2005 And Still No Beltran

Well, the calendar turned, one day closer to the Astros' January 8th make or break day with Beltran and the Mets still have not announced the signing of Carlos Beltran.

However, they have a plan.

"Continuing his home visits tour, general manager Omar Minaya will head a Mets contingent that will visit Beltran in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, the latest example of the aggressive face-to-face recruiting style Minaya employed to steal Pedro Martinez from the Red Sox last month." Hmmm. Wonder how the plane was able to take off with all those sacks of cash on board.

"Minaya plans to sell the idea of Beltran's becoming the club's biggest marquee attraction. According to a person familiar with the situation, Minaya also will cite the many marketing opportunities available as the city's newest Hispanic star."

Well, it certainly won't be the hard sell on Mets historical tradition, will it?

Even Bobby Valentine got into the act when he did his WFAN show:

"Valentine openly rooted for the Mets to beat out the super-wealthy Yankees for Beltran, once referring to the Mets as "we."

"I don't think Beltran's right for the Yankees," Valentine said to loud cheers. "I think he should go to the other New York team!"

*****

Hard to miss JJ Cooper's take on Top Ten Mets Prospects.

Not surprisingtly, topping the list were outfielder Lastings Milledge, whose great baseball name will no doubt one day inspire many great tabloid headlines, and pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, whose name will be difficult to decipher: YOOZ-MY-OOOO Mania!

Cooper's neat summary went thusly:

"Before the season (2004) began, owner Fred Wilpon proclaimed he wouldn’t trade away the team’s future. Four months later, the Mets did exactly that. They gutted their minor league depth for no short-term benefit. They also overpaid Benson (three years, $22.5 million) on the free-agent market rather than face the stigma of dealing away prospects for a rental."

The Metropolitans website fills in the blanks of the chat wrap.

*****

Lastly, goodbye to Rod Kanehl, who hit the first grand slam in the history of the New York Mets, died.

"Kanehl played every position except pitcher and catcher on the '62 Mets, and he was Stengel's favorite player on that crew. Stengel insisted on keeping Kanehl despite the objections of the Mets' general manager, George Weiss, who was presumably familiar with Kanehl from his years building the Yankees' dynasty.

As told by Leonard Shecter in "Once Upon the Polo Grounds," Stengel had related the following debate concerning Kanehl: "Weiss says, 'I ain't seen him do anything in the field.' So I said, 'You're full of baloney, he can run the bases.'"

from the NYT Obit.