Two stories I've gotten sick of hearing about:

Theo Epstein and the Red Sox. Was he a good general manager? Certainly. Is he
at least a little overrated? Yeah, probably. Why did he leave the team on
Halloween? We still don't have a real explanation. Was he ever really gone?
Not sure. What's his new role? The Red Sox will let us know next week. Is it
a positive for the club that he's officially back? Sure. But enough already.

The World Baseball Classic. It's becoming more apparent that this is going to
be little more than a glorified exhibition, what with players being in less
than peak game shape, pitch counts and all the ridiculous roster
machinations. Putting Mike Piazza on Italy and David Aardsma, Dan Haren, Kirk
Saarloos on the Netherlands is a transparent attempt to help weaker teams
with no regard to the fact that these players are and never have been
anything other than U.S. citizens. Haren is one of a few players who is on
more than one provisional roster at this point.

And I would gladly read another 100,000 words on the Epstein saga if Alex
Rodriguez would just stop talking. I may have lost track of part of the
chronology, but he was going to play for the United States, then the
Dominican Republic, then neither because he didn't want to disrespect either
nation, then the Dominican again and now the United States again. Throughout
it all, Rodriguez maintained his knack for making self-serving comments. His
latest: "At the end of the day, with my status in the game, it was important
for me to participate," Rodriguez said."We need participation from all our
key players and I’m one of those guys."





         With Mike Pelfrey finally getting signed by the Mets, would you
         rank him as the top pitching prospect in that system even though
         he has yet to throw a pitch in professional ball? Will he most
         likely be sent to high Class A St. Lucie, and how soon do you think
         before he makes it to the majors?

         Mike Yoon
         Flushing, N.Y.


         Just curious how you guys think the Mets Top 10 Prospects look now
         after the Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca deals and the Mike Pelfrey
         signing. I figure Pelfrey fits in at No. 2, everyone else slides up
         and that leaves you with eight prospects leaving open slots at Nos.
         9 and 10.

         Brad Houser
         Pittsburgh



Pelfrey is definitely the top pitching prospect in the Mets system, and one
of the best in the game. Remember, when we rank prospects, we're looking at
long-term value. We do consider a player's track record, and though Pelfrey
has none to this point in pro ball, he's easily the best pitcher among Mets
farmhands. He really doesn't have much competition, as 2004 first-rounder
Philip Humber is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Brian Bannister had a
nice 2005 season, but his ceiling is as a No. 4 or 5 starter, while Pelfrey
could become a No. 1 or 2.

As part of my relentless plugging of the 2006 Prospect Handbook--which should
arrive from the printer within the next week--I'll treat you to our Pelfrey
scouting report:


Baseball America's top-rated pitching prospect in the 2005 draft, Pelfrey
received consideration from the Diamondbacks as the No. 1 overall choice.
Arizona ultimately chose Justin Upton, and other teams were wary of Pelfrey's
price tag, so the Mets were able to nab him with the ninth pick. He held out
until January and was the last first-rounder to sign. Pelfrey received a
club-record $3.55 million bonus as part of a four-year major league contract
worth a guaranteed $5.25 million. Easily attained roster bonuses could push
the value of the deal to $6.6 million, and there are performance and award
incentives as well. Pelfrey starred for three seasons at Wichita State, going
33-7 with a 2.18 ERA that broke Darren Dreifort's school record. Shockers
pitching coach Brent Kemnitz called him the best pitching prospect in school
history, a rich tradition that includes seven other first-rounders. Pelfrey
suffered from draftitis in 2002, when he entered his high school senior
season as a projected first-round pick, but that wasn't the case last year.
He blew away hitters consistently with a 92-97 mph fastball that's as notable
for its sink as for its velocity. He's adept at getting grounders or
strikeouts, depending on the situation. He has refined a straight changeup
that will be a plus pitch and keeps lefthanders in check. He also has
tightened his curveball and become more consistent with it. Add in a perfect
pitcher's frame, good control and a competitive makeup, and there's not much
to quibble with. Pelfrey likely will start his pro career at high Class A St.
Lucie and may not need much more than a year in the minors before he's ready
for New York.


We included Pelfrey in a special appendix in the Handbook, as he signed too
late to be included on our Mets Top 30. But I do agree with Brad that if he
had, Pelfrey would have ranked No. 2 behind Lastings Milledge. The rest of
New York's Top 10, in order, would be: Humber, outfielders Carlos Gomez and
Fernando Martinez, shortstop/second baseman Anderson Hernandez, Bannister,
righthanders Alay Soler and Deolis Guerra, and lefty Jon Niese. Because we
didn't include Pelfrey on the list in the book, first baseman Brett Harper
was No. 10 on that one.





         In 1966, the Braves made Tom Seaver their first-round draft pick
         out of the University of Southern California. For some reason, the
         commissioner voided Atlanta's rights to him and opened bidding to
         other teams. Three teams anted up and their names were thrown into
         a hat. The commissioner picked the Mets and the rest, as they say,
         is history. What were the crazy circumstances that went into this
         decision?

         Paul R. Raybold
         Seminole, Fla.



Seaver, who had turned down the Dodgers as a 10th-round pick in 1965, was
selected by the Braves as the 20th and final pick of the first round of the
secondary phase of the January 1966 draft. That February, he signed with
Atlanta for $40,000.

However, Seaver wasn't eligible to sign because Southern California already
had begun its college season. Commissioner Spike Eckert voided the contract,
fined the Braves $500 and barred them from signing Seaver for three years.
Though Seaver never received any money from Atlanta, he had signed a pro
contract, costing him his NCAA eligibility.

Eckert ruled that Seaver had signed a contract in good faith and that it was
the Braves' fault that it had to be invalidated. As a result, Eckert set up a
special draft for him. Any team willing to at least match the $40,000 bonus
could enter a drawing for his draft rights.

The Indians, Mets and Phillies were the only clubs to do so, and Eckert
picked a slip of paper that said "Mets" out of a hat on April 2. Seaver
signed with New York the next day for $51,000 and launched a Hall of Fame
career by winning the National League rookie of the year award in 1967.





         I'm hoping the near-major league-ready prospects in the Dodgers
         system (Chad Billingsley, Andy LaRoche, Joel Guzman and Co.) are
         simply overshadowing the prospects Los Angeles got in the Shawn
         Green trade. Will we ever hear anything from William Juarez, Danny
         Muegge and Beltran Perez again, or will that end up being a bad Paul
         DePodesta move? The Dodgers also got an average major league catcher
         in Dioner Navarro and gave the Diamondbacks $10 million.

         Brian Davis
         Fresno, Calif.



Let's just say that DePodesta won't be listing that trade high on his résumé
. I wouldn't even call Navarro an average big league catcher, because I don't
see him as an everyday player. But to be fair to DePodesta and the Dodgers,
the main goal they were trying to accomplish was dumping Green's salary, and
they did save $6 million.

In return, they got Navarro and three fringe pitching prospects. Juarez and
Perez have strong right arms, but they're not very polished and don't have
deep repertoires. Muegge is a finesse righty with just decent stuff and a
good idea of how to pitch. These guys might somehow find their way to the
majors as middle relievers, but they aren't going to be major contributors.