Some things to read before rediscovering the greatness of the Swedish Chef.

In honor of the Chef, let's open today with a Sabathia Smorgasbord. Jimmy Rollins (via Jon Heyman) thinks Sabathia won't be able to resist the money the Yankees will offer. In-Between Hops sounds like he's trying to convince himself that 4 years, $100 million would be a good idea, either for the team or for Sabathia. And Sabathia's pending payday has led Jake Peavy's agent to see dollar signs as well.

Also worth noting in the Heyman piece above: he cites sources claiming Ken Macha is the frontrunner for the managerial job, which we've heard before, but he also says Bob Brenly's interview did not go well. It's the first time I've heard that.

Once a manager has been hired there's two more vacancies to fill in the front office, as Tony Blengino and Tom McNamara are following Jack Zduriencik to Seattle. Blengino was Zduriencik's top assistant, and McNamara was an East Coast cross-checker.

Also in that link, Tom H. says Taylor Green suffered a broken nose being hit by a bad hop on a ground ball and will require surgery. I'm not sure that's right...if it is, that would mean Taylor Green broke his nose being hit by a pitch AND on a ground ball within about two weeks of each other. At any rate, Taylor Green's fall season is likely over.

MetsBlog has started a conversation about the possibility of trading for Prince Fielder. The post itself isn't anything exceptionally notable, but the comments are a virtual buffet of unintentional comedy. Take this one, for example:

So if you could have either Ryan Braun or Matt Holliday (complete with 89 OPS+ away from home) in left field, which would you take? Beyond the Box Score rates Braun as the third best left fielder in 2008, behind Holliday and Manny Ramirez.

UPDATE: There are some stats out there that I understand just well enough to misuse. Holliday actually has a 89 tOPS+ away from home. That compares his home stats to his away stats. His power diminishes on the road (his slugging drops 100 points), but his OBP stays about the same (just over .400), so his home/road differential isn't as staggering as I thought.

Also, Beyond the Box Score ranks Jason Kendall as the 12th best catcher in baseball, crediting him with 0 runs added as a hitter but 12 saved defensively. Sky Kalkman says he "might just have been the most valuable player to hit like a shlub."

Ever wonder what it's like to be an MLB Executive once the season's over? If so, Paul DePodesta has a story for you.

Only one notable piece of hot stove news today: the Angels have declined their option on Garret Anderson. Not a likely fit as a Brewer, unless he's willing to take a cut in playing time.

I'm really not interested in talking politics in this space, but I did recently find out that Mark Attanasio is a big donor to Democrat candidates.

Oh, and can a sports blog save a marriage? No, probably not.

Drink up.

The biggest news this morning, courtesy of Ken Rosenthal, is that Matt LaPorta is officially on the trading block, and that Alcides Escobar might be packaged with him to acquire C.C. Sabathia. That price sounds a little steep to me, but Tom Haudricourt reports that the Indians have also been scouting Taylor Green. LaPorta and Green sounds about right, which would free the Brewers to trade Escobar or J.J. Hardy (who is confirmed to be available, along with Rickie Weeks) for A.J. Burnett, because the Blue Jays need a shortstop. Haudricourt doubts the Brewers are really offering LaPorta and/or Escobar, but given recent history, I think I'd believe Robothal first.

The Yost Infection takes umbrage with BA & Rock's fellating of Hardy's defense, citing his terrible zone rating, but fails to note the fact that Hardy leads all of baseball in out-of-zone plays; in other words, the Brewers' defensive shifting is messing up his zone rating. He's still not as good as Escobar, though.

LaPorta, Escobar, and Mat Gamel all made what I guess is best called Baseball America's Midseason Prospect All-Star Team, which roughly means they're near the top of their positions in all of prospectdom, but the corrosponding chat casts doubt on whether Gamel and Angel Salome can stick at their current defensive positions.

At FanGraphs, Marc Hulet (who I'm beginning to suspect is a big Brewers fan) points out that there are other interesting prospects in the system beyond the big names, namely Michael Brantley and Cole Gillespie. The point is especially well-taken about Gillespie, who's hitting like a mini-LaPorta, putting up a .273/.374/.498 line. Hulet also put Brad Nelson on his AAA non-prospect All-Star team; I think Nelson would make an excellent throw-in in whatever trade the Brewers end up executing, as he's never going to get a shot in Milwaukee.

Speaking of trades, Scott Linebrink Cutter Dykstra hit his first professional home run for Helena.

Dykstra's fellow draftee, 41st-round Cal State Fullerton SS Joe Scott, is playing summer ball in Alaska and "there's a chance he might sign a professional contract if he plays well this summer." He previously spurned the Brewers last year when they drafted him in the 39th round.

Tired of reading about prospects? Michael Garciaparra probably is too, though he doesn't regret choosing minor league baseball over a two-sport college career at the University of Tennessee.

Back in the big leagues, Tim Lincecum dropped the hammer on the Cubs while Mike Pelfrey dominated the Cardinals, keeping the Brewers from losing any ground after the game I don't remember. David Pinto notes that Lincecum exhibited unusually good control.

Speaking of which, having nightmares about the bullpen after yesterday? This should help.

At Recondite Baseball, TheJay takes a look at players who achieved the Alex Sanchez Special, having a lower on-base percentage than batting average. He ran down the Brewers' leaders in an earlier post.

Before today, all I know about Max Scherzer was that he threw really hard and had heterochromia. Now, thanks to Eric Seidman's interview, I know that Scherzer's a pretty sharp guy with an interest in cutting edge baseball research. I'm amazed that he's able to get anyone out pitching from his mother's basement.

That'll do it. What's that? You wanted another song? If you don't got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin'!

No Reds bloggers returned my emails in time to get a 5 questions post up for last series...maybe that's why we didn't win it.  I hope that's how it's going to work, because here we go with some Mets talk.  Our lucky guest is Jessica Bader, who writes for Take the 7 Train and MetsGeek.

First things first: How do you feel about the Johan Santana trade?  In particular, were there any pieces Minaya included in the deal who you think the Mets will come to regret giving up?

I spent much of the offseason highly fed up with the Santana trade speculation because I thought that the only offers the Mets could make that would top the Red Sox or Yankees would be far too costly even for a pitcher of Santana's caliber (remember, the early speculation was that the Mets would have to part with Jose Reyes to have any hope of landing Johan). Then the AL East behemoths decided that they were okay with not getting Santana as long as the other guy didn't get him, and Omar was able to acquire Santana without giving up Reyes or top outfield prospect Fernando Martinez.

Of the four prospects the Mets gave up in the deal, the one I think they will come to regret the most is Deolis Guerra, who has the highest ceiling by far of the three pitchers who went to Minnesota. Carlos Gomez is off to a hot start with the Twins, but I have my doubts about whether he will reach his considerable potential. Had Gomez remained a Met, I would have wanted him to spend at least half of this season in AAA as he is still fairly raw (he was rushed to the majors last year because the entire outfield depth chart got hurt pretty much all at once), and I fear that throwing him into the majors right away will have a negative impact on his development.

The Phillies won the division last year, but the Braves have become the trendy underdog pick this spring.  Which one do you think is going to be the biggest challenge to the Mets in 08?

I think that the Braves and Phillies have similar strengths (lineup, particularly the infield, and a solid 1-2 punch) and weaknesses (bullpen, the rest of the rotation), but I think that the Braves will pose the bigger challenge. They're not going to be shooting themselves in the foot with four months of Scott Thorman this year, and instability at the back end of the rotation is something that is easier to survive when you play your home games in a pitchers' park.

With Pedro and El Duque both out, the rotation is already suffering.  What's your ideal scenario to get the Mets through the next month or two without them?

I tend to be optimistic where Pedro is concerned - he may be fragile, but he's not a slow healer - and I expect to see him back on the mound by this time next month. As for El Duque, after his latest setback I doubt we'll ever see him pitch another major-league game. This puts a lot of pressure on Mike Pelfrey - the most advanced pitching prospect remaining in the Mets' system - to perform at an adequate level.

If Pelfrey can harness his command of his secondary pitches (a big problem for him last year), he can be a solid contributor at the back end of the rotation (his being the only groundball pitcher in a flyball-heavy rotation may also be helpful). That would make it a lot easier to stomach the occasional Nelson Figueroa start until Pedro returns.

Tell us how excited you are to have two recent Brewers--Matt Wise and Brady Clark--on your roster.  If the Mets sign Claudio Vargas, do you think Mr. Met will start drinking Miller?

I like what Clark brings to the table in terms of OBP off the bench, but I don't think he was worth losing Ruben Gotay on waivers (to the Braves, no less). Wise seems like a decent middle relief arm, but he hasn't exactly endeared himself to Mets fans with the combination of giving up walkoff home run to a light-hitting utility infielder and going on the DL with forearm soreness a week into the season. I suspect that Mr. Met will crave poutine if the Mets sign Vargas (a strong possibility now that El Duque isn't coming back any time soon [now official -js]); Omar has brought in a handful of former Expos whose stint in Montreal coincided with his own.

I like to be ahead of the curve.  When the rumor mill goes into high gear in June, what will the Mets be looking for?  Any early bets on who will be that missing piece?

One thing the Mets still need badly is a right-handed bat who can play first base. Chris Shelton and Josh Phelps were both there for the taking this winter, but the team didn't make much of an effort to go after either one of them. I suspect that once the Orioles start playing like the Orioles and Carlos Delgado gets at-bats against lefties not named Jamie Moyer, Kevin Millar's name will come up quite a bit.

Thanks Jessica!