2011 TOPPS CHROME IKE DAVIS I took down the holiday decorations this past weekend, along with some signage left over from my son's birthday celebration. And tonight I stepped out of my car and was pelted by sloppy wet papier-mache snowflakes. I tell you, mid-January was just made for thumbing through boxes of old baseball [...]
Former “super-prospect” Fernando Martinez was placed on waivers yesterday. Never having played a full season in the majors or minors and still just 23 years old, Martinez was jettisoned – along with Danny Herrera – to clear out space on the 40-man roster for must-haves Ronny Cedeno and Scott Hairston. Let that sink in for [...]
I am not clear why more people are not excited about the offensive potential of the 2012 Mets. It appears that the majority are focused on what the club lost and does not have, rather than what it retains and does have. In an effort to highlight what the current Mets may put up offensively, [...]
While this is a mythical ballot, I still play by the rules of the real Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Last year, there were 12 people I wanted to elect into the Hall of Fame. Two of those got elected and one – Kevin Brown – fell off the ballot. With no new players making [...]
The Mets have reached agreement with infielder Ronny Cedeno on a one-year deal, worth just north of $1 million. The Mets had no backup shortstop on the roster so Cedeno certainly fills a need. He’s very good insurance in case Ruben Tejada regresses or if Daniel Murphy gets injured again. Cedeno is not much with [...]
On Monday’s podcast, I asked Mack Ade who he considered to be a sleeper among the team’s prospects. I was expecting him to say either Akeel Morris or Domingo Tapia, two guys who pitched in Kingsport this past season. But Mack identified Elvin Ramirez as a guy to watch, even suggesting that he was a [...]
While the biggest impact acquisitions in the off-season for the Mets has to be the additions of Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez to the bullpen, the addition of Andres Torres certainly is of equal importance to the franchise. As you’re probably well aware of, Torres, along with Ramirez, was acquired on December 6 [...]
Robert Allen Dickey certainly isn’t a normal baseball player. First off, he’s a knuckleballer so that automatically makes him weird. Second, he loves Star Wars. Like, he really likes Star Wars. So when Dickey announced that he wanted to bike up Mount Kilimanjaro I thought, “yeah, that’s about right”. When the Mets front office heard [...]
1970 TOPPS CLEON JONES This might be my favorite Mets card of all time. Well, not this clean version that I got a picture of online. I mean the one my brother and I had as kids. Our 1970 Cleon Jones card was exquisite. It had perfect centering, beautiful color and sharp focus. Unfortunately, we [...]
To go along with the Top 10 prospects column I did earlier on Monday, Mack Ade from Mack's Mets dropped by to do a podcast and talk about players in the farm system. When it comes to prospects, it's hard to find someone who knows more about the guys in the Mets' system than Mack. [...]
Even with the loss of Jose Reyes, the 2012 Mets will feature a bunch of players who came up through the farm system. Six of the eight projected hitters and three of the five projected starters are homegrown players. Of course, many pundits are predicting the Mets to finish in last place in the NL [...]
One of the main goals of the 2011 Mets was to make sure that Francisco Rodriguez’ $17.5 million option did not vest for 2012. The option would kick in once Rodriguez finished 55 games. Manager Terry Collins utilized Rodriguez like any other manager would use his closer and by the All-Star break, Rodriguez had finished [...]