Link: BP breaks down the NL East

Check out this article from Baseball Prospectus, on SI.com, breaking down the National League East.

Good ideas all around, I guess. Should be interesting if they nail any of these on the head.

Wright wins Silver Slugger

He's going to have a very crowded mantle as his career progresses.

David Wright was awarded a Silver Slugger award for his 2008 campaign at the plate.

This is Wright's second straight year winning a Silver Slugger. To many, many more Wright.

Craig Carton is hilarious

Just got this from WFAN:

WFAN’S CRAIG CARTON TO LEAD A FREE AGENT RALLY FROM CITI FIELD

New York, NY – Craig Carton, co-host of the Boomer and Carton show on Sports Radio 66, WFAN is taking Hot Stove Baseball to the streets as he leads a free agent rally live from the New York Mets new home, Citi Field.

The Rally will begin at 11am this Friday, November 14th in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Carton is not new to rallies as this past summer he blitzed the Jets training camp at Hofstra with a bullhorn leading a “Let’s get Brett” chant, in hopes of swaying Jets brass to sign hall of fame Quarterback Brett Favre.

This time Carton hopes to encourage the Mets to be very active in the 2008 Major league Baseball free agent pool and look to sign some of the top free agents available beginning this Saturday. Among the players he hopes to convince Mets management to go after are: Francisco Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia, and slugger Manny Ramirez.

I love Craig Carton. What a character. Oh, and he prefers it to be "CC," without the periods.

If anyone attends, please take pictures.

Kevin Gregg traded to Cubs

The Marlins fire sale continues.

The Marlins traded Kevin Gregg to the Chicago Cubs, which signifies another closer will be on the market. With Gregg now on the team, it's highly unlikely that the Cubs will re-sign Kerry Wood, another closing pitcher the Mets can take a look at.

I almost feel bad for Marlins fans, then I remember they have just as many World Series championships as the Mets do.

Phillies considering Jim Duquette for Asst. GM

Please hire this man, Phillies. Mets fans know what he can do, and I can only wish he does the same to your team.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Phillies are looking to round out their front office, and Jim Duquette is one of the "finalists."

Former Mets and Orioles G.M. Jim Duquette and Reds G.M. Wayne Krivsky are under consideration, major-league sources say, along with Muzzy Jackson, the Royals' former assistant G.M., and Scott Proefrock, the Orioles' director of baseball administration.

I predict the Phillies would trade away Cole Hamels for Carl Pavano, if Duquette is hired.

Braves closing in on Jake Peavy

As a Mets fan, I am not pleased by this news.

Scott Miller of CBSSports.com, is reporting the Atlanta Braves have offered a four-player package to the San Diego Padres, who will ask Jake Peavy to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through.

According to Miller:

Under terms of the deal discussed by the Braves and Padres, San Diego would receive shortstop Yunel Escobar, Class A outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, one of two starting pitchers -- Charlie Morton or Jo-Jo Reyes -- and either reliever Blaine Boyer or one of two minor-league left-handers (one of which is believed to be Jeff Locke).

The Braves want an answer by Friday, so the Padres are hard pressed to get Peavy to waive his no-trade clause.

I, obviously, really don't want to see this deal go through. The Braves have a deep enough farm system that this deal will crimp their minor leagues a little, but not put a dent in them like the Johan Santana trade for the Mets.

The Mets, in their endless pursuit to get in on every trade rumor out there, have been cited as inquiring on Peavy, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports:

Others have inserted themselves as well, including the Boston Red Sox and pitching-thin New York Mets.

I can't see it happening, so don't get your hopes up. It'd be great to have a 1-2 punch of Santana and Peavy, but I think the Mets have bigger fish to fry over landing another ace starter.

Would be nice though.

I'd prefer a free agent over a trade

The latest and greatest rumor about the Mets right now is that they're looking into Bobby Jenks of the Chicago White Sox. Though Jenks is not really "available," the team thinks they might be able to pry him away from the Pale Hose with a decent package.

Why the Mets are looking to give up more players from their farm system is beyond me. There is a big enough market for free agent closers out there, I'd rather dish out the dough for one of them instead of trading away talent.

Ken Davidoff takes a look at Jenks or Francisco Rodriguez on his Baseball Insider blog:

I think I'd vote for a Jenks trade. Remember, in the Santana trade, the Mets gave up top chips for really just one year of Santana. After that, the Mets had to treat Santana like a free agent.

But Jenks is a proven commodity, and if he somehow flops, he won't drain the payroll and roster flexibility as would K-Rod (who, interestingly, is younger than Jenks, despite having three more years of service time compiled).

(This argument is made only for Jenks versus K-Rod. Brian Fuentes or Kerry Wood or even Trevor Hoffman were not figured into this article.)

I understand his point in choosing Jenks here, as last year K-Rod struggled a bit with allowing runners, but seems to be able to work out of it time and time again. Was it luck? Was it skill? Omar Minaya might not want to take the chance, especially with a fanbase of fragile, skeptical Queens faithful due to the inept bullpen over the last two seasons.

I don't mean to downplay Jenks' contribution to the White Sox. He's tallied 117 saves in three plus seasons, closing the book on 41, 40 and 30 games respectively since 2006. He's under team control until 2011, but is arbitration elegible. His price will go up, but it's still miniscule compared to what K-Rod is asking. (Jenks made $550,000 in 2008.)

Still, with a new stadium, a flourishing TV network and a half-decent team bringing in money, I'd much rather see the team sign a slightly bloated paycheck over draining the farm system anymore than it already has been. Sign over trade.

Manuel gets a few votes for Manager of the Year

Congratulations to Joe Maddon and Lou Pinella for winning Manager of the Year in their respective leagues. Mets manager Jerry Manuel garnered 10 votes, coming in sixth.

The NL list went as follows:
Lou Pinella -- 103
Charlie Manuel -- 67
Fredi Sanchez -- 48
Joe Torre -- 45
Tony La Russa -- 11
Manuel -- 10
Cecil Cooper -- 3
Dale Sveum -- 1

Sveum? Really? He managed 12 (twelve!) games after taking over for Ned Yost. He managed the team to a 7-5 record in the regular season, and a 1-3 record in the postseason.

Did he really deserve a vote, even if it was for third place?

Maybe Manuel will win it next season after guiding the 2009 Mets to a World Series title. Wouldn't that be nice?

Could Obama speed up the free agency process?

With President-Elect Barack Obama set to take office on Jan. 20th, 2009, some big baseball deals may want to hurry the process along to see as much of that money as possible.

I don't want to get political here, so just stick with me. Feel free to post your love / hate for politics in the comments.

Obama has planned to raise the federal income tax rate from it's current 35 percent up to 39.6 percent. This may not affect you and me, but for the multi-million dollar deals that go down in Major League Baseball, this is a big issue.

From the AP:

Next year's major league minimum is $400,000. Agent Scott Boras, negotiating eight- and possibly nine-figure deals for free agents Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira, already has thought about the possibility of asking for larger signing bonuses payable this year in some of his contracts.

"There's some consideration to be had with the impact of the election," he said.

Free agents can't start negotiating money with all teams until Nov. 14. Only a relatively small percentage of contracts are finalized before Jan. 1.

Still, for a big-money free agent earning $10 million in 2009, Obama's plan could increase his federal tax by more than $400,000.

I never really thought about how the election affects baseball and it's players, mostly because they earn enough money as it is. Still, it should be interesting to see if any players jump right in to save a chunk of change on their new contract.

Piazza putting pen to paper

Mike Piazza is currently writing a memoir on his time in the league.

It's already on my wish list for next Christmas, as the book is due out in 2010. It is currently untitled.

Topics being covered:

He will also talk about the personalities and players from his days with the Mets, including Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, and Rickey Henderson and many others," according to Simon & Schuster. "In the book, Piazza will describe how he matured as a ballplayer and a man over the last decade.

Oh boy, Henderson will be in it? I cannot wait.