Sunday Applesauce

A couple of small nuggets about Raul Ibanez, who may be the Mets' top outfield target now that Casey Blake has landed in Los Angeles and Xavier Nady was shipped to the Bronx. Jason Bay is far more attractive than Ibanez -- and is right-handed to boot -- but will be pretty expensive considering his age, track record and that he's not eligible for free agency until after 2009. It may be a moot point, though, as the Pirates are less likely to deal Bay now that they've already traded Nady.

A trio of articles about Duaner Sanchez's recent struggles, two of which point to his fastball's drop in velocity and the fact that he may be physically running out of steam after missing most of two seasons. The baseball season is a grind, we're told, and Sanchez may not be in the requisite shape to endure its rigors.

Manny Ramirez may be available, but Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Mets aren't interested.

Neil Best has a profile of SNY's Kevin Burkhardt in today's Newsday. It's a nice story about how Burkhardt went from selling cars and working at a going-nowhere radio station to running around WFAN and eventually landing his current gig with SNY.

Goose Gossage will be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame this afternoon. Great pitcher, great mustache, kind of a loudmouth douche nowadays. Like when he ran his mouth about Jose Reyes's dancing last month or about Joba Chamberlain's celebrations back in May. Congrats on the hall nod, now keep your opinions to yourself.

Some sad news from Shea, as there was another escalator incident during last night's game. A man, 26, fell 25 feet from "the box-seat level to a floor near Gate D" and was taken to a hospital. He is listed in critical condition, though he is expected to survive. This comes just three months after another man died when he lost his balance and fell from a Shea escalator. Back in May of 1985, a man fell 100 feet to his death at Shea. That man was trying to slide down the railing of a non-working escalator.