Daily Archives: December 1, 2009

Record company’s gonna give you lots of money

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My Twitter is absolutely blowing up with rumors about the Mets pursuing Johnny Damon this offseason now that he wasn’t offered arbitration by the Yankees.

I’m not sure any of them are substantiated, but I figured this was as good a time as any to link up this post from late October, when I pointed out what a downright Mets-ish move signing Damon would be.

I want to reiterate one thing about Damon that bothers me, though, and it has little to do with the player he is on the field:

Johnny Damon is a massive sellout.

This isn’t a good reason not to sign a baseball player, I realize. It’s an emotional thing, not the type of thing that should dictate front-office decisions. But here’s what I wrote in October:

I really don’t begrudge baseball players for taking the largest contracts offered to them, but leaving the Red Sox for the Yankees while shaving his caveman beard and cutting his hair was just too much. C’mon, guy. At least get yourself a beard clause in the contract. He makes Mark McGrath look like Ian MacKaye.

And here’s Reel Big Fish on the matter.

Chaos Theory

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Alright, so the aforementioned Chris Coste column is posted at SNY.tv. Check it out.

I speculated a lot and made it about Alex Cora, too, because Alex Cora is a giant offseason lightning rod for Mets fans and I could not resist.

There shouldn’t be too much there that shocks TedQuarters faithful, but I’m happy I finished it, even if I’m not thrilled with the outcome. I never meant to let that space die when I started this blog; I had a column about Citi Field bouncing around in my head that I kept putting off, then I got so caught up in blogging that I kind of put the SNY.tv column on the back burner.

More on catchers

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Two perplexing moves have come out since I started the Chris Coste column I’m writing, which is taking way longer than it should because I keep getting interrupted by actual work:

Brian Schneider has signed a two-year (!) deal with the Phillies and Kelly Shoppach has been traded to the Rays for a player to be named later.

What has two thumbs and no idea what’s going on right now? This guy.

Someone was willing to give a two-year contract to Brian Schneider, and Kelly Shoppach only cost a player to be named later? Yikes.

Of course, of course, it’s the Rays that got Shoppach. Obviously. It’s too smart a pickup for almost anybody else.

Back to writing the column now. It’s not even good. Sorry for the delay.

For what it’s worth

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I’m working on an epic and nonsensical Chris Coste column for SNY.tv that will be linked here as soon as it’s ready, but while writing it I noticed an interesting tidbit that I thought I’d share:

Chris Coste was waived by the Phillies when he was replaced as their backup catcher — ostensibly for defensive purposes — by Paul Bako.

Paul Bako is also a free agent.

Perhaps Bako, as a world champion and longtime Major League backup, is demanding way, way more than the 40-man roster guarantee that supposedly made the difference for Coste, so I’m not mentioning this to say that the Mets should have gone with Bako instead.

I’m mentioning to question the notion that Coste was picked up because of the experience he’ll bring to the Mets’ rotation in Buffalo, since his staff-handling abilities were apparently not strong enough — in the Phillies’ eyes, at least — to keep him from losing his job to a far inferior offensive player.

Items of note

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The Mets signed Chris Coste yesterday. I’m preparing a rant about this for later, but Toby Hyde said it well:

I wish I was in the conference room at Citi Field where, when the Mets front office was discussing off-season planning, signing Chris Coste before new year’s was on the agenda.

Speaking of Toby Hyde and catchers, he makes a good point about how no free-agent catcher represents much of an upgrade over a Josh Thole/Omir Santos platoon.

Rich Zuckerman wonders if Carmelo Anthony could be a fit for the Knicks when he becomes a free agent after next season. If they sign anyone besides LeBron, I’d like it to be Chris Bosh for a variety of reasons.

I’m sorry. Look at the screengrab of A-Rod here. I’m pretty certain that’s a World Series trophy on his hat, but man. I’m not the only one who sees that, am I?