Why I like Jerry Manuel

The New York Times has a pretty humorous article about Jerry Manuel and his latest golf outing. You could probably say I sip the Kool Aid when it comes to Manuel, but I like the way he handles himself, and how he's able to just laugh things off in front of the media, instead of saying mum and scurrying away.

Manuel was chatting casually with Frank Robinson as they waited to tee off at a charity golf tournament Monday, when he was greeted by a middle-aged Mets fan. They had barely shaken hands when the man asked Manuel a question that was apparently foremost in the minds of Mets fans no matter on which coast they lived.

What are you going to do about the pitching?

Manuel, nodded toward a group of long-retired major leaguers that included Al Downing, Joe Moeller and Darrell Jackson, and said with a chuckle, “There might be some old guys out here who can help us.”

No many managers will crack a joke about the one area of their team that hindered them the past two seasons. Compared to the media, answering a fans question, a fan who was most likely armed with a golf club, with humor and poise shows me how cool this man is.

Sure, he may have overworked the bullpen just like Willie Randolph did by bringing in a seemingly endless stream of players to get a handful of outs. But when Manuel makes a move, it just feels like he knows what he's doing and if he fails, he'll be willing to talk about it. He's the kind of manager that will take the loss on his own back, saying he made the wrong move, not the pitcher.

I like that.

I'm confident in Manuel as he gets the reigns for the start of 2009, and hopefully he's still around at the end. I'd like to see if last year was a just a fluke or if he actually has the poise, humor and sense of the game and his team to parlay them into the playoffs.

Hoffman or Street could help the Mets

Two closers can be had, both are at very different point in their career, and both could help the Mets.

On one hand, we have a 41-year-old who has notched 554 saves in his career, all but two coming for one team. He's a six time All Star, with a career 2.78 ERA.

On the other hand, there's a 25-year-old former Rookie of the Year. He's notched 94 saves in four years, but is coming off of two sub-par years in which he's lost his closing duties. He sports a 2.88 career ERA.

Player one is Trevor Hoffman. The San Diego Padres and Hoffman have been negotiating on a contract for their old closer, but Buster Olney is reporting the Pads have pulled their offer and will not bring Hoffman back.

San Diego was offering Hoffman $4 million, plus incentives for the 2009 season. If the Mets match that, just for one year, I'd be willing to see how much he has left in the tank. I know he's not going to blow people away, but he has the mental mettle to pitch in the 9th inning. He's definitely worth at least a look.

Player two is Huston Street. As part of the Matt Holliday to Oakland trade, Huston is now the property of the Colorado Rockies. A hefty trade would be in order, but I've heard the Rockies linked to Aaron Heilman before, and maybe throwing in Nick Evans (since he had some great games against them) and another player would be enough to get it done.

He's much younger than Hoffman, but has struggled lately, with 16 and 18 saves the last two seasons. We know he can handle the pressure of closing, but something may be wrong with his mechanics. I haven't seen him throw enough to gauge what may be wrong, but with the coaching staff the Mets have in place, especially with Dan Warthen being used to teaching young players, I think the Mets should take a shot at bringing him over and locking him up for a few years.

Of all the holes the Mets need to fill in the bullpen, closer is their No. 1 priority. These are two very different players, as Hoffman would be more of a one-year stopgap, while Street, if traded for, could be a Met for years to come.

Olsen, Willingham traded to Nats

In an odd in-division trade, the Florida Marlins have traded pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham to the Washington Nationals. The Marlins will get infielder Emilio Bonifacio and a package of minor leaguers, reports Ken Rosenthal.

The Nats are make a huge push to improve this off-season, as they're of the top teams to land free agent Mark Teixeira as well.

Willingham has been somewhat of a thorn in the Mets side. He's hit .285 against the Mets, but has hit 10 home runs and driven in 34 RBI in 50 games. Olsen has struggled against when playing New York. In 13 games, he holds a 1-5 record and a 4.74 ERA.

Bonifacio has only played in six games against the Mets, and holds a .190 batting average. Ex-Met Anderson Hernandez may take over the void left by Bonifacio at second base.

Strange trade. Still have to tango with all the players in 2009.

Matt Holliday traded to Oakland

According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Oakland A's are set to acquire Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies.

That's right everyone, the prospect loving Billy Beane just traded for a big bat.

For Mets fans, this is great news, as the Phillies were rumored to be in on landing Holliday for their left field vacancy. I couldn't imagine replacing Pat Burrell with Holliday, so a big thank you goes out to Beane for pulling this one off.

Names that are heading to Colorado are still filtering in, but right now Heyman is reporting that outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and pitchers Greg Smith and Huston Street may be in on the deal. This would also affect the Mets, as it was being said that Street could be had, possibly by the Mets for the back end of their bullpen.

Street, if he's in on the deal, would replace Brian Fuentes as closer. Fuentes, a free agent, is another name the Mets have been linked to as well.

Big trade by Beane, and a very surprising one if you follow baseball at all.

Funniest baseball trade of all time

During my insatiable journey through the internet for the weird and wild, I happened upon the article "Six of baseball's strangest trades."

The trade ranking in at No. 1 on the list involved the New York Mets, so I figured I'd pass it along.

Harry Chiti for Harry Chiti
You always see those mysterious “players to be named later” spring up in trades. There are usually restrictions on what players can be traded depending on how each team does. The best player named later, though, was Harry Chiti. At the beginning of the 1962 season, the Cleveland Indians dealt catcher Chiti to the New York Mets for cash and a player to be named later. In June, the two teams decided on the player: Harry Chiti, Essentially, Chiti was traded for himself and cash, making him the literal rent-a-player.

Could you imagine being traded...for yourself? Too funny.

2008 all over again

During the GM Meetings in California last week, news was flying left and right and rumors were swirling that seemingly everyone was on the trading block. Now that those meetings are over, I haven't read anything worthwhile dealing with baseball in days.

That leaves Andrew without baseball related material to write about.

That got me thinking about 2008 (again). What if the Mets made the playoffs and got bounced in the first round? Would that have pleased the fans, just because they actually made the playoffs?

Obviously, we want the team to win the World Series. Too bad that can't happen every year. With the Mets missing the playoffs, in grand fashion in 2007, if the Mets slipped into the playoffs somehow in 2008 I doubt fans would have been all right with just a brief appearance.

The Mets may have alienated some of their fan base with the '07-'08 campaigns. They're going to have to do a lot to re-solidify their trust.

So if the Mets somehow made it into the playoffs in 2008, and got swept out in the first round, would you have been happy?

Willie Randolph finds work

The Milwaukee Brewers have hired ex-Mets manager Willie Randolph as their new bench coach.

Randolph was a possibility for the managerial job for the Brewers, and was also offered a job on the Washington Nationals staff, but declined. Reports were also swirling that Randolph could have a shot at the Mariners top spot.

I'm guessing the Mets are off the hook for the money owed on the rest of Randolph's contract? I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think the Mets are up a few million because of this.

Good luck, Willie. Hope you enjoy beer and brats.

Persistence pays off

Gary Carter has been hired as the new manager of the Long Island Ducks. No word on if he contacted the team before the previous manager was fired.

The New York Times notes that the Mets offered Carter the managerial job for their Double-A franchise in 2007, but he turned it down saying "that a Hall of Famer should not have to go to Class AA to prove himself."

I had no problem with what Carter did before Willie Randolph was fired, but a lot of other people did. Should willingness to take the job be considered bad? I don't think so. I think it got blown way out of proportion.

Either way, if you want to see Carter in action, you now know where to find him.

Rumor Rundown: All the names the Mets are linked to

As the GM Meetings come to a close in Dana Point, Calif., the market and buzz will likely slow down until early December, when the winter meetings kick off in Las Vegas.

Here are some of the latest rumors involving the Mets...

Adam Rubin has an article in the Daily News where he explains that even though Omar Minaya came away empty handed (as did every other GM), "Minaya believes he has laid the groundwork for future deals."

From Rubin we got the usual two closing names with Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes. He also mentions Kerry Wood, who started all of last year for the Chicago Cubs and Chad Cordero, who we first hear rumors for yesterday. Cordero is still recovering from shoulder surgery, and a Met official told Rubin that he probably won't be ready for opening day and should expect a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training if the team decides to pursue.

** * **

As always, the Mets bullpen needs an overhaul, and the team is currently shopping Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, and Pedro Feliciano.

According to Ken Davidoff:

There definitely will be takers for Heilman and Feliciano; among the teams that like Heilman at some level, are Oakland, Tampa Bay and Texas, and Feliciano has value to any club looking for a left-hander.

The Mets would be willing to pay some of the $3.6 million owed to Schoeneweis in 2009. They feel that Schoeneweis could have appeal to other clubs because of his strong numbers against lefty hitters (.520 OPS in 2008).

I think it's going to be pretty easy to unload these guys, if the Mets contact the right team. Heilman, who we all know has struggled, still garners interest due to his age and foreseeable talent.

Feliciano will be a target of a lot of teams due to which arm he uses to deliver pitches. Being a lefty never looked so good. And Schoeneweis caught some attention before the Aug. 31 trade deadling during the season, so if those teams (Tigers were the more interested) are still looking, I'd ship him out as soon as possible.

** * **

Davidoff also breaks down what the Mets Plan A, Plan B and Plan C look like for this off-season.

Plan A entails signing K-Rod or Fuentes, Derek Lowe, and a "low-cost, high-ceiling pitcher (Freddy Garcia, for instance) to compete for the fifth starter's job with Jonathon Niese." Then, trade Heilman and Schoeneweis for some decent bullpen arms, pick up Raul Ibanez, trade Luis Castillo and sign Orlando Hudson.

Well, that'd be nice. That's definitely my Plan A as well, but I just don't think they have the payroll to add all those guys.

Check out the article for Plan B and C. (I like Plan B a lot as well.)

** * **

Seems that looking in-house for a closer is the last resort for the Mets.

Davidoff (yes, again!) quotes Minaya in another article:

Asked yesterday if the Mets could turn within the organization for their closer - a youngster such as Eddie Kunz or Bobby Parnell, for instance - Minaya said, "That is not Plan One."

Smart man, I just hope he doesn't disregard them altogether.

Four-years, $44 mil for Fuentes?

According to the Rocky Mountain News, the agents for free agent Brian Fuentes have put a deal on the table for the New York Mets.

The deal is supposedly worth four-years, $44 million. The Rocky Mountain News also notes that the other teams looking into Fuentes were only interested in a one-year or two-year deal.

I'm for this. I'd sign on the dotted line, if I were Omar Minaya. A very good closer for $11 million per season works for me. He's younger than Billy Wagner, and that's only $1 million more than what they will be paying him to get surgery and rehab his arm in 2009.

This move would solidify the back-end of the bullpen, and fill a much needed hole.