Category: yankees

On another quiet morning in Flushing, I thought I’d take a look around the internet to see what’s out there:

Hotfootblog correctly observes that just about every Mets fan now wants Manny.  Why would a franchise not want to offer the customer the player that the customers want?  It boggles the mind.  It would be very easy for all parties to show up at the press conference and say “we heard how much you wanted him, here he is” and Manny can stand there in a black #99 jersey with a lame patch and I’ll keep my mouth shut.

Forbes magazine also thinks the Mets need to grab Manny.

The Subway Sqwakers blog and the Daily News both observe that as much sense as Manny makes for 2009, he may make even more sense for 2010!

Not surprisingly the Mets are upping their offer to Oliver Perez.   I don’t think any of us are shocked that this is happening.

Craig Swan is 59 years old now and has a dog powered scooter.

My favorite piece out there is from the Amazin’ Avenue blog which has a collection of Mets Sports Illustrated covers throughout the years.   The young Dwight Gooden makes me sad.   It’s a very cool collection, check it out!

Meanwhile in the Bronx, they haven’t signed Manny yet (who will be surprised when they do?) but the great River Ave Blues blog has this virtual tour of Yankee Stadium (and here’s one of Citi Field – what’s up with the yellow hat on the scoreboard).

www.metspolice.com

Forbes has the list of the most valuable franchises in sports.

It amazes me that Manchester United is #1, because when you look at the Premier League being just within the geographic size of Britain, it’s kind of like FC Yonkers being the #1 team in the world.

The next three are the Cowboys, Redskins & Patriots.  I’m surprised the PSL Sellers aren’t higher on this list.  The blue ones (#8) not the green ones (#9).  Oh by the way Forbes lists a 25 year season ticket waiting list, so the PSLers win in the end.  

Then some more soccer teams (again this would be like Corona United and Suffolk being in the top 10).   Finally, the Texans of all teams come in at #10.

No mention of the Mets in the article I read.  Who was #5?  It’s a baseball team.  You can guess which one – a hint, they own their own network and have a new stadium, but never dress in black softball uniforms during the regular season.

Now in a related article from December, Forbes listed Brett Favre jerseys as the second most sold in the wolrd with 450,000.   Maybe the Mets good sell some Manny merch and move up the list of franchise worth, although to be fair no baseball jerseys made the Top 10.

www.metspolice.com

Derek Lowe got his money and his fourth year.   I guess it’s hard to give a 35 year old a fourth year, thing stend not to work out (cough, Pedro) with that fourth year, but on the other hand it’s the price of doing business these days.  The old one stupid owner theory.

So I’d like to be mad and throw things but I get it.

So we’re back to Oliver Perez.  Guess who represents him.   Guess who knows the Mets really need starters.  How much do you think a 27 year old left-hander is going to cost now?   Ollie, you can buy lunch.

What are the Mets going to do, say no?   Tim Redding is a fifth starter….they need a four, and by four I don’t mean Four Inning Pedro.

This Randy Wolf fellow intrigues me.   He used to be pretty good back when with the Phillies before the Tommy John surgery.   He might be worth a gamble.

..
Morgan Stanley Stadium in 2010?   Is there a single person out there who thinks the present Name Which Shall Not Be Said (until they stop using taxpayer money to name ballparks) will last 20 years?   The Washington Post printed the following:

“I think within 12 months, Citigroup no longer exists,” said William Smith at Smith Asset Management, who owns Citigroup shares. He has been calling for a breakup of Citigroup for years, and believes the government will force that fate in piece-meal fashion over the coming year.

The Boston Herald has a piece about Roger Clemens not making the Hall of Fame.  Absurd.  Like I said about Rose unless you’re going to re-write the results book, Clemens is a Hall of Famer.

I may have to start my own Pantheon Of The Famous and invite Rose, Bonds, McGwire & Sosa to be in the inaugural class.

Finally, The Times says you can still get premium seats at Yankee III.  20 games will only set you back seven grand.

www.metspolice.com

A pretty good Peter Gammons column the other day that included this observation (useful to GMs that like 41 year old outfielders).

Dave Studenmund has a great piece in this year’s Hardball Times Annual about how the game is getting younger. Studenmund points out that the decline in average age between 2007 and 2008 was the largest in major league history and that 24 of the 30 teams got younger between 2007 and 2008. The Twins were the youngest team in the major leagues at 25.5, and won 88 games — one fewer than the New York Mets — without the great Johan Santana.

Also:

The Yankees are going to be really good, but as Joe Posnanski points out, for all the talk of a salary cap, only twice in the past 30 years has a team won the World Series with a $100 million payroll: the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox.

In those 30 years, 20 different teams have won World Series titles, and it would likely be 21 without the 1994 strike that cost the sport’s best team — the Montreal Expos — a chance to win it all. In those 30 years, 14 different teams have won the Super Bowl, 13 have won the Stanley Cup, nine have won the NBA championship.

www.metspolice.com