You are free to post your theory on why Jim Duquette traded former Mets first-round pick Scott Kazmir (and Joselo Diaz) to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano (and Bartolome Fortunato) on July 30, 2004. But even better than theorizing, you can ASK HIM YOURSELF!

Duquette, along with former Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson, will be at Foley’s in Manhattan (18 W 33rd St, across the street from the Empire State Building) on Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at 7 PM for a night to raise funds for baseball programs in Ireland. Money raised will go to travel and shipping expenses for baseball clinics in Ireland.

A group of baseball scouts and players – known as the Baseball Miracles group – will be traveling to Ireland in to hold clinics in Limerick and Dublin on January 18 and 19. As part of the clinics, over 1,000 lbs of donated baseball equipment will be shipped to kids in Ireland.

I plan to be there too, so in addition to asking Jim Duquette about the Kazmir deal, you can ask me why I’m so damn grumpy. Looking forward to seeing you.

With the excitement of the New Year, you may have missed the big news: Jeff Suppan announced his retirement.

Since the New Year, several pitchers were signed to contracts by teams other than the New York Mets. Let’s quickly review them.

Stephen Drew is still available.

Heading into the the 2013-2014 offseason, the two most sought-after free agent shortstops appeared to be Jhonny Peralta and Stephen Drew. Either player seemed a good match for any team (including the Mets) who looked to add a shortstop.