Somewhere in heaven, former Mets beloved broadcaster Bob Murphy has bellowed, “Fasten Your Seatbelts,” one more time. With no games to call, he may have been referring to the news that the Mets are interested in former Braves pitcher John Smoltz as a starter.
If Murph was back in the booth next season, only he would be older than Smoltz, as employees of the floundering Mets organization. Perhaps Omar Minaya has already made inroads into his second career as an Archaeologist.
Congratulations Omar, you are about to unearth your greatest fossil discovery since you re-signed Tom Glavine, also in the twilight of his career (Smoltz would be hard pressed to find a taker from the Independent Leagues, albeit he has had a great career). As Minaya is fond of saying, “At the end of the day,” how will the signing of two washed up ex-Atlanta pitchers work out?
It says here, akin to Glavine’s final start in a Mets uniform.
Seriously folks, the Mets wait and see approach is about to yield rancid fruit. You pick the apples off the tree, Omar, not wait till they hit the ground and get mushy. Yesterday’s news of the Padres signing innings eater Jon Garland (what amounts to a $5 million commitment for 2010-that includes a mutual option for 2011 of $6.75 million, but a buyout of 600 grand) was the final blow to shoring up a pitching staff in shambles.
Chicken feed in today’s baseball economy with a dearth of competent starters. Just look at what the Phillies paid for the services of Joe Blanton ($24 mill for three years), a mirror image of Garland. By the way, the lanky right-hander has averaged 32 starts and 191.2 innings since 2002, and 209.5 innings in the past six campaigns. He is not a number two starter’s caliber, but rockets past the current assemblage of mediocrity.
You can keep the propaganda emanating from the Mets mini-camp yesterday that both Johan Santana and Ollie Perez are healthy. Santana is an ace and the rest of the cards in the hand could easily be discarded- a bevy of number four, five and AAA starters, with Mike Pelfrey the only one accumulating innings (184). After that there is John Maine, who hurled 81, Perez, 66, and a lump of coal led by Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese, Nelson Figueroa, and Fernando Nieve (combined 209 innings, give or take a fraction).
Just to show you I am not a total ingrate, passing on the oft-injured Ben Sheets, (how does Oakland come up with the 10 mill scratch for him?) is applauded here. Just because he threw a few pitches at 91 mph before a herd of scouts? This guy would have fit in perfectly with the 2009 Mets.
He won’t make it past the all-star game (NBA).
The pitching list has dwindled to a precious few: Jarrod Washburn, Erik Bedard, or Chien-Ming Wang. Talk about dreck! Signing any free-agent pitcher is a gamble and one coming off an injury personified. The plan this off-season to revamp the pitching has underscored no plan at all.
It’s been a revolving door of speculation about whom would drop in the Mets’ laps. And several weeks from spring training it’s evident the operative word is droppings. Someone has to step up and replace the 255 innings recorded by the dearly departed Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding.
One thing is certain. Minaya (and the Wilpons) are part of the problem, not solution. You can find Omar engrossed in a dig somewhere in never-never land hoping to dust off the old bones of another stellar finding that belongs in a museum upstate, not toeing the rubber at Citi Field in a few months.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
Quick note: Minaya did NOT sign Glavine, rather it was Steve Phillips who indeed did. Otherwise, great piece.
Oops, my fault entirely as I was responsible for editing and missed that. It should have read re-signed Tom Glavine as the point Doug was trying to make was that he was 40+ and that didnt happen until his second contract with the Mets.
PS – they ARE the problem, not part of it. LOL
Exactly
Read more here….http://begonewithwilpon.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/my-summation-of-the-new-york-mets-a-view-from-the-top/
THE COO HAS GOT TO GO
Coop, if a gunman pulls the trigger & murders someone while wearing a hand puppet who are u prosecuting? the gunman or the puppet? The obvious answer in this case is Jeff. who is attempting to force his father into firing THE BABYSITTER:, 0MAR! by tanking the season to raise the FIRE OMAR! fan demands. This is right out of the Wilpon family playbook of disregarding the fans & the team’s welfare to accomplish a personal goal. Much as Fred attempted to devalue the franchise before offering to buy it by refusing Phillips’ from returning Fl calls offering to deal Piazza until the press reported on it & Nelson stepped in with his overwelming Senior Partner clout!
WHILE FRED WILL NEVER EMBARASS HIS FAMILY NAME BY FIRING HIS SON, WE, THE FANS, NEED TO “SET OMAR FREE” BY GETTING FRED TO ADJUST THE FRONTOFFICE ORGANIZATION CHART CHANGING THE GM POSITION FROM REPORTING TO COO Jeff to TEAM PRESIDENT & PARTNER, SOL KATZ! No hoopla, no scandal, no disgrace, no public announcement, just an internal decision altering the reporting structure. While the decent free agents are off the board, there’s still a possibility of dealing for what we need. Jeff shouldn’t be allowed to scuttle that opportunity.
‘62, You and I are in agreement about Jeff’s meddling but I think he wants to keep Omar because what other GM would work for a guy who really doesn’t know baseball and yet has so much input into the team? I think Jeff keeps Omar so he can be the psuedo GM and Omar can take the heat.
Age, you’d be right if Jeff ever thought he was ever wrong or that he wasn’t always right. We’ll never know what other schemes Jeff planned that were derailed once Fred was informed by Omar creating a ton of Jeff resentment. It’s clear to me that Jeff is deliberatly going out of his way to sabotauge Omar’s image. It wouldn’t shock me to learn many of these obviously negative concepts attributed to Omar from some nameless insider had Jeff’s fingerprints to create disatisfaction even when the hairbrained idea is just floated, (Pedro, others). for all the heat Omar creates for himself, as in his poor handling of Bernazard dismissal, the press gives him nairly a break, many ask why attack Rubin? I see it not as an attack on Rubin; but a poorly executed explaination as to why a full investigation was held rather than just accepting Rubin;s account verbatum. In that light, doesn’t it make more senzse? wasn’t that one of the big questions between Rubin’s article & Bernazard firing? How many times did an SNY talking head(Shein,Carlin,Tierney) all collecting Jeff signed paychecks, criticize the Minaya statement regarding holding their own investigation?
‘62, Possible. It’s just hard to say. The Rubin thing to me was not a big deal. Omar was pissed that Bernazard’s ridiculous antics was made public causing Omar’s guy to make the Mets and Omar look bad and costing Omar a guy he liked and relyed on and giving Fred/Jeff a reason to get rid of one of his allies. The fact is Rubin’s job is to report on the Mets and it absolutely is a conflict of interest for him to be “flirting” with the GM of the team he is paid to cover about possibly working for him in the future. Is this relevent to why Rubin published this info? Absolutely. Is it the reason he did? Quite possibly but we’ll never know as it was also newsworthy on it’s own. Omar would have been smarter and more mature to have kept quiet but I cannot blame him it was an emotional reaction. I don’t think another GM would let Jeff into ANY baseball matters like Omar apparantly has. Therefore I believe that Jeff wants Omar around at least until, GOD forbid, he thinks he is ready to go it alone. GOD save us all.
As unlikely as it is, there are still 2 top tier pitching options left on the market: Erik Bedard who hates NY; and Chien-Ming Wang—both big health risks. That’s our plight. Otherwise, perhaps Arroyo via trade; and maybe Meche also by trade. That’s it, folks. Noah Lowry, but he has pitched in 2 years…what a mess we’re in.
Don’t worry about any more FA signings because the only FA who wants to play at Citifield is Dave Matthews and he won’t bring a glove or a bat!!!!
The chickens are coming home to roost.
This is just another “bash the Mets” article. That seems to be the trend nowadays. This guy said that Minia signed Glavine. That says it all.
I’ve had enough of these articles. How many teams WOULDN’T want Reyes, Wright, K-Rod, Bay, Beltran, and Santana?
And so the “F” what! We didn’t get the mediocre 2010 free agents like Slob molina, or Lackey (and that’s what he’ll turn out to be for the redsox against the Yankees…a Lackey) or all of the sudden Cy Young Pinero who wan’t even worth consideration in my book (he’s going to be this years Ollie perez), or Sheets (ok..I wanted him), or Garland. (Please come on man!).
Now we can use Hudon…but it looks like the Wilpons got their token Black American for the year.
They need to cease and desist with that “we love Jackie Robinson” B.S. because the Wilpons look at Black American players with a cock-eye ever since Dwight Gooden, Kevin Mitchel, and Darryl Strawberry.
Of course we could shore up the bench….but all this Mets bashing is getting sickening.
I’m a Mets fan and I will be rooting for them in 2010 and beyond.
I agree that Pineiro and Garland suck, and I don’t want them. But Lackey is a good pitcher.
What black americans players are out there that should have been signed to improve this team that were not?
Orlando Hudson
Obviously I can’t remember who has been available over the years.
But last year you had Sheffield as the token and now we already have Mathews as the token, so we can forget about Hudson.
I hope I’m wrong about this but I doubt it.
You are wrong………..look at the demographics through MLB………
Greg, unfortunately the quicker riches available through NFL & NBA have decreased the number of African-Americans playing baseball. How many diamonds Vs. hoops courts are there in most inner-cities where the afro-American large populations reside? Baseball hasn’t been the biggest sports draw for decades. faster riches available through the local gym in the boxing ring. Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan are certainly the biggest losses to MLB of those proven multisports gifted athletes.
Until the dis-functional front office which includes Jeff and Daddy Wilpon is resolved and some pecking order is restored then only luck, Santana returning to form, Pelf pitching like 2008, Ollie like 2007 and Maine the same and the regulars all reaching their stats from 2008, will save the season for Mets fans.
As much as our “leaders” are making moves without rhyme or reason or notion of a budget then only luck by the team between the lines at Citi Field will save us from insanity.
Since when did Jeff Wilpon become the “de facto” GM, without any training or experience other than what daddy allowed him to do in real estate?
When the Wilpons decide to let “baseball” people run the operations and allow them to be accountable, allow them to hire “real” development and scouting personnel then maybe the mess that all of baseball calls a joke might improve. I don’t know what it will take cause here they just opened a new park and the roster was devastated with injuries and they treat this off season as if it were the 06, 07 or 08 off season.
We need a change in the “brain trust” or for someone from the outside that the Wilpons respect to sit them down and put it on the table and show the hurt they are causing to a team, fan base and a city. IMO
I guess he became “defacto” GM when Daddy Wilpon let him sit at the big boy table and sign the pay checks.
You got it Sarge.
Sarge, I don’t believe Fred will ever trust his money to anyone more than he has wqith Omar; however it’s my belief, that peace at home trumped better judgement in allowing ‘baby’ Wilpon control in Flushing.
As far as trust goes, he gave plenty of that to Madoff, but withdrew before reckoning day and pocketed $48 mil to the good at the expense of others less fortunate. He will have to restore the $48 mil eventually as the Feds close in on the trail of ill-gotten gains and maybe that explains the penny pinching.
Mask, somehow u’ve convinced yourself that the Wilpons even knew there was a problem when they made their withdrawal. Clearly a circumstance “NOT IN EVIDENCE”. I’d chalk it up alongside other Sterling pluses as deaf,dumb lucky timing! I can just see you in that position, voluteering to give away millions u’d thought was honestly earned just before the CRASH!” How many investors, who through normal course of business, withdrew money from the system the day bewfore FANNIE/FREDDIE COLLAPSE gave money away? While, I’m certainly no fan of present controlling interest in our team, I certainly don’t believe they’re responsible for every horrible occurance or are Villains in every transaction they endeavor to undertake. Mask, only rational thought should be entertained by u to maintain your sanity & not morphing into some overly salivating, frothing, wildeyed anime of a Met Fan. or as commonly accepted a Phillie fan(lol)Still love ya though!…’62
I kinda am with you with the constant anti-Mets articles cause there is always something positive worth writing about but only the negative ones get attention and response, deserved or not but please can we stop with the race card playing? Before it was another blogger saying how Omar only signed Latinos, when are we going to see a player for this production on the field and his character and not what the color of his skin or what part of the world he is from.
While I like the talent of Bedard it has been revealed lately that he might not be ready to pitch in the majors until after the All Star break. He should not be someone the Mets should be investing in IMHO.
http://67.72.16.166/wfan/2186276.mp3
This interview kind of details everything I assumed was going on with in the Mets.
So I agree with you that Wilpon and Minaya are the problem here.
But, even though the Mets were destroyed by injuries in 2009, I’d actually like them to gamble on injured starting pitchers like Wang or Bedard or Sheets.
Given that Beltran, Reyes, and Santana are all big injury risks again in 2010, what is the difference if they take on some high risk-high reward starting pitchers?
If Reyes or Santana are out all of 2010, what’s the difference if we have “innings eater” Washburn or not? The season will still be over.
If we blow money on Wang or Bedard, and they pan out, great. If not, oh well.
Basically, our team is fundamentally unsound, so I don’t think we are risking anything by gambling on injury risk pitchers in 2010.
Waste money on injury prone playres and there won’t be any left to sign sound players.
I’m going to tell a story about Omar and the Mets that I haven’t told because I wanted to protect the anonymity of the baseball person I spoke to and I didn’t want to unfairly disparage the Mets front office. It was July, 2008 and the location was Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
I met a top — and I mean top — scout from another National League team, whose identity I won’t divulge. This guy was open and forthcoming with me. I spoke to him, shoulder to shoulder, for about 20 minutes. He told me that the Mets scouting team sucks. They are non-professional, cocky, and biased about who they favor and promote. Point blank, he said “Omar is a s**t who is overrated.”
Again, this man is a very successful scout who has signed a bunch of players now in the majors.
can we trade Omar for a dozen donuts and future considerations?
Only if Jeffy and Freddy go with him.
sure, that would make it even then HAHA
Does anyone wonder if management knows something about one or more of our injured players they’re not talking about? Why waste money on players if you know the season’s already in the tank? Maybe Reyes’ hammy isn’t healed up to par and he’s lost some of his speed, or Beltran’s going to be out past the All-Star break. There’s got to be some reason for all this inaction – management can’t think we’re all this stupid???
There is obviousLY something going on with management.
Miniya went from full autonomy to castration within 2 years…
And I’m not concerned about the lack of wasting untold millions at this years sup-par free-agents. But something is going.
And from that Beltran press conference…I now hope Ricco DOESN”T take over as GM. He has more strings on him than Miniya does.
BOBBY VALENTINE FOR GENERAL MANAGER…or maybe he to would rather go to Beruit or whereever that Gammons guy falsly said Bay wanted to go.
sTEVE, i THINK TANKING THE SEASON & GETTING A FUROR BUILT TO FIRE OMAR IS jEFF’S LAST RESORT TO GET WHAT HE’S WANTED SIBCE ‘07 “RID OF OMAR!” HE GOT SCREWED WHEN DADDY RENEWED OMAR FOR 3 YRS, NOW HE’S DESPERATE!
BOBBY VALENTINE FOR GENERAL MANAGER!!
YESS!! It could NOT be worse than what we have had since Cashen
Luis & Greg, Bobby V. is certainly the smartest baseballmind in the entire wotld, just ask him! he’d nebver be hired by NYM again, Davey Joinson is the only more unpopular topic around Wilpon’s table. Besides, the primarey condition of employment in the NYM frontoffice is shielding the Wilpon Family name from being oouted as inept(namely Jeff)Bobby V. would be intolerable as an emplouee as well as as a boss to any decent fld mgr. He makes La Russa look like a shrinking violet. Just consider his biggest battle with Phillips between Payton & Agbayani. now which had the longer MLB career? Let’s not forget he never once led a team to first place finish, W/C was his best attainment ever. EWven Mex laughs aloud at his theory for playing off 1B with runner on.
62FAN, I can’t help but think that anyone in the know in MLB doesn’t think that Jeffy and Freddy ARE inept.
[...] identity is frayed. No wonder the Metsosphere is continuously and maybe justifiably staticky, jittery and expressing discontent. We are, by nature, a gaggle of nervous crosstalkers when we don’t [...]
Age, this clip from u…
‘62, Possible. It’s just hard to say. The Rubin thing to me was not a big deal. Omar was pissed that Bernazard’s ridiculous antics was made public causing Omar’s guy to make the Mets and Omar look bad and costing Omar a guy he liked and relyed on and giving Fred/Jeff a reason to get rid of one of his allies. The fact is Rubin’s job is to report on the Mets and it absolutely is a conflict of interest for him to be “flirting” with the GM of the team he is paid to cover about possibly working for him in the future. Is this relevent to why Rubin published this info? Absolutely. Is it the reason he did? Quite possibly but we’ll never know as it was also newsworthy on it’s own. Omar would have been smarter and more mature to have kept quiet but I cannot blame him it was an emotional reaction. I don’t think another GM would let Jeff into ANY baseball matters like Omar apparantly has. Therefore I believe that Jeff wants Omar around at least until, GOD forbid, he thinks he is ready to go it alone. GOD save us all.
was unreplyable; but don’t ever underestimate Jeff’s EGO & think he doesn’t already believe he’s capable of going GMless, I recall ruminations to that end being cited for Duquette’s interim tag as Jeff was trying to convince Daddy he didn’t need training wheels or a guardian, then came the Kazmir fiasco. A disater for Met fans everywhere with an invisible SilverLining that kept Jeff under control of stronger willed more secure baseball auhority, Omar!