Klapisch: It’ll take more than one offseason to fix Mets
And if Ramirez’s Ratchet Ranch is vamoosed from Willets Point...what to do, what to do? The 2009 carnage spoke volumes of the organization’s miscalculation: with a gorgeous new stadium, a huge payroll and a big-market stage, the Mets have somehow become irrelevant. Manuel will be the first casualty if the team plays poorly in April and May, but a bigger fix is now in order. Totally eclipsed by the Yankees’ enormous shadow, the Mets should use that cover to rebuild in the next 2-3 years. They need to pay their scouts and minor league personnel in a way that makes them an irresistible, forward-directed franchise. Firing Manuel would probably satisfy the cravings of the Mets’ fan

Keith Olbermann: Hall of Famers and Numbers Without Wings
WTF?! You don’t need Mac Stipanovich’s knife to poke holes in this ballot (if it actually existed)! Roberto Alomar: No, just barely. I don’t think he was as good as Sandberg and I always said Sandberg shouldn’t go in before Joe Gordon. I’m not judging Alomar on the spitting incident, I’m judging him on the fact that for whatever reason, at age 34 he not only turned from a superstar into a fringe major leaguer, but he also turned into a millstone around the neck of a franchise. The bad taste may fade with time, but right now I couldn’t vote for him. Harold Baines: Yes, just barely. He’s hurt by the 2,866 hits - he’s in that Buckner zone. Everybody else who got to Buckner

Baseball Junk Drawer: Best Sponsorship Comments: Honorable Mentions
They’re back...and so is Andere Richtingen! 1966 Chicago Cubs Andere Richtingen sponsor(s) this page. Three Hall of Famers, one guy who without a doubt should be...and 103 losses. Mr. Richtingen, if you read the comments to the last post, was actually responsible for two items on the list: the 1987 Cubs and Todd Hollandsworth. Perhaps he deserves some sort of lifetime achievement award for his commenting. I enjoyed this little riff on the Cubs’ inability to win even with great players. Doc Amole More effective than his brother, Guac. sponsor(s) this page. On three, ready? One...two...three...GROAN!

Dobrow: Save this Franchise: Brewers will require a little magic to repair
Money-Coutts and BS Walks...or something like that. 3. Make a plan for Prince. The Brewers can forestall the inevitable if they want, but the bottom line is this: They won’t be able to afford the guy once he’s up for a new contract. By the time Scott Boras has finished inserting double-reverse out clauses and NLDS MVP bonuses into Fielder’s next deal, it’ll amount to at least 20 percent of the Brewers’ payroll. You can’t tie up that much cash in a corner man. Hence it’s time to start laying the groundwork for a Fielder deal, whether you plan to complete it tomorrow or on July 31. There was chatter last offseason that the Giants were willing to deal Matt Cain straight up fo

Boston Globe: Ryan: No defense for latest move
Leapin’ Lepcionic Disorder! Bob Ryan on the Red Sox SS problem. Shortstop is general manager Theo Epstein’s Achilles’ heel, his Black Hole, his annual source of confusion and occasional embarrassment. He hasn’t gotten it right for more than one full season since his bold decision to ship Nomar Garciaparra out of town on July 31, 2004. Gonzalez gave him that aforementioned stellar defensive season in 2006. Aside from that, Theo has had zero luck. ...I figured wrong. The Red Sox did not take aggressive steps to retain him. They cannot possibly think they’ll do better defensively with someone else in 2010. If it’s the on-base obsession, hey, it’s an imperfect world. And since