Mike Piazza, retired numbers and the Mets Hall of Fame

Retired numbers and putting people into whatever Hall of Fame, Walk of Fame, Monument Park or whatever a team honors it’s past performers can be a bit of an interesting topic. In several situations numbers are not retired until the player in question has taken his rightful place in Cooperstown, for example, with the exception [...]

Is Jordany Valdespin a long shot for the Opening Day roster?

Mets MLB.com beat writer Anthony DiComo, on his Mets Cetera blog, has up a projected Opening Day roster. DiComo notes, “this is an exercise in futility: we will only consider players who are currently under team control, even though the Mets are likely to add at least one starting pitcher, reliever and perhaps outfielder before [...]

Getting to know Collin McHugh, rotational darkhorse

Every day the Mets move closer to starting the 2013 with only four rotational givens: Santana, Niese, Harvey and Gee.  That leaves Mejia, Familia, Schwinden, Hefner and a certain fella named McHugh.  You might be asking, “McWho?” but by the end of Spring Training I would hardly be surprised if Collin McHugh were to be [...]

Shifting Expectations: Met Fans Need To Get Used To The World According To Sandy Alderson

I’ve been as guilty of it as the next guy. I’ve had my patience wear thin with the seeming sloth-pace of a couple of off-seasons. I’ve been clamoring for the Mets to DO. SOMETHING. I’ve actually been missing the nonstop headline-mongering of Omar Minaya’s early days. And then I realize where it’s gotten me, as [...]

Is Brandon Webb worth a flier?

With the Mets unlikely to sign closer Brian Wilson to a major league contract, the Mets are setting their sights on another reclamation project to boost the pitching staff. This time the Mets are kicking the tires about acquiring the services of Brandon Webb. Is making overtures at Webb worth the gamble? Is he simply [...]

How Sandy Alderson has leveraged the offseason for the Mets

While the Wipons are leveraged to the hilt, this offseason has been a textbook case about how a team and a general manager use leverage (or have it used against them.) While TNT canceled the TV show “Leverage,” that word is still being used more today than I’m guessing any of us would have imagined [...]

Is Justin Upton worth acquiring for the Mets?

He’s No. 10 on the Arizona Diamondbacks, but No. 1 on wish lists throughout baseball. Justin Upton continues to be available, according to industry rumors. As Arizona approaches Spring Training with a glut of outfielders, there’s been no shortage of teams inquiring about the potentially budding star, including the Mets. But as high as the [...]

Mets bookshelf 2011-2013

Seems like there were a lot of books that came out, or are about to come out, surrounding the 50th anniversary of the franchise.  So, I’d figure it’d be nice to spotlight them. So, off to trusty Amazon.com we go, and do leave comments if books that didn’t make Amazon that were published in 2011 [...]

He’s no Justin Upton but how about Michael Morse for the Mets?

The offensive pipe dream for the Mets this offseason has been to swing a trade for Justin Upton. Now that we’ve seen what the parameters for an Upton deal might be from the vetoed deal with the Mariners, it’s way past time to move on to a more realistic target. Recently, another righty hitting power [...]