Good news out of Flushing today: Kevin Burkhardt of SNY reports that the Mets have hired Paul DePodesta as vice president of player development and amateur scouting. The Mets have a very strong front office now, Met fans should be very excited. All that needs to happen now is for the owners to stay the hell out of the away and open up their wallets a bit (especially in terms of money being used in the draft and to sign IFA). But seriously the Wilpons staying the hell away is the key here. The Mets being good again is good for baseball yet bad for future jokes at their expense. It's such a tough catch 22.
Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports that the Mets will begin interviewing external manager candidates this week, starting with Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale tomorrow. Ray, What can you tell me about him?
I've heard he's a pretty good/smart baseball guy. He seems to be really well liked by the FO, other coaches and players. I believe he worked a lot with the OFers. He was the 3rd base coach the past few years (and was actually a very good one) until he became the bench coach last year when Brad Mills left for Houston. Not sure how he'd be as a manager but I know he finished 2nd for the Toronto job this year. The Mets could do a lot worse than hiring him. I know he's good fans with Richardi.
Additional external guys....Wakamatsu (stay away) and Clint Hurdle (on the fence) Mets to interview DeMarlo Hale, Don Wakamatsu, and Clint Hurdle this week Not sure who is the leader in the clubhouse so to speak.
LOL...in the link above, one of the posts said if they do pick Hale, sox fans want Hale to drag Bogar with him.
http://7traintoshea.com/?p=3026 Don't know if this is true, but interesting. I would still rather trade Beltran.
No. Didnt like him as a player, would like him even less as a coach. Ugh no. Not unless we get a mega-haul for Jose. And by mega-haul, I mean something like Jon Lester or the equivalent at pitcher. That short list does not include someone like a Carlos Zambrano or a AJ Burnett with their silly bloated deals. I think at this point Id rather hold Beltran unless we get some good pitching for him. I think I might try and trade Pagan simply because I think if Beltran has a good year he will be resigned. Pagan doesnt want to play RF and Beltran doesnt want to either. But Beltrans the one with all the accolades on his resume even if he is coming off a serious injury. If we can get a Matt Garza I might consider it. Otherwise? No thanks. Revisit it at the ASB at that point when hopefully his value has gone up.
