CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE CHAMPION ST. LUCIE METS!!

The Mets beat Dunedin on Sunday night, 6-2, to sweep the Florida State League Finals, 3 games to none, and win a championship in Gary Carter's first year at the helm. Something just struck me. I was about to write "...first (and only) year at the helm". But then I was thinking, "Where would he go? Would someone in the majors actually hire him so soon?" And it all came together in my head.

Dusty Baker is getting fired. Joe Girardi will be allowed to leave Florida and go to Chicago. What better situation is there for Florida resident Gary Carter than the Florida Marlins - a young team - he has proven he can manage young guys, and he has ties to the organization from its infancy when he was a broadcaster. So, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first - Gary Carter will be the manager of the Florida Marlins, beginning in 2007. (Also, one time this summer the Florida TV announcers mentioned Gary Carter's Florida State League success - meaning someone in the organization is keeping tabs...and he really wasn't that far away anyway, in St. Lucie.)

So for now, this picture is from Sunday night's championship - but I can easily see it being repeated at the Major League level with the exciting Marlins in the near future: