In case you missed NYBD Radio last night, I wanted to recap some of the highlights for you. If you want to hear the entire hour (with 15 minute bonus coverage) - CLICK HERE TO LISTEN or DOWNLOAD IT AT THE ARCHIVE.

Steve Jacobson, long time sports writer at Newsday, told us why he believes George Steinbrenner isn’t the grand character the media has made him out to be in recent years. He gave a different perspective on how it was dealing with George during the early years of his ownership.

Howard Megdal joined me at 7:20 to talk about some of the Hot Stove Issues. We kicked it off by discussing the CC Sabathia situation. We continue to question why the Yankees have soured so much on Hughes and Kennedy since last year. The major point of the debate was, once you passed on Johan Santana, you were married to a commitment to young pitching. This commitment is easier in a rotation which is anchored by Sabathia, but one that needs to be made regardless. Howard said it best when stating that you don’t buy a Yukon (AJ Burnett) if you lose out on the luxury car (Sabathia). It’s fair to say that Burnett performs better than a Yukon, so perhaps you call him a Yukon with a Mercedes emblem. All this is being done while Andy Pettitte is looking at the Dodgers. Howard believes you can get the same statistical performance from Odalis Perez at this time in his career, that you would from Pettitte.

On the Mets side of the ledger, we discussed the fan feedback on our Aaron Heilman poll. 65% of the listeners want the Mets to trade Heilman (my position) and 30% want to give him a chance to start (Howard’s position). We both agreed that trading Heilman is ok, but you have to get some value in return. Making him part of a deal for Huston Street or a JJ Putz is something you can justify. Trading him for the sake of it doesn’t make sense. The big question is does the inclusion of Heilman in a package mean you can include a “B” level prospects in the deal (i.e. Mike Carp). Heilman alone doesn’t have the same value he would have fetched just a year ago.

We also discussed Manny Ramirez and whether the Mets should be involved. This was on the heels of speculation from Baseball Prospectus that the Mets would “soon be involved in a Manny Ramirez negotiations”. I believe Manny is necessary for the clubhouse and offense. Howard does not want a Manny Ramirez signing to take away from addressing other needs on the roster. He calculates that it will take about $30 million dollars to address the teams needs. Signing Manny would potentially bring the Mets payroll to about $175 million. I agreed that signing Manny must be a luxury “above and beyond” the current needs of the team. We are both unsure if the Mets have the willingness to bring the payroll to that level.

We rounded out the show hearing from John Fitzgerald, creator of Playing for Peanuts. John talked about the decision by the Comcast affiliate in Chicago not to pick up re-runs of the show. A great idea is now two years old and appears to have hit a wall. The good news is you can watch the show on DVD. Howard and I both believe this show can develop a solid cult following. It’s a great baseball show, gives you a taste of the game at its purest form (independent league), and has a former NY star (Wally Backman). You can click on the banner and order it below for the holidays.

Don’t forget to listen to us answer the fans comments from the week during the last five minutes.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

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Tags: Aaron Heilman, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Ian Kennedy, Manny Ramirez, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Wally Backman