NL East: Bruney traded to Nats

Two things…

1. How many times do Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Bruney argue/fight/whine in 2010?

2. Are only NL East teams making moves?  That’s what it seems like so far.

Look: Uniforms in the wild, and strange Yankees logo [Image]

Here’s an image, albeit snapped with a cellphone camera, of the Mets new jersey hanging next to a Yankees jersey in the wild.

They really do look dirty, compared to the white Yankees uniforms.  It’s like they wanted to go for the “cream” look, but stopped short of going all the way.

With the orange outline, it just looks dirty, not retro.
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And here’s another image of…I don’t know what.  A upside down Yankees logo on a car from Pennsylvania.  Any ideas?Both images snapped by Geoffrey Sorensen.  Thanks!

This sums it up nicely [Image]

But, at least the Phillies didn’t win it.

Order your shirts here.

Twitter Poll: Who do you want to lose in the World Series?

I think it’s too touchy of a subject to ask Mets fans who they want to see win the World Series.  It might be a little gentler to ask them which team they would rather see lose.

So I asked.  Here are some responses…

cutiepie0319k said: the yankees better lose. i cannot deal with their fans in my face anymore.

VivaLMainstream said: Someone needs to demolish the Phillies. I'm gonna have to hide for a week if they win again (Mets fan in Philly = FAIL)

VivaLMainstream continued: The Yankees have had their time in the humility box. Now I need them to start kicking ass again (not too much, mind you)

metsphanatic said: Phillies!

loganpoweredny said: Phillies MUST lose

kayser3373 said: I would much rather see the Yankees lose. Just so their fans will stop squawking.

bosco86 said: would like to see the Phillies get swept and embarrassed by the Yankees.

fscker said: phillies, no question.

realcinch said: phils

davidwakeman said: I was thinking maybe they can cancel this world series.

How about you?  Who would you rather see lose in the World Series?

Mets fans will pull for Red Sox and Dodgers

In my last poll, I asked my readers what team they will pull for in the playoffs.  The Red Sox were the victor over the Dodgers by one vote.  Here are the results…Somehow, the Phillies managed to garner 11 votes.  I’m guessing those were voted for by Philly fans, don’t you think?

Personally, I’d like to see either the Twins or the Tigers win it all, though for Johan Santana’s sake, maybe the Twins shouldn’t win it all.

Next poll: Were the right people fired?

Link: Want to relive 2009’s Mets lowlights?

Well, you’re in luck.

Head over to The NY Times Bats Blog to see a rundown of the top-(bottom?)10 lowlights of the Mets season.

Also, just to add insult to injury (literally), you’ll have to scroll through the highlights of the New York Yankees season to read the Mets ones.

Sounds about right.

Chris Carter claimed by Yankees

When the Mets traded Billy Wagner to the Red Sox, they were to receive two players to be named later.  It was reported that Chris Carter, a 27-year-old first baseman/corner outfielder, was one of the players heading to the Mets.

But a third team, the New York Yankees, have thrown a wrench into the process.

As the Sox need to send Carter to the Mets, they had to put him on waivers with the intent that he would not be claimed and they could send him to Queens.  Instead, the Yankees claimed him.

Obviously, the Red Sox pulled him back off waivers and will now have to keep him on their 40-man roster for the remainder of the season.

The Mets will still receive Carter, but it will have to wait until the off-season.  So thanks to the Yankees, instead of seeing Carter in Citi Field this September, we’ll have to wait until spring training to see what talent he has.

Thanks a lot, Brian Cashman!

Update: Let me clarify.

I think this is a bushleague move by the Yankees, as the Red Sox already have Billy Wagner and they just want Boston to have to keep Carter on their roster for the remainder of the season.

For the Mets, this won’t affect them much.  I have no notion that Carter is the next great first baseman the Mets have been searching for.  He might be decent off the bench, if that, but nothing more.

This is more a critique of the Yankees / Red Sox rivalry than anything regarding the Mets roster.

It would be nice to see Carter, but I’m not going to lose sleep over having to wait to watch him in blue and orange.

Tweets from Yankee Stadium

Off to the new Yankee Stadium with a friend for tonight’s game between the Yankees and the Texas Rangers.  At least I’ll see some winning baseball.

Hey, Bruney!

You might want to talk to Joba about his celebrations.  They’re getting a little tired.

Just sayin’…

Citi Field beats out Yankee Stadium for best ballpark in NYC

NBC New York has been running contests for the “Golden Local,” pitting New York City items against one another in a poll to determine the best of the big city.  The latest vote had Citi Field taking on Yankee Stadium, and the residents of New York City have spoken.

Citi Field takes the cake – by a landslide – garnering 62 percent of the Golden Local vote.  Yankee Stadium picked up the opposing 38 percent of the voters.

I gave Citi Field the edge in my blow-by-blow breakdown and now New Yorkers have agreed.

Congrats, Citi Field.  Officially the best stadium in New York.

Off to Yankee Stadium

To complete my tour of the new stadiums in New York City, I'm heading down to the new Yankee Stadium today with Fletch.

It should be interesting, since I was at Citi Field last Sunday, to be able to compare the two. I wonder how many people have been to both stadiums? I'm in an elite group.

Obviously, posting will be slim to none until later today, but you can follow my Twitter updates, if so inclined.

The Mets take on the Red Sox for the second exhibition game at Citi Field today. Oliver Perez will take the mound to start for the Mets. John Maine will also make an appearance.

Enjoy the day and I'll let you know which stadium is better.

Angels sign Abreu for...what??

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have signed Bobby Abreu to a one-year deal, worth $5 million plus incentives.

And the Mets couldn't match that?

• Tim Redding -- $2.25 million
• Alex Cora -- $2 million
• Fernando Tatis -- $1.7 million
• Marlon Anderson -- $1.15 million
• Jeremy Reed -- $925,000
• Cory Sullivan -- $600,000
• Angel Pagan -- $575,000

Those names right there make up over $9 million of this year's payroll for the Mets. I could even add more names to the list, but it might just make you more upset.

The Mets obviously had money to spend this off-season, and to be content with a fingers-crossed, hope he can do what he did last year pick off the scrap heap, and a young singles hitter playing out of position manning left field is just silly.

$5 million for a competent outfielder (possibly a little afraid of the wall) who hit .296/.371/.471 last season. In 156 games, he also hit 20 home runs and drove in 100 RBIs. He's knocked in over 100 RBI in seven of his 11 full seasons, including the last five years in a row.

And yet he slipped through the Mets fingers because they weren't willing to pay him a little more than double what Tim Redding will earn pitching mop-up duty this season. (Redding's career ERA is a few points shy of five.)

Omar Minaya, caught looking.

Thanks a lot, A-Rod

For taking the spotlight off of Citi Field.

I had it up to here reading about the naming rights for the Mets new stadium. And I'm already sick of all this Alex Rodriguez talk, but that's another story entirely.

Everyone seems to be making it out that the Mets have done something wrong or are going to be hurt by the deal with Citigroup. In no way, shape or form should the name on the outside of the stadium affect the play on the field. So don't try to skew it that way.

The Mets are built to be a pretty decent team as of now. Still, there are some question marks but one of them should not be the name brandished around the new park.

A-Rod, however bittersweetly, has shifted the glaring hot spotlight back to the Bronx. Enjoy that circus, Fletcher and JSchil.

Here's a strange one to start your day

Fletcher has been reading "The Yankee Years," and he occasionally throws up a quote or two from the latest chapter. Last night, he read this one aloud and it's too good to pass up.

It deals with the Mets, I promise.

George Steinbrenner would shovel debris out of six inches of gunky, green water while dressed in loafers and slacks if it meant winning a World Series, which is exactly what he was doing in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2000 World Series at Shea Stadium. A fire had started in a third-deck trash container at Shea. When firefights opened one standpipe to extinguish the fire, pressure built in another standpipe located over the Yankees' clubhouse. The pipe burst, spewing torrents of dirty water and eventually causing the clubhouse ceiling to collapse. Great waves of fetid water cascaded over the clubhouse, and headed in the direction of the Yankees' principal owner.
...

As firefighters arrived to shut off the standpipe and clean up the mess, Steinbrenner jumped in to help them. After they did the best they could to move the water out and shovel away the pieces of the demolished ceiling, Steinbrenner, soaked himself, took a wad of bills from his pocked and peeled off fifties and hundreds to give to the firefighters in appreciation of their effort.

What a peculiar story. Oh, and people said Shea wasn't a dump?

Does anyone remember this story from when it happened? I sure don't.

Because I so shamelessly stole his entire post, please go visit Scott Proctor's Arm.

Report: Andy Pettitte soon to be off the market, returning to Yankees [Updated]

Update: Deal is done.

Via Peter Abraham:

It’s a $5.5 million deal that could balloon to as much as $12 million based on innings pitched and roster time.

Andy Pettitte looks like he will remain a Yankee, according to Ken Davidoff and Arthur Staple over at Newsday.

The deal is supposedly worth $6 million for a base salary, with incentives that could earn Pettitte up to $12 million.

The market is slimming, Omar Minaya. Hop to it.

The State of the Mets -- 1/23/09

Here is the third edition of my weekly web show, The State of the Mets.

Topics covered: Freddy Garcia, Ben Sheets vs. Oliver Perez and The Mets and the Yankees.

Joining my for the Yankee segment was Andrew Fletcher of Scott Proctor's Arm, and during the goodbyes was Jeremy Schilling of JSchil.Wordpress.com.

Andy Pettitte rumors to start swirling

One month ago (to the day), I wrote this:

According to Jon Heyman, an unnamed team supposedly has a three-year, $36 million offer on the table for Pettitte.

Hopefully, that team is not the Mets.

I would take Pettitte on a one year contract worth $8 million, though he likely won't sign for that. How about a two year deal worth $14 million? It's a bit off from this suggested $12 million a year he's supposedly getting from Team Anonymous (which I suspect doesn't exist). Pettitte also supposedly turned down a one-year, $10 million offer from the Yankees.
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The Mets need at least one more starter, and it could be Pettitte.

Today, Wallace Matthews writes:

But for whatever reason, the Yankees - either scared off by his poor second half, emboldened by their relatively painless jettisoning of Bernie Williams a couple of years ago or warming up for their inevitable discarding of Jeter and Mariano Rivera a couple of years hence - have decided that unless Pettitte wants to work for the Yankee equivalent of clubhouse-boy wages, he no longer fits into their plans.
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It doesn't appear to me that any of those guys is a better fit for the Mets' rotation than Pettitte. Unlike Perez, you absolutely know what you're getting: 30 to 35 starts a year, 200-plus innings, a minimum 14 wins. If you make it to October, you have a starter guaranteed not to rattle under pressure, and almost always guaranteed to put you in a position to win.

I'd prefer others, but Pettitte could work for the Mets.

Holy $hmoly

From the Daily News...

Yes, the Mets also want some $80 million in additional funding for their new Citi Field, but there are some big differences.

The City Council authorized the Mets to use that money, but the team never borrowed the full amount. The cost of Citi Field, including parking facilities, has increased by only about 15% above original projections - to a total of $700 million.

Yankee Stadium, on the other hand, has zoomed from an original price tag of $800 million in 2005 to $1.3 billion today.

And that's not counting the Yankee parking garages, which are being built by a separate nonprofit. They also have jumped in price to more than $340million.

The Mets are in the same town and are using the same unionized labor force. Yet Yankee Stadium will end up costing about twice as much as Citi Field.

(Emphasis is mine.)

I don't hate the Yankees or anything, but that's pretty ridiculous.

If the Yankees are buying a championship, at least it’s a good looking one

Give me a minute or two to be completely and utterly ridiculous (and talk about the Yankees)...

The New York Yankees have just plunked down nearly half a billion dollars for the service of three men. A.J., CC and MT will be around for the next five, three or seven and eight years respectively. But I’m not here to talk about them.

Have you seen their wives?! Gosh golly gee-willikers and every other darn tootin’ phrase from the 1950’s!!

Karen (Burnett), Amber (Sabathia) and Leigh (Teixeira) are all a sight for sore eyes. Their presence at the new Yankee Stadium will leave even Hank speechless, if only for a few minutes.

Mrs. Burnett looks like she could still be attending school in search of her undergraduate degree, and I mean that in the best way possible. She’s smoking hot, but seems to come off with that air of “I’m better than you.” I bet she was a cheerleader at some point in her life.

Mrs. Sabathia reminds me of Jada Pinkett Smith. Very beautiful but kind of scary at the same time. Hey, you’ve got to have some ‘tude if you’re going to tango with 295 lbs. of man.

And finally to Mrs. Teixeira, where I see a hint of Anne Hathaway in her. I guess that fits right in with New York City, being as Ms. Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, NY. (Destiny?) She’s very pretty, but in that “girl next door” kind of way that almost any guy will pant like a dog for.

And ladies, I did not forget about you. A.J., CC and Mark are nothing to scoff at.

Burnett reminds me of that high school jock that all the ladies wanted and all the guys wanted to be. The uber-male. I guess that makes sense, since he’s the one married to the “cheerleader.”

Sabathia may be a big guy, but he’s just a big ol’ teddy bear. Who wouldn’t want to cuddle up next to this guy to stay warm on a cold winter night?

Teixeira strikes me as the guy who always volunteered for things. Soup kitchen, nursing homes – whatever it was, he was ready to go. None of the ladies noticed him in high school, but as he got older, he became a man and a hot commodity.

So not only have the Yankees brought in some new guys to try to lead the team to victory, the new faces – both the players and their significant others -- are all pretty nice to look at!

(Photo credit: AJ and Karen, Mrs. Sabathia and Mark and Leigh - Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images.)

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.