The New York Mets are Not Impressed with R. A. Dickey's Adventurous Offseason Plans

Most of the time, when people have enough moxie to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, they are commended for their bravery and ambition. However, when these people are major league ballplayers expected to stay healthy at least until Spring Training, it is considered a no-no.

The New York Mets and general manager Sandy Alderson were troubled by the news of one of their relievers having the audacity to go mountain climbing in the offseason. Although they failed to advise against it in Dickey's contract, apparently they assumed he would just know better. Obviously they were mistaken. Although Alderson sent Dickey a letter in an attempt to dissuade him from the ascent, it seems the right-hander doesn't much give a crap.

Dickey, along with Colorado Rockies pitcher Kevin Slowey, has chosen this intense activity for a charitable cause, benefiting the Bombay Teen Challenge, which fights sex trafficking in India. Here's a snippet from his blog post in the New York Times:

The time for second-guessing is over. The research has been done, the miles have been hiked, the lungs have been taxed and the equipment has been gathered. In five days, I will travel via Detroit to Amsterdam, finally arriving at Kilimanjaro’s airport after a journey of 18 hours 25 minutes, and 8,674 miles. Needless to say, if you have a hard time with planes, you might want to scoot this one down your list of things to do a bit...

Minnesota Twins Trade Kevin Slowey to Colorado Rockies, Where He'll Suck

For the record, we love Kevin Slowey. Upon meeting him a few times and "interviewing him" -- using that term loosely since we all but groped him -- we will definitely miss his adorable face and unbecoming haircut at Minnesota Twins events next season.

After shopping him pretty much all season long, the club finally traded the right-hander to the Colorado Rockies for some crappy player to be named later at the winter meetings in Dallas this morning.

Minnesota Twins: Way to Go, Buddies!

Denard Span, batting leadoff and filling in for the injured Michael Cuddyer in the Minnesota Twins' right field, hit his first big league home run Monday night in the club's 7-0 lashing of the rival Chicago White Sox.

Span, who's batting .318 with a .405 OBP in just 35 games, nailed a two-run shot in the third inning to go along with Justin Morneau's 4 RBIs which gave youngster Kevin Slowey a hefty lead to work with. The 24-year-old righty, never allowing more than one man on base in any inning, struck out five and walked one to help the Twins move within 1.5 games of the division-leading South-Siders.

With six more games left in the season between these two teams -- all at the Dome -- things could get interesting in the race for first in the AL Central.

[Chicago Tribune] | [Ladies...] | [Major League Jerk] | [A Fan's View]