Atlanta news station, 11 Alive, is reporting that Tom Glavine would be willing to take a paycut in order to stay home in Georgia and play. Glavine stated in the last off season a desire to spend more time with his wife and kids, who live back in Georgia.

If this is true, its probably time to say goodbye to Glavine.  Lets face it, the new Braves management desire to go cheap was probably the biggest thing keeping Glavine out of Atlanta and leaning to NY.

It lets Glavine retire a Brave, stay close to home, and the Braves don’t have to spend all that TBS money they no longer have. It’ll all come down to fi the Braves are willing to pull the trigger and make a semi reasonable offer.

Tip courtesy of Mets Blog

Marty Noble of MLB.com reports that Tom Glavine is likely to play another year, though he won’t make a decision of where till late in the month.

Glavine has said previously that if he plays it will be with the Mets or Braves, the only two teams he’s played for in his entire career, although rumors of interest from the Washington Nationals have also been reported last month by ESPN.

I find the National rumors to be somewhat unlikely, no offense Manny Acta, but its just how I see it. Its a given that if the Braves make any kind of reasonable offer, Tommy will take it. Plain and simple, even if said offer is lower than that of the Mets, Glavine clearly wants to be closer to his family.

That being said, I don’t think the Braves have a lot of money in which they’ll be willing to play with, and so far they seem to be more in the slashing mood than the signing mood, letting guys go and moving towards a younger team.

Bringing back Glavine, even if he’s still in playing shape, seems like it’d be the opposite of everything else they’ve done as of late. But thats good for us, because despite the bad taste Tommy’s season ending comments left in our collective mouths, as stated…everywhere: 13 wins, 200 innings.

Unless we can pull some sort of blockbuster move that doesn’t give us a kick elsewhere too hard to recover from (ie, goodbye Jose), we need those innings filled and those wins…err..won.

Bob Mathews of the D&C takes a look at active veteran pitchers around the league and their chances at making the Hall of Fame.  He looks at the usual suspects, including guys he thinks will (Schilling, Randy Johnson, Smoltz) and guys that he thinks have none whatsoever (Wells, Kenny Rogers), and his list includes two currents Mets, Glavine and Pedro, both of whom he says are sure things, Pedro a first balloter.

This guy doesn't tend to be a Met fan, so his calling Pedro the best pitcher of the last decade means he must really like his chances. Both are definitely Hall of Famers, though unfortunately neither will go in in Mets blue.  The fact that Kenny Rogers name is even brought up is amazing, granted the conversation including the phrase no chance for consideration, but still. The only way Kenny Rogers should be at Cooperstown is if they need someone to help clean up the stands after the Hall of Fame game.

Larry Dobrow over at CBS Sportsline talks about players who are better than their numbers indicate. His list includes Met ace Tom Glavine and the currently hot Paul Lo Duca.  Larry, on Paulie:

So far this season, Lo Duca has caught 11 while giving up 15 stolen bases, all while batting .327.  Other players on Dobrow's list include twins reliever Pat Neshek and White Sock AJ Pierzynksi.

Just some thoughts on the Mets starters, now that we've gone a whole month into the season.

As you know, coming into the season, the age of our first two starters was put to question.  Many in the media felt Glavine was close to done, past his prime. At his age he'd be good for five innings, then back to the clubhouse for Murder She Wrote and a tv dinner. He's now 3-1, but has a no decision that was a win blown by the bullpen. He's given up 11 earned runs, for a 2.80 ERA and has 18 strikeouts.   Glavine is some sense has been better on the road, where his ERA is lower at 1.93 (its 4.5 at Shea), though he's issued 10 of his 13 walks on the road, as well as hit 3 batter. Overall, Glavine's been solid. He's had a few shakey starts, but tends to correct himself as the game goes to recover. Just as important as all this, Glavine serves as the mentor for the young starters.  Someone such as Maine, Pelf, and Perez don't always know what needs to be done to improve, and Glavine is there to help them along.

John Maine: Well he's your NL Pitcher of the Month. He's 4-0, has a low ERA (1.35) and really doesn't give up runs.  If theres any cause for concern, its that he is is a pitcher for whom the ball is often in play. Maine has strived quite well with the Mets defense behind him, and could end up suffering if Gotay and Easley prove to be much less talented at second base than Stache.  I haven't seen much of Gotay, but Easley has not yet shown any Stache worthy performances.  He has so far had slightly more fly outs than ground outs (41 to 30), though hasn't given up the long ball that much so far. One could say he's a bit overdue to give one up in the winds over Shea.  He has yet to throw a wild pitch or hit a batter, and gave up just 18 hits. If he can keep his focus, he should be able to continue to perform well.

Remeber like, a minute ago when I made fun of everyone who said the Mets pitchers were old and would fall apart?  Well, El Duque is old and fell apart.  He will miss at least one more start, but its probably safer to assume that it will be awhile. At his age his healing time will probably take longer. So lets just assume he's out of the picture.

Oliver Perez, the Mets man of mystery. At 3-2 we've seen both Ollies.  We saw him go seven innings and give up 1 run on five hits.  And we've seen him go less than 3 innings, walking seven.  The good news is that the evil Perez is showing improvement.  Today was the first start in which he issued a walk since his meltdown on April 11th.  He has gotten his strikeouts up, and has proven the ability to go long, throwing 120 pitches in a loss in his start at RFK.  The improved Perez so far has been decent, but chances are inside still lurks the bad Perez.  I'd expcet to see more meltdowns, but for a number 4 pitcher there's no complaints.  If he can win more than he can lose, and keep the score to something in which our offense can reach, then thats about what we can ask for. We might want to be a bit concerned that chances are Ollie is now our #3 pitcher. But given last year that was Trax, is it that worrisome? Trax too would have his poor days where everyone in a jersey that didn't say Mets seemed to be able to get a hit or a run.  But he ate innings while doing so. Aside from his one horrendous start, Ollie seems able to do that. If he can go 7 innings in a loss and keep the score down enough where we have a fighting chance, then he's better than most of our other options.

Mike Pelfrey: Pelf brings to mind Monty Python.  After his first few starts, the fans had him slung over their back with Omar bringing his cart.  But yesterday he called out and let us know, he's not dead yet.  Lets not sugarcoat it: his first three starts were bad. 12 earned runs bad. Just six strikeouts bad. He didn't seem to have control. He was overthrowing. And in none of those first three did he make it to the end of the 6th, his shortest start lasting just 3 innings.  The good side, he seems to be improving.  He had a shaky 1st inning yesterday, but then figured things out and was fine and went 6 and third, his longest start for the Mets this year. His bad first inning killed him though, giving him another loss (he's 0-3 with one no decision).  But he passed the 100 pitch mark for the first time, and he's young. He seems to be slowly adjusting to the big leagues, but slowly adjusting is better than not adjusting at all (I'm looking at you Chan Ho park).  Due to the injury bug's visit to Shea, chances are Pelf will get more time. Even if Duque is back after the minimum time on DL, they'll keep Pelf around till they're sure he can pitch.  Hopefully he'll see his first Met win soon though. Just remember, he doesn't need to be Tom Seaver or Pedro, he needs to be a decent fifth starter.  His role is to be able to give us a chance when he pitchers, as opposed to the ace who should be guaranteeing it. Previous people in his spot have been Jose Lima, and Victor Zambrano.

Chan Ho Park. I am not writing about Chan Ho Park, because I don't forsee him being a Met come the teams trip to Arizona at weeks end. I would assume, like everyone else out there that Jorge Sosa will be the next one to get the call. I know I have preached patience for Pelf in the past, but I don't have the same faith in Chan Ho. He was weak in AAA. He was weak in spring training. He was bad Monday at Shea. So insert your own joke involving his last name and where his pitches are hit.

There's no baseball today, at least no mets baseball. A perfect time to share some random thoughts following yesterdays season opener.

Loved Keith's blue and orange color combo last night. Its good to see him putting aside any problems he had with the Cards organization aside, but its even better to see him showing his Mets colors. It was a little dissapointing to hear his daughters are Cards fans.  Don't worry Keith, I still think we should retire your jersey. And at least they're not Yankee fans.

Some might say its jumping the gun, but personally it seems like Shawn Green isn't going to be as bad as everyone thought.  He went two for four, and although he isn't hitting for power (yet), he's connecting and hitting safely.

And while I'm sure we can talk on end about the potency of the Mets lineup, more important: the defense.  All those double plays, the Beltran outfield assist, Stache making the stops, thats what I like to see in Mets baseball, because those are the plays that will be more important as we hit the 4 and 5 spots of our rotation. And while these guys tend to make it look easy, we shouldn't forget that it really isn't. Only guys like Beltran and Endy can make some of those throws to catch a guy.

As cool as it was to see Glavine get a hit, I'm sure I'm not the only one who was relieved to see him removed before he was required to do more running.  Met pitchers on the basebaths just give me Brian Bannister flashbacks.

John Delcos over at LoHud reports that Tom Glavine threw 90 pitches in a simulated minor league game. More interesting however, is this exchange:

Personally, if Glavine gets to the 300 mark (which seems extremely likely) its hard to see him returning for the 08 season. From some of his remarks from the off season it seemed his primary reason for returning is to get to that milestone, and he's always expressed a desire to spend more time with his family. Short of the Mets giving him a Clemens style deal that allows him to stay home more during the season, its hard to picture him coming back.  And Omar and Randolph don't seem the type to make that type of offer anyway, nor do the Braves, especially considering they did not make him an offer this past winter. With the current state of pitching across the league I wouldn't be against Glavine staying, but between his age and his previously stated views towards spending time at home it just seems very unlikely.

The Mets are prepared to make a big push for Barry Zito, not with cash, but with their players. Michael Morrisey in The New York Post reports that David Wright, Tom Glavine, and Billy Wagner have all been asked to help with recruiting the apple of the Mets eye and they seem more than happy to do so.

Glavine believes the Mets have more to offer than most teams and, maybe a bit optimistically, thinks players will come to play for the Mets for a discount.

“I think the tides have turned in that regard,” Glavine said. “For
the Mets for so many years, they had to overpay for guys to come there.
That really isn't the case anymore. They don't have to be a highest
bidder anymore.”

“There are not too many better places than the Mets,” Glavine said. “The future is extremely bright.”

Ha, cmon, I mean I love this team and I think its the best place in baseball to play as well, but I don't care what team you're talking about, its extremely rare that a player will leave a significant amount of money on the table these days. We do appreciate the kind words though Tom, i'm already over the fact you made me agonize over your return and now you're starting to make me feel guilty about it.

The Mets will be happy to know theres one less team for them to worry about bidding on Barry. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Angels will not persue him.

Our buddy Matt at MetsBlog is reporting according to ESPN that Tom Glavine has signed a one year deal with the Mets for $11 million dollars with an option for an additional year.

The Associated Press reports that the Mets will pay Glavine $10.5 million next season, along with a $6 million player option for
2008 if he pitches 160 innings.  The option’s value increases by $1
million for each additional 10 innings up to a maximum value of $10
million.

Check out Mets Blog for details of the conference call Glavine and Omar Minaya hosted with reporters a few moments ago.

Thanks Matt for finally putting this soap opera to rest. Now lets go get us some Zito!