The Howard Hughes Corporation and Play Ball Owners Group form the new ownership group and our beat writer is on the way to the park right now where they are expected to make an official announcement.

This is all part of what MMO’s Rob Silverman reported over the winter about the move to a new, $65 million stadium called The Ballpark at Summerlin Center that will be located in the suburbs of Las Vegas.

The Mets have a two-year player development contract with Las Vegas that will remain in place regardless of the change in ownership.

We’ll tell you more after the press conference.

It was so weird because I was in the middle of setting up phone interviews with Collin McHugh and Zack Wheeler and speaking to Jim when it suddenly sounded like Grand Central Station poured into his office.

“Hold on. We’ve just been sold, Joe.”

I was like huh???

Should be a doozy of a game for Rob tonight.

“They rigged the signing of free agents. They got caught. They paid $280 million to the players. And I think that’s polluted labor relations in baseball ever since …”

In spite of Selig’s unscrupulous past he was able to corral enough owners to his side in an 18 to 9 vote of “no confidence” to force Vincent out. Now, you’d think it would be difficult for an owner with a history of impropriety to ascend to a position best suited to someone who might inspire trust from both sides, not so. Selig took the commissioner’s chair in 1992, passing control of the Brewers to his daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb.

Selig of course presided over the 1994 player’s strike. The 232-day work stoppage lasted from August 12, 1994, to April 2, 1995. What has since been described as the worst work-stoppage in professional sports history was precipitated by a collective bargaining proposal that included a salary cap. Tensions were exacerbated by the collusion attempts … Ownership dug in and the players didn’t budge. Eventually the 1994 season became a lost cause.

The strike damaged the game deeply, fans walked away in droves. There was a prevailing perception that the great American pastime had been irrevocably corrupted by greed. It was also during this time that steroids took root in MLB locker rooms. This issue was covered in a previous piece, so I will only note here that while it is true that the players shoulder a preponderance of blame, the owners did little to stop the spread of PED’s while they lined their pockets, and, in the end, the spread of steroids did occur on Selig’s watch.

The strike hurt the Montreal Expos more than any other team. Montreal had the best record in baseball at the time. The Expos were also lobbying for a new stadium, an effort that disintegrated with the work stoppage. Soon thereafter the Expos were sold to an art dealer named Jeffrey Loria who immediately demanded that the local government build him a new stadium. When this didn’t happen Loria eviscerated and sold the Expos to Major League Baseball for 120 million.

Loria used the proceeds from this sale to purchase the Florida Marlins. A suit was promptly filed by 14 minority owners of the Expos accusing Loria of conspiring with MLB (Selig) to dilute the minority partners’ share of the team from 76 percent to 6-to-7 percent. The suit went on to assert that Loria never intended to keep the franchise in Montreal and that he planed all along on flipping the Expos with an eye on the Marlins. Eventually the suit was settled with the former Expos owners receiving an undisclosed amount. As part of the settlement, none of the documents from the case were made public. This was in effect the second ruling against Selig in a 15 year span.

In the meantime Selig continued to pursue a contraction campaign focusing on the now MLB run Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins (for which there was a glaring conflict of interest since the Brewers and Twins shared the same market). Selig himself (who was good friends with the obscenely wealthy Pohlads) had managed in 2001 to get the city of Milwaukee to build Miller Park with $290 million in public funds, so he knew the drill — threaten and lobby.

Selig’s efforts to contract the Expos and the Twins failed as a result of a ruling requiring that the Twins honor their contract to play in the Metrodome. The Expos were subsequently sold and moved to Washington. What remained unresolved for many fans, however, were the exaggerated claims of losses on the part of baseball owners who at the time argued that the market was stretched thin and that teams were being pushed to poverty by player salaries and crumbling venues.

The Twins did eventually get their stadium (with 250 million in public funding), and on the day of its unveiling in April of 2010, Selig, strangely, brushed aside questions about contraction by brazenly stating, “there was a lot of mythology” to it. These comments left many feeling as if contraction was an elaborate ruse to secure support from legislators for stadium funding, a ruse Selig’s old conspirator Jeffrey Loria went on to perfect in securing public funding for a new stadium in Miami. An endeavor that eventually left Miami-Dade County with a 2.4 billion dollar debt, an empty stadium, and a massive abomination of a fish sculpture.

What does all this have to do with the Mets? There’s a pattern of influence and impropriety here that stretches back quite a ways. Wilpon was able to wrest the Mets from the more belligerent and restive Doubleday with Selig’s blessing (and a handy low-ball MLB appraisal). Selig has also presided over an office designed, ironically, to help maintain the integrity of the game, turning it instead into a vehicle for charting new profit streams. In the business world Selig is considered by many to be the greatest commissioner ever, having overseen an era that saw profits increase by 400%. But if there is one thing we know about Bud, it’s his long-standing desire to undermine free agency and level the playing field for smaller markets.

Bud Selig may have seen a unique opportunity to bring down spending and bolster parity by recommending a high level MLB operative (known for his ability to slash budgets and operate on a shoe-string), for the position of GM of the NY Mets. What better place to promote a small market paradigm than the biggest stage in the world?

In 2010 two crises were raging in MLB. Frank McCourt of the Dodgers was running his team as a personal bank account during divorce proceedings that had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy, and the Wilpons in N.Y. were in danger of losing the Mets as a result of a massive stadium bill and a disastrous association with Bernie Madoff and his ponzi scheme. Selig all but guaranteed that McCourt would sell by imposing a heavy-handed MLB takover, while he quietly supported the Wilpons with loans and votes of confidence.

In the fall of 2011 Frank McCourt filed a lawsuit against MLB, accusing Selig of forcing bankruptcy on the Dodgers by rejecting a contract with Fox Sports. The Fox contract would have allowed McCourt to retain possession of the Dodgers, but as the Dodgers were under MLB control by then, Selig was within his bounds to reject it — even though it was similar in principle to contracts signed by many other MLB teams. The court sided with MLB, but not without a stern warning to Selig. Again Bud had deftly maneuvered borderline illegal practices with impunity. Selig knew the Dodgers would fetch an obscene sum in sale and he also knew that any buyer would have deep enough pockets to pour truckloads of cash into the franchise. The Mets on the other hand would receive the austerity plan, a painful rebuilding process focusing on cutting payroll and rejuvenating their farm … the polar antithesis of what transpired with the Dodgers.

A friend who was in San Diego during Alderson’s tenure there warned me, “Alderson,” he said “would chop the team up piecemeal and sell off the parts for prospects, it’s what he does.” I didn’t believe him. “This is N.Y.” I countered “Here you have to spend money to make money, the fans wouldn’t stand for it …” After losing, in successive seasons, Beltran, Reyes, and Dickey, with a budget effectively halved, I can only admit he was ostensibly on the mark.

The more pressing question, however, is one of influence. Selig has exerted his influence over the years with mixed results. His approach in 1994 backfired as the players hit back, and his attempts at collusion resulted in a 280 million dollar settlement against MLB … but his influence was largely successful in both the migration of the Expos as well as the funding of numerous new venues on the public’s dime. The real defeat he’s never been able to undo is his failure to limit free agency and his inability to institute a salary cap.

Bud Selig is friends with Fred Wilpon, but given Selig’s commitment to the almighty dollar don’t let a personal relationship fool you. Selig would just as soon pop open a can of Milwaukee’s finest than hesitate to throw Wilpon under a bus if it meant more money in the coffers. His reasons for coming to the rescue of the Wilpons while moving to oust McCourt, can only be explained with an eye on profit. You could argue this is contradictory, how would the “Met austerity paradigm” mean more money for baseball when the Dodgers just boosted values of MLB franchises across the country by raising the bar with their sale price?

It’s all about parity. As Jason Stark recently pointed out, MLB now features more parity than the NFL. If a small market approach can succeed in a big market it would effectively establish an operational model that could be duplicated in any number of cities big and small. Increased parity means more money across a broader spectrum of markets, precluding the need for revenue sharing mandates. Why didn’t Selig attempt a similar austerity program with the Dodgers? McCourt was himself imbued in impropriety and was openly hostile to MLB, his was a hopeless cause where the only resolution was a forced sale.

If Selig’s plan proceeds according to design, the Mets will benefit from a self sustaining minor league feeder system what will propel them to perennial contention while the Dodgers dig out from an array of bad contracts … but, there are no guarantees. Selig lost control of the Dodger situation once the winning bid was accepted. The Mets on the other hand were under his influence in so far as he was able to impress upon both the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson that they needed to cut payroll. Granted, under the circumstances the Wilpons didn’t have much choice, but when you consider Selig’s history and the fact that he got his man on the GM’s seat in NY, you have to believe he was pleased.

Whether or not this experiment benefits the Mets remains to be seen. Given the volume of pitching the Mets have been able to accumulate you have to feel good about the team’s prospects, no pun intended. The Dodgers on the other hand appear to be a flawed, injury prone, aging, and above all expensive mess. As far as business models, you can bet there will be lots of baseball minds keeping an eye on the Mets and Dodgers in the coming years.

However, fairness is irrelevant in sports. A manager’s job security always becomes an issue when he has lame duck contractual status and his team has lost six straight games.Losing streaks get everybody edgy, with questions directed to management, in this case, GM Sandy Alderson, who was asked the inevitable by The New York Post.

“That’s not something that has entered my mind or any mind within the organization,’’ Alderson said. “Has it entered the minds of others in the media or what have you? Yes.’’

Well, of course it has. It’s been on the back burner since pitchers-and-catchers in February. And, I don’t think for a second it hasn’t crossed Alderson’s mind, either.

Walter Alston used to work on one-year contracts, but he was Walter Alston and his Dodgers teams were perennial winners. They were an organization that believed in consistency. They were the exception to the rule.

By contrast, Collins manages the Mets, a franchise that last went to the World Series in 2000. Thirteen years later, and they are on their fifth manager. That’s not even three years each, and that’s no stability. While this trend doesn’t suggest good things for Collins, it might work in his favor for at least this summer. If the Mets aren’t going anywhere, there’s no reason to make a change and have owner Fred Wilpon pay two managers.

Bobby Valentine managed that World Series team, but frequently clashed with then GM Steve Phillips – one of four since 2000 – and with his personality wore out his welcome. Art Howe was the polar opposite of Valentine, and that didn’t work, either. I thought Willie Randolph had a chance, but he was hamstrung from the beginning when he wasn’t given full reign to hire his coaches and had to deal with clubhouse spyTony Bernazard, who usurped his authority. Jerry Manuel was overmatched, but that’s what you get when you sack a manager after midnight.

Now there’s Collins, who was brought in by Alderson to clean up the mess. However, Alderson doesn’t have free economic authority to spend, and consequently Collins doesn’t have the pieces. He’s basically a custodian; here to keep things clean.

The pieces he’s been given don’t fit, but here’s the rub, Collins is judged on what he does with those pieces, much like on those cooking shows where the contestants have to make something out of a basket of random ingredients.

“He came into the season without a contract for next year and may not have one for next year through this season,’’ said Alderson, meaning don’t expect an in-season extension. “But as I’ve told him and said before: This isn’t just about wins and losses. It’s about how we approach the game and fully taking into account what he has to work with.

“We talk from time to time and the [job status] subject comes up. I’m not trying to avoid the topic. It’s status quo. You go through a tough week and people like to immediately jump to conclusions and start discussing a doomsday scenario. A good first week isn’t necessarily any more of an indication than a bad fourth week.’’

So, there you have it: Collins is the care taker for 2013.

Alderson wants to know more if his roster can work and play nice with each other rather than if it has any talent. He’s telling us – again – that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but how you play the game.

Unfortunately, they keep score and results do matter. Major League Baseball isn’t new wave, liberal physical education where everybody gets a prize for showing up.

Winning does matter on this level. Teams pay big money to get players capable of winning and fans pay big money to watch those players.

If the losing continues, attendance will eventually drop as it has every year since Citi Field opened. But, the players will get their money. And, Collins could be out of a job. Not fair, but that’s how they play the game. It is also something Alderson needs to think about concerning his own job status.

Thoughts from Joe D.

While I don’t think any manager can get more out of this team than Terry Collins is — and that is mostly because he’s been dealt a rotten hand by GM Sandy Alderson — I see too many flaws in Collins for me to defend him.

As an in-game strategist I disagree with more than half of the decisions he makes. No manager is perfect, but Collins makes too many bad decisions, many of which have negatively impacted the results of a game.

I thought it was a bad idea to let Collins play this season out as a lame-duck manager. Any of my regular readers know that. I wasn’t worried as much about his status becoming a distraction as much as I was concerned over the impact it would have on Collins as the manager and his decision-making process.

He’s making far too many bad decisions now than at any other time since taking over for Jerry Manuel. I think it’s a result of managing with a monkey on your back or your boss constantly hovering over your shoulder.

I don’t believe Sandy Alderson wants Terry back and that’s fine by me. But it should have been delineated that way before the season began. They could have handled it differently and just announce that this would be Terry’s last season as manager before assuming a new role in the front office. That would have made more sense, avoided all the constant questions, and let Tery and the players breathe a little easier throughout the season.

I got the sense from something David Wright said last week, that he and the team need to perform well because they like Terry and don’t want to let him down. ERRRRRRGGGHHHH. Wrong answer.

Collins has had to manage a team that is unworthy of being called a big market team and attendance has never been worse than this recent three-year run. As bad as the results have been, I doubt Gil Hodges or Davey Johnson could have done better with the same bad outfield, bullpen and backend of the rotation. This isn’t Terry’s mess, it’s Sandy’s mess – and he should be the one responsible for any of the bad results as well as cleaning it up.

NYC Blackout Shuts Out Shea In 1977

It had been a sweltering hot summer in NY, so hot that my dad and I had taken to sitting out in the backyard to listen to the games.  It was July 13, 1977, and the Mets were playing the Cubs. They were losing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth in spite of  an 11-strikeout effort by Jerry Koosman. We were eating watermelon and cheese. I remember spitting watermelon seeds out towards the tomato plants occasionally bouncing a seed off the big red tomatoes hanging from the vines.

Jerry Koosman, who had always been good, had never been Tom Seaver great. If we went to a game and Koosman was pitching it was like getting almost what you wanted for Christmas, like getting a pair of Pro-Keds instead of the Converse hightops you had your eye on … I was 12, what did I know? I’d been spoiled by one of the greatest ever to pitch off a mound and I was still reeling from having lost my all-time favorite NY Met. With Seaver gone, you’d think I would have grown to appreciate Koosman’s ability, but it was just the opposite. I grew to resent Koosman even more because he wasn’t Tom Seaver. Koosman became something like a bad imitation, an imitation that offered no consolation when the real thing ended up being taken away forever.

So we listened to the game and swatted mosquitoes and ate watermelon and sharp Greek cheeses. My mom and my sister weren’t home because my sister was in class over at Queens College and my mom had taken the car to go pick her up. Normally my sister would take the bus, but lately my mom had become so worried about this .44 caliber killer the tabloids had tabbed “Son of Sam,” that she’d taken to driving her out and picking her up every night.

My sister also happened to be a long-haired brunette which apparently was a favorite target of this particular psycho. Anyway, we’re listening with Lenny Randle at the plate and Ray Burris pitching and suddenly there’s a roar in the crowd and Lindsey Nelson starts going on about the lights going out in the stadium and just as I was explaining to my Dad that the lights had gone out (he had a hard time with any English vocabulary that wasn’t specific to his remarkably complete baseball lexicon – he even knew what a balk was) the radio went dead. It didn’t hit us at first because there weren’t any lights in the backyard, so we were just kind of staring at the radio wondering what happened. Then we heard the yelling and screaming from all around us and realized the lights had gone out, all the lights, everywhere.
It was becoming a long night as we sat in the hot kitchen lit only with a few old Easter candles while my dad paced back and forth chain-smoking. We were waiting for my mom and sister to get home. We had no idea where they were or how they’d get back in the dark. Eventually they did manage to get home without getting shot or looted, well past 11:00 PM. We were just happy to be together and safe.

My sister later explained that Mom had pretty much driven the entire way never exceeding 15 miles per hour with the windows up and never coming to a full stop. We ended up laughing a little as my parents fretted about spoiled cheese and melted butter at the store (my family owned a small deli on Roosevelt Ave.), and after a while we didn’t even mind the dark so much as we drifted off to bed. The noise of the increasingly more distant and sporadic yelling continued to waft through our open windows throughout the night with my dad keeping a quiet vigil at the front of the house, guarding from whatever chaos might happen by.

My friend Andy from across the street who was three years my elder was at the game that night with his cousins. He told me all about it the following day the same way he’d retell rated R movies scene for scene, word for word. I’ll never forget listening to him recite Jaws in all it’s gory and suspenseful detail, I swear it took longer for him to retell the movie than the movie itself. It took him a week to finish the Exorcist.

Anyway he explained how they didn’t realize it was a city-wide blackout until they were filing out and heard from people who’d been in the upper decks that the entire grid was black. He described the strange scene on the field as the players drove their cars onto the outfield grass with their headlights on and mimed infield practice to entertain the fans while the organist played Christmas music. Emergency generators lit up parts of the the stands but many of the halls and corridors were pitch black. Eventually they tired of waiting and slowly made their way out. They ended up walking the entire way back to 98th street, Corona.

Thinking back to that summer I can’t imagine a more fitting metaphor to losing the Franchise, Tom Seaver, than being left dumbfounded in the dark with a dead radio in the middle of a game. They’d turned the lights out on us and herded us into the pitch-black unknown. I’ll never forget the front page of the Daily News, “Seaver to Reds; Kingman to S.D.” We couldn’t make any sense of it. I read the paper to my dad and we concluded it was all about money, but I was way too young to understand anything about free agency or renegotiating contracts or personal pride.

What precipitated the split was the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was signed on July 12, 1976. It was the beginning of free agency. Only four months earlier, the Mets had signed Seaver to a three-year, $675,000 contract, and he was, at that time, baseball’s highest paid pitcher.

Later that winter as the first batch of free agents cashed in with players signing million dollar contracts (even Nolan Ryan ended up making more than Seaver as Gene Autry offered him a 300,000 dollar base salary in lieu of Nolan’s impending free agency), Seaver wanted to renegotiate. But the bitter pill for fans came after the realization that there was actually a renegotiated contract in place that would have kept Seaver in Queens when a story by Dick Young appeared in the Daily News describing how Nancy Seaver was jealous of the Ryans.

That was it for Tom Terrific, he wanted out and he got his way.  None of the participants, not Seaver, not Grant, not Young, not even Nancy, ever stopped to consider that their actions would leave some kid out in Queens very much … in the dark … eating cheese, and spitting watermelon seeds.

His contract stipulates that Lyon is to receive roster bonuses of $100,000-$125,000 roughly once a month.

The 34-year-old righty who signed a  a guaranteed $750,000 deal with the Mets before the season, received his first $100K bonus check by making the Opening Day roster. But then this morning, Lyon took in his second check, also worth $100,000.

In his last ten appearances, Lyon has allowed five earned runs in 9.0 innings pitched with a 5.00 ERA during that span.

Lyon’s ERA for the season has risen to 4.35 in 12 appearances after a rough two weeks. That ranks last in the Mets bullpen among relievers with five or more appearances.

Overall, the Mets bullpen has a 5.29 ERA which ranks 29th out of all 30 MLB teams.

First and foremost, how do you define a superstar?  For the purposes of this post, I’m going to say that a superstar has to have been in the league long enough to be compensated like one.  This will provide a “track record” that we can use to see where Wright lies amongst his peers.  Does this leave out the Mike Trouts and Bryce Harpers of the world?  Yes, but its important to consider money because it is always an important dynamic in this argument.

With that said, if there is anything both Wright’s supports and his critics can agree on, its that Wright’s new contract compensates him like a superstar.  Despite making only $11 million dollars this season, he will average $17.5 million over the length of the deal.  So for the purposes of comparison, I will use this $17.5 million dollar figure so Wright goes up against players considered to be the best in the league.  IF Wright were to make $17.5 million dollars this season, he would find himself to be the twenty-third highest paid player in Major League Baseball.   As it turns out, there are eleven higher paid position players in the game under this scenario.  Therefore, for the purposes of this comparison, I will use those eleven players and the first eleven that fall below him.  Each of these players have been productive enough on a consistent basis to be amongst the highest paid position players in the league.  Does Wright belong in this group?

This is how they match up over the course of their careers in the major statistical categories:

Click to enlarge. All statistics obtained from www.baseball-reference.com. All statistics are averages over every 162 games played.

I chose these statistics because they are the most commonly known offensive categories for the average/traditional baseball fan.  I included batting average with runners in scoring position as a way to measure “clutchness”, which always seems to come up when discussing Wright.  So what have we learned…

Wright is actually above average when it comes to runs, hits, runs batted in, stolen bases, batting average, OPS, and finally, “clutchness”.  Consequently, he is slightly below average when it comes to power numbers and also averages a few additional strikeouts than his peers, neither of which should come as a surprise to anyone who watches Wright on a daily basis.  Which of these statistics you value most will go a long way in making your determination of whether or not Wright is in fact, a superstar.

I’ll allow you to make that determination for yourself.  What I do take away from all of this is that David Wright has earned his place amongst the highest paid players in the league.  He may never hit the epic home runs that some on this list do.  That alone may be enough for some of you to never deem Wright a superstar, and that’s okay.  However, there are other aspects of his game that help to fill his power void, which may lead others to the exact opposite conclusion.  What do you think?  How does he match up?  Is David Wright a superstar?

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

Disclaimer: I did not include defensive statistics in this comparison because each of these players play different positions, with several serving as a DH who don’t play defense at all.  Salaries were obtained from www.baseballplayersalaries.com/salaries.

He’s kept criticism at bay and been one of the bigger surprises for the Mets in the early part of this season. Buck continued his hot streak with another home run in yesterday’s loss to the Phillies 3-7. He’s is batting .375/.371/.875, has five home runs, 15 RBIs and a savvy veteran demeanor in the dugout.

As the season progresses, one can only guess what lies ahead for the journeyman catcher. I can’t help but point out what looms in the minds of Mets fans: if Buck keeps playing like this, he could be a valuable trade chip at the deadline.

The two sides of me—the Mets fan and the rational thinker—have gone back and forth with the concept for the last couple days. The Mets fan says:

“Buck has been great and will compliment Travis d’Arnaud when d’Arnaud is ready to come up.”

Then the rational thinker chimes in and says:

“You know the Mets won’t keep him if he keeps playing like this. He’s 32. He’s not part of the rebuilding process. D’Arnaud is the Mets future backstop. If Alderson is willing to stick to his guns and trade Dickey, you think he’s not going to try and move Buck to a contender needing a catcher for more young pitching?”

Who could blame him if he did? It would make perfect sense. Terry Collins can say whatever he wants about competing this year. That’s his job. That’s what he’s paid to do. He’s going to do so even more knowing that teams are watching him as he comes off contract.

But my inner Mets fan keeps screaming in my ear saying:

“Dan, you idiot, the Mets can’t just trade Buck if they have a good record by the deadline. You don’t just throw away a potential winning season.”

To which the rational thinker rebuts:

“Yeah, you do. It’s called having a long-term strategy. Doesn’t that scenario seem familiar? A team with a good record by the All-Star break doesn’t mean its playoff bound. I don’t care if Buck has 30 home runs and 80 RBIs by then. If Alderson can make another worthwhile trade with Buck as the centerpiece, he’s probably going to do it.”

Even if Buck is an NL MVP candidate, he’s still a stopgap player. You unload stopgap players at the trade deadline A) so you don’t have to pay their full freight and B) so you can get some young talent for a player you weren’t going to keep anyway.

Of course, none of this matter unless Buck continues to produce at a high level. Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t  Time will tell. Here I am, nine games into the season, talking about what’s going to happen at the trade deadline. It’s still incredibly early, but don’t be naive and think that this won’t be a topic of discussion down the line if Buck holds up.

At any rate, it’s good to see another Mets catcher doing well at the plate. It reminds me of the great seasons with Mike Piazza and the late Gary Carter. Let’s hope things continue to get #BuckWild.

What do you think about Buck and the Mets?

When the Blue Jays forced Sandy Alderson to take John Buck‘s $6 million dollar contract as a condition of making the deal for Travis d’Arnaud, many people including me groaned. I loved the fact that Buck could actually catch (unlike Josh Thole) and would be an asset overall, but six million samoans for Buck was simply too much for me to swallow.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and Alderson sure lucked out on this one despite holding his nose and agreed to take Buck in that Dickey deal.

Fast forward to April 9, 2013…

Through seven games, Buck is now batting .375 to lead the Mets and throw in three homers (tops on the team) and 12 RBIs (tops in the NL). Somebody get me a shot of Chivas…

Are there still a lot of skeptics out there? Of course and rightfully so, but that doesn’t faze the Mets catcher one bit.

“I don’t really care,” he said. “I figure if I just keep doing what I’m doing, they can be surprised at the end of the year.”

Before joining the Mets, Buck was merely a career .236 hitter over his nine years in the majors. He has bounced around from team to team and has logged time with Kansas City, Toronto and Miami before hitting the streets of Flushing.

The power however, shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone as Buck has belted 15 or more homers three times in his career. But what’s happening right now? This is a first…

Last night, he blasted a three-run shot off of the once great Roy Halladay and clinched the win for the Mets. But it’s not just his bat that has been impressive. Mets starters have the second best ERA in the majors when he’s behind the dish and calling the game. He’s been the complete package for the Amazins.

I have always said that Omar Minaya struck gold when he picked up R.A. Dickey off the scrap heap. John Buck could end up becoming Sandy Alderson’s first real nugget and ironically, he didn’t even want him in the first place.

As I said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Mets’ relievers Frank Francisco and Pedro Feliciano threw a simulated game in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday.

Francisco continues to recover from off-season elbow surgery, and is currently on the disabled list, retroactive to March 22. The righty threw an inning of work, which consisted of 20 pitches.

Mets lefty reliever Feliciano continues to work on his arm strength, and also threw one inning of work in Tuesday’s simulated game.

Both Francisco and Feliciano remain serious candidates to join the Mets bullpen, should someone falter. Francisco is more likely to get the first crack first due to his contract ($6.5 million) and potential to close games, especially if Parnell struggles early this season.

This is a great contract for both sides. For Andrus, the obvious financial security in a town he’s familiar with and loves was the selling point. For the Rangers, they lock up one of the best young shortstops in the game through his prime years and the contract expires at just the right time. Jon Daniels saw his approval rating take a huge hit this past winter when he not only failed to acquire a big name that could finally put the Rangers over the top, he also allowed the team’s best player, Josh Hamilton, to leave via free agency to a division rival.

Andrus is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. At the plate, he’s improved his on-base percentage, slugging percentage and batting average every year since 2010. He owns a 74% success rate stealing bases, which is passable. The Rangers needed to make this happen to infuse some good will back in the franchise, and with a player of Andrus’s caliber, it was a confluence of positives that made everyone a winner.

Everyone except Andrus’s agent, Scott Boras, that is. Well known for taking his clients into free agency and milking every last cent from the owner’s pockets, Boras lost this battle. “We’re the boss,” Andrus said. “I know everybody thinks that about Scott, but it’s different if you’re the one in that position. He works for us. I know he tries to get the best deal that he can, but it comes down to my choice and what’s better for me and my family.”

From one contract extension to the greater chance of another, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano fired agent Scott Boras on Tuesday and signed with Roc Nation Sports, which partners with Creative Arts Agency (CAA) Sports. Roc Nation is owned by New York über-celebrity Jay-Z. Yankee fans should be happy to learn that Cano will now be represented by Brodie Van Wagenen, who also represents the likes of Matt Cain and the Ryan’s Braun, Zimmerman and Howard. What do they all have in common? Huge contract extensions before they reached free agency, that’s what. Good news for Yankee fans.

Cano is the best second baseman in baseball and would easily receive offers north $200 million on the free agent market. He may still reach that number, but it’s much more likely now that it’s from the Yankees, and will get done before too long.

The Cano situation is fascinating to me because it makes me wonder if Boras is losing sight of the marketing aspect of the decision. When Derek Jeter retires, Cano would be the man on that team and in this town. As Mets fans know, it’s the Yankees’ town, and they just allow the Mets a little space by the East River near an airport. Boras’s job is to get the best deal possible for his client, and he’s been wildly successful over the years, but the client has to think about more than just the terms of the contract.

I remember when LeBron James was mulling over his free agent decision, and the common thoughts were that if he wanted to be loyal, he’d stay in Cleveland. If he wanted to win, he’d go to Miami, and if he wanted to get rich(er), he’d go to New York. So while Boras needs to find out which team can offer the most dollars, Cano needs to find out which city can offer him the best off-the-field endeavors, and it seems he already knew that it was New York or bust. Boras felt that another team could offer more money, as evidenced by the declined offer the Yankees already made to Cano. While that may be true, Cano feels his overall lifestyle would be suited best by New York, so out goes Boras.

I think it’s no small coincidence that Cano immediately signed with an agency that partners with a New York-based marketing company headed by a business mogul worth half a billion dollars.

On a smaller scale, another Boras client, Carlos Gomez of the Brewers, also reached an agreement on an extension just three weeks ago. After a string of losses like this, Boras must be reeling. Maybe now’s a good time for Sandy Alderson to swoop in and lock up Matt Harvey.

David Wright was all smiles yesterday.

“If you like grand slams and scoring lots of runs, what’s not to like?’’ Wright said. “Of course, we’re not going to score 11 runs every game.’’

His qualifier continued: “It’s only the first game.’’That it was, and as good as they looked in mauling the Padres, the Mets remain loaded with questions.

When the Mets introduced their team, only nine players were the same time last Opening Day.

One question is not Johan Santana, and in several respects that’s a good thing because the Mets won’t have to deal with the lingering questions of about when, or if, we’ll see him. Or, was he worth the money.

All three can be answered in the negative.

Actually, there was a Santana sighting. He’s on the cover of the media guide. So is Terry Collins with a broad smile. Wonder how long that will last?

It depends on the answers to the following questions, five each on the mound and at the plate:

PITCHING QUESTIONS

 Q – Will Jon Niese assume the role of No. 1 with Santana done with the Mets?

A – Niese downplays the ace title, but that doesn’t alter the fact he is No. 1. He showed what he is capable of yesterday. The Mets need 200-plus innings and for him to exceed his career high of 13 victories.

Q – Matt Harvey: Boom or bust?

A – The anticipation for Harvey is intense after just ten starts last year. Fans want him to be another Dwight Gooden or Stephen Strasburg. His teammates expect it of him, too. Not fair, but that’s the way it is.

Q – What will they get from Shaun Marcum?

A – He’s on the DL, but expected to come off and pitch Sunday. He needs to win at least 12 games as the No. 4 starter in the rotation and be an innings eater. The Mets got him on the cheap, but he must outpitch his contract.

Q – Will Bobby Parnell seize the closer opportunity?

A – He’s had chances before and did not. Frank Francisco figures to be out at least a month and Parnell can take this job for good. If he does, and Francisco is healthy and pitches well in whatever role he is in when he returns, he gives the Mets a trade chip.

Q – How good is the bullpen?

A – Parnell is the only one from last year’s Opening Day pen. GM Sandy Alderson has built a pen with the combination of unproven and veteran arms. Basically, it is Parnell and six questions. Come to think of it, Parnell is also a question.

HITTING QUESTIONS

Q – Will David Wright respond to his contract?

A – Wright is not one who will coast. Looking for .300, 25-30 homers and over 100 RBI.  That’s the minimum requirements for your best hitter. Wright said he didn’t feel any differently being named captain. That’s because he’s had the role long before it became official.

Q – Can Ike Davis put together two strong halves?

A – Mets got little from him at the start last year, but he rebounded to finish with 32 homers. With his power 40 is reasonable. Unfortunately, so are 160 strikeouts. He had four yesterday.

Q – How will the outfield shake out?

A – Collin Cowgill beat out Kirk Nieuwenhuis, but nothing is etched in stone. Yesterday’s grand slam is a good start, but the key is sustaining. Marlon Byrd and Lucas Duda are in the corners. The Mets desperately need Duda’s power. If he hits 20, he could out-homer the rest of the outfield.

Q – When will we see Travis d’Arnaud?

A – For future free-agent considerations, he shouldn’t be here before May. However, Alderson said if he’s needed that wouldn’t be a barrier. We’ll see.

Q – What will the Mets get from Ruben Tejada?

A – He was solid last season, but hit less than .100 in spring training. He’s good with the glove, but Mets need something from him and his double yesterday was a good sign. He’ll never replace Jose Reyes’ numbers, but if he fields the position and hits around .275 the Mets will be happy.

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, does a fine job of explaining why the Mets chose not to insure Johan Santana’s contract.

The Mets will be on the hook for the remaining $31 million owed to Johan Santana because they did not insure the contract.  Why?

As premiums have skyrocketed because of escalating salaries and past payouts — such as the bailout when Mo Vaughn was owed $17 million and could not play for the Mets in 2004 — the organization began more often “self-insuring” its larger contracts than seeking outside coverage. In essence, the Mets chose to create a rainy-day fund available so that the organization would not be crippled financially by the loss of a key player due to injury.

It saves potentially a $2 million insurance premium per year to protect a contract, although the amount annually paid to an insurance company naturally decreases as the years on the contract elapse — like you’d pay less to an insurance company on a car as the years go by and the vehicle is worth less.

Across baseball, outside insurance has “declined tremendously,” according to one baseball official.

Santana was self-insured by the Mets, whereas the Mets contracts for Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Tom Glavine and Mike Piazza’s were insured externally during their Mets days as well. David Wright’s last contract also was insured externally.

You can read the rest of the article including all the details here.

ESPN New York’s Mark Simon got a chance to talk to Mets third base coach Tim Teufel, and the two of them discussed the team’s infield defense. I highlighted what Teufel had to say about some of the Mets infielders, but you should check out the entire article here.

UZR & Defensive Metrics

“I embrace them. Any time we can use measurements to help us in our coaching, I’m willing to look at it. I felt like (last year’s stats were) very accurate. It had some credibility with me.

Ike Davis

“Ike’s going to be a lot better this year. He’s moving around great. He’s going to his glove side really well. Last year that was a weakness. I think (the ankle) affected his range and his quickness. It limited his ability to push off (and get to that ball). He has good hands, a soft glove. We’ve shortened his stroke on throwing to convert the 3-6-3 a little better. I think that will work.”

Daniel Murphy

“From June on, he was an average to above average second baseman. We want him to increase his range to his glove side. He’s very good on his backhand. And he played in the shift really well. I don’t think he’ll go through the growing pains he went through last year. He looks a lot more comfortable.”

Ruben Tejada

“Ruben is still working his way into game shape (for a shortstop). It’s a demanding position. Positioning is key with him because he’s not as gifted range wise as some other shortstops. We’re working on getting him to understand hitters, the mental part of the game, things like what guys do in RBI situations and with two strikes.”

David Wright

“I actually felt like his backhand was one of the best in the league last season. I think the numbers may be because we overplay some hitters, so we shade him off the line a little bit. We’ve worked with him in the past on his throwing technique, but I think he’s got that wired right now.” ”

David is a step ahead of the other guys, but remember he’s got eight years at third base and all our other (infielders) have two years. He makes pretty good adjustments.”

Teufel got a jolt of good news earlier this week when he learned that the Mets signed his son Shawn to a minor league contract.

Unlike his father, Shawn Teufel does his job on a mound. The 26-year-old left-hander pitched at Class-A Lakeland (Detroit Tigers) last season, where he posted a 5-7 record and 6.64 ERA in 22 appearances both as a starter and reliever.

Think about it. That ten percent of players that make it to the bigs aren’t more talented. Maybe one or two percent are the Mike Trout’s and Bryce Harper’s of the world, but everyone else who signed a contract to play professional baseball have similar talents.

The terminology that the players are “a dime a dozen” comes to mind. Don’t get me wrong, there are varying levels of skill and ability in the areas of the coveted five tools, but for the most part, the players all trying to climb through the minor league systems have similar abilities.

The one thing that separates a guy that is going to play in the big leagues one day, from the other guys that won’t, is the mental makeup of the player. Confidence, self-assurance, intelligence, and the ability to deal with adversity are all the things that eventually separate the pack.

It’s well known in baseball circles that the jump to Double-A is what really tests the players. Why is that so? It’s because that is the level where players have to make adjustments and rely on more than just God given talent. The pitchers have to understand the art of pitching. They have to exploit the hitter’s weaknesses. They have to be able to get out of jams without relying on simply blowing a fastball by a hitter. Everyone can hit a fastball at Double-A, if they couldn’t, they wouldn’t be there.

For hitters, it’s all about how they handle adversity. As you climb through the ranks, the pitchers get better and better, and it makes it more difficult for hitters to break out of slumps. Pitch recognition, discipline, and remaining confident will be the difference for the hitter coming through the system.

And now it’s easier to see why baseball prospects can be such a crap-shoot. In the NFL, players are given a test called the Wonderlic. The prospects are given twelve minutes to answer 50 questions which are used to test the players’ mental makeup. It’s sort of an insurance policy for the team who is about to make a big investment, and a way to see if the player will be able to survive the mental rigors of being a professional athlete. Vince Young was a much more prominent player coming out of college than Ryan Fitzpatrick. But Ryan Fitzpatrick scored a perfect score on his Wonderlic and Vince Young had one of the lowest scores of all-time. Who’s still in the NFL?

One might wonder why a test like this isn’t used when evaluating baseball players before the MLB draft. It seems logical until you take into account that the NFL draft consists of approximately 224 players, and the MLB draft often consists over 1,000 players. You can see why the MLB has probably avoided issuing the test, as it would be pretty difficult to administer the test to that many potential draftees.

However, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t use some sort of test on some of the higher draft picks that get paid significant signing bonuses. Unfortunately, there may not be any test out there that can truly measure whether a player can withstand the mental rigors of professional baseball.

As if the rigors of the game of baseball are tough enough, take into account the lifestyle of a minor league player, and all of a sudden baseball doesn’t feel like a game anymore—it becomes unforgiving. Many of these young men are leaving their friends and families for the first time in their life, sometimes playing in towns and cities they have never heard of before. They ride buses for hours, sleep in motels, and barely get enough meal money to go to McDonalds twice in a day. The lifestyle can indeed be unforgiving, and many times these guys break. We read stories about prominent players being pushed to the limits by a culmination of things snowballing, and no story is more prominent than that of Josh Hamilton.

For those of you who didn’t read Hamilton’s book, he led a very sheltered life growing up. His parents often traveled with him on the road when he first broke into professional baseball. But when they stopped, he suffered through a rash of injuries, and the combination seemed to lead him down the road to nowhere. Here we had one of the greatest talents the game has ever seen, so great in fact, that he was compared to a young Mickey Mantle. Yet even this player carved out of stone by the baseball gods themselves couldn’t handle the mental rigors of the game. He was written off as what could have been.

I got a chance to see Josh Hamilton in his first season of professional baseball. He played a handful of games with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the NY-Penn League that year, and I was in college at the time. I had a summer job working in Dutchess Stadium (the home of the Renegades), and I remember the buzz in the crowd when Hamilton joined the team. But he got off to a horrible start, going 1/20 at the plate if I recall.

I remember standing and talking to a co-worker and college teammate in the stands about how we weren’t impressed with Hamilton, and maybe he was going to be a bust. The crowd was rich with scouts. They were all in attendance to see the young phenom, and one must’ve overheard my friend and I speaking. He came over to us and said “Hamilton is a future hall of famer. You guys heard of Mike Schmidt right?” My friend and I said “sure.” “Well,” the scout said, “Mike Schmidt got off to a terrible start in the minor leagues too, but nobody remembers that now, do they?”

That statement from the scout always resonated with me. It was almost like he was saying that nobody gives a crap what Josh Hamilton does at A-ball, he was destined for greater things. This isn’t supposed to be a post about Hamilton, but just an example about how the mental rigors of baseball, coupled with that unforgiving lifestyle of the minor leagues is the main reason why only one in ten prospects ever play in a major league game. Luckily for Hamilton, he was so incredibly gifted, he was able to overcome all of his challenges, and used his faith in God to help conquer the mental aspect of the game.

It’s crazy to think that there are nine guys sitting on their couch that have similar talents and abilities of the guys they’re watching playing on television. The difference between sitting at home watching the game, and playing the game on ESPN Sunday Night baseball is not much more than the ability to deal with adversity and having confidence in themselves as players. If a young prospect can master those things, then the sky is the limit.

Andy Martino of the Daily News, asks a thought-provoking question in his column this morning:

Would you have rather traded Jonathon Niese, instead of R.A. Dickey, to Toronto for Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard?

Turns out that the Mets had that choice according to  Martino.

While Niese faced Team Venezuela Wednesday in Port St. Lucie, two people with direct knowledge of last December’s deal told me that the Blue Jays were willing to send the same package to New York in exchange for Niese.

“Toronto has loved Niese for years,” one source said.  “They absolutely would have done that.”

The view from here has always been that the Mets should have retained Dickey, and found another way to stock the farm system, but we’ll give equal time to the other perspective. Niese is much younger, lefthanded, and working under a team-friendly contract.  At 26, he probably has more years remaining in baseball than the 38-year-old knuckleballer.

That’s kind of difficult to answer. On the one hand you have the reigning Cy Young winner who may be one of the top five pitchers in the game right now, while on the other hand you have a reliable number a solid mid-rotation pitcher who is much younger and has a team friendly contract with four more years remaining on it.

Of course the contract extension Dickey signed is also a huge value considering what other pitchers of his caliber earn.

There really is no wrong answer here, and either way it’s a great deal for the Mets.

But looking at the team now and the lack of a reliable ace it wouldn’t be far-fetched to have kept Dickey and the veteran leadership that comes along with him.

Ironically, if Johan Santana isn’t ready to pitch on Opening Day, it just may be Niece who gets the nod. Hopefully, things go better for Niese than they did for Mike Pelfrey when circumstances forced him into a similar situation.

What do you think?

Niese was coming off a few year in a row in which he was unable to finish a season pitching well or healthy. In 2010, he posted a 7.57 ERA over his last seven starts after pitching very well for most of the season. He was clearly showing signs of wear and tear. In 2011, he missed all of September with injury. It was very important for Niese to finally be able to pitch (and pitch well) down the stretch in 2012.

Niese’s overall numbers last season are actually a bit deceiving, and don’t quite tell the whole story. He finished the year with an above-average ERA of 3.40, 14th in the National League. However, he actually pitched much better than that mark would suggest. His ERA was inflated by two terrible starts, one in May against Toronto and another right before the All-Star break against Chicago. In those two games combined, he gave up 15 earned runs in 10 innings pitched. If you remove those starts from his statistics, his ERA is 2.84, which would have been fifth in the National League.

Since he has become a full-time starter in the big leagues, Niese has shown steady improvement, but last year was an even bigger step forward and has me excited for his future. He is mixing his pitches much better than in years past, and is also pitching remarkably better out of the stretch. With men on, opponents had a meager .272 on-base percentage with Niese striking out 3.52 batters per walk. In 2010 in those situations, hitters had a .358 on-base percentage and Niese struck out only 1.94 batters per walk. That’s a very promising trend and shows that last year was no fluke.

Overall, Niese has a very bright future ahead of him. Last year was not a fluke, but genuine improvement. He has turned himself into one of the better young lefties in the National League. With his new team-friendly contract, if he continues to pitch like he did last year, he will be immensely valuable to the Mets in the years to come.

2013 Projection:

3.50 ERA, 205 IP, 7.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 3.8 WAR

During the championship season, each Player shall receive a daily meal and tip allowance for each date a Club is on the road and for each traveling day. No deductions will be made for meals served on an airplane.

Any Player wearing a golf or batting glove underneath a playing glove may not rub up balls for use by the pitcher.

No field personnel may wear distracting jewelry of any kind. Distracting jewelry includes any item worn or used by a Player which, in the opinion of the umpire, could interfere with the play of the game or umpires’ ability to make calls, or endanger the health or safety of a Player, including the Player wearing the jewelry.

A catcher entering the on-deck circle as the next batter shall have removed his shin guards before entering the on-deck circle.

At least 51% of the exterior of each Player’s shoes must be the Club’s designated primary shoe color and the portion of the Club’s designated primary shoe color must be evenly distributed throughout the exterior of each shoe.

In any case in which a Player’s consent must be secured prior to the assignment of his contract, or in which a Player may elect free agency in lieu of accepting the outright assignment of his contract, the form given to the Player must include the Player’s name in typewritten form.

Sleeve length may not extend below the elbow.

If the new Uniform Player’s Contract is signed between the last day of one championship season and the first day of the next championship season, it must begin no later than the championship season following the next succeeding championship season; and if it does not begin with the next championship season, it cannot modify the terms of the Uniform Player’s Contract covering the next succeeding championship season. (Huh?)

Players will not be allowed to change shoes while running bases during any Major League game.

During the championship season, including travel to the first game of such season, no Club, absent extraordinary circumstances that make travel by plane impossible, may travel by bus between games if the distance between the two cities is, by the most direct highway route, more than 200 miles (one way).

Sleeves may not  be cut.

The Senior Vice President of Standards and On-Field Operations may choose to suspend a Player without pay for intentionally throwing a baseball, equipment or other object at a non-uniformed personnel with the intent of causing bodily harm.

Jerseys may not intentionally be untucked. (Hello, Jose Reyes.)

Under no circumstances may a jersey be ordered at or altered to a length where it cannot properly be tucked in.

The use of smokeless tobacco by Players, managers and coaches during televised interviews or appearances on behalf of the Club is prohibited. At any time when fans are permitted into the ballpark, players, managers, coaches and other on-field personnel will conceal tobacco products (including tobacco tins or packages) and may not carry tobacco products (including tobacco tins or packages) in their uniform or on their body.

The bottom of the pants may not be cut. Players wishing to relax the elastic string must do so from inside the pants.

Prohibition: All covered Individuals are prohibited from possessing deadly weapons while performing any services for MLB Entities, including while traveling on business (e.g., road games).

All Players will undergo neuro-cognitive baseline testing during Spring Training or when they join a Club each season.

A Player will not be permitted to change his jersey number even if such request is approved by his Club unless the request was received by the Office of the Commissioner no later than July 31st of the year preceding the championship season in which the jersey number change would take effect.

Straps may not be attached to the bottom of the pants.

No Player may have any visible corporate markings or logos tattooed on his body. In addition, no pitcher shall have markings on his body that are potentially distracting to the umpire or batter. Markings that are potentially distracting include tattoo(s) or other marking(s) which, in the opinion of the umpire, could interfere with the umpires’ ability to make calls, endanger the health or safety of a batter or otherwise interfere with the play of the game.

The elastic string may not be completely removed from the bottom of the pants.

During the period between reporting to the Club and being added to the Active Roster, a Player may participate in one workout and/or orientation without receiving Major League salary or service, but may not be in uniform for a game or otherwise occupy the bullpen, dugout, or field after the official end of his Club’s batting practice.

Any pitcher starting or entering a game wearing a colored glove must wear a glove of the same color for the pitcher’s entire participation in the game.

The trainer’s room and players’ lounge may be off-limits to the media, but each club controls these areas, and it is vital these areas not be used as a sanctuary for players seeking to avoid the media.

Pants pockets may not intentionally be untucked.

Ropes or other restraining barriers are not permitted to bar the media.

Media are to be allowed in foul territory, in an unrestricted manner, in an area that is to be not less than the territory between first and third bases, and which territory includes the area around the batting cage, except the dirt area around the batting cage.

For the first six years of his baseball career, Jason Bay was one of the game’s up-and-coming stars. He toiled in relative obscurity, first with the San Diego Padres and then with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where his tenacious, hard-slugging style of play caught the attention of baseball fans everywhere.

After a two-season stretch with the Boston Red Sox, Bay reached the pinnacle of his career. He was able to test the free-agent market for the first time. Suitors lined up around the block. Bay knew his career would take him someplace special. It did, as Bay signed a lucrative four-year contract worth $66 million with the New York Mets before the 2010 season started.

How the Mets wish they could have that time back. From the minute Bay set foot in the Big Apple, he felt pressure to produce with that fat contract hanging from his neck like an albatross. It made for some uncomfortable times as frustrated Mets fans quickly realized they had been sold a bill of goods. This month, Bay and the Mets came to the same conclusion. He had underproduced, and the Mets wanted him out of town.

Bay will be paid the full $21 million he is owed on the contract, and the $15 million that is deferred money will come to him before the end of 2015. He certainly doesn’t leave New York a pauper. One of the nice things (for the players, anyway) about guaranteed contracts in Major League Baseball is that teams often have to pay every cent themselves, unless other teams agree to pick up salary in a trade. With the termination agreement, Bay becomes an immediate free agent and can test the market again, presumably with a smaller, incentive-loaded deal coming to mind.

So where did it go horribly wrong for Bay? His loss means fans can go to a Mets game and figure out Where to Park in NYC without worrying about watching an overpriced slugger throw away $21 million. Heck, Mets fans say, the Yankees do that with Alex Rodriguez in one year!

In Bay’s defense the bat that produced back-to-back 30-homer seasons with Pittsburgh in 2005 and 2006, plus another pair of 30-homer seasons in 2008 with Pittsburgh and the Boston Red Sox in 2009, may have been compromised by his hard, gritty style of play.

A concussion in 2010 limited Bay to 95 games, and rib injuries each of the past two seasons hampered Bay’s ability to swing the ball. He hit 26 home runs over his three seasons in New York, with his best campaign in 2011 when he hit 12 home runs and drove in 57. Citi Field is not a strong home-run hitting park either, and Citi’s dimensions were changed following the 2011 season to reflect that.

His past history will get Bay some free-agent looks. The consensus is this market is not really good and teams always can use help when it comes to power bats. Boston has been mentioned as a destination for Bay once again, especially with the mass housecleaning the Red Sox had this summer and fall. Because his price is likely to fall big time, smaller-spending teams like the Cleveland Indians are on his list. Supposedly, Bay loved playing under former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who is now in Cleveland.

Jason Bay may not get another $66 million deal anytime soon, but a solid season could parlay into a better deal down the road. For now, the book closes on the Mets and an uncertain future lies ahead.

This Fan Shot was contributed by Rebecca. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 12 thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.

Contract extensions will be all the buzz this offseason for the Mets.

The team’s only superstars, David Wright and R.A. Dickey, both are coming up on option years, so all the talk has been centered on them agreeing to contract extensions before making any other moves.

But there’s another potential extension that may be discussed this offseason: an extension for manager Terry Collins.

Collins signed a two-year contract in November, 2010 with a third-year option for 2013. Sure enough, even before the 2011 season was through, the Mets exercised Collins’s 2013 option.

Through two seasons in Flushing, Collins has a record of 151-173 with two mediocre-at-best teams. The team finished in fourth place in the NL East both seasons.

At least last year, the Mets had a little bit of firepower with Jose Reyes and a half-season of Carlos Beltran. This year, it was really a team of unproven players other than David Wright.

Maybe Collins’s two seasons didn’t end up so favorably, but there were times during each season that he had the Mets overachieving and playing great baseball. That’s really all you can ask from a manager on a cash-strapped team: getting the most out of his young talent.

Sometimes, the manager takes the blame for all of a team’s problems. Look at Bobby Valentine this year for the Red Sox. Granted, he didn’t always say the right things, but he wasn’t the one on the field underperforming.

But for the Mets, Collins so far has been considered more part of the solution than the problem. Many of the younger players gained a familiarity with him before he became manager, since he was the team’s minor league field coordinator in 2010.

The Mets should consider a multi-year contract extension for Collins, with reasons being two-fold.

First, Collins has earned this extension. Keeping a team of the Mets’ caliber in contention for as long as he did each season is certainly an accomplishment and should be rewarded with a vote of confidence.

Second, managers always seem to perform better when they are not on the hot seat. Rather than worrying about if his job is safe, Collins can focus on putting the 2013 Mets in the best position to win ballgames.

In all likelihood, 2013 will not be the second coming of 1986. But Collins has done enough in his time here to be a part of the next Mets’ playoff run, assuming that is sometime in the next five years when the team may actually have a bit more money to spend.

Not too long ago, the answer to that question would be easy. A resounding “NO!”. Too much money, too old, bad attitude, lousy fielder and he is a strikeout waiting to happen. Physical prowess be damned, he just has too much baggage. Then again, not too long ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of signing Derrek Lee<you could probably link to your post about Lee here> to the team. My, how things have changed.

At the very least, it should be considered. I’ll admit, I am very conflicted about the idea. There is a lot to consider (disclaimer: These are all hypothetical, pie in the sky type stuff. I’m just laying out some possible scenarios.)

Pros:

• He addresses a major weakness on the team. Power. As I write this the Mets are 11th in slugging and 13th in home runs. The fact that they were 4th (and presently 6th) in runs scored in the NL was a minor miracle. They took advantage of that crazy high team OBP with some timely hitting and small ball. The problem is, small ball doesn’t win long term. You need real power in the heart of the line up and the guys the Mets expected to supply that have failed miserably so far (although, Duda looks like he’s on track now). Unless Ike Davis starts on a 30 home run pace tomorrow, they need to bring in someone from the outside. And if we start seeing some real power in the lineup and the Mets start plating more runs earlier in games, we’ll have less bullpen inspired agita. A healthy Soriano is good for 25-30 HR (he already has 12) and a .500 slugging.
• He’d be relatively cheap. Since taking over the Cubs, Theo Epstein has been trying to get rid of all the long term big money deals. He traded away Carlos Zambrano along with $15.5 million of the money guaranteed to Big Z to the Marlins for essentially a warm body. His age and health questions would also drive the asking price down. If the Cubs eat half the money owed on Soriano and take Bay straight up, I’d jump on that. If they ate almost all of it and took a B prospect, I’d be open to it.
• He’s right handed. After David Wright, our next best right handed hitter is Scott Hairston. That is bad on a lot of levels. Also, while Wright has seen a boost in overall production this year, he’s not a 30 home run type hitter. Alfonso is. And, you don’t have to worry about his splits because his numbers stay consistent throughout. We need someone to break up our parade of lefties because all it takes is one LOOGY to kill our offense.

Cons:

• His attitude problems. It is no secret that he wore out his welcome on 3 different teams. And this was while he was a legit 30/30 player. Granted, there hasn’t been a lot of noise about him specifically, but that could simply be that a prima donna is not that interesting a story when Carlos Zambrano’s drama is playing out on the same train wreck of a team. Do we really want a guy like him on a team that is built around guys hustling and putting their bodies on the line? What happens if he snubs Terry Collins or he loafs on a fly ball?
• His defense is still lousy. Yes, so far this season, he has a 1.000 fielding percentage. But that is going to change. Also, he plays in a smaller park. Playing Citi Field is far different from playing Wrigley. The Mets are already weak on defense. Do they need to risk becoming weaker? For all his trouble at the plate, Jason Bay has played a solid left field. At the very least, he’s exceeded expectations there.
• His contract is huge. The rumors are that Epstein is willing to eat a big chunk of his remaining money, but no one has an exact number. He is signed through 2014 at $18 million per year. That means he is still owed over $40 million. Zambrano only had 1 guranteed year left at $19 million. That is a huge difference. Epstein probably won’t eat $40 million just to open up a roster spot. He’s going to want some actual talent coming back. The 2 ½ year commitment will assuage that somewhat, but it is still a lot of money.
• He is old and has health problems. This is kind of a double edge sword. He is 36 this year and hasn’t played 150 games since 2006. It is a given that he is going to have some kind of surgery on his knee after the season. He said outright that at the very least, it will be exploratory. There is a real chance it will be full on arthroscopic. This is the same knee that had season ending surgery in 2009. He’d be lucky to give a team 130 games a year after that. This will drive the asking price down for sure, but you are still getting an old and injured player.

Those I think are the major arguments. The cons outnumber the pros, but I think each individual pro outweighs each individual con. So, it is probably a wash. I think the deciding factor will be if Alderson truly believes this team can compete right now. And I don’t mean win 88 games, scratch their way to a Wild Card spot, and get bounced immediately. A move like this isn’t to try making the playoffs. A move like this is about gunning for the World Series. It is very much a win now move. Alfonso Soriano isn’t going to help a team of young guys win 2 or 3 years from now. He’s going to put a winning team over the top this year.

This Fan Shot was submitted by MMO reader, Donal. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over ten-thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask about being a regular contributor, and share your opinions with an engaging community that loves to debate.