In his MLB INSIDER column, Ken Davidoff wrote the Mets spoke to the Texas Rangers about catcher Gerald Laird. The catcher heavy Rangers are looking for MLB ready young pitching.

Davidoff goes on to say, the Mets were 12th in the NL in catching offense but second in defense.

Personally, I think the Mets should stay with Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro and be more concerned with pitching needs.

Posted under Hot Stove, New York Mets

Family obligations will keep me away for the next few days. I will be back on Monday with more on the Mets.

Have a great weekend!

Posted under Site News

I just wanted to take some time out to wish all the readers and their families a Happy Thanksgiving.

Please have a safe enjoyable day and enjoy the turkey!

And if you are brought to this site today, feel free to enjoy For Love of the Game.

Posted under Site News

Stadium Page posted some more great Citi Field pictures today. As you can see the stadium looks almost ready for the season. And it looks, really, really nice.

Click here for the pics.

Posted under Citi Field

Adam Rubin reports in the Daily News, Brian Fuentes wants a three-year $10 million to $11million per year, which is more than the Mets expected.

“Right now we’re in the early stages,” Minaya said on XM Radio. “My understanding is a lot of clubs are reevaluating this market, more so because of the unfortunate financial strain that is going on not only in baseball but throughout the world.”

It’s just a first thought and I would expect the price to come down. And now that Rubin is reporting it, I would think the money will drop over the next week, especially if the Minaya goes harder after K-Rod.

Posted under Hot Stove, New York Mets

Now that it looks like Citi will survive, the angry columns will probably cease, but here are a few final thoughts before I put this to rest [hopefully].

1. The deal was cut two years ago, so if either side wanted to walk away from a $400 million deal, there will be more involved than just a handshake. There are probably poison pills in the contract where it will cost either side millions to cancel the deal. And of course both sides will say everything is normal, because there’s probably a clause in the language not to speak against the other company involved.
2. Although the stadium has not opened, Citi and the Mets have been working together for the past two years with branding throughout Shea Stadium [i.e ATMs, ect...]. So this is an active deal already.
3. Politicians from both sides of the aisle should think before they speak. If they want the Mets to cancel the deal, then every company that took TARP money should have their stadium naming deals canceled. That means JP Morgan [Chase Field], Bank of America, Wells Fargo [Wachovia Center], PNC and Comerica should have their deals recinded, which will cause more legal issues than need be.
4. It’s easy for Newsday to pick on the Mets, but their parent comapny Cablevision, has a naming deal with Washington Mutual at the Garden, so why not speak up there? WaMu won’t survive, since it’s not a shell company with all the good assets going to JP Morgan.

Posted under Citi Field

Not much to report here, except the Mets are increasing their deliberate ways to get a free agent closer, be it K-Rod or Brian Fuentes.

It should get interesting come Monday, since general manager Omar Minaya wants to set himself up for the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas on Dec. 8, where he will have dicussions with K-Rod’s agent Paul Kinzer.

Of course, no one can blame the Mets for not doing anything, yet, because they don’t want to bid against themselves. In fact, they rather wait for the market to come to them and sign a closer on their terms.

Posted under Hot Stove, New York Mets

Joel Sherman wrote on his blog, the Mets offered Aaron Heilman to the Rockies for Huston Street, but Colorado refused and countered with Heilman and Pedro Feliciano.

Although they said no, they could go back and revist the trade at another time. Sherman goes on to say, the Mets want to have Street as an eighth inning man because of the experience as a closer. They learned a lesson from Billy Wagner. If a closer goes down they want someone who will be able to take over the ninth. Street gives them that.

Posted under Hot Stove, New York Mets

On his blog at 1050, Rich Coutinho writes about why Luis Castillo deserves another chance at second.

He writes:

“I watched Castillo all year and noticed he seemed widely out of shape early trying to recover from off-season medical procedures but he has accepted responsibility for that fact. He had an awful year and you can not really defend it but there is also no denying this guy has talent. After all, he is a 3-time All Star and provided great numbers for a Marlin team that short circuited the Yankees from winning it all in 2003. He has a knack for getting on base and can be a real defensive weapon around the second base bag when he is healthy and motivated.”

Posted under Hot Stove, Link, New York Mets

Stadium Page posted some really cool pictures of Citi Field last week, where you can see the bullpens and there are some good looks of the field.

Click here for more.

Posted under Citi Field