a ho-hum trade. I liked Heath Bell's fastball and his makeup, but in the chances he got in the show, he knocked out a 5+ ERA. He's young enough to work with and make into a 4th pen arm, but really have no problems with the trade. Omar has earned my faith that he knows what he's doing.

Santa must have gotten to my list. Mets re-sign Jose Valentin to a one year deal to man the 2nd bag for us again. I think he deserves it and with what was available, I think we got the best player.

Mets also shored up the back end of their rotation by coming to terms with El Duque for 2 years at $12 mill per. Good signing since Glavine is taking his sweet time deciding if he wants to come back here or retire in the arm-pit of Hades (Atlanta to the uninformed...).

Now this piece of new bugs me. The Mets agree to a $20 mill per year deal with CitiCorp for naming rights to the new stadium. CitiField just does not have the same ring as Shea Stadium. I guess we should look for the Yankees new stadium to be called "409 with Extra Stain Remover Field". Corporate world nowadays, no?

Update on the Sooners and Dallas Cowboys weekend to come soon....

Gas broken on the Stove??

Slow week for Mets news. Some tidbits around though. Pedro may retire if he can't get healthy. I tend to think that while he won't be throwing 97 mph peas anymore, he is so competitive that he will find a way to get batters out with Glavine type heat.

In really good news, it looks like Delgado is staying put.
Can't say enough about the leadership he brings to the team. Looks like the Mets didn't mess with any of his money either. Good job, Omar!

This may work out well. Be the same as a mid-season pick up if he can pitch well without the juice in his system.

Not much more going on out there yet. No word still on Glavine and his plans. Still looking for 2nd basemen as well. Mark Loretta's name has been thrown around as well as Adam Kennedy's. Parodon me while I yawn at these 2 names. If that's all that's available, then why not just stick with Valentin?

They Are What I Feared They Were (Dallas Cowboy Update)

Ugh. I thought I had seen the ugliest of the ugly in terms of football in last night's Sooner game. 12 penalties for 150+ yards. TO drops a sure touchdown catch. A blocked FG. Add it all up and you've got yourself one ugly ball game and one the Cowboy's deserved to lose. On the bright side, well, it's still a pretty fresh wound so let's call it a hazy side, Tony Romo played excellent again today. 2 TD passes and what would have certainly been a 3rd was dropped by the self-titled best wideout in the game. That was the stomach puncher. Romo made some great throws to get the 'Boys in postion at the end of the game, and then our line must not have realized the importance of the kick and didn't block anyone. That or they thought going into overtime garnered them some overtime pay. Either way, they didn't block and the 'Skins did. Good play by Springs to not just sit on the ball and go to OT working his way downfield and then tacking on 15 yards from someone trying to tackle him by his face mask. Tough loss for the 'Boys. Will try and get it together next Sunday against the overrated Matt Leinart and the Cardinals.

Thoughts

1. Is it me, or is Roy Williams severly overrated as a safety? He is constantly out of postion on
deep throws. He needs to move to line backer and play the run or cover the TE's but relying
on him to help on the deep patterns is killing the Cowboys.

2. Is the Tuna Cooked? He looks disinterested on the sideline. After 12 penalties, I would like
to see him PISSED OFF!! That many penalties, and it comes down to coaching. Hate to say
it, he is one of the best coaches of my time, but it's time for him to get his analyst job back at
ESPN.

3. The win one, lose one pattern continues. The true trademark of an average run of the mill
NFL team. Painful because this team has the talent to be very good. But if they are going
to continue to drop wide open passes and commit stupid penalties, they will remain average.

Not sure where they go from here. Losing to a team that lost badly to Vince Young and the Titans does not make for a playoff caliber team. Luckily, a 4-4 record means they are not out of it yet, but they HAVE to find a way to beat teams that the talent level is at the same or just a little better than theirs. Could have been a confidence booster to win today, but they will try and start another winning streak next week.

12th Man This!!! (OU Sooner Update)

By far the weirdest game I've ever seen. 11 passes from the Sooners, completing only 4 of them. Bob Stoops took his big brass pair and threw them right on the field TWICE!! Once in the first half on the on-sides kick call. 3 (THREE!!!!) Sooners get a hand on the ball and can't come up with it. It's called stick-em fellas, try it. That or some of Elmer's finest....aTm gets the ball on or about the 50 and then OU decides to give them 30 yards of field position. One on a taunting penalty because this was apparently the first time he's tackled anyone, so he had to stand over the player and go all Tarzan about it. The VERY NEXT play we bump a guy a little too far out of bounds for another 15 yard gift. (Home cookin' call if you ask me). aTm puts it in and we are in a ball game. aTm takes advantage of Bob Stoops apparent promotion of his 4 year old to Offensive Coordinater, and pushes us 3 and out about 12 straight times, and of a fumble by PT that they turned into 6 points to make it 17-16. Now, aTm fans, please tell me why, if you have a 300lb running back, 3rd and goal from the 2, why do you not give him the ball? My only guess is that Fran felt one-upped by Stoops and then named HIS 4 yr old offensive coordinater. Lucky for us Fran's boy plays not to win. By 10pm, Stoops son had long since fallen asleep but left instructions with Kevin Wilson to still do nothing but run the ball. We get ourselves in a 3 and inch position on our own 30, and DON'T MAKE IT!! Stoops takes his dear sweet time figuring out whether to punt, or go for it, punt, or go for it. He then removes his brass pair and throws them on the field again, WE'RE GOING FOR IT BOYS AND GIRLS!! PT takes the snap, line pushes, 1ST DOWN!! Wait, why are whistles blowing?? OH NO!! Stoops realized his son had woken, and had to remove his nuts quick like from the field (he's a family man) so as not to subject his son to such things. Oh, wait, false alarm, he's just sleep walking!! Stoops recasts his nuts back out on the field!! The aggie's then take the "12th Man" theme a little to far and actually put a 12th man on the field! WOOHOO!! GAME OVER!! We take a knee twice and hold on for the most boring 1 pt win I have ever watched. Another great game by AD's replacement, Allen Patrick went off for 173 yards on 32 carries, but did fumble again. All in all, it's a win, I will take it. Texas Tech in town next Saturday. We owe them one big time from last year's replay debacle.

The Color Gold

Congrats to Carlos Beltran on winning his first Gold Glove. List includes usual suspects in Greg Maddux (16th), Andruw Jones (9th), and old friend Mike Cameron (3rd).

My question. Granted, even though I fall in their market, I watched very few Cardinals games through the year. After what I saw (minus one really good play in the WS) how on earth did Poop-Holes get a gold glove? With the exception of Ryan Howard, no one can match what he does offensively, but I would have bet money that there would have been a better defensive 1 bagger out there.

Moose Hunting

Is it Moose Season allready? Mussina has had a nice career, no doubt. He won as many games as Glavine last year with a little better ERA and he's a couple years younger. But, this guy is due for a breakdown isn't he? My opinion is that we need to get YOUNGER pitching. Some guys that will stick in the rotation for more than a couple years that we can build around. I still think Zito is that guy. He's only 29 + he likes working with Peterson. If Pelfry or Bannister or possibly even Perez were allready established starters, a guy like Moose may make some sense. In this case, I just don't think he does.

Wallace Matthews thinks we should go after Soriano. I am not a Soriano fan at all. Not sure how he would fit in with the vet's of the team. How would he react with a note taped on his locker telling him to "know your role"? My thought is that he would refuse to play 2nd or outfield that night and pout on the bench next to Milledge rubbing off horribly on the impressionable youngster (if we don't trade him that is). After seeing the chemistry the club had this last year, it just doesn't make sense to upset that. Let's go get a character guy that does all the right things and fits in with his teammates.

Kaz Part 2?

Not sure what I think about this. I'll admit I know very little about this guy, but getting an unknown ML talent after all the hype and hoopla that was Kaz Matsui concerns me. I think we have enough talent on roster and a willing GM to spend money on known commodities such as Zito or make a trade for the D-Train. He may be the next coming of Hideki Irabu but even he turned into a "toad". I say put the $30 mill toward at least one front line starter if not two, and in the wake of Ahnald Mota's suspension, another quality reliever.

Hmmm....

I guess Santa has sense of humor. No way he can shake off pitches while he's suspended. Not exactly what I had in mind. May mean no trade for Heilman. Apparantly, I'm not getting off the "bad list".

Good News?

Glavine returning?


Hope this works out. Would really like to see Glavine back. Good veteran presence for some of the younger pitchers that are bound to make the Big League Roster.