Valentin May Be Back
Rumor has it that the Mets will resign Jose Valentin to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Valentin, who will not be ready for baseball activity until mid March, could provide infield depth behind middle infield starters Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes. As this is just a rumor I may be guilty of reporting a non-story. But this has been widely reported by now so I’ll cut myself some slack on it.
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Non-Stories
In about a month pitchers and catchers report and we’ll start hearing news that is blog worthy. But for the last couple of months things have been very quiet. So I find it odd that some blogs still find a way to post several times a day. One blog in particular has been posting 52 times a week over the last month which has been the quietest stretch during a pretty quiet off season. How is that possible?
I attribute it to the non-story. The non-story is something that is discussed but has no substance to it. In software development they call it vaporware. Something that is talked about to death but never delivered.
Perhaps the biggest non-story of the off season to date has been the Johan Santana trade. People are posting multiple times a day about the latest offers and rejection and who is in and who is out. Let’s get real, people. There’s no story here. But I’ll give you something to talk about. Statement: Santana will not be traded in the next two or three weeks. He’s either be traded just before spring training, during spring training or not until July or later. Discuss.
The thing that really prompted this post is a story that I read in today’s New York Daily News. In the article Ian Begley writes about a conversation he had with David Wright at halftime of the Knicks game last night. It seems that the focal point was about Roger Clemens. Wright essentially said that if there is actual evidence against Clemmens then he should punished. I think most people would agree that makes perfect sense. But where’s the story? There’s nothing there?
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Nieto Named First Base Coach
Tom Nieto has officially been named the Mets new first base coach, a move that had been rumored for a while. Nieto replaces Rickey Henderson who was brought on for the job at the All Star break last season.
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R.I.P. Don Cardwell
Former Mets pitcher Don Cardwell died yesterday at the age of 72. Cardwell went 4-0 in during the stretch drive of the 1969 season to help the Mets overcome the Cubs on their way to the teams first world championship.
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Endy Hurts Other Hammy
It’s mid January. We’re heading down the home stretch of the off season with spring training starting next month. It’s been pretty much a quiet off season with the exception of the Lastings Milledge trade. From here on out we’ll start hearing about things that may or may not have ramifications on spring training. Look, here’s one now?
The Mets announced yesterday that Endy Chavez hurt his hamstring playing winter ball last month. It’s not the same hammy that limited Chavez to 71 games last year. That was the left one. This time it’s the right one.
Jay Horwitz is saying that Chavez will be ready for spring training. We’ll see.
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Duaner Signed
Yesterday the Mets signed Duaner Sanchez to a 1 year contract worth $850,000. This is a potentially big signing if Sanchez can rebound from injuries that have kept him on the shelf the last year and a half.
The Mets also signed Juan Padilla to a minor league deal.
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Clemens-McNamee: Just Plain Weird
I’ve been following the Roger Clemens story a little and am really amazed by how this is playing out. It’s just weird.
For those who haven’t been following the story Clemens was named in the Mitchell report as someone who had taken performance enhancing drugs. The source for this information was his former trainer Brian McNamee who claimed to have injected both Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Pettitte fessed up to HGH use while injured a few years ago but Clemens has been denying the allegations vehemently. His first denial came through his lawyer. A second denial came through a video he posted on his website. The third denial came on “60 Minutes”. And the fourth denial came in a press conference Clemens gave yesterday. Somewhere in the middle of these denials Clemens filed a defamation suit against McNamee.
I saw the “60 Minutes” interview and it was weird. But yesterday’s press conference was the weirdest. He played a recording of a telephone conversation he had with McNamee after McNamee reached out to him by email last week. During the conversation neither Clemens nor McNamee admitted they were wrong or said the other one was wrong. The conversation went mostly like this:
McNamee: What do you want me to do?
Clemens: I want the truth to be told.
To me this doesn’t prove anything one way or the other. I’m not even sure why Clemens would want this played at his press conference. I guess he was thinking that McNamee constantly asking “What do you want me to do?” (he said that about 17 times) would show the public that McNamee is either dishonest or willing to say whatever has to be said to cover himself at any given moment.
Both men have agreed to testify in front of Congress next week. This situation is only going to get weirder. Stay tuned.
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Mets Get Pagan
Over the weekend the Mets acquired outfielder Angel Pagan from the Cubs for 2 minor leaguers. This is obviously not a blockbuster deal but for some reason still had many people questioning the motivation of the deal. I don’t question it at all. It’s consistent with Omar Minaya’s track record. He usually stockpiles middle of the road players at positions he’s thin at to set up competition in spring training as well as to have spare parts for trade flexibility.
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Westhoff Resigns Due To Bone Cancer Procedure
I was saddened to learn that Jets special teams coach Mike Westhoff will not be returning to the team. The effects of bone cancer have been hobbling him for years. He was often seen limping with a cane along the sidelines. This year, however, he’s mostly been on crutches as his left leg has been deteriorating. He’ll have a rod inserted in the leg next month and the recovery and rehab time will be significant enough that he doesn’t feel he’ll be able to do a proper job of coaching next season.
Under Westhoff the Jets special teams has excelled. No other team has scored more return touchdowns than the Jets under Westhoffs watch. This team will definitely miss him.
Good luck, Coach.
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No News
If you thought last week was a dead week for Mets news then don’t even think of looking for any new this week. If last week was dead then I don’t know how to describe this week. Hopefully things will pick up after New Years Day.
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