The New York Mets removed six players from their 40-man roster on Halloween to clear space to protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft or sign free agents this off-season.
In addition the Mets assigned infielder Josh Satin and relievers Buddy Carlyle, Dana Eveland and Scott Rice to Triple-A Las Vegas on paper, though all four now become minor league free agents.
Topps Update baseball cards were officially released this week, marking the traditional end of the collecting season that started when Series 1 came out back during spring training.
I wanted to pick up a couple of packs when I stopped in Target this afternoon, but they hadn’t made their way to the retail shelves yet. So I’m left looking at the pictures of other people’s cards online instead,
The Mets and the media are still turning Johan Santana‘s spring into a circus.
Terry Collins (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)
Today it was Terry Collins‘ turn to get in on the act, and he sounds every bit like the lame-duck manager he is:
Said Collins: “I asked, ‘What did you get on the mound for?’ And he said, ‘Because I felt good.’ And I said, ‘It was unnecessary.’”
…
Said Collins: “I said, ‘The last thing I need is to have you wake up tomorrow stiff and then we take a huge step backward because you wanted to show everybody you’re OK….
So, here we have Santana – a $25 million+ investment who was until recently expected to be the Opening Day starter – throwing without his manager’s approval or knowledge until after the fact.
The Mets are really looking like winners here, aren’t they? And it all started because Sandy Alderson – the one who was supposedly hired to make the Mets look more competent and respectable – decided to open his mouth in front of a bunch of reporters.
Fun if you’re a tabloid reporter or sports radio talk show host… otherwise, not so much.
Autographed 1988 Topps Dwight Gooden card from my collection
And while we’re on the subject, here’s an even less-fun story via TMZ, of all places: Dwight Gooden has a temporary restraining order filed against him because he allegedly threatened his estranged wife and her family.
If you want some good news regarding the Mets… well, Kirk Nieuwenhuis is only expected to miss a week or so after injuring his knee while stealing a base on Sunday. The way things have been going, I was afraid it would turn into a season-ending injury and it didn’t, so at least there’s that.
And I’ve got a couple of new additions to my Mets autograph collection. Non-roster outfielder Andrew Brown signed a card I mailed to him via Mets spring training camp, but the Mike Piazza card was a purchase.
PaulHadsall.com 