Favre To Retire
Brett Favre has informed the Jets that he will retire. I was not incredibly impressed with Favre in his one season with the team. I wasn’t surprised by how many interceptions he threw (you expect him to throw a bunch of interceptions) but was very surprised at how many of them were on bad passes. Passes that were into coverage that was too tight. Passes to places where he had no receivers, just defenders.
When the Jets acquired Favre in the preseason I said that it was a good acquisition because if it doesn’t accomplish anything else it at least accomplishes a change at quarterback from Chad Pennington. I liked (and continue to like) Pennington but it was clearly time to move on from him and see what the future held. With the late season collapse and today’s news of Favre’s retirement it seems like what I was calling the least accomplishment is the only real accomplishment.
I’m curious what this does for Brian Schottenheimer’s status with the team. After this year’s choke Schottenheimer managed to keep his job as offensive coordinator despite a change at head coach. This appeared to be done specifically for Farve with the idea that he would be more likely to return if the offense stayed the same. I’m curious about if the Jets knew he would retire anyway if they would have brought Schottenheimer back.
It’s academic now. The Jets are a team with no proven starting quarterback and have their work cut out for them in the off season.
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Robbie Alomar Has AIDS?
According to various reports former Mets second baseman Roberto Alomar not only has full blown AIDS but insisted on having unprotected sex with his girlfriend while knowing of his condition. This news comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the girlfriend in question.
Alomar’s father, Mets bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr., has denied his son has AIDS.
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Valentin Signed
The Mets have signed Jose Valentin to a minor league contract… again. He’s an insurance policy at best.
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Use The Asterisk
John Delcos is advocating use of the asterisk for players linked to steroids. Though I believe baseball should be doing more to remove the cheaters from the game I’m also smart enough to realize that it never will because it’s not in their best interest. (A government approved independent third party really should be handling the program.) In light of this I have to agree with Delcos. If they’re not going to throw these players out then at least add a notation that draws a distinction between their records and that of the previous record holders. Roger Maris’s only sin was playing in an era when the regular season consisted of more games than in Babe Ruth’s time. If Maris got the asterisk then players who are linked to steroids certainly should as well.
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ARod or ARoid?
The big baseball news over the weekend was the story about Alex Rodriguez having failed a steroids test in 2003. This story, though certainly big, is being blown out of proportion by the media.
There has been speculation for several years about Rodriguez and whether his numbers were more ARod or ARoid. I don’t think there is any question that roids or not he is one of the most talented players to play the game in our era. But would he have led the American League in home runs and be named there MVP if he wasn’t juicing? We’ll never know for sure.
There are some important things to keep in mind about this revelation. Firstly, there were no penalties in Major League Baseball for steroids use at the time. This was the year they tested to study the extent of the steroids problem. If Rodriguez did test positive for steroids then he is not subject to discipline. The bigger issue here, in terms of the validity of the testing system, is that Rodriguez was allegedly tipped off to another test. If he was alerted about a test then this would breach the public’s trust in a system where the players are not supposed to know when they will be tested.
Secondly, as mentioned above there have always been questions about ARod with regard to steroids use. Though I was hoping he didn’t juice I had a feeling that he did. A player like Rodriguez didn’t need the extra edge to push him over the top as a player. But I could certainly see a situation where a player at the top of the game sees other player juicing to get better and may feel a little pressure to juice to keep his distance from those that may close the gap on him.
Curt Schilling has called for the revelation of the other 100 or so names on the list of failed tests together with ARod. I guess he’s thinking that in the absence of other names the story has less credibility. Though I am curious about the other names I don’t think other names are needed to give credibility here. I mean, this really isn’t a surprise. It was just a matter of time until a strong allegation like this would come out regarding ARod.
ARod has been smart enough to keep his mouth shut about this story until he has had a chance to talk with his people about it. A smart thing to do would be to fess up to this allegation since there is no penalty beside breach of public trust. The obvious question will be asked of him: had you taken steroids before or have you taken steroids since this incident? This is the tricky question for him and I can understand wanting to talk with his people about it first. Whether he did or didn’t take steroids during any other part of his career the way he answers this question will go a long way to deciding the public’s acceptance of him going forward in his career.
If his denial is very strong and a later positive test comes out positive then he is done. And if he admits to having taken during other periods of his career he’s likewise done. He’s got to choose his words very carefully.
I’ll be very interested in what he has to say next.
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Feliciano Avoids Arbitration
According to reports Pedro Feliciano has agreed to a 1 year, $1.65 million contract and avoids arbitration. You’ve got to love it when guys with losing records get 50% raises.
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Perez Signing Announced
In a press conference this afternoon the Mets officially announced the signing of Oliver Perez to a three year, $36 million contract. Now Mets fans can focus on fixating on Manny Ramirez, a signing I don’t think will happen and is not necessary for the Mets to be a winning team.
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Heyman: Mets, Perez Agree On Terms
Jon Heyman is reporting that the Mets and Oliver Perez have agreed on a three-year, $36 million contract. The Mets have been targeting a starter and it’s unknown if they will continue to pursue one of the remaining free agents such as Ben Sheets. But with this signing the rotation is shaping up. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Perez and Tim Redding would appear to be the obvious rotation based on who is currently in the fold. But let’s not forget about Freddy Garcia, who I’ve always liked.
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Latest Signings
According to reports the Mets have agreed with John Maine on a contract worth $2.6 million to avoid arbitration.
The Mets have also signed four players to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training. They are outfielder Bobby Kielty, righthanders Tony Armas Jr. and Matt DeSalvo, and lefthander Valerio de los Santos.
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The Curse of Keith Hernandez?
Marty Noble’s latest column on MLB.com discusses the possibility of the curse of Keith Hernandez. The idea was posed to him by one of his readers and is based on the Mets dismal final 17 games over the past three seasons (19-32). But Hernandez denies such a curse exists. Noble backs up Hernandez in his denial by mentioning that the Mets had a .613 win percentage in the final 17 games during his playing days.
I didn’t buy Noble’s justification. I would figure such a curse would take effect after the player has left the club. The “Curse of the Bambino” didn’t affect the Red Sox until after he became a Yankee, for example. So I did a little research. The following table gives the Mets win-loss record for the last 17 games of every season since Hernandez left the Mets:
| Year | Record |
| 1990 | 8-9 |
| 1991 | 8-9 |
| 1992 | 7-10 |
| 1993 | 10-7 |
| 1994 | 10-7* |
| 1995 | 12-5 |
| 1996 | 7-10 |
| 1997 | 9-8 |
| 1998 | 8-9 |
| 1999 | 7-10** |
| 2000 | 11-6 |
| 2001 | 10-7 |
| 2002 | 6-11 |
| 2003 | 4-13 |
| 2004 | 8-9 |
| 2005 | 12-5 |
| 2006 | 7-10 |
| 2007 | 5-12 |
| 2008 | 7-10 |
* – last 17 games played in strike shortened season
** – not including game 163 (one game playoff with Cincinnati)
The numbers above show that the Mets have a .483 cumulative win percentage in the last 17 of each season since Hernandez left. If you discount the strike shortened 1994 season (since the last 17 scheduled games were not actually played) it’s actually .477. Does this prove there’s a curse? Not definitively. But it certainly bears further study.
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