In all of the discussions about the makeup of the Mets’ bullpen, one name keeps getting left out. You would think his first name alone would keep him in the discussion, but Boof Bonser is the forgotten man in this equation. The Mets picked up Bonser on a minor league deal and he’s one of many who are vying to make the team as a reliever. Bonser was a first-round pick of the Giants in…
This time last year, few expected Bobby Parnell to open the year with Triple-A, figuring he had a bullpen spot locked up. But a poor Spring led to an assignment to Buffalo, where he spent the first two-and-a-half months of the year. Could it be déjà vu all over again for Parnell here in 2011? Once again, most people have written Parnell’s name onto the major league roster. He figures to be the team’s eighth…
New York Mets fans are a passionate bunch. We have no problem griping about how Jerry Manuel couldn’t manage a bullpen, Carlos Beltran struck out to end the 2006 playoff run or sending in Oliver Perez is the equivalent of raising the white flag. But one fan is leading a charge that just might give others some control over the team. Long Islander Jim Preissler wants to borrow a play from the Green Bay Packers…
2011 TOPPS DIAMOND DILLON GEE After my previous Mets misadventures with the new Topps set, I resolved to give it another go. And my luck improved– I pulled this sparkly, shiny, spangly card of Dillon Gee. It was so shiny, sparkly, and spangly that I could only say one thing upon pulling it: “Gee.” You know, there’s a good chance that Dillon Gee might one day end up on my top 20 list of all-time…
The Mets will likely carry five outfielders on their Opening Day roster and four of them are set in Bay, Beltran, Pagan and Hairston. The Mets signed Willie Harris to a minor league deal and at the time it seemed as much to keep him off other teams, as Harris has a history of making big plays against the Mets, than it was to fill the team’s final outfield spot. So, what does Harris do?…
“I love the competition,” Jason Isringhausen said. “There’s a lot of the stuff that goes along with the game I don’t enjoy, all the politics, the business part of it. But I enjoy the 1-on-1 competition with a hitter, and it’s hard for me to find that anywhere else. I’m just trying to compete with these kids, and I’m having fun doing it.” There is even a chance he will regain his old No. 44…
There are many who seem to be enamored by the arrival of Jason Isringhausen to the New York Mets spring training facilities. Others have no real opinion. To me, it seems like a page right out of the Omar Minaya handbook. Before you judge, hear me out. One of the very many things people complained about regarding Minaya was his tendency to bring in older players or players who are injury prone. Seldom were Mets…
On Wednesday, Doug Parker wrote about an Ed Kranepool card that I had not seen before. This card, issued in 2005, was modeled on the classic 1971 Topps set. But it was not the pose used for Kranepool’s ’71 card. As Parker pointed out, it was a much-younger Kranepool, but it showed the Krane in a pose with which card collectors were very familiar. Steady Eddie had a bat in his hands. Kranepool had his…
2005 TOPPS ALL-TIME FAN FAVORITES ED KRANEPOOL This card is like one of those off-kilter dreams where you’re falling in love with your spouse, but it’s not really your spouse. Maybe your dream spouse is shorter than she is in waking life. Or maybe he has more charm and humor. Invariably, you wake up feeling sad, exhilarated, and a little bit guilty. The original ’71 Kranepool shows Eddie standing tall, with his mouth open slightly…
As a Yankee fan, I do not generally follow the day-to-day minutiae involving their cross-town rivals. However, as a subject matter expert on money laundering and financial investigations, I have been following the Bernie Madoff scandal with great interest. Irving Picard, the court appointed attorney charged with recovering assets for Madoff’s fraud victims, recently filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, which may end up having serious consequences for the Mets…
I am glad that baseball does not have a salary cap and what’s to follow should in no way, shape or form be construed as any type of argument in favor of any type of salary restriction. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, Mets fan John Coppinger posted on his Facebook account: “We live in a world where Oliver Perez is more untradeable than Eddy Curry.” The only reason this is true…
Fans tend to be either overly optimistic or pessimistic. That is why it is important to look at unbiased, systematic approaches to projections. One of the best sets available are the ZiPS projections from ESPN Insider and Baseball Think Factory Editor-in-Chief Dan Szymborski. Recently Szymborski, an Orioles fan, agreed to a Q&A about his projections and feelings regarding the Mets. Here are this year’s ZiPS projections for the Mets Can you explain in basic terms…
Recent Comments