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- MLB is nearing agreements with FOX and Turner Sports on new eight-year broadcasting contracts according to the AP (via ESPN). Revenue from the two networks is likely to double to $800MM annually.
- Commissioner Bud Selig isn’t worried about the Mets, Newsday's Marc Carig reports (Twitterlinks). "I don't consider the Mets a problem in any way, shape or manner,” Selig said. “They're on the right track." Selig went on to express confidence in the Wilpon family and general manager Sandy Alderson.
- The Mets should be open to trading Ike Davis this winter, especially if they can fill multiple holes by sending the first baseman to another team, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Mets have too many needs to rule out possible deals involving Davis.
- The first year of Jose Reyes’ deal with Miami would have to be called a success, Davidoff writes. The Marlins shortstop leads the team with 147 games played despite previous concerns about his durability.
- One well-connected person estimates the Cardinals are worth $1.5 billion, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Dispatch reports (on Twitter). The Dodgers recently sold for a record $2 billion in a positive development for other MLB owners.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Greg Brady and Jim Lang on Sportsnet 590 the FAN that Yunel Escobar’s decision to write a homophobic slur on his eye black was “stupid, selfish, shameful, insensitive.” Anthopoulos acknowledged that he thought about suspending Escobar for a year or releasing him (hat tip to John Lott of the National Post).
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
@ceraunograph:disqus I bet Dodgers fans would disagree with you
Durability doesn’t always mean good. Carlos Pena has played one less game than Reyes and is batting under .200. I can’t say that’s a success.
well aside from being durable, reyes was pretty productive as far as SS go
Except that Reyes’ achilles heel was his durability, which he overcame this year. Pena’s was his inability to hit, which he didn’t overcome.
AA realized he was a “controllable asset” on a good contract 😉 thus didn’t release him.
exactly…I was going to release him, then I realized we’re trying to win games, not run for president of that country below us.
By no means am I saying that they should go so far as to release Escobar for that one incident, but this comment expresses an astoundingly troubling attitude.
You’re taking the comment too literal. In a sense, he’s right. If AA’s #1 goal was to have a great image for the Jays, he’d be released. But, it’s not. His #1 goal is to make money and put the best team on the field. The easiest way to make money as a baseball team? Win games.
The attitude itself is still a concerning one. It’s concerning at all levels of sports. “As long as he can win us games, it doesn’t matter what kind of person he is.” You see it with college athletes coasting through school. It’s why Michael Vick still has a job.
Obviously winning is the primary focus of the organizations, and obviously Yunel Escobar’s gaffe is not something that should be getting him kicked out, but the mindset that “we’re trying to win games, not run for president” is dangerous nonetheless.
Looking at the punishments guys like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant received for actually saying their slurs directly to someone…I think Yunel’s punishment is fair, and a year suspension/release would have been absurd. Doesn’t matter how much more star power those two have in the sports world over Yunel, that would have been a very ridiculous punishment in my eyes.
You’re right, we should stick to a status quo of allowing players to do whatever they want if they’re good enough!!
A year really would have been excessive. It would be more than a second-strike failure for PEDs, for comparison purposes.
But oh gosh would I have loved to see it. I would love it if GMs would collectively stand up and say “if you can’t act like a professional, then you will not be a professional anymore.” That isn’t just in reference to Escobar and what he did, there are plenty of players who have done things I feel the same way about. There are hundreds of kids toiling away in the minors who would love a shot at the Bigs and I would much rather see them get a chance, even if they are an inferior player, than some of these arrogant, self-absorbed, destructive players.
There is a balancing act between second chances and requiring professionalism, to be sure, and I’m not sure I can say where that line should be, but I’d love to see that kind of move.
I don’t see how releasing him would’ve been a punishment considering how hard it is to find a shortstop… Another team would sign him in a second and he’d still be getting paid.
Suspending him for the duration of the year might’ve been worth pursuing. Honestly though, I really don’t have a problem with his current punishment. He didn’t mean to offend anybody and really, it’s just an example of immaturity and a lack of understanding. Wouldn’t defend or condone his actions but I think a lot of this is being completely blown out of proportion. Make an example out of him and hope we never have to see a situation like this arise again.
I think having him play again this season will help determine if he can at least somewhat redeem himself so that we don’t have to go an entire offseason with speculation about Escobar moving, like how we have to sit through 20 posts a week about Farrel leaving for Boston. If things don’t play out the rest of the season then I think it makes the decision to get rid of him easier and faster, sparing us the pain (I hate repetitive speculation myself.)
How is playing more games redeeming himself? At-bats are not the issue here. You have a low class SS, thats the problem. Playing more games arn’t changing anything, just taking away from the seriousness of the issue. Bench him, drag him through the mud, and if he can own it and be mature about it then you keep him.
if you take him out of games you remove him from the public eye and so the last thing people remember about this guy (mainly the media) is that he ended his season on this terrible note. So the the media and all the fans speculate upon this. He now has an opportunity to prove that he has truly learned his lesson. Trade value would also be terrible if that’s the last thing people remember about him.
Question: Would people have easily forgiven Michael Vick if he came back and was awful? Probably not; he proved himself. ( Not that I’m comparing the two specific situations, just the general idea.)
” it’s just an example of immaturity and a lack of understanding.”
That excuse is beaten to death everytime someone does anything wrong and makes a mistake the last few decades and it is NOT an excuse, even a poor one that should fly.
Every child, *properly* raised knows the difference in right and wrong at an early age, yet we continue to see miscreants, exactly like escobar get away nearly scott free and the famous old “I didn’t know any better” line as an excuse.. Pitiful..
Exactly. He knew what the word meant, anybody who thinks otherwise is either on his level or lower. He knew it was offensive. He should be suspended a full year for being such an inferior human being, made to do classes on proper behavior, and forced to tour with the team all year without playing time or else go unpaid. This wasn’t some Freudian slip during a emotional moment in a game, It was a premeditated act of ignorance he drew on his face. Its time for the league to draw another word under his eyes…benched.
It’s a pretty common phrase in Latino culture…
This is what I meant by people overreacting. A full year? Are you kidding me? Ozzie Guillen says he loves Fidel Castro and was suspended a few games. Rodger McDowell got two weeks for making homophobic gestures at a fan.
The Mets need to trade Wright and rebuild the team, right now they have the least amount of talent in the East. They look to be in last place next year regardless of what they do.
They are rebuilding but would it be done better with Wright or without? Would he bring in enough being close to free agency and all.
You’ve been writing this exact comment since last July. I have a lot of family and friends who root for the Yankees but you make them look bad.
Who will play third base?
If you want to trade David Wright, I propose you send him and Matt Harvey to the Phillies and you can have any 3 position players on the Phils’ roster and can substitute out for any of those 3 any player in the Phils’ farm system.
AA realized that he still needs to ‘showcase’ him for a winter trade, thus the slap on the wrist. He wont be back for 2013.
i really doubt this.. as good as hechavarria is defensively, he cant play SS and 2B at the same time
I don’t know. I heard Hech has exceptional range.
he’d probably post a higher obp than yunel and KJ combined.
nop too far
Bud Selig on the Mets “I don’t consider the Mets a problem in any way, shape or manner,” Selig said. It’s interesting he says this about the Mets and Wilpons.
As far as I am concerned they have three strikes
Strike One:
The Naming of their home field “Citi”. Citi Group used to be an outstanding company.
I am not impressed with them any longer. Plus, I would have given them the hook, I would have changed the naming rights immediately or would have at least tried.
Strike Two:
That whole fiasco with the ponzi scheme situation.
Strike Three:
Digital Domain Media Group had naming rights for Mets Spring Training Facility
Do the Mets have Dan Marino’s 13 Million?
I am sorry this trend is a bit of a problem. Even if the Wilpons had nothing to do with any of this, it’s the friends they keep as far as I am concerned. It’s bad for business!
As for the Mets trading Ike Davis, WHY?????? He’s under control till 2017. I think he’s a very good player. He’ll get to 30 Hr’s at least in 2012. Who would the Mets replace Davis with? La Roche, Reynolds, someone internally? Who?? La Roche and Reynolds would cost big bucks. Something Mets really don’t have !
Also, has the Dodger/ Cardinal rivalry been reduced as which organization is worth more? That’s kind of silly if it has.
AZs for Escobar, his play hasn’t really impressed me as of late. I watched him against the Orioles a few weeks ago. I felt he was phoning it in a bit. Then he pushed Vizquel out of the way to catch a pop up which I thought was a bit much. On the previous play, he made an error on what I thought was a routine play. If I were AA, I would trade him if I could just based on his play
“Also, has the Dodger/ Cardinal rivalry been reduced as which organization is worth more? That’s kind of silly if it has.”
Where does it say anything of the sort? Strauss’ tweet was that the Cardinals are worth around $1.5 Billion BECAUSE of the sale of the Dodgers. The sale of the Dodgers(and Padres for that matter) changes the value for every MLB team.
Wow, lots to see here.
First, Selig doesn’t see any problems with the Mets? Well he’s the only one.
Second, Reyes’ first year in Miami was a success? Hmm. You might want to take a look at that heavily back loaded contract again. The Marlins have TWO years to win before the next fire sale begins. In the first year, they didn’t even make the playoffs. Reyes was signed on a multi-year deal, but it’s really a 2 year deal for the Fish. He’s there to sell tickets to the new stadium, generate fan interest and get them into the playoffs. How did that go over this year again?
In the first year of their new stadium, they still had attendance issues, fan interest has been as low as ever in South Florida, and they didn’t make the playoffs. So with all of that in mind, why would the first year be considered a success?
Can a team on it’s own initiative suspend a player? I don’t recall a situation like this before – it’s almost always been the league suspending the player, whether for PEDs, fighting, arguing with the umps, etc. I think either they would suspend him and still have to pay him, which would be stupid, or the union would have a huge beef. Probably not a realistic alternative.
Yeah. It’s happened quite a few times before, usually for things like insubordination. They need a reason to (whether it be insubordination or something offensive like this) and its not questioned by the MLBPA because there’s usually an obvious reason why the team’s doing it.
Although MLB player suspensions are super lax compared to minor league suspensions, which shows the effect of the MLBPA.
MLBPA wouldn’t fight this suspension because if they did it would be a PR nightmare for them, and their public image is of paramount importance to them.
Bud Selig is a used car salesman who doesn’t see a problem with any car on his lot.
If you want to know who rules you, look to whom you cannot criticize.
Escobar’s immaturity is why he was traded out of Atlanta. Why should he change if he still gets to play and gets paid millions? I do feel AA’s response was sufficient (though I deplore Escobar’s actions)… but I bet AA will look to move Escobar later when it can be done without Toronto losing too much in the deal.
NO amount of money is enough to undo the damage foisting JOE BUCK on us has done!
This is why you have the “Joe Buck Clause” in the contract. When you have Joe Buck broadcast MLB games the color commentator must spend all nine innings making fun of Joe Buck.
Trading Ike Davis doesn’t fill any holes whatsoever he’s not apart of the problem with the Mets the fact he bounced back and hit 30 homers this year shows he’s not part of the problem.