Winter Meetings started pretty slowly, but went out with a bang on Thursday afternoon. Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson joined the Los Angeles Angels while the Marlins have been offering big money contracts to every available free agent. As for the two New York teams, the Yankees made a minor moving, posting the highest bid ($2 million) to negotiate with Japanese shortstop, Hiroyuki Nakajima, who started for Japan during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. As for the Mets, they signed relievers, Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco while making a small trade with the Giants for Andres Torres.

For both the Mets and Yankees, we’ve heard a ton of trade rumors, which I’ll get to, but here are five impressions I’ve taken away from this off-season…

Sorry, Cardinal Nation

continue reading…

As first reported by Ken Rosenthal, the Miami Marlins and free agent SS Jose Reyes are on the verge of a six-year, $106 million deal. The oft-injured Reyes won the batting title for the Mets (.337) and stole 39 bases. Reyes is one of the league’s best players, but has dealt with many injuries during his nine-year career. Reyes has played fewer than 133 games in each of his last three seasons.

Taking His Talents To South Beach

The Marlins do have a very talented shortstop of their own (Hanley Ramirez), but will likely move him to a corner position.

The Mets apparently offered him five-years, $75 million, but that wasn’t enough to get it done.

Reaction: It’s a disgrace that the Mets let Reyes go, but that’s the nature of the beast. Reyes clearly wanted the biggest payday and playing for Ozzie Guillen was probably a deciding factor. The warmer climate in Miami may also help Reyes avoid injury. Expect even fewer fans to show up to Citi Field this year as Reyes will wreak hell on the Mets for years to come.

The Mets: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, by Andy Martino and Anthony McCarron (with the New York Daily News), is a great read for any Mets fan.  It takes you through each season of their history, highlighting the main stories of each season, and flows seamlessly from one year to the next.  It does an excellent job of giving the reader a sense of what it’s like to root for a franchise that’s occasionally good, usually mediocre, but always entertaining.  More after the jump…

continue reading…

Greed.

Greed fuels the mind, body, and spirit of most professional athletes, owners, and front office personel. This summer, NFL fans watched the owners and Players’ Assocation battle over $9 billion. $9 billion. Profits. $9 billion. During 2008, Alex Rodriguez opted out of his 10-year, $252 million contract to sign an even more obscene, $275 million contract. Jayson Werth accepted a seven-year, $127 million contract from the Washington Nationals for strictly monetary reasons. The team aspect was secondary for Mr. Werth and he’s only one of many examples in sports.

When Jose Reyes took himself out yesterday’s game, he did it for greedy, selfish reasons. He didn’t have the confidence in himself to finish off the game. He wanted to take the easy road. He wanted to take a batting title and likely Top 10 MVP finish to the free agent negoitating table this off-season. This isn’t the type of player the Mets need.

Ultimately, he doesn’t respect the Mets. He didn’t care about the ten Met fans that took off from work to watch him. He didn’t care about his manager or team mates. He cared about Jose and Jose only. Why would the Mets want him back? This type of player, who is uninterested in winning, has plagued the Mets for the last six years. Change is coming to Flushing and that starts with a new shorstop in 2012. Hopefully, it’s a team-first player who is committed to winning.

Today at my lunch hour at work, the New York sports media send off a Twitter-frenzy. You would have thought it was a life-changing event, such as the Mets clinching a playoff spot, the Yankees losing their 110^th game, or Rex Ryan being caught out on a lunch date with Matt Vereb. But no, it was the actions taken by Jose Reyes and the Mets’ manager, Terry Collins. Odds are that you have heard this by now, but Jose Reyes bunted for a single, which effectively pushed his batting average high enough to edge out Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and practically clinch the NL batting title. Within the hours that came, Twitter, the blogosphere, and sports talk radio exploded, reprimanding Reyes, Collins, and the Mets in general. As all of this happened, from a non-Mets’ fan point of view, I could only wonder one thing: why??

Smiling All the Way to the Bank - AP

continue reading…

In the season finale, Miguel Batista and Mike Baxter were the ones who led the Mets to a win.  Batista started and completed the shutout, and Baxter crushed a 2-run homer to give the Mets a final record of 77-85.

The main story of the game, however, was Jose Reyes.  In what was possibly his final game as a Met, he led off with a bunt single, which pushed his NL-leading average to .337.  In a move that drew the ire of the Citi Field crowd, Terry Collins pulled him right after.  The fans had every right to be upset there — it’s understandable that they wanted to protect Reyes’ lead for the batting title, but the fans deserved more than that.  The guy has been an integral part of the team since being called up in 2003, and just submitted his finest season yet.  That kind of tenure needed a fitting salute — the fans should have had the chance to go crazy for him the whole game, and then probably end it with one last standing ovation.  But it was his call – Reyes asked to be pulled, so the batting title’s more important to him.

Congrats to Pete Flynn, retiring after 50 years as a groundskeeper (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

continue reading…

The New York Mets were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 in a 13 inning marathon Tuesday night. Chris Capuano pitched six innings allowing three runs on five hits and a walk while striking out nine. The bullpen couldn’t secure a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning. The Mets offense had chances in the ninth and thirteenth innings to walk-off, but couldn’t push the envelope. In the end, the deciding run scored on a squeeze play in the top of the thirteenth. With one game remaining in the 2011 season, the Mets fall to 76-85. 

Reyes jogged around the bases twice on Tuesday night.

Associated Press

continue reading…

The New York Mets were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 on Monday night. Chris Schwinden pitched five innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out five. The Mets offense rallied for three runs in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. With a 4-3 lead heading into the seventh inning, Tim Byrdak and Josh Stinson gave up three runs to put them down by two. The Mets fell short a run as their record goes to 76-84 on the season.

When Reyes' uniform is dirty, you know he had a huge game.

Getty Images

continue reading…

The Phils wrapped this game up early — after 4 innings, it was 9-0.  Hunter Pence drove in 3 of those runs, including a 2-run homer in the first that got the ball rolling.  For the 13th time this season, Mike Pelfrey took the loss.  He was only able to stick around for the first 3 innings, allowing 5 runs.  Fittingly (assuming this is his last appearance of the season, and let’s hope it is), D.J. Carrasco got shelled as well – the final 4 Philly runs came in his 1 inning of work.  He likely won’t be around next year; Pelfrey probably will.  Roy Halladay himself had a typical game, tossing 6 shutout innings for the win.  

Denied. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

continue reading…

The New York Mets took both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. R.A. Dickey pitched Game One and had a no-hitter heading into the seventh inning. David Wright hit a tie-breaking double in the eighth inning to lead the Mets to a 2-1 victory. Dillon Gee took the mound in Game Two and pitched six strong innings allowing three runs (two earned) on nine hits and two walks while striking out two. The Mets put up five runs in the third inning, paving the way to a 6-3 win in the night cap. They have now won three in a row as they look to finish the season strong. 

Valentino Pascucci admires his first major league home run in seven years.

Getty Images

continue reading…