No Major League Contracts

As if there were not enough reasons to not give a newly drafted player a major league contract unless they utterly and completely deserve one, there is another reason that no one has really touched upon. One more reason that the Mets should not offer Phil Humber a major league contract is the fact that it takes a spot on the 40 man roster.

Beyond the financial reasons, teams don't like to offer Major League deals to draft picks because the player immediately takes up a spot on the organization's 40-man roster, a spot the team could otherwise use on another prospect to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Jaime Cerda was given away to the Royals for Shawn Sedlacek to make room on the 40 man roster and Lenny Dinardo was lost to the Red Sox via the rule 5 draft because the Mets had no room on their 40 man roster to protect him. Eventually I believe the Mets will award him a major league contract and the Mets may lose someone that could have some value because of it. Phil Humber may not be far away from contributing on the major league level, but he will need some time in the minor leagues and that time is usually when a rookie is not on the 40 man roster. Also, this causes a major league team to bring up a player as fast as possible. The Mets may feel pressured to move Humber along faster than they should because of his major league contract and because of that Humber may arrive sooner than he should be and may not be prepared when he arrives. Is he good enough? I guess the Mets will decide that for themselves.

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Willie Randolph will most likely interview for the Mets managerial opening on Wednesday. Joe Torre continues to run his mouth on the skepticism of the legitimacy of the interview.

"And now sitting on the bench and getting a little more of a feel of the workings in that area I think can only enhance his chances, if as they say, if the interview is for real and if they're seriously considering him.

"I think he's ready for it. I know he's looking forward to the interview and hopefully it works out for him."

If as they say this interview if for real? C'mon Joe, time to keep your mouth shut. Joe Torre thinks it is his God give right to speak about things that do not concern him. Willie is certainly lucky that a major league team in interested in his services. The last I heard he did not have any other interviews set up for manager of any other ballclubs this year. Instead of being greatful of this opportunity being presented to one of his friends, Joe Torre continues to be cynic about this entire ordeal. Maybe I am just naive, but if the Mets wanted to fill their quota of interviewing an African-American candidate to comply with major league's rules then they would not bother him while he is in the middle of the playoffs. I do believe that Minaya would exhibit a bit more class than that. I've also mentioned before that could have interviewed Don Baylor if they were just looking to satisfy some major league criteria when conducting a search for a manager. Willie is a legitimate a candidate for this New York Mets job so lets have some quiet from the peanut gallery.

So the Red Sox have prolonged this painful series by winning in dramatic fashion last night. Not getting swept is definitely a good thing for Boston, but who has much faith in Pedro winning this game today? Even if he does, then it goes to Bronson Arroyo vs. Jon Leiber and then Tim Wakefield vs. Kevin Brown. Not many inspriring pitchers for either side. Only Schilling hobbling to the mound would give me renewed sense of hope in this series. Many Bostonians will be suffering through work with a hangover today but they will not have too long to wait for game #5 because it will be taking place at 5:10 today. Does anyone outside Boston think they are going to make history?

Carlos Beltran is probably pricing himself off of every team's wish list. Now that Carlos is 'October tested' he will be the object of Stenbrenner's affection. Beltran is completely tearing the cover off the ball and despite the fact that offense is not their priority, the Yankees are just going to make a huge push for him.

In the NLCS, he's hitting .538 (7-for-13) and slugging 1.538. Since the postseason began, he's hitting .486 (17-for-35) and slugging 1.257, with 17 runs scored, one shy of Barry Bonds' record for most in a single postseason. When Beltran has put the ball in play in this postseason, he has spewed out more extra-base hits (11) than outs (10).

As of now he is tied with Barry Bonds for the most homers in one postseason with eight. I'm guessing he is going to break that record with one more game.