When it was announced, my friend Greg and I argued the merits of the Jason Bay signing, and came to the following conclusion: the move made sense as long as it didn't prohibit our favorite baseball team from addressing their other needs; namely a first baseman, a short term fix at catcher, and, I'd argue, two starting pitchers.
In 2010, the Mets have singlehandedly ushered in a new era in professional sports. Guys like Bengie Molina and Joel Pineiro are actually leaving money on the table so that they don't have to play for the lovable losers, and as a fan, I've never felt quite this demoralized with a fresh baseball season on the horizon. And I've rooted for some lousy Mets teams.
In the past, Mets' brass have usually given me some reason to hope, even if those reasons were misguided. The Mets tend to overpay for over-the-hill free agents, and Mets fans are usually blind sided when said free agent's alcoholism is made apparent before his 29th birthday. Perhaps there's a flurry of acquisitions like in 2002 (Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Jeromy Burnitz, Pedro Astacio, Jeff D'Amico), when the law of averages would dictate that even if half bomb, we'll still be tough to beat. In the past, there may have been a phenom ready to take orbit like Gregg Jefferies, Paul Wilson, or Alex Escobar. Not this year.
Yesterday felt like a swift kick to the nuts when the Mets signed Josh Fogg, and re-signed Fernando Tatis. What, you were hoping for more? I like Fernando Tatis as much as the next guy, but his signing means that our first base solution is a platoon between him and Daniel Murphy. Ehhh.
We are the fourth best team in our division, and I'm not so sure that if a few things fall into place for those pesky Nats, we're not a last place team. The thing that Mets fans keep telling me is that if all of our players stay healthy we are a such-and-such win team. If all our players stay healthy. As I write this it's the last weekend of January, and all of our players are not healthy. Carlos Delgado, who was included as one of our players in those discussions even though he wasn't and isn't under contract, wasn't moving so well laterally down in Puerto Rico, and is now viewed as an American League player. So much for our only guy that can hit homers in our new digs. Carlos Beltran just had major knee surgery. Ehhh.
I'm not sure whether Jason Bay's signing had any effect on Mr. Molina or Mr. Pineiro's decisions, and if we had those two guys I'm sure I'd be justifying our merits the way I do each and every February, but here's how I would have spent the 17 million annually Omar sunk into one player when we have holes all over the diamond: Marlon Byrd 5 million, Adam LaRoche 5 million, and Joel Pineiro 8 million (Ok, the Mets wanted Pineiro, he didn't want them, so I'll spend my fake dollars elsewhere), Jon Garland 4 million, and Torrealba 2 million. That's 16 million for four players, and it's now being written that the Red Sox were "terrified" of Jason Bay's knees, and no other club besides the Mets was seriously in talks with the slugger. It would not shock me if Marlon Byrd alone outperforms Bay over the next three years.
Am I the only one that feels like the Mets are tanking so that they can fire Minaya? Should I be the one to tell the Wilpons that they have the authority to fire Minaya now, and don't need to tank? When I see Minaya on tv these days it's just sad. You get the impression that if it was his call, he would fire himself.
Hey Omar, cheer up! I would fire you, too. Just for kicks, here's a premature trip down memory lane, my 5 favorite Omar decisions:
1. Heath Bell and Royce Ring for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins
After this little doozy, Omar mused, "It may not be a sexy trade, you have to remember, the little ones are what count sometimes. Those are the ones." How true. It wasn't a sexy trade. Or even a good trade. Or even a not totally embarrassing, horrendous trade. Plus it wasn't sexy.
2. In a three team trade, the Mets acquire J.J. Putz, Jeremy Reed, and Sean Green, and give up Jason Vargas, Mike Carp, Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith, Endy Chavez, Ezequiel Carrera, and Maikel Cleto.
Everyone including me loved this deal when Omar made it, but if you're the man calling the shots you've got to own the bad along with the good, and this one may go down as Omar's worst deal of all. Putz appears to have been damaged goods, having one lousy, injury riddled year with the Mets. Carrera blew up and hit .340 in double-A. Carp, the one guy in the deal I wasn't crazy about parting with, had another solid year in the upper minors before posting a .315/.415/.463 line in 63 September Major League abs. In all fairness to Omar, he thought he was trading for Shonn Greene the running back out of Iowa, not Tom Everett Scott, the actor who played the drummer in That Thing You Do.
Am I the only one that wants to follow Trader Jack around with pad and pencil Michael Lewis style? Note to Omar, do not make trades with Trader Jack.
3. Oliver Perez, 3 years 36 million
4. Brian Bannister for Ambiorix Burgos
Ambiorix Burgos Sentenced
Former Mets reliever Ambiorix Burgos has been sent to jail — though it may not be for what you think.
Although the former flamethrower inadvertently (or intentionally) ran over and killed two human beings with his Hummer in the Dominican Republic last fall, he is actually being sentenced for beating his girlfriend in a Queens hotel a few weeks earlier.
His current wife — who is not the aforementioned girlfriend — wrote a letter to the judge claiming that Burgos is “a good husband”. Burgos and his wife have been married for about a month.
5. Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom for Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick.
Just for kicks, check out Bostick's Minor League numbers since the trade. When you catch your breath, consider that Owens and Lindstrom both worked as the Marlins closer for extended stretches.
