Hell Hath No Fury Like a Scorned Woman

Al Leiter was on the Steve Sommers show last night and I think you can say he's not exactly a happy camper. When anyone says i'm fine about 100 times in twenty minutes, you are not fine.

Al dispelled the rumors that his deal includes a job in the broadcasting booth with the Marlins. He also discredited the false report that he said "it's hard to get motivated" and it was taken completely out of context by editing out the entire statement and using one sentence. He also smacked down the notion that he was a clubhouse lawyer and had anything to do with the personnel moves such as getting Kazmir traded. He said he has no idea where the rumor came from and has no idea who leaked it and why. He sounded like a guy who was happy to be leaving the Mets and the NY Media market. He repeatedly said he felt wanted by the Marlins and loves to talk baseball and pitching and he loves the idea of being a mentor to the young arms in Florida. He also stated that the Marlin deal was actually the worst out of any offer and when Jeffery Loria decided to throw in an extra million to sweeten the deal, Al turned it down and asked him to give it to his charity. He also touched upon steroids a bit. He was reluctant to answer at first and then opened up a bit on the topic.

Al was also discussing the conversation that him and Omar said and it basically went like this:

I throw too many pitches, I walk too many people, I don't pitch late into games, Omar, I get it, I get it.

He was not happy with the way the situation was handled and was looking for a thanks but no thanks from the Mets.

Listen to the entire thing on the WFAN.com to see what I'd call a rant more than an interview.

Al is definitely a class act and he is a straight shooter. He did thank the Mets fans and said he will miss them. It is just too bad it was bad break up, although I 'm not sure how any breakup like this could be a smooth one.

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Ortizzle speaks:

"He ain't going to no Mets," Ortiz said of Martinez

A double negative means he's going to the Mets. So you read it here first, David Oritz said Pedro is going to the Mets.

Seriously, but Pedro to the Mets seem more unlikely as the days go along. Sometimes the Mets cannot get out of their own way, but this time it does not look like they will have the opportunity to offer a 4 year deal to Pedro.

According to Fox Sports:

Before signing with the Marlins, free-agent left-hander Al Leiter reportedly turned down similar deals from both the Mets and Yankees — a $4 million base salary, plus $3 million in easily reached incentives.

The Marlins guaranteed Leiter $7 million and donated another $1 million to his "Leiter's Landing" charity, but $5 million of his salary will be deferred without interest, giving the team increased flexibility for other pursuits.

Leiter, 39, will receive $2 million in 2005.

"I really can't talk about Jason, we've been told to be careful about discussing it. I enjoy Jason Giambi as a person, unfortunately what's come to light is something to be taken care of. I don't want to specifically talk about his future."
-Joe Torre

Even Yogi's got in on it.

"I don't think so," Berra said when asked whether he would permit Giambi to play for the Yankees next year.

What's come to light is something to be taken care of? Giambi should not be a Yankee next year? This all pertains to Jason, but not Gary right? What a contradicting trashy organization. That's all I can say. If you preach about taking the high road, do it across the board. You want to believe Sheffield did not know what he took and hang Giambi for telling the truth while others took the easy way out and lied? Simply amazing. I hope Jason does not give in and gets the entire $82 million as a buyout.

Newsday has outlined who they think the five most powerful people in Baseball are. Not surprisingly, they put Steinbrenner at the top.

You want to know who may be on the block? Wonder no more thanks to Jason Stark.

So as frustrated as the Cubs have been by the Mets' mixed signals on Sosa, expect those conversations to resume this weekend -- because no matter what you may have heard, says one baseball man, "that deal isn't dead."

Jeff Kent commented on the Barry Bonds/steroid issue.

"I won't get into specifics, but in general, I'm not surprised," Kent said

Magglio Ordonez does his best Al Leiter impression:

"They always say they want to win, they want to win," Ordonez said. "They don't care about winning. They only care about making money.

"I don't know why they want to pull this campaign against me in the newspapers. The only thing I ever did in Chicago was play hard, do my job and be quiet."

I was starting to waiver on why I liked Sexson over Delgado and comletely forgot why. I was listening to Eddie Coleman last night and he said he prefers Sexson of the two as well. Then it all started coming back. Sexson just turns 30 this month and would be 33 or 34 when his contract ends as opposed to 36 or 37 for Delgado. While 30 and 32 don't sound like a big difference now, 33/34 to 36/37 does. Delgado is a better hitter, but only topped .300 twice. All other years have been .270, .262, .292, .272, .279, .277, and .269. He gets on base at a higher rate, but Richie has been improving. Is Delgado the pure hitter everyone makes him out to be? He's no Vlad, that's for sure, and it's not a given he puts up better offensive numbers than Sexson in my book. Give me the youth. Sexson is 29 as of today and the Mets have a much better chance to have production out of Sexson at the end of his contract than Delgado at the end of his. Sexson is still in his prime, he is not exiting it. Since when did anyone start tabbing a 29 year old as a guy who is entering his decline?

Oh, Eddie also said, if you can get Pedro, you have to get him. I found that one interesting too.