|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Nov 20, 2012 - 11:04 PM
|
|
|
By: |
ANZALDIMAN
(Member)
|
I'm really glad Dickey won it this year as well. I've been following him along on television and on this very thread since he became a Met several years ago. I've rarely missed one of his starts. It's been a fun ride watching him evolve. He's always been a positive force on the team win or lose, and what some people are forgetting in all the excitement is that this year was certainly no fluke. He's pitched very well for the Mets for several years now on a team that has provided him little or no run support, which makes what he did this season (20-6, 2.73 era) all the more impressive. He's given the team a chance to win in each and every game he starts. It's a great story. A real life baseball rags to riches story. The aging veteran journeyman pitcher re-inventing himself and reaching a goal that is realized by only a select few pitchers. The Cy Young Award is the ultimate honor for pitching excellence, and Dickey worked long and hard toiling away for peanuts in the minors in various places for years to get to this point. He stuck it out. Whatever else happens, he will always have this moment. There is a movie in this story someplace, but Hollywood would probably mess it up. Dickey is a humble guy, and he's been very appreciative of the Mets organization giving him a chance. (Former Mets GM Omar Minaya must be smiling right now) He wants to stay. He came off the scrap heap with his knuckleball and was brought on board not so long ago to just help eat up innings out of the bullpen. Now he is on top of the baseball world. He also has become quite a draw at Citi Field and put fans in the seats when there would not have been much of an interest in going out to the ballpark and watching the team playing out the string coming down the stretch this season. I hope the Wilpons realize what they have here. The Mets will be better with him than without him next year. I totally understand the financial position they are in and how they have been burned in recent years with big money free agent contracts. Dickey just won the Cy Young. The fans love him, and he will be a positive influence on the good young pitchers coming up through the system like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. Needless to say, I hope he is well rewarded not only for this season, but for his earlier seasons as a Met when not too many people were talking about his quiet success. Well done, R.A. Dickey.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Nov 29, 2012 - 11:06 AM
|
|
|
By: |
ANZALDIMAN
(Member)
|
Kuroda is back and looks like Pettitte will be back which is a big relief for the Yankees pitching wise. If this guy Pineda who was a bust this year on the DL comes back, the rotation will look better. Meanwhile, RIP Marvin Miller, though I am not among those who thinks he has any business ever getting Hall Of Fame consideration because the Hall should be for those who cared about the game of baseball and that is something Miller never did. He only cared about making players rich and then making them think they could still act like lunch-bucket mine workers even after becoming millionaire players in order to justify a no-compromise policy ever when it came to union behavior. This attitude is IMO one of the prime reasons why drug and steroid use became very common in the game because you could always count on the Union and Marvin and then Donald Fehr to object to any kind of drug testing policy. I wonder how many of today's ball players even know who Marvin Miller was. Like or dislike Marvin Miller, he paved the way for these big free agent contracts and benefits the players enjoy today but like you I don't think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Forget about owners and labor negotiators, when is someone truly deserving like Gil Hodges finally going to be elected in? This is a travesty that we have spoken about numerous times on this thread and still the years roll by without him getting the honor he deserves. The Mets have been making some hot stove news, and as I expected it's not all warm and fuzzy for their fans.. The Wilpons (of course) are not in any hurry it seems to re-sign R.A. Dickey. I believe it's going to take Oliver Perez type money to get it done, 2 years (possible option for a third) in the 30 to 35 million dollar range. The Perez contract turned into a fiasco (he stunk to high heaven) and was a huge waste of money but that is going to be the starting point for them like it or not. Dickey wants to get these negotiations over and behind him and the organization once again is dragging their cold feet getting it done. 38 year old Hiroki Kuroda just got a one year deal for 15 million from the Yankees, and Cy Young Award winner Dickey and his representatives will at the very least be looking for something similar and who could blame them? The Mets have made an offer to David Wright that is still pending. 140 million for 8 years with the contract supposedly backloaded so the Mets shell out the money over time. A respectable offer, and the richest contract the Mets have ever offered a player, but because of the structuring it may all come tumbling down like a house of cards. I'd hate to lose either one of these guys, but it's not looking good so far. If negotiations break down in either case there is the very real possibility that the Mets will trade one or the other or both for young prospects. And that is not something that would please a fan base that is already fed up with the ownership.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Nov 30, 2012 - 10:33 AM
|
|
|
By: |
ANZALDIMAN
(Member)
|
The Mets and third baseman David Wright ironed out the issues and agreed overnight to a long term contract extension. The total package will be 138 million for 8 years and it makes Wright the highest paid Mets player ever and this deal will take him through to the end of his career. This contract surpasses Johan Santana's deal which was in the 137 million dollar range. Wright is a home grown Met, a six time All Star and multiple Gold Glove winner, and he joins Ed Kranepool (1962-1979) as the only players in team history to start and finish their careers in a Met uniform. Wright has been a solid player and a good ambassador for the franchise through the good and bad times, and if anyone deserved this type of money it was him. Wright wanted to stay a Met all along, and I'm glad he's back long term and this thing is finally settled. Wright will be 30 when the 2013 season starts, and he will continue to be a player the team can build around. Next up will be signing R.A. Dickey to an extension. With Wright now locked in long term, Dickey may be used to explore some trade options to improve in other areas. The Mets still hold the option on Dickey for 2013, and seem in no rush to advance the negotiations at this point. GM Sandy Alderson still has his work cut out for him to add pieces around Wright in the lineup for 2013. For starters, an outfielder with some pop and a catcher are two gaping holes he needs to address. Josh Thole did a great job catching Dickey's knuckleball last season but he can't hit a lick. Decent catchers are hard to find now, and the few that are available will be attracting a lot of interest this winter. The team across town will also be looking for one now that Russell Martin has left the Bronx and inked a deal with Pittsburgh. The Mets brought in veteran catcher Kelly Shoppach in a trade with the Boston Red Sox at the end of last season for a look and he did quite well. He had a lot of wear on the tires coming in, but it seems these are the types of guys that will be available this winter. Veteran well traveled backstoppers like Rod Barajas and A.J. Pierzynski it appears will always be available as stopgap solutions in the short term.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|