Mets Maine Positive After Shoulder Surgery
John Maine had a bone spur removed from his right shoulder this week successfully. He spoke to the media about the surgery:
“I feel great. I feel like I want to start throwing now,” Maine said. “That’s what I wanted to hear. So now I can be ready.”
Maine can start throwing again in December and expects to be ready for spring training. Good news for the Mets. He’s got a bright future ahead of him, and the Mets will be counting on him more than ever in 2009. With Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez becoming free agents, the Mets really need Maine to step up his game.
Citi Field Luxury Boxes Sell Out
Apparently, things aren’t that bad on Wall Street yet. The Mets announced this week that they sold out their 2009 luxury suites for Citi Field.
The announcement was that 39 Empire Suites went for $275,000 each and 10 Sterling Suites got $500,000 each. That’s great news for the Mets and maybe for us too. The Mets can afford to bring in some big free agents on the backs of the corporations buying up these luxury suites.
Hopefully, we’ll have these same corporations to thank when Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia arrive in Queens.
Audio: Bobby V., Manuel, And Heyman
I’ve got some more audio links to help you get through what’s turned into a longer off-season than expected.
Jerry Manuel joins WFAN’s Mike Francesa and Eddie Coleman to talk about his contract to continue managing the Mets
Jon Heyman joins Francesa to talk Mets, Yankees and the post-season action
Bobby Valentine joins Steve Somers to talk US and Japanese baseball, and the Mets hiring of Jerry Manuel
Mets Bernazard Interviews In Seattle
The Seattle Mariners interviewed Mets VP of Player Development Tony Bernazard on Friday for their vacant GM position. The word is that Bernazard is a long shot for the job. Last off-season Bernazard interviewed, unsuccessfully, for the Pirates GM job.
Its difficult to gauge exactly what value Bernazard brings to the Mets. You’ll remember he was the subject of scrutiny in June of quietly engineering the firing of Willie Randolph. Who knows if there’s any truth to that?
Mets To Exercise Delgado’s Option
Omar Minaya announced that the Mets will excercise the one year option on Carlos Delgado’s contract for 2009. The option is for $12 million as opposed to the $4 million buyout they would have had to pay Delgado. Effectively, they’re getting Delgado for $8 million for the season.
If Delgado continues to be motivated under Jerry Manuel next season, it’s a great deal. You wouldn’t find another first baseman on the market with numbers like Delgado’s for that price. This season he hit .271 38 HR 115 RBI. And that was after doing nothing for the first 2.5 months under Willie Randolph.
The only other viable options in free agency were Mark Texeira and Jason Giambi. I’m sure the Wilpon’s don’t have the stomach for another player with a monster contract on the Mets like Texeira will command. And Giambi probably doesn’t have that many good years left in him.
Mets To Announce New Contract For Jerry Manuel
Multiple media outlets are repoting that the Mets will make an announcement today that Jerry Manuel has agreed to a contract to continue managing the team. The interim tag will finally be removed from Manuel’s title after managing 93 games this season after the firing of Willie Randolph.
The deal is reported to be for two years at $1 million per season, with a team option for a third year. That contract will put Manuel squarely in the middle tier of manager’s salary between Bob Melvin in Arizona and Eric Wedge in Cleveland.
I’m surprised that the Wilpon’s and Omar Minaya didn’t appear to investigate other options. They jumped right into negotiations with Manuel. Apparently, they really liked the way he managed the team.
There isn’t much not to like about Manuel’s work this season. He certainly motivated the players to attain their potential and did his best with a bad bullpen. He’s a solid choice to lead the Mets in their first seasons at Citi Field.
The only concern I have is that, by all accounts, he lost the White Sox clubhouse in 2003. He had some tough personalities there like Frank Thomas. But that’s something we’ll need to keep an eye on going forward.
The Mets Report 