Yanks sign another

The Yankees have now signed Mark Teixeira. That makes CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Teixeira in the last two weeks.

For continuing updates, check out Scott Proctor's Arm.

Happy Mets Festivus

Today, Dec. 23, marks the celebration of Festivus. Today, we will go through the many rituals of Festivus, of course dealing with the Mets, so why don't we just call this "Metstivus."

Break out your aluminum poles, and let us begin with the Airing of Grievances:

Luis Castillo: Your albatross of a contract has weighed on the team since the day you signed. You may have been a necessity to get Johan Santana to sign long-term, but if you backed up the money you're being played with "decent" play, I think people would look the other way. Instead, you miss tons of time with your bum knees and slap your way into double plays. You are the biggest waste of money on the Mets and since Aaron Heilman is the newest resident of Seattle, you will become the fans new personal scapegoat.

Left field: Yes, I'm airing my grievances toward the entire position. It seems to be cursed. Let's start with 2008. Endy Chavez saw the most games in LF -- he's now a Seattle Mariner. Follower up by Fernando Tatis -- he missed the end of the season with a shoulder injury. Daniel Murphy seemed to escape the curse, as did his rookie counterpart Nick Evans. After them was Marlon Anderson, who struggled mightily at the plate all season long. Then Angel Pagan, who lost most of the season to a shoulder injury. Behind him was Moises Alou, who only appeared in 14 games for the Mets in '08.

Looking to 2007, Alou led the list, and again missed lots of time to injuries. Chavez was behind him, and also lost time to a hamstring injury. In third on that list was Carlos Gomez, who was traded in the off season to the Minnesota Twins.

Now to 2006 and Cliff Floyd, who suffered many injuries throughout the year, none more memorable or heartbreaking as in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Floyd held his own from 2003-2005. 2004 featured Roger Cedeno as the almost everyday left fielder, with Timo Perez a distant second. Let me just list some left fielders the Mets have had "recently" (these are the players who saw the most games in LF that year): 1995 - Joe Orsulak, 1994 - Kevin McReynolds, 1993 - Vince Coleman, 1992 - Daryl Boston.

Maybe -- hopefully -- the move to Citi Field rids LF of it's apparent curse. Only few have escaped it since the early '90s.

Ryan Church: Stop running into things.

Luis Aguayo: Good riddance!

Willie Randolph: See: above.

Aaron Heilman: See: above.

Scott Schoeneweis: See: above.

Ambiorix Burgos: Get a safe, get a chauffeur, get anger management and get a lawyer. Also, see: above.

On to the Festivus Miracles!

It's a Metstivus miracle Omar Minaya signed Francisco Rodriguez for that price. Sign of the economy or just good dealings by Omar?

It's a Metstivus miracle he also helped sure up the 8th inning when he dealt the embattled Heilman and others away to land J.J. Putz.

It's a Metstivus miracle what Carlos Delgado did in the second half of the season.

It's a Metstivus miracle the Mets got Johan Santana earlier this year. (That was this year?! Geez.)

And finally, the Feats of Strength.

The Mets newest feat of strength will be when they flex their power in the 8th and 9th innings next season. I'm truly excited to see the day when Santana pitches seven strong innings and then has no fear or regrets as Putz shuts them down in the 8th and K-Rod comes in for the 9th. "Santana to Putz to K-Rod, the first Mets perfect game!" OK, I'm dreaming a little here, but still.

Another feat of strength, which also made last year's Festivus celebration was Shea Stadium. Holding up all those years, especially after Game 6 in 1986, is truly a feat of strength. You will be miss, Shea.

And finally, the fans. After having to put up with two heartbreaking collapses in two seasons, the fans will come flocking back to the team like nothing ever happened. With a renewed attitude and vigor, anxiously awaiting the chance to wash away the past two years and watch their team play baseball again. I can tell you I am among these fans. Spring training can't start soon enough.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Let's go Mets!

Please go check out Scott Proctor's Arm for a Yankee Festivus (featuring appearances by yours truly!)

2008 Met of the Year Award: White Bracket Sweet 16 voting

Moving into the White Bracket (which, if what looks like will happen does come true, will be the most hotly debated matchup yet) as the second set of Sweet 16 votes gets underway.

Remember, voting is based on whatever you choose. Stats, cuteness, clutch-ness or anything else -- it's up to you.

Here are today's TWO sets of matchups:



Polls close at MIDNIGHT.

Enjoy and may the best Met win.

2008 MotY: Orange Bracket Round 2 results

Two blowouts, as expected.

Here are the results:

1. Johan Santana vs. 9. Fernando Tatis -- 98.53% to 1.47% (67-1)

5. Scott Schoeneweis vs. 4. Carlos Beltran -- 2.7% to 97.3% (2-72)

So Santana and Beltran move on to face each other in the Elite 8 round. That should be a pretty interesting matchup.

Next polls up at 9:30 am.

2008 Met of the Year Award: Orange Bracket Round 2 [3 hours left!!]

Let Round 2 begin!

Criteria for voting: Voting can be based on whatever you choose. Stats at the plate, play in the field, a game-winning hit at a game you attended, the fact that he signed your hat at the stadium, how cute he is, VORP -- whatever you choose!

Today's TWO matchups (scroll down for the second poll):

Polls closed.

Voting will end at MIDNIGHT.

My prediction: Santana in a romp over Tatis. Beltran destroys Schoeneweis. Top seeds move on.

David Wright will be your starting third baseman, USA

Attention United States of America:
David Wright, and not Chipper Jones, will be the starting third baseman representing your country in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

According to Joel Sherman, Wright is one of two third basemen on the Team USA roster.

Wright has been told directly by USA manager Davey Johnson that he will be receiving the majority of the time at third base. Atlanta's Chipper Jones already has confirmed he will be one of the two American third basemen, but it is expected that he will serve often as the DH.

Good for him. Go USA!

I got mine

I got my Francisco Rodriguez Mets shirt the other day at Modell's. They also had blue ones, but instead of "Rodriguez" on the back, they only had "K-Rod." It struck me as a little weird, but that is his nickname.

As of now, we only know K-Rod will be No. 75 and J.J. Putz will wear No. 40. The other acquisitions haven't been assigned numbers yet.

I wonder if they'll mass produce Putz shirts? Would you buy one if they did?

Anyway, I'm wondering who else picked up their Rodriguez shirt already? Or are you waiting for Christmas or Hanukkah?

2008 MotY: Blue Bracket results

Here are the results from the Blue Bracket Round 1 voting of The 2008 Met of the Year Award.

2. Mike Pelfrey vs. 15. Argenis Reyes -- 98.18% to 1.82% (54-1)

3. Oliver Perez vs. 14. Brian Stokes -- 67.35% to 32.65% (33-16)

7. Ryan Church vs. 10. Duaner Sanchez -- 95.83% to 4.17% (46-2)

6. Brian Schneider vs. 11. Luis Ayala -- 79.59% to 20.41% (39-10)

Here is an updated bracket, all the way through Round 1.

For a full-size image, click here.

I feel like I can predict who is going to win these next few matches, but 12-seeded Daniel Murphy has seemed to quickly garner a big following, as he was the biggest upset in Round 1, toppling the fifth-seed in John Maine.

Stay tuned. Voting in Round 2 begins tomorrow morning at 9:30 am. The matchups will be from the Orange Bracket.

2008 MotY: Blue Bracket voting

Voting closed. Here are the results.

This is the final voting in Round 1. The Blue Bracket in the Piazza Division.

Here are today's matchups. (There are four polls. I notice the top poll has more votes than the others, so make sure you scoll down for the others!)

The case for Tim Redding

Back on Thursday Dec. 16, I proposed a plan for the Mets to sign Tim Redding. Not only would he help the back of rotation if he has a strong spring training, but he could also serve as the long man out of the bullpen if need be.

I was also tickled by his relation to a character on The Honeymooners and had a whole host of ideas planned out for him.

Well it seems like this Redding-Mets thing is gaining steam. I present the case for Tim Redding.

In the Major League Baseball System the players are influenced by two separate, yet equally important groups. The teams that want to sign the players and the agents who represent them. These are their stories.

DUN-DUN

Exhibit A: Jon Heyman links the Mets and Redding as a "Category B" type starter. Filed Dec. 19 at 2:45 pm.

Pitchers on that list include free agents Freddy Garcia and Tim Redding, plus Cubs starter Jason Marquis.

Exhibit B: Ken Rosenthal makes a similar claim, as the Orioles are attempting to sign Redding as well. Filed the same day, a few hours later.

The Mets and several other clubs also are interested in Redding, who is seeking a two-year contract. The Orioles likely will be reluctant to go two years, but that might be the only way for them to get him to Baltimore.

Exhibit C: Rosenthal has a new lead, citing sources, he claims the Mets will make a push to sign Redding.

The Mets, trying to create additional options for their rotation, are attempting to sign free-agent right-hander Tim Redding, major-league sources say.

Rosenthal goes on to confirm my statement of having Redding possibly challenge and compete with Jon Niese for the 5th spot in the rotation.

And finally, Exhibit D: Peter Botte spoke to Redding's agent. Filed Saturday Dec. 20, 1:51 am.

"The Mets are very much in the mix for Tim, he's a Northeast guy and loves the city," agent Tom O'Connell said of Redding, who is from Rochester. "We're still relatively early in the process, because Tim just got on the market, but we definitely are considering New York, 100%."

The case is not closed yet. The teams have a chance to make closing arguments and offers to Redding before he chooses.

DUN-DUN