Category: General

Report: Santana May Be Asked To Leave WBC

Johan Santana on May 17, 2008
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In a report for the NY Times, Ben Shipgel relays some quotes from Mets GM Omar Minaya about Johan Santana’s participation in the World Baseball Classic. Apparently, the issue here is that Santana had a very minor knee surgery after the 2008 season ended to repair torn meniscus in his left knee.

From Minaya:

He should be O.K., but we’re going to be conservative. If we have a little bit of doubt or concern, we’d rather have him not play. We’re pro-Classic, but we always have to be mindful and protective of our players.

We don’t want to have him be in the heat of the battle in early March when he’s coming off a minor surgery. It’s minor, but it’s still surgery. We will have to use precaution.

As I’ve written before, I’m not a huge fan of the WBC. So I’d be happy if the Mets didn’t allow any of their players to participate. The risk of injury to play in this tournament is too great and provides no benefit to the clubs.

Minaya might as well come out and say he’s looking for any excuse possible to keep Santana from playing in the tournament. Santana’s the best pitcher in baseball right now and if he got hurt in a meaningless tournament, it would have a devastating impact on the 2009 season.

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Wilpon Allegedly Defrauded

Sterling Equities is reportedly a victim of fraud, allegedly at the hands of Bernard Madoff. Sterling was founded and is managed by New York Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz.

The amount of money lost is unknown but has been reported to be in the $300 million range. The effect on the operation of the Mets is debatable but the Mets issued a statement to the press yesterday:

This news does not affect the day-to-day operations and long-term plans of the Mets organization and the Citi Field project.

You can read a full report on the Ponzi scheme and it’s impact on the Mets from Darren Rovell at CNBC.

My initial thought is that the Mets won’t be impacted because $300 million isn’t a huge sum compared to the annual revenue of the Mets. Plus Sterling Equities is a separate entity from the Mets. If things got really bad, Wilpon and Katz could always sell off pieces of the Mets to minority owners to raise cash. We’ll have to keep an eye on that going forward.

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Olney: Mets Determine Closer Market

Buster Olney added a blog post at ESPN stating that the Mets call the shots in the closer market. There have been several reports recently that the Mets may make several simultaneous offers to K-Rod, Brian Fuentes, and possibly Kerry Wood. Whoever is the first to jump at the Mets offer gets the job.

The Mets are really sitting in a strong position, as perhaps the only big-market team intent on spending good money on a reliever, and their intention is to present the offers with this marching order: The first reliever who accepts our offer is going to be our closer.

The other teams out there looking at closers right now are the Brewers, Cardinals, Tigers, and Angels. From all of the reports that I’ve read, none of those teams want to be at the highest salary point for a free agent closer this off-season. I agree with Olney that situation does leave the Mets in the drivers seat right now.

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Mets Hire Alicea To Coach First Base

Jerry Manuel finished off his coaching staff by hiring former Red Sox coach Luis Alicea. Alicea has been coaching first for the Red Sox for the past two seasons.

Alicea has done some managing in the minors for the Red Sox and I can’t help but wonder why Terry Francona let him go. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

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Randolph Hired By Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers
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Willie Randolph landed a job in Milwaukee as Ken Macha’s bench coach. That’s a good move for Randolph, as a stop-gap job while he waits out a managerial opening. From ESPN:

“We are very pleased to add Willie to the organization as he brings recent National League expertise and success to our coaching staff,” general manager Doug Melvin said. “His reputation as a player is a quality that will be valuable in his teaching and coaching of our talented young team. Willie is a professional both on and off the field.”

The Brewers may end up being in the playoff hunt again next season. It’ll be a lot more difficult without CC Sabathia. But working the bench for a successful team will keep Randolph on the radar of teams looking to make a managerial change during the season.

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Explaining Type A and B MLB Free Agents

If you’ve ever wondered how Major League Baseball determines the categories for free agency, here’s the column for you to read from MLB.com. Marty Noble does a great job of explaining how MLB determines the categories for free agents and the impact it could have on the Mets decision-making this off-season.

Specifically, Derek Lowe and Brian Fuentes are examined. Their status as Type A free agents could hinder the Mets motivation to pursue them. The recent success of teams like the Rays have shed light on how to build a successful team through the draft.

Phillies Are World Series Champs

Phillies Logo
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The NL East division winner Philadelphia Phillies now have a target on their backs for the 2009 season. They dropped the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series by taking four games to one.

Congratulations to the Phillies and their fans. I guess we know that Philly really is the team to beat next season.

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