Many may describe the first day of baseball's 2006 Winter Meetings as relatively uneventful, but they haven't caught many of the nuances of Lake Buena Vista's happenings. If you look closely, there have been many interesting things going on at Disney World.The crack staff has called in to Metstradamus HQ to report on the goings on at day one.
One of the great things about having the meetings near Orlando is the close proximity to Walt Disney World. But that could also prove a detriment. For example, one of the many people that wear Mickey Mouse costumes has been badgering Jim Duquette all day long taunting him about Scott Kazmir. Police had to be called in to investigate the alleged stalking. Turns out the person in the mouse suit was actually former Devil Rays GM Chuck Lamar, who was inebriated at blood alcohol levels never seen in the state of Florida.
Many have been wondering what has gotten into Jim Hendry and Cubs, who are all of a sudden turning into the biggest spenders in the league. People have wondered whether it has to do with the potential sale of the Cubs by the Tribune company.
My sources, however, have unearthed this exclusive picture of the inside of Hendry's hotel room, where a Tribune employee has apparently made the trip...
albeit unwillingly.
Surely, the Mets hope to be in play at these winter meetings in their quest for lefty Barry Zito. Zito's agent, Scott Boras, has had preliminary talks with our very own Omar Minaya, hopefully regarding Zito.
Boras is a longtime fixture at these meetings...so much so that his hotel room is the most recognizable in the complex:
People wonder if GM's, owners, and agents are the only ones who attend the meetings. I can now confirm that the answer is no. Many players make the trip to the various warm weather locales that host these meetings. I can confirm that Manny Ramirez has been spotted in the lobby of the official baseball hotel...handing out flyers of all things (although he would only pass them out to every other person).
The crack staff has obtained an exclusive copy:
The one bit of news that came out of Monday's meetings was Chris Carpenter's contract extension. This of course came as a great relief to the Cardinals brass...but Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa knew it would happen all along because he is a freakin' genius. In fact, the quick end to the negotiations enabled La Russa to sit in the hotel lobby signing copies of his new book:
Here's a passage from the prologue:
"People give Adam Wainwright a lot of credit for having the fortitude to throw his wicked curveball in tight spots during Game 7 of the NLCS. Adam is a good kid, but he's also a rookie. You see, what people need to realize is that the drop that Wainwright was getting wasn't all physical. In fact, that curveball doesn't have half the drop on it if it wasn't for my mind control. C'mon, dear reader...you really think his curveball looked like the off-speed stuff created by cheesy special effects in that Rookie Of The Year movie because he's an elite pitcher? No no no. That was me on the bench...willing that curve ball to drop with my mind. You see, only a man of tremendous mental capacity such as myself can do that. I mean, Uri Geller could probably do it too...but could he have known the right game to start Chris Duncan and the right game to start Scott Spiezio? Ha! That's all me, friends. Because you see I...dear reader...am a freakin' genius."
I can't wait for the movie.
4 comments:
Thanks for the morning chuckle Metstra.
Very nice.
I'm really not sure why so many Met fans are so cold on Zito. In a market where Ted Lilly is probably going to get around 11mil per year, why does the idea of 17mil a year for Barry Zito make many of us want to throw up in our mouths? He's won a Cy Young, he's only posted above a 4.00 ERA once, and he's never missed a start in his career; I think the latter is the more important point, given the somewhat geriatric state of our rotation. I think that's worth 6mil more a year than Ted Freakin' Lilly.
Don't hate the player, guys. Hate the game.
If Chris Carpenter only gets $13 mil a year for 5 years, why should Zito get more than $15 annually?
Last 4 years:
Zito: 55-46
Carpenter: 51-18 (missed 2003)
i dont have time to type the other stats, but look them up- its not even close.
Funny one. "Manny Being Manny." Living on the cusp of Inwood/Washington Heights the past few years, I talk to a lot of folks who knew Manny before he was "Manny." (IOW, a young, toking nonentity of a kid.) Baseball was not a passion for him, some say, he just sort of fell into it. (Why can't I fall into jobs that pay more than a sawbuck?--I've done my share of toking, and had 56 HRs on an Orbitz pop-up ad once!) Whatever, I never need a radio to know when Manny out-mannies the Yanks--his legions that endure in my rathood extra-shout when I'm watching SNY and Michael Kaye has to blather a tired "See ya!"
Whatever, I can't understand any player who has the cojones to play in NYC NOT play in NYC--like the Zito water torture. He can sign with a small-market team for a few extra bucks, but the exposure, the media, the commercials, the fan intensity obviously won't be the same. In fact, baseball may be the number 2 or 3 sport in a small-market city. IOW: Minaya should just say: "Sign with the Mets, fool!" Ron Darling also made a good point on SNY Monday about going after the Rockies Jensen, available, low-priced, and a groundball pitcher. he pitched well vs. the Mets, if I recall.
Post a Comment