nysports

The Mets signed outfielder Bobby Kielty, right-handers Tony Armas Jr. and Matt DeSalvo, and left-hander Valerio de los Santos yesterday.  This move gives the Mets yet another light hitting outfielder.  Kielty, is a switch hitter who has a career .254 batting average, and has never hit more than 12 HRs at the major league level.  At this point you have to ask yourself what is Omar trying to prove here?

Although he is a switch hitter, he is tremendously better from the Right side of the plate, which is where the Mets will use him, if at all.  He has a career .296 batting average as a Righty, along with 30 of his 53 career HRs.

The Mets also added some starting pitchers who will most likely compete for a bullpen spot, or a AAA starting rotation spot.  Armas was with the club last season, while the others are all new to the Mets.

That’s my 2 cents…  I’d love to hear yours!

Hey All,

Starting tonight I leave for vacation.  I will be back in March.  I may make some posts while I am away, however I won’t be posting on a daily basis as I currently am.  Please feel free to continue to visit the site for updates, or better yet, if you subscribe, you will be notified of updates.

Thanks for your support.

NY Sports

Jon Garland signed a 1 year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks today, elminating a major name off the Mets free agent board.  While it was unlikely that Garland was going to end up with the Mets, it was nice to have him as a backup option if things go wrong with Perez and Sheets.

Currently, the Mets have Oliver Perez ranked as their number 1 choice, and as of now he is the only player they have made an offer to.  So to date, they have lost out on Lowe, spent way too much time with Perez, and missed an opportunity on Garland as well.  Those were the 3 healthy pitchers on the Mets radar. 

 IF the Mets don’t land Perez, their options after that are a lot of injury prone guys, including: Sheets, Pedro, Randy Wolf.  To be honest, I’m not in love with any of those guys.  I do like Sheets.  I actually like him better than Perez, but what are you getting with Sheets, or rather, how much are you getting out of him?

Omar Minaya has gotten credit for a lot of big signings, especially this off season with the acquistions of Putz and K Rod.  But the real question is, Is Omar blowing it?  Other than those 2 off season moves, here is what else he has accomplished:

1) He has cornered the market on left handed, below average hitting outfielders by signing or re-signing Cory Sullivan,  Ryan Church, Daniel Murphy*, Jeremy Reed, Angel Pagan and Rob Mackowiak.  Just how many Outfielders can they start?

2) He let Derek Lowe and Jon Garland slip through his fingers.  Both these guys haven’t missed a start in the last 7 years.

3) He hasn’t made any move or showed any interest in Manny.  Omar’s solution in LF is Fernando Tatis and Any of the above left handed hitting OFs from the list above.  Are you serious?  I love Tatis, but you can’t compare him to a Hall of Fame caliber player in Manny.  Considering how the Mets offense has tanked the last 2 Septembers, they could really use a big bat in the lineup, and Manny would provide that.

4) He aquired Freddy Garcia.  I give Omar credit here, this move does have a lot of potential upside, but it also has the potential to pay Garcia as much as $9 million dollars.  They could easily offer Sheets or Garland that much.  Garcia is coming off injury, but he is a guy who has been successful in the majors for many years, and could be a strong arm in their rotation.

My prediction is that IF the Mets aren’t leading the divison by the All Star Break, that Omar is out of a job.  Mark it down.  Check back come All Star time.  I am calling this one now.

That’s my 2 cents… I’d love to hear yours!

The Knicks beat the Houston Rockets last night by a score of 104 - 98 last night at Madison Square Garden.  It was a dramatic win that saw the lead changes hands back and forth throughout the game.   The Knicks started the game by developing a 6 point lead in the 1st quarter, but then gave it up in the second quarter by finishing the first half down by 5.

Houston held the lead until the 4th quarter when the Knicks outscored them by 12 points.  The Knicks strong play was fronted by David Lee once again, who had 17 pts and 13 rebounds.   The bench was also huge once again, with strong play from Nate Robinson and Wilson Chandler.  Chandler came off the bench today, after usually being in the starting lineup.  He was replaced in yesterdays game by Al Harrington who was injected back into the starting lineup.  This move was most likely only based on match up as the Knicks were playing Houston, who has 2 great defensive forwards in Artest and Battier, as well as Tracy McGrady at guard.  Expect to see Chandler back into the starting lineup next game.

This was a nice rebound game after a tough loss to the 76ers last game.  Let’s hope the Knicks can keep rolling.

That’s my 2 cents… I’d love to hear yours!

He has been big off the bench lately! NATE DOG!

As I discussed earlier today The Yankees announced today that they signed Pettitte to a one-year deal.  The AP says Pettitte is guaranteed $5.5MM and could reach $12MM with incentives.  The move should allow the Yanks to move Joba Chamberlain to the fifth starter role, with various other young pitchers ready to step in as needed.

This move also means that Ben Sheets is running out of teams that may be interested in him.  The Rangers, Dodgers, Brewers and Mets still remain in play.  The Orioles don’t seem to be interested.  Most other teams that are in need of pitching just don’t seem to have the budget for Sheets.  I secretly hope the Mets sign him, but they seem in love with Oliver Perez, so we will have to see what develops there.

Reports are that the Yankees only have 1 move left to make during this off season before they will consider their moves for the season over.  That move is to sign a starting pitcher.  Sure, the Yankees have 4 solid starters already, but between the 5th slot and potential 6th slot (to compensate for injury) there are some holes.  So the Yankees are still set to make one more move, but the question is, what will that move be.

On the board and in the Yanks radar are: Andy Pettitte, Ben Sheets and Oliver Perez.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yanks swept in and stole Perez from their cross town rivals, the Mets.  That move would actually be a blessing for the Mets who could move on to Sheets or Garland.  This move will either come in the next week or so.  If for some reason it doesn’t happen this week, you may see the Yankees go into spring training without making a move, in the hopes to make a move some time during spring training.

I recently read a slightly related article in where some sports writers predicted Joba Chamberlain’s inning total for next season.  It’s interesting to see what they feel he will do.  Check it out - Joba’s Inning Totals

In some sad news, Eddy Curry’s X Girlfriend, Nova Henry, and her daughter were murdered last night in their Chicago apartment.  Curry’s 3 year old sun was also present in the apartment, but was unharmed.  The Knicks Center, who was a former Chicago Bull, was sad and distraught upon receiving the news. 

This is truly sad news, and my thoughts and hopes go out to both the Henry and Curry families for their loss.

In a book that is due out February 3rd, Joe Torre rips Brian Cashman, George Steinbrenner and Alex Rodriguez.  Or at least, that is what the media is currently reporting.  The book however, is not a first person narative from Torre, instead it is a 3rd person account from Sports Issulstrated writer Tom Verducci.  The book is also not just an account from interviews from Torre, but also with other Yankees employees and other players.  So in other words, this isn’t all coming from Torre’s mouth.  Other players and individuals may have contributed to this.

Brian Cashman had this to say “I woke up today and saw the newspapers and I was surprised. My first reaction is to wait to hear or see what’s in the book. I’m glad Joe gave me a call from Hawaii. It certainly made me feel better about what I was reading today.”

The most interesting part of the book appears to be a section which discusses A Rod’s role and effect on the Yankees team.  It is also noted that Rodriguez was called “A Fraud” by his teammates, and that he was obsessed with Derek Jeter.

Once the book comes out, I’ll try to purchase it and give a report.

That’s my 2 cents.. I’d love to hear yours!

A Rod is Jeter-Obsessed!!!