One of my favorite band is The Kinks. They had a period in the early 70s when they’d put out two albums a year and most people just didn’t care. They were no longer the hit makers that they were in the 60s. Instead, Ray Davies led them into doing rock operas, albums that heavily revolved around a theme. The last one of these was “Soap Opera,” which tells the story of a rock-n-roll singer who exchanges life with a regular guy. The lead track is “Everybody’s a Star (Starmaker,)” which would fit right in with some of the glam rock of the era. Anyway, here’s a live performance of the song with a somewhat interesting video:
If you don’t watch the video, here’s the stanza that matters today:
“I can take any man
I see standing in the road
And put rouge on his cheeks
And put some powder on his nose
I’ll teach him how to act
I’ll remould and reshape him
I’ll put him in a stage suit
And I’ll teach him how to pose
I can turn the most ordinary man in the world into a star
I’m a Starmaker (gonna make you a star)
Yes, I’m gonna make you a star (gonna make you a star)
No matter how dull or simple you are
Everybody’s a star”
Yesterday, the Mets formally introduced Carlos Mendoza as their manager. Everyone can agree that Mendoza has paid his dues. But just because he has, that doesn’t mean he’ll excel in the job. We’re all wondering if Mendoza will be any good. But right now, my take is that David Stearns is the Starmaker and he’s using Mendoza as his next test subject.
If the front office scripts every single thing a manager does, is everyone now a potential MLB manager? It doesn’t seem like Jerry Seinfeld is doing anything now – maybe he can get next crack at the gig. His TV show would indicate he can follow a script and few doubt he could charm the press. That pretty much covers everything, right?
There have been several recent examples of managers succeeding without prior managerial experience. Let’s give the new managerial team a chance but we need some impact bats and both starters and relievers to give them the ammo to win.
I would trade McNeal or Alonso, not both. We do want to win some games next year but I would suspect based on Alonso’s one year left he may only bring in two minor league pitchers. If he were on another team, I’m thinking that two pitchers like Stuart and Scott should be enough to give up. With the shoe on the other foot, is that enough of a return for us to give him up?
I have a feeling that Alonso and McNeil will both get traded. Alonso is going to look for a huge payday.
Mets talking to Tampa about Manuel Margot, ehhhh. Not too interested in him except for maybe a bench role.
Huge payday? Huge paydays don’t scare Cohen, they invented a rule to try to curtail his spending!
Mets non-tendered Brigham, Coonrod, Gott, Guillorme and Vogelbach.
Very happy they dumped Brigham and Coonrod. I think they should have kept Gott. I’d welcome back the other two at a cheaper rate than their projected arb salary.
The Mets are hiring longtime Houston Astros scouting director Kris Gross to oversee their amateur scouting department, league sources to The Athletic on Saturday morning.
Additionally, the Mets are adding Andy Green, formerly the Cubs’ bench coach, as a senior executive running player development, league sources said.
https://theathletic.com/5073792/2023/11/18/mets-front-office-player-development/
Brian, Tommy Tanous is listed as VP of Amateur and International Scouting. Do you know how the hiring of Gross impacts Tanous?
“Meanwhile, Tanous, a longtime fixture in Mets’ front offices, seems in line for a move into a large advisory/VP role as a lead evaluator, a person familiar with the club’s thinking said.”
From the same article.
Those were all smart moves. I couldn’t be happier to never have to talk about Vogelbach or Groundout Guillorme ever again.
It’s all about the money with Scott Boras!!!
From an article in The Athletic about Zach Britton:
“Britton told The Athletic that he worked out for several teams last spring and, even though he had a few offers, he decided not to pitch last season. He said his agent, Scott Boras, told him, ‘You will never regret spending more times with your kids.'”
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