There were no games today, so it will be a relatively short Applesauce. We'll start with more K-Rod fallout. The New York Times came to the conclusion that the deal was all about money. I think just about everyone here came to that conclusion before they even heard the terms of the deal. They do point out the interesting fact that K-Rod never submitted his ten teams to block trades to, however, a point that I'm glad our new GM was aware of.
The vest was certainly the main reason the Mets shipped K-Rod to Milwaukee, but the Brewers seem dead set on letting it be a worry to their fans. Manager Ron Roenicke stated yesterday that he plans to allow both K-Rod and Jon Axford opportunities to close as the season wears on. GM Doug Melvin was very non-committal in his comments. It would make sense to me to simply keep Axford in the closer's role, as $17.5 million for a closer is probably harder for the Brewers to afford than it is for even the financially strapped Mets. FanGraphs chimes in with its take of the situation.
Patrick Flood takes a closer look at where K-Rod ranks in many statistical categories in his time with the Mets. I was fairly surprised by some of these, even if they really don't tell us the entire story of his effectiveness with the Mets. Toby Hyde also thinks the deal was a clear win for the Mets.
Mark Simon of ESPN New York examines possible closer Bobby Parnell's arsenal of pitches.
Despite the trade, the Mets insist that the white flag is not being waved. That view could easily change very shortly though, as Alderson has noted that there has been substantial interest in Carlos Beltran.
Jose Reyes is ready to test his injured hamstring. Let's hope that everything goes well and he gets back on the field fully healthy very soon. David Wright, meanwhile, looks set to begin his rehab assignment on Friday.
Finally, the Roger Clemens trial got underway yesterday as awyers from both sides gave their opening arguments. While I'm not a huge fan of Congress spending its time pursuing this, it will certainly be interesting to see what the outcome of this trial is.