Archives › Craig Calcaterra

J.J. Putz throws another couple of logs on the fire burning under the Mets’ medical staff: “When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets. I had the bone spur (in the right elbow). It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out…

Hey Bob Gibson! Would you have considered using steroids? “Absolutely. I’m just happy they weren’t available (when he played), because if I knew somebody else was doing it and appeared to be getting an edge, I think I have would have been tempted.” Gibson is also less than impressed with the Jack Clarks and Whitey…

I had no idea that former Royals catcher Brent Mayne even had a blog, but Buster Olney points it out this morning with a link to a great post.  Brent Mayne on why pitchers need to pick up the pace: Here’s a question for you. From 2003 to 2009, can you guess who the five…

John Tomase of the Boston Herald has a story this morning about the Red Sox and free-agent-to-be Josh Beckett which deals mostly with how much dough Beckett can expect and whether the team and the pitcher will negotiate during the season.  I find this part more interesting, however: But there could be complications. The Red…

The Rangers have had two pitching prospects — Omar Beltre and Alexi Ogando — on their roster for several years now, though they’ve been unavailable to join the club or its minor league affiliates because of a visa problem. The kind of visa problem that comes from taking part in a human trafficking ring.  I…

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes this morning about how the Mets screwed up by passing over Seattle Mariners’ GM Jack Zduriencik back when he worked for the club. Let’s go back to the fall of 1997: Because he was good with computers and had ties to Sandy Koufax — a real bonus in…

When you’re coming in the kitchen, you better bring the noise.  – Dustin Pedroia on WEEI’s Mut & Bradford Show on Saturday talking about liking to hit high inside fastballs. I shouldn’t make fun of ballplayers for mixing their metaphors, however. They’re paid to hit, not to speak, and given that they’re not always the…

The Yankees are taking the World Series trophy on an Asian tour next week, hitting Tokyo, Beijing and ending up in Hong Kong.  According to the story, Brian Cashman will be in the delegation. He had better watch his back. After letting Hideki Matsui walk, I have a feeling someone is going to be all…

“Adam really doesn’t want to DH in the American League. He wants to play the field, and believes his first base defense has reached the adequate level. He knows he’s no Gold Glover, but believes that he’ll get better, and is anxious to improve that aspect of his game.” – Statement of a person “close…

Last night Pablo Sandoval was in San Jose to drop the puck before the San Jose Sharks-Chicago Blackhawks game. Because of that, other Giants’ promotional obligations and the team’s desire to get his beefy butt back into Camp Panda, it was assumed that he would not be participating in tonight’s deciding game of the Venezuelan…

With the hot stove season winding down, my favorite annual meme begins to pick up steam: With Spring Training less than three weeks away and arthroscopic surgery on his left knee more than three months behind him, Griffey figures to be in much better shape. “I’m not saying he will look like he did in…

Bob Klapsich explains why A-Rod has been allowed to moonwalk from his steroids scandal while McGwire keeps getting ripped. As an explanation, I find it to be lacking: First, he appeared to be more honest than McGwire in revealing the detail of his cheating. While A-Rod may have fudged some details, he at least provided…

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale is in Minnesota taking a tour of the new ballpark and tweets “Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says talks with Joe Mauer couldn’t be going better,” and that “It would be massive upset if Mauer contract extension isn’t resolved by spring.” This wouldn’t be at all surprising in that I think everyone’s…

Yahoo!’s Jeff Passan has learned that the Tigers and Justin Verlander are negotiating around a five-year deal in the $75 million range.  The holdup at the moment, Passan reports, is that Verlander wants a 6th year guaranteed.  Presently, the team and the fireballer are poised for arbitration, where Verlander has requested $9.5 million, while the…

At least that’s what his agent says.  Among those interested: the Mets, the Dodgers and the Cardinals. But wait, wasn’t Wang supposed to be on the sidelines for a good chunk of the early season due to rehab from injuries? “Our plan was to get him 100 percent healthy, so there was no risk on…

There’s a conventional wisdom among a lot professional sports writers that you should ignore your comments section. It’ll only make you mad, they say. People complaining, and all that. I think that’s hogwash. Sure, making a comments section a pleasant place to hang around is tough work, especially on a big media site like NBC,…

Washington has signed Miguel Batista, late of Seattle, to a minor league deal. He turns 39 next month.  Last year he went 7-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 56 relief appearances for the Mariners. Before last year he had mostly been a starter, though he’s spent some time as a swingman and was exclusively a…

Hey Howard Bryant, does Bill Buckner count as someone “around the game”? Because if he does, you’re going to have to update your toxicity scoreboard: “I tried a million different things to combat the injury. I had to stay on the field. I was a little bit aware of the extraordinary physical gains some guys…

Omar Minaya was on SNY last night and was asked, in light of assistant GM John Ricco handling questions on the Beltran stuff and Ken Rosenthal’s recent report that the Wilpons micromanage the free agent process, whether he has full autonomy over the direction of the Mets: “Yes, I do. I know there’s been some…

Before we get to that, some followup from Mike Bacsik, who was accused by former teammate Tim Redding yesterday of grooving home run 756 to Barry Bonds. Bacsik tweets: For everyone on my page that needs a denial; I didn’t try to give up the homerun. I was crappy enough to do it without trying…

This morning Mike Lupica spent two nearly incoherent pages complaining about the Yankees not giving Johnny Damon whatever he wanted to play in New York and scoffing at the notion that the Bombers would impose a budget. Ten years ago Mike Lupica spent two nearly incoherent pages complaining that the Yankees threw money at all…

MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports that the Blue Jays are interested in Johnny Damon and have spoken to Scott Boras about him. GM Alex Anthopoulos said the team was really more in the “information-gathering stage” for Damon, which can probably be translated to “we’re waiting to see how cheap we can get him,” but unlike the…

It was reported yesterday that the Mets were close to a deal with Fernando Tatis to be their part-time first baseman. Now that deal is done, according to the New York Post. Tatis will get less than the $1.7 million he made last year, but there are some incentives built in that can get him…

New Stadium Insider got hold of an email exchange between the Yankees’ season ticket sales people and a now former season ticket holder who isn’t doing anything to fight the Yankees-fans-suffer-from-an-overactive-sense-of-entitlement-stereotype: After an amazing season in which the Yankees brought the trophy back home, sadly it seems they have lost their focus on winning another…