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NEW YORK -- If you're wondering what's still bothering Jerry Manuel a week later, it's the offense.

Manuel has spent the week since the too-soon end of the Mets' season at home in Sacramento, fixing up his new house, not watching the Division Series games and "marinating" on the reasons the Mets came up short for the second September in a row. And Saturday, on a conference call to announce that the Mets have signed him to a two-year contract extension, Manuel made it clear that it was the offense -- specifically a lack of smart situational hitting -- that vexed him the most.

Continue reading "Graziano: Manuel expects to be doing a lot of teaching next spring with Mets" »

An arrest warrant was issued in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos on charges stemming from a hit-and-run accident that killed two women.

Burgos is accused of abandoning the victims and fleeing, charges that can carry six months to two years in prison, Prosecutor Raul Quiroz told the Associated Press.

"We recommend that Mr. Burgos turn himself in so we can start the judicial process," Quiroz said.

The SUV registered to the reliever struck pedestrians Josefina Minaya Martinez, 38, and Angely Fana, 29, on Tuesday in the town of Nagua, north of the Dominican capital, according to police. The victims died at a hospital.

Continue reading "Arrest warrant issued for Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos" »

Now the interim tag can come off.

The Mets and Jerry Manuel agreed to a two-year deal Friday afternoon for Manuel to return as the club's manager, with the club holding an option for a third year. Financial details were not available.

"Jerry did a very good job taking over the club midseason and we believe that he is the right person to manage our team and lead us to the postseason," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said in a statement released by the club late Friday night.

Continue reading "New York Mets remove interim tag, ink Jerry Manuel to two-year deal" »

There's no official word regarding the New York Mets' decision to pick up Carlos Delgado's $12-million option as of yet. But if you read through today's papers, plenty of signs point to a sure thing. Continue reading "Newspapers hint the New York Mets will pick up Carlos Delgado's option" »

For those who want to take a dip in the Francisco Rodriguez sweepstakes, his agent was quoted by SI.com this morning that it would take five years and $75 million. Minimum. With that number as the baseline, the actual price tag for the Angels' closer could push it much higher.

The more I think about it, the less I like it for the Mets. K-Rod is a good closer, and the owner of the much-hyped saves record after he passed Bobby Thigpen this year. But he's not even a top-3 closer in the American League. Saves, as we know, is a completely overrated statistic. Take a look at Rodriguez's numbers, compared to three other AL closers who I believe are better:

Mariano Rivera (Yankees): 70.7 IP, 11 ER, 77K, 6 BB 1.40 ERA, 0.665 WHIP (career-high), 1 blown save.

Joe Nathan (Twins): 67.7 IP, 10 ER, 74K, 18 BB, 1.33 ERA, 0.901 WHIP, 6 blown saves.

Jonathan Papelbon (Red Sox): 69.3 IP, 18 ER, 77K, 8 BB, 2.34 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, 5 blown saves.

Francisco Rodriguez (Angels): 68.3 IP, 17 ER, 77 K, 34 BB, 2.24 ERA, 1.228 WHIP, 7 blown saves.

(Rodriguez and Papelbon have similar numbers in some aspects, but the Red Sox closer allows far fewer men on base)

Continue reading "Report: K-Rod seeking fortune" »

Now that the New York Mets have signed general manager Omar Minaya to a three-year extension, talks of the Mets' offseason business plans are running rampant through the papers. Continue reading "New York Mets are all business following Omar Minaya's extension" »

NEW YORK -- For the Mets, locking up Omar Minaya to an extension was task No. 1. Now remains a lengthy list of other details on their offseason to-do list.

The Mets officially signed their general manager to a three-year contract extension yesterday, with club options for the 2013-14 seasons. Minaya's current deal runs through 2009.

According to someone with knowledge of the contract, the deal also includes a significant pay boost from Minaya's current salary of around $800,000. The person requested anonymity because the financial terms of the contract have not yet been released.

While Minaya still dreams of bringing a championship to Flushing, the reality is the Mets haven't made the playoffs the past two seasons, missing out each time on the season's final day.

Continue reading "New York Mets, Minaya agree to contract extension" »

Yesterday on the New York Mets forum, fans discussed the value of Daniel Murphy to the 2009 Mets roster. Ryan Church is the subject today, as we take a look at what fans are saying. Continue reading "New York Mets fans discuss Ryan Church on forum" »

NEW YORK - Locking up Omar Minaya to a new extension was task No. 1 for the Mets. Now there's about a hundred other items left on their offseason to-do list.

The Mets officially signed their general manager to a three-year contract with club options for the 2013-14 seasons. The deal also offers, of course, a significant pay boost from Minaya's current salary of around $800,000.

Continue reading "New York Mets sign GM Omar Minaya to three-year extension" »

New York Mets reliever Ambiorix Burgos is in trouble again.

Police in the Dominican Republic say Burgos was driving an SUV when it slammed into two women who later died of their injuries, according to the Associated Press.

Local police still were searching for Burgos on Wednesday, according to the AP, although a report in the New York Daily News said Burgos turned himself in for questioning.

Burgos, who spent the season on the disabled list while recovering from elbow surgery, was arrested last month for allegedly assaulting a woman in Queens.

Continue reading "New York Mets reliever Burgos in alleged hit-and-run that kills two" »

Citi Field isn't even open yet and one rude New York Mets' fan is already banned. Christian Hansen Tuesday pleaded guilty to shoving kids and badgering the Mets' mascot at Shea Stadium May 31.

In addition to being fined, part of Hansen's punishment is that he's not allowed to visit Citi Field, the Daily News reports.

Carlos Beltran's two-run homer Sunday was the last by a New York Met at Shea Stadium. Zach Hample was out in the left field bleachers and wound up grabbing Beltran's blast: Check out Zach's blog for his account of the day and tons of great pictures.

Continue reading "Familiar ball-hawking kid grabs last New York Met homer at Shea Stadium" »

A giant Times Square billboard touting TBS coverage of the major league baseball playoffs features New York Mets' 3B David Wright, who of course will NOT be in the playoffs ... but we don't need to go over that again.

See the billboard in this New York Post report

What does Daniel Murphy mean to the 2009 New York Mets? That's what Mets fans are discussing on NJ.com's Mets Forum. Here are just a few of the points fans are making. Continue reading "New York Mets fans discuss value of Daniel Murphy" »

NEW YORK -- Turns out, Johan Santana's final start was a little more handicapped than the Mets let on.

Santana underwent knee surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, which he apparently suffered before the complete-game three-hitter he pitched against the Marlins on Saturday.

Santana is expected to make a full recovery in time for spring training in February.

The team discovered the injury after a routine exit physical, which is required for all players.

Continue reading "New York Mets' Johan Santana undergoes successful knee surgery" »

The Star-Ledger's Jeremy Cothran wasn't kidding when he said New York Mets' GM Omar Minaya has a difficult offseason ahead of him.

Continue reading "Play GM for the New York Mets' offseason plans" »

This from the Mets PR department:

Mets right-handed pitcher John Maine underwent successful right shoulder arthroscopic surgery (Tuesday) at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery. Mets Medical Director Dr. David Altchek and Mets Team Physician Struan Coleman removed a lesion from the back of his shoulder socket.

Maine will begin rehabilitation immediately and resume throwing activities as part of his off-season workouts, and is expected to make a full recovery in advance of spring training.

Monday's Top 10 list highlighted features of the rejected $700B financial bailout. And at No. 6:

A billion dollars to rebuild the Mets bullpen

Funny!

Thanks to bobmurphy in the Mets Forum.

New York Mets bloggers are going through the motions following this season's end. Without mentioning the dreaded talks of a ___lapse (promise), here is what Mets fans are saying.

Anthony De Rosa from Hot Foot Blog is without words, so he relies on pictures to express his opinions.

Continue reading "New York Mets bloggers react to season's end" »

Put the collapse behind you. The season is over for the New York Mets and that can only mean one thing - what can they do to better their chances next year? One newspaper columnist believes he has the solution.

Continue reading "Should the New York Mets go after CC Sabathia?" »

NOTEBOOK

NEW YORK -- Omar Minaya has a difficult task in front of him.

The Mets have lost out on a playoff berth on the season's final day for the second year in a row, and the club has a lengthy checklist of concerns to address. So the general manager agreed that this offseason would be one in which the team simply must make the right moves. There are no other alternatives.

Continue reading "Mets' Minaya facing difficult offseason" »

NEW YORK -- Does Jerry Manuel want this job?

Please. He has wanted it since he was a teenager.

"I believe this is what I was meant to do, for sure," Manuel said last week in the Shea Stadium manager's office, to which he's poised to return in 2009. "I've always coached. I've always taught."

When Manuel was a star basketball player at Cardova High School in Sacramento, Calif., one of his extracurricular activities was to coach a team of fifth- and sixth-grade basketball players -- an exercise that taught him patience (obviously) and a few other lessons he still applies.

"I think what that taught me was to clarify things," Manuel said. "And when you can get people to have clarity, and not have to think or work at every little aspect of everything, you get a better result."

Continue reading "Graziano: Manuel right man to manage Mets" »

I feel that a respectful amount of time has passed after the Shea Stadium closing ceremonies so that we can all now speak frankly about what we thought of them: What did you like, what didn't you like, who looked good and ... well, you get the idea. I went over some bloggers' reaction to Shea Goodbye, now let's get yours. I watched it on SNY just like most of you did.Q

Continue reading "What did you think of the Shea Stadium closing ceremony?" »

Some New York Mets fan bloggers wrote eloquently about the closing of Shea Stadium and the postgame ceremony that followed the Mets latest and last heartbreaking loss in the stadium.

Continue reading "Shea Stadium's final day was a fitting end for New York Mets fans, bloggers say" »

Instead of analyzing playoff pitching matchups, New York Mets fan bloggers today are sorting through another wrecked season gone too soon. Angry, stunned, sad and more emotions are on the web today.

Continue reading "New York Mets fan bloggers try to swallow another September to forget" »

The New York Mets aren't going to the playoffs. Again. Sunday's loss clinched that, but it's no surprise considering how inconsistent the team was down the stretch.

So now what?

Continue reading "Should the New York Mets clean house after a second-straight September flop?" »

NEW YORK -- Eight minutes.

That was how long it took for hope to become despair for a tortured fan base yesterday, and for a team that choked up a certain postseason spot last autumn to complete a sequel that was every bit as bad.

Eight minutes.

You can barely finish one of those TV abdominal workouts in that time, but the Mets somehow wrapped up another colossal collapse -- and, in the process, guaranteed our first baseball-free October in this city since 1994.

Continue reading "For Shea's farewell, one final flop" »

NEW YORK -- As Carlos Beltran prepared to exit the clubhouse at Shea Stadium late yesterday afternoon, he spotted Pedro Martinez. The two embraced and Beltran sunk his head into Martinez's shoulder, tears welling in his eyes.

The end of the Mets' season was full of emotional vignettes as players struggled to explain the biggest question surrounding this team: How could this have happened a second year in a row? Once again, just as they did a year ago, the Mets missed out on a playoff berth on the final day of their regular season.

Minutes before their 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins was complete, the out-of-town scoreboard had delivered the sobering news: MIL 3, CHC 1.

Continue reading "After another choke ends the season, choked-up Mets ponder what-ifs" »

NEW YORK -- Jerry Manuel took over an embattled Mets team in June. He did such a splendid job that he will soon be rewarded for it.

The Mets are poised to offer Manuel an extension, which could occur in a matter of days, according to someone familiar with the thinking of Mets management, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the parties have not officially agreed to a deal.

The Mets were 55-38 under Manuel after he took over for Willie Randolph, who was fired in California during a road trip. Even with the stain of another disastrous September, the executive board was quite pleased with the way Manuel skillfully handled the transition.

Continue reading "Mets pleased with Manuel's performance" »

NEW YORK -- To their credit, they took it hard.

One by one, the Mets' hitters stood in a quiet clubhouse and owned up to another small-time performance in another big spot.

"Frustrating," Carlos Beltran said.

"I felt we could have done better," Carlos Delgado said.

"It's my responsibility," David Wright said. "I, along with the other guys, failed at making sure we finished strong and got into the playoffs."

Well done all around. Good analysts these guys would make. Maybe they can get jobs with Fox or TBS doing studio work for the next month -- breaking down what went right and wrong for the teams that are actually playing in the playoffs.

Continue reading "With absolutely no relief in sight, Mets' hitters failed to pull their weight" »

NEW YORK -- As the Florida Marlins remained on the Shea Stadium field to celebrate their 4-2 victory over the Mets yesterday, some in the disappointed crowd began shouting at them.

"Off our field! Off our field! Off our field!"

That the Marlins felt like lingering a bit longer than usual on Shea's grass had little to do with the stadium's imminent demise.

They instead wanted to revel in the role of spoiler and congratulate themselves on knocking a National League East rival out of the playoff race, a goal they had talked about for days.

Continue reading "Marlins relish ending Mets' season on big stage" »

NEW YORK -- Many former Mets already had walked the red carpet outside Shea Stadium when fans began shouting one name in particular, in a tone of voice that suggested thrilled surprise.

"Gooden! Gooden!"

The shouts grew into huge cheers, and Dwight Gooden, the pitching golden child who descended into a world of substance abuse, arrests and prison time, got perhaps the loudest greeting of all among the big names who made their way into Shea for its official goodbye yesterday.

And Gooden, for his part, seemed genuinely excited to be here. He bantered easily with fans who remembered his days as a flame-throwing Cy Young Award winner, before substance abuse took over his life.

Continue reading "Doc makes one last house call" »

NEW YORK -- Jerry Manuel took over an embattled Mets team in June. He did such a splendid job that he will soon be rewarded for it.

The Mets are poised to offer Manuel an extension, which could occur in a matter of days, according to someone familiar with the thinking of Mets management, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the parties have not officially agreed to a deal.

The Mets were 55-38 under Manuel after he took over for Willie Randolph, who was fired during a road trip in California. Even with the stain of another disastrous September, the executive board was quite pleased with the way Manuel skillfully handled the transition. Manuel also had to maneuver around a season-ending injury to closer Billy Wagner, as well as the loss of starting pitcher John Maine late with a shoulder ailment. He was also brought into a difficult situation, tapped to lead a team coming off their 2007 collapse.

Continue reading "New York Mets set to bring back Manuel" »

NEW YORK -- Shea Stadium closed its doors to baseball for the final time this afternoon. There will be no postseason baseball in Flushing after the one scenario the Mets could not afford to play out, did. The Marlins topped the Mets, 4-2, here while the Brewers used a late Ryan Braun homer to beat the Cubs, 3-1.

There was no Tom Glavine-like walk of shame for Oliver Perez. The left-hander pitched well over 5 1/3 innings, but a wild sixth inning led to two Marlins runs. After Carlos Beltran tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, a familiar Mets culprit reared its ugly head. The bullpen allowed back-to-back homers to Wes Helms and Dan Uggla in the top of the eighth.

Like last year, the Mets end their year on the season's final day. And the Marlins are once again the opponent to seal their fates.

Marlins starter Scott Olsen did not factor in the decision but pitched well, nonetheless. He allowed the two Mets runs in six innings, while giving up three hits.

As Scott Olsen delivered his 1-1 pitch to Ryan Church just now in the bottom of the second inning, a cheer went up from this very pumped-up Shea Stadium crowd. Why? The scoreboard changed the Cubs-Brewers score to 1-0 Cubs. Ronny Cedeno had just knocked in the first run of the game in Milwaukee.

There was one unhappy side effect, however. Ryan Church's swing is not in a place right now where it's helped by unexpected loud noises being made just before it begins. So Church swung at and missed that 1-1 pitch, just as he had the pitch before and just as he would the pitch after.

Still 0-0 here...