If the past helps dictate the present, I have high doubts that Omar Minaya will make a move, any move, good or bad, to help this team at the trading deadline.  Why is that?  Well, when has he EVER been aggressive at the trading deadline?  Or with trades, period? I had a conversation on Twitter a few nights ago about Minaya, actually, about this very topic.  Our consensus was while we thought him to be [...]

When I first heard rumbling during Spring Training that pitching phenom prospect Jenrry Mejia may be brought up with the big club to make Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya look good…erm, uh…I mean of course to get Mejia adjusted to major league hitting, well, I was dead set against the idea.  See, while the Mets have traditionally played in a pitcher-friendly dimensional park and have had a rich pitching history, their history of handling prospects [...]

On January 29, 2008, Mets fans everywhere rejoiced over the formerly-rumored-now-true stories about Johan Santana, a pitching force that many teams coveted from the Minnesota Twins, was coming to our team in a blockbuster trade.  We were not only parting with prospects that we could handle losing (especially in a trade like this one), the Mets were able to negotiate an extension right off the bat with the Venezuelan lefty. The irony was, last year, [...]

I’m sure like most of you, I was tickled orange-and-blue when Johan Santana was traded to the New York Mets in the offseason leading to the 2008 season.  I have a few friends who were from Minnesota who did warn me, however, that Santana takes a while to “warm up” during the season.  Expect a not-so-dominant first half, but he finishes strong second-half. I thought – pshaw!  That would all change.  I mean, wasn’t the [...]

The date June 14th, as a sports fan, holds significance for me personally.  Sixteen years ago today, the New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks in a seven game series on home ice to end their then-54 year Stanley Cup drought.  I always remember dancing in the streets (literally) by Madison Square Garden with fellow Rangers fans, high-fiving cops and chanting on the train ride back to the Jerz. I have always described myself as [...]

In honor of the off-day yesterday, I wanted to pay homage to a guy who usually doesn’t get enough recognition in today’s Mets world, though plenty recognition in Mets history. And that guy is Gilbert Raymond Hodges, aka Gil Hodges. If you are familiar with the book Mets by the Numbers, I asked Jon Springer (one of the authors) a simple question — besides Gil Hodges, did anyone else ever wear the number 14? Of [...]

The National League has always been seen as more of the “cerebral” league in baseball, the one where managers have to think and not just throw out eight hitters plus an additional one each day but have strategy, one of which pitching is more valuable than hitting.  Pitching has created several headlines this season, with one no-hitter and two, count ‘em, TWO perfect games (one in each league).  And it’s only May!  I’m sure like [...]

After an almost full-season furlough, Mets fans eagerly anticipated Jose Reyes’ return to the Mets lineup on Saturday, April 10, of this year.  It sounded and seemed as though the Mets themselves needed that shock of adrenaline that only Reyes could provide.  The infectious style of play by the “catalyst,” as he has been called in the past, was truly missed.  According to most Mets experts in and out of Metsopotamia, Reyes was the one [...]

Who is Hisanori Takahashi? Peering into the vacuum of 2010, I would have to say he has been one of the most consistent relievers for the Mets this season.  And…well, that’s about it. The rumblings we’ve been hearing on blogs, news sites and other media forms are true: Takahashi is scheduled to make Friday night’s start against the Yankees, which was projected to be Jonathon Niese’s.  The other news there is that Niese apparently has [...]