Now entering the heavens - #1 - Goerge Steinbrenner - # 1

Thats the email i got from a friend of mine today. The Boss passed away today at the age of 80. As a Mets fan i have always thought that The Boss was a crazy tyrant who would run around and scream all day. (As exaggerated beautifully by Larry David on Seinfeld) But come to think of it who wouldnt went an owner like that. The bottom line is he wanted to win and was willing to do whatever he had to to get the job done. That is not to take anything away from the Wilpons who also seem to want to win and who definitely are willing to spend the money it takes to win. But the boss seemed to be much more hands on. Maybe too much at times. Today baseball lost a legend of the game and he will be missed.

Bob Shepard also passed away this week. That makes two huge losses for the Yankees family in a week.

What does that mean for a Mets fan? Dont watch the All Star game. Its bound to be a Yankees love fest.
Would anyone be surprised if Jeter knocked in the winning run? Im already dreading the headlines.
"A midsummer nights Captain" perhaps? Or maybe "The Captain delivers a victory to the The Boss"

Either way ill be staying away and hoping the Reyes doesnt injure himself congratulating Hanley.

To trade or not to trade - and who to trade

I recieved an email from a friend of mine today titled "make it happen! Roy Oswalt would OK deal to come to the Mets" In it he included a link to a story in the NY Post that said that a player who is friendly with Oswalt said that he would come to the Mets. OK - lets say thats true. Lets say he changed his mind about the Mets because theyre playing great baseball. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself.
1) Do we want him?
2) Do we need him?
3) Who would would we have to give up fro him?/ Who are we willing to give up fro him?
4) How much are we willing to pay him?

Lets break this down one point at a time.
1) Do we want him? - Yes. Of course we do. Hes a great pitcher who is an ace on most teams. A top 3 of Santana Pelfry and Oswalt would be pretty tough for any team to beat in a short series.
2) Do we need him? Well - I guess so. But right now theyre playing so well its hard to see it. As Jerry Manual said - 9 - 2 (combined record of Dickey and Takahashi) is tough to beat. Although you would assume that Tak is going back to the bullpen when Maine comes back. Either way I disagree with Jerrys statement (and i assume he doesnt really believe it either). So i guess the real question is: Do we need him to make the playoffs? I dont know. I would like to think that they can make the playoffs with the team as it is currently constructed or by adding a guy like Jake Westbrook.
3) Who would would we have to give up fro him?/ Who are we willing to give up for him?
Heres the interesting part. It seems like to get Oswalt the Mets wouldnt have to give up as much as you would think because the Astros are looking to dump all 30 Million dollars owed to him through 2011.
But its interesting to think of the hypothetical. I would definitely trade Fernando Martinez to get him. Im pretty much done with him. The guy cant stay on the field. And heres the shocker. I think i would give up Carlos Beltran to get Oswalt! There are some who think Beltran may never play again in a Mets uniform anyway. Clearly hes upset/Boras is upset and wants make sure Beltran is well rested for next year when hes playing for another contract. There are no guarantees with him. Hes still not cleared for baseball activity. Hes not playing in rehab games and his contract is up at the end of next year. Ill give that up to get Oswalt and take my chances with Frenchy and Angel thank you very much!
4) How much are we willing to pay? Well - that i cant answer. But i would imagine that the Mets would loosen the purse-strings to get Oswalt (at least i hope they would)

As for Cliff Lee - it seems as if the Ms want Jon Niese and Omar isnt bugging. Good for him! Lee is a free agent at the end of the year and the Mets risk losing him then.

It should be interesting to see who the Mets pursue. I still believe that the Mets will end up with a Jake Westbrook type of pitcher and not give up a whole lot in terms of prospects and take their chances with the current team. I dont know if its the best move but its the move i feel like they will make.

Either way it should be a fun summer!
Lets Go Mets!!

Im baaaaaaaack

Finally - a chance to write. Sorry its been so long. I will try to be better.
Well - what can i say? The Mets continue to be great at home and terrible on the road. I was lucky enough to be at the game last night with my daughter (who made me stay for all 11 innings). What a game! One of the more exciting games ive been at. And ive been to a few good ones. But last night - for the first time in that ive been in Citi Field - the place felt alive! Until last night i felt like Citi had a kind of corporate atmosphere. Citbank ATMs all over, ushers being more stuck up than necessary and higher ticket prices. Beautiful ballpark but but there was something missing. Only now i realize that its not the park, its the team! For the first time in the Citi Field era The team looks alive! They're fun to watch and exciting to follow! Theres a certain vibe to the team now and you can almost tell that teams know coming in that the Mets are going to be tough to beat at home.

Now on to some things that i missed writing about but really wanted to:
1) Any decent Mets fan knows the website metsblog.com For me its the first website i check in the morning (after my email). Matt Cerrone has done a great job of turning a hobby into a full time job. Good for him. There are literally thousands of people out there who wish they could have done the same thing. And he does a great job. I cant say i always agree with him because i dont. But he always has something to report. One issue i just dont understand is how someone like Matt still hasnt figured out facebook or twitter.For a guy like Matt who has the most popular and most successful online Mets site i would thing he would know that facebook is now neck and neck with google in the race for most visited website in the world. All that being said - Mike Francesa simply has no clue about what is going on in the real world. In case you missed Mike said on air "Who cares what Matt Cerrone thinks?" in regards to Matt stating that hes "proud" of Mike Pelfrey and the way he has developed. He also said that Cerrone looks like a 12 year old (good one Mike!) and then asked "who reads blogs anyway?" Well ill tell who - YOU! or someone close to you (not to mention the people who make up the millions of page views a month that Metsblog receives.Otherwise how would you know about the blog in the first place! Mikes idiocy continues to baffle the mind. Man do i miss Chris! 
For more on this check out the link below and the comments to the link
http://www.metsblog.com/2010/05/28/note-what-did-mike-francesa-just-say-about-me/

2) I mentioned that Metsblog is my first web visit every morning. Well I have a new second one.
http://www.mymetsjournal.blogspot.com 
This is a website maintained by a die-hard Mets fan who happens to be an artist (or a brilliant artist who happens to be a Mets fan). In it he captures every Mets game, win or lose, and draws it in an art sketch Heres his sketch from Ike Davis walk off HR win

He does great work and i strongly suggest you check it out.

3) Another funny sight that,as they say on their own site is "Mets news thats 0% accurate, 100% funny"

is http://www.readtheapple.com/

4) I cant mention funny Mets sights without mentioning Eli from Brooklyn
http://elifrombrooklyn.blogspot.com/
His website is funny but to really appreciate him you have to follow him on twitter. Dude is just flat out funny!

5) Ill mention two other sites before i move on.
http://theropolitans.com/ and www.metsphotos.com - two good Mets websites

6) Finally do yourself a favor and check out Joshua Sacco, 5 Year Old at Fenway Park giving an inspirational speech - trust me its worth your time 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d9_U1rpQyg&feature=related