BACK!!!! With A vengeance!

Wellllll Hello All...

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. The demands of work got to me over the past few weeks and while I have been thinking about the Mets, just haven't had time to "get it down on paper," so to speak.

I want to thank a very good friend of mine for prompting me to write. O.H., from that bustling metropolis in Calhoun, GA has been a fellow baseball and sports fan and soundboard for me for the past - I dunno - what is it, O? Seven, Eight? NINE??? years...We got to chatting via IM and...well. Here I am.

A little bit has been going on. My views will be both spewed and skewed. Here goes.

Orlando Hernandez - Thanks for not holding out O.H. (Hey, I just noticed my friend has the same initials. -- The other thing they have in common was both were born in 1939. Though I am betting the Met hurler is a bit older). We locked you for two years and I think you will be coming back fine.

Jose Valentin - A good "insurance" sign. If Soriano becomes available, the 37 YO with the breakout year in 06 becomes a backup. 1 Year was a good contract. The Mets will develop more talent at the keystone.

Tom Glavine - Time to play the option game. Here's where we see a lot of finesse (READ: Bullshit) with contract negotiations. I can recall Glavine saying a few years ago he wanted to end his career in a Mets uniform. Now he is declining options and the like. Even considering going back to the Braves. Message to Tom: HELLO! Look at the records from2006....Why give up a steak and lobster meal for chuck shoulder (on the bone).

Royce Ring & Heath Bell - How do I describe these guys? It's a bit hard. But they are taking Horace Greeley's advice (via action by Omar Minaya) and plying their trade west. To me, these guys never seemed to be a real part of the Mets DNA and when they were pitching, just seemed to be fill ins. Honestly, I haven't evaluated the trade to the Padres: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061115&content_id=1741131&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp though I hope the pitcher recieved by the Mets can throw the ball with a little authority.

Is the Majors turning into eBay????? - Now it seems the trend is to put the merchandise out - have a minimum bid and then do a buy it now a la eBay www.ebay.com First it was the "Gyro Ball" pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article_perspectives.jsp?ymd=20061114&content_id=1740293&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp and also 3B Akinori Iwamura which the Devil Rays won.

OK. Listen up. And this is directed to the 30 GMs who read this blog as their bible. DONT DO IT! DON'T FALL FOR THE BAIT.

Over the years, I have heard a ton about "CAN'T / WON'T miss prospects...Todd Van Poppel was supposed to obliterate every pitching record in existance - or wait - was that Brien Taylor -- NO NO! It was Hideki Irabu...To offer upwards of 40 million JUST TO TALK to a player is outlandish...then they HAVE to sign with a US ball club or they "lose face" to the nation of the rising sun. This is a dangerous trend for the MLB to fall into. The Japanese players could not even be worth their weight in Sushi. Then, every star there will be pumped up as a CAN'T /WON'T miss that will costs clubs dollars that will make accountants cringe to arms that twinge.

What I don't like about Daisuke Matsuzaka is that he overpitches. If he's so good, why did it take him 260 pitches for a nine inning game (or so lore goes). If the Japanese relish 3-2 counts, that's fine. But he is NEVER taken out of games. Let's see him go 9+ innings against more powerful hitters.

I saw a video of his alleged gyro ball (go to YouTube.com and type his name in)...To me, it was not impressive. It was like watching grass grow.

Glad it was the Red Sox that dumped the coin. Fans are still sore after the Sam Horn debaucle.

Mets Musings...My wish list includes Soriano to come in at second with Valentin backing him up. Anderson Hernandez can spell these guys, but deserves a chance too...Can we bring back John Olerud?...Glad Carlos Delgado decided to come back...I (tongue in cheek) salute him...Guillermo Mota - thanks for embarrasing us. 50 games is a good start to sit out...Willie Randolph, forgive me for saying this, but he's not all that.

Hey, it's late. I have to go to bed...I'll be back..thanks for staying awake through this...and in destiny's name - please comment! I welcome them. (You can even be anonymous!)