OK, I haven’t written in a few days as there hasn’t been a ton of Met information.
I’ll start with Joe.  As you all know by now, Joe will not return to the Yankees for a 13th season.  He was offered a deal with performance benchmarks and rewards — something he found insulting.  While I do think this was the Yankees trying to usher him out the door without putting foot to derriere, I do think it’s not an awful scenario.  I mean, where else do you think you’ll make 5 million plus almost a lock to pocket another million for the playoffs?

It is funny that, all of the sudden, they have to be fiscally responsible…Bah!  I can count probably 60 million spent on wasted contracts with players who either aren’t playing for the Yanks, not at the big league level, or hurt.  Now it’s time to tighten the purse strings with Mo, Joe and Posada?  Silly.

 El Duque had his bunion removed.  Hopefully he can give us something going late into next year.  Oh, and believe me, there will be a second season for the Mets next year — they’ll be ready to go, waiting to erase that bad taste this year gave them.  I know I’d be waiting for Spring Training — it wouldn’t be able to come fast enough for me.

The Red Sox won game 7, like you knew they would. Yawn.  They should be able to take the Rox with Beckett starting game 1 and that long layoff.  We’ll see — Weds!

Waiting for the winter meetings…..

I know how the Mets and their on field celebrations and handshakes were constantly talked about at the end of the season — and rightfully so.  I think there’s no need to give the opposition a reason to fight back.  The Mets paid for some of those actions, in the form of hit batsmen — Milledge mainly.

The reason I bring this up is because I saw Manny Ramirez crush one and then stand and then slightly walk from the plate with both hands in the air after flipping the bat for 6 seconds before he started to jog.  Hey dummy, you’re still down 4 runs….it wasn’t a walk off.  He did it to Mariano once and countless times in between.  When does this guy get one in his ear?  Someone really needs to send a message to this guy.  The opposing catcher should be riding his A$$ all the way down the line until he runs it out.  It’s really disgraceful.

Check it out here

The meetings are over for today and Joe is still a man without a team.

The Rockies are in the October Classic but they await their opponant.  The Sox, a team that looked promising in the first game and part of the second game of the ALCS, are down 3-1 and face elimination.  While it’s not an insurmountable lead, it does hurt the chances of the Red Sox getting to see those red hot Rox in the World Series.

Joe still twisting in the wind.  Nothing regarding the managing situation was decided in the first day of the Tampa meetings.  We’ll see what today holds…

No real big Met news as of late.  I am sure we’ll hear some things shortly after the Last game of the World Series.

OK, I think it’s just about over — the Rockies are going to be in the World Series.  They just have ‘it,’ going 20 straight.  I still think the Red Sox will be their AL counterpart.  They have to get it together, though.  That last loss was a tough one.

We’ll see!

It amazes me that there’s even a little bit of talk of Joe being fired.  This guy has made the playoffs 12 straight years — 12 years!  Can we Met fans even fathom what that would be like?  I guess the regularity of post season appearances spoiled some fans and ownership.  Don’t get me wrong, the General gives his manager & GM plenty to work with.  Actually, plenty would be an extreme understatement.  It’s funny when you think about how ownership and Joe have spoiled these fans.  I recall sitting at Yankee Stadium a year or two ago and overhearing two fans behind me making post-season plans…It was late June, for crying out loud!  That demonstrates the point pretty well, I think…

The Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball and as such, it gives the owner the right to expect success.  I guess it comes down to how success is measured.  I think, especially this year, the Yankees were successful.  Think of the absolutely horrific start that team had.  They were 16+ games behind at one point — and came back!  They were within absolute striking distance for the AL East Division for a while.  How is that not a success?  Some may say that you have to blame Joe for the crappy start.  To that I’d answer, then you have to give him credit for the hell of a run they made in the second half.

Joe has had a heck of a career here in his time at the helm of this Yankee ship and if it has to come to an end, so be it.  I do hope they know that they will not get anyone nearly as good as they have right now — not in the next few years, anyway.  I can’t see Girardi working out well and I think Donny Baseball is too inexperienced.  If either of those guys get the job, I guess we’ll get to see first hand whether or not a trained monkey could manage a team with all that talent George provides.

Charlie Manuel and the Phillies have come to an agreement having him stay as the Skipper of the Phils until 2009 with a club option for 2010.  Hey, he deserves it for the regular season comeback play of his team this year.  It’s a little blemished with the 3 and out performance in the post-season, but he did a decent job, none the less.

I’ve been thinking about General George and Joe Torre. Someone should tell him that baseball is not an exact science. You can’t figure that, while H20 is the chemical formula for water, 40 guys at $189,639,045 (USA Today)does not necessarily equal a championship. There are so many variables involved during a 162 game season — injuries, slumps, etc. All you can do is exactly what George does — give your manager the best tools to get the job done.

The Yankees are stuck on 26 World Championships and they have been given a shot for the last 13 years to add to it but have been unable to do it. Why is that? I have an idea — there are more rounds than there used to be. Baseball’s changed a lot since the good old days of the powerhouse Yankee teams. Now, you have the Wild Card and divisional series’ and championship series’ and THEN you get to give it a shot in the World Series. That’s just a bunch of games! Many more hoops to jump through now. You just can’t predict these things anymore. All a team has to do is get hot at the right time and you can throw all the stats out of the window. This year is a prime example.

As you’ve probably read, the General George Steinbrenner said in an interview that if the Yanks didn’t get past the first round of playoffs this year, Joe Torre would most likely be fired.  Well, just minutes ago, the Yanks lost to the Indians, deciding which yeam would take the final spot in the League Championship Series.  It’s really absurd to think that a manager as successful as Joe Torre could possibly be fired for not advancing to the next round of playoffs.  He’s lead the Yankees to 13 straight playoffs — granted, he’s been given the tools every year but it’s damn impressive none the less.

You’d have to think that with this team even having a shot at being in the playoffs this year after the team dug itseslf such a deep hole in the early going would have been enough to secure his job but it may not.  You’d have to wonder, where would the Yanks go to get a replacement?  Who would you want there?  You can’t go with Donny Baseball, Girardi wouldn’t be good, I don’t think (too many high priced players — he’s good with the young guys), even though, according to Newsday, that’s where they’d look first.  Look for wholesale changes in the organization.

Well, I hope the owner has a change of heart.  On a lighter side, I am so glad I am a Met fan….Why, you ask?  Well, thankfully, as a Met fan, I don’t have to listen to that horrrible radio broadcast by John an Susan.  John Sterling mentioned the ‘bug game’ in tonight’s post game, chalking it up as a win if not for the bugs.  Hey John, the Mets would’ve been in the playoffs if they didn’t give up 200 runs in the last 10 games….hey buddy, you have to deal with what is.  Not only that, after a homer by A-Rod, he was lamenting the fact that, in the previous inning, there was a double play that ended the inning — imagine if A-Rod had come up in that spot.  Hey John, he may not have hit a homer…I know that’s crazy talk, but it might not have happened.  I’ve never heard so many what ifs and imagine if so and so got on base and then A-Rod comes up, in my life!  Hey John, why don’t you take your fan cap off before you step into the broadcast booth — it’ll probably help broaden your audience and give your existing listeners a better understanding of the game — without the view through rose colored glasses.

I almost forgot!  What about Mr. Perfect,  El Capitan, Derek Jeter had a terrible series.  Figures — I lump all this high praise upon him in a previous blog entry and he makes me look foolish!  I think he hit into 3 rally-killing double plays, that I can remember…I’m sure he’ll call me to apologize as making me look stupid was probably the last thing he wanted — well, right behind making the 2nd round, that is. :)  Sorry Jete — no trademark fist pumps tonight, although you did have one nice play. Probably should get some of that Derek Jeter Signature Cologne out to cover up the stink from your play in this series.

No more NY baseball…Who do you think’s going all the way? Let me know!
-J

Well, Ian O’Connor had an interesting article in the Bergen Record today. He spoke with the General, George Steinbrenner last night. George did not mince words when he said “His job is on the line,” to Ian. George also said “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this series.” That’s a pretty bold statement…no way to confuse that one.

He also had some harsh words for Froemming saying

“The umpire was full of [expletive]. He won’t umpire our games anymore.”

Hey, no kidding George — he’s retiring from umpiring
Read the whole article here.

I really don’t think Torre should go. The playoffs are such a crap shoot now. You just can’t figure them out. I would’ve chalked up this round to the Yankees, just like I would’ve really bet on the Phillies. The thing is, just as I’ve been harping since before the Mets completed their collapse — you just have to get to the playoffs to have a chance. The Cards made that point last year and the Indians are making that point here in the first round.

What do you guys think?