10/18/10

Cutnpaste: - K-Rod, Attendance, Sandy Alderson, Jayson Werth... and Closer




Michael G. Baron
 K-Rod:



In a further sign Francisco Rodriguez's grievance and criminal charges may be nearing settlements, the Venezuelan publication El Universal quoted a source close to the closer as suggesting he plans to participate in winter ball for Tiburones de La Guaira in early November.



A grievance hearing had been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in New York concerning the Mets' conversion of Rodriguez's contract to unguaranteed and the nonpayment of $3 million in 2010 salary. However, the hearing before arbitrator Shyam Das has been put off with the sides close to a monetary settlement that still should cost K-Rod significantly in terms of dollars.

ESPN  



Attendance:


All of this leads me back to the Mets situation this season, where attendance was down another 17.2% according to Adam Rubin at ESPN. As attendance plummets for the Mets, due to a variety of reasons as we all know, the flaccid arguments that many people this year made that if attendance drops, so will the Wilpons reason to spend, falls flat if you take into account the revenue which is generated by SNY.


Just like the argument that is currently underway with News Corporation and Cablevision , the old guard thinking that team attendance receipts determine a teams’ vitality is as false as holding television viewers hostage to get corporations to capitulate to one’s demands. In this day and age of digital, viral online access, any viewer can access any games or television shows at their will.


Obviously many executives in the sports and entertainment industries haven’t read the memo.


metsmerized  


San Diego Padres
 Sandy Alderson:


The Mets have set a second meeting with Sandy Alderson, likely on Thursday, sources told ESPN.com's Buster Olney. Alderson is regarded as the frontrunner for the Mets' general manager job.


The former Oakland GM and San Diego president currently works for Major League Baseball. He interviewed with the Mets earlier last week.


Other candidates that the Mets are considering for their open GM position include former Arizona Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes, Chicago White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn and Boston Red Sox scouting director Allard Baird. - ESPN  






Jayson Werth:
 Likely to be the consolation prize for the losing team in the Crawford bidding, Werth is no slouch. This is his fourth straight season posting an OPS over .850. His above-average power compliments his excellent on-base skills and he is solid at all three outfield positions. Werth blossomed late, and at 31 he’ll likely be looking to sign a contract that will cover most of the second half of his career. With new agent Scott Boras, he’ll likely get it.


PREDICTED DESTINATION: Los Angeles Angels - dugoutdoctors  


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 Closer:

However, if he is found innocent, the Mets won't have to worry about finding another proven closer. We have Bobby Parnell in house, who while he was good in 2010, he was at the same largely untested in the save department. Hisanori Takahashi might resign with the Mets for a none too expensive price. He was a perfect 8 for 8 in save opportunities for the Mets last season. However all 8 of those chances came in the final month and a half of 2010, a time when the Mets were by and large out of the races and were playing meaningless games without any pressure. Come April and the slates are wiped clean again and every game is vital, can the Mets take that gamble and have Takahashi try and close out games in such high pressure situations when his experience in that area is so small? With K-Rod, you'd be getting a pitcher who looks like he's over his New York jitters. He finished his year with a sweet 2.20 ERA and his last 14 games of 2010 were especially impressive, posting up a 1.10 ERA, .127 opponent's batting average and a WHIP of 0.74 in his final 16.1 frames.  -  queenscourier

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