There is a lot of Doom and Gloom with Mets fans at the moment, with John Lackey headed to Beantown and the Phillies having a happy Halladay, in all honest Met fans need to take a deep breath and be HAPPY that these moves happened.


Its tough to see a prize like Roy Halladay go to a hated rival, but the phillies did not gain anything with this move. In fact they traded off several prospects AND their top pitcher to make what is at best a lateral move. Roy Halladay is a dominating pitcher, he is also 33 years old and is set to make more than 20 million a year to play in philadelphia, but surprise, Cliff Lee was phenomenal last year for the Phils, is younger, would have signed for less AND wouldn't have cost their team any of their future players. Be happy those morons out in Philly screwed up this badly.

Now on to Lackey, Lackey is staying in the AL, which is a good thing for Mets fans, and the METS didnt overspend on an aging pitcher with declining numbers! why so upset? Rejoice the mets didn't lock up a downward trending player who in 2 years will be worth a fraction of his cost.

The mets can still make some smart moves that could pay off just as well if not better than what the phillies and red sox did.
Step One: Replace Daniel Murphy at First Base.
As I've alluded to in earlier posts, Adam LaRoche is the answer, if not him perhaps Hank Blalock would be a cheaper option.
Step Two: Sign 2-3 Mid-level Starting Pitchers
A lot of talk is made about Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan being geniuses, but they really aren't in fact they fail to rehabilitate most of their veteran starters and tend to send a lot of young promising pitchers to the operating table. What the Cardinals' Front office does so well is they identify promising, talented veteran pitchers who are way under their market value, sign a few of them and when one or two pans out they look like geniuses. This is why signing a Jason Marquis, a Joel Pineiro, and/or a Brett Myers (or even Ben Sheets depending on his contract demands) is the right move.
Step Three: Get a Warm Body with a Decent Glove
Matt Holliday would be ideal, but if we miss out on the sweepstakes, don't throw in the towel, there are a few cheap, short term options with the hope of going after Carl Crawford next year. Randy Winn could be an excellent addition to the Mets' outfield, Rick Ankiel would be a cheap option with an excellent arm and a good glove roaming the outfield, Yes Mr Ankiel is coming off a bad year, but he'll be awful cheap and has shown 25-30 HR power in the major leagues. Other cheap options include Brian Giles, who has perhaps the best eye in baseball and would certainly sign a 1 year deal, and lets not rule out either Xavier Nady or Austin Kearns, who with all that talent just has to break out sometime.

So rejoice Mets' fans, our outlook should be positive we didn't get Snookie'd like Boston and Philly did.
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By Reuben Mitrani

The worst thing happening for the game of baseball is the big market to small market divide, a problem that is affecting baseball far more negatively than steroids. While steroids is a problem that by a casual observer cannot always be noticed (sometimes it is even ignored), the divide between larger market teams such as the New York Yankees; New York Mets; Boston Red Sox; and Los Angeles Dodgers, and smaller market teams such as the Baltimore Orioles; Minnesota Twins; or Oakland Athletics cannot be overlooked.

The game of baseball has become so rich and the players are looking for a larger piece of the pie. This sounds fine, but the best players are beginning to require contracts so large that no small market teams can possibly afford them. This causes teams like the Twins, Orioles, or Athletics to trade away their talent before it comes time to pay the big bucks. This is seen in this winter's four biggest trades; Miquel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers for 6 prospects; Dan Haren to the D-Backs for a bundle of prospects; Johan Santana to the Mets for four prospects; and the soon be finalized Erik Bedard trade to the Mariners for prospects. The teams trading these players away cannot afford to pay them, and this creates a severe divide in opportunity for the teams with less money.

Major League Baseballl needs to do something about this problem. While I am not insinuating that they should install a salary cap, perhaps they should put a cap on maximum player contracts. The Player's Union would never agree to this though, leaving immediate options bleak for small market teams.

I am not saying that the Mets should not have paid Johan Santana, nor that the Yankees have paid Alex Rodriguez, I am simply recognizing that there is a problem in the game of baseball that is going seemingly unnoticed and some sort of attention needs to be given to it. As Mets fans, we are fortunate enough to be on the winning side of this problem, but that means that there is all the more reason to help raise awareness towards a solution. If the Mets win the National League East and the World Series this year, will Braves and Phillies fans use our far superior budget as an excuse? Maybe. Is it unfair for the Mets to take advantage of their superior resources? No. Is it fair for the Twins to have to allow their best two players to leave this season because of a lack of sufficient funds? Absolutely not.

This problem could possibly be solved by increasing the luxury tax in baseball. This and further increases in revenue sharing, would help to level the playing field in baseball. Until the owners agree on such terms, this problem in baseball will not go away and may possibly get worse with even bigger budget free agents hitting open-market next winter.

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Nothing much has happened on the Mets front since their historic collapse two weeks ago. All the players went home for the winter, hopefully with a bitter taste in their mouth. I know we can talk about all the changes that should happen but nothing like that will start taking place until the free agent period starts, which is after the World Series.

I know my colleague Jersey Dan wrote a nice article on Tuesday, but I feel the need to comment on a few things he said the Mets should do. First off, Delgado is signed through next year so there is no way the Mets are going to dump him. Yes, he was downright awful at times this year. However, he still put together a 24 home run 87 RBI season. And this is a guy who was struggling all season! I will take that from a backup hitter anyway. Hopefully we can get one more year of the same, before Delgado goes sayonara.

Second off, as far as the second base position goes, I love Ruben Gotay. I think he was a decent pickup and has potential to play a few solid years everyday. However, he still needs to share the duties behind Luis Castillo. Castillo was a godsend for the Mets even with his bum knee playing in 50 of 56 games down the stretch. Castillo is only 32 (we think) and hopefully will re sign. Gotay can take the once or twice a week Castillo needs to rest his knee.

As far as the baseball that is being played right now, the Rockies have looked mightily impressive. They have tied the 1986 Mets for winning 18 out of 19 games. It’s a nice story considering they have never have made it to the NLCS. Skip Carey has been saying it’s the first time the Rockies have made the playoffs, but that is incorrect. They made it as a Wild Card team in 1995 and were promptly swept by eventual World Champions, the Atlanta Braves.

I do not support fans throwing anything onto the field; however, it’s nice to see that Arizona fans do care about their Diamondbacks. I know I was curious and looked up to see how much tickets were going for, and apparently they were as low as $20 for a ticket to last night’s game. It’s a shame I don’t have money to fly out and see a game because it would probably be cheaper to plan a vacation in Arizona then try to get a ticket in Cleveland or Boston. With that being said, if the Diamondbacks win the series and their fans don’t buy up all the tickets, look for half their stadium to be rooting against them considering their tickets are cheap and available.

The last thing that I can comment on is the Boston vs. Cleveland series. I am looking forward to two great pitching matchups in CC Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett and Fausto Carmona vs. Curt Schilling. Hopefully they can have a pitchers duel that becomes a classic similar to Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens in 2003.
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Alright ladies and gentlemen, I know it has been entirely too long...but TUESDAY TWO CENTS is back! As a lot of you might be aware I have been computerless for quite some time now. This mainly has to do with me being poor and not being able to buy one yet, but that will be changing soon. I would like to apologize to all that have wondered where I am, considering I am an administrator in this group. It's good to be back again. Anyways, on to business.


Well as we all know, the Mets blew it this season. Last Sunday was quite rough on us all, and I hope to never feel misery of that sorts ever again. Of course being the New York sports fans that we are, the first thing we seem to do is find a scapegoat. I would like to clarify one thing though, there is not just one scapegoat, but there are many scapegoats. Willie Randolph is not the only man to blame for the Flushing Flush.

While the team could have been more motivated, it is not entirely Randolph's fault. Blame must also be put on Omar Minaya who put together a bullpen that went from best in the league in 2006, to steroid users. Blame, in my opinion, must also be put on Rick Peterson. While Peterson is great at developing pitchers, he seems to take no part in managing pitchers. Willie's expertise is definitely at managing the lineup, as he was a solid offensive second baseman for a quite a long time. Willie does seem to have trouble managing the bullpen at times, but if Peterson gave him any sort of advice I think that problem could be alleviated. Instead the Jacket has his face stuffed in a computer worrying about pitch counts and all other sorts of jazz. Get your head out of your Mac and into the game Rick, and help Willie out in a place that is obviously his weakness. Then there's Tom Glavine. The name makes me want to puke. Just one day after Johnny Maine pitches damn near flawless, our "ace" decides to do his best Dave Mlicki impression. Seven runs given up in less than two innings against a team with a mascot named Billy is just horribly inexplicable. Go back to Atlanta. Thank you for three years, you basically just rendered them useless with that lackluster garbage excuse of a start.

There needs to be a lot of changes this off season. Carlos Delgado needs to go. We need to get younger at first base, and Delgado's best days are definitely behind him. I love Carlos as a player, and he won his respect back for me as a man when he decided to start standing for THE National Anthem again. Go to the American League, be a DH, and end your career. Luis Castillo was a useless acquisition this season. Ruben Gotay is without a doubt the front runner for the starting 2B job going into next season. Especially since Anderson Hernandez couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a beach ball. If Lastings Milledge isn't starting in right field next season then I am becoming a Yankees fan...alright that was a joke, but I think you guys can understand how serious I am about that. Finally we need to get a bona fide ace, and fix that pitiful excuse of a bullpen we got.

Omar is going to be busy this off season. Mets fans are going to expect nothing less than a division title and payback on the Phillies. A pennant would be nice considering we haven't won one of those in seven years. Dare I mention it has been 21 years since we have won a World Series. Next year will show what Omar and Willie have when it comes to leading this team. They are facing a lot of pressure and are under a microscope...ummm scratch that telescope from all of the Tri State to get the job done. Here's hoping for a great off season.

In other baseball news.....

HOW BOUT THEM ROCKIES! This is without a doubt the feel good story of the year in baseball. If you would have told me that the Colorado Rockies would be four games away from the World Series in May, I would have been calling Bellevue for you. Big up to the Rock Dawgs, and I would love to see them in the World Series. Plus it was great justice to see them beat up on Philadelphia. This just goes to show that the only thing useful to ever come out of Philadelphia when it comes to sports is a fictional character that fictionally ended Communism in the USSR. Reagan didn't bring down the Berlin Wall...Rocky did.

The fire your manager wave is hot all over New York City, as George Steinbrenner, in yet another act of ignorance, will be firing Joe Torre for taking his Yankees to the playoffs every season of his 12 season tenure. Joe Torre is a class act, and he gets treated with utter disrespect by The Boss. It is not Torre's fault that Alex Rodriguez is useless in October, and the ace of his staff didn't show up to this post season. You ask any player in that Yankee clubhouse and they will tell you firing Torre is a horrible idea. Have some class George.

Finally, I'm just going to put it out there. NO ONE IS BEATING BOSTON. They are too good. They made the Angels look like the Reds in the ALDS. Their pitching is clicking on all cylinders, Manny and Ortiz look like Ruth and Gehrig, and that bullpen is awesome. Cleveland has nothing to match Boston after Sabathia and Carmona. Look for the Red Sox to take the series in 6. Rockies take out the D'Backs in seven. Both series' should be very entertaining to watch.

IN OTHER SPORTS...

I don't know about you guys, but it was very gratifying to watch the Giants front four demolish the Eagles on that horrible Sunday last week. It really saved my day, I'm not going to lie. My G-Men then followed up their demolition of Philly with a 35-24 comeback victory over the Paper Airplanes. Eli and Plaxico (STIFF ARM) looked great in the second half, and HOW BOUT THAT AARON ROSS. The G-Men, along with the whole NFC East is looking like the NFC East of the early 1990's. Everyone is good, except for the Eagles.

Also this calling time out RIGHT before a field goal is kicked. That bush league garbage needs to stop.

HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!

What seems to be the second most popular sport in the group has made it's triumphant return...unless you are a Devils fan of course. We look like garbage. Rangers are fans are already on my last nerve, as they are already running their mouths. The Rangers are the same story every season; a bunch of high salaries with no chemistry and no results by the end of the season. Until I am ever proved wrong I will continue with that philosophy. The Fishsticks are weak. I'll let Wassink handle the Pens.

THE CHASE IS ON!!!

Well not for Junior unfortunately. To add insult to injury my boy Dale blew his sixth engine of the year at Talladega (Man Race) last Sunday. At least he is sticking it to Theresa, the woman who is trying to ruin the Earnhardt name. Looks like Hendrick Motor Sports is going to be running 1-2 in points again as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are motoring themselves away from everyone else. Wait until Junior joins that team next season...scary.

Finally I would like to give a shout out to my Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who finally won a football game this past weekend. Let's keep em coming boys. Oh and if anyone finds the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, please return them to Piscataway. It would be greatly appreciated. USC lost...HAHAHAHA. That's my Two Cents. Later on. JD.
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Espn.com's Jason Stark is reporting that the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox are all in on Eric Gagne. The Mets and Yankees have an advantage as Gagne can not veto a trade to either of them.Yahoo's Tim Brown confirms Boston's interest.

The Mets are being asked too much for both Chad Cordero and Octavio Dotel, causing them to take another look at Eric Gagne. Read More...