Wright on WFAN next Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Awesome, but will he wear a silly hat?

2009 Met of the Year: Final Four

The Final Four is set for the 2009 Met of the Year. 

Two one-seeds and two six-seeds.  A starting pitcher, the ace of the staff.  The third baseman, the face of the franchise.  And two center fielders, one, a backup who filled in during an injury plagued season and the other, the All-Star who missed half the year due to a bone bruise.

David Wright will take on Carlos Beltran
and
Johan Santana will take on Angel Pagan.

Voting resumes on Monday.

Roberto Alomar denied from HOF [Video]

Here is Ken Davidoff’s story (paid).

And here is a story from Stalking Steve Phillips, who was also at Alomar’s home.

Met of the Year voting: Castillo vs Pagan

Yesterday’s winner: Johan Santana with 74 percent of the vote.
He will take on the winner of today’s matchup.

Guessing the 2010 Mets Opening Day lineup

This post, in no way, is what I want the Mets to do.  This is, rather, a guess as to what they will do and what the lineup will look like on opening day.

1. Jose Reyes
2. Luis Castillo
3. Carlos Beltran
4. Jason Bay
5. David Wright
6. Daniel Murphy
7. Jeff Francoeur
8. Bengie Molina
9. Johan Santana

What do you think the Opening Day lineup will look on April 5 at Citi Field?

Link: Sherman’s notes on the Bay signing

NY Post: Notes, thoughts on Mets signing of Bay

I suggest you read through these.  Some of them make me shake my head.  Not that I didn’t think they were true, but that they’re already creating a fallback if this (or many other things) fails.

Why say these out loud, to a reporter?  I don’t get it.

(Hat tip to Will Davidian for the link)

2009 Met of the Year: Black Bracket voting

Voting ends tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Yesterday’s winner: With 57 percent of the vote, six-seed Carlos Beltran advances to the Final Four.
Beltran and David Wright (1) will face off in the Seaver Division Final Four.

Quotes from the Jason Bay press conference

Jason Bay

• "Thank you to Jeff and Omar and everyone else that made this possible."
• "I'm grateful and honored to be here."
• "I offer a fresh perspective as a little bit of an outsider."
• "The Mets wanted me more."
• "The money's nice, don't get me wrong. ... You still have to make a decision ... New York: It was the perfect fit for everything."
• "Where you come up with Beirut, I don't know."
• "Can somebody ask Omar a question?" (jokingly)
• "I actually never hurt my shoulder. That thing took on a life of it's own. I had surgery in 2003 and it's been great ever since."
• "I can play in the playoffs, I can play in this market."
• "I'm expected to drive in runs. There's a lot of ways to do that."
• "I don't consider myself a home run hitter, I pride myself on trying to drive in runs."

Omar Minaya

• "We ask the fans to be patient."
• "Jason Bay, when it's all said and done, does a lot of fundamental things right."
• "I do anticipate Luis Castillo being our second baseman."
• "2009 is over, 2010, for me, for all of us, we're looking forward to having a great year."

Jeff Wilpon

• "Omar had a plan and wanted to get a power hitting outfielder. We looked at the spray charts and everything."
• "We have to do what's best for the organization long term. ... We had a deal done Christmas Eve."
• "Speed is not going to win this winter."

Jason Bay contract details

Here is the breakdown of Jason Bay’s contract with the Mets. Four years – with a fifth-year vesting option – worth $66 million ($80 million with vesting option).

Signing bonus: $8.5 million.

2010 salary: $6.5 million.

2011 salary: $16 million.

2012 salary: $16 million.

2013 salary: $16 million.

2014 vesting option details: 600 plate appearances in 2013 or 500 plate appearances in both the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

2014 salary: $17 million (or $3 million buyout).

Full no-trade clause.

2009 Met of the Year: White Bracket voting

2. Luis Castillo vs 6. Carlos Beltran

Voting ends at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Yesterday’s winner: David Wright.
He advances to the Final Four to face the winner of this matchup.