Another day, another injury. I really don’t know what to say anymore. The only explanation I can come to is that there is a big ol’ ruthless curse on the Mets. I don’t know who put the hex on the team or for what reason … but there is definitely something going on. How else do you explain the whole team, their backups and the backups backups getting hurt all at once. How else do you explain Luis Castillo falling down the dugout stairs and then Jonathan Neise “straining his hamstring” on a warm up pitch, after doing a split at first base? The medical staff probably really is that bad, but I think on top of all the mismanagement, someone or something put the big kabosh on the Mets.
Demon: What an excellent day for an exorcism.
Father Damien Karras: You would like that?
Demon: Intensely.
Maybe it’s because the Wilpon’s totally ignored the Mets history in their new “Ebbets Field”. Maybe they pissed off the baseball Gods. Maybe it’s that rumored Philly fan who worked on constructing the new ballpark, and supposedly buried 5 Phillies jerseys around the building. Maybe Tony Bernazard stole Jobu’s rum. I don’t know. What i do know is we need an exorcism. Bring in a Priest, bring in a Rabbi, bring in a Witch Doctor … I don’t care … bring in the Ghost Hunters TAPS. Just get someone in here to get rid of the curse.
And while they’re at it … it would be a good idea to put some Mets History inside the Mets ballpark. That would, if nothing else, rid the building of a lot of negativity.
Are you listening, Mr. Wilpon? Probably not. That’s also a big part of the problem.
1 CommentLast night, Luis Castillo proved that the Mets are truly cursed. Just when you thought all the injuries were over with, Castillo showed that there were new and better ways for players to go on the disabled list. In fact, he didn’t even hurt himself on the field. Luis fell down the stairs while stepping into the dugout and sprained his ankle. 16 players have hit the DL for the Mets this season, some more than once, and now we can make that number 17 as Castillo is limping once again. Well at least, with a limp, we’ll all recognize Luis once again.
Later on today the Mets will announce that Castillo is “Day to Day” and that the ankle injury is only a slight sprain. A few days rest will do him just fine and he’ll be back in the lineup by the end of the weekend. By this weekend, Castillo will re-aggravate the ankle while doing running drills. He will then see the team doctor again, get it looked at, and we’ll be told that he’ll need another day or two. The Mets will then take Castillo on a flight for the road trip, only to send him back to New York a day later when they realize he can not walk off the airplane. When he gets back to New York he will be sent for an MRI, finally, only to find out that he’s had a broken ankle the whole time and should have been put on the DL. Soon after, Castillo will be seen sitting in the dugout in a full body cast. The Mets will tell us that the body cast is not related to the initial ankle injury and we’ll all wonder what the hell they are doing. The media will ask the Mets questions about their medical staff and how they misdiagnosed the injury, and the Mets will insist that they were correct in their initial evaluation, simply that Luis Castillo was pregnant and was suffering from nothing more than swollen ankles.
That is the Mets front office and medical staff in a nutshell.
Here is a nice video that I found on youtube. It’s from Family Guy and portrays Bobby McFerrin falling down a flight of stairs. I just pretend that it’s Luis Castillo and it makes me laugh. Try it … it will help you forget the absolute disaster that the 2009 Mets have been, even if it’s only for a little while.
Yes, I am aware that the video is 10 minutes long. It’s a 10 minute long video of a guy falling down the stairs that is played in a repetitive loop. What’s funny and sad at the same time about this, is I find more entertainment in watching this 10 minute video of Bobby McFerrin falling down an endless staircase than it is watching the Mets. It actually makes a pretty good beat if you listen to it. Maybe the Mets should make this the 2009 theme song. In fact, there is even more irony to this.
The Mets, as a team, have been seemingly falling down this endless staircase for a couple of years now. Everything about the franchise has been tumbling further and further down the stairs, from the ownership all the way down to the feelings of even the most optimistic fans. Players have been getting battered and bruised, fans have been getting angry and numb, the front office has been falling on its face, and the owners have been getting swindled.
The basement is near. As the tumbling continues and the band aids continue to do a bad job in trying to cover up the gaping wound that is the Mets, the team will start to enter National territory. Yes, the competition is on to see who will lose more games … the Mets or the Nationals. I wonder if the Wilpons even notice. Maybe they’ll give Omar another extension.
2 CommentsThe trade deadline has arrived. What that means is that it’s the time of the year when some smart moves are made by some teams along with a whole lot of bonehead moves by the rest. With the Mets losing the second game of the double header tonight, they now sit about 6 games out of the Wild Card and about 10 games out of the division. The Mets have a couple of good prospects at the lower levels, but overall, a system that is far from stacked with talent.
Translation: There is no quick fix.
The economic landscape now dictates a high priority on prospects and young players with minimal service time, to keep cost down, even for big market teams. The Mets have to hold onto as much as they can, in terms of their farm system, or we as Mets fans will be forced to repeat the same problems year after year. Prospects like Fernando Martinez, Jon Neise, Brad Holt, Jennry Mejia, Ike Davis and Wilmer Flores are very valuable to lots of teams … and those teams will try to swipe them for a player making lots of money. The Mets need to be sensible. We as fans need to stop being so impatient, stop with the instant gratification, and start looking at the big picture.
Roy Halladay would be really nice, but at what cost? When the Mets have to pay him Santana money to keep him on the team in a year, after giving up 4 quality arms for him, will it be worth it? Will he guarantee anything? Probably not. Same goes for Victor Martinez or any other high priority player that is being shopped right now. Besides, there is a guy named John Lackey out there next year, who can be signed for money only.
To add to that, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus wrote this concerning Carlos Beltran:
Carlos Beltran is coming back. That was always the plan, but how he’s going about it speaks a lot to where he might be in the future. Beltran has decided to accelerate the pace of his rehab, hoping to come back towards mid-August, matching up closely with Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and Billy Wagner. That’s an infusion of talent no team will be able to match with trades, but it might also be too little, too late as the Mets continue to slip. Beltran made the informed decision based on the near certainty that he will need microfracture surgery and could miss much, if not all, of the 2010 season. He’ll do everything he can to avoid it, but that’s the worst case scenario and he’s willing to give it a go. His success will be based on pain tolerance and management, as well as Jerry Manuel’s ability to spot him in and out. It’s unlikely he can play CF, though no one has said much about where he will actually play. It’s a calculated risk that Beltran and the Mets are taking. Given the success – or lack thereof – with microfracture in MLB, it’s a big risk and perhaps Beltran’s last hurrah.
This is what makes Fernando Martinez invaluable right now. The Mets simply can not afford to trade him, since he’ll be the only major league ready outfielder who can cover center field for Beltran. If Beltran is out next year and there is no Fernando Martinez, I really don’t want to live with the likes of Angel Pagan or Jeremy Reed playing center full time. There will be no other money to pay another free agent for that position, since any trade would dictate that a player acquired, like Halladay, would be due that money. There will also be lots of other holes to fill. So that’s the dilemma. The Mets should just accept where they are in the standings and not do anything too risky.
Make a smart trade.
The Mets should look to do a trade before the deadline ends. They should try hard to move Luis Castillo. His value is as high as it can be right now, and won’t get any higher. This is a chance to move his contract and the Mets should try to do it. They can even net a mid level prospect or two for him. Yes, he’s helping the team win right now, but how long will that last? Is Luis Castillo really a difference maker? I don’t think he is. The Mets would be better off to part ways with him if they can get another team to pick up the remaining contract, and actually get something in return worth more than a bag of balls.
They have players to fill in at second base, and when Delgado returns, Daniel Murphy can slide over to second base full time. Yes, Daniel Murphy. The same Daniel Murphy that no one had any confidence in to play first base. The same Daniel Murphy who’s playing first base with the comfort of a veteran. Murph has shown enough now that he can play the infield, and he is an aggressive first baseman with good aptitude. That will translate perfectly at 2nd base, not to mention his bat, which is more of a 2nd baseman’s bat.
You can then figure out what to do at 1st base next season. The Mets can either fill it from within, sign a free agent, or move Murphy back to first when Delgado is gone, if they choose to sign Orlando Hudson at 2nd base.
The moral of the story is … be conservative, be smart.
By the way, the Mets lost that 2nd game of the double header tonight, because of this:
So for all you sunshiners who are banking on a miracle, you can blame it on Charlie Samuels for dressing our Mets in these ugly, charred looking jersey’s that look like they came out of a rhinoceros’ burning asshole. The Mets equipment manager seems to think they bring good luck and thought it was a good idea to take the white jersey’s and blue caps away from the team after they won 3 straight at home with them.
Well tonight they lost with the disgusting black. I hope he took note. Rant over.
1 CommentOmar Minaya attempted to apologize by speaking to the media a few minutes ago. Here is a video recap of what he said:
1 Comment4 in a row… the team on the field has done a good job the past week. Still not convinced but I thought this was relevant…
1 CommentI hate snakes!
Omar Minaya accomplished something today. He did something very difficult. He completely made the Mets front office look even worse than they already do. When the GM of your favorite baseball team basically reveals his scales and spits his venom, in a live press conference, at a reporter who simply stated facts, you know you’ve entered the Twilight Zone.
As if “13 investigations” about a shirtless bully carrying himself as if he had a hot poker permanently lodged in his sphincter were not enough. This was a punk who was in charge of player development, yet the only developments worth talking about on his resume are the developments that arose from his hot temper and behavioral problems. There was reason enough to fire Tony Bernazard for his ineptitude in “player development” alone, but his ongoing attitude disorder was what ultimately did him in. Terrible Tony ripped off his shirt and tried to fight players on the AA team. He chastised an intern publicly, having a meltdown and screaming expletives because someone was sitting in his seat behind home plate at the Mets home ballpark. He had a heated exchange with Francisco Rodriguez and also had words with Johan Santana on the team bus. This, mind you happened mostly in the past month. That’s not counting the “bus driver incident” that happened a while ago. Who know what else this guy did. Curious how Omar needed “13 investigations”, after the fact, when all this has been going on for quite some time.
Omar sent the fans a stupid letter today. One quote from this letter illustrates his incompetence:
“Prior to a series of articles published in the media, our Baseball Operations and Human Resources departments had begun looking into several matters involving Tony. Once those reports became public, we accelerated our investigation.”
OK, so what he did right there was openly admit that Baseball Operations and Human Resources had already been aware of Terrible Tony’s bizarre behavior. The were already looking into it, yet Omar needed to investigate it by using the word investigate 13 times in 2 minutes, only because Adam Rubin reported it.
Here is another nice quote from Omar, in his letter:
“Personnel decisions are never easy. And one can’t make them without giving it a lot of thought. It’s even harder when you know someone as I do Tony. Tony and I go back a long time.”
It is a horrible way to run an organization when you surround yourself with your cronies. Omar has shown a pattern in his time here, that shows he’d rather hire his buddies than hire smart baseball people. He’d rather run the farm system into the ground, simply to have his punk pal running around like a mad man. He’d rather hand out stupid contracts to players he’s had a relationship with in the past, even if it hurts the performance of the team long term. Worst of all, as he showed his true colors today, Omar would rather stick his neck into the guillotine and carry on like a paranoid child because he was forced to fire his unqualified friend, who deserved to be fired.
For Omar Minaya to accuse a newspaper reporter of trying to tear down Terrible Tony in an attempt to take his job, in the middle of a live press conference, when he was supposed to be ridding the air of all the scandal and negativity, it just shows the level of class that Omar possesses. None. Zero. Zilch. Omar Minaya is a complete embarrassment. That embarrassment is even worse than the product he’s constructed and put on the field the last 2 1/2 seasons.
Adam Rubin reported facts that were proven to be true. Omar Minaya knew those facts to be true and that is why he had to fire his pal, yet he went on a ridiculous offensive against Rubin. Maybe he was dealing with that “eye for an eye” mentality or maybe he’s just as big a buffoon as I think he is. Either way, it’s sad that this is the guy who is running our baseball team. This is not the way an executive should carry himself and this is not the way the GM of a Major League baseball team should handle public relations. This is a public relations nightmare for the Mets and Omar created all of it. If I can give him credit for something, it would be for staging the best drama on television. Drama is never good for baseball teams, though.
Omar Minaya is completely unprofessional. I hate snakes!
To make matters worse, Jeff Wilpon, crawled out of the shadows of the circus today and spoke to the public. He did so with Omar Minaya at his side and basically threw Minaya under the bus. Wilpon stated in so many words that Rubin did nothing wrong and had no problem with him. Omar then spoke a few seconds after and his words were comical. “I still stand by what I said, I just regret doing so in that forum”. He’s a complete idiot. His boss threw him under the bus while standing next to him and he was completely oblivious to it.
Omar Minaya should never speak again in front of a camera and he should never work another day as the GM of the New York Mets. He has done a bad job both on and off the field. Hopefully that moronic extension given to him does not dictate him staying on any longer and causing more chaos in the organization.
One thing is for sure. Omar started an all out war with the media today, and I don’t think he’ll survive it because he simply can’t win that war. He brought this all on his own head, so the outcome will be deserving. Let the slithering commence.
If only we had Indiana Jones to come to the rescue.
3 CommentsThis was too easy.
“Fight Club was the beginning, now it’s moved out of the minors, it’s called Project Embarassment.”
Seriously, what does a guy have to do to get fired? I think this snake Bernazard went to the same school Isiah Thomas did. Apparently, Omar Minaya is planning to “investigate” how to get enrolled into the same school.
Once he “investigates” the investigation at the investigation, there will be another investigation pertaining to the investigation and why the investigation took 10 days to start, which will be investigated. Got it?
Sadly, Omar Minaya would be an even worse “Dick” than he is a GM.
No CommentsOliver Perez is the Mets fans equivilent to Clark W. Griswold receiving his Christmas bonus in the movie ‘Christmas Vacation’.
Clark: “It’s a one year membership in the jelly of the month club.”
Eddie: “Clark, that’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.”
Clark proceeded to have a mental breakdown upon receiving it and threw a tantrum. Similarly, Oliver Perez breaks down every 5th day, causing Mets fans to throw a tantrum of their own.
“Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I’d like Omar Minaya, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where’s the Tylenol?”
I don’t know how Omar Minaya can actually sit through an in game interview with a straight face, while that scatterbrain that he signed for millions of dollars continues to give up as many walks as he makes dollars. Omar actually sits there with a straight face.
He really is a good actor.
All the talk in town today is Roy, I finish my own damn games, Halladay. Since Jon Heyman reported yesterday that Omar Minaya and the Mets rejected the Blue Jays offer to trade Halladay for prospects, Mets fans have been having a collective meltdown. Who could blame them? Roy Halladay is by far the best pitcher in the American League … and you’d have to make the argument that he’d be the better ‘ace’ if he were in the same rotation with Mr. Johan Santana. Personally, I would love nothing more than to have this pair of Smokin’ Aces in the Mets rotation, and there is not much I would hold back in terms of players in a deal for Doc Halladay. After all … it’s been far too long since we’ve had a ‘Doc’ in our rotation.
Omar Minaya: This is the same guy who traded for Bartolo Colon when he was GM of the Expos. What he gave up: Lee Stevens, Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips. What’s funny about that is at the time, people didn’t think much of Sizemore, Lee and Phillips. We all see how that turned out. That’s not to say that Halladay is a fat slob like Colon … but the similarities between the Mets prospects and the batch that went for Colon are very close. It would be scary to deal them all for a year and a half of Halladay, who frankly does not guarantee the Mets anything, since there are so many other flaws on the roster.
With that being said, we have to consider all the facts in a potential trade like this. Toronto asked for half of our farm system, which is already pretty baron at the upper levels. Fernando Martinez, Jon Neise, Bobby Parnell and Ruben Tejada. Was Omar right to reject this trade? Lets take a look.
What we know about Halladay:
• Roy Halladay is 32 years old.
• His contract is signed through 2010
• 2009 salary-14 mil … 2010 salary-15 mil
• Toronto will not allow for an extension negotiation window in the trade
• Once becoming a free agent, Halladay will command a huge contract from many suitors
• He is the best pitcher in the American League and paired with Johan Santana the Mets would have the best 1-2 punch in the game.
What we know about the Mets:
• Trading for Halladay won’t be enough to pull them out of the doldrums this season.
• The Wilpon’s have been very stingy with money since Madoff-Made off with all their loot.
• Omar Minaya has done a very bad job with the farm system, leaving the upper levels with not much depth.
• Fernando Martinez just had surgery and is out 6 weeks.
• Carlos Beltran may not be back until next year, with the possibility of missing more time if he gets microfracture surgery.
• The Mets would have the best top of the rotation in baseball next season, supported by another swiss cheese offense, unless a lot of money is spent.
Damn, they look good side by side, don’t they? Though, when considering all of this, I have to say, reluctantly, that Omar made the right decision to reject the deal. The Mets have been in a constant cycle of gutting the farm for high profile players, only to find themselves in the situation that they are in this season … an aging team with no impact players from their own farm system. Trading these 4 players for Halladay would be irresponsible for the long term. We have left the steroid era and the new trend in baseball is to emphasize your young players and develop them to keep cost down. All teams must do this, even big market ones.
Fernando Martinez is the only legit outfielder that will be major league ready in 2010 … and there are lots of whispers that Beltran may need micro fracture surgery, which could keep him out for a long time. If that is the case, with no Martinez, who plays center field next season? Angel Pagan? Jeremy Reed? Spend more cash for another player? Sure, Beltran could be fine and not miss any time next year … but the Mets can’t continue to operate with no depth at multiple positions.
I would not have a problem parting with Neise, Parnell, or Tejada for Doc Halladay. In doing so, though, you open up another hole in the bullpen that will have to be filled. They can pick up Putz’s option or spend it elsewhere in the free agent market.
Now, while I totally understand Omar rejecting this deal, a few things trouble me about the way he has done so. I also wonder if Ricciardi is trying to use the Mets, by trying to bait other teams into offering up more in terms of prospects. Here is what bugs me about Omar…
1) Where is the counter offer? Was there one made? If not … why the hell not? The Jays just offered you the best pitcher in the game, for a steep request of your prospects … and you just say no … and that’s it?! How could Omar not counter? He has to make a counter offer. He has to try to make Halladay a Met at his price. If he’s not even trying to do that … what the hell is going on?
Is money the biggest issue here? Did the Wilpon’s get so hurt by Madoff that they simply will not allow their GM to take on Halladay’s contract, with the knowledge that he will cost a lot more to keep him here long term?
Also, why the hell would Toronto want a prospect who just had surgery … and is out for at least 6 weeks? That makes entirely no sense. Something does not sit right about that. There must be more to this story.
2) I heard a sound clip of Omar commenting about this tonight on Steve Somers show, on WFAN. This is not fabricated, I heard this with my own ears. Omar was asked about rejecting the trade and stated, “I’ll say this off the record … I can’t give up all those prospects for a guy that will be here 2 months”.
Does Omar realize Halladay is signed through 2010? While I agree with him rejecting the trade, it’s very troubling to me that our GM does not know the contract status of Doc Halladay. Sometimes I wonder what planet the man is on.
In conclusion, as a Mets fan, I want Roy Halladay. If he can be gotten for the right price, it has to get done. Omar has to counter and get him. Take Fernando Martinez out of the deal and figure out a way to create a package without him in it. Get it done.
If there is no counter offer … there has to be something else going on … that something else is the Wilpon’s willingness to spend money. If they won’t spend money on Doc Halladay, then we as Mets fans have a lot more problems than what is being said on the surface. I guess what I’m saying is … I hope Omar makes a counter offer and the Mets land Halladay.
I won’t hold my breath though.
No CommentsFred Wilpon has contacted Fanfury, asking us to deliver this personal letter on his behalf, for you … the fans!
Dear Mets Fan:
All of us at the Mets are bitterly disappointed in failing to achieve our collective goal of playing meaningful games this September. The past two seasons we had great success surviving in a pennant race, right down to the last day of the season. Sure, we came up a little short and missed the playoffs two years in a row, but I sold a boatload of meaningful tickets. This year, we did not meet our organization’s expectations — or yours. Everyone at Ebbetts feels the same range of emotions as you — our loyal fans — and we know we have let you down. We wanted to thank you for your record-breaking support of our team this year. While I have provided for you a sub par product, I have continued to raise ticket prices and you fans have continued to buy them. Thank you for continuing to help replenish my losses from the Madoff scandal.
Equally important, ownership will continue its commitment in providing the resources necessary to field a championship team. Omar will be meeting with ownership shortly to present his plan on helping the Dodgers so they can achieve our goal of winning championships in 2009 and beyond. With players like Manny Ramirez and Orlando Hudson, the Dodgers have been on a one way train to the World Series. They could not have done it without my disinterest in having these types of players on this Mets team, as well as Omar’s inept spending in the wrong area’s of the Mets organization.
Omar’s staff, which includes scouting and player development, management and coaching, and the medical staff have all contributed quite well. This New York Mets team is no match for my Dodgers and we are all doing our best to see that the Mets will not get in the Dodgers way during the playoffs. As a bonus, when the Dodgers win a championship this year, in part because of the buffoonary of the New York Mets, I am lobbying to have a parade for them that will commence inside the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Tickets will be available for purchase on our website at a very affordable rate for millionaires and corporations.
You deserve better results, but I really don’t care about you at all, so keep taking out loans to buy more tickets. The more tickets you buy, the more I can keep helping you all “believe”.
Many thanks again for your record-breaking support.
The New York Mets
2 Comments
