link - Now that Joe Torre has said won’t return to manage the Dodgers next year, speculation abounds that he might manage another club. The latest rumor: The New York Mets, with whom Torre started his managing career in 1977. But Torre, 70, said “there’s absolutely no legs to this story,” which he called “irresponsible.” “I’ve had absolutely no conversation of any kind, and nobody I know has had a conversation of any kind, with anybody,” he said.
link - A baseball executive in regular contact with the Mets: “Jeff is the problem with the organization, and he is never going to realize that. He cannot help himself. He has to be involved. He will never hire anyone who will not let him have major input. He will not hire anyone who does not run every personnel decision through him.” An NL personnel man: “They have a problem they don’t understand: This is not a desirable location. New York is desirable, but this is the wrong borough. I don’t think it has sunk in with Jeff yet that he is running a team that the best people might not want to work for.”
link - When Dillon Gee used to have bad days in the Minor Leagues, he would wonder how he might succeed in the Majors. If Triple-A hitters could smack around his pitches, Gee thought, then surely Major League hitters could, too. Then Gee arrived in the big leagues and realized that even elite hitters make mistakes. "It was kind of a breath of fresh air to know that I could go out there without my best stuff and still find a way to get people out," said Gee, who was admittedly at something less than full strength Monday in a hard-luck no-decision against the Pirates.
link - On the majors - It appears that Johan Santana will miss most of the 2011 season because of arm surgery. With the Mets he hasn’t put up the wins as he did with the Twins (11-9) but his 2.98 ERA is what any team would want from their ace. R.A. Dickey is putting up excellent numbers (11-6. 2.80) but you can’t rely on pitchers with knuckle balls to be your ace. They tend to be more innings eaters. You would also like to see Dickey repeat those numbers before you annoit him your top starter. Mike Pelfrey got off to a hot start, his ERA sitting as low as 2.93 at the end of June. A 10.02 ERA in five July starts put an end to any thought of an ERA title. After a recovery in August he has again struggled in his September start.
link - CARLOS BELTRAN, METS. The Mets are sending strong signals that they badly want to trade Beltran, one official from an American League club told us this past week. But we’ve seen this act before. The Mets talk big on relinquishing sunk costs, then they don’t pay the freight to unload someone. One difference here, unlike, say, Luis Castillo: There will be clubs interested in Beltran, who has played better recently, if the Mets pay enough of the $18.5 million they owe him. Boston, which intends to make Mike Cameron a part-time player, could be interested. So could St. Louis, which could deal Colby Rasmus
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