Santana is the Baryshnikov of the hands [Quote]

Watch a master at work and stand in awe. Before each start Johan Santana, the Mets' ace, struts past his teammates, smacking and fist-bumping and shimmying, as if performing a dugout Macarena, personalizing shakes for each teammate while throwing fake pitches. The innovation is ongoing (his shakes often change from week to week) and the complexity staggering—Santana is a veritable Baryshnikov of the hands, a choreographer of camaraderie.

-Chris Ballard, The Metaphysical Significance, Staggering Ubiquity
and Sheer Joy of High Fives

Read this article.  (For the lazy, the Santana part pulls from here.)

‘Torture’ [Quote]

“Torture.”

-Fred Wilpon on what the off-season was like

Pelfrey: I had a terrible year [Quote]

“I was pretty upset with not only how the team played, but with how I played last year, knowing that’s not me. I had a lost year. I had a terrible year.”

-Mike Pelfrey on his 2009

‘I have full autonomy’ [Quote]

“I understand there is going to be a lot of articles written about how the situation with the Mets is, but when I tell you that I have full autonomy, I have full autonomy.”

-Omar Minaya on who controls the Mets

Another Minaya quote

“It was a very good conversation. Everything is fine. Listen, we have no problems with Carlos Beltran. I have no problem with him and ownership has no problem. We love him. The only issue was with the process, not the player.”

-Omar Minaya to the New York Times

Statement from Carlos Beltran

I am totally surprised by the reaction to my recent knee surgery. Any accusations that I ignored or defied the team’s wishes are simply false. I also spoke to Omar Minaya about the surgery on Tuesday. He did not ask me to wait, or to get another doctor’s opinion. He just wished me well. No one from team raised any issue until Wednesday, after I was already in surgery. I do not know what else I could have done. The most important thing here is that the surgery was a total success and I expect to be back on the field playing the game I love sooner rather than later.

Carlos Beltran through his agent Scott Boras

Did the Mets give consent? [Quote]

“The Mets gave consent to pay for the surgery.”

-Scott Boras, via Andrew Marchand

Marchand said he spoke with Boras who claims the Mets, specifically Ray Ramirez, sent over workman’s comp papers to perform the surgery.

Scott Boras speaks [Quote]

“This was necessary surgery,
necessary surgery to work.”

-Scott Boras on Carlos Beltran’s surgery

Mets alert Players Association [Quote]

A person familiar with the situation told the Post that the Commissioners Office and the Players Association have been alerted that “the Mets are claiming this was done without clearance and that the Mets are threatening to take some form of action. There is a potential issue out there.”

-Joel Sherman

Regarding Fernando Martinez [Quote]

“The guy was the equivalent of a college sophomore last year. If a college sophomore got drafted and hit .290/.337/.540 in Triple-A,
people would be drooling over him.”

-John Sickels on Fernando Martinez

Link: Interview with the ‘I Hate the Mets the Most’ dudes

The other day I posted a video entitled “I Hate the Mets the Most” by two guys from down south.

Will Sommer contacted the two men, known as the Tomahawk Dudes and conducted a little Q&A.

Here’s the gem…

Sommer: Why so much hate on the Mets? Why not the Phillies? After all they are the best team in the East.

Tomahawk Dudes: There is a pretty simple reason as to why we chose the Mets. The Mets have always been the biggest rival for the Braves and it is a given that if you are a Braves fan, you hate the Mets, period. As you may know, there are some of the best rivalries in the South. It’s just like if you are a Georgia Bulldog fan, you are going to hate the Florida Gators. We do not like the Phillies, Marlins, or Nationals either but as the song illustrates, we just hate the Mets the Most. We think a lot of the hatred between these two ball clubs spawns from their history. From all the close games, to playoff battles, controversy on the diamond is no stranger between these two teams. We know that every time the Braves travel to Citi Field that #10 for the Braves will step into the batter box and the “Larry Chant” will soon follow. Also, when the Mets take the trip to Turner Field, it is a given that the stadium will be filled to capacity with die-hard Braves fans.  We just know as loyal Braves fans that if someone asks a “true Braves fan” who is the Braves’ biggest rival; it is going to be the Mets nine times out of ten.

For the rest of the interview, head over to Mets Fans Forever.

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."

Jeff Francoeur isn’t worried [Quotes]

“I’m sure they’ll put a good team on the field for us. There’s two months to go. I’m not panicked about that.”

-Jeff Francoeur on the Mets

UPDATED: ‘They’re only interested in signing low-budget Latin players’ [Quote]

Update – 3:30 p.m.: It seems the Daily News has edited this Madden column. It now reads…

They won't spend the money for Holliday, Bay or Lackey and apparently, they're only interested in signing low-budget players, having shown little or no interest in Byrd, Figgins, DeRosa, Wolf or even Staten Island's Jason Marquis, while waiting for their markets to come to them.

Very, very interesting.

Original post: From Bill Madden in today’s Daily News…

Mets? Did somebody say the Mets? They won't spend the money for Holliday, Bay or Lackey and apparently, they're only interested in signing low-budget Latin players, having shown little or no interest in Byrd, Figgins, DeRosa, Wolf or even Staten Island's Jason Marquis, while waiting for their markets to come to them. At the same time, the Phillie sand Braves wasted no time in addressing their needs. Sad.

Emphasis mine.

I know columnists are paid to be controversial, but this is a bit much.

Also, did Madden miss the Chris Coste signing?

Quote of the night

“That's unbelievable.
I can't explain why, how, or anything.”

-Jerry Manuel after last night’s loss.

The biggest non-story in a long time

When Jerry Manuel said “It's very, very fertile ground for growth in Shea Stadium. It's fertile ground for a team's growth and development. Sometimes, fertile ground has fertilizer," I immediately knew it would be blown entirely out of proportion.

Just as I predicted, the NY Post took this story and ran with it. Here is the classic example of “taking the quote out of context.” When you look that term up in the dictionary, you see an issue of the New York Post. (Please don’t fire me, News Corp.)

If they wanted to be correct, they would have noted that Manuel said this, laughed, and then continued. He was smart enough to attempt to clarify, simply because he knows how some media outlets work.

It worked on one radio host, Mr. Craig Carton of WFAN. Hopefully, he was doing it for the ratings because I simply cannot believe that anyone who is sane and of clear mind would actually thing a new manager would come out and say the fans are akin to cow manure.

Of course, as I walked to Penn Station today, people were scooping up issues of the NY Post to see what Manuel had said. Obviously they’re doing something right, but I wish some of the editors had just the tiniest bit of discretion when it comes to using quotes out of context.

Why can't we think like that?

Dan Graziano puts his thoughts into text and gives us this little quote from a team official:

One high-ranking official of another team, after a discussion about the mess in which the Mets find themselves, said, "Whatever. They'll still win the division."

This was startling, of course, because...well, it sure doesn't look that way. But the idea that such an outside perception could exist prompted further inquiry. So, being a good, seasoned reporter, I responded by saying, "Ya think?"

(That's right -- that's the kind of investigative journalist you're dealing with here.)

The response was, "Sure. I still look at a team that has Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Santana, Wagner and Pedro Martinez, and that's just too good. They'll be fine."

If it was only that easy to believe as a fan.

For some odd reason, I woke up this morning with a newfound hope. For some reason, I just have a feeling something is going to happen and it's going to be for the better. Don't ask me if Willie Randolph is going to be fired or the Mets will suddenly get, and stay, hot, but something is coming down the turnpike.

Willie sees it coming

And how couldn't he?

But I feel bad for the Willie Randolph. He's a good (not great) manager and has been unlucky enough to be handed a team mostly of veterans who have been oft injured and declining in talent. The sprinkling of youth on the team has been good, but inconsistent.

From a Bart Hubbuch article in the Post:

In another sign that he realizes the end could soon be near, Randolph used some dark humor when talking about [Omar] Minaya's arrival.

"I thought I saw him in the back sharpening his machete," Randolph said. "I don't know if that feels too good. He saw me coming, so he kind of slipped it in his back pocket. I don't know if that made me feel better."

Later in a rambling, 20-minute interview, Randolph seemed resigned to his potential fate when asked about the ominous timing of Minaya's unexpected visit. Randolph even described Minaya's public voicing of support as "the kiss of death."

"I'm just so hell-bent on winning the game right now that whether Omar is here or not, whether they support me or not, is irrelevant really,"

Randolph said. "It's going to be what it's going to be. I'll go down to the last day trying to win a ballgame.

That's why I'm here. That's why I came here. All that stuff is out of my hands."

Oh boy. That is both sad and good at the same time.

The guy just wants to win, and he is "hell-bent" on doing it, something I never expected to hear from Randolph. Yes, this might just be his last ditch effort to stay employed, but I feel this is something he truly believes, just doesn't show it.

Today's win was nice. Solid all around, as I said, but it's only one win and this team needs more.

Let's hold off on judging one way or another for now, but everything must be kept on a short leash.

Wagner's words

"Somebody want to tell me why the closer is being interviewed and I didn't even play," Wagner said in an expletive-laced tirade, "and why they are over there and not being interviewed? I got it; they're gone. (Big) shocker."
-via Jeremy Cothran.

Good for you, Billy Wagner. Maybe you should be the next coach of the Mets.

I actually like this. He doesn't care if he burns bridges, he just wants to win. I don't think the other players would stoop low enough to throw a game or something like that, but I think the Mets now need to close the door to the clubhouse, and sit the entire team down. Players, coaching staff, trainers, and the lot.

Get them all in there, get a good motivational speaker, and let's get this team back on track.

Classless Nats

I'm usually not one to put a whole lot of stock into quotes as they are usually that same darn thing every time. "We just didn't hit." "Great pitching performance beat us." "I really felt it tonight." And so on and so forth.

Once in a while though, someone comes out and really says how then feel.

I present to you, Nelson Figueroa on the Nationals dugout antics, via Kevin Devaney:

“They were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch softball girls. I’m a professional just like anybody else, so I take huge offense to that. If that’s what a last-place team needs to do to fire themself up, so be it. I think they need to show a little more class and professionalism. They won tonight but, in the long run, they are still who they are.

“Even for the manager and the coaching staff to let that stuff carry on, it’s truly unprofessional. That’s why they are who they are.”

Amazing. Not only calling out the players, but the coaches too. It might have been a bit of frustration on Figueroa's part, as he got tagged for six runs (four earned) in only five innings, but it's good to see some emotion!

Pay attention, Willie Randolph. There are faults with you, and I usually don't think they're glaring, but the lack of emotion, even to the press, is getting boring. Show some fire, just once, so I'll know you have it in you.

Round of applause to Figueroa for this quote and for calling out an entire team and it's staff. I like it. I smell a brawl tomorrow.