I was walking around the mall yesterday with my wife, trying to get her to go into labor with our second child (first son). They say walking is good for kick-starting the labor process at this point, and as we were walking around, I decided to duck into the sports memorabilia store. I was pacing through the store, looking at the autographs of all the great players hanging on the wall, and I came across a beautiful autographed picture of Gary Carter. [...]

Sandy Alderson has made no secret about his intent to upgrade the Mets starting catching position. On Tuesday Ken Davidoff of the New York Post proposed Chicago’s Pierzynski as the Mets next backstop. A.J. had a career year in his age 35 season. The fiery veteran topped his high in home runs with 27 jacks, and tied his high water mark of 77 RBI. This season was most likely an aberration in the power department as his [...]

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman wrote that the Mets should look to sign catcher Russell Martin if the Yankees decide to let him walk at the end of the season. Sherman said that Martin is already used to playing in New York and that the Mets are “desperate to add power, and Martin’s 21 homers were eighth among catchers in the majors this season.” You can look at Martin’s gritty attitude and intangibles and the [...]

I have never put a lot of stock in the whole personal catcher debate. I guess it could possibly be more of an issue when you are dealing with a knuckleballer, and you have a guy who knows how to catch it. It is a difficult pitch to catch, and since Josh Thole has been relatively successful in handling R.A. Dickey, I guess he has some value in that regard. However, if we do decide to retain him as a [...]