The dust has finally settled and the R.A. Dickey saga is over. On Monday night, he signed an extension with the Blue Jays, making the seven-player, blockbuster deal finally official after days of unconfirmed rumors and speculation. The deal surprised many Mets fans, including me. However, it was one that will pay off for them in the future. No, it sure wasn’t easy to give up the reigning Cy Young award winner. How often do these special players come around, especially [...]

Have you ever wondered what does the term “fair market value” really mean? It’s often bantered about in the sports world when an athlete vying for a new contract, tries to sell his talents to the highest bidder. I hear it all the time. To me, it means getting paid for the service you’re providing balanced against what others in your specific field are being paid for doing the same. Sounds fairly simple right? You [...]

Just in case you haven’t noticed, the Mets signed David Wright to an eight-year contract extension. Also a friendly reminder, David Wright is a third baseman. The Mets also have a guy named Ike Davis, who despite a slow start in 2012 managed to club 32 home runs. Davis plays first base and is just 25 years old just so you know. Of course, as Mets fan, you know all this information through and through. [...]

In the wake of Tuesday’s blockbuster deal between the Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays, I think it is only fair that the Mets make a blockbuster trade of their own. Justin Upton is still available, and despite the lack of rumors linking the Mets and D’backs in trade discussions, my hope is that GM Sandy Alderson has at least inquired about the young right fielder. A talent like Upton NEVER becomes available at such a young [...]

Rounding The Bases is back… As we did before, we’ll highlight some of the must-read posts from the Mets beat writers, take a cruise around the Mets blogosphere, check in on our enemies, and have a little fun while we’re at it. MMO Instant Replay Connor O’Brien dished out his report cards for the Mets infielders this week and gives Josh Thole a big fat D. “Josh Thole has not become the player we thought [...]

Anonymous asks… I think that if the Mets sign R.A. Dickey to that extension, they are almost certain to bring back Josh Thole as his personal catcher. True or false? Sean replies… As good of a rapport as Dickey and Thole have developed, their fates are not as linked as one would imagine. Thole is just inexpensive and fits into the Mets plans as a cost-effective backstop who will be arbitration eligible and is expected [...]

The season ended about three weeks ago and now that we’ve had some time to reflect, it’s time to start handing out grades. This morning, we’ll begin with the starting pitching. The starting pitching exceeded expectations this year. I don’t think anyone thought that Jon Niese or R.A. Dickey would be as dominant as they were this year. We were also very unsure about how Chris Young and Johan Santana would hold up. Both contributed [...]

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 [...]

David Wright has been called “unclutch” during his Mets career. That may be the case overall, but that certainly wasn’t the case today, as ne belted an opposite-field, three-run homer that proved the difference in securing R.A. Dickey his 20th win of the season. It’s fitting that the Mets unofficial captain came through in a huge spot. The blast gave the Mets a three-run lead, and they wound up needing all three of those runs, [...]

R.A. Dickey.  Gio Gonzalez.  Both pitchers are gunning for the Cy Young Award.  Only one will get it (assuming we don’t have a tie a la the 1979 NL MVP vote that got Keith Hernandez a co-MVP Award). You can go to any site and find comparisons between the two.  Anyone will tell you that Gonzalez leads Dickey by one win and that Dickey leads Gonzalez in innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, shutouts and complete [...]

Yesterday, a trio of famous knuckleballers made their way to MLB’s FanCave to promote the movie “Knuckleball!” directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg. Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former Red Sox Tim Wakefield, and the Mets’ R.A. Dickey all fielded questions about the movie as well as being a knuckleball pitcher in the major leagues. Metsmerized Online was invited to the event for a special roundtable discussion and I was also able to get [...]