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Zito Goes To Frisco
The Mets lost the Barry Zito sweepstakes as the prized lefty free agent signed with the San Francisco Giants yesterday staying in the bay area for 7 years at $125 million. I’m not surprised the Mets didn’t get Zito. Despite all the talk about how general manager Omar Minaya goes after the players he wants and convinces them to play for him Minaya also knows value. From the start Minaya was saying how he would not give Zito more than 6 years at $100 million. It was also known that Zito was looking for more than that and there was more than one team willing to go that far to sign him.
The big question is ‘what now’? Minaya is talking a good game about being confident enough with his current group of starters to go into the season without any changes. But Minaya is no fool either. He’s out there talking to teams about who may be available and if an opportunity presents itself to land an experienced, reliable starter Minaya will be aggressive in trying to land him.
Welcome Back, Maz
The Mets welcomed Lee Mazzilli back to the organization today. Not as a coach or manager but as the in studio analyst on pre and post game coverage on SNY.
Oliver Signs with the Angels
Darren Oliver has left the Mets in favor of taking his game to the Anaheim Angels. The 36 year old lefty was 4-1 with a 3.44 ERA, 60 Ks and 21 BBs in 81 innings out of the Mets bullpen last year.
Reyes Won’t Play This Winter
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes will not be playing in winter leagues this off season. This according to GM Omar Minaya.
“Reyes is an important part of our team. That’s why the Mets organization decided that he will not play. We want to keep him healthy for the next season.”
Wise move.
Good Luck, Kid
Gary Carter has left the Mets organization. After missing out on the fist base coaching job at the major league level and not accepting the managers job at double A Birmingham (he proffered the single A St. Lucie job he held last year but that was given to someone else) Carter has opted to seek employment elsewhere. Good luck, Kid. Hope to see you in a Mets uniform again soon.
Piazza On The Move
Former Mets catcher Mike Piazza signed with the Oakland A’s yesterday to replace Frank Thomas as their DH.
Welcome Back, HoJo
Mets manager Willie Randolph told reporters to day that he has hired former Mets third baseman (and shortstop, though I use that term loosely) as the teams new first base coach. Sandy Alomar, who coached first base last year, will be moving over to coach third base.
Countdown to Opening Day
I added an opening day countdown timer at the top of the page. It’s counting down to 8:05 pm on April 1 when the Mets are scheduled to kick off the 2006 season against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
For the techies out there, it’s not the first time I’ve done a countdown on this blog so I decided to put the count down script into a plugin. I’m planning on adding some options to the plugin so it’s not yet downloadable but keep watching my other blog for an announcement.
Banny Banishded for Reliever
There are reports that the Mets are close to a trade that would send starting pitcher Brian Bannister to the Kansas City Royals for reliever Ambiorix Burgos. Burgos is looked at as a kind of Oliver Perez of the bullpen: high upside but yet to consistently perform to his potential.
Glavine Signs
The Mets can breathe a tremendous sigh of relief now that Tom Glavine has signed a one year deal with a vesting option for a second year. (The option kicks in if Glavine pitches 160 innings and the value increases the more innings he pitches.) Glavine signed the deal after the Atlanta Braves made his decision much easier by not making an offer.
