In a move that could be considered a reminder of the bad old days of the pre-lockout New York Rangers, The New York Post reports that the Rangers are seriously considering bringing in Mats Sundin to pair on the top line with Jaromir Jagr.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have given the Rangers permission to negotiate with Sundin (and the Sharks have given them permission to negotiate with D Brian Campbell) and both could don the Broadway Blues on July 1.  If the Rangers make these moves it would likely mean an end to the Ranger careers of Shannahan and Rozsival. Also it would likely mean that Chris Drury would have to move to the wing since the Rangers are not paying him to be a fourth line center.

Assuming Sundin and Campbell are the only two big time FA's the Rangers bring in, and that they do not retain any of their own other than Jagr - here is a look at potential line combinations:

Dawes - Sundin - Jagr
Drury - Gomez - Callahan
Jessiman - Dubinsky - Sjostrom
Orr - Betts - Hollweg

Other possible contributors include: Cherepanov, Korpikosky, and Anisimov

Bottom line question here folks is, is bringing in a Mats Sundin the right move for the Rangers, or is it another blunder by Slats akin to the Eric Lindros/Pavel Bure/Theo Fluery moves?

The NHL Entry Draft kicks off tonight and with it, the official Hot Stove season for the NHL gets going as well.

Word out of New York is that the Rangers are in no hurry to offer contracts to any of their own free agents meaning Jaromir Jagr, Shanny, Straka, Avery, Roszival, Mara, and Malik will all hit the open market on July 1.

Last year the Rangers came out of the gate wallets blazing on July 1 grabbing up Scotty Gomez and Chris Drury in the time it takes to say "Holy hell did you see what the Rangers just did?"

I'm going to make some assumptions: Jagr, Roszival, Mara, Malik, and Straka are gone. With that in mind, considering the available free agents around the league, here is my best case scenario for how this summer could go:

Sign blueliners Brooks Orpik and Brian Campbell: The lack of a reliable QB on the power play was a bugaboo for the Rangers all season long. Campbell's close ties with Chris Drury have New York abuzz that the Rangers will #### him up on July 1.

The Rangers' second biggest problem was their lack of physical play on defense. They had big bodied guys like Malik, Mara, and later Chris Backman, but none of those players plays a physical game. Orpik does. In fact, he would probably be the most physical blueliner the Rangers had since Beukeboom retired.

Upfront the Rangers have a decision to make. Do they keep Jagr and continue to try to force the offense through him, or do they turn the team over to Drury and Gomez and get them the kinds of guys who will fit in well with them? I think they pick the latter. The Rangers did not spend all that money on Gomez and Drury to turn them into 2nd and 3rd line centers because Jagr has chemestry with Brandon Dubinsky.

It is entirely possible that the Rangers' four top wingers will all leave this summer - so what should they do?

Re-sign Sean Avery: The two sides have had issues dating back to last year's arbitration hearing for Avery. Now with Marc Crawford out in Los Angeles, there is speculation the pest could be headed West. If he goes, the Rangers are said to be looking hard at Darcy Tucker who is set to be bought out by Toronto.

Sign Bobby Holik or Craig Conroy: Part of the reason the Rangers were so often victimized defensively was their defense, and part of it was the fact that their forwards were getting manhandled. Both of these players are tough, physical veterans who would keep other teams honest and bring grit and defensive responsibility to the forwards. Another option is trading for Ottowa's Chris Neil or Toronto's Nik Antropov - the latter of which has the ability to play physical just not the desire.

Sign Blake Wheeler: The unsigned Coyotes' draft pick is a top talent who is out there for the plucking. Adding him, and maybe bringing over last year's first round pick Cherepanov could bring some firepower to the offense and give the Rangers a young core of snipers along with Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan, and Petr Prucha (whom I'm hoping has a bounce back year).

Sign Miro Satan and either bring back Shanny or sign Andrew Brunette or Kristian Huselius: Assuming Straka and Shanny leave - the Rangers will need veterans. Guys who can help the kids come along and also add some savvy on the ice. Most importantly, they'll need guys who won't squeeze the stick so hard it gives them splinters in a close game. These guys have a "been there, done that" quality.

Of course the top choice would be Hossa - but more and more it sounds like he's headed back to the Pens.

Nothing good starts after 2am.

Whenever I was out with friends, had a few too many adult beverages and thought about doing something that I probably shouldn't I looked at the clock, if it was after 2 am, I knew it was probably not a good idea. The New York Mets should have looked at the clock.

Pro sport franchises take notice. General Managers get your interns to collect news clips. The New York Mets are giving every franchise in every sport a lesson in how to completely screw up a firing. And in the light of the terrible press that this firing has generated already today, Fred Wilpon, the Mets' owner, has thrown GM Omar Minaya under the bus, telling ESPN 1050's Andrew Marchand that the decision to fire Willie, and the timing of the firing were the sole decisions of Minaya. Sorry Fred, you sign the checks, the final decision on this stuff has to be yours.

Step One - Let a Bad Situation Fester:
Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and Assistant GM Tony Bernazzard are the two keys to this. Wilpon has wanted Randolph out for two years (ever since Randolph got a raise from the Mets - interesting since Wilpon is one of the owners, if he wanted Randolph out he was certainly under no obligation to pay the man)

Bernazzard has long wanted Randolph out too and has served as a hatchet man in Willie's clubhouse, often countermanding Randolph's instructions or criticisims of players (specifically veterans Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and Julio Franco). Imagine if you were disciplining your children and then someone came into the room right after you lectured them and handed out punishments and told the children to ignore you. How is Randolph supposed to maintain any credibility with that going on? Bernazzard openly campaigned for Manny Acta to replace Randolph after the 05 season and went so far as to hang out in the Nationals' clubhouse when the team went to Washington. The Mets should have curbed this behavior. Omar should have curbed this behavior.

Step Two - Make No Decisions:
Over the last few years there has been a disturbing trend emerging from Queens. The Mets as an organization are so afraid of making a bad decision that they make no decisions. Rather than step up and make the call, the Wilpons test the public relations waters on EVERYTHING, and then they often still screw things up.

There were three times when Randolph could have been fired. 1. After the collapse last season. 2. After his comments where he hinted that he was being treated unfairly because he's African American. 3. When the news leaked about how the Mets planned to replace Willie on Friday.

Step Three - Make the Guy You're Firing a Hero:
By letting Randolph dangle like this they have turned him into a sympathetic figure. If the Mets had fired him after his comments, or even on Friday, there wouldn't have been any backlash. Lets face it, the way the team has performed, someone deserves to be fired (personally I think it is Minaya), but in doing it this way, the team is being ripped over the coals and deservedly so.

Lets go through the timeline:
 Friday afternoon: rumors circulate that Mets are going to fire Willie, Peterson and the firstbase coach and replace them with Jerry Manuel and AAA coaches
 
Friday night: Steve Phillips tells everyone that in his experience with the Mets you can discount most rumors, but when the rumors have a plan with them as this did - it's likely true, Mets win
 
Saturday: Nothing happens, game rained out.
 
Sunday: Rumors continue along with the added twist that the Mets are waiting so as to not fire the guys on Father's Day - Mets split double header
 
Monday: Mets fly cross country to Los Angeles, Omar Minaya with them. Everyone figures firing has been put on hold or else why fly these guys cross country.
 
Monday night: Mets win, Willie does post game, players and coaches go back to hotel, team sends out press release at 3:15 AM Eastern time announcing Willie, Peterson and first base coach fired. Willie and players are then contacted at hotel by scrambling reporters and have no idea what's going on.

And the way it was handled, a press release at 3:15 EST, was so pathetic. If Omar was going out there to fire Willie, which he obviously was or else why else fire him after a Met win, and you've decided to let him coach the game then what he should have done is this: after the game close the clubhouse, talk to Randolph and the coaches who are being fired. Talk to the players. Then be a man and go out in front of the assembled media and take questions. This was not a spur of the moment decision. The decision had been made Friday - that is plenty of time for Mets' PR Director Jay Horowitz to construct a statement for Omar to read to the media.

And Met fans, if you thought Randolph was too laid back, well with Manuel in his spot, you ain't seen nothing yet.

The Mets can spend like the best of them, they are moving into a new park and will have a good team on the field, but if they ever want a real manager to come to Flushing they had better clean up the rest of the front office. The backstabbing and infighting that goes back to Stan Cashen days and carries through Phillips vs. Valentine and now Randolph vs. Bernazzard - must end.

So what becomes of Willie? Well there's speculation that Brian Cashman could be a front runner after this season for the recently vacated Mariners' GM spot. Odds are John McClaren will not be back. Would Cash bring in Willie as his manager out there? Before Cashman started eying Mattingly and Girardi as eventual replacements for Joe Torre in the Bronx, Willie was the guy. Randolph would know he would have the GM's full support and Seattle's ownership is very hands off but still willing to spend freely.

Baseball season is well underway and we've got a few things to think about. Anyone who thinks that the Tampa Rays or Florida Marlins will be in it to win it down the stretch raise your hands? That's what I thought.

That said, there are some teams that could use some help and others that have help to give. No one is out of it, and no one is making the playoff push, so these have to be good, old fashioned trades rather than the salary dumps we've become used to. Anyway, without any further ado - here we go:

1. New York Yankees get Ted Lilly. Chicago Cubs get Hideki Matsui or Bobby Abreu.
Why New York does the deal: Kei Igawa is awful, I mean unwatchably awful. Ted Lilly is mediocre at his best but even mediocre is better than awful. Matsui has been one of the Yankees only reliable hitters but the bottom line is that he's a DH on a team with too many DHs. Odds are that list of DHs will grow by one since it's likely that Posada will be back hitting before he's ready to throw, meaning the team will utilize him as their full time DH. That would, in turn, relegate Matsui to a bench role. Matsui has a full no trade clause so the Yankees may use Abreu here instead of Matsui.

Why Chicago does the deal: The Cubs are a good team but they are devoid of left handed hitting. Matsui (or Abreu) would turn that around for them. Financially it is about a wash for both teams, though Lilly is under contract until after the 2010 season whereas Abreu is a free agent after this year and Matsui's contract is up after 2009.

2. Cleveland Indians get Brian Wilson, Ray Durham and Matt Cain, San Francisco gets Ben Francisco, Adam Miller, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Trevor Crowe.
Why Cleveland does it: Right now they're not hitting, but you have to assume that they will. What's more concerning is that Joe Borowski is an awful closer and Betencourt has been terrible filling in for him. Wilson is a young, legitimate closer and Cain would be a huge upgrade over Paul Byrd in their rotation.

Why the Giants do it: Cain is probably the only guy in this deal that it would hurt for the Giants to give up. That said, the deal would accelerate the rebuilding process in San Fran. The team is fairly devoid of top level young talent and in one move they could get four young, high cieling players, guys who could start for them right now.

3. Boston Red Sox get Omar Vizquel, San Francisco gets Craig Hansen
Why Boston does it: Julio Lugo was a mistake, an epic mistake in the Edgar Renteria mold. He can't field and he's not hitting enough to make up for the fact that he can't field. Vizquel is on the downside of his career but he can still pick it. He would fit in well in the clubhouse over there.

Why San Francisco does the deal: Same reasoning as above. San Francisco is not contending and they lack high level talent coming up through the system. Hansen can replace Wilson (traded to the Indians in my scenario).

Any other trades you would like to suggest, I'm open to hearing.

I know, I know, technically the MLB season started last week with the Red Sox playing the A's in Tokyo - but to me that was not opening day. That was a clueless Bud Selig once again proving he has his head up his vertical smile - of all the cultures that we need to sell baseball to I'm thinking the Japanese are already hooked. How about having opening day affordable to underprivilaged American kids - since those are the people not taking up the sport anymore. Anyway, that is a different rant for a different day.

Here in New York, and around the country, there is some thought that this year will absolutely, positively, be the year the Yankees miss the playoffs. But here's the thing, I don't see it as so cut and dry.

If we assume that the Yankees, Red Sox, M's, Angels, Detroit, Indians, and I'll throw in Toronto are the teams that are going to be slugging it out for the playoffs (I know, I'm out on a limb there) and a trip to the WS then they all pretty much have the same issues.

The Yankees have a balky Pettitte, an old guy at the end in Moose, and two unprovens in Hughes and Kennedy. In the pen they've probably got the best setup/closer combo right now, but not terribly strong/proven behind them.

Boston has a balky Beckett, an old guy at the end in Wake, and two unprovens in Bucholtz and Lester. In the pen they have a great closer and a very good set up guy - but not much behind them.

Detroit has an old Rogers, Bonderman coming off a poor year, who knows what with Willis and little or no depth to go with them. They lost their two best relievers in Zumaya and Rodney and have an average closer in Todd Jones.

The Indians have their own Mussina in Paul Byrd, who knows if Carmona can repeat what he did last year. Westbrook is alright and Lee was so bad last year he spent the season in Triple A. They have the best pen but the worst closer in Borowski. I also don't like the approach to the off-season that Mark Shapiro took. The Indians came very close to the World Series last year and so he just sat back and returned exactly the same team. The last time I saw a GM who didn't win the World Series do this, it was Steve Phillips after the Mets lost the Series to the Yankees in 2000. It didn't pay off for the Mets and I don't see it paying off for the Indians either.

The Angels just lost Escobar for the year, Lackey is out for the first month of the season as is Scot Shields. Their opening day rotation will have Jon Garland as the number one followed by Ervin Santana and Jared Weaver who had up and down years last season - behind them are two complete unknowns in Joe Saunders and Dustin Mosely.

The Blue Jays rely a ton on three pitchers who can't stay healthy (Burnett, Halladay, and Ryan) they've already lost Casey Janssen for the year and Ryan is starting the year on the DL and not expected back any time soon.

The Mariners probably have the best rotation with Bedard, Hernandez, Washburn, Batista and Silva. And they have a very good closer in Putz and a really good set up guy in Morrow. And I say the Mariners "probably" have the best rotation because we have yet to see Felix Hernandez live up to his title of "King Felix" and Silva and Batista could as easily be good or terrible. I am also curious to see how Bedard handles being the ACE of a team that is actually supposed to contend rather than a team like the Orioles.

In the end, the regular season will not be decided by pitching, it will be decided by the lineups. If that rings true then I like the Yankees' chances of making the post season again.

So here are my picks:
Boston
Detroit
Seattle
New York

AL MVP - A-Rod
AL Cy Young - Beckett
AL Rookie of the Year - Joba Chamberlain
First Manager fired - Eric Wedge

and I think Detroit will beat the Mets in the World Series