It has come to this, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks have outbid the Mets. The now pitching-deficient and long-time outfield void Mets had their sights on left-hander Francisco Liriano and outfielder Cody Ross, but lost them to the Pirates and Diamondbacks, respectively, who offered multi-year deals they wouldn’t have dreamt of giving. The Pirates, who were a feel-good story for much of the season before fading late because of their pitching, gave Liriano a [...]

The Mets have not added a starting OF yet this off-season, unless you count Collin Cowgill, and with options dwindling, it looks like the Mets will have to look inwards for a lead off hitter, especially if the Mets bring in an OF that is a slugger not an on-baser. That means the Mets realistic options for lead off hitters for 2013 are: – Ruben Tejada – Kirk Nieuwenhuis – Collin Cowgill – Matt Den [...]

So if you had not heard by now, RA Dickey took the time to write a farewell message to the Mets fanbase recently. Being a humble and classy man, he was met with emotional goodbyes and people wishing him well. You would be hard pressed to find any fan out there had a negative opinion of Dickey. I have had some time to think about the whole thing…and I have come to a conclusion on [...]

R.A. Dickey wrote his own farewell message to Mets fans which was published him in the Daily News this evening. Here is his letter to Mets fans in its entirety: A little over a year ago I was knocking around book titles with my publisher when we finally found a keeper. The minute I heard the words, “Wherever I Wind Up,” I liked the cadence of them. I liked the mystery of them. Most of all, [...]

In a column for Newsday, Marc Carig posted comments that David Wright made this week while discussing the way he envisions his role on the team. The Mets third baseman understands that he is now the public face of the franchise and that the fans now expect him to ultimately lead this team to a post season run. “I want to do everything I can to meet the goals that I have and the goals the [...]

Ha, Ha, Gotcha! Yesterday, our own John Delcos sparked a solid debate with his post highlighting some of the good things that has happened under Sandman’s watch. This morning, XtreemIcon emailed me a comments from that post from out reader DrDooby. It was a well thought out comment that wasn’t lacking in objectivity si I decided to promote it to a Fan Shot. # 1 Beltran for Wheeler Even if Wheeler tears his labrum tomorrow or [...]

Keith Law of ESPN answered a couple of questions about the Mets new catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud during his weekly chat this week. Q – Do you see Travis d’Arnaud continuing at catcher longterm, or do the Mets need to think of him in the outfield or first base (possibly trading or moving Ike Davis). If he can stay healthy and at catcher, the Dickey trade was a no-brainer for the Mets, but if not… [...]

Cody Ross has reportedly agreed to a three year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The free agent outfielder had been on the Mets radar, but as Craig Lerner wrote this morning, he was far removed from the Mets price range. No details yet on the dollars, but it could be around $26 million or thereabouts. With the righthanded outfielder now in the ranks, the Diamondbacks now have a surplus of outfielders it seems with Justin Upton, [...]

Matt Snyder, a blogger for Eye On Baseball,  wonders if Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell were the best double-play combination ever? My answer is, probably yes. The second baseman and shortstop were together for more than ten years and racked up a combined 11 All-Star appearances, seven Gold Gloves and seven Silver Sluggers. Snyder says that the two players might have flown under the national radar — and still do — but they provided the [...]