Meet the Mets
I'm sure that there are bigger stories to lead off Applesauce with, but honestly, is there anything better than a mental image of Oliver Perez showing up at Spring Training and the doors being locked?
The Madoff/Met scandal could force the team to open its books, which is bad news for both MLB teams and the Wilpons.
Roger Clemens has decided it's been long enough that he can start making jokes about throwing a bat shard at Mike Piazza. I have several thoughts about this and all of them involve language that would be inappropriate here.
Even without Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, the Mets have pieces in place that could add up to 84 wins. How about that for optimism? Want more? Here's something telling us that Carlos Beltran's production has already been worth $39 million more than the contract's total.
Jayson Stark is unimpressed with the Mets' offseason. Surprisingly, though, he only gave the Phillies a B+.
Robert Knapel scores an interview with John Sickels to talk about the Met farm system.
Sleeper candidate for the 2011 bullpen: Mike O'Connor.
Around MLB
There are a few posts that have been making the rounds over the weekend that you should check out. First, Emma Span finds the really dark side of MLB fan fiction (post deals with some weird stuff, so heads up). Also, DRaysBay has put together one of those fun Create Your Own Adventure posts.
CC has lost 25 pounds.
The Phils have signed everyone's favorite: Cory Sullivan.
Elijah Dukes is now a rapper and may be smoking as much pot as he did as a National.
Speaking of people with drug problems, Charlie Sheen inspired UCLA's baseball team with all the knowledge he's gleaned from a life in rehab.
If you want some righteous anger this morning, check out the story of the high school pitcher with an 80 mph heater and sweet curveball who was cut because he can't field bunts. Oh yeah and because he has two prosthetic legs.
Albert Pujols has the Cardinals over a barrel.
And, finally, happy 50th anniversary to Strat-O-Matic.