Memories Of Kevin Malone (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
The 2009 Opening Day payroll was approximately 100 million dollars, and given all the recent divorce news, I find it hard to believe that number would be increased going into 2010. Therefore, my plan is based on a operating budget of about 100 million dollars with perhaps a bit of flexibility. Just to clarify, this is what I would do if I were the GM. Projected 2010 Payroll-100 Million Dollars As I...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
Solicitor who gave evidence to MPs on phone hacking claims PCC chair published 'serious allegations' against him A lawyer who gave evidence to the parliamentary committee investigating press behaviour, today called on Peta Buscombe, the chair of the Press Complaints Commission, to resign. He claimed she had published what were termed "extremely serious" false allegations against him. Solicitor...
Lookout Landing (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
When the Mariners traded for Jack Wilson , we knew it a move fueled by defense. The front office and coaching staff made no secret of that. Wilson brought a glove, an excellent glove capable of making up for a lackluster bat, and this was okay, because we knew that he'd be able to field while remaining something above a black hole at the plate. However, over the span of the next six weeks, Wilson would...
Mets Fever (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
Adam Rubin takes a first look at the Mets free agents and possible non-tender candidates. Rubin clarifies just how much J.J. will get paid if the Mets pick-up his option and while I'd like to have an elite closer as my set-up man, that's just too much money. I was a huge supporter of the Putz trade but it might have been the biggest bust of Omar's era, he gave up seven players for Sean Green... J.J....
MAMMA-Online (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
Asylum Fight League is back this Saturday with a pro-am card. The company's 21st fight night is going head to head with the biggest free-to-air fight since the Rumble in the Jungle (okay, maybe not that big) and a UFC highlight show on Spike. Nevertheless, AFL has put together a quality card from top to bottom, including heavy hitting James Garzillo defending his belt. The 11 fight card is going down...
Lookout Landing (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
You know how testy we get when people make comments about how awesome our could be in years? Remember the Nageotte/Blackley/Meche/Anderson rotations, Clement/Johjima/Johnson/Moore catching caches and Ichiro/Gutierrez/Saunders/Ackley outfields? We do our best to try and keep people grounded on these types of issues because, as it turns out, the future is incredibly hard to predict and a hell of a lot...
Subway Squawkers (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
Joe Girardi's bizarre bullpen move in the 11th inning tonight reminded me of something that Jerry Manuel did way back in April. On April 29, the Mets were trailing the Marlins, 4-3, when they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottome of the ninth. Ramon Castro was coming up. Then Jerry Manuel pinch-hit Omir Santos for Castro. A righthanded catcher pinch-hitting for another righthanded catcher....
Amazin' Avenue (Free subscription) | 10/19/2009
If the Dodgers win the World Series it will be in spite of Joe Torre, not because of him. The week's posts: Mets Birthdays, October 12th - Happy 47th, Sid Fernandez! 2009 Mets Transaction Register: Part 1 - Eric shows us, transaction by transaction, where the Mets went wrong this year. Part 2 will feature Oliver Perez , the horror the horror. Keeping Tabs On The 2009 Draftees: Part 1 - Alex provides...
George Szirtes (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
I'm not sure when I first went to Cheltenham as a writer. It might have been 1989, when Lawrence Sail was director and there were a good number of poets on the programme. I think I did a reading with Stephen Romer. The next time was with Christopher Reid, or it might have been in reverse order. I also, that first time, chaired a discussion on translation with Ewald Osers, Adam Czerniawski and Danny...
MAMMA-Online (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Asylum Fight League opens up a salvo of six shows in the next month on Saturday with 15 fights from The Arena in South Philadelphia. The Arena (formerly the New Alhambra, CZW Arena, ECW Arena, "The Bingo Hall", and originally Viking Hall) is a destination stop for any of the region's fight fans. Its a built for purpose fight venue adjacent to Joe Hand's Boxing Gym with high quality production,...
MetsBlog (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
James Kannengieser of Amazin Avenue takes a look at non-tender candidate Jeremy Reed. To buy a Let’s Go Mess t-shirt, go here. In a video for On the Black, Kerel Cooper wonders if the Mets should sign soon-to-be free-agent OF Xavier Nady, who had season-ending Tommy John surgery, but is expected to be ready for Spring Training. Joe [...]
Amazin' Avenue (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
Note: If a team decides to not offer a contract to an unsigned player on the 40 man roster, the player is non-tendered and becomes a free agent. Per Tim Dierkes at MLBTradeRumors , some former non-tendered players include David Ortiz , Joel Pineiro , Jayson Werth and Takashi Saito . Jeremy Reed initially looked like an unspectacular yet promising pick-up in the J.J. Putz trade. He was once a top prospect,...
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
by Henny Ray Abrams - AP Let this photo define the Astros 2009 season. View full size photo uploaded October 4, 2009 Current Series Mets lead the series 2-0 Fri 10/02 WP: John Maine (7 - 6) LP: Wandy Rodriguez (14 - 12) 1 - 7 loss Sat 10/03 WP: Pat Misch (3 - 4) SV: Francisco Rodriguez LP: Yorman Bazardo (1 - 3) 1 - 5 loss Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ New York Mets Amazin' Avenue Sunday, Oct...
Faith and Fear in Flushing (Free subscription) | 09/30/2009
Maybe I'd just gone numb, but a couple of weeks ago it seemed to me that the Mets at least stopped losing in horrifying ways and began losing in quiet, mundane ways. Not that it ultimately mattered to the bottom line -- for we the faithful it was kind of like being a lobster placed in water that was gradually brought to a boil instead of being hurled into something already bubbling and hissing -- but...
MLB Trade Rumors (Free subscription) | 09/18/2009
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Mets. Their commitments for 2010: C - Omir Santos - $400K C - Josh Thole - $400K 1B - Daniel Murphy - $401K 2B - Luis Castillo - $6MM SS - Jose Reyes - $9MM 3B - David Wright - $10MM IF - Anderson Hernandez - $400K LF - Angel Pagan - $575K+ CF - Carlos Beltran - $18.5MM RF - Jeff Francoeur - $3.375MM+ OF - Cory Sullivan - $600K+ OF - Jeremy Reed - $925K+...
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