Category: Latest News

Report: Mike And Mad Dog Show May Be Finished

Mike and the Mad Dog

Image via Wikipedia

Neil Best of Newsday is reporting that wildly popular New York sports talk radio show Mike and The Mad Dog may be finished.  The reports says that problems between Mike Francesa and Chris Russo may spell the end of the show.

Although neither is a Mets fan, Russo (Giants) and Francesa (Yankees) do plenty of Mets talk on WFAN, the Mets flagship radio station.

When reached for comment on the report Francesa had none and Russo said that he didn’t know anything about it:

“That is news to me,” he said. “I have not heard that… That is fascinating information.”

Personally, I doubt the validity of this. Russo and Francesa have openly talked about some rocky periods in their personal relationship in the past. After losing Don Imus last year, there’s no way that WFAN would let Mike and The Mad Dog get away without a fight.

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Report: Bernazard May Be Next Mets GM

New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya before a Mets/Devil Rays spring training game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Image via Wikipedia

New York Mets VP Tony Bernazard may end up being the next Mets GM if Omar Minaya is fired after this season according to a report by Adam Rubin of the Daily News. It’s an open secret that Bernazard allegedly attempted to engineer the firings of Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson, and Tom Nieto.  He was seen having deep conversations with Jerry Manuel in the dugout while the Mets were preparing to play the Los Angeles Angels, in what turned out to be Randolph’s final game as manager.

Bernazard was a special assistant to the MLBPA prior to joining the Mets. He’s made no secret of his desire to be a Major League GM having interviewed for the Pittsburgh Pirates position when Dave Littlefield was fired.

Bernazard has been the brunt of many scathing indictments of his back-stabbing, politicking in the Mets organization. There are stories of his being the sounding board for the Latin players to complain about Randolph, his locker room interference, and his close relationship with Jeff Wilpon.

The report goes on to say that Bernazard positions himself as a proponent of building the Mets from the farm system, not free agency.  If that’s the case, Minaya better watch his back or he may end up on the unemployment line with Randolph.  It sounds like Bernazard is already beginning to draw distinctions between himself and Minaya.

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Randolph Writes About Being Fired

This is an incredible scoop by the Daily News.  Willie Randolph writes a first person account about his firing by Omar Minaya.  There isn’t that much new that we don’t already know here.  We knew that he was passionate about managing the Mets and that he wants another managerial job.  The only new piece of information that I didn’t already know is this:

I stood up and shook his hand, told him I wished him and the team well. Then he handed me an envelope, a little parting gift, and told me to make sure I reviewed it with my agent, Ron Shapiro.

It was a copy of my Met contract that basically says I better not say anything detrimental about the team, or I might jeopardize the rest of the money I have coming to me.

This is the story that will never end.   I’m really just looking forward to seeing what Jerry Manuel can do with this team and forgetting that the 2007 and early ’08 Mets ever happened.

Mets Looking At Freel- Phillies At Pitching

Jayson Stark’s Rumblings and Grumblings column today contains a few Mets references:

  1. The list of managers that the Mets will be looking at for 2009
  2. The Mets have some interest in the Cincinnati Reds’ Ryan Freel

He also talks about the Phillies desire to bolster their starting pitching via trade.  He says that they’ve looked at C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Bronson Arroyo, Jared Washburn, and will be looking at Erik Bedard. Their problem is that they don’t have much left in the minors for a trade. So they’d have to “empty the tank” to make a deal.

Ryan Freel would be a nice fit with the Mets.  His scrappy play and ability to play the infield and outfield would certainly be an asset for the Mets aging, injury-prone roster.  His current line is .298/ .340/ .359 with 6 SB’s in 131 at-bats.