Mets Mourn Gary Carter

Gary Carter
Gary Carter (Photo credit: AxsDeny)

In December 1984 I remember being shocked that the Mets could trade for a player as great as Gary Carter. The Expos got Hubie Brooks, Herm Winningham, Mike Fitzgerald, and Floyd Youmans in return. But Carter was great! I remember wondering why the Expos would trade a player of Carter’s caliber. He was a seven time All-Star in 10 seasons with the Expos. It still surprises me to this day.

In his 15 Major League seasons he made $13.3 million. He’d make more than that in ONE season if he was playing now.

The 2003 Hall of Fame inductee and 1986 World Series champion passed away today at age 57 from brain cancer.

Sadly, many media outlets had obituaries ready to publish today. Carter was in tough shape recently so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. But writing an obituary before some dies seems so disturbing to me.

I wanted to link to a few that I thought were worth reading:

Here’s some audio of Darryl Strawberry with Mike Francesa on WFAN today.

You won’t be forgotten Kid.

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Mets Johan Santana’s Shoulder Recovering in PSL

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Johan Santa...
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There have been quite a few reports about Johan Santana recovering in Port St. Lucie this month. The Mets are hoping to get 25 starts out of him this season while he’s recovering from surgery on his left shoulder capsule. It’s the same surgery that Mark Prior and Chien-Ming Wang had that kept them out for years and were never the same when they came back.

Dan Warthen has been in PSL and talked to Dan Martin of the Post about it:

I’ve been looking at video from when he’s been down here recently and comparing it to video from 2008, before he got hurt. It’s no different. Not even one percent. That’s extremely important.

Personally, I don’t think Santana is going to be able to make a significant impact on the 2012 Mets. He may be able to come back in June and work toward pitching every five days. But I’m concerned that he’ll never be the pitcher that the Mets expected to live up to his $25 million salary this season.

The rest of the team isn’t even close to strong enough to support the team without Santana running at full strength.

Mets 2012 Single Game Tickets on Sale March 5

English: Citi Field with Shea Stadium's Home R...
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The Mets announced that single game tickets will go on sale March 5th and 10:00am. You can buy tix at the box office, Mets.com, and by calling (718) 507-TIXX.

I don’t think you need to rush out to get tix this year. There’s likely to be plenty of empty seats at Citi Field considering the sad roster that the Mets have put together. Let’s face it, on paper this is a last place team. Very few fans are rushing out to buy tix for this team.

But the Mets are bringing back Banner Day on May 27th. And the Yankees series at the end of June is always an event no matter how bad the Mets might be this year.

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Mets Alderson Takes on Jose Reyes on Twitter

Sandy Alderson was at it again yesterday on Twitter. This time the target of his comedy stylings was Jose Reyes and the MLB Network.

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/MetsGM/status/168505233637507072″%5D

So far he’s gone after the Wilpons financial situation and the chop shops across the street from Citi Field. I wish he’d gone after Reyes in free agency as well as he is on Twitter.

Mets GM Sandy Alderson on Twitter

Sandy Alderson
Image via Wikipedia

Follow Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson on Twitter. He just started a new account yesterday and has two tweets about his drive to Port St. Lucie. And he gained nearly 10,000 followers in the first day that he joined.

The big news is that he’s cracking jokes about needing gas money for the drive to PSL. I’m not sure that jokes about needing funds is what the Mets would like to see from him with the Madoff trial scheduled to begin next month.

Alderson is a smart guy. I would guess that he’ll stay away from comments like that in the future and stick to tweets that are more closely aligned with what the organization would like to see him publicizing.

Mets Hall of Fame To Add John Franco

English: John Franco
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I know this post is a little late since the Mets announced that they’ll add John Franco to the Hall of Fame three days ago. But I wanted to make sure that I noted this event because Franco joined the Mets in 1990 so, presumably, there won’t be any more Mets from the ’86 team joining the Hall of Fame. But the importance is that Franco played 14 years with the team and closed for most of them. He could be shaky as a closer but he usually got the job done until he moved to set up relief in 2000.

Here’s the press release from the team:

January 26, 2012 – The New York Mets today announced that John Franco, the club’s all-time leader in saves and games pitched, will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame during the Mets Hall of Fame Induction ceremony presented by Citi Sunday, June 3 prior to the 1:10 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Franco saved 276 games for the Mets over his 14-year career (1990-2004) with the team, the second-longest in franchise history behind Ed Kranepool’s 18 years of service. The four-time All-Star compiled 424 saves during his career, the fourth-most in major league history and the most by any lefthanded reliever.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be elected to the Mets Hall of Fame,” said Franco, who is currently in his fourth year as a Club Ambassador with the Mets. “I would like to thank Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz, Jeff Wilpon, the Hall of Fame Committee, all of my managers and coaches and of course my teammates. My entire family is looking forward to June 3.” Continue reading “Mets Hall of Fame To Add John Franco”

Citi Field Debt Downgraded to Negative

English: New York Mets inaugural season patch ...
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Yesterday Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services downgraded the nearly $700 million in debt against Citi Field to negative. That means that they’re reducing the debt to below investment grade. Forbes details the financial assault that the Mets are facing. The financial prospects for the Mets and Wilpon appear to be getting more dire by the day.

Without Jose Reyes on the roster the team is poised for even lower attendance than the 2011 season. The Mets have also floated the possibility that  Johan Santana may not be healthy and ready for opening day after not throwing a pitch in 2011. Other than David Wright, who is in the final year of his contract (plus a team option for 2013), there isn’t much of a reason to go out the park in 2012.

It’s clear that the rest of the teams in the division have made roster improvements while the Mets have essentially failed to enter the free agent market. For the second offseason in a row, Sandy Alderson was handcuffed by the team’s financial situation. His only contribution to re-making the roster has been to shuffle some players in and out of the bullpen and the bench. The Mets GM job has to be one of the worst in baseball right now.