Granted, still a long ways to go, but let’s hope for the Mets and their fans, the good play continues.

Enough of Moises Alou already, 15 games for the year is ridiculous. I bet we’ll hear stories about how bad Alou feels about things, and that sort of thing, but let’s see Alou put his money where his mouth is. If he feels that bad, why not sign on to play in 2009 at the league minimum, and take an incentive laden deal based on performance. If he were to do something like that, I’d believe he truly felt bad about this year. Short of that, I think it’s all talk.

Well, Omar Minaya, what do you plan to do next, or do you plan on playing the rest of the year with a starting corner outfield tandem of Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez? (Assuming Ryan Church does not return anytime soon). Who does everyone see on the radar? I’d love Xavier Nady from Pittsburgh, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon, I think the price is too high for what the Mets might be able to afford. Any suggestions?

Yes, I realize this is not necessarily fair to Aaron Rodgers, who currently is in position to become the starter. However, Brett Favre isn’t exactly a mediocre quaterback, he is a LEGEND not only in Green Bay, but leaguewide. The funny part, at least to me, is that Brett Favre is trying to do the right thing. He’s trying not to put Green Bay in a bad spot, by downplaying the rumors. However, for some reason, it appears the Packers are not welcoming back Brett Favre with open arms, they seem to be annoyed that Favre has changed his mind, after working with Rodgers in the off-season to become the new #1 quaterback, and tinkering the offense to work with Rodgers’ strength and weaknesses. That’s all fine and dandy, if the Packers are ready to move on, then they should come out and say it, and give Brett the option to play somewhere else.

This isn’t the first time an NFL legend has had to consider playing somewhere else. Emmitt Smith ended his career as an Arizona Cardinal. Tony Dorsett ended his career as a Denver Bronco, Johnny Unitas ended as a San Diego Charger. These situations didn’t work out, but others like Jerry Rice, had success after leaving their original organization. It’s up to Favre to decide whether or not he would play somewhere else, as teams like Minnesota, Chicago and Tampa Bay, probably amongst others, would love the opportunity to bring in Favre.

Unfortunately, as Peter King of SI points out, this saga is pretty far from over, but it should be easy to decide, either the Packers welcome back Favre, or they let him play elsewhere. Stop dragging it out, people want to know the conclusion, not the whole saga attached to it…

The Brewers are trying to solidify their talent as they try to make a push towards the playoffs, not having been in the post season since the Robin Yount/Paul Molitor led Brewers back in 1982. Let’s also not forget the famed spending ways of previous owner Bud Selig, and his tumultous regime in Milwaukee. Things seem to be turning around a bit in Milwaukee.

This is the first big trading chip of the year, and may be the biggest one sent packing as we approach the trading deadline at the end of this month.

It is a growing trend in major league baseball where the middle markets are starting to spend more and compete with the bigger markets. Five years ago, a team like Milwaukee would’ve had no chance at bringing in a Sabathia, it would’ve been reserved for the New York, Boston, Chicago or California teams. It’s definitely good to see more teams get into the mix for the top talent.

Another great example is the Oakland A’s signing last week of international prospect, 16-year old pitcher Michael Inoa to a $4.25 million signing bonus. Teams like the Athletics wouldn’t have been involved in a signing of this magnitude in past years. It’s good to see the finances of baseball working better, but there’s a LONG ways to go before they gain the financial equality that the NFL has.

Player cap hit Length
Scott Gomez 7,357,143 thru 2013-14
Chris Drury 7,050,000 thru 2011-12
Wade Redden 6,500,000 thru 2013-14
Michal Rozsival 5,000,000 thru 2011-12
Henrik Lundqvist 6,875,000 thru 2013-14
Chrisitan Backman 2,300,000 thru 2008-09
Fedor Tyutin 2,843,750 thru 2011-12
Petr Prucha 1,600,000 thru 2008-09
Dan Girardi 1,550,000 thru 2009-10

Total 41,075,893

Other players under contract for 2008-09 and expected to be on the team:

Lauri Korpikoski 1,017,533
Aaron Voros 1,000,000
Marc Staal 826,667
Brandon Dubinsky 633,333
Blair Betts 615,000
Ryan Callahan 575,000
Colton Orr 537,500
Ryan Hollweg 512,500

Total (17 players) 46,793,426

Not included in this calculation are players like Nigel Dawes and Fredrik Sjostrom who are currently RFA’s, as well as backup goaltender Steven Valiquette, who has signed, but contract terms are not currently available. Let’s assume Valiquette will count for 600,000 against the cap for next year, so that leaves $9,306,574 to fill 5 spots, 2 of which will likely be to Dawes and Sjostrom. Barring trades to unload some salary (I believe Gomez, Drury and Lundqvist all have no-trade or at least minimum no-trade clauses), how can the Rangers still be in the running for Mats Sundin or Marian Hossa? It would be crippling for them to sign either, at least as I see it. Maybe they have knowledge to something I do not. At a minimum, I would think it’s unlikely (at best) that any of the 3 big UFA’s they have on the market return to the team, Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan or Sean Avery. Stay tuned Rangers fans, it could get ugly in the upcoming years. Maybe Cablevision thinks it’s the NBA soft cap they are dealing with. No sir, you cannot field a team if you are over the cap in the NHL.

Someone should ask Sather & Company what the plan is for the future if the cap actually goes down next year, which is always a possibility…..

The New Jersey Devils re-signed UFA D Bryce Salvador to a 4 year $11.6M contract, taking off the market a nice solid stay-at-home defenseman. They also ahve re-signed UFA LW Jay Pandolfo to a contract, of which terms have not been anounced yet. Sergei Brylin was not re-signed, his option was not picked up, and he will hit free agency at noon.

There are also rumors in the New York Post that Brendan Shanhan might be looking to re-join the team he started his career with, the New Jersey Devils, but that also remains to be seen. Mats Sundin is expected to try and choose between returning to Toronto, or join the Rangers, Canadiens or Red Wings, or retire. Brian Campbell is expected to move to the east, but it’s very up in the air where he ends up at this point, it should be an exciting day of hockey free agency ahead!

Let’s take this year’s champs as a perfect summation of what I have been saying regarding tge NBA draft for years. Did the Boston Celtics win the title because of how well they drafted? No. They won because of smart trades for veterans and stifling defense. How did the Lakers get within 2 games of their 15th title? By trading for Pau Gasol before the deadline, not by any draft day maneuvering.

Anyway, the big story today revolves around whether the Chicago Bulls will use the first pick in the draft to obtain local hero Derrick Rose, the freshmen phenom from Memphis, or whether they will trade the pick with a package to Miami for another local star - Dwyane Wade.

Speaking of Miami, they are not sure what they will do with the second overall pick (assuming the Wade to Chicago deal doesn’t go down). Will they take K-State big man Michael Beasley or perhaps, troubled O.J. Mayo from USC? What about the Stanford twins? Will it matter? Doubtful…it will take more than good drafting to knock the Lakers and Celtics off their posts as the best in their respective conferences.

10. Brian Rolston, 35, LW, Minnesota Wild: Rolston is a great two-way forward, who is his only downfall is the fact he isn’t 25 anymore. Coming off a solid 2007-08 season, where he scored 59 points in 81 games, Rolston is subject to the fact that any multi-year contract he signs will automatically be counted against the salary cap, even if Rolston does not play (injury exception aside, which would give the signing team relief). 2007-08 salary: $2.432 million Prediction: Resigns with Minnesota to one-year incentive laden deal

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Well, where do we begin? Not to badmouth the trade itself, but Omar Minaya is the general manager who thought the Mets were one elite starting pitcher from being world championship contenders. Omar paid a good price to get debatedly the best pitcher in baseball, Johan Satnana, giving four of his top prospects in Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Delois Guerra and Kevin Mulvey to get Santana, and essentially left his cupboard of prospects pretty bare. In his calculations, it turns out Omar is wrong, and quotes like this from owner Fred Wilpon should scare Mets fans everywhere:

“I think Omar has done a great job.”

Maybe someone should give Fred Wilpon the following list of miscalculations by his general manager, who he thinks is doing a great job, (in no particular order):

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How can you send Willie Randolph to the West Coast for one game, win his third tilt in four games, and then fire him? Why was Rick Peterson added to the chopping block as well, that definitely is a suprise to me. Unless you were bringing in a guy like Leo Mazzone from the outside, I don’t think he should’ve been fired, it seems like a wierd time for it to happen as well. Prospect Mike Pelfrey is appearing to turn the corner a bit. Now, if you want to fire Rick Peterson for his alleged input into the Scott Kazmir trade for Victor Zambrano, that’s fine, but wouldn’t you be a bit late on that one? I have no huge qualms with the firing of Peterson, but again, its the timing that is odd to me. As I mentioned before, Pelfrey was beginning to show progress. The likes of Aaron Heilman, John Maine and Pelfrey, amongst others have had more success under Peterson’s tutelage. Yes, i realize guys like Matt Lindstrom and Heath Bell that didn’t take to the Peterson methodology, so it’s not that I’m heartbroken he was let go, but what is Dan Warthen going to provide that Rick Peterson didn’t? What’s going to happen if Mike Pelfrey suddenly has a regress in performance, what will people think? An interesting question to say the least.

Now, someone please explain to me what Tom Nieto did by being the first base coach to warrant him being fired? It appears his only error was being a friend of Willie Randolph, which put him on the firing line. Who knows what kind of behind the scenes items took place, but there are grumblings that Tony Bernazard worked to have the Mets fire Willie Randolph, as there are also alleged differences in philosophies between Bernazard and Randolph. In the end, I think that the Mets view Ken Oberkfell (Nieto’s replacement) as a potential candidate for the major league managing job, and they want Oberkfell to get a taste of the major league life. Jerry Manuel has the interim tag for now, and I’m sure will be re-evaluated at season’s end depending on his peformance. I would be curious to see how Oberkfell would do as manager, but also agree that this would be an unfair time to give Oberkfell his first shot given the current status of the ball club.

All the above aside, the biggest issues here at hand are that firing Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto is not going to instantaeously correct all the mistakes of this team. While I’m not necessarily disappointed to see any of them to go, I think the Mets truly made themselves look horrible in how they carried out the firing. In Part II, I will look more closely and tell you what I think the true course of action I would have taken, had I been Fred or Jeff Wilpon.