Month: January 2009

Mets Minor Leaguer Suspended For Steriods

Brooklyn Cyclones
Image via Wikipedia

Kyle Suire of the Brooklyn Cyclones was suspened for 50 games today. He tested positive for Stanozolol, a performance enhancing substance. He’s a second baseman that spent most of last season with Kingsport.

His suspension begins at the beginning of the 2009 season. Suire is the fourth minor leaguer suspended this year.

It’s too bad to have another member of the Mets organization suspended. But I’ll be curious to hear his side of the story. Some athletes recently have claimed that over the counter products have led to positive test results. The unregulated nutritional supplement industry is a real problem that should be addressed, not just for professional athletes but for everyone’s safety.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Former Met Heilman Traded To Cubs

Chicago Cubs
Image via Wikipedia

The Seattle Mariners traded former Met Aaron Heilman to the Chicago Cubs today. He was traded to the Mariners on December 10 in the J.J. Putz deal.

I have to believe that he told the Mariners that he wanted to start but the M’s didn’t have a spot for him. Heilman will definitely get some kind of shot at starting in Chicago unless they end up completing a trade with the Padres for Jake Peavy. They’ve been rumored to be after Peavy for quite a while now.

Heilman went to Notre Dame so he’s probably happy to be back in the Midwest.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Manny Ramirez Is Not Right For The Mets

Manny RamirezThere’s been so much talk among Mets fans about why Manny isn’t a Met, and if he’ll be a Met. I certainly hope not. Looking at Manny’s offensive statistics is stunning. Even better than I thought when I thought about writing this post. I’ve never watched Manny play every day during his time in Boston or last season with the Dodgers. I probably watched more of him last year with the Dodgers than I did during the totality of his Boston career.

He’s an offensive juggernaut like the Mets haven’t seen since the days of Darryl Strawberry, or maybe ever. But he isn’t right for the Mets. And I’m not writing that because I have some delusion that the Mets will only employ players of the highest personal integrity. I even supported the Mets before the 2007 season when they signed Guillermo Mota knowing that he would face a steriod suspension to start the season. It didn’t work out very well but I thought it was a good move at the time.

As I look over Manny’s numbers at his Baseball Reference profile, its difficult not to fall in love with his stats. His 162 game career average of .314/ .411/ .593 41 HR and 133 RBI is intoxicating to imagine in a Met uniform. And I honestly believe he can continue that late in his career, as he’ll be 37 years old in May.

The reason that I don’t want to see Manny with the Mets is because he gave up on the Red Sox. He didn’t even try last year. He quit! I believe that he faked knee injuries so he wouldn’t have to play. I believe that he didn’t try to play well in the field or at-bat. And that I can’t take.

I can live with players making bad decisions to extend their careers or improve their performance (e.g. steriods and HGH). I don’t like it but I can understand it. But I can’t live with watching a player every day that isn’t trying. If Manny isn’t highly motivated, and he may not be for whatever team he ends up with, he very well may not try to win or even step on the field. And that is something that I don’t want to see with the Mets. The Dodgers can have him.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Mets And Oliver Perez In Waiting Game

BOSTON - DECEMBER 14: Daisuke Matsuzaka's age...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

There were media reports that the Mets wanted to get a deal done with Oliver Perez by today. We haven’t received word from the Mets or Scott Boras that anything has been settled yet. So, we keep waiting.

Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News has some good information from the BBWAA New York chapter dinner tonight. The topics are:

  1. The Mets are waiting out Ollie because there doesn’t appear to be another team bidding against them.
  2. Randy Wolf’s agent, Arn Tellem, has stayed in touch with the Mets. So the Mets will probably get a call before Wolf signs a contract with anyone else, including the Dodgers.
  3. After reviewing Ben Sheets’ medical records, the Mets don’t appear to be interested in doing a two year contract with him.

This whole off-season has been so strange for free agents. I’ve said this before, but there are a lot of free agents right now that should sign one year contracts and hope for a better economic environment next year. Ben Sheets is definitely one of them.

Enhanced by Zemanta