10 minutes of shame: I was working the night of July 30, 2004 and still remember picking up the phone with Adam Rubin on the other end, "The Mets just traded Kazmir," he said. I was floored. When I heard who they traded him for, I nearly threw the phone and my computer out the window (however, the Daily News windows are about 20 feet above the floor, so it would have been tough). Anyway, cleary the worst trade of the decade was sending Scott Kazmir to Tampa for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunado. The famous story goes that pitching guru Rick Peterson OK'd the trade by Jim Duquette, saying he could fix Zambrano in 10 minutes. Hah. The Mets also traded for Kris Benson that same day, ending Wiggy's - my favorite Mets of the decade - time in New York. It was a classic Met move as they were 6 games behind the Braves in the East at the deadline, and somehow thought they had a chance to catch them. Of course, they went into Atlanta and got swept, the highlight being the middle game of the series, which Benson lost 8-0. Three days after the trade deadline the Mets were 9 games out. Oh the pain. Of course, the deal did bring us Anna Benson, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing after all.
Hello, Kaz: The Mets got us all excited in December of 2003 when they signed the great Kaz Matsui to a 3-year, $20.1M deal. How great was this guy? He was so great, the Mets even moved prized shortstop prospect Jose Reyes to second base to make room for Matsui. It started well, when Matsui - doing something he would do for three years in a row - homered in his first at-bat of the season (off Atlanta's Russ Ortiz I believe), but then immediately went into the tank, in the field and at the plate.
2. 2006: Swing, Carlos, Swing: Where do you begin with Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS? Do you start with Jeff Suppan shutting down our mighty lineup for the second time in the series? Do you start with Endy Chavez's amazing catch off of Scott Rolen? Or how about Jose Valentin striking out with runners on second and third and one out a half-inning later, when really any sort of contact would've won the Mets the game? Then there was Yadier Molina crushing a two-run homer off of Aaron Heilman in the top of the ninth to give the Cards the lead, topped by Randolph sending a hobbled Cliff Floyd up to the plate with the tying runs on first and second and nobody out looking for a home run in an obvious bunting situation. But, of all the disasters in the game, the final insult came when Carlos Beltran - a man who earned his trillion dollar deal from the Mets due to his incredible postseason heroics in Houston two years earlier - stood at the plate with the bases loaded, two outs and the Mets down two runs. It's a situation every kid dreams of being in, hitting the pennant-winning homer. But Beltran, who had a great postseason, kept the bat on his shoulder as Adam Wainwright's nasty curve broke over the plate to end the game and the series. It was painful enough to lose to the Cards, but when they went on to crush Detroit in the World Series, all Met fans realized the 2006 Mets - unquestionably the best Met team of the decade - was pretty much one hit away from winning the World Series. It's hard to believe there is a moment more painful, more embarrassing, more humiliating than this one, but I present the Bitterest Met moment of the decade.
It is not confirmed if the deal is a Major or Minor League deal, but honestly who cares! With the way this offseason is shaping up, these are the exact kinds of moves I want to see my team make. Forget about Bay. Forget about Molina. 4 or 5 of these types of small acquisitions versus one big signing will help the Mets more, and provide them financial flexibility in the near term (trade deadline) and in the long term.
Glad to see they are not sitting on their hands. Now sign Gomes. Also, rumor has it that the Reds & Mets have been trying to work out a deal. Cincinnati is looking to dump salary in Harrang, Arroyo, Cordero & Phillips. I would rather have Arroyo or Harrang, but If the mets could get either as well as Phillips & Cordero you could pretty much wrap up the offseason. It would be a Major improvement. Of course that would mean they take Castillo (and prob. some cash), as well as a MLB ready pitcher (Maine or Pelfry) and a prospect or two (F-Mart). I would still do it.
Anyway, that is my Christmas wish: For the Mets to work out a deal with the Reds. Then we could put a nice lump of coal in both Bay's & Molina's stocking!
Merry X-Mas WTTTB! And thanks Again to Mike & Matt for providing this forum.
I just got back from four days in Vermont, and the biggest Mets news to report is the signing of R.A. Dickey. I'm all for staying patient, but this is getting ridiculous.
But nothing can cheer up a Mets fans like some good old fashioned Philly bashing. And the best part is, they make our jobs so easy. Check out this clip from Sunday's Eagles-Niners game.
And Philly fans wonder why people hate them. Just pathetic. Does it happen elsewhere? Absolutely. But the fans in Philadelphia thrive off of it. Stuff like this happens week in and week out at Eagles/Phillies games, and they pride themselves on it. To me the worst part about it is the amount of snowballs being thrown. This isn't just a couple of drunk, rowdy fans. This is an entire fanbase built on hate and anger. Reading the comments on Pro Football Talk, the general consensus among Eagles fans is that "they deserved it". What a disgrace. I'm sorry, but fans in Philly are just a different animal. Just more evidence of how classless Philly really is.
Normally we don't report on too much divisional news, however, it's been a slow Phillies week and who the hell wants to talk Mets? My sentiments exactly. So the Braves dealt Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera and some prospects...
It appears the Braves are moving their focus away from this year and moving towards the future. Giving a pitcher like Vazquez up after the year he just had hurts, however it was the best year he's ever pitched. He had an ERA under 3.00 for the first time ever and his WHIP was also at a career low -- dealing him now is good maximization of assets. Saying that, I don't think they got much in return for him. Melky is a exciting, but serviceable player who'll play good defense and contribute some with the bat. The prospects, well I know nothing of them.
How does it affect the Mets and Phillies? It makes the road in 2010 easier, but the Braves preparing to retool and could re-emerge as a strong divisional foe very soon.
It's been ten days since the Mets put out contracts to Jason Bay & Bengie Molina with little to no response or discussion with those players. Jay Bay is considering his reported four or five year packages while Bengie... sits around and eats vaca frita all day (I do say that's not a bad choice -- but in reality he's Puerto Rican and that's cuban food). These two are clearly the Mets' targets and the entire offseason hinges on what they decide. Also, the two deals may not be strictly independent of each other. Kevin Davidoff (via MLBTR) explains the following: "If the team fails to secure Bay, it will strongly consider raising its offer to Molina. But if Bay signs, the Mets will hold a harder line with Molina."
Why would these two guys have anything to do with each other? It's New York and the payroll is readily available. Catcher vs. Outfielder. I can't say. It's a whole different story on why they're even going this hard after Molina in the first place, but we've covered that (as have we covered what bringing in Jason Bay means)
Obviously signing these two would wrap-up the bulk of the Mets offseason, but drawing it out is only hurting the Mets in the long run. Unless Bay and Molina come down from their respective demands, the only thing the Mets are doing is wasting time that could be used to pursue alternatives. For instance, Jonny Gomes became available today and would be a good one-year option. But the Mets can't move on him until after the Bay decision and he might get scooped up in the mean time. Personally, I'd rather Gomes on a one year, little money deal instead of risking four to five years and big money on Jason Bay, but I'm not sure my Mets counterparts agree with me.
Ok, I understand that Jimmy is a key player for the Phillies on and off the field. But this move makes absolutely no sense. Someone please explain to me what good they accomplished by doing this?
Look, Jimmy Rollins is probably going to be a Phillie for a long time, and Amaro may very well wind up executing his option at the end of this season anyway. But what's the rush? All he is doing is limiting his teams financial flexibility; and for a team that is rapidly becoming a "Big Market" team, managing money becomes more important, not less.
What if he sustains a career threatening injury or has an entire year like the first half of 2009? What if they want to restructure his deal and sign him to a heavily backloaded contract extension to free up money to sign additional players they need? Exercising Rollin's 2011 option now provides no positives, and only opens up the door a little wider for potential negatives.
The Mets got into a slight bidding war with the Red Sox, before finally coming to a deal. It was said that at least 6 other teams were interested in Igarashi.
He has a fastball that is clocked regularly between 93-96 MPH and his out pitch is an excellent slider. Supposedly he also has a curve ball, but rarely uses it as a one inning reliever.
Well, it's nice to finally see a Major League addition to their squad. Igarashi is far from a guarantee as this will be his first season playing out of Japan with a smaller strike zone, however, it is comforting to know that Epstien and The Sox were so hot and heavy after him. Their scouting department is top notch. Plus, the Mets didn't break the bank signing him and it is only a two year deal. So BRAVO, Omar. It would be nice to see another lefty added to the pen to assist Feliciano, because I don't know if he can continue to be used like he has without his arm falling off.
So cross one need of the list. Now we need a left fielder (Jason Bay), a Catcher (NOT Benji Molina if it's more than one year), and at least one pitcher (who knows who?). Other moves would be solidifying the bench and moving Castillo (if possible) in order to sign Hudson. All these moves are not out of the question. Let's go Mets!
Update:
The deal is reported to be worth 3MM over 2 years.
Well, I guess that was a result of the bidding war with the Sox. Anyway, it still looks like a good deal.
It's the end of the decade and everybody is making lists. And even though this rivalry has only materialized in the last five years, I felt an all-decade team was appropriate. In order to qualify, a player must have played at least four full seasons for either the Mets or Phillies 2000-2009. For comparison's sake, statistics are per 162 games. Here it goes:
Mets/Phillies All-Decade Team
C- Mike Piazza (2000-2005) .286, 36 HR, 102 RBI
1B- Ryan Howard (2004-2009) .279, 50 HR, 142 RBI
2B- Chase Utley (2003-2009) .295, 29 HR, 106 RBI
SS- Jimmy Rollins (2000-2009) .274, 17 HR, 72 RBI, 38 SB, 109 R
Manager- Charlie Manuel (2005-2009) 810-447, 2 pennants, 1 World Series title
A few quick observations
Final tally: 7 Phillies and 6 Mets. I counted Pedro as a Met, and Wagner as neither
Man, the pitching on this team is weak. It would look a hell of a lot different if Johan, Doc, and Lee were eligible
Writing Glavine's name on there was painful
Hitting edge clearly goes to the Phillies, Mets get a slight edge in pitching
Closest race was Rollins vs. Reyes. Reyes actually has the better numbers, but Rollins gets the edge because of stronger defense, games played, and the fact that he won an MVP during the decade.
7 out of the 14 players selected are still active for their respective teams
2 players (Billy Wagner and Pedro Martinez) played for both teams
The majority of the players appear to be from the latter half of the decade
What do you guys think? Obviously there will be complaints, but this list was difficult to complie. A lot of guys from the earlier part of the decade were forgotten because the more recent teams have been much stronger. Stay tuned for my decade award ceremony later in the week.
Newly available and currently rehabbing starter Chien-Ming Wang presents a good buy-low pitching option for both the Phillies (who scouted him last season) and the Mets (who expressed interest now). I know what you're thinking, and yes, if the Phillies and Mets face off the Phillies will most likely win -- it's science. Although, that's not the point of this post, just a sad Flushing reality. Wang won't be ready to pitch until early in the season, but both teams require some pitching help and both would be wise to pursue the former 19 game winner (twice, actually).
Pitching for the Yankees most certainly helped, however the ground-ball wizard pitched well enough on his own to at the very least support those win totals. ERAs in the mid 3s and WHIPs around 1.2-1.3 aren't exceptional by any means, but with good support they worked him wonders. '08 injuries and '09 lingering issues caused a two-year drought in productivity, but some time off helps the 30-year-old Wang's value.
For the Phillies, Wang's ground-ball tendencies only make him a better option. Keeping the ball out of the air in Citizen's Bank is always a good thing. As for the Mets, well there isn't much staff there and buy low is something a big market team like the Mets can afford to take risks on (I guess the Phillies too for that matter). Wang's people have expressed a willingness to wait and sign closer to the season, so we'll most likely have to bide our time with other free agents until more time passes.
All word out of the Jason Bay contract discussions indicate that the Mets are the front-runner to sign the former-Red Sox outfielder, in fact they may be the only runner at all. The Mets have reported offered Bay a four year deal, but he's holding fast for something in the five year range. The Mets have put together a five-year package also, but this new deal reportedly equals a four-year package in value. Essentially, the Mets are bidding against themselves for Bay's services, which is normally a good thing. However, you can't count on that with Omar Minaya involved.
Omar's approval rating in New York is not very high right now and if he fumbles this one, things will only get hairier. Mike Vaccaro (NYPost) writes that this is a classic case of the Mets targeting the wrong kind of free agent and that Jason Bay makes another in a long line of Bobby Bonillas and Kevin Appiers. Harsh to JayBay, but in my opinion, very true. Top tier free agents aren't always fiscally possible to sign, however signing the lesser guys to massive contracts rarely ends well. Matt demonstrated his mild approval last week and, but I disagree with him. Jason Bay would be a mistake for the Mets, which is exactly while they'll sign him.
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It's the end of the decade and everybody is making lists. And even though this rivalry has only materialized in the last five years, I felt an all-decade team was appropriate. In order to qualify, a player must have played at least four full seasons for either the Mets or Phillies 2000-2009. For comparison's sake, statistics are per 162 games. Here it goes:
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 