Ex-Mets: Church, Pirates nearing deal

Free-agent Ryan Church and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in talks for a deal, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Church appears to fit the Pirates' profile for their primary position-player need, in that they seek a reserve outfielder capable of stepping into everyday duty if needed: Church, a left-handed batter, is versatile, sound defensively, and his career splits -- he bats .280 vs. right-handed pitchers, .248 vs. left-handers, with 43 of his 51 home runs, -- probably would work best in a platoon or bench role.

I know Church was (is?) something of a fan-favorite around these parts, so thought I’d pass it along.

‘I Hate the Mets the Most’ [Video]

My favorite line: “Heck yes, we miss Francoeur”

Still, I’d prefer these guys to Kuff and the Buttheads every day of the week.

‘We believe in comebacks’ [Video]

Here is the Mets 2010 promotional video…

What do you think?

(I’ll be in NYC all day.  Hopefully I don’t freeze!)

Mets claim Jay Marshall off waivers

According to various reports, the Mets have claimed Jay Marshall, a lefthand pitcher,  off waivers from Oakland.  As you can tell by this photo, Marshall is a sidearm pitcher, dropping his arm below his shoulder.  See other photos here.

Marshall, 26, went 0-2 in 7 1-3 innings last season with Oakland.  He posted a 14.73 ERA and 1.773 WHIP.  He struck out one, walked none and surrendered one home run.

In 50 2-3 innings in Triple-A last season, he posted a 3.20 ERA and 1.342 WHIP.  He struck out 30 and walked 15.

Enjoy Buffalo, Jay.

Also, he has a beard.

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)