Benitez rumors & Mets pen

[Madison]

Jury. Interesting article. Thanks for the info.

[thehat]

Benitez doesn't have the mindset of a setup guy, and the Yanks would only be "interested" to drive up Boston's price. This would be a bit of payback for Contreras. The Sox never really wanted him to begin with, but got involved in the bidding as they knew they could force George into paying thru the nose, which he did. Larry Lucchino said as much after Contreras finally signed. He loathes Steinbrenner and apparently vice versa. SF will not spend money for a closer. If they go after anyone it will be a starter as they do not believe their kiddie corps of Foppert, Ainsworth, Moss etc, can withstand a heated race. Smart money is on Benitez to be in Boston along with Alomar and maybe Al Leiter. Stumbling block is that the Mets want Freddy Sanchez or Hanley Ramirez plus Todd Walker. Sox will let them have Walker, but are presently holding firm on the kids. Eventually they'll probably give in and let them have Ramirez, who's already showing signs of being a real pain in the ass, anyway.

[dzcondor]

Interesting article about Mota indeed!

However, it is very hard to believe the Mets would bring in mota given the bad blood between him and piazza. Very interesting!