New Meaning for Teufel Shuffle

With all the boys in camp, it would be nice if we could talk about baseball. But all they’re doing right now is taking physicals, stretching, practicing pickoff plays, and doing long-tossing … not much excitement yet. So the biggest news out of Port St. Lucie leans toward non-baseball activities.

For example, the Bernie Madoff scandal has brought a new meaning to the “Teufel Shuffle”; seems that Tim Teufel made some money off of the Ponzi scheme, and therefore is named in Irving Picard’s lawsuit. Teufel is not being accused of wrongdoing; the issue is that the profits he made were fictitious and comprised of “other people’s money”. Ironically, Teufel claimed to be a victim of the Ponzi scheme — a claim that was denied by Picard. According to reports, Picard is a righthander, so maybe Teufel should have had Wally Backman file the claim.

Speaking of shuffling, Terry Collins is hoppin’ mad about all the card playing that went on in the Mets clubhouse last year, and has set a strict cutoff time on game days. No word on whether Collins is just upset that no one will include him in a game of TEGWAR. David Wright is one of the chief poker faces affected by the new rule — who’d a thunk it? Said Wright:

“You are talking about a bunch of grown men, where this is what they do for a living,” Wright said. “If they are going to let a card game get in the way of what they do for a living or their profession, then you have bigger issues than that.

Apparently, the tension over card-playing came to a head last July, when coach Howard Johnson “went ballistic during a pregame meeting and challenged the Mets to put as much energy into their game preparation as their card playing.”

While we’re on the subject of HoJo, he’s no longer with the Mets organization — much to the disappointment of Wright.

As for Omar Minaya, he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll remain — but the door remains open, per Sandy Alderson.