Three Years Later

It's hard to believe its now three years since she all started.

A man who had reached the peak of office boredom and decided to write a Maguarian like mission statement about something he felt was so true.

Three years later and one thing is true.

The Yankees remain cursed.

Baseball will never be the same thanks to our beloved Yankees. Its a game where teams are measured by their ability to compete relative to their financial situation.

That's not competitive sports. There is nothing competitive about that.

The Yankees are baseball's greatest flaw.

That CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets have a better shot of ending up in Pinstripes than in Milwaukee is the main reason why baseball will never be truly great.

The Yankees are a trust fund baby in a game of hard workers.

Some things just aren't right.

That some how Johan Santana ended up at Shea instead of Yankee Stadium is a sign that there is at least some one looking out for that which is right in the world.

Thanks for 3 great years.

Vaya,
Sip

Change Machine

It's a different kind of October, and if you believe what you read, it's going to be a different kind of Mets team come April.

The hardest team to blow up is the team that's forever in the hunt, forever on the cusp, but that's exactly the kind of team that needs blowing up in the first place.

Now, by "blown up" I don't mean you go and trade the core of the team; Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Johan, Pelf Man, they're part of the solution.

That's 5 guys. What about the other 20? Are they part of the solution too?

I want to think we all agree Luis Castillo, Scott Schowenweis, and Marlon Anderson are not part of the solution. So now we're down to 17 (hey, that's good luck!).

Of those 17, a lot of them have a little of column A, and a little of column B.

Endy Chavez is a tremendous defensive asset, but is he worth carrying on the team when he's basically a non-factor at the plate?

Ramon Castro is an asset as a hitter, but he's broken down two years in a row, is he worth carrying?

Aaron Heilman had a terrible season in 2008, but he was a reliable setup man in 2007 and our 8th inning guy for our dominant 2006 bullpen (7th before Duaner went down), what do you do with him?

What about Ollie, he was the team's third starter this year. There's value in that. But is there value in that at 5 years and $60mm?

Tough questions.

* * * * *

One thing's for certain, what the fan base is thirsting for are gamers. Watching the playoffs, I've been struck by how much Mets fans would love a guy like Kevin Youkilis, or an A.J. Pierzynski, or a Scott Kazm... hello!

It's the same reason that Johan Santana's stock, almost impossible, has risen among Mets fans since word broke out that he was playing on a gimpy knee the last month of the season (speaking of which, in the long run, is it actually a good thing we didn't make the playoffs? What if Johan had blown out his knee that first start in October?). They appreciate his hustle, they appreciate his competitiveness.

As I said in my post on Opening Day this year, fans relate to players with passion because that's what fans know: passion.

Passion is the uniting theme of fandom. Fans follow their teams year after year, day after day, offseason after offseason, off-year after off-year, because the team is part of their lives. Fans, in short, give a shit.

Too often the past couple years, this Mets team has looked like it doesn't give a shit, or at least it's looked joyless or indifferent. Under Willie Randolph, that was definitely the way the team played.

Fortunately, we have a manager now who has found a way to bring the fire out of his players, but what if certain players just don't have it in them?

That's the general manager's job. Omar Minaya, our newly minted long-term GM, has a major task ahead of him this offseason. Does he dare part ways with Carlos Delgado after a 38-home run season? Would he ever trade Fernando Martinez? Can he bear to say goodbye to Pedro?

* * * * *

It's all on Omar this offseason. The plan cannot just be to fix the bullpen. The bullpen is the most glaring issue, yes, but this team needs more than patching up.

It needs an attitude adjustment; the team needs to bring guys in who won't allow themselves to fail.

It needs a roster that's constructed in such a way that Nos. 22 through 25 on the roster aren't guys you'd dread sending up there to pinch hit.

More than anything though, it needs to give fans a reason to believe again. Two massively disappointing finishes in a row, patience is stretched thin.

Omar, it's your move.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Another Day Another Blogger

K-Rod is not the answer.

Not the answer that is if you are any baseball team playing outside of New York City.

5 years at $15 per is simply too much to spend for a closer who's velocity has dropped from the high to low 90's in the early stages of his career. While there is no denying that Rodriguez is great, the closer is an inter-changable position and he is not worthy of those kind of dollars.

It's just not a sound investment.

But these are the New Mets and this is a fan base that, like that of the Yankees, demands a postseason every year.

So the Mets can and probably will "overpay" for the single season saves leader. But what would that mean?



K-Rod to the Mets brings the Mets that much closer to the Yankees: A team with a financial advantage that uses this advantage to win.

While I understand that this is baseball, I never have been comfortable with this being Mets baseball.

And I don't mean paying for free agents.

Free agency is part of the game and any and every team can play that game.

But overspending is not a part of baseball as a whole.

It's a luxury that few teams can afford, one that always makes me feel uncomfortable.

Carlos Beltran and Billy Wagner never felt like Mets to me.

They came to Shea because the Mets gave them more years and more dollars than other teams who wanted them would. They came to Shea for the paycheck.

Whether they have said the right thing or performed well on the field adds or takes nothing away from my feeling for these players. They never truly wanted to be a Met.

For this reason, I could never love K-Rod.

I couldn't love a guy who left the best team in baseball because he wanted $10 million more dollars. I would never believe that his heart was in the right place.

I'm already very uncomfortable with the idea of next season.

Citi Field just doesn't really sit right with me for the Beltranian reasons above.

If I felt that the only reason for the Citi Field to be born was because the Mets wanted to play in a nicer park, then I would be 100% for it.

But Citi Field to me is about so much more.

It's about Seat Licenses, Exorbiant prices, and Dollars.

Shea might be a shit-hole, but it was our shit-hole and it had charm. As expensive as the seats have gotten, you never felt like you were being taken.



All in all, I'm pretty down on where the Mets are going off the field, but unlike most, I could not be more confident of the product being put on the field.

I think the Mets are the best team in the NL East going into 2009 and expect them to make the postseason.

I just don't know how I'll feel if we get there with K-Rod pointing to the sky from my $150 upper deck seat Citi Field.

Vaya,
Sip

(Pics courtesy of francisspecker.com, fromtheflightdeck.com)

The Come What Will Postseason

I'm used to October being a time of high anxiety. I'm used to dreading the prospect of the Yankees or the Braves winning the World Series, or the Red Sox suffering another crushing defeat.

(You'll note there's no mention of the Mets here; I'm not used to anything with the Mets in October.)

As I watched Wednesday night's Cubs-Dodgers and Angels-Red Sox games, I realized how different this October is.

Now sure, I have my favorites. I'd love to see the Rays make a run. The Cubbies would be a great story (but it sure looks bad right now). Two World Series titles later, I still have a soft spot for the Red Sox.

But the real change is that this time around I have no real knots in my stomach.

Granted, the idea of Philadelphia winning it all doesn't sit well. But if that's the worst outcome, I can deal with it.

Look, this isn't last year. This isn't last year when the only reason the Phillies were in the playoffs was because we choked the whole thing away, when we folded to the Phillies losing 8 straight head to head games, and 12 of our final 17 overall.

This year we simply got beat by the Phillies. It sucks, I'm not happy about it, but somehow it goes down easier for me. The Phillies played their best ball in late September, we played middling ball, and the end result was the end result.

(Still don't see it my way? Fine. But you can't tell me there's anything more nauseating than the nauseating than the idea of another Yankee tickertape parade.)

So I can stomach the worst case.

For me, the question of the best case scenario is a tale of three teams: the Red Sox, the Rays, and the Dodgers.

Another title for Boston would firmly entrench the Red Sox as the team of the decade (team of the new millennium, if you want to go there). As Sun Tzu said, and I'm paraphrasing here, the enemy of the Yankees is my friend.

The same general principle applies to the Rays, whom the Steinbrenner family has an odd fixation over.

But for me, my horse is the Dodgers. Sorry Cubs fans, I really feel for you, but this chance is just too good to pass up. If the Joe Torre-led Dodgers win, Hank Steinbrenner might combust. An offseason's worth of questions for Yankee management would ensue, followed by an endless stream of questions about Joe Girardi.

So yes, come what will, but if Joe Torre can work a little magic out there in LA, well, he might finally earn the accolade that's eluded him so long: the respect of Y2K.

- A.F.O.M.G.

What Might Have Been

I've been pretty zen with the way the Mets' season ended. Almost as soon as it was over, I was able to accept that we had not made the playoffs.

Part of it was that I did not believe that we were good enough to win the World Series. Part of it was that the way this season ended didn't seem as mistaken as the way 2006 ended, or as incomprehensible as the way 2007 ended.

We had our flaws, a very bad bullpen chief among them, and in the final weeks of the 2008 season, we couldn't hide from them any longer.

Tonight as I watch the White Sox-Twins one-game playoff, it's impossible not to think of what might have been, and how exciting a one-game playoff with the Brewers would have been.

I don't know who was scheduled to go for the Brewers, but Pedro was scheduled to pitch for us so chances are the score wouldn't have been 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th. Either way, it would have been damn exciting. And as I sit here now, it's impossible not to think of what might have been.

* * * * *

Note to everyone who wants Wright, Reyes, or Beltran traded: you're insane.

I'm open to the idea of this team needing a shake-up. I'm open to letting Carlos Delgado go, ditto Oliver Perez, Pedro, etc. But Wright, Reyes, and Beltran are not the problem, they're part of the solution.

There will be (plenty of) time to talk about specific players we want the Mets to pursue or part ways with, but let's start with the basics and go from there.

- A.F.O.M.G.