Good morning, Met Nation.

The one thing I can say about offseasons in Flushing–they may not have been always replete with respective playoff runs, division pennants and world championship hoistings but there are always, always opportunities.

Dan, You Thought We Forgot You?

With so much love going on towards the GM search and those fans that still talk trade, the pitching coach has gone under the radar. I suppose the 46-28 W-L for our top 4 pitchers in the rote plays a part but what if, in this era of ‘improvement’, we improve on that as well? Here’s an option. Dave (freakin) Duncan is looking for a multi-year deal and is well respected in this league and is freakishly good at what he does.

“The ideal situation would not be to coach in St. Louis for one more year then find another place for two more years,” Duncan said. “The ideal situation would be to coach three years in the same place.”

The word in baseball is that Duncan is ‘dissatisfied with the Cardinals,’ not just because of how they treated his son, Chris Duncan, but also in how they have ‘valued his opinion.’  Basically, Duncan wants more of a say in the organization’s overall pitching philosophy, from top to bottom, kind of like Nolan Ryan is bringing to Texas, or what Leo Mazzone once had in Atlanta. ~ Metsblog

Is there one person out there that thinks Warthen is better than Duncan for this team? For me, dream come true.

The Next GM is…

He’s a power-broker. He’s a respected name. (Like so far?) He’s a successful guy and will take responsibility for what goes on. He’s the guy that takes away the need for the bulletproof vest in NYC. He’ll take the hits and he won’t make excuses. (How does that sound?) He won’t be intimidated by his players and be so friendly with them that his power and influence is nullified. He will be a big presence on the team and in the league. He will not settle for anything less than a winner. No need to interview anybody else. He is 63 years old but he understands practically every aspect of this business and may even be a commissioner in this league someday. He is none other than…..Brett Favre. No, sorry. Sandy Alderson is our man. If he can’t fix this, no one can. If, inexplicably, they pass on him, this franchise is more lost than anyone ever thought.

Greinke Setting The Tone

Think the Mets are on Zach’s 8-10 team no trade list? I would be shocked if they weren’t. That’s one free agent we need to look at. Resting with what we have in the rotation is not bright. I don’t even see clear back end guys at this moment. I know most of our fans love this (Santana, Pelf, Niese, Dickey, and Mejia) but one of these guys will be out. Another may not get re-signed and another may not be ready to shoulder the back end weight yet. Ty, our rotation needs a makeover.

The Best Man For The Job?

This topic has dominated the week’s Morning Grind but it’s hard to deny it’s impact. Detroit Asst GM Al Avila was denied permission to speak to the Mets and that had local and national papers talking about minority hires and their opportunities for interview in the league. Now, with Alderson at the doorstep of being the next GM, Toronto exec, Dana Brown was given an interview. I think any team in the league that has open positions should look at bright, intelligent guys like Brown and Avila. This is insulting to me and maybe to him as well. Unless he is anticipating getting another job within an organization, he must read the papers too and know how our GM search is going. Is there even the slightest glimmer of hope that Brown will get this job? What could he possibly say or do? The Mets are covering the quota–more the fault of the league rules—-and it’s painfully obvious. I, for one, can’t wait until they hire Alderson and bring the curtains down on this charade. Oops, just remembered, they have to hire a manager too.

Hope you have a great and safe weekend. Met fans, can we talk?