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Rafael Soriano, the best relief pitcher on the free-agent market this year, has reached a three-year deal with the New York Yankees worth about $35 million. The Yankees have opted for Soriano since their initial interest in Kerry Wood didn’t develop into a deal and they’re better off for it.

Wood’s injury history is well-documented and he struggled mightily in the AL. Despite posting an ERA of 0.69 in 26.0 short innings, Wood also walked 18 hitters and survived due to a strikeout rate reminiscent of his early days as a starter.

Rafael Soriano also has strikeout potential, and though his K’s took a hit last year in the AL East, he still set down 8.2 guys per nine innings. Soriano has not been entirely injury-free in his career, nor has he ever shown the promise that Kerry Wood did in his early days, but it’s hard not to imagine him as a more reliable late-inning arm for the Yankees over the next one-to-three seasons.

The nature of this deal is unusual for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the amount of money Soriano is getting is rather high, to say the least. Non-closer relievers with seven-figure salaries are really unheard of, and while I don’t deny that Soriano is the best relief pitcher to be a free-agent this year, his contract is a product of Scott Boras’ classic high selling and the Yankees’ bottomless wallet. The other strange thing is that Soriano can opt out of his deal after either of the first two seasons.

It’s hard to tell what he’s going to do, but since he was searching for a closers’ job (for four years, no less) he will probably jump ship if he thinks one such job is available. The reason he didn’t get such a deal was because the teams who didn’t already have a reliable ninth-inning guy balked at the asking price, and of the teams who could use a good set-up type (virtually every team), only the Yankees would be willing to dip into their funds to the tune of 10 million or more per year.

Because a number of teams are going to have expensive closers coming off the books after 2011, I wouldn’t be altogether surprised to see Soriano leave after one year in search of a closing job. The Mets, Tigers, and Reds head the list of teams who might be interested. These three teams have been known to spend money on closers. Francisco Rodriguez got 37 million from the Mets over three years and there is no way they pick up his $17.5 million option for 2012. With a lot of silly money coming off the board after 2011, to the tune of at least $48 million, they could offer Soriano a lucrative deal to close games. The Tigers could just resign Jose Valverde, but Soriano is perhaps a slightly better pitcher for an extra four or five million annually. I think the Reds would be willing to think long and hard about replacing Francisco Cordero with Soriano if the option presented itself.

The list of possibilities extends beyond those three teams. The Cardinals have a solid closer in Ryan Franklin—who has been good but probably should not be your team’s best reliever. They should aim to strengthen their bullpen if they have money left over after locking Albert Pujols up for another decade. I think the Phillies are unlikely to pick up their 12 and a half million option on Brad Lidge for 2012 and could just as well put that money toward a few years of Soriano. The Angels will probably aim to strengthen their bullpen and I doubt they think just resigning Fernando Rodney the solution to their late-inning issues. I expect Soriano to have a multitude of options if his 2011 season is productive enough for him to expect a high-paying ninth-inning job elsewhere.

It is not especially unlikely that he pitches well enough, especially considering his stellar 2010 season. Soriano has that great combination of strikeout ability and control, with career K/9 and BB/9 ratios of 9.62 and 2.69 respectively. The strikeouts dipped to 8.23 per nine innings last year, perhaps because the AL East is a tougher division than the NL East or AL West, but

The biggest gripe a Yankee fan should have with Soriano is his fly-ball rate. With only 0.62 grounders per fly and only one season with a ratio of 1.00 or higher, Soriano can be expected to give up a few home runs. He was lucky in 2010 with only 4.8% of fly balls leaving the park and cannot be expected to repeat that. To be fair, he got a rather high percentage of pop ups, as opposed to line drives, but these statistics are somewhat unpredictable.

With his lowered strikeout rate came a lower walk rate. Soriano’s 2.02 walks per nine innings was bested by only 10 relief pitchers with 50 or more innings in 2010. His 2.69 career mark is better than all but 32 relief pitchers with 300 or more innings pitched (as a reliever) over the past fifteen years. His batting average on balls in play was .212, an extremely low figure even for Soriano with his career mark of .256.

He has continuously seen success with his fastball (averaging 92.9 mph in 2010) and his slider. Both have been worth a positive runs above average total for six years running. Soriano started to throw a cutter about 15% of the time in 2010. That worked for him too and might be key to limiting damage from good lefty hitters. I think there may be someone in New York who can help him with the cutter if need be.

There are so many things to like about Soriano in the Yankees bullpen. The results he’s gotten and the stats that underlie these results, such as his above average first-pitch strike rate or his tendency to get guys to swing at pitches out of the zone and miss them, both at rates above MLB average in 2010. In 2010 he posted an FIP of 2.81. That’s probably what we can expect Soriano’s ERA to look like next year.

Another interesting benefit is that Soriano’s deal opens the door for the Yankees to give Joba Chamberlain another shot at the rotation. Joba performed better than people think last year, as his 4.40 ERA hid a FIP of 2.98. Joba’s strikeout rate was up to 9.67 per nine IP and he walked fewer than three per nine for the first time since 2007. His BABIP should be slightly lower and while we cannot expect his talents to perfectly translate from the bullpen to the rotation, he at least deserves another chance. That is, unless the Yankees are comfortable with Sergio Mitre as their fifth starter.

The Yankees needed another good righty for their bullpen. It was good that they made the move for Soriano. Even if they only have him for one year. Even if he doesn’t repeat his brilliance of 2010. The remaining right-handed free agent relievers are minor-league deals waiting to happen. There’s Blaine Boyer and Lance Cormier of the few-strikeouts/many-walks variety. There’s Manny Delcarmen and Juan Cruz of the plenty-of-strikeouts-but-way-too-many-walks variety. Then there are the likes of Kelvim Escobar, Chris Ray and Justin Ducherer who could be good if they weren’t so brittle. The best remaining options are probably Jon Rauch, Chad Durbin, and Chad Qualls, none of whom have the talent or the potential that Soriano has.

This signing was a good one. Soriano, far and away the best relief pitcher available, was worth seven figures annually in an oddly structured deal because it adds depth and talent to the bullpen, could push Joba into another chance at starting, and it gives Soriano a chance to win in 2011 and add to his already impressive resume in anticipation of an opportunity to close in 2012 or beyond. Both sides should be happy.

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    Just when you think you’ve seen it all, almost every season a player on the New York Mets makes headlines for a surprising off-the-field issue.  The multitude of inappropriate actions and embarrassing behavior by the team feels more like a soap opera than a professional baseball organization.

    While the New York Yankees perennially grace the cover of local newspapers for winning championships, the Mets created news over the years with locker-room brawls, drug scandals and throwing fireworks into a crowd of fans.

   With Johan Santana on the disabled list until mid-season, fans are not expecting the 2011 version of the Mets to be a playoff-caliber team that can compete for the National League East division title.  Realistically, all we can hope for is that the squad displays some professionalism to get the focus back to baseball. 

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, so here is a look back at the most embarrassing moments in New York Mets history.

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Which New York Mets players pose some questions and concerns for the upcoming and debut season for GM Sandy Alderson and Manager Terry Collins? 

The first concerns are the unknowns. 

Will starting and bullpen pitching be acquired? 

Will our farm system be raided to acquire talent just to be in the middle of the pack? 

In any case, there are some concerns and worries on the current roster.  Johan Santana’s return is approximated to be by the All Star break.  Will the surgery be successful and return him to the Santana we traded for? 

Jason Bay knocked himself silly in a disastrous season for his Mets debut.  All healed from his nasty bout with a fence and one heck of a catch, will he produce numbers like he did for the BoSox? 

Those questions loom large.  What 10 other worries do the Mets Have?  I dare say 10 might be a low number.  Manager Terry Collins may even be worrisome if he does not the respect of his title.

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The New York Mets have finally taken the right steps towards building a respectable front office. They’ve brought in Sandy Alderson to be general manager, J.P. Ricciardi to be a special assistant and Paul DePodesta to be vice president of player development and scouting.

That’s all fine but those guys don’t play and even when the new manager is signed, the team is still the same on the field. Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez to name a few, are still on the roster.

Perhaps Beltran is healthy and can play out his final season but it shouldn’t be a given. In a walk year, Beltran is motivated to earn a final big contract from another team. If the Mets feel he’s healthy enough to play 145 games in 2011, then there should be other teams interested in trading for him.

Right now, the Mets outfield consists of Jason Bay, Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan. Bay still has to prove he can play in New York and Pagan may be better suited to play center field daily.

Plus, Beltran just brings a bad feel to this team. There’s always something about him and it may be time to part ways one year early.

It’s either that or change up the core, but Jose Reyes has already had his option picked up and David Wright was phoned and told he’s staying.

If the current three of Reyes, Wright and Beltran all remain Mets, it would be the seventh season of that trio, and still only one playoff appearance. Eventually those kinds of groups have to be split up. It’s not as if they’ve done what the Yankees’ “core four” have done.

Looking at the other players who should be cut or traded just because it’s the right thing to do, three guys come to mind.

Of course, right in the center of that conversation is Oliver Perez. There’s no point in giving an explanation as long as you are a true Mets follower, and he must be cut.

Just like Beltran, he has one year remaining ($12 million) but he can’t be traded. It wouldn’t hurt for the Mets to eat the money because they’ve said they’re not signing any big free agents anyway.

Another guy that must go is Luis Castillo. He can’t do anything anymore. The only thing he’s good for is slap hits to the opposite field. He has no power whatsoever, can’t steal anymore with bad knees and carries around a bad attitude on the field. He always shows bad body language after making an error or doing something wrong at the plate.

He can be traded because there are teams, notably the Cubs, who have shown interest in him. The Cubs you’d figure are going to rebuild next season. Lou Piniella is no longer the manager, the team has had bad seasons, and they traded some players away last season. Derrek Lee, Ryan Theriot and Ted Lilly are gone, and perhaps they’d make a trade for Castillo.

Another team could be the Mariners if they swap bad contracts. Chone Figgins could come the Mets way if possible and produce in a change of scenery situation. The bottom line is, there are options for getting rid of Castillo.

The final player the Mets should trade away, although they’ve said he’s returning, is Francisco Rodriguez. He’s only going to be 29 years old by the start of the season and he obviously can still close games, but there are two reasons why he should leave.

First of all, who knows where his head is at with the problems with his girlfriend. The second thing is, why bring back any negativity from the disaster that was the 2010 season?

The problem with letting him go is that the Mets didn’t re-sign Hisanori Takahashi and by not going after big free agents, they wouldn’t have a closer in 2011. There aren’t any available ones on the market anyway and Bobby Parnell won’t cut it.

The point is, this current Mets 25-man roster can’t stay the same. Year after year, the Mets have kept the same players and have gotten nowhere and with a new front office, things must change. If a couple of the aforementioned players aren’t let go, the Mets will have another irrelevant season.

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As if the Mets have not gone through enough controversy the past few years.

The Mets have had to deal with the Adam Rubin vs. Omar Minaya incident as well as the incident where former VP of player development Tony Bernazard ripped his shirt off and challenged a minor leaguer to a fight.

This year, the Mets have already had to deal with the K-Rod incident in which he fought his girlfriend’s father in the clubhouse. Now, it has come out that the Mets had other issues within their clubhouse.

According to a person familiar with the recent NYPD investigation, Samuels admitted on at least one occasion that he bet on baseball.

It is believed that most of Samuels’ bets were on NFL games, but it is still unnerving to know that he was part of an illegal gambling ring and that he bet on baseball.

Another source close to the investigation said that it is possible that Samuels made unauthorized withdrawals from Mets accounts and then later paid the money back.

There are also questions about Samuels relationships with the Mets players. It was revealed that Samuels received a $50,000 tip from Jeff Francoeur when he was traded to the Rangers.

While this does seem unusual, there have been examples of other players, such as Manny Ramirez, leaving generous tips for clubhouse attendants.

Samuels also reportedly received a Lexus from Mike Piazza after winning a bet with him about how much weight Piazza’s father could lose.

The last incident that has been reported that involved a player featured Francisco Rodriguez. Samuels gave K-Rod a place to stay after he was ordered to stay away from his home following the fight with his girlfriend’s father.

While this very well maybe the case of Samuels being a good friend, one must still be suspicious. Rodriguez has more than enough money to rent a house, apartment or hotel room.

If Samuels bet on the Mets, he was now with the person who had a lot of control over how a close game could end.

There are also reports that Samuels may have gave out inside information about the players to members of the mob.

Samuels, the Mets clubhouse manager and traveling secretary for 27 years, has been suspended indefinitely as a result of the investigation.

This is certainly not the way that the Mets wanted to start the Sandy Alderson era. This will be a black mark on the organization and could be a distraction during the season depending on how long the investigation lasts.

Both current and former players will be questioned and some could be involved in the gambling ring. Hopefully, no players will be indicted when all of the dust settles.

To stay up to date on this and other Mets stories go visit MetsGazette.

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“Six-and-a-half games back and not playing very well in a season we thought we ought to be in contention.  I think we were losing ground with the field,” Ranger managing general partner George W. Bush said in June of 1992 upon firing his manager.

The manager?  None other than Bobby Valentine, a baseball man with nearly four decades of baseball experience sorely needed in the dullard Seattle Mariner organization, made famous for its uncanny ability to create 100-loss seasons regardless of the payroll or who is running it.  Valentine has the personality horsepower needed to confront a dogmatic front office that Mariner fans are ready to run out of town amidst a mob of ropes and flaming torches.

The Texas Rangers were 46-41 at the time of the firing, and were in third place in the division, 5.5 behind first-place Minnesota in the days of dual divisions in each league.   Valentine then in his 25th baseball season at the age of 41, his eighth with the Rangers,  he had been the third-longest tenured manager in the major leagues behind only baseball icons Tommy Lasorda of the Dodgers and Sparky Anderson of the Detroit Tigers.  Bobby Valentine had been the youngest manager in the major leagues when offered the job on May 16, 1985.  A former Dodger, he had long been a favorite of Lasorda and once was thought to be his heir apparent as manager of the Dodgers.  

Almost a decade later on a different team, Valentine was again fired, but this time following a tumultuous and controversial summer of 2002 in New York.  The Mets finished with a 75-86 record in spite of their $102 million payroll, in last place in the NL East for the first time since 1993 and below .500 for the first time in six years.  It had been a mere two years after Valentine had led them to the first Subway Series in four decades.

Many felt Valentine had taken the fall for then knucklehead general-manager Steve Phillips.  Valentine left with an overall record of 536-467, reaching the playoffs in 1999 and 2000.  But in late-season 2002 came one of the worst months in team history with a 12-game losing streak where the Mets didn’t win a game at Shea Stadium in August, during a NL-record 15-game home losing streak.

Earlier that summer Mets part owner Fred Wilpon issued several dreaded “votes of confidence,” but by mid September was fed up with underperforming players, seven of whom Newsweek magazine had claimed were caught smoking marijuana and goofing off.  “The team just did not respond to the manager,” Wilpon explained at a packed news conference after the fact.  “Whatever grip Bobby had on the team was gone by the end of the season.”

Sports pundits ripped the move.  Ian O’Conner of USA Today wrote a scathing column insisting the Mets had fired the wrong guy, and that the Mets “should’ve fired his loser of a general manager, Steve Phillips.”  Phillips had embarrassed Valentine by refusing to allow him to attend the winter meetings and embarrassed the franchise with rumors of an extramarital affair with a subordinate.”

Valentine himself said, “I told Fred that that he had to give the next manager authority in the clubhouse and on the field, that he had to get Steve off the field and out of the clubhouse.  You can’t let a GM high-five guys and joke around after a win and then after a loss act like it’s the end of the world. Get him out of there for the sake of the next guy.”

Sobering words for Mariner fans, given that current Mariners manager Jack Zduriencik spent a large part of July and August this past summer hobnobbing in the dugout with Mariner icons while “evaluating” soon-to-be fired manager Don Wakamatsu, claiming that Wak too had “lost control of the team.”   

Mariner fans responded in ways not seen before.  Fed up with a perceived meddling by an incompetent front office, radio talk shows and newspaper comments were bombarded with scathing rebukes of long-time Mariner management figures Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln.  Fans weren’t buying management’s latest line about “needing change, ” considering the next hire will be the team’s seventh manager since Lou Pinella left in 2002.

If this franchise was a horse, it would have been shot two decades ago.

The Seattle Mariners are in dire need of a manager like the only successful manager in team history: Lou Pinella.  Unlike his predecessors, Pinella routinely had shouting matches with owners who felt they knew baseball better than he did.  Pinella had no problem getting in the face of decision-makers and publicly scolding them for failed or non-existent moves.  Valentine is a guy who shares this trait.

Whatever the real story in the clubhouse as Mets manager, off the field Valentine had been a force for compassion following the unsettling attacks at 9/11.  People close to the manager felt his unyielding commitment to the families of victims put things in perspective for Valentine, and perhaps made sports far less important.  Gone was the focus, some claimed, which led to apathy towards superstar tantrums during his last season in New York.

He has held various jobs in baseball other than his managing stints.  Following his departure from Texas, early in January 1993 Valentine was hired by the Cincinnati Reds to be an advance scout that included consulting player personnel and watching talent on other teams during spring training. 

Also spending part of the last decade in Japan managing the Chiba Lotte Marines, Valentine was soon headed back to the United States for reasons other than on-the-field success.  Making somewhere around $3.9 million a year, he priced himself out of the market and was told by Marines management that the club would not be able to afford him after the 2009 season, regardless of how many games his team wins.  Thus he returned to commentating on ESPN this past season.

Valentine’s players may have been chided for misbehaving, but he too has been known to be part of on-field mishaps and mayhem.  In December of 1998 he admitted he made a “bad guess” when he speculated why Todd Hundley blamed him for being replaced by Mike Piazza.  Hundley felt Valentine had it in for him, but Valentine blew it off saying, “It’s an Italian thing.  He thinks that I would do something because he’s not Italian or because I am Italian.  I think that’s ridiculous.”

And then who can forget the infamous if not somewhat humorous two-game ban and $5,000 fine in June of 1999?  While Met manager, Valentine returned to the dugout during a game versus Toronto donning a fake mustache and glasses after being ejected from a game against the Blue Jays.

He might need that humor if hired in Seattle, since this is only one of three organizations that have never played in a World Series.  But clearly Valentine would hold the most baseball experience of anyone in the organization.  On a team in Seattle with cranky fans still living in memories of the past, hiring Bobby Valentine should be a no-brainer.

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The New York Mets are in the beginning stages of a complete renovation. Don’t mind the appearance. This may look like a professional baseball team in shambles right now, but…yeah, actually it is.

However, the road flares and the hard hats may not be in use for long. It all depends on who draws up the blueprints for the remodeling effort.

There have been a few names in the rumor mill out there under “serious” consideration for the recently vacated GM position in the Mets organization. Names like Sandy Alderson, Rick Hahn, Allard Baird, Josh Byrnes, and Pat Gillick have all been rumored to be in the mix this past week, though Gillick has recently dropped out of the running.

Out of the names of those in the process, one intriguing name has mysteriously been missing: Kim Ng. This name is intriguing for several reasons, both good and bad. First, the most obvious reason of all is Kim Ng is female. There has never been a female general manager in MLB history. She was actually the first assistant GM in MLB history and the youngest at the time at the age of 29.

Teams have passed on her for the GM position over her career (Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, and the Los Angeles Dodgers) despite her experience (more than 13 years) as an assistant GM and in other administrative positions for the A.L. and teams like the Yankees, White Sox, and Dodgers.

Second, her experience is primarily all in big cities (New York, Chicago, and L.A.), the three biggest markets in baseball, in fact. If there was anyone who knows how to conduct business despite media uproar and eccentric personalities (i.e. the K-Rods and Manny Ramirez of the league) causing distractions, it would be her. She has had experience in salary arbitration cases, waivers, trades, and free agency by working in the offices of the A.L. for several years.

Third, she is from the NY/NJ area (Ridgewood, NJ). That native upbringing speaks of her knowledge of the community at large that she would be representing. She worked in the area already with the Yankees, so she knows and understands the New York area and fans.

Finally, on the plus side, she has an outsider’s perspective on the team (as do almost all of the candidates) despite being originally from the area. She can be objective in free-agent signings and trade negotiations as she most likely would not have a personal agenda or any ties to the current roster.

There is, however, one point that could swing to either side of the pendulum. In 2003, she was involved in a controversy with the Mets. Bill Singer, a special assistant to the GM at the time in the organization, made derogatory comments about her ethnicity (Chinese). The reason that could weigh for or against her is simple; it could appear to some that the Mets are trying to make further amends for one of their representatives scorning her.

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To read up on all things New York Mets, please visit Mets Gazette.

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As baseball fans know the Omar Minaya era has came to an end in New York after six years.  Though the Mets had one of the highest payrolls when Minaya was in office the team never really established themselves other than in 2006. 

As a Mets fan, I must say Omar did bring us some good times but he definitely brought us some bad times.  Minaya brought in the likes of Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran but on the other end he also brought in the likes of Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez. 

So let’s all take a look at the Minaya era in New York—the good, the bad and the ugly.

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The New York Mets finish their season tomorrow, which is a relief for the fans who have suffered with this team the whole season, one injury and non-baseball headline after another has ravaged this team.

While there is plenty of blame to go around, most of it falls on the players who did not execute or consistently play hard or smart fundamental baseball.  Many changes are expected to be made to the roster and very few people are guaranteed jobs entering next season.

Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya will likely be relieved of their duties early this week, Manuel most likely out side the organization and Minaya should get re-assigned the Mets organization but a new GM and Manager will almost definitely be taking over in 2011.

Changes to the coaching staff are also inevitable as both the pitching and hitting were large reasons why the team failed the way that it did, but honestly, the hitting was more to blame for its inconsistencies.  Having a healthy team where a regular lineup can be configured would have helped, but again injuries were the problem.

Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo returned to the lineup after the All-Star break and Jason Bay suffered a concussion ten days into the second half.  If all three had been in the lineup together for more than a week the team would likely have benefited more from their contributions.  Oliver Perez and John Maine were out of the picture early, but one of the main positives that arose from that was the emergence of RA Dickey.

To continue reading this article on Mets Gazette, click here.

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I really hate to do this. The story has died, and thankfully so. By now, everyone involved is moving forward, which makes us all better off.

However, I feel it is necessary to reference the Tiger Woods controversy based on breaking news today about Francisco Rodriguez.

I truly believed many would learn from the Tiger Woods text fiasco from a few months ago. My modesty/morals prohibit me from posting a link to the hundreds of articles that printed the excerpts of messages between him and one of his mistresses.

The point is, I figured professional athletes would take note and think twice before sending text messages that could incriminate them in any way.

This is not the case for Francisco Rodriguez.

He is now in more trouble (Who knew that could even be possible?) for assaulting his girlfriend’s father a number of weeks ago. ESPN.com is reporting that K-Rod is now facing criminal contempt charges for sending text messages to his estranged girlfriend.

Does anyone feel a little paranoid over this? Big Brotherish? Think about all of the text messages you have ever sent to your buddies or significant others. What if someone took them and released them to the press?

Personally, I’m not too worried that would ever happen to me.

1. I don’t plan on getting arrested for anything.

2. My messages are as controversial as the ingredients on a box of Cheerios.

Here are a few examples of the incriminating messages and some accompanying thoughts:

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