The July 2012 promotion of the Mets’ second best pitching prospect was met with much fan fair.  Harvey promptly rose to the occasion in the eleven strike out win that was his debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  For an encore, he went on to post an ERA well under three in ten starts comprised of almost sixty innings pitched.  For certain it looked as though the Mets had another quality starter on their hands, but no one could have anticipated what Matt Harvey had in store for the Mets and their fans in 2013.

Entering last night, Harvey’s 2013 campaign featured a 4-0 start which saw him yield more than one earned run on only one occasion over six starts, in route to the National League Pitcher of the Month award for the month of April.  Coming off a full seven day’s rest, Harvey spent Monday night victimizing the White Sox lineup in route to nine scoreless innings of one hit ball with twelve strike outs and exactly zero walks.  This saw Matt drop his ERA to an impressively low 1.27 while assuming the league lead in strike outs with 58.

The stats are impressive enough, but they are easily trumped by the undeniable presence that Harvey brings with him to the bump every night.  Each start celebrated as “Happy Harvey Day” on various social media forums, the fans have fully accepted Matt as the absolute ace of this staff, no questions asked.

Harvey’s rise to what will soon be, if it isn’t already, super-stardom, will make it that much harder for those that come behind him, namely Wheeler.  Having been billed as possessing the best repertoire in the system, its hard to believe that Wheeler can match the ridiculous change-up and slicing slider that Harvey has used to carved through opponents thus far this season.  While the Mets will need Wheeler to be a productive member of the rotation in short order if they hope to stay in the hunt this summer, Matt Harvey has made most, if not all fans forget that someone other than he may be the savoir for the Mets pitching woes.

Recent history has seen pitchers as unproven as Mike Pelfrey toe the rubber as the team’s ace.  Those days, at least for the time being seem to be behind us.  Having been drafted by Omar Minaya in 2010, Harvey will be ineligible for free agency until the 2019 season at the earliest and now represents the youth movement envisioned by Mets general manager, Sandy Alderson.  The franchise will need others to rise through the ranks in order to realize Alderson’s vision, but regardless of whether those who will soon follow his path are able to do their part, Matt Harvey is here and the Mets have their ace.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

In this edition of a not-so-regular MMO feature that first appeared in 2007, our reader Pietro Sinapi gets the well deserved hat tip for taking us back to June 30, 2010 when the big news of the day was the Mets and their pursuit of Mariners ace Cliff Lee.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that if the Mets wanted Lee they needed to up the ante and make the M’s an offer they couldn’t refuse:

You are not getting Lee for Fernando Martinez and Josh Thole. That would be painless for the Mets. I don’t know if an injury-prone outfield prospect (Martinez) and a fringe catching prospect (Thole) are worth as much as the two first-round compensation picks an acquiring team would receive if it lost Lee to free agency after the season. So why would the Mariners gift-wrap Lee and those two picks for such a meager return? Flip it; if you ran the Mets would you trade Lee for the equivalent of Martinez and Thole? Of course not.

Thus, if the Mets want Lee — and, boy, do they ever — a trade will have to be built around Jenrry Mejia, whom Seattle likes, but does not love, or Wilmer Flores, an 18-year-old infielder already thriving at High-A. In conversations with Mariner officials, I strongly sensed they would accept no less than one blue-chip prospect or they will not do this trade.

One key impediment for Seattle is that Lee has been traded twice in the past 23 months for seven prospects — none of them blue chip — as teams dealing the lefty valued quantity in return over quality.

The Mets were feeling their oats that June after an 18-8 run that had them at 44-34 overall and in second place, ten games over .500. They were well within grasp of that coveted division title.

Desperate for another starting pitcher and unable to dole out another nickel as the Madoff scandal started to hit home, the Mets stood pat and there was nothing Omar Minaya could do about it. The team paid the price and it all went downhill from there going 31-45 the rest of the way and finishing the year in a disappointing 4th place.

The always dapper Omar Minaya and his gangsta Jerry Manuel were rubbed out while pulling up in front of Sparks Steakhouse in NYC two days later. It was a bad scene, man…

The Texas Rangers wound up winning the Cliff Lee sweepstakes and got him along with Mark Lowe for some of their one-time top prospects Matthew Lawson, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Justin Smoak.

Huh… Who? Wait… What?

Talk about getting Smoaked…

Speaking as someone who was content with the idea that it took more than a season to screw this franchise up and that it will take more than a season to fix the mistakes of those that came before him, I tolerated the notion that 2014 might be the year the Mets find themselves back on the map.  So, I waited.  Waited for what, I’m not exactly sure, but I’m pretty sure I expected the framework for such a rebuild in place a mere season away from the self-imposed rebuilding deadline.  For sure, the team would need at least a season to mesh, right?  And still, I wait.

I think I’ve gotten to the point that I’m actually bored with what going on here.  Quite frankly, I don’t care what the team’s financial situation.  Furthermore, the methodical approach of Sandy Alderson seems to do nothing but make the agony of knowing there is little immediate hope on the horizon even worse.  You see there is nothing wrong with signing low risk, high reward players like Tim Byrdak to minor league contracts.  In fact, its good baseball sense.  However, these are not the signings necessary to put the chips in place for a rebuild.

To be perfectly honest, resigning David Wright and RA Dickey only maintains the organization’s current position of limbo.  These are the players that the front office should build around, but even their future is in doubt.  If we’re lucky enough to ink them to long-term deals, I fear that the players filled in around them will simply maintain the status quo.  Two months ago it was unfathomable that fifth outfielder, Andres Torres, might occupy a roster spot next season.  Now it appears borderline likely.  Simply put, scratching the bottom of the bargain bin has become tiresome.

As another spring training draws near, the blueprint for success is no clearer today than it was two years ago.  Addition by subtraction has replaced the big market mindset brought to you by Omar Minaya and Bernie Madoff.  Whether you blame poor investing, poor free agent signings, or even poor player development, the Mets schtick just seems stale at this point.  Resigning Wright and Dickey may pacify some fans, but it will be the players brought in around them that will inspire the imaginations of the masses.  They don’t have to be nine-figure players, but the Ronnie Cedenos of the world just aren’t going to get it done.

I’m bored Sandy Alderson.  Give me a reason to get excited, a reason to look forward to the future, hell.. give me a reason to come to the ballpark.  Show fans that this organization is still interested in winning.  Enough with the stopgaps.  Lets build something worth the our time..and our money.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83

Bay is two years into his $66 million contract he has an easily attainable $18 million vesting option for 2014, that vests based on 500 plate appearances each in 2012 and 2013.

Unfortunately Bay still continues to struggle and he hasn’t shown much improvement this spring.

The question will eventually be ”what will the Mets do with Jason Bay?” Trading him won’t be an option as no general manager will take on that contract. I don’t even think we can swap bad contracts with another team given Bay’s lack of production. So besides a trade what else can the Mets do?

1. Extended Spring Training: This seems unlikely as much as it would be needed. As was pointed out to me recently, Jason Bay is one of the only regular players that is healthy so you can be certain that he will be coming North with team once they break camp.
2. Moving Him Down The Lineup: This will be a reality at some point this season I’m sure. Unfortunately whether he’s in the middle of the lineup or batting 8^th he still be hurting the lineup with his lack of production. You cannot have a player continuously underperforming as he has and expect a positive outcome to this tale.
3. Minor League Assignment: This is always a tough one with a veteran player like Jason Bay. He’s got the right to refuse a minor league assignment. We saw this with Oliver Perez a couple of years ago. It takes time off his service time. I doubt the Mets even approach this option.
4. Platooning Him: If moving Bay down the lineup doesn’t work and the Mets don’t ask and/or Bay doesn’t accept the Minor League assignment this will probably be the most logical option. I know the players union might have an issue because of the vesting option, but the Mets will have a clear case that his lack of production is hurting the team.
5. Cutting Losses: This is always tough, especially when it comes to the amount of money Jason Bay is owed. Many have concerns that even though a player shows no signs of improving, he will get cut from his current team, sign for the minimum with another team and return to greatness. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and make the cut.

It’s not a great situation to be in with Jason Bay that’s for sure. I would first move him down the lineup and if that doesn’t work I would ask him to accept a minor league assignment. If Bay is interested in helping the team and wanting to improve, he can take the assignment, go to Buffalo and work on his swing. It has helped before. If Bay turns down the minor league assignment, I wouldn’t bench him as that does nothing, but occupy a roster spot. I would part ways with him and cut him. Let him be someone else’s problem. Sometimes addition by subtraction is the only way to go. Of course the best case scenario is that Bay finds his swing and starts to hit again. You gotta believe right?

Top of the 9th and the score is 3 to 1 in favor of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets are one loss away from post-season elimination. The St. Louis Cardinals are one win away from the World Series. Cliff Floyd has struck out with runners on first and second. Jose Reyes has just lined out to Jim Edmonds in center.  Hope is rapidly fading when Carlos Beltran makes his way to the plate to face Adam Wainwright in front of a standing room only crowd of 56,357 screaming Shea fans – yearning desperately for a return to the fall classic.

Wainwright scans the signs from Yadier Molina. Beltran, the 2006 Mets team leader in homeruns and RBI, focuses every ounce of the baseball knowledge he has on Wainwright. He’s prepared. This is the moment every child who’s ever taken a baseball field has dreamt of. The season, the city, everything is now in his hands. The intensity flowing from fan to players to concession stand operators becomes palpable.  The drumbeat of “Lets Go Mets”, reminiscent of glory days gone by, echo through Shea’s centerfield speakers. The stands begin to shake rhythmically in anticipation. Wainwright delivers his 1st pitch. Beltran swings…driving a Wainwright curveball high down the right field line.

Time grinds to standstill as the crowd instinctively and collectively holds their breath. Beltran however is far less concerned. He flips his bat with the same exuberance of a Little Leaguer – channeling every emotion into one fluid motion. He knows. Gary Cohen begins to scream “A LOOONG HIGH FLY TO DEEEP RIGHT WILL IT STAY FAIR…IT HIT THE FOUL POLE…IT”S OUTTA HERE, IT’S OUTTA HERE, IT’S OUTTA HERE, IT’S OUTTA HERE…

Present Day – 2012

Of course that never happened, as we know all too well. No we never did get to hear Gary Cohen cement himself into Met history with THAT particular call. Instead we were subjected to Joe Buck’s monotone droning, “And the 0 and 2 pitch; strike 3. The Cardinals are going to the World Series.” Scintillating I know. But somewhere, in some universe, Carlos Beltran and Mets went to the World Series.

How do I know this happened? Simple, Walter Bishop said so. Who the hell is Walter Bishop right? Well to those of us who gather around the flat screens every Friday night at 9pm, you know that Walter Bishop is father to Peter Bishop on the FOX television series Fringe.  Walter Bishop is a scientist du-jour, capable of explaining Quantum Mechanics to a 6 year old to whipping up the perfect strawberry milk shake from his genetically engineered cow, Gene, who by the way in one episode, had transferred into him, the “soul” of his friend and fellow scientist William Bell, played by Leonard Nimoy. Fascinating.

I know it sounds crazy but the show’s main premise is that there are “multiverses”; multiple universes that exist just as our very own universe exists with doubles of you and I and everyone in them, all going in there own different directions simultaneously. In the world opposite of Walter Bishop and our universe, many differences exist.  Everything from President Kennedy marking his 97th birthday – safe from our timeline’s morbid fate – to the Statue of Liberty representing the Department of Defense, stand out as obvious differences. There’s even the somber notion that in the alternate universe, the White House was the main target and destroyed on 9-11, sparing the World Trade Center.

This theory of multiple universes isn’t all that Hollywood-esque. In fact Albert Einstein while formulating his Theory of Relativity postulated the existence of parallel universes as has physicist Stephen Hawking. So if those guys say it’s possible, well hot damn somewhere someone in a parallel universe is celebrating Felix Millan’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

So it got me thinking; what if? What if in some topsy-turvy world, the woes we have felt as Mets fans never existed? Imagine it. Darryl and Doc went on to win another World Series, avoiding their personal demons. What if the Midnight Massacre never took place?  It’s such a tempting and seductive thought considering where the team and we as fans stand today. Hell, imagine no Bernie Madoff. Or perhaps imagine a Bernie Madoff that was perhaps legit?

Yes, it’s admittedly hyper-nostalgic if bordering on sad to have these “what if” type dreams. Considering that every so-called expert has the Mets barely outplaying the Chula Vista Little League champs this year, a little harmless indulgence never hurt anyone.  Every now and again, we need to realize that as fans, this is just a game and hardly life or death issues. The exception of course – the desire many have to see Bernie Madoff strung up by his soap on a rope in prison. Even the Almighty would probably turn a blind eye to that.

Let us dream shall we?

February 22nd 2007 – Port St. Lucie, Florida

Pedro Martinez arrived at Thomas J. White stadium slim, trim and poised to return to form. After the Mets lost the 2006 World Series to the Detroit Tigers in seven games, Martinez whose season was cut short due to a calf strain and a minor rotator cuff pull walked into manager Willie Randolph’s office with a clean bill of health. He was determined to reclaim his status as staff ace.  General Manager Omar Minaya, emboldened by his teams’ World Series appearance and his brand new 3 year $15 million dollar extension, making him the highest paid GM in all of baseball, was given more than just wider latitude by team owner Fred Wilpon. He was also given an additional $40 million in payroll, topping out at a league high $141 million.  Minaya spent $15 million of that on Alfonso Soriano who will take his potent bat, but suspect glove to second base at Shea. Also coming into the fold will be 6 time All-Star Kenny Lofton. The 40 year old will shift over to left field to accommodate Beltran and according to Minaya will provide speed at the top of the lineup along with Reyes.

Joining them would be former Houston Astro and Yankee Andy Pettite, who signed a 2-year contract with the Mets. Minaya was quoted by ESPN’s Peter Gammons saying, ‘We needed to add depth and protection to our rotation. Not having Pedro for us during the World Series was definitely a liability. Adding a player like Andy Pettite addresses our needs both during and post season. So with that said, signing Andy was necessary.”  The well-seasoned trio of Martinez, Glavine and Pettite proved father time wrong in 2007 as all three went on to pitch over 200 innings each and winning 46 games.

Another anachronism to the aging process was Shawn Green, who was acquired late last year from Arizona. Nary a fan in his right mind expected Shawn Green to revert to his borderline superstar self yet in 2007, Green did just that. Leading the team in RBI with 110, Green along with Wright, Beltran and Delgado, provided more than enough punch as the team scored an unprecedented 980 runs.

July 4th 2007 – 6 days until the All-Star game in San Francisco

As the 2007 season moved along the team announced that the naming rights negotiations to the new stadium being constructed directly across from Shea Stadium had been finalized. The final decision on naming rights came down to offers given by Citigroup and Apple Incorporated, with Apple winning the rights with an offer to pay the team $40 million per year for the next 20 years.  Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs along with New York Mets owner and CEO Fred Wilpon and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to members of the press in front of the partially constructed stadium which is being dubbed “The Big Apple”. Construction should be completed by 2010.

By the All-Star break the Mets were comfortably 12 games ahead of the drifting Atlanta Braves. The Braves having lost 3rd baseman Chipper Jones for the remainder of the season with a torn hamstring found themselves the main topic of more than just Baseball news.  Braves team owner Ted Turner, along with thousands of others, were found to be victims of a vast Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, who bilked hundreds of millions from his unsuspecting clients.

The misfortune of the Braves along with the success of the Mets, helped to bring about a 2 year extension for manager Willie Randolph, through to the 2010 season. And by seasons end, the Mets were sitting once again on top of the NL East, winning 99 games, 17 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves.

October 15th 2007 – The 2007 Postseason begins

Having run rough shot through the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks, sweeping both teams in the Divisional and National League Championship series, the Mets were led by the starting pitching of Martinez, Glavine and Pettite. The three combined for 5 of the 7 wins with Martinez and Pettite winning 2 games each.

“What was even more impressive was their focus under pressure and their ability to give us strong innings. The fact that they (Martinez, Glavine and Pettite) all went deep into the games (each averaged 7 innings per start) was huge, absolutely huge. Well beyond what any of us expected or hoped especially from Pedro.” said a champagne soaked Mets pitching coach Ron Darling as he made room for Commissioner Selig who presented Martinez with the NLCS MVP. Martinez pitched 14 innings allowing only 1 run in his two winning starts.

Leading the team offensively came from two truly unlikely sources. 40 year old veteran Kenny Lofton hit .428 with 2 homeruns and 2 stolen bases, both coming in game 4 of the NLCS and Jose Reyes, who hit .447 with an NLCS record 10 stolen bases. On the downside, Reyes pulled his right hamstring in game 4 after recording his 10th stolen base and had to be carried off the field with the help of manager Willie Randolph and David Wright.  The Shea crowd, swelled in the energy of a World Series birth, sat stunned as their catalyst’s season and World Series was now in jeopardy. But would that include the 2007 Amazin’s?

To be continued…

First, I’m going to lay down the basics. I’m not a member of the Omar Minaya is the anti-Christ camp or Sandy Alderson is a demi-God amongst us mere peons camp or any camp if at that. I want, as I hope most fans want, to once again be in the winning camp. I don’t necessarily subscribe to a particular ideology such as Sabermetrics, but that doesn’t mean I’m adverse to the organization using every tool it can to find and classify talent.

I’m not tied at the hip or obsessed with one or two particular statistics. I still believe in the power of a good, experienced scout with a discerning eye for talent. Those worlds must co-exist in order to remain competitive; regardless the size of the market the team is in.

Recently Sandy Alderson made some comments – which of course some regarded as controversial – regarding next year’s potential payroll saying essentially that it will be between $100 to $110 million dollars. This year’s payroll of $145 million includes the $18 million owed to the combined contracts of Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez and the $18 million owed to Carlos Beltran.

On the face of it, hearing that probably leaves little wiggle room to re-sign Jose Reyes, fix the bullpen and any of the remaining issues with this team.

What I’d love to know is has anyone taken into account that Alderson doesn’t have to or better yet shouldn’t reveal what the team is or isn’t willing to spend next year, especially considering that Reyes is a free agent?

Saying the team is willing to spend for argument sake, $200 million, would only make Reyes and just about any agent salivate and rightfully so. There’s an art to negotiating. If you’ve bought any big ticket items such as a car or a home, you’d know what I’m saying.

Would you go into a dealership and tell the car dealer that you’re a millionaire with almost unlimited resources? Would you then expect the dealer to offer you the most affordable deal possible? Alderson has to balance keeping the fan base from losing faith along with keeping ownerships’ true maximum limits close to the hip.

It just annoys me that each time anyone in the organization speaks, talk radio and the blogosphere, cherry picks what they want to hear or what fits their pre-conceived ideas or agenda.

Other than hopefully resigning Jose Reyes to a competitive offer – somewhere between $14 to $18 million a year for 5 years with perhaps a mutual option – the crop of free agents next year is woefully bleak.

I find it laughable that fans who love to insinuate that Alderson’s supporters treat him like a god yet it’s his vehement detractors who are the one’s that apparently want to see him turn water into wine with the coming class of free agents.

Let’s break this down. You’re Sandy Alderson. You have to re-tool the Mets. You inherited a .500 team so obviously you’re one or two moves away from reaching the promised land. Sound foolish yet? No? Well here is where it gets real fun. Here is the talent pool you get to dive in. First let’s consider for argument sake that there are a few positions we can pass on that are set for 2012.

First and third base are set. Hopefully short. Thole will be back. Bay and Duda seem to be the two outfielders guaranteed to be back next year, if for strikingly different reasons. The rotation should consist of Santana, Dickey, Gee, Niese and as much as it kills me to say, Pelfrey, even though there’s a chance Pelfrey may be non-tendered.

The bullpen is a hot mess with Beato and Parnell the most obvious candidates set to return. I can only envision Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy, Scott Hairston and Ruben Tejada returning to the bench. Where does all of this lead us? Well, I just mentioned 16 players out of a 25 man roster. Now who would you fill the rest of the roster out with from this list?

CATCHER

Rod Barajas (36)

Josh Bard (34)

Henry Blanco (40)

Ramon Castro (36)

Ryan Doumit (31) – $7.25MM club option for 2012, $8.25MM club option for ’13 with a $500K buyout

Ramon Hernandez (36)

Jason Kendall (38)

Gerald Laird (32)

Jose Molina (36)

Yadier Molina (29) – $7MM club option with a $750K buyout

Dioner Navarro (28)

Ivan Rodriguez (40)

Brian Schneider (35)

Kelly Shoppach (29) – $3.2MM club option with a $300K buyout

Chris Snyder (31) – $6.75MM club option with a $750K buyout

Matt Treanor (36)

Jason Varitek (40)

SECOND BASE

Alfredo Amezaga (34)

Clint Barmes (33)

Willie Bloomquist (34) – $1.1MM mutual option with a $150K buyout

Orlando Cabrera (37)

Robinson Cano (29) – $14MM club option with a $2MM buyout

Jamey Carroll (37)

Alex Cora (36)

Craig Counsell (41)

Mark Ellis (35)

Jerry Hairston Jr. (36)

Bill Hall (32) – $4MM mutual option with a $250K buyout

Aaron Hill (30) – $8MM club option for 2012 and $8MM club option for ’13

Omar Infante (30)

Kelly Johnson (30)

Adam Kennedy (36)

Felipe Lopez (32)

Jose Lopez (28)

Aaron Miles (35)

Brandon Phillips (31) – $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout

CENTERFIELD

Rick Ankiel (32)

Carlos Beltran (35)

Willie Bloomquist (34) – $1.1MM mutual option with a $150K buyout

Mike Cameron (39)

Coco Crisp (32)

David DeJesus (32)

Scott Hairston (32)

Andruw Jones (35)

Nate McLouth (30) – $10.65MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout

Corey Patterson (32)

Cody Ross (31)

Grady Sizemore (29) – $8.5MM club option with a $500K buyout

STARTING PITCHERS

Erik Bedard (33)

Mark Buehrle (33)

Chris Capuano (33)

Chris Carpenter (37) – $15MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Bruce Chen (35)

Bartolo Colon (39)

Aaron Cook (33) – $11MM mutual option with a $500K buyout

Kyle Davies (28)

Doug Davis (36)

Ryan Dempster (35) – $14MM player option, no buyout

Zach Duke (29) – $5.5MM club option with a $750K buyout

Jeff Francis (30)

Freddy Garcia (36)

Jon Garland (32) – $8MM club option with a $500K buyout

Aaron Harang (34) – $5MM mutual option with a $500K buyout

Rich Harden (30)

Livan Hernandez (37)

Hisashi Iwakuma (31)

Edwin Jackson (28)

Kenshin Kawakami (37)

Scott Kazmir (28) – $13.5MM club option with a $2.5MM buyout

Hiroki Kuroda (37)

Rodrigo Lopez (36)

Paul Maholm (30) – $9.75MM club option with a $750K buyout

Jason Marquis (33)

Kevin Millwood (37)

Sergio Mitre (31)

Roy Oswalt (34) – $16MM mutual option with a $2MM buyout

Brad Penny (34)

Oliver Perez (30)

Joel Pineiro (33)

C.C. Sabathia (31) – may opt out of remaining four years, $92MM

Javier Vazquez (35)

Adam Wainwright (30) – $10MM vesting option for ’12, $12MM for ’13

Tim Wakefield (45)

Chien-Ming Wang (32)

Brandon Webb (33)

Dontrelle Willis (30)

C.J. Wilson (31)

Chris Young (33)

CLOSERS

Heath Bell (34)

Jonathan Broxton (28)

Matt Capps (28)

Francisco Cordero (37) – $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Frank Francisco (32)

Brad Lidge (35) – $12.5MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout

Joe Nathan (37) – $12.5MM club option with a $2MM buyout

Jonathan Papelbon (31)

Jon Rauch (33) – $3.75MM club option with a $250K buyout

Francisco Rodriguez (30)

Rafael Soriano (32) – $11MM player option or a $1.5MM buyout

Jose Valverde (34) – $9MM club option, no buyout

RIGHT HANDED RELIEVERS

Luis Ayala (34)

Danys Baez (34)

Miguel Batista (41)

Shawn Camp (36)

Todd Coffey (31)

Juan Cruz (31)

Octavio Dotel (38) – $3.75MM club option with a $750K buyout

Chad Durbin (34)

Kyle Farnsworth (36) – $3.3MM club option with a $650K buyout

Jason Frasor (34) – $3.75MM club option

LaTroy Hawkins (37)

Aaron Heilman (33)

Ryota Igarashi (33)

Jason Isringhausen (39)

Scott Linebrink (35)

Mike MacDougal (35)

Ryan Madson (31)

Guillermo Mota (38)

Ramon Ortiz (39)

Micah Owings (29)

Vicente Padilla (34)

Joel Peralta (36)

Chad Qualls (33) – $6MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout

Jon Rauch (33) – $3.75MM club option with a $250K buyout

Fernando Rodney (35)

Takashi Saito (42)

Yoshinori Tateyama (36) – $1MM club option

Dan Wheeler (34) – $3MM club option with no buyout; vests with 65 appearances in 2011

Kerry Wood (35)

Jamey Wright (37)

Michael Wuertz (33) – $3.25MM club option with a $250K buyout

Joel Zumaya (27)

LEFT HANDED RELIEVERS

Jeremy Affeldt (33) – $5MM club option with a $500K buyout

Tim Byrdak (38)

Mike Gonzalez (34)

John Grabow (33)

Javier Lopez (34)

Damaso Marte (37) – $4MM club option with a $250K buyout

Hideki Okajima (36) – can opt for free agency

Darren Oliver (41)

Arthur Rhodes (41) – $4MM club option with a $200K buyout; vests with 62 appearances

J.C. Romero (36)

George Sherrill (35)

Brian Tallet (34)

Now I know some of you out there think that the Mets can retool via the free agent pool alone. But seriously, look at the age and price of most of the players out there. You’re either going to have to pay a premium for older veterans and take a huge risk on them physically breaking down or scrape from the bottom of the barrel. At some point, whether you replace Rod Barajas with Ronny Paulino with a Ramon Hernandez, you’re simply shuffling the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

I’m not against Alderson spending the Wilpon’s money but on who, how long and for what reason are the three questions I would ask. Ask yourself as a logical Met fan. Put aside the conspiracy theories, the personalities, whatever pre-conceived view you have of the Wilpons and Alderson and think of what will help this team in the short and long term.

Don’t tell me how Alderson is the Anti-Christ or Omar was really a god. Tell me with that list of names, who in there will take the Mets to the next level and move this team from a .500 ballclub at its best, to an actual contender?

This contribution was borne out of several discussion this offseason in our MMO chat room in which many have heaped praise on Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi for their player evaluation skills and success in the draft, while knocking the Mets farm system and the player evaluation skills of Omar Minaya.

I wanted to compare the three as fairly as I possibly could, and I thought the best way to do that would be to start at 2000 and look at the the top ten draft picks for all three GM’s or Assistant GM’s up until 2008. I chose to stop at 2008 because it’s still too early to evaluate the last two Amateur Drafts of 2009 and 2010.

I’m not happy with how some are choosing to portray Minaya in a poor light when it comes to player evaluation. You want to say he was a bad GM, that’s your prerogative, but in my opinion he was on his way to being a great GM until 2006 happened. That one post season took him off course and he steered the Mets right off the map of his original well conceived master plan for the franchise. He should have stayed true to himself and his five year plan.

Minaya has always been and still is a great evaluator of talent. Too many have forgotten that one of the reasons Minaya was hired in the first place was because of his eye for talent — he scouted and signed several star players including Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzalez and Jose Reyes. He was also the Assistant GM when the Mets drafted David Wright, a fact too many forget.

I gave Ricciardi and DePodesta credit for their time as Assistant GM’s with Oakland just so we could look at a good long body of work

I also decided to leave out the glory years for Minaya where he was responsible for the success stories I already mentioned. Basically, I wanted to keep it fair, but also as current as possible.

So let’s see how all three of these executives fared in nine years worth of draft data. Keep in mind that I will also point out instances where a player who was selected may have been flipped or traded for another player because that’s all part of the game too. Click the following image for the full version of their draft records from 2000-2008 or click here.

 Year By Year Draft Summary

2000

DePodesta and Ricciardi can’t boast much success with this draft. Only two players even made it to the Major Leagues; Freddie Bynum .234 BA, and Marcus Gwyn 11.81 ERA. Omar Minaya on the other hand, netted six major leaguers in the first ten rounds, none however were star caliber players, but in this analysis there is strength in numbers.

Edge: Omar Minaya

2001

The Dynamic Duo fared much better in 2001 with seven players reaching the majors, three of them stuck around for more than a couple of years. Bobby Crosby won the Rookie of the Year with a .239 AVG and 141 K’s, but never reached such lofty numbers again because he was rendered a part time player the rest of his career. Jeremy Bonderman was also drafted in the first round, but was traded after as the player to be named later in a deal to acquire pitcher Ted Lilly. Lilly would only play one full season for the A’s before hitting free agency. Other guys who made it to the majors included Neal Cotts and Dan Johnson. Nobody from this 2001 haul is currently an active major leaguer.

Omar Minaya hit the jackpot in 2001 when the Mets selected perennial all star third baseman David Wright, and relief pitcher Aaron Heilman. Both are still gainfully employed. Third rounder Lenny DiNardo also made it to the majors and actually ended up pitching three seasons for, you guessed it, the Oakland A’s.

Edge: Omar Minaya by a landslide.

2002

Ricciardi is now running the show for the Blue Jays and four of his ten picks made it to The Show, the best of them being pitcher Dave Bush. However Bush was traded to the Brewers for Lyle Overbay before he got his feet wet as a Blue Jay. Ironically, the only other player he selected who had a few years in the Bigs was Russ Adams. Yes the same Russ Adams who officially retired as a Mets minor leaguer yesterday.

Depo had seven first round picks! Of those seven, notables included Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton and Mark Teahen. Swisher and Blanton are solid and have had some good seasons, Teahen not so much, but he was a part of the deal that sent Carlos Beltran to the Astros. The other eight rounds weren’t as fruitful.

Omar is now in Montreal working for MLB and being a caretaker for the cash-strapped Expos. Not being able to go over slot really hurt, and only Mike O’Connor is still around and was recently called up by the Mets.

Edge: Paul DePodesta

2003

Two years ago I would have told you I loved Aaron Hill, but he’s looking more and more like a one-year wonder for Ricciardi who selected him in the first round. However, Shawn Marcum was a nice find for J.P. in the third, but is now having a stellar start to the season for the Brewers. This was Depo’s last hurrah with Oakland and the one and only  player from this draft class to crack the major leagues for good was Andre Ethier, who would be traded 18 months later for Milton Bradley before he ever got at-bat with the A’s. Meanwhile, 2005 All Star and saves leader Chad Cordero racked up 20 wins, 128 saves, a 2.18 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP for Omar and his Expos before disaster struck and Cordero was felled by arm injuries.

Edge: Tied between Paul DePodesta and Omar Minaya 

2004

J.P. Ricciardi found himself a decent power hitting first baseman in the third round in Adam Lind, but that’s about all that came out of it for the Jays. The Dodgers were able to get utility infielder Blake Dewitt in this draft, but again nothing else to get excited about. Depo’s best pick was in the 19th round when he selected a 17 year old left-hander from Tennessee, but the kid decided he wanted to go to college. He resurfaced 4 years later when the Rays selected him with the number one overall pick. His name? David Price. Sorry Paul, you only get credit for those you sign. Omar probably couldn’t wait to get out of dodge in Montreal and his draft produced a few major leaguers in Ian Desmond, Collin Balester and Billy Bray, or in other words a whole lot of nothing.

Edge: J.P. Ricciardi

2005

I love Rickey Romero, who Ricciardi took in the first round. He’s a solid left-hander who had a good season last year and seems to be building on it this season. He’s racked up 67 starts for the Jays with a 3.90 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. So far, none of the other top ten rounds have yielded any major leaguers. DePodesta drafted Luke Hochevar with his first pick, but alas he snubbed the Dodgers for the second time and didn’t sign. But have hope Dodger fans, his second pick that year was Ivan DeJesus who is getting his cup of coffee as we speak and is batting a non robust .179 with a .320 OPS. Third baseman Josh Bell also got a cup of coffee in 2010, but the Dodgers decided they saw enough and he wasn’t invited back for the 2011 season after an ugly .214 AVG and .525 OPS. The Mets didn’t strike gold in 2006, but they did fare better than the Dodgers and Blue Jays garnering two-fifths of their starting rotation with Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese, a hard throwing reliever in Bobby Parnell, their starting catcher Josh Thole, and even Pedro Beato was selected, but didn’t sign.

Edge: Omar Minaya

2006

The Blue Jays selected Travis Snyder with their top pick in 2006, the only player from their draft to make it to the majors. Snyder is still getting regular time as the Blue Jays left-fielder, but if he don’t improve on his .184 BA and .540 OPS, he may soon find himself back in the thin air of Las Vegas where numbers tend to be bloated as we saw with Brad Emaus. DePodesta didn’t draft in 2006, having been curbed by the Dodgers before the start of the season. As for Omar and the Mets, it’s a little complicated… You see, the Mets didn’t have a first round pick this year, but they did select Kevin Mulvey in the second round. So what right? Wrong, Mulvey was the jewel to the package that landed the Mets Johan Santana. The Mets also reaped an Irish lad by the name of Murphy who now lays claim to the second base job. Joe Smith who was the Mets second pick is carving out a nice career as a reliever for the Cleveland Indians.

Edge: Omar Minaya

2007

The Blue Jays did very well in selecting Brett Cecil who has become one of the key starters in their rotation and won 15 games in 2009, had a solid season in 2010, and is on his way to a good season this year. They also got a starting catcher out of the deal as well. Not much to brag about for Minaya or DePodesta in this draft, neither have anyone worth mentioning.

Edge: J.P. Ricciardi

2008

Depo is still waiting for someone to get to the majors from this draft class. His first pick was Allan Dykstra who was still struggling in Single-A when the Padres finally gave up on him and traded him to the Mets last month for Eddie Kunz. Dykstra has a 30% strikeout rate and a .234 professional batting average. The Mets front office, where Depo now resides, decided that Dykstra was worthy of a promotion so he now flails in Binghamton, where they could use a stiff breeze this time of the year. Ricciardi hasn’t had any major leaguers come out of this draft class either. In 2008, the Blue Jays had the #17 pick in the draft and they selected David Cooper. You know him right? He’s the player that was selected right before the Mets took… Ike Davis. Oh yeah, Omar Minaya hit pay-dirt in 2008 and the Mets have been reaping the benefits of this draft for well over a year now and may have even found themselves a core player who may supplant the chosen one, David Wright. In addition to Ike Davis, the Mets have a few other highly regarded prospects on the way in Reese Havens, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Brad Holt.

Edge: Omar Minaya

The Tale Of The Tape

Omar Minaya: 5 W – 3 L – 1 T

J.P. Ricciardi: 2 W – 6 L – 0 T

Paul DePodesta: 1 W – 7 L – 1 T

Final Thoughts

According to my scorecard, Omar Minaya blew away the field. In the final analysis, Omar Minaya drafted more Major League players than J.P. Ricciardi and Paul DePodesta combined since 2000. Omar Minaya has netted twice as many All Star players as Depo and J.P. combined. The mythology that prevails in the MMO Chat Room is just that, mythology. The new guys are not better talent evaluators than Omar Minaya and never have been. Maybe some day they may match the accomplishments of Omar Minaya, but we won’t know that until they first have at least 4-5 successful drafts. The Draft Record is there for you to see for yourself.

This Fan Post was written by and contributed by Met Maniac.

Bay much like David Wright suffered a loss of power in his first year playing in the ridiculously big ballpark that is Citi Field. It’s important to note though that Bay’s numbers at home were better than his numbers on the road:

Those splits are courtesy of Baseball Reference.

Now there’s no denying that Bay numbers at Citi were better across the board except for home-runs.

Now if Bay can’t adjust to Citi Field and has another year in which he hits less than 30 home-runs something needs to be done about the ridiculous dimensions of Citi Field. Making the park smaller would not only help Jason Bay in 2012 it will help the New York Mets in the future. Players who make their livings based on their power numbers have to be hesitant to play 81 games in Citi Field after seeing how Wright and Bay have struggled. It’s hard enough these days attracting free agents to the Mets, their ballpark shouldn’t be another obstacle.

There was 1 at bat last year that Jason Bay had that has been stuck in my head. Bay hit a ball pretty hard, it looked like it was going to be a home run but instead it was only a very long double. Bay’s face as he went to second told the story; he couldn’t believe that ball didn’t leave the park. I believe that the park was indeed in Bay’s head and he altered his swing to accommodate for the size, which hurt his power.

Hopefully Bay will rebound this year but if he doesn’t and the power is still nowhere to be found he might be the one player who decides the future of Citi Field

If the latter thought tags me as an optimist, then consider my glass half-full (but bartender, please keep the refills comin’).  Yet, the dialogue has continued into the organization’s past, present and future.  Present times it’s easy: the Mets are going on hungrier talent from within, plus a few reclamation projects with some upside and an intact core of talent that’s getting older (but on good days we can see why they were once the Children of our Future).  The future we see in fuzzier terms.  The new brass has a plan and while able to listen to the rumblings of fans in the current construct, they are willing to take a more patient approach in internal growing.  As for the past, well, it’s evident in seeing David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, among others.  But we know after this season, one of those three will still certainly be a Met…

This brings me to a cycle of abuse that the Mets have had historically, not just in the free-spending Omar Minaya administration, but even dating back to the M. Donald Grant days.  Couple that with since basically the Joe McIlvaine days (which in baseball parlance, lasted about 15 minutes), there hasn’t been a steady draft or even a drafting plan.  It’s a double-edged sword, building one’s team.  If one chooses to do the free agent route, one has to part with many first round draft picks and harbor questions about future performance.  If you go the prospect route, some of them might not pan out, but can be used as bargaining chips to solidify teams that are one or two pieces away from it all.

If you’ve read the Maple Street Press Mets Annual 2011, two pieces addressed these very issues.  Jon Springer, of Mets by the Numbers fame, wrote a piece on the Mets history of free agency dealings titled “I’ll Buy That For A Dollar,” while Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League blog wrote a piece on the last draft that Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and JP Ricciardi are working around called “Back Draft: Same Old Song in the Last Minaya Draft.”  By the way, if you haven’t read the MSP Mets Annual, well…why haven’t you?

Springer lays the foundation for the Mets history of free agency, starting mostly in the M. Donald Grant era, which famously lost two superstars in Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman to begin with, then set off a chain of events that kept the Mets from not only being uncompetitive, but being basically rock bottom in anything.  The idea, Grant suggested, is that “we’re sportsmen — we’re not in it for the money,” until, Springer relates, money got involved.  Grant went on to say that by not going after high-profile free agents that he was keeping costs low and visiting the ballpark as a cost that was within reach.  This in and of itself was a double-edged sword.  If he wasn’t putting money into the team, why should the fans?  We see some of that now, except prices are high for free-spending at CitiField these days, but with absolutely nothing to show for it except for some guys who are still being paid to potentially play for other teams.

However, it wasn’t for lack of trying.  In a twist of fate, they showed interest in Gary Matthews, Sr. (you may remember his son, who had a bloated free agent contract himself with the Angels), but was about $750K less than what he eventually signed for.  You see, we did show interest, we felt we gave him a fair offer but it was trumped.  However, how much of it was a low-balling-let’s-hope-he-really-doesn’t-take-it offer?

Even Frank Cashen’s days weren’t without free agent drama.  For a General Manager who was revered as a visionary in his time, and is even a charter member of the Mets Hall of Fame, his luck with free agents wasn’t all that great.  Take for instance losing out on the Dave Winfield sweepstakes, who went to cross-town rivals the Yankees, and settling for George Foster instead.  This appears to be a common thread in Mets lore.  Even though Minaya didn’t show interest or visibly anyway, settling for Jason Bay who was the “second best guy” in the free agent pool in the going-into-2010-season, after Matt Holliday.  It’s tough to judge who might have been the better signing, but that’s neither here nor there.  The point is, the Mets have had to settle for “sloppy seconds” in the free agency pools.  How much of it was perception of playing with the Mets (did anyone truly prefer playing in Queens as opposed to the Bronx or anywhere else for that matter?) or was it that they truly felt they were giving what they thought was fair market value and allowed FAs to walk out?

Springer even relates how the Mets lost out on Darryl Strawberry going into 1991 as a free agent.  After negotiations went south with a contract extension, Cashen panicked and had to instead give extra money to Vince Coleman.  A few firecrackers later, we know how that one turned out.  Here’s the thing though: if Cashen maybe was a little more serious about keeping Strawberry, perhaps not lowball him (even though Straw made it clear he’d wanted to play for his hometown team, the Dodgers).  Overall, this attitude seems to be one that pervades even more recent teams.  Let’s overpay the guy we didn’t really want just to say we got him.

Like I said, a cycle of crash and burn that ended with the release of Castillo and Perez.

Springer did a good job of intermingling the drafts in between those times.  Cashen was gifted in that he was able to trade off some valuable pieces he inherited for value (take for instance his deal that sent fan favorite Lee Mazzilli to the Texas Rangers for Walt Terrell – who in turn ended up into Howard Johnson — and Ronnie Darling, whom we still hear today).  Creativity is something that had to come into play, but if a General Manager lacked that acumen, it meant trouble.  Not saying that only happens to the Mets, but we follow them so closely, it does hit close to home.

The idea is that in the last few years, the farm system is a little middle-of-the-road, too MOTR for Alderson’s liking as he’s said, which is how Toby Hyde starts his discussion with “Development is Job One.”   It’s a misnomer that big market teams should spend big; they should also develop big to use as bargaining chips or to have them become superstars after development.  It’s clear after reading Hyde’s piece that the Mets system isn’t neglected nor barren: it just needs some structure.

Which leads into the “Back Draft” piece.  An issue that seems to pervade the front office thinking is that there is a strict adherence to the slotting guidelines set forth by the Commisioner.  I think this is something that needs to change, personally, and perhaps we will see these changes with this so-called executive dream team.  However, the last draft was indicative of previous Minaya drafts: “parallels continued into specific picks” according to Hyde.  Minaya liked to collect arms; I guess one could argue there is no such thing as too much pitching, but on the other hand, it doesn’t give a lot of diversification in building around a core unit.  The good news is that there is some bona fide talent in the system such as Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Cory Vaughn and Matt den Denker.  The bad news, if you can even call it that, it will take a few years before they are truly “ready.”  Perhaps Nieuwenhuis is the closest, according to Hyde’s estimates.

These two, actually three, articles jumped out at me because we’ve discussed this ad nauseum on the boards here at Metsmerized Online, and even in person when I get together to discuss Mets baseball with other fans.  The free agency cycle for the Mets has caused horrific crashing and burning that we’ve had to sit through and deal with, while the farm system lays barren that was mostly done to keep progress of winning teams going.

It backfired.  We’ve seen more bad than good come out of that.  I think it’s high time to try another route, one that won’t cause these dramatic peaks and valleys that make me write 1500 word posts.  In any event, ESPN came out with a piece on how the Mets are paying their dumped players the most.  Along with all the other poor contracts they got out of in the early 2000s, it’s evident that the cycle needs to end.  Period.

In the meantime, I highly suggest reading the Maple Street Press.  If I can get this much out of it, imagine what you can!

Updated 3/20 1:00 PM

Oliver Perez left the Mets complex this morning and was not told what was next for him, according to Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal. Costa also says that we should expect a decision by Monday.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen said this morning that no decision has been reached yet on Perez, but there will be a meeting of the minds with Terry Colllins and Sandy Alderson on Monday.  – JD

Original Post 3/19 10:00 PM

Yesterday many Mets fans received the 4 words we’ve been praying for. METS CUT LUIS CASTILLO. How can life get better? Oh wait that’s right Oliver Perez still exists. So Sandy, your supposed to be this Anti-Omar, wizard of a GM. Why is Oliver Perez still on the team? Well if Sandy had any last thoughts on the matter, they have likely faded away after today’s performance.

Oliver Perez’s line vs. Nationals today – .2 IP..3 hits..2 ER..1 BB..and a big fat 8.38 ERA for the spring.

I’m sure someone is erasing Oliver Perez’s name from his Digital Domain parking spot as we speak. Likely by tomorrow the news will come down from upper management to go ahead and do the inevitable – Cut Ollie Perez. Sadly this is the best moment Mets fans like I have had to enjoy in awhile. But the facts were plain and simple. Oliver Perez is not worth a roster spot.

My guess was the Mets were only keeping him around for the chance he could be Terry Collin’s desired Long Reliever/2nd Lefty. Similar to Hisanori Takahashi last season except his name is Oliver Perez. The experiment is clearly not working.

Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel, the last 2 managers of the Mets ran their teams much like this. They would let the player decide things instead of managing the player and doing what was best for the team. I’m surprised that he would let a player decide where he would play. Everything we’ve heard about Collins is that he’s a take charge manager, the opposite of Willie and Jerry. In a perfect world it would be nice if Beltran would go to Collins and admit his days in center are done but we don’t live in a perfect world. Collins needs to do the job he was hired to do and manage the team. We’ve seen what happens when the manager does not have the control to do this.

What doesn’t surprise me is that Oliver Perez might have been given a guarantee that he’ll make the team regardless of his performance this Spring.  I knew Alderson would never allow a player making that much money to be released, regardless if his performance is not going to help the team. I understand wanting to get some value from Perez who is making 12 million dollars this season but this makes no sense. Sometimes you have to go against your “moneyball” philosophies and realize a player is just a lost cause.  I don’t understand the logic of having Perez occupy a roster spot again this year.  It’s not like the Mets are a team that can win with a 24 man roster, they need all the able players they can get to be productive.  I would much rather see a young pitcher like Gee who is hungry and wants to help this team win, make the team instead of Perez who twice refused to accept a minor league deal so he can rack up service time.

I understand Alderson and Collins inherited an aging Beltran and an awful Perez but they could do things differently than the past regimes.  The whole reason the Mets got rid of Omar and Jerry was because the way they were running the team was not working.  I don’t understand why Collins and Alderson are doing the same thing.  Hopefully they’ll learn from history otherwise we’re doomed to repeat it.

It seems our step brothers over at Evil Empire Inc., who were spurned by Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford this winter, have settled on the idea that what they REALLY needed all along was a 12 million dollar set-up man for Mariano Rivera.

Matthews begins his article with the assumption that the Yankees have pretty much sewn up the American League East with Soriano’s signing. He also goes on to say that we could score this off-season in favor of the Yankees.

I’m not sure what vacuum Wallace Matthews is living in but I’m pretty sure when he ventures beyond its protective dome he has to spend at least 8 hours in a decompression chamber.  Ok, we’re going to allow Matthews his winter in Wonderland just as long as he gives Alice her space.

I tried my best to not give his article that much credence considering it’s rooted in fantasy but it was just too ripe with nonsense to turn away from. He equates that with Crawford and Soriano now formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays, they will no longer haunt the Yankees and somehow that in and of itself translates into a division title for the Bombers. I guess when Matthews fell through the cosmic bunny hole and bumped his head he forgot the current state of the Yankees starting rotation in the coming season.

Not to mention how the Red Sox did an extreme makeover Basthun style with the additions of Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Bobby Jenks. Also you can consider the Yankees have to rely on Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre and the consistently inconsistent A.J. Burnett in the rotation; it pretty much makes the Soriano acquisition a bit moot, no?

Now I know as a Met fan I must have a lot of nerve considering Sandy Alderson is trying to refit his rotation with silly putty and Elmer’s glue. The thing is neither Alderson nor I or most sane thinking Met fans happen to live in the same ethereal magic world the Yankees have a set footing in.

Wallace mentioned the Yankee situation as a “roster problem”; you think?  So I assume he believes the importance of having Soriano outweighs having a reliable starter, especially if Andy Pettite retires. 

Don’t get me wrong, Soriano is a solid pitcher. He’s had success in the AL and the NL, both as a closer and set-up man but the only thing that keeps running through my mind is J.J. Putz. Soriano is clearly a better pitcher than Putz, I give him that without question. But Matthews believes that the Yankee pitchers need only go 6 innings now and somehow magically Soriano and the aging Mariano Rivera will front the load after that.  Good luck with that slick.

Didn’t Omar Minaya go down this road when he helped to orchestrate the three team deal that created the Wonder Twins of Flushing in J.J. Putz with Frankie Rodriguez?  That worked out perfectly.  Maybe I’m getting old and my memory is shot but didn’t the Mets also have rotation issues that SHOULD have been addressed that year, in spite of the bullpen issues that also existed?

I guess I’m a bit old school because I’m not one of those who believe having a great bullpen makes up for the lack of a starting rotation. It may alleviate some issues but in the end I’d rather have 7 strong innings from a good starter than burn through four or five arms game in game out. 

Why do I keep getting the feeling that signing Soriano, a type-A free agent which will cost the Yankees their first round pick this coming year, was predicated as compensation for losing out on the slew of other premium names this winter? Sure Soriano COULD eventually become Rivera’s heir to the closers throne in two years, making Soriano around 34 years old. He’s not exactly a spring chicken and the last I knew, he doesn’t share in Rivera’s DNA which must have been formed from the waters of the Fountain of Youth.

Once again the Yankees have set precedence in MLB, forever altering the way teams have to pay set-up men. This is just the type of overpaying Minaya was notorious for but is easily absorbed and hidden by the behemoth that is the New York Yankees payroll. While it’s admirable that Cashman wants to improve his bullpen, one questions at what cost to his rotation, financially and to his organization’s future?  As a Met fan we can all say, so who cares, and I agree, who cares?  But the same people who would say who cares I guarantee you are the ones who would say Sandy should’ve spent 15 million to sign Soriano.  It’s insane. 

Hopefully for Brian Cashman’s sake the signing of Rafael Soriano won’t end up nearly as bad as Omar Minaya’s J.J. Putz deal. It certainly doesn’t seem he’s learned from Minaya’s mistakes. If not, there may be no mountain tall enough for Cashman to avoid his fanbase and repel from.

Now that Alderson has hired his front office and has his manager he can start paying more attention to the players.  As far as I can see Alderson has 3 options in regards to Oliver Perez.

• He can just cut ties with Oliver Perez and pay him his 12 million dollars.
• Let Ollie come to Spring Training.  Discuss with Terry Collins what role they think Ollie fits into, be it a lefty specialists, long relief or as a starter.  See how Ollie performs after getting all his work in Spring Training.  If Perez is still awful tell him that he can either accept a minor league assignment, work on what needs fixing and work your way back to the majors.  If he doesn’t accept that then just release him.
• Let him sit in the bullpen like last year, occupying a roster spot.

Option one makes no sense to me.  The Mets are going to have to pay him 12 million, no sense in cutting him before Spring Training ends.  Option 3 is also something that would be very foolish.  The Mets as they are constructed right now cannot afford to be one man short on their roster the entire year.  The only option that makes sense is option two.  I know Perez’s numbers in winter ball are underwhelming to say the least but I don’t put too much stock into winter ball numbers.  I want to see how Perez performs in Spring Training against major league talent.

I believe that Perez most likely will not be on the opening day roster.  For the last two years Perez has shown that he’s unwilling to take the minor league assignment and I cannot believe that Alderson and Collins will allow Perez to occupy a much needed roster spot.  That’s how the old administration worked, this is a new front office with a new manager, and they need to show that the old way of doing things is over.

When Omar Minaya was hired in 2004 I remember the Mets promising us that the organization was going to turn around.  They didn’t say anything about being a championship caliber team immediately.  They promised that the team would play better baseball and that it would take time to build this team back to a contender. 2005 was much better than 2004, the Mets were in the Wild Card race until the last week of the season and baseball was fun again in flushing.  The Mets promised to be more active in the free agent market, but Omar and the Mets also said that they were committed to building a solid farm system and would not rush their younger players like the club has done in the past.

2006 was a great year to be a Mets fan, at least until Beltran didn’t take the bat off his shoulder. It also changed the plan that the Mets came up with.  Suddenly the team was more in a win now period and was rushing prospects to the majors. The slow approach was out the window.  Look at players like Milledge and Pelfrey.  Both were rushed to the majors.

There’s no point going over Omar Minaya’s mistakes again, but I sincerely hope the team learned from them. What the next GM needs to do is come up with a plan and a vision and stick to it. Be honest with the fans like how Omar and the Mets were in 2004.  If 2011 is a great year, don’t stray too far from the original plan, you obviously made that plan because you thought it was the way to run the team.  Don’t promise a championship caliber team next season and then not deliver, that’s the absolute worst thing the new GM could do. We’re willing to be patient if that’s what it takes.

1) The Ballpark: Citi Field is just too big! I know we’ve been saying that for the last 2 seasons but the Wilpons refuse to bring in the fences.  All you look at what happened to David Wright in his the first season at Citi Field.  His power numbers were down and the last 2 seasons his strikeouts have been on the rise.  Wright’s power at Shea was to the right center.  Citi Field’s right center is about 45-50 feet deeper than Shea’s and it has affected Wright negatively.  Some called it a fluke but then look at Jason Bay’s horrific first season.  The park took away his power. Citi Field without a doubt robbed Bay realistically of 5 homeruns and probably more.  The great fence of Flushing needs to go down too while we’re at it.  It’s time to admit the size of this park was a mistake and change it.

2) Coaching Staff: The entire coaching staff needs to go.  Howard Johnson has been a horrible hitting coach.  The situational hitting since Hojo took over has been non-existent.  It seems like Hojo would rather be their friends than a coach.  I get it he’s an 86 Met and the Wilpons are reluctant to fire him.  The Mets should just give Hojo a job with a nice title and a good payday and let him go away.  Dan Warthen also needs to go.  I know the pitching was better than expected this season but I don’t like all the injuries to our pitchers under his reign as pitching coach.  I didn’t like that in 2009 he didn’t know about Johan’s latest injury and he didn’t know that Santana was skipping side sessions.  I also didn’t like him calling Maine a habitual liar to the press. That’s just something you don’t say.  Razor Shines just needs to go.  Chip Hale seems to be a decent to good coach but at the same time Ron Darling mentioned many times throughout the season that Hale had been working with Wright and changing his defense.  Wright’s defense this year was pretty bad. He committed 20 errors and at times was slow in turning a double play.

3) The 3 Poisons (Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo): Once the Mets finally do hire a general manager that GM (Alderson) must find a way to get these three off this team! Castillo is done, he can’t hit and he has absolutely no range at 2nd base.  Castillo brings nothing to the New York Mets, time to cut ties with him. Oliver Perez should not be on this team, he has done nothing for the Mets since signing that contract.  Perez cares more about himself than the team as he repeatedly refused to go to the minor leagues.  He didn’t win 1 game in 2010!  If you look at the way the Mets played before the all-star break and after the break there’s a huge difference.  Carlos Beltran decided to finally grace the team with his presence and was supposed to be the spark for this team but unfortunately did nothing other than make outs at the plate and miss balls hit to center on defense. Beltran refused to move over to right field to allow the better player Angle Pagan to play center and help the team.  Let’s not forget that these guys also refused to go visit wounded soldiers with the rest of their team.  These guys are not team players, they’re hurting this team and it’s time to get rid of them.

The new GM when he/she is finally hired has a lot of work to do and a lot changes to make.  Without these changes we can expect another losing season.

I’ve tried my very best to call upon the better angels to guide my thoughts on the recent firings of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel.  What seems to be becoming the yearly sideshow where the Wilpons are apologizing in some fashion for the Mets abject failures, I can finally say it’s taken its toll. Normally I’m a fairly positive person; a glass is half full type of guy, but after taking some time to dissect and digest what the Wilpons had to say, I’ve become more jaded than ever.

So, in honor of Omar Minaya, let me say, with that said, my apologies to those who feel we should take everything the Wilpons have said at face value. I unfortunately no longer have that benefit to offer them.

In one of his recent articles on MMO, Joe D made a great point when he illustrated the contentious fact that for some still unexplained reason, Oliver Perez was allowed to remain on the 25 man roster.  It also made me start to think.

Contrary to what so many of us thought, when the subject of Oliver Perez was raised by one of the beat writers, Jeff Wilpon said that Omar Minaya never once asked for permission to cut Perez or Castillo. “Not once.” – Joe D

Jeff Wilpon went on to say at the presser,

“There was never a time where there was a suggestion where they said, ‘Get rid of so-and-so and eat the contract.’ If that had been brought up, we would have taken it under advisement and spoken about it with. But that was never brought to us.” – Jeff Wilpon

I’m finding this difficult to believe, in spite of the general consensus regarding Omar Minaya’s tenure. Let’s just assume for a moment that this was a true statement and Minaya never did present the Wilpons with the option of eating Oliver Perez’ contract.

Why would Minaya compound on his foolish decision to sign Oliver Perez to a bloated contract, by continuing to keep him on the roster knowing fully well that he’s clearly no longer a major league capable pitcher?  Even the much maligned Jerry Manuel knew that, hence the rare times he actually used Perez.

Yes it was Perez’s right to refuse an assignment; that much we all know by now. It was also Minaya’s right, actually more like his duty, to field 25 contributing baseball players. We are told to believe that for some unknown reason, Minaya preferred to shortchange his team. Why? Was it the hope that Perez would wake up one morning and magically regain his 93 MPH fastball? Was it the money left on his contract? If so isn’t the primary role of a GM – my apologies for being redundant – to field 25 contributing ballplayers? Can someone answer that logically?

Minaya I’m sure at some point in the near future, would still like a job somewhere in Major League Baseball. Why would any team want to hire a former General Manager willing to handicap his team in such a manner?  It would be akin to a Scarlet Letter on his resume from here on out. All of this we are told to assume as fact – or at least that is what Jeff Wilpon stated in the Wilpon press conference.

I hate sounding conspiratorial and the last thing that interests me is controversy for the sake of controversy, but I like to think I still have some deductive reasoning brain cells left. I have yet to find an interview of Minaya where he explains his side of the story regarding keeping Perez on the roster.  It was never asked of him at his impromptu press conference the day of his firing, which interestingly enough took place BEFORE Jeff Wilpon said Minaya never offered the option to ownership to eat Perez’ contract. 

It would be interesting how he answers that question even more than the answer itself. Some will say who cares, Minaya is gone. True to an extent, but a few others in this drama remain and are doubtful to ever leave with one in particular who will have his finger on the next GM’s pulse. So the question remains and if there’s a legitimate answer, albeit perhaps a damning answer if that for Minaya, then so be it. Case closed.

Just keep this in mind, even though he’s been relieved of his duties, Omar Minaya is still under contract with the Mets for the next two years and like many contracts, many have morals clauses and moral clauses often have stipulations where one cannot publicly admonish their employers or face some sort of penalty (financial?).

Talk about being thrown under the bus. I hope I’m wrong, I really am but how many times have we been told to take people at face value over the last few years? It didn’t work out too well for those Weapons of Mass Destruction did it Mr. Bush? How’s that American Recovery and Reinvestment plan working out for you President Obama? I know totally different and truely weighty subjects but, I have a feeling you know what I’m trying to say.

I know this comes off like another trash the Wilpons piece. I have given them credit when it’s due especially when Fred Wilpon stoically and unceremoniously founded the Welcome Back Veterans program. A program that’s helped millions of Veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve also called them out when appropriate as well, especially Jeff Wilpon.

However, try to see this through Omar Minaya’s eyes.

Would YOU say something to contradict what your boss says about you if he’s essentially going to pay you a few million dollars over the next 2 years to do nothing? Especially if your contradiction nullifies the contract?  I guess that answer speaks wonders about all of us and not just Omar Minaya.

Reports have surfaced Omar Minaya’s better angels are booking a flight to Aruba as we speak.

Of course, this wasn’t even breaking news before it became official.  It was a foregone conclusion that the man famous for inserting the words “that being said” into every other sentence and the man known as Dead Manuel Walking were not going to retain their positions after the completion of the 2010 season.

The team had underachieved since the end of the 2006 season.  The players were performing below expectations and if there was camaraderie between the players, it wasn’t as evident as it should be with winning teams.

It is the general manager’s job to put the team together and the manager’s job to get them to perform between the white lines.

Omar did his best to put Los Mets together.  That being said, that also included offering contracts that were far too long to the ostracized Oliver “El Perez-idente” Perez and Luis “Squeam Queen” Castillo.  Other players that were signed for more years than they should have been were Orlando “The Dookie” Hernandez, Pedro “I Left My Fastball In Beantown” Martinez and Carlos Beltran (sorry, I like Don Carlos, so I won’t give him a demeaning nickname).  He also traded for fan-favorite, but now increasingly fragile Johan Santana.

Jerry Manuel was forced to manage an oft-injured group of ragtag players, a job that most managers would have difficulty doing, although a fellow Manuel (Charlie) had no problem doing that when his star players were dropping faster than Citi Field’s paid attendance figures.

Part of Charlie Manuel’s success with being able to survive his club’s injuries was that his GM, Ruben Amaro Jr., was able to provide him with the right players to fill in the holes left by the disabled players.

When Rip Van Winkle (Jamie Moyer) went down with an injury, Amaro swung a deal with the Astros for Roy Oswalt.  All four infielders for the Phillies (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco) were also hurt at some point of the season.  Amaro made sure each player had better than adequate replacements in Ross Gload, Ben Francisco and Wilson Valdez.  Those three players combined to hit .266 (170-for-640), which was higher than the team’s collective batting average (.260).

In those 640 at-bats, which are about the same amount an everyday player would collect over a full season, the trio collected 37 doubles, three triples, 16 HR and 85 RBI, while scoring 77 runs and going a perfect 16-for-16 in stolen bases.  They also excelled defensively, combining to make a total of four errors in 569 total chances.

While the Phillies didn’t miss a beat when one of their star players got hurt, what did Omar Minaya give us?  Either not yet ready for prime time players (Ruben Tejada, Jesus Feliciano, Lucas Duda) or players who fall into the “who dat” category, like Joaquin Arias.

A general manager is the head talent evaluator.  His job is to put together the best team possible so that his manager can put the best possible lineup on the field.  Unfortunately for Jerry Manuel, the best team possible was never THE BEST TEAM.  There were 25 guys, or 23½ as suggested by my colleague (The Coop) in her earlier post, but these guys were never a team.  Ruben Amaro has put together a team of guys in Philadelphia, not guys who were part of a team, like Omar Minaya put together in New York.

The new general manager has to realize that teams win games.  He has to give the manager not just the best individual players, but the guys who stand the best chance to become a cohesive unit that can all contribute to winning ballgames.  Twenty-five individuals don’t lead teams to championships, but one team of players can do that.

Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel had early success with the Mets because they had a team of guys.  Over the past few years, that team dissolved into a group of guys whose only common trait was the shirts on their backs.  The formula is simple:  Have team, will win.  If the new general manager can’t get the new manager a team of guys to work with, then they stand a good chance of being shown the same door that Omar and Jerry were last seen walking through.

I have come to the conclusion that 2006 was an accident.

Hi Mets fans, my name is The Coop, and I am a recovering Metsaholic, suffering from occasional bouts of Post-traumatic Mets Disorder.

Judging by the headlines of the last week, it was a foregone conclusion that Omar Minaya would no longer be with the Mets in the capacity of General Manager, at the very least.  Whether he will just be a high-priced scout, or he’s going to take a two-year paid vacation courtesy of Sterling Enterprises, the fact is Mr. Minaya will no longer call the shots on the team and be a part of building the current team.

When he was hired at the end of the 2004 season, I didn’t think either way about him.  I knew he was a good scout, I knew he had picked out some talent in his tenure with Major League Baseball teams, but running a team?  I guess he was better than what was there already.  A glaring miscue on his resume was of course the Bartolo Colon for a package of soon-to-be-superstars including Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips (and a gentleman named Lee Stevens) when he was General Manager of the soon-to-be contracted Montreal Expos, many fans dismissed it.  I was one of them.  See, he was in a lose-lose situation.  His team was about to be contracted, and they had a legitimate contending team.  Unfortunately, we’ll never know is this was just done for the mere fact that the Expos were going by the wayside (To Washington, D.C…) or if Minaya truly believed this would be a good deal.

It just is a set-up for my rationalizing and the excusing of bad behavior on his part as General Manager of the New York Mets.  Like many Mets fans I am sure, I defended him and drank the Omar-ade right up until 2008.  To give this man a contract extension when the Mets were on the verge of faltering for the second September in a row was beyond me, though.  We, as fans, have had it bad with the PTMD since then.  We lost our home in Shea, AND we saw that results did not matter to the ownership of this team.  I think we all knew that, but to see it happen so obviously was a slap in the face.

However, when I came to the conclusion in a casual conversation with another fan this weekend that 2006 was an accident, it was like a great weight was lifted off my chest.  It was then that I realized that Omar Minaya wasn’t a bad guy.  He was merely a victim of his own success.  After stumbling into the proverbial golden pile, he truly had to believe that he could do no wrong.

Going into the 2005 offseason, Mets fans had little hope that the “crown jewel” of the free agent market, Carlos Beltran, would sign with the Mets.  And why would he?  He was a playoff superstar with the Houston Astros, and it was clear his DNA star quality was suited for that “other” New York team.  When the Mets signed Pedro Martinez that year, I wondered why?  He just came off an amazing run with the Boston Red Sox improbable championship, I believed David Ortiz when he said, “Pedro aint going to no Mets.”

When the Mets signed Carlos Beltran, as much as I admire him and he’s become one of my favorite players in recent years, it was also the denouement of Omar Minaya’s tenure.  The Mets had become a “win now” team, antithetical to what the “New Mets” as Beltran proclaimed in his press conference was to be.  Speed, athleticism?  It turned out to be more of the same, but I drank it up.  Hook, line and sinker.

I wasn’t expecting much in 2005; when they made a bonafide run for the Wild Card, the pressure was in a sense on to continue on that mission going into 2006.  Add the big bat of Carlos Delgado and the fiery spirit of Paul LoDuca to the mix, and they took a hold of first place in the NL East and never looked back.

Here was my way of thinking: since they made it to within a game of the World Series, I was never disappointed, but rather proud of their accomplishments.  So is life of a Mets fan though.  I wasn’t expecting it.  The pressure was on, piled higher and deeper, after that though.  So what does he do?  Felipe Alou whispers in his ear about his boy Moises having two more good years left in him, so he gets a ticket to the DL for two years on the Mets’ dime.  He dishes out awful contracts for Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez for one good year and consistently inconsistent other years.  He opts to not get in a bidding war over Jason Bay and STILL manages to overpay for him.  He stands pat at not one but several trading deadlines, simply because he values what he has on the roster more than what’s available (and the one notable move he did make set the team back years).

I guess when one has “Full Autonomy,” one can engage in that type of behavior.

Other questionable behaviors included having his manager, Jerry Manuel, operate the team with a 23 1/2 man roster (since Luis Castillo would play from time to time) when their competition operates with 25.  Either Minaya’s hands were tied but it was clear that whatever happened in the past was in the past.  The Mets had come full circle since Minaya came on board as the General Manager, and were marginally better than the 2004 team he inherited.  To all the building up in the minors he helped to contribute, there were no viable Plan Bs or even Plan Cs to help the team overcome injuries in 2009.

That was all on Minaya.

I am a firm believer that you have to give credit where due, and take the blame for things gone bad.  While I am thankful to have guys like Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana on the team, Omar Minaya did not do enough to support his “vision” of growing the Mets into a viable contender.

The Mets are not better than they were in 2004, they’ve managed to stay the course.  Clearly, the status quo just is not good enough.

The guy who tried to get everyone to like him, the guy who tried too hard to do everything right and say all the right things, fell miserably short in trying to top his “accident” of 2006 each year afterwards and was a victim of his own success.  The Mets certainly weren’t the worst team money could buy, but it was certainly the most lackluster team money could buy.

The fact is, Omar Minaya had resources most General Managers covet and still could not cover up his glaring mistakes.  He should have been gone two years ago, but better late than never I suppose.  Let’s see if they get it right for us this time.

I watched the press conference and it all sounded nice but we’ve heard this all before. This organization talks a great game but when it’s time to deliver they’ve failed over and over again.  I know a lot of fans are happy that Omar and Jerry are done and they liked this press conference and are encouraged by it but I just don’t share their optimism. I wish I could but this team and the way it has been run in the past doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

One of the things I hated was when the Wilpons said that they wanted to improve the team and win baseball games. Of course we all want them to win baseball games but we also want them to win a championship. To me that quote is very similar to meaningful baseball game sin September.

I didn’t like that Omar Minaya is still working with this organization and that the Wilpons said it’s up to the new General Manager whether Omar has a job or not.  I get it Omar has a contract and the Mets have to honor that contract.  Having said that Omar didn’t do his job.  I actually I should say he didn’t do a good job.  He has embarrassed this organization in the past, he should no longer in any fashion have a job with the New York Mets.  Much like Bobby Bonilla starting next year let Omar sit home and collect his paycheck.

I felt that the Wilpons insulted our intelligence once again by saying that they never once told Omar “NO.”  Maybe before 2008 that is true but for the last 2 seasons you cannot tell me that Omar was allowed to make moves and spend money.  I know they downplayed the Madoff scandal again but it had something to do with spending.

I did like that the Wilpons said that the General Manager will hire the manager. That is a step in the right direction.  I don’t know what that exactly does for Wally Backman, I guess we’ll have to wait until a new GM is hired.  I do hope that the new GM allows the next manager to pick his own staff. I also appreciated the way Fred Wilpon spoke about his love of this franchise.  I honestly believe he was being sincere in his statement.  I was a little confused though by him saying that he was still in charge.  The media and Fred himself have made it clear over the last couple of years that Jeff is in charge of the team.  Perhaps he worded his statement wrong but it comes off as unorganized in my opinion.

I hope the Wilpons prove me wrong, I really do. I hope that this press conference wasn’t all talk and that their actions will speak louder. We’ll see in 2011.

No, I’m not talking about Jerry Manuel. I heard these same comments leading up the heavily anticipated firing of Willie Randolph. I thought once we got rid of Willie we would be champions. So we did. And son of a gun–not a thing changed. At first, we were ready to throw Jerry Manuel his own ticker tape parade. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Mets folded in September 08 under Manuel, just like they did in September 07 under Randolph. Then we followed that up with 2 consecutive 4^th place finishes, a combined 41 games out of 1^st.

I’ve never been a big fan of Manuel and I will not be sorry to see him go. But on the other hand, this team has many deep seeded issues and replacing the manager will not solve all of them. Granted, it may be a step in the right direction but I don’t see things improving. It will take years and I don’t see our fan base willing to wait.

Taking baby steps helps, but not when you’re climbing Mount Everest.

Omar Minaya came to NY as one of the most respected men in baseball. He leaves with his reputation tarnished–tarnished by the fans, by the media and by a megalomaniacal boss. Omar made some bad decisions during his time in NY. The signing of Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo will be his legacy that fans crucify him for. But he also put the pieces in place to give us a damn good chance to win. He locked up the future, Wright and Reyes, to long term contracts. He brought in 5 tool superstar Carlos Beltran for 7 seasons in the prime years of his career. He brought in veterans like Carlos Delgado who wanted to win. And Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine who knew how to win. He shocked us all by snagging Johan when no one thought it was possible. And when we needed a closer, he gave us K-Rod after his record setting season.

Hindsight can always be 20/20. But Omar did exactly what a GM was supposed to do: He loaded the gun. The Mets just fired blanks.

Overspending on Castillo and Perez were mistakes. But keep in mind it’s still the Wilpon’s decision to pull the trigger or not. It’s the Wilpons who sign the paychecks, not Minaya.

I hope I’m wrong but I just cant “believe” that once we get rid of Minaya and Manuel things will improve. Johan will miss a good chunk of time next year, we have no closer, Beltran and Reyes may be on borrowed time. And as of right now, our ace next year may very well be a 36 year old knuckle-baller.

At this moment, I’m sure Omar and Jerry are staring at the clock more then Jack Bauer. I’m sure once we get rid of them, things will improve tenfold, hundredfold maybe. Just like they did when we got rid of Willie Randolph…or Aaron Heilman…or Braden Looper…or Rick Peterson…or Armando Benitez.

Although the 2010 Mets increased their win total by 9, 5^th most in the majors this season, Jerry Manuel will be gone. The man who replaces him will be our 20^th manager. 20 managers in 49 seasons.

And Omar will be gone, too. He will leave NY beaten and defeated and his reputation in question. But he will most likely be hired quickly by another organization. And while the Mets continue to wander aimlessly in the forest of mediocrity, Omar will be building a winner. A few years from now I predict he will be standing in a clubhouse, champagne spraying on his $2500 suit. He will be standing on a dais alongside a manager, an owner and the commissioner. And what will we be doing? Probably pointing the finger at someone else, finding the next poster boy for everything that is wrong with this team.

We seem to be quite adept at pointing fingers and making excuses. But while we use our fingers to point–or voice our disgust at the Wilpons–other players are putting World Series rings on theirs.