By the way, if you want to legally download the MP3 for this song (by Domenico Modugno), follow one of the links below and pay 89 cents:

Studio version: Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu(Volare)

Live version: Volare (Live)

A day before entering the “no holds barred” free-agent market, Todd Jones re-signed with the Tigers for one year, $7M. The Tigers became very desperate about their late-inning relief after Joel Zumaya hurt his shoulder moving boxes, an injury which will put him out of action until at least June 2008.

Doubtful that Jones would have been a target of the Mets, but it makes the relief market that much more sparse and relievers in even more demand.

Jacque Jones Dealt

In another Tiger transaction, the Cubs traded outfielder Jacque Jones to Detroit in return for Omar Infante. Strange move, in my ignorant opinion. Jones *might* have been the type of the outfielder the Mets would covet if they choose to trade Lastings Milledge for pitching — a righthanded veteran bat who would not require a long-term commitment.

Ho-hum … Jorge Posada told reporters that he wants to be a Yankee:

“My first priority is the Yankees,” the five-time All-Star catcher told reporters Sunday at halftime of the New York Knicks’ game against the Miami Heat. “I would like to stay with the Yankees. My heart is with the Yankees, so hopefully we can get something done.”

OK, Jorge, that’s great. So then, what’s the holdup? If you want so badly to remain in pinstripes, why are you jerking them around? Why are you pretending to be interested in going crosstown to play in Queens? Oh, is it about the money? But according to your comments, it’s NOT about the money — unless, of course, your heart is for sale.

We’ve heard similar quotes from players before — all too recently in fact. For instance, Tom Glavine. Glavine’s “heart” was with Atlanta in the winter following the 2002 season. And after the 2006 season. And it appears to still be the case now. We’re tired of it from Tom, and bid him good riddance as he runs back to the Braves. Home is where the heart is. Flushing is where the money is.

If Jorge Posada is sincere about his heart being with the Yankees, we certainly hope that he paid close attention to the Tom Glavine Story. Glavine used the Mets as a negotiating ploy as well, back in 2002, thinking that the Braves would blink and give him the money he thought he deserved. But GM John Schuerholz didn’t blink, and Glavine was “stuck” with the millions of dollars promised by the Mets. That is, unless he wanted to crawl back to Atlanta with his tail between his legs, saying “I was only kidding!”

And this isn’t my view of what happened — it’s documented fact from Schuerholz’s book (OK, I took some liberty in the translation of the truth).

At this point, it appears as though Jorge Posada will be re-signing with his beloved Yankees. It’s probably for the best. Mets fans aren’t interested in players who would rather be playing for someone else.

Tricked by a half-season of hocus-pocus, the Philadelphia Phillies re-signed lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero to a 3-year, $12M contract.

You would think the Phils would have learned something from their NL East rivals the New York Mets and their similar over-valued assessment of Scott Schoeneweis a year ago.

Romero, an up-and-down middle reliever in the American League for about eight years, suddenly flourished in his NL debut last season, posting a 1.24 ERA in 51 appearances covering 36 innings for the Phillies. He was nearly unhittable, allowing just 15 hits in those 36 frames (though, he did walk 25 batters). Romero was particularly successful against the Mets, striking out 8 and allowing one run in 10 games.

It’s a near impossibility that the 31-year-old Romero will continue that kind of success over the next three years — both the statheads and the old-schoolers such as myself agree on that one. His instant success in the NL was strikingly similar to Schoeneweis, who after about 8 years (huh … how about that?) as an up-and-down starter, middle reliever, and LOOGY in the AL, turned into a superstar setup man and closer for the Cincinnati Reds at the tail end of 2006.

While Romero proved himself over 36 innings and The Show’s NL debut covered only 14, the comparison is eerie — especially when you consider that Schoeneweis continued his success for his first 10-15 innings with the Mets at the beginning of 2007.

Although Romero was lights-out for the Phillies last year, I’m not concerned about the signing. My bet is that Romero’s performance was a product of mystery in 2007, and that he’ll go back to his hum-drum AL numbers as soon as he’s further exposed. A reliever who walks nearly a batter an inning cannot possibly keep up that kind of success.

According to Buster Olney, the Mets will be targeting Livan Hernandez to fill the role of innings eater in the starting rotation.

And we have to PAY for this information from ESPN? Funny, thought the subject had been covered ad nauseam both here and on other subscription-free blogs. But hey, if you want to hear it from Buster, be my guest and crack out the credit card.

For the umpteenth time, I’ll state the painfully obvious: the Mets need a reliable, durable starter who can go deep into games — like into the 7th and occasionally the 8th. There are exactly two of those type of horses available on the FA market: Livan Hernandez and Carlos Silva. We fully expect Omar Minaya to speak with both of them and make a fair offer to either / both.

Marlins Like Torrealba

Strangely, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the Marlins are targeting Yorvit Torrealba to fill their “hole” behind the plate.

As Juan C. Rodriguez states,

“Improving the Marlins’ major league worst defense will start behind the plate. . . Don’t be surprised if the Marlins are the higher bidder. They told one rival general manager they’ve set aside a healthy allocation to address their catching deficiencies.”

To me it’s strange because Miguel Olivo has excellent raw skills for the catching position, particularly a rifle of an arm. Yes, he’s a bit screwed up in the head, but you have to be in order to catch (trust me, I’m a still a catcher in my late thirties and definitely screwed up in the head). Yes, Olivo made 19 errors and 26 passed balls in the past two years. But, a high number of catcher’s errors usually means you have a guy with a gun who is being ultra-aggressive. The passed balls are probably more the fault of the dozens of AA-level pitchers that Florida trots to the mound every year.

Though I suppose I can see the Marlins’ point; they’ve probably tired of Olivo’s shortcomings and don’t see him improving. What I don’t see is how Yorvit Torrealba is going to make a significant impact on the team’s success, and further, why you would make a guy like Torrealba your highest-paid player. It would seem to me they already have a Torrealba in Matt Treanor — give him the regular job and/or add a cheaper backstop to split time (i.e., Chad Moeller, Mike DiFelice, Einar Diaz, Corky Miller — there are plenty of “catch and throw guys” available).

When Torrealba’s agent was asked about his interest in joining the Marlins, he said,

“Yorvit would love it. They’re a good team, a young team, and Yorvit would be a great fit there. We’re going to be open to whatever situation. Florida is a good team that I know will be attractive for him.”

The article also noted that Torrealba had recently purchased a condo in South Florida, intending to split his time between there and his home in Venezuela.

Well it sounds to me like Yorvit could be going to the Marlins, if he doesn’t re-sign with the Rockies. And that is a GOOD thing — I’d hate to see the Mets get into a bidding war for Torrealba, who despite playing in a World Series is far from a championship-caliber catcher. Better to re-sign Paul LoDuca on a short-term deal with a home-team discount.

There is an extremely well-written piece at the Hardball Times by John Brattain titled “Battling Boras“, that I highly suggest you read. In a nutshell, it is Brattain’s response to several of the outrageous claims made by Scott Boras in touting his most expensive client — and by the end of the article you can see how Alex Rodriguez is NOT worth $300M. For example, would you pay Chipper Jones that kind of money? Yet, looking at the recent numbers, Chipper compares very closely to A-Rod. Go and read it for yourself.