Riddle Me This

So here’s a riddle for you:

There are only two people who seem to lack intelligence. They sit all of the time, yet claim to know theirsport. Two have rings. One lacks depth. One lacks smack numbers. These people hurt more than help. Who are they?

Have you figured it out? I’ll tell you.

Jerry Manuel, Howard Johnson and we’ll add the rest of the coaching staff for good measure.

I want you to do me a favor and think about this really hard. Look at the lineup. Who is on the lineup of the New York Mets?

Jose Reyes

Angel Pagan

David Wright

Carlos Beltran

Jason Bay

Ike Davis

Jeff Francoeur

Luis Castillo

Rod Barajas

Then there is the pitching staff consisting of Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, R.A. Dickey, and a troubled number five spot.

Outside of the number five spot and Castillo, the Mets should be able to make it to the playoffs. They did make it to first place when Santana, John Maine and Oliver Perez were anything but stellar. The offense carried them. Now that the offense is slightly wavering, the pitching is carrying them.

The point is, what really needs to get done? Does a trade really need to happen in order for the Mets to make it to the playoffs?

The answer? A loud and fervent NO!

Trading is not the answer to the woes of the Mets. Santana has stepped up his game. Niese is just flat out crazy as is Dickey. Pelfrey is wavering, but is fixable. Besides, there really were not any players who could help and that would have stayed because some are going to be free agents at the end of the year.

Look at the Mets track record. Look at all of the stellar players Omar Minaya has brought to the organization, all players YOU GUYS WANTED. The minute they under perform, you blame Minaya for it. Why? You say he’s stupid. Are you stupid? You wanted them.

Minaya can bring in all of the greats. It does not mean they will do well here. Bay is one example of that. Beltran is another. He was on the verge of a record breaking career with a .325 average when is knees gave out on him last year. Francisco Rodriguez is nothing but trouble for the elderly. I wonder how many heart attacks he’s caused. We can include Castillo and Pedro Martinez.

Now here’s the next one.

All of you want Minaya to make a trade. Okay. Who are you willing to part with? If you say Ike Davis, Jonathon Niese, Bobby Parnell, Josh Thole or Jenrry Mejia, I will pick up a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and hit you with the force Mike Piazza used to hit home runs out of Shea Stadium. Do not test me on this.

If Minaya was to trade the farm, you would get on him about that too. Maybe the problem is not Minaya, but with your lack of patience. The Mets finally have a farm system to be proud of and get the fans excited about. There is a bright future on the horizon.

Look at the recent trade proposal by the Houston Astros. They wanted Thole and Parnell for Brett Myers. Would you have made that trade? If you say yes, I’m calling the cops because clearly you are smoking some serious illegal crap.

There was no answer for the Mets when it comes to this trade deadline that has passed.

Did you think about this as well? After the 2006 season, nobody likes the Mets for some inexplicable reason. So other MLB GMs are going to make the Mets bleed. They know the Mets can make a run and just need a player here and there for the final push. They will not help without decimating the farm.

However, if the Mets really wanted to do something that will help get this team on track, they will fire Manuel and company. This team is better than they have performed in the second half. The players cannot be faulted. It lands on the staff.

So a trade did not get done. So what? There is still something that can be done to get this team going.

Oh and there is still another shot the Mets have. There is the August 31st waiver deadline.

More Good News

Among the biggest pains in the arse for the Mets on the Phillies team would be Shane Victorino. I could change his name here, but this is a family friendly site.

Well, take joy in knowing he is on the disabled list with a strained abdominal muscle. You will excuse me if I do not exercise any type of pity for one of many Phillies players I would like to see run over by an NYC Sanitation truck. Ah! Would it not be lovely to watch them take out the MLB trash?

In his place would be Domonic Brown from their version of Triple-A. This kid is hitting .327 with 20 homers in 93 games. A future pain in the arse? The majors is different from the minors kiddies.

Appreciate This

To all of you who wanted the Mets to sign Ben Sheets during the offseason and kicked, screamed, and complained when they did not, you must be pretty happy that they did not.

The pitcher who received a three year, $10 million contract back in January be the Oakland Athletics, is undergoing flexor tendon surgery. It is believed he will miss the rest of the 2010 surgery. This will be the second time he has the surgery.

Sometimes you have to have some confidence in your management. They might actually surprise you and reveal that they know what they are doing. We could have had two pitchers missing the rest of the season had they signed this guy.

Source: MLB Trade Rumors

Misplaced Trust

I really do not think I need to say anything. However, if you know me, you know I am going to say something anyway. So here it is.

Mets GM, Omar Minaya, had given Jerry Manuel a vote of confidence just before the Dodger series. Um…okay. I would not have. I actually would have kept my mouth shut to the media until after the series.

Who did not get a vote of confidence? Manuel’s staff. Here’s what he said:

We’re going to get back on the plane, me and Jerry, and talk some.

Mets fans’ beloved Howard Johnson appears to be the most vulnerable. You really cannot blame Minaya on this. When you look at this staff, who is really to blame? What are the problems with this team?

I’ll give you a hint. You need wood. There ya go. I knew you could figure it out. It is the hitting. So it is only natural that HoJo is the one to take the hit on this. The pitching has been great. So it only seems fitting that pitching coach Dan Warthen stays.

What does HoJo think?

I think at this level you get hired to get fired at some point. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but you deal with it. That’s the reality of sports. We’re trying to set a standard here and we’ve scuffled. Hey, this organization has been solid. I don’t feel any pressure that way or anything like that. It’s nothing like that.

I just cannot help to think that Manuel might stay despite all indications say he needs to go. As I posted in a previous blog, I feel he should be threatened with losing his job or just flat out fired for mishandling the line-up. In my opinion, he left Jason Bay in there for much longer than he should have. Same with David Wright.

Speaking of Wright, is anybody really shocked that he is so bad right now? I mean, he played in the All-Star game. Every time he comes back he is off.

Back to Manuel and company. Does anybody else think Minaya is misplacing his trust?

Bay remained in the line-up. Wright remained. Jeff Francoeur sat on his butt. Everything is just wrong.

I understand the West Coast is the most difficult part of any road trip for this team, but that is no excuse for such a lackluster attempt at trying to be the best. There is no excuse for it and it does fall on HoJo and the manager.

Minaya understands the team is not hitting. He also understands that they have hitters who are proven. So when you have players on a team who have proven to be able to hit, who gets chopped? The hitting coach. I understand that as well. But if your players are under-performing, in no way do you keep playing them. You have to keep tweaking that lineup until you get a winner. Manuel has not done that.

So, I think it is time Minaya sends HoJo and Manuel their pink slips.

Source: ESPN

Manuel Needs To Go, Not Frenchy

The New York Mets have yet to start making trades. Yet before they make trades, they have to start firing people.

Now, Jerry Manuel had done a good job until this point in the season. I mean, he did get the Mets into first place and kept them in the heat of this playoff race in the NL East. However, due to his recent ineptitude, I believe it is time for him to go.

Unfortunately, just like Ryan Church before him, it looks like Jeff Francoeur will be taking the fall for Manuel.

Since the return of Carlos Beltran, Manuel has benched the fan favorite. Wrong outfielder! Jason Bay should be the one benched. I honestly feel this is among the worst moves ever made. Bay has cost the Mets too many runs. Right now he is more of a hindrance than an offense machine. Why not just place Angel Pagan in left.

Mets fans I hope you are happy. You wanted a trade, right? Well it looks like you are going to get one.

What is more upsetting is, according to Mike Puma of the Post, Frenchy would welcome the trade if it means more playing time for him. Give him the playing time he rightly deserves. Why punish someone who does their job? Two guys who are not doing their jobs are Bay and Manuel. Those are the culprits. Those are the ones who deserve punishment.

Puma seems to think Frenchy could be gone by Sunday. If not, he will then start on Sunday.

The rage coursing through my veins right now is unreal.

Pitchers Poll

With Oliver Perez scheduled to be returning to the Mets soon, management needs to start thinking what is going to happen with the rotation. In his last start down in Buffalo, Perez fanned seven, walked two, and gave up two home runs.

I’ll be honest. I do not care if he gives up zero home runs, strikes out ten and walk nobody in one game. Unless he can do that with consistency, his value is as high as a scratched up penny. Even that is too high for him.

The Mets are pretty much set on sticking him in the bullpen when he returns and leaving Hisanori Takahashi in the rotation unless Omar Minaya can get a deal done for a top notch pitcher that will not drain the organization of their good farm system.

Well, I am giving Mets fans a chance to pick their poison. Choose who you want. The poll closes in 24 hours. The Mets window to re-activate Perez is closed on July 30th.

Problems = Bay

Jason Bay has hardly been the offense of our dreams. About the only thing he has done right is play left. When he was signed to a four-year, $66 million contract. Four years! That feels like a lifetime right now. A lifetime of emptiness. A lifetime of worry.

The fact that Jerry Manuel has yet to sit the offensive dunce does not sit well with me either. I understand that you have to sometimes leave a player in to play so he can get his groove back, but he has been in there from day one and has yet to prove he is worth $66 million. Frankly, I do not think anyone is. I find it an obscene amount of money.

With the outfield being sorely overcrowded, I feel the best thing for this team is to sit Bay for now. Let Angel Pagan play left and fan favorite, Jeff Francoeur, to play right.

The Mets have not exactly gotten off to the stellar second half start that some of us thought they could or would. Well, the offense is the chief blame for that. I mean, when you lose 1-0 and 2-0, you cannot blame the pitching. They did their job.

We could not expect Carlos Beltran to come and start hitting balls into the Cove. Yet we can expect more for everybody else. Could they be feeling pressure? Are they feeling the loss of Jose Reyes? Well, Reyes might be coming back on Tuesday.

It does not matter what is being felt. They need to get over it and stop acting like a bunch of pansies. With Beltran back, that should help alleviate any pressure on Bay. Which, if he is feeling pressure, makes no sense. He played in Boston. There is as much pressure there as there is in New York. Probably more so because Sox fans will kill.

There is no real solution outside of trades that do not involve prospects that will be here in next year or the year after. So the likelihood of the Mets acquiring anyone is not very likely.

Here’s to hoping the offense becomes the killer offense they have the potential to be.

Tatis Out For Good

Did anybody not think he would be expendable? Well, thanks to shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in  his right shoulder, he is out for the season.

Actually, the Mets moved him to the 60-day DL to also make room for Carlos Beltran.

It is kind of sad. Once upon a time, Tatis was a fan favorite. He kind of wore out his welcome with the fans. He became known as the ‘DP Guy” on the team. Fans would cringe when he would come to the plate.

Well, I wish him all the best. Speedy recovery. Although, it will not be fast enough to be back with the 2010 New York Mets. Maybe he can play cards with John Maine and Oliver Perez.