Congratulations to the World Series Champions, San Francisco Giants.
Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner, Posey, all first round picks, wow, nice job…
I imagine that while Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton were huddled in the corner pouting, Bengie Molina was jumping up and down alone in the shower and causing a 3.4 magnitude earthquake in the process. Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo must have been on cloud nine. Jeff Francoeur must be feeling pretty down as well as he faces the realization that the $5 million dollar contract he got from the Mets is now over, and he may never get offered even half that amount for the rest of his major league career. But this is a Mets blog, so lets get to the good stuff.
Sandy Alderson will be at Citi Field today and getting down to the business of beginning the interview process for managerial candidates this week, but according to a team official, “none have been scheduled”. So those early rumors that had Backman already scheduled for an appointment, like most Mets rumors, was not true.
The candidates remain the same and you know them all by now, the aforementioned Wally Backman, Bob Melvin, Clint Hurdle, Ken Oberkfell, Bob Melvin, and even Jeff Wilpon himself may interview for the position.
New Free Agency Rules Kick In This Year!
The new rule for 2010 is that teams can start bidding on free agents at midnight of the fifth day after the World Series. So if you do the math, that means Saturday night. (Thanks Adam Rubin!)
That.s not all. The new rule also states that free agents no longer need to file. They automatically get that right immediately after the World Series.
Here’s the complete list of free agents as compiled by the Biz of Baseball.
The Mets officially have five free agents and they are: Henry Blanco, Elmer Dessens, Kelvim Escobar, Pedro Feliciano (Type B) and Fernando Tatis. I believe both Feliciano and Blanco are good bets to return, the others, not so much.
Teams have until Nov. 23 to offer salary arbitration, the player has seven days to accept or decline.
Finally, in the first of what will be thousands of ridiculous and mostly false rumors this hot stove season, the San Francisco Giants will not trade Barry Zito and the remaining 3 years and $63 million dollars on his contract according to a post on MetsBlog. This is no big deal until I read this from Matt Cerrone who writes, “I have had more than one insider tell me San Francisco and Zito could be a match for the Mets and Oliver Perez, assuming the Giants are willing to pay a portion of Zito’s 2011 salary.”
Wow, really? Are these post-Minaya insiders? I surely hope not because the bottom line is that replacing one final year of Oliver Perez, with three years of Barry Zito would be akin to throwing gasoline on a raging inferno. And I don’t care how much money Brian Sabean kicks in.
By the way, let me add that as in years passed, we will not be posting any trade rumors unless they come from a legitimate mainstream media source. That policy has served us well over the years and we will continue to maintain the highest standards where posting rumors are concerned. Let me also remind you that our Hot Stove Shoutbox is always available for posting and sharing real time links 24/7 with everyone in our amazing MMO community.
Anyway, I think we’ve all be conditioned to understand that there will probably be no big ticket free agents under the tree this season, but I remain optimistic that the team will get some sort of a face-lift before spring training. It may not be drastic, and it may even be only some addition by subtraction, but even that would be a significant upgrade. So strap yourselves in, enjoy the ride, and hope for the best. Lets Go Mets!
