Jeff Kent Retired And I Don't Care

I don't know if there's another ex-Met who's success I disdain more than Jeff Kent. This past week, Jeff Kent announced his retirement with a tearful farewell and the media swooned by ushering in talks of his Hall of Fame greatness.

I hate Jeff Kent. Or should I say Jeff Can't because he never did anything as a Met.

Jeff Kent's time with the New York Mets was unmemorable. I think I hated Kent from the very beginning because he was the player the Mets traded David Cone for. There went our best pitcher for this young prospect who turned out to be a pain in the neck. While Kent's numbers with the Mets were decent, he seemed to fade away anytime there was a clutch moment on which he was called to perform.

Then there were the disputes in the clubhouse and the he appeared to be the second coming of Kevin McReynolds as he continued to isolate himself from the team. Kent didn't want to be in New York and every fan knew it.

So what happened? He gets traded away and becomes a hall of famer. Nice. If you look at his stats you'll notice a significant improvement in his power numbers after leaving the Mets. If there was one guy I was surprised to not see on the Mitchell Report, it's Jeff Kent. I could have sworn this guy was on steroids the way he performed after leaving the Mets. But no. It's all-natural Kent, just sticking it to Mets fan just like he did when he was here.

Jeff Kent's success is baffling to me. He showed no real pop in his bat while with the Mets and his power numbers were average at best. But now he is the all-time home run leader for second baseman and everyone's talking as if he's a future hall of famer.

Man, I hate Jeff Kent.

Can You Shea Demolition?

Is there anything better than a video of a building being demolished? Yes, a video of Shea Stadium being demolished and the fact that we'll be watching games from the lovely Citi Field next season.

Corner Outfielders: Feast or Famine?

While many a Mets fan has made the argument for the Mets to get a corner outfielder (say Manny Ramirez?) the Mets may actually have some depth in the corners. Ok, pick yourself off the floor and try to control your laughter. I did say the Mets MAY have depth there, then again they might not.

Last year in April and May we saw some significant offensive output from both Ryan Church and Angel Pagan. The two were probably off to their best starts in their entire careers until injuries derailed their seasons. The question is whether or not what we saw out of these two was the real deal or just a flash in the pan. Chances are it was just a flash in the pan, but you never know when someone's season gets cut short.

Then you have the super subs, Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis. Both of these guys became fan favorites and showed the ability to produce in the clutch. I was one of the people who couldn't believe Fernando Tatis was our every day left fielder, but I quickly found him to be one of the few guys in the lineup that could hit in the clutch.

Now chances are we'll never see a year like that from Tatis ever again, but you never know. Everyone is high on Daniel Murphy these days, but will his sophmore season show us some improvement or will he struggle like many second year players do.

These are all major question marks, but if things go our way (which they rarely do) we ccould have better outfielders than we originally thought.

Would I still like to see the Mets sign Manny to a one or two year deal? Aboslutely.

Take a Chance on Sheets

I'd like to see the Mets sign one more starting pitcher before the winter is over. Whether that pitcher is Oliver Perez, Randy Wolf, Jon Garland or some other entity is yet to be seen. But after they sign that starting pitcher they should look at Ben Sheets.

Ben Sheets is from the same bloodline as Moises Alou and Kerry Wood in the fact that they're all guaranteed to be injured at some point during the season. But Sheets has the potential to give you some really great starts and if (yes a big if) he stays healthy he could turn into a great offseason pickup.

Here's the catch. His contract has got to be incentive laden versus guaranteed money. Don't pay him $8-$10 for one season. Instead start him with a low base salary and start piling on the incentives if he makes 12 starts or strikes out 100 batters, or bats over .200.

Now who knows if he'd even go for a deal like that, but he's not getting a whole lot offers so far. My feeling is if the money is right, the Mets should see what Sheets can give them, just for a season. At the worst, he's the 2009 version of Pedro. At best, he's possibly the best 5th starter in the National League.

Down Housing Market Affects Even A-Rod

Everybody's feeling the recession these days, even poor Alex Rodriguez. Everyone's most hated Yankees third baseman has had to drop the price of his home in Coral Gables, Florida from the original asking price of $14.9 million down to the bargain basement price of $12.3 million.

The good news is A-Rod is going to make a small profit on the property even at this new price point as he originally paid $12 million for the property back in 2004. That's nice to hear since we all know what a nice guy he is.

If you want to take a peek at the type of house that A-Rod owns, head over to coldwellbanker.com for all the photos and details on the property. My question is where's the batting cage? Oh, that's right, they don't make one to help with hitting in clutch situations.

An Absurd Mets Nation

As only our friend at Bugs & Cranks, Brad Bortone, can do he's compiled some of the best comments from Mets nation on the recent news that the Mets lost Derek Lowe to the Braves and provided some additional sarcastic insight that will show you the absurd, neurotic side that is Mets nation.

I was planning on commenting on the post, but really you just have to go and read it for yourself and enjoy the humor and absurdity.

Click here for the full post.

Derek Lowe: Enemy of the State

Derek Lowe is officially on the enemy of the state list. The coveted right-handed pitcher has officially signed with the hated Atlanta Braves. The details are a 4-year deal worth $60 million dollars.

That's a bit more than I wanted the Mets to offer Lowe so Atlanta may have overpaid, but I hate the fact that we lost a guy we wanted to a dreaded rival. Which also begs the question what's worse, Lowe on the Braves or on the Phillies? Something to chew on.

I'm guessing the Mets will now focus all their attention on Oliver Perez who will have an advantage at the negotiation table as he and Scott Boras know the Mets will be a little more desperate to sign him than they were yesterday.

Losing Lowe isn't catastrophic by any means. He would have been a nice asset, but if the Mets can sign OP they should get similar production from him. They just might have to be for a shrink that they wouldn't have had to with Lowe.

If the Mets can sign Oliver Perez, the rotation would look like: Santana, Perez, Maine, Pelfrey and Redding. No worse than last year. No better, but not worse.

Inaugural Season Patch: Typical Mets Fashion

In 1962, the Mets were called the "lovable losers." The team has been hard pressed to shake that stereotype during its years in the majors, but often times the team has brought this on themselves. Let's see there's the home run apple that people like to make fun of, there's the song contest last year that got Rickrolled, and I could go on but I'll spare myself the pain.

So now comes the Citi Field inauguration patch debacle. First of all, I'm a marketer and this patch by itself is one of the worst designed things I've ever seen. My 4 year old could have designed this, let alone the fact that it looks like the Domino's logo.

The Mets should be embarassed about this. It's cheesy, ugly and screams of typical New York Mets style. Nonetheless, I still cheer for them. But just once I'd like to see a first class effort from this team.

Here's an article making a mockery of the inaugural patch for your reading enjoyment.

What if Billy Wagner Returns?

Ed Coleman of WFAN is reporting that Billy Wagner is rehabbing ahead of schedule and could return to the ball club this coming season. Right now they're targeting August for a potential return to the team.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not counting on Wagner at all next season. But what if he was able to come back in August? Can you imagine the strength of our bullpen?

All of sudden you have a 6 inning game and then bring in Putz, Wagner & K-Rod for the 7th, 8th & 9th. That's unreal. You basically have 3 closers at your disposal.

I know I'm getting ahead of myself and honestly I'll be shocked if we see Billy Wagner on the mound at Citi Field at any point next season, but isn't the offseason the time to dream?

Where Do We Lowe from Here?

The Mets negotiations with Derek Lowe are going as smoothly as James Carville having dinner with Ann Coulter. The Mets have gone from being the only player in the market for Lowe to potentially losing him to the dreaded Atlanta Braves.

Now it's not that Lowe is the Mets saviour, but he's the best guy available in an otherwise weak starting pitcher market. I wouldn't even care if the Mets didn't get him as long as he didn't end up with the Braves or Phillies. I even heard the Nationals want to make a play at him.

The Braves didn't get AJ Burnett, they lost Smoltzy to Boston and they're looking at Tom Glavine potentially being their opening day starter. That's pretty desperate times down in Georgia, so I wouldn't be shocked to see the Braves up the ante on Lowe.

The Mets have been said to be interested in Tim Redding, Oliver Perez, Randy Wolf and I'm sure a Jose Contreras rumor is just waiting to pop up. Perez would be fine, but not ideal. And the rest of these guys are pretty low on the pecking order.

If the Mets don't get Lowe and settle for the tier 2 crop of pitchers, I think they should look to improve the offense a bit. Whether it's Orlando Hudson, a bat in the outfiled, or come on how about a little Manny on the Mets, I think they still need to make another move before spring training. And it better not be signing Pedro Martinez.

Omar Won't Negotiate

I think Omar's New Year's Resolution was to never let a Luis Castillo type deal happen again, and so he is taking a hard line with the negotiations with Derek Lowe.

Lowe wants a deal worth $16 million a year (don't we all?). Omar says no go. The Mets appear to not be budging on their initial deal of $13 million. Hey, I'm fine with a little hard negotiations although I do think if push comes to shove the Mets might bump that number up to $14 million.

Word is out that the Mets are still talking to Randy Wolf (yawn) and haven't given up on Oliver Perez. In my opinion, Randy Wolf is a last ditch option. I'd much rather have Lowe or Perez than Wolf. Oliver Perez has pitched plenty of big games for the Mets, but I have this nagging feeling that as soon as he gets a multi-year deal he's going to go off the deep end.

Experts believe that a deal will be hammered out this week by the Mets for one of these starting pitchers.

A New Year's Lowe?

The Mets offered Derek Lowe a 3-year, $36 million dolloar contract yesterday and are awaiting his acceptance of the offer. The market for Lowe has seriously, and surprisingly, dwindled of late leaving the Mets as pretty much the only contender for the right-handed starter.

Derek Lowe has been the guy I've wanted the Mets to sign. Would I have taken Sabathia? Probably, but after him, Lowe was the one free agent I thought the Mets needed to sign to improve their rotation. He's a much better option than Randy Wolf, and as much as I like Oliver Perez, Lowe is not a head case but a proven veteran who can eat up innings.

So happy new year, Mets Lifers, let's ring in 2009 with hopefully a signing of Derek Lowe. How long til pitchers and catchers report?