I hate giant contracts but I love that the Rangers didn't sign him..

Why's that, bo_sox?

Don't think a 43 HR guy is worth the money, or anti-Ranger sentiments here?

Anti-Ranger, and trust me, he's worth the money. He's hitting around .400 on the first two pitches of his ABs in the last two years - the two "best" pitches in a general sense to hit. He'll be perfect both behind and in front of Pujols. Bring back Morales and you have quite the lineup in both LA stadiums.

Anyway, I think it's kind of funny that he plays the Rangers on Opening Day and the Reds in the rest of the opening week. Hopefully I'll be able to see him next year when he comes around the midwest. I haven't seen him since he came back from his LOA a few years back.

Well, that last paragraph is the other way around, but whatever.

Dodgers spent lots of money on free agents who had a nice time watching the Giants in October. SF for the repeat in 2013.

The Angels let Greinke go and get Hamilton instead?

Dumb. The Angels won't make the playoffs.

That depends on whether or not the A's replicate last year's success. They have a wild card at the very minimum if the A's return to A-like.

Yes but the A's have pitching. And their pitching is young.

Hard to argue against the Angels making a Wild Card run at least, Putin, with a lineup like that.

I'd say Angels/Tigers/Yankees for the AL divisions next year and the A's and O's in on the Wild Cards, Texas out, Boston out, the Rays out.

That lineup is overrated considering the park they play in. Hamilton's numbers suck in Anaheim. Pujols had the worst year of his career last year.

Pujos picked up considerably as the year went on...

Hey, they have a better shot at making it than my pitiful Mets do, Putin. ;)

We signed Wright, and that's all well and good...but what about Dickey?

A Dickey/Santana/Niese/Harvey pitching staff...that's decent, at least.

Santana's past his best (though I saw him live at Dodger Stadium last year, 8.1 innings pitched and he was SPOTLESS, perfect shutout, Parnell nailed down the final two outs but Santana was ON that day, of all the days to see the Mets after not watching them live and in person since Piazza was behind the plate for them!) and Harvey's still learning...

But both are decent enough, Niese had his best year, and Dickey won the Cy Young.

The Mets are going back to their tried-and-true tradition on how to actually WIN:

Develop pitching.

It'll take a few years, but maybe come 2014, 2015...until then, hey, at least I have the Angels and Giants to pull for out West.

Your sports polygamy/bandwagoning is strange. Pick a team. The Mets can get good prospects for Dickey, who is up there in years, and could develop pitching like you say for the future. Lots of teams will now want Dickey with Greinke & Shields no longer in play.

...Wait, what?

How am I a...sports polygamist? LOL

The 49ers are my team in football, 13-3 or 1-15 (I've sat through both kinds of seasons.)
The Mets are my team in baseball, win, lose, or lose even more humiliatingly.
The Ducks (if the Lockout ever ends) are my team in hockey.

I hate/love to hate the Yankees, the Braves, the Phillies and Dodgers not named Scully.
I hate/love to hate the Cowboys, Rams, Raiders and Cardinals.
I hate/love to hate the Kings, Sharks, Red Wings and Stars.

But...

IF the Mets aren't playing meaningful ball in October...
I like the Angels, Red Sox, and Giants.
IF the 49ers are 4-12 and done come playoff time...
I like the Steelers and hope they win.
IF the Ducks are out of the playoffs...
I like the Penguins and new Winnipeg Jets.

Think of it like having a girlfriend, and having a friend who happens to be a girl.

(Insert "Obi/girlfriend/nevergonnahappenthankyounonexistentgod* jokes here) ;)

I LOVE my 49ers, Mets, and Ducks.

They're my teams, period.

But I like the Angels, the Giants, the Steelers and Winnipeg Jets...

And as long as the Mets, 49ers and Ducks aren't playing them, or will be hurt by their winning, I'll root for them if they're on TV, especially if it's playoff time and my 49ers, Ducks or Mets are already done.

What's so wrong about that?

'Girlfriend' means you're not really committed, and willing to flirt with others as soon as times get tough.

I especially don't get people who support teams in communities they've never even lived in. But hey, you're an odd duck.

Well, there was no LA NFL team by the time I was a old enough to pick a team...

So it was Oakland (and my dad likes the Raiders, so that was out), San Diego (and they were terrible) or the 49ers--

And they had Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and had me hooked as the best of the three, lol.

The Ducks are Anaheim, which is relatively close, the LA/Anaheim market shares the same media market, so you get both Kings and Ducks games, and the Ducks got Teemu Selanne and I saw him, liked him, and chose them.

The METS was a complete and total accident! LOL

THAT was because my dad was manager of my Little League team one year and, of course, being little kids, no one wanted to be catcher and have the ball thrown at them and a big aluminum bat swung in front of them all game...

So my dad volunteered ME for the job! xD
"But I don't want to...I'm afraid of getting hit--"
"Suck it up! And anyway, you can be like Mike Piazza."
"Who's Mike Piazza?"

And so I became a Mike Piazza fan...

And just a few months later, wouldn't you know it, those damn Dodgers TRADED Mike Piazza away, and I was so mad, I couldn't forgive them for it...STILL won't forgive them for it, lol, some old Mets fans talk about feeling betrayed when the Dodgers left Brooklyn, all of seven or eight years old, *I* felt betrayed when the Dodgers traded Piazza!

;)

So I was a Marlins fan...for a week...and miserable because the Marlins were never on TV and I thought I wouldn't get to see Piazza anymore...

And then of course he got traded to the Mets, and THEY were on TV, on ESPN and such because 1. They were a New York team and so naturally got more air time than a team like the Marlins did then and 2. They had a pretty good team at that time and were fighting for a playoff spot.

They came close, just missed it, but made the playoffs the next year, and I was hooked...

Because besides Piazza, I liked the players on that team--I still remember them, Rey Ordonez, who couldn't hit but could field ANYTHING hit near him, Fonzie, Jon Olerud, Robin Ventura, Al Leiter on the mound and John Franco out of the bullpen--and my uncle liked the New York YANKEES, so I thought "Well, hey, this will be a fun rivalry."

And it was--for HIM. ;)

Plus I was a really, really little guy back then, and often very sick at that, and the Mets were ALWAYS the underdog, either the Braves were beating up on them, it seemed, or it was the Cardinals, and then of course the Yankees were just across the way...

The Mets seemed to child-Obi like the underdogs who wouldn't shut up and wouldn't quit, even though they probably would get beat...and that appealed to me...

And here I am today, one of the world's sorriest creatures, a Mets fan.

ALL BECAUSE THE DAMN DODGERS COULDN'T HANG ON TO A HALL OF FAME CATCHER WHO THEY ONLY SIGNED IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE HE WAS FAMILY TO LASORDA!!! IT'S *THEIR* FAULT, THOSE DAMN, DAMN DODGERS!

lol

As a huge Halos fan I like the deal. Would I have liked Greinke, yes. But I like the "other" track the Angels went to. Putin33 above has no clue. The Angels will be in the playoffs. Who exactly do opposing pitchers pitch around? Trout? Pujols? Hamilton? Trumbo? Morales? You have 5 guys capable of 40 homers. This is a murderers row the likes of which we have not seen in more than two decades. I'd say the closest was Oakland A's Henderson, Canseco, McGwire in the late late 80's.

Boston will make a run at the playoffs… John Farrell is actually a good manager.

I live in small town Canada, there are no pro teams near me, that being said I do have favourites, in hockey I like the Toronto Maple Leafs, because although they suck now, when I was younger they were great [at least in my opinion]. For football I really like Miami if I am watching the NFL and if I am watching the CFL then I cheer for Edmonton [and I know none of you non-Canadians watch CFL but still, we like it up here]. Basketball? Not Toronto, they always get rid of their good players, I like New Orleans, I don't know why but I do. Baseball I do admittedly like the Blue Jays, probably 100% because they are Canadian.

I don't think it's strange to support teams from communities in which you've never lived. Fans might follow players they like and wish them success wherever they are. I'm an SF native and my team is the 49ers, but I follow Cal players in the NFL and support their teams. I want them to have successful careers, to thrive individually, and for their teams to win except when playing the 49ers.

The Nationals are 70% Canadian o_O

My Blue Jays are going to DESTROY your faggy Angels and Yankees.

That's what the Marlins said last year, and considering you are the Marlins minus Ozzie and Heath Bell, I maintain my stance on the matter.

Joey Bats...

Jays are going to get Dickey.

I somehow doubt all these signings are going to add up to a division title though.

"I'm an SF native and my team is the 49ers, but I follow Cal players in the NFL and support their teams. I want them to have successful careers, to thrive individually, and for their teams to win except when playing the 49ers."

Having multiple teams is like having multiple QBs. If you have more than one you have none.

Beating that Yankees and a semi-revitalized Boston team will be difficult. Don't forget the Rays either. We all know they'll be around on the last day. The Orioles made the postseason last year and Wieters is a superstar. I don't see how any team can clearly be the best in that division. The Yankees are solid as always, but they seem to have an age issue if you ask me, and with no huge person in the farm system, they'll look to trade a few of their older players (A-Rod maybe?). However, you can't ever count them out. Boston took Farrell back and he'll do a great job bringing the team back in the direction that Tito had it going and I think they'll contend, though I also think they'll miss the playoffs. I think the Jays and Rays will be out of the postseason with them.

Dickey.....

What?

Nothing to say?

I didn't know until just now...damn it...

Hopefully it won't go through, but knowing the Mets...DAMN IT.

Well, at least we'll have his Cy Young year...and it could be worse...he could got to a team I despise...still...

DAMN IT.

Rumours suggest you're getting quite a haul for it. Sounds like the mets turned down JPA+Gose for Dickey which was a pretty strong package. If the offer is bigger now, I expect mets fans to be quite satisfied.

I just can't fathom trading a Cy Young pitcher--even an older Cy Young pitcher, as he's a knuckleballer and should have some years left--for prospects, unproven prospects.

Dickey - Johnson - Buehrle - Morrow -Romero

Oh dear.......

Quite a staff, best in the AL East.

And meanwhile...poor David Wright...

Happy he's still a Met long-term...but wow--

To watch Reyes, Beltran, now likely Dickey, and probably Santana soon as well, all gone...

#5 is the loneliest number in this case.

Good for the Mets. No way Dickey would repeat.

^NOT good for the Mets...they didn't get ENOUGH in the deal, Putin!

They traded a CY YOUNG WINNER for just prospects, magic beans!

They don't know if these "highly touted" prospects will turn out to become ANYTHING...

RYAN LEAF was "highly touted" once, for God's sake!

SHIT MOVE by the Mets, PURE SHIT, I AM *INCENSED*.......

Those slime-ball, scumbag, pals-of-Madoff-punk crooks known as the Wilpons...

Those utter pieces of human filth have bankrupted this team for their own benefit,
Have run it into the ground,
Have done nothing but mismanage this team badly since Day 1,
THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO SELL...

I STILL think they should do jail time for their involvement in the Madoff Scandal, they got off EASY!



Unless D'Arnaud becomes Mike Piazza 2.0, this was and is a shit deal...

I've NEVER been more miserable to be a Mets fan than now. NEVER!

I *HATE* those goddamn Wilpons, DISGUSTING human beings, the absolute WORST kind of exploitative illegal filth in sports today!

Nothing but good will for Dickey (and Reyes, for that matter) I hope they both win rings with mapleleaf's Blue Jays and wave them in Fred Wilpon's face!!!!!!!!!!!

SHIT!

(Must...calm...down...please, please, PLEASE don't pick tonight to be the night you bomb, Colin Kaepernick, no Anahei Ducks and the Mets are a train wreck with crooks at the switch, the 49ers better not lose tonight...to the PATRIOTS...OH GOD...!)

Obi, it's near consensus that the Jays are paying through the nose for Dickey. You can start your perusing here to try ease your mind.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/reactions-to-ra-dickey-proposed-trade.html

Collecting Wheeler, TDA, and Syndengaard while trading away less than two years of contract is absolutely amazing. The Mets were (and are) a while away from competing so making out like they did now is quite impressive. In fact, I would have thought that trading Wright would have been a smart move but you still need field a team and the fans (as evident here) would have had a field day with it.

Obviously, I'm really excited about the Jays chances this year but giving up two top 50 prospects is always a little scary. (I'm guessing TDA will be top 10 and Syndengaard will be 30-50 on most lists this year).

Here's a good article about prospect attrition rates:
http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/2/14/1992424/success-and-failure-rates-of-top-mlb-prospects

As a position player and top 10 prospect, players like TDA have about a 37% of being a bust (in this case, contributing less than 1.5WAR which is roughly league average). At the same time, he has a 40% chance of contributing greater than 2.5 WAR over his 6ish years of control before free agency. That's an incredible excess in value that will be great for the Mets as some of their other young players come into their own and the team stops being shit.