Monday, July 27, 2009

A Winning Streak? What is this?

So, the Mets have now won 3 in a row against legitimate baseball teams (the Astros and Rockies). And tonight they played very good fundamental baseball, including a successful sacrifice bunt by Daniel Murphy (Unbelievable!). It was all capped off by a pinch-hit grandslam by Fernando Tatis in the 8th. I'll admit, I was furious when Jerry sent Tatis out there in place of Corey Sullivan (who already had an RBI sac fly earlier in the game). To be fair, Tatis has given no reason for fans to be confident in him in that spot -- grounding into a double play in one out of every 10 at bats this year. But he came through. And the Mets are on a winning streak. And Tony Bernazard was finally fired today. All positive stuff.

If only Omar didn't blow the day by creating more bad press for the Mets... At least the consensus seems to be that the end is coming for Minaya, as well. After all, his two big hires since gaining full autonomy (Bernazard and Willie Randolph) are both gone now. No more scapegoats left, unless he buys a bit more time for himself by firing Manuel (who probably should be terminated anyway).

Monday, July 20, 2009

WTF?!

http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=12974

According to the very reliable Jon Heyman, the Blue Jays offered Roy Halladay -- the best pitcher in the game -- to the Mets for Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese, and minor league SS Ruben Tejada. Omar Minaya, in his infinite wisdom, turned down this deal.

Of course. Why would Mets fans ever want Roy Halladay instead of those 4 guys? F-Mart failed in his call-up this year and is now injured, Parnell has clearly worn out after an initial good start (and has no quality second pitch), Niese projects to be at best a #3 starter, and unless we plan to give up Jose Reyes in a deal, Ruben Tejada's value to the franchise is as trade bait. We could have Santana and Halladay as 1-2 in our rotation, but why would we want that when we already have Ollie Perez? Perez is all we need. Just like Randy Wolf on the cheap wasn't necessary over the off-season because we had Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia. Makes perfect sense...

This is exactly what we did with Lastings Milledge. We held onto that guy until his trade value was a small fraction of what it once was. There was a time when the Astros offered us Roy Oswalt for Milledge -- straight up. And we turned that down. Now, we turn down Halladay to hold on to Fernando Martinez. F-Mart had better become a superstar, and Jon Niese better develop into a consistent 15-wins-a-year-pitcher, and I don't know much about Ruben Tejada, but if he doesn't produce big returns for us I'll always hate him now. The Blue Jays offered Halladay TO US! And Minaya says no. What is the plan here?! Can't wait 'til Halladay goes to the Phils and beats us 5 times next year as we fans all suffer again.


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**Update**
It's now being reported that the Halladay story was bogus. But even so, I wouldn't put it past Omar Minaya to turn down such a deal if it was offered. That's what makes this bogus story so incredible: that it seemed completely possible. This wasn't like the Curious Case of Sidd Finch.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

This can only end one way....

Two years ago, as part of the epic collapse of the Mets, Pedro Martinez started a game against the Phillies in which he blew an early 7-0 lead in a game the Mets eventually lost. Remember, the Mets eventually lost the division to the Phils by a game. Now, that same Pedro Martinez has signed a one-year deal with those same Phillies. What does this mean for the Mets? If history is any lesson (and I am a history major, so I sure hope it is), we know that Pedro will both stay healthy all year (which he never did for the Mets) AND be absolutely dominant (or at least he will be in games he starts against the Mets). Can't wait to see this one play out. And anybody who thinks that this time it could be different, remember that the Mets are throwing a minor-league quality lineup out there every day.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Officially giving up

The Mets desperately have needed to make a trade for the past several weeks. Today, they made one. They sent Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff "Strike Three" Francoeur. Yes, the Mets made a trade with the BRAVES! WTF!!!! Another right-handed hitter who strikes out constantly and hasn't put up good numbers in a couple years. And we give up our best fielder and one of our few legitimate hitters. And we do it in a trade that will help a rival that's only half a game ahead of us in the standings. Here's the rest of my expert commentary:

#$)&#)$#&)$#@)#@&#@&() V&*@ Minaya &*()RE#*()$#&)$#@#^)#^*@*^&#) Jerry Manuel &*()#$&)$#&)#( Shake Shack )(*&#$&#(&$(&(*&*(&*( strikeouts. If Jeff Francoeur doesn't hit 25 homers the rest of the year, I want Minaya and Jerry Manuel not only fired, but also tarred and feathered. Let's hear Jerry Manuel try to claim he didn't have a personal hatred of Ryan Church all along now. What was the reason for it? The quickest explanation may not hold much weight (Church is white) since Francouer is too. But I'm certainly not abandoning that theory; after all, why did Daniel Murphy not play last night after a big night on Wednesday? Manuel said he wants to get Tatis in a rhythm. How f*cking long are we gonna wait for that? What happened to "if you produce, you'll stay in the lineup"? Murphy was producing, and he was benched in favor of the Hispanic player who's leading the world in GIDP's per at-bat. Church was productive on the last road-trip, and now he's gone. When Francouer strikes out in each of his first 15 at-bats, he'll be benched in favor of whoever the next Emil Brown is to come to town. Can't wait to see who..... And sticking with the theory: who did we remove from the rotation to make room for the returning Ollie Perez? Not journeyman Fernando Nieve, but rather veteran expensive starter Tim Redding. Please explain.

I'd love to believe the Mets can still win the division, but don't believe it. I can't root against Ryan Church even in Atlanta; I'm a fan of players. But I officially give up on Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya. I just want them gone.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Fossum File

It's been a long time since I've posted a Fossum File. My bad. The state of the Mets has just depressed me far too much to speak. However, here's the update: Fossum is once again available. After pitching very well for a few weeks at Scranton, Fossum used an out in his contract and opted for free agency. Will the Mets pick him back up? Very unlikely. But where will his great, epic story take him next? I already need to add a couple more verses to the tribute song.

Two straight Met wins, but...

Yes, the Mets have now won two in a row. However, I'd rather write about this topic:

The Mets have signed the 16 year old son of former all-star reliever Ugueth Urbina. He will receive a signing bonus of $1 million +. He reportedly has a fastball in the high 80s and a decent curve.

However, the only comment I have is this:

I'll take it, as long as he's not a lunatic like his dad. I'd like him to light the league on fire someday, rather than literally lighting people on fire (and I hope no machetes were involved in the signing bonus).

I hope you get to hear about this from your cell, Ugueth. But I sure hope the signing bonus isn't used to bail you out (or bribe the guards, or whatever is done in Venezuela).