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Best free-agent we never signed?

metsguyinmichigan
Feb 16 2009 01:12 PM

More and more, I have to think we got lucky on this one....

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Astros left-hander Mike Hampton is returning to Houston to get treatment for an irregular heartbeat.

Hampton was to be examined Monday by team physician Dr. Jim Muntz and will undergo a procedure that corrects his heartbeat with an electrical current.

The condition was discovered during an EKG test Saturday that was part of the routine physical for Astros pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.

The Astros say the irregularity was minor and they hope to have Hampton back in camp Thursday.

The 36-year-old is 141-105 with a 4.01 ERA in 14 seasons, including six with Houston from 1994-99.

Kong76
Feb 16 2009 01:14 PM

Heart problems are common in dolphin faced weasels.

themetfairy
Feb 16 2009 01:38 PM

="Kong76":3vwo4xe7]Heart problems are common in dolphin faced weasels.[/quote:3vwo4xe7]

I never wish ill health on anyone.

But I confess that the comment made me laugh.

Glad that Dolphin Face isn't our problem, and I hope for his kids' sake that the heart problem isn't a serious one.

Benjamin Grimm
Feb 16 2009 01:44 PM

Instead of picking a city based on its school system, he should have chosen based on its quality of medical care.

G-Fafif
Feb 16 2009 02:02 PM

I wish we had signed Not Bobby Bonilla long ago.

Benjamin Grimm
Feb 16 2009 02:09 PM

I'd have to include Barry Zito on the list of dodged bullets.

RealityChuck
Feb 16 2009 04:43 PM

But if Hampton had stayed with the Mets, Rick Peterson could have fixed his problems in ten minutes.

SteveJRogers
Feb 16 2009 04:49 PM

The way things have gone for the guy since being traded to the MFY, got to put Alex Rodriguez close to Hampton as well.

batmagadanleadoff
Feb 16 2009 05:46 PM

="SteveJRogers":ceecb9d1]The way things have gone for the guy since being traded to the MFY, got to put Alex Rodriguez close to Hampton as well.[/quote:ceecb9d1]

I dunno Steve. If superscrub Rey Ordonez ever gave us season after season of MVP caliber, 45 HR a year numbers, I might agree with you.

SteveJRogers
Feb 16 2009 06:35 PM

="batmagadanleadoff":2of2zzzd]
="SteveJRogers":2of2zzzd]The way things have gone for the guy since being traded to the MFY, got to put Alex Rodriguez close to Hampton as well.[/quote:2of2zzzd] I dunno Steve. If superscrub Rey Ordonez ever gave us season after season of MVP caliber, 45 HR a year numbers, I might agree with you.[/quote:2of2zzzd]

A certain revelation this past week kind of led me to put Rodriguez on this list.

To say nothing about how Met Nation would have had a field day over his "lack of clutchness"

metsguyinmichigan
Feb 16 2009 06:36 PM

="SteveJRogers":2hugbuw0]The way things have gone for the guy since being traded to the MFY, got to put Alex Rodriguez close to Hampton as well.[/quote:2hugbuw0]

Steve, I have to tease you for making your first comment on this matter a Yankee-centric statement.

batmagadanleadoff
Feb 16 2009 07:01 PM

="SteveJRogers"]
="batmagadanleadoff"]
="SteveJRogers"]The way things have gone for the guy since being traded to the MFY, got to put Alex Rodriguez close to Hampton as well.
I dunno Steve. If superscrub Rey Ordonez ever gave us season after season of MVP caliber, 45 HR a year numbers, I might agree with you.
A certain revelation this past week kind of led me to put Rodriguez on this list. To say nothing about how Met Nation would have had a field day over his "lack of clutchness"


You're Rey Ordonez! <-------

Ha Ha!

Edgy DC
Feb 16 2009 07:32 PM

The idea that it's good that the Mets didn't sign Alex Rodriguez, because fans would abuse him over his alleged non-clutchness, is such a defeatest argument that I need to tear all my hair out.

There, now I am completely bald.

Also, the ten minute thing is <a href="http://cranepoolforum.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=253763#253763" target="_blank">in Hell, and beyond saving</a>.

Fman99
Feb 16 2009 07:46 PM

Zito is the correct answer. We were looking for Zito, Barry Zito.

Thanks for playing.

SteveJRogers
Feb 16 2009 08:12 PM

="Edgy DC":1h4grzv1]The idea that it's good that the Mets didn't sign Alex Rodriguez, because fans would abuse him over his alleged non-clutchness, is such a defeatest argument that I need to tear all my hair out. There, now I am completely bald. Also, the ten minute thing is <a href="http://cranepoolforum.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=253763#253763" target="_blank">in Hell, and beyond saving</a>.[/quote:1h4grzv1]

No, it is more the idea of the pussy little POS that ARod has acted like in his 5 years in the Bronx being why it was best that the Mets ended up not signing him. That and the fact that he roided up supposedly to live up to a contract.

SteveJRogers
Feb 16 2009 08:15 PM

Hampton is joined by Ray Knight in the list of Best Free Agents The Mets Didn't Bring Back.

Also Edgardo Alfonzo, and Al Leiter.

Edgy DC
Feb 16 2009 09:29 PM

This is getting stupid ugly fast.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr
Feb 16 2009 10:59 PM

="SteveJRogers":10f809cw] No, it is more the idea of the pussy little POS that ARod has acted like in his 5 years in the Bronx being why it was best that the Mets ended up not signing him. That and the fact that he roided up supposedly to live up to a contract.[/quote:10f809cw]

If you ever rooted for Mikey Piazza (or, hell, Todd Hundley, or {as-yet-unnamed Met member of the 103}), I would advise you to tread a bit lightly in how you denigrate A-Rod, sirrah, lest you get pulled over by the hypocrisy police.

(Not that you shouldn't denigrate A-Rod, mind you... you just might want to be more careful about exactly HOW.)

Edgy DC
Feb 17 2009 05:46 AM

Don't worry. Steve is the Hypocrisy Police. And he's a cop on the edge.

SteveJRogers
Feb 17 2009 06:12 AM

="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":1gwkibti]
="SteveJRogers":1gwkibti] No, it is more the idea of the pussy little POS that ARod has acted like in his 5 years in the Bronx being why it was best that the Mets ended up not signing him. That and the fact that he roided up supposedly to live up to a contract.[/quote:1gwkibti] If you ever rooted for Mikey Piazza (or, hell, Todd Hundley, or {as-yet-unnamed Met member of the 103}), I would advise you to tread a bit lightly in how you denigrate A-Rod, sirrah, lest you get pulled over by the hypocrisy police. (Not that you shouldn't denigrate A-Rod, mind you... you just might want to be more careful about exactly HOW.)[/quote:1gwkibti]

I tend not to root for players in particular, and yeah I know the day of reckoning is coming for Piazza, Alfonzo, Hampton, Ventura, Leiter and the rest of those scums on the 1999-2000 squads.

SteveJRogers
Feb 17 2009 06:17 AM

Look, all I was saying with the steriods is that the Mets dodged one big bullet with not having AFraud on their watch.

Sure that sounds naive, and as I said Piazza's name is probably on that list, but in terms of what this thread is, the Mets look better for not getting Mr. 24 and 1, and therefore exscape the scorn of having a mega cheater on their roster as a major free agent signing.

batmagadanleadoff
Feb 17 2009 07:30 AM

Tis better to have cheated and lost than never to have cheated at all.

metsmarathon
Feb 17 2009 07:58 AM

honestly, i don't really think the yankees brand is suffering one bit from the collective stink of giambi, pettitte, arod, et. al.

SteveJRogers
Feb 17 2009 10:06 AM

="metsmarathon":5gy7w2om]honestly, i don't really think the yankees brand is suffering one bit from the collective stink of giambi, pettitte, arod, et. al.[/quote:5gy7w2om]

I'll give you that. But I'm talking about how big of a PR hit it would be for the Mets.

I mean they can't even get the naming rights on the stadium done without some controversy brewing and every bank hating, Wall Street hating and NYC hating blogger, reporter and government official blasting the Mets for not even changing the name to "Tax Payer Field" or breaking the contract.

The Mets have had PR nightmare after PR nightmare for so long now, something like being the team that signed ARod and having him claim that it was during that team's tenure that he did the roids (yeaa right of course) would be yet another reason to wonder when the franchise will ever shake its joke label that has been on it since 1987.

Edgy DC
Feb 17 2009 10:14 AM

"Every" is a ridiculous word to pull out --- "every bank hating, Wall Street hating and NYC hating blogger, reporter and government official." Por favor.

Haters can suck it.

Frayed Knot
Feb 17 2009 11:23 AM

The funny thing about the original ARod signing is that while most suspect the infamous Steve Phillips pronouncement of "24 and 1" was code for "we don't want to pay the money", not only did it turn out to be pretty damn accurate but the contract the Mets turned away from turned out to be too rich for the team who signed it; was only accepted in trade upon a huge discount; and then only extended at similar rates due to the anticipation of smashing career records which now is put in jeopardy because of his whole "24 and 1" attitude.

Irony can be so ironic at times.

Frayed Knot
Feb 17 2009 11:39 AM

And as they get ready to do the big ARod press conference it's official ... the team has set Alex up with his own tent.

smg58
Feb 17 2009 01:35 PM

What bugs me about the fallout from not signing A-Rod way back when is that when Phillips claims that Scott Boras made an unreasonable list of demands -- which is perfectly consistent with what we know about Boras -- all the beat writers assume he is full of it, but when Cashman suggests that Boras offered Beltran to the Yankees at a discount -- which is completely inconsistent with what we know about Boras -- these same writers take him at his word.

Following up on what FK said, I think there's a good chance we would have had to do what Texas ultimately did, only it would have been particularly humiliating to us.

That being said, I have to vote for Zito as the best free agent non-signing. A-Rod rubbed me wrong then as much as he does now, but at least his on-field performance would have approached what we paid him to do.

MFS62
Feb 17 2009 04:33 PM

Taking the title of the thread literally, the best free agent the Mets never signed was Vlad.

Later

SteveJRogers
Feb 17 2009 06:13 PM

="MFS62":1u6ynk3p]Taking the title of the thread literally, the best free agent the Mets never signed was Vlad. Later[/quote:1u6ynk3p]

Bullet of Cool nominee.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr
Feb 17 2009 09:36 PM

]I tend not to root for players in particular, and yeah I know the day of reckoning is coming for Piazza, Alfonzo, Hampton, Ventura, Leiter and the rest of those scums on the 1999-2000 squads.


Alfonzo, Ventura... scums?

So... y'like anyone, Steve? Seaver? That adorable pouting child over there? Your mother, bringing you soup and a birthday present?

Centerfield
Feb 18 2009 07:58 AM

="MFS62":1yup58la]Taking the title of the thread literally, the best free agent the Mets never signed was Vlad. Later[/quote:1yup58la]

If you are to take the title of the thread literally, the best free agent the Mets never signed was, again, Alex Rodriguez.

Benjamin Grimm
Feb 18 2009 08:10 AM

I remember, in the 1976-77 offseason, actually thinking the Mets might sign Reggie Jackson.

How naïve I was!

Vince Coleman Firecracker
Feb 18 2009 11:19 AM

="Centerfield":izn8lv6l]
="MFS62":izn8lv6l]Taking the title of the thread literally, the best free agent the Mets never signed was Vlad. Later[/quote:izn8lv6l] If you are to take the title of the thread literally, the best free agent the Mets never signed was, again, Alex Rodriguez.[/quote:izn8lv6l]

Or, if you want to split hairs, Barry Bonds in 93.

SteveJRogers
Feb 18 2009 04:19 PM

="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]
]I tend not to root for players in particular, and yeah I know the day of reckoning is coming for Piazza, Alfonzo, Hampton, Ventura, Leiter and the rest of those scums on the 1999-2000 squads.
Alfonzo, Ventura... scums? So... y'like anyone, Steve? Seaver? That adorable pouting child over there? Your mother, bringing you soup and a birthday present?


Okay, overboard hyperbole I know, just letting you know that I'm fully aware that chances are the Mets of that era were filled with steroid users.

Kong76
Feb 18 2009 05:23 PM

What would really be funny is that if it comes out that Rey Ordonez was on
steroids and still couldn't hit ....

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr
Feb 18 2009 06:37 PM

="Kong76"]What would really be funny is that if it comes out that Rey Ordonez was on
steroids and still couldn't hit ....

Heh. Baby Rey + Season of Primabolin cycles = 500 Hardest-hit 1-3 groundouts in ML history