The world has flipped on its axis

This stinks.

Six years for Manny? Pass

My limit was three years, maybe with a team option for a fourth, based on good behavior. No way, now how would I be willing to put up with Manny for six years.

Joel Sherman is reporting, after a long conversation with Manny Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, that he is seeking a six-year deal.

Too steep. Way too steep.

Manny is undoubtedly one of the best hitters in the game, and he continues to show that every game he plays, but he complained his way out of Boston, a town that loved him, and is only on his best behavior as he plays for a contract. I understand chasing the money, and more power to him, but I think I'd go nuts if I had to watch him lollygag for six years.

Two, maybe three years for Man-Ram. Team options for anything beyond that. Otherwise, you'd be overpaying and setting up for a whining Manny.

Off Topic: FrankTV needs to go away

My team isn't even in the playoffs, and I cannot stand these incessant commercials.

I could link you a video, but I won't because you know the commercials, they're awful, and I don't want them anywhere near my blog.

Nick Friedell, over at Big League Stew, had a conversation with one of the head honcho's from TBS. The man is obviously deranged, as he had this to say:

"I think we feel that as long as we have a variety of spots, and that the spots are all different, and that you get a wink and a nod every time a FrankTV spot comes on that, there will not be that wear-out factor," Gregor said. "I could make a point that there are quite a few commercials that run on television that run repeatedly and yet they still cut through."

Now that is funnier than any FrankTV ad I've ever seen.

This man honestly believes those crappy impressions that come at us every three minutes are funny and entertaining, and that we want to see them?!?!? Ugh.

Everyone out there in internet land: Boycott FrankTV. Do not watch even a second of it. Therefore, they'll be forced to cancel the show, and we won't have to sit through his shenanigans anymore.

No he-Lowe for Derek in NY?

I was all for Derek Lowe in a Mets uniform. Might have to overpay to ever see it come to pass.

According to Ken Rosenthal, Lowe isn't an East Coast kind of guy.

The Yankees shouldn't be confident of landing right-hander Derek Lowe. Lowe, like any dutiful free agent, will entertain bids from both New York teams, but teammates say he has little interest in playing for the Mets or Yankees. Some rival clubs believe that Lowe wants to stay on the west coast. The Braves remain interested.

Just wait until he sees the money offered. I'm sure that will give him a change of heart.

Both the Mets and the Yankees have at least one spot to fill in their rotation, so there is going to be a bidding war for any capable starter between these two teams.

Paying top dollar for items from Shea

Some things have already been taken home, others will go down into the pile of rubble.

The Journal News updates us on some of the items that have gone home with those with the money to pay for it.

One of the last things to come out, from the upper deck, was the piece of concrete, which now looks like a memorial stone - the front painted and marked with Tommie Agee's name and No. 20, and the date April 5, 1969, when he hit the longest home run in stadium history.

That's something that should head to the museum at Citi Field. Something that iconic should either be given to Agee's family, or stay with the Mets franchise.

Seems the Mets listened to me about the foul poles.

The foul poles didn't sell, so they will be cut into one-foot pieces and sold like that.

I'm so smart. On Aug. 25, I wrote, in "What I would like to own from Shea Stadium": "Pieces of the foul pole. Something they could cut up and sell in small pieces, like 1x1 foot sections. Everyone could have a piece."

Also, the group stripping down Shea made some awesome discoveries. In the bathroom of the locker room used by the Jets, they found tile behind a wall inscribed with J-E-T-S. The Journal News relays it crumbled as the workers tried to take them down.

They also found a pallet of wood that was actually part of the original outfield wall, complete with green paint and "338" written on it.

Pretty awesome. What I would give for one last walk-through.

How to follow & participate

It's been slow around these parts, and most likely will be until the World Series is over, but I've done my best to try and get at least two posts up about the Mets to keep the discussion going.

I'm taking a little time out to update you with some things with the site, like how to follow, and jump into the discussion, and stay in tune with all things Mets on The 'Ropolitans.

Commenting:
So far, so good with this new system. It's called IntenseDebate, and I really love it. It allows you, the reader, to comment on anything in the article, with just the use of your name and e-mail. To really get the whole package of using IntenseDebate, I encourage you to sign up for an account.

Also, ID has a great reply feature. So instead of making a general comment, you can reply directly to one of the posts that's already been made. Or, if you want to make your own point, you can obviously still do that.

Following:
The best way, is to just keep coming back to theropolitans.com to see what's new. But not everyone has tons of time on their hands, so there are some good shortcuts to see what's new.

RSS: If you don't know what RSS is, then you're really missing out! Think of RSS as e-mail for your favorite websites. Everytime that website publishes something, it'll go right to your RSS reader, and you'll be able to read it, and then head to the site to make your comment. I use Google Reader, but there are many more out there.

E-mail: You can use FeedBlitz to have the articles posted on theropolitans.com e-mailed to you.

Twitter: Follow me, and my baseball related chatter, at twitter.com/theropolitans.

Helping out:
A writer is always looking to boost his readership, so there are a few tools at my disposal, and if you like what you read, help me out a bit!

Ballhype, Yardbarker, and more:
See those buttons at the end of each post? They link my stories to websites called YardBarker and BallHype. These sites are hubs of sports info, and if you click them, you can vote the story up (or down) for more people to read.

There will be a few more buttons added soon, so keep an eye out.

That's all I can think of for now. I'd just like to thank everyone who has read and visited my site. It's been fun, and there are no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Let's go Mets!

Poll: Focus on the bullpen

Not much of a shocker.

In the last poll, I asked what was the biggest off-season concern?

Here are the results:
Bullpen -- 90%
Hitting -- 4%
Starting pitching -- 4%
Defense -- 0%

I can't argue with that.

I agree the Mets need to focus on the bullpen, but it won't be as expensive as everyone thinks. The Mets have a lot of money to spend, and they may need to go for at least two starters. Hitting should come second, even though I want Manny Ramirez like a fat kid wants cake.

Next up: To Manny or not to Manny? That is the question.

Say hello to Derek Lowe?

Is Derek Lowe on the Mets mind? Seems it.

From John Harper in the Daily News:

Even so, for a long time it felt like their night, after Derek Lowe had given them a gutsy five innings on three days' rest, surrendering two runs and no doubt making him even more appealing as a free agent to both the Mets and Yankees.

In fact, one person familiar with the thinking of the Met decision-makers said yesterday Lowe is "very much on their radar."

Gutsy veteran, with good numbers? I like it.

Since 2002, Lowe has thrown at least 182 innings, with a high of 222 in 2005. The last four years, his ERA has been sub-4. Since '05, he's walked a high of 59 in a season, and struck out 146, 123, 147 and 147 in those four seasons.

Where do I sign? I'll take him.

I am so baffled by this article I don't know where to begin

Confusing and pointless. I've read this article three times and have found nothing which makes sense.

An article about Shea Stadium, written by Denis Hamill (who?).

It begins with the his own lament, one of a "fan" who went to the final game at Shea Stadium. From there, he complains about how much it stunk that the ceremony was held after the game. He's only a few weeks late, no worries.

Then he seems to make up two characters, affectionately called "Dumb" and "Dumber." He claims that he sat near these guys on the final day, but also references to other days too? He seems to have made up this fictitious people to make some sort of point, but it really makes no sense.

The article continues with more whining about Wall Street, some silly "How do you spell 'dot com?'" joke, and oh, look, more economy humor. Hilarious.

Then we get to the point in the "story" when the closing ceremony began, and Hamill has to come out and say one of the more ridiculous things I've ever heard:

But then a painful moment came when Willie Mays, one of the top five baseball players to ever wear any uniform, was introduced to tepid applause. Soon followed by Mike Piazza, a pretty good catcher, but say, hey, not even in the same sport with Willie Mays, and the place went nuts.

Let's take a look at this, Mr. Hamill.

• Yes, Mays is far and away a better player then Piazza. Undeniable fact. But to Mets fans, most of who aren't old enough to have seen him play in his heyday, he doesn't mean much in the history of the franchise.
• Mays played all of 135 games for the Mets, in the very dim twilight of his career.
• Sure he could have gotten a better hand, but as I stated before: as a Met, he wasn't that much.
• Piazza, on the other hand, is a player who crafted his Hall of Fame-to be career with the Mets over nearly eight years and 972 games.
• Piazza hit one of the most emotional home runs in Shea Stadium, and New York City history on Sept. 21, 2001.
• There are so many other things I should be listing here, but if you're any sort of Mets fan, you already know the contributions that Piazza put forth during his time with the Mets. Mays, though an amazing player, did not do that sort of stuff with the Mets, and it was surprising he was even at the ceremony at all.

Guess what this awful article ends with? More economy jokes!

Thank you, Mr. Hamill. I think we all know who the "Dumbest" one is now.

Want to move Wright to first? Maybe next year

The Mets may have found a replacement third baseman, and he's been right under their nose.

Shawn Bowman, a 23-year-old third baseman has been absolutely raking so far in the Arizona Fall League.

Through five games, none of which the Peoria Saguaros have lost, Bowman is hitting .545, with two doubles, two home runs, and five RBI's. He's slugging 1.273 and OPS'ing 1.888. Due to those insane numbers, he's earned the AFL Player of the Week.

I've heard rumors about people wanting to move David Wright to first base due to his often shoddy throws across the diamond. I wouldn't want to lose Wright's glove at third, but Bowman has a pretty steady glove of his own.

In his first pro season, back in 2004, Bowman committed 24 errors in 244 attempts. The next year, he was charged with 19 in 186 chances. Since then, over the next three injury-riddled years, he's committed 13 errors in 172 chances. Not great, but not bad.

Trade bait? Possibly. Especially because Wright seems to have the hot corner all to himself for a long, long time.