The Tigers designated Brandon Inge for assignment last night. Inge has struggled this season hitting only .177 with a homer and 17 RBI.

Since I live in Smithtown, Long Island I could swear I heard cheers coming west from Manhasset.

Why? Because WFAN’s Mike Francesa has talked about “liking Inge a lot” on his radio show. He actually thinks he is better than David Wright.

Reports indicate that Inge will accept an assignment to Triple-A Toledo if he clears waivers. Since he is making $5.5 million dollars the next two years I see that happening.

Inge would be a valuable right handed bat off the bench for the Yankees. He can play third, and since he started his career as a catcher can take that role in an emergency. He hits left handed pitching very well (career OPS of .793), although he’s struggled this season (.560 OPS).

Perhaps the Yankees and Tigers would work out a deal where Detroit picks up the money. More than likely they will hold on to him and see if there is any renaissance in Triple-A.

***

The Mets play a noon business persons special so SNY will air 50 Amazin’ Years tonight, which is a special on Ralph Kiner‘s 50 years in broadcasting.

Take a look below at a clip where Tom Seaver, Tim McCarver, and Vin Scully give their thoughts on Kiner. Scully’s story is particularly entertaining.

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For those, like me, who never saw Kiner play do you ever wonder what modern players compare to him? One of them is in the ballpark today. Baseball-Reference has them as:

Darryl Strawberry (891)
David Justice (888)
Adam Dunn (875)
Larry Doby (870) *
Lance Berkman (865)
Rocky Colavito (865)
Tim Salmon (861)
Jay Buhner (858)
Frank Howard (855)
Albert Belle (854)

***

I thought the SNY booth did a great job announcing the game from the Pepsi Porch last night. How ironic that not one, but two, home runs came their way. With how big Citi Field has played this year I would have taken the “under” on that one. Even more fitting was that Angel Pagan‘s blast was a walk-off in the tenth inning.

When the Mets import some players with left handed power I think the Pepsi Porch will become a frequent target. Ike Davis seems to hit the ball more towards center-right. The Shea Bridge is more his speed.

It would have been interesting to see how Carlos Delgado would have played in this park. His home runs typically would leave any ballpark. I see him more of a Shea Bridge guy than banging it off the Pepsi Porch.

NYBD reader Corey was in attendance and tweeted a picture of Gary, Keith, and Ron announcing the game.

***

Another anti-social performance by Hernandez. The kid that caught Carlos Beltran‘s home run came in the booth and Mex seemed uncomfortable with him in his presence. Poor eye contact if you look at the replay. I also learned that Keith likes ketchup on his hot dogs. I do as well, but I was told on Twitter that only kids under the age of 10 eat ketchup with their hot dog. Oh well.

The shot of the trio jumping up to catch Pagan’s game winner was pretty classic. Darling did the ultimate booth faux pas by clapping when it went out.

***

How would Susan Waldman and John Sterling handle announcing the Yankees broadcast from the right field porch? I think we should start a petition to get that done. I don’t think Sterling would be any less accurate.

***

Some fan ran out on the field and gave security a pretty good run for their money last night. Hernandez described him as “athletic.” Darling said it will probably cost him $8k to clear this mess up. Was it worth it?

Bob’s Blitz tells us the kid tweeted he was going to do it before it actually happened. Check out a video

***

Just imagine where the Yankees would be if they didn’t sign Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. The “ageless” wonders have combined for 14 wins and an ERA+ over 119. Some of the other names the Yanks considered this offseason were Brandon Webb and Jeff Francis. Those two have exactly 3 wins combined (all by Francis). The Royals dealt Wilson Betemit to the Tigers last night. It’s likely that Francis will be next.

I still think the Yankees need another arm. I don’t believe Colorado is serious about dealing Jimenez. Minnesota is hanging around the AL Central so Liriano is probably out. Big arms like King Felix and Jered Weaver are unavailable. I don’t think Billy Beane in Oakland wants to give away his young pitching. Where does that leave reinforcements? Most likely Chicago.

The Cubs have been dangling Ryan Dempster and the White Sox have made it known for weeks that Edwin Jackson is available. Both are making big money and probably aren’t an upgrade over Colon or Garcia.

Perhaps it’s time to see if the low risk/high reward offseason by Brian Cashman can pay dividends.

Amazing how a team with a $200 million dollar payroll is relying on afterthoughts to bring them to the promised land. Doesn’t that seem almost inconceivable?

Most likely scenario is the Yankees acquiring some bullpen help (Kerry Wood? Randy Choate?) and a right handed bench bat and go to battle with the group they have.

Colon and Garcia could become a huge story if they step up in the postseason. It may be a story that has to be written if the Yanks are to advance to the World Series.

***

The Phillies had a top scout in attendance last night. Many believe this is a sign they could be the frontrunners in the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes. Personally, I don’t send Beltran down the Turnpike unless Domonic Brown is coming north. If Brown is not an option would Mets fans be happy with a package of Vance Worley and a prospect? I wouldn’t.

The Mets are demanding a top prospect in exchange for Beltran. If you go by John Sickels Top 20 Phillies prospects the three that fit into that category are Brown, minor league 1b Jonathan Singleton, and RHP Brody Colvin.

I wouldn’t mind Worley (6-1, 2.02) as a secondary piece in the deal, but Singleton doesn’t excite me (.777 OPS at High-A Clearwater) and Colvin has an ERA over four for that same team. I am not an expert on the Phils farm system, but nothing outside of those names stands out.

If the Phillies want Beltran, then Brown needs to be in the deal. I still would prefer, if possible, to work out a deal with Boston for Josh Reddick.

***

It appears the negotiation with David Einhorn have hit a critical point. The Mets contacted a couple of other potential suitors for minority ownership, which prompted both the Wilpons and Einhorn to agree to another period of exclusive negotiations. This is just another example of how poor the Wilpons are at public relations.

They announced the Einhorn deal just days after Fred Wilpon’s comments in the New Yorker and Sports Illustrated. Knowing those comments would haunt them throughout the weeks of Einhorn negotiations, they elected to show the public a resolution for minority ownership is near by going public with the details. What did this accomplish? It fended off the wolves, somewhat, for a period of time, but the latest news makes them again appear incompetent.

Although none of us are privy to all the details, we do know for sure the Wilpons are not in a position of power. They need lots of money, fast, and Einhorn is one of an exclusive group that can provide it. My guess is the talks went stale because Fred realized how hard it would be to keep majority ownership of the team away from Einhorn. He continues to try and stack the deck in his favor despite the fact he is playing with significantly less than 52 cards.

Maybe the best public relations is to just shut up and let us know who the new minority owner is when a deal is official.

***

Bobby Valentine tweeted the Mets are in the clear with the Madoff suit. The fact it was moved from bankruptcy court makes this a more reasonable “Hail Mary” than before. I still think we are in the final days of Wilpon ownership.

***

We make fun of celebrities for their poor performance with the ceremonial first pitch. Former big league outfielder Doug Glanville didn’t exactly do much better before a game at Wrigley Field yesterday.

***

Christian Lopez, the hero of the mainstream media, should know that the four foul balls hit by Derek Jeter during his historic 3,000th hit at-bat are going to be auctioned this Friday.

Let’s see how much it fetches and compare it to the haul the Yankees gave the kid who willingly handed over a lottery ticket to a millionaire.

***

The HBO special on Jeter’s will air Thursday July 28th.

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

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Tags: Angel Pagan, Bartolo Colon, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Inge, Brody Colvin, Carlos Beltran, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Christian Lopez, Colorado Rockies, David Einhorn, Derek Jeter, Detroit Tigers, Domonic Brown, Doug Glanville, Doug Glanville First Pitch, Edwin Jackson, Fan that ran out onto Citi Field and tweeted it, Felix Hernandez, Francisco Liriano, Fred Wilpon, Freddy Garcia, Gary Cohen, Jeff Wilpon, Jered Weaver, John Sterling, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Reddick, Keith Hernandez, Kerry Wood, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Francesa, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Pepsi Porch, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ralph Kiner, Randy Choate, Ron Darling, Ryan Dempster, Seattle Mariners, SNY, Susan Waldman, Tim McCarver, Tom Seaver, Ubaldo Jimenez, Vance Worley, Vin Scully, WFAN