All this talk about Matt Holiday, Jason Bay, Curtis Granderson and Brandon Philips has me totally baffled. You could bring in all four of these guys in and it still doesn’t solve the Mets biggest off season problem PITCHING!!!!!

Of course the Mets need help in the corners of 1^st base,(I’m not abandoning my boy Murphy but I will concede a righty hitting dance partner would be nice)  LF and catcher both power wise and defensively but right now the Mets have one solid starter in Johan Santana .

The Reds are just about begging for teams with deep pockets to give them salary relief and with Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo and Brandon Phillips sitting there for the taking, there is no reason for the Mets not to go full bore in making a deal for this troika.

Ah, but who is in charge? As I linked yesterday to Joel Sherman’s story in the Post, Omar looks to be a dead GM walking. So who is in charge? Is it John Ricco? Sandy Johnson? Little Shit? Who damn it, Who is calling the shot out there?

If there were ever an off season where the Mets organization could really fortify the team it’s this one. So many teams are looking to either dump players with high salary or are arbitration eligible ready to cash in on a big raise or they are a year away for free agency and ready to be moved for cheaper labor. And here sit the Skill Sets who told us the money is not a problem so fuck that Bernie Madoff as he didn’t hurt this franchise because the Mets are truly solvent. Between being, what the second or third most valuable franchise according to Forbes and don’t forget the close to $20 mil a year coming in from those crooked bastards at $iti Group plus the ownership of SNY, there is no excuse for the team not to as aggressive as a Cougar at a frat party.

But who is in charge of the baseball decisions, inquiring minds want to know?

by the way can you spot the ex-Met in that picture?

NEWS: FREDDY SKILL SETS METS ARE NOT FOR SALE!

You know what,  if this is true then Bernie Madoff did a real half assed job of stealing. If you’re going to rip off rich people then damn it leave them fucking destitute. First I’m calling bullshit to all this “the Skill Sets are in good shape financially and the Mets are not for sale” Yeah right, that’s why they are selling off players and taking back cash like they were empty Budweiser cans. That’s why they would rather trade off Billy Wagner as to not have him take arbitration and then get stuck with him for millions of dollars. That’s why the payroll will go DOWN next season. That’s why Omar Minaya is now a “cheaper to keep her” rather than divorce her GM and the whole inept front office will be back for the same reason. Hire Bobby Valentine? Are you nuts? He would want to be paid in American currency not Mr. Mets bucks. So you will get another season of Jerry Manuel’ stand up act and the Bingo Traveling All Stars in 2010. Oh yeah , please get your season ticket renewals in soon or Freddy Skill Sets will have to hitch hike home from Aspen.

NEWS: JOSE REYES MAY NEED SURGERY

The shocking part of this story is the Mets medical staff found out now and not the night before opening day 2010. Around here that’s called progress.

NEWS: HIGHLANDERS CLAIM CHRIS CARTER FROM RED SOX WHO WAS HEADED TO THE METS

Look, it was the right move for the Highlanders as it forces the Red Sox to keep Carter on the 40 man roster and not free up a space for another pitcher (Paul Byrd?) but it’s still a scumbag move by the home office of scumbags, the Highlanders. It doesn’t change the Billy Wagner deal but it does hurt the Mets as they wanted to see what they have in Carter as either a first baseman or an outfielder. I’m sure Daniel Murphy and Angel Pagan just became big Highlander fans.

NEWS: PAT MISCH IMPRESSIVE IN FIRST START AS A MET

Finally a bright light in this dismal season as Pat Misch pitched a beauty at Wrigley yesterday. Misch pounded the shit out the strike zone and got groundball out after groundball out. He only struck out two batters but he threw strikes and pitched to contact and let his fielders do the work, outstanding job. But of course this being the Mets of 2009 a good job gone bad is the norm but it’s tough to get on Brain Stokes who has be terrific at the back end of the pen that last few weeks but I guess when you’re used nearly everyday this will happen.

NEWS: DJ AM THROWS OUT FIRST PITCH AT METS GAME, FOUND DEAD A WEEK LATER

I’m starting to wonder why friends are offering me Mets ticket for free.

NEWS: SCOTT KAZMIR WEARS A HALO

So now what do I do with my RAYS KAZMIR 19 t-shirt? I’m thinking of having a week where I wear all the shirts and jerseys of players no longer on those teams. For the Mets I have ALOMAR 12, VAUGHN 42, ALPHONSO 13. Then I have Giants jersey SHOCKEY 80 Rangers JAGER 68 it’s like my own little old timers day.

The trade of Kazmir is not a shock as the rumblings have been there that Kaz and pitching coach Jim Hickey did not see eye to eye and that was proven when Kaz went to Rick Peterson for help after his shoulder injury. No one claimed Kazmir as his contract and injury record make it a prohibited claim but that never stops Artie Moreno of the Angels, now there is an owner committed to winning.

NEWS: METS STILL IN THE BRYCE HAPER SWEEPSTAKES

Well, maybe. The Mets are 12 games behind the Nats for the worst record in baseball and 11 back of KC for the next spot. After that there are seven teams all jockeying for a spot in the 2010 First Year Player Draft Jamboree. I don’t see either Washington or KC giving the big bucks to Harper. The one team that would worry me is Baltimore who if the standings finish like they are today, would pick 3^rd and might meet the demands of Harper. So we have to root for more loses Mets fans so new owner Jay-Z can make his big splash at his new job of Mets CEO.

Another day in Metsville where the suckitude off the field over shadows the suckitude on the field. As I type this, Tony Bernazard is still employed by the Mets and that is troubling. More troubling is that Omar Minaya is acting like these aligactons against Bernazard are fresh and he is ‘investigating” them. If that’s true Minaya should be fired on the spot as well.

I’ve defended Minaya here at this site while ducking the lings and arrows of the FIRE MINAYA brigade but as this Bernazard scandal unfolds it looks like Omar is either clueless of what is going on under his stewardship as the Mets top baseball man or he is a lying sack of shit. Either way due to the facts coming out that Omar has let this loose cannon Tony B run roughshod through the organization Minaya and Bernazard should both be fired like yesterday.

Not to rehash my post from yesterday but Bernazard was very smart to buddy up to Jeffey Skill Set but at some point Freddy Skill Set has to tear himself away from his personal pity party of getting fleeced by Bernie Madoff and along with Uncle Saul Katz take over control of the Mets organization before it burns to the ground. All Freddie has to do is look across his estate at his neighbor Charlie Dolan who gave his incompetent son the keys to the World’s Most Famous Arena and turned into the World’s Largest Shit Hole.

If Freddy doesn’t take the reins and grab control of the team and re-assigns Jeffey to the corporate wing of the organization, we Mets fans will be looking at the baseball version of the New York Knickerbockers. Freddy and Uncle Saul have to have an intervention with the little jock sniffer Jeffey and remove him from anything to do with the baseball operation. Then the must go in and rip apart the infrastructure of the team’s front office and start over.

Freddy needs to go after men like Larry Beinfest, Logan White of the Dodgers, Grady Fuson  and Paul DePodesta of the Padres, Abe Flores, the Angels Director of Player Development, or Jed Hoyer VP and Asst GM of the Red Sox. There are really good, smart baseball people out there and as this organization looks right now, if Freddy must make the ultimate decision to remove his son from any and all baseball decisions and make it known throughout baseball that this is such, what better situation for an aspiring GM would it be to run the NY Mets, to be the man who took the franchise out of the gutter and back to prominence.

Please Freddy and Uncle Saul, I come to you with Mets cap in hand SAVE OUR TEAM SAVE OUR FRANCHISE, REMOVE JEFFEY FROM ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE BASEBALL OPERATION IIIIIIIIIII”MMMMMMMMMM BBBBBBBEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sam Hollbrook almost did what the NL has not been to do all year, get the best of Johan Santana. Hollbrook was embarrassingly inconsistent last night calling balls and strikes to the point that either J-Man or Old School Dan Werthan should have gotten themselves tossed out of the game going after the inept Hollbrook. It’s not a question of not giving Santana the inside of the plate as Santana is savvy and knows if your not getting that part of the plate move on to something else but when an ump gives you the call in the first and second inning then doesn’t give it to you in the third and fourth, that’s a problem.

Maybe it was poetic justice that crew chief Larry Vanover ruled Daniel Murphy’ hit in the 6th a home run as I ‘ve seen the replay so many times I have a serious craving for a hero sandwich (SUBWAY got there money’s worth for that billboard ) and I still can’t say for sure if Murph’s hit was a homer but it was defiantly good to see him break his slump. Hopefully J-Man doesn’t sit him Friday night.

It’s just two games so I am really really restraining myself with young Fernando Martinez as first impression has been underwhelming. It is inexcusable for F-Mart not to run out that pop up in the 6th . He should be busting ass on a foul tip no less a pop up maybe it was the starry night, maybe he heard some distant drums? Or the sound of a bugle calls from a far? I don’t know was there something in the air last night Fernando?

Mets Police Chief, Shannon Shark has a must read piece about the scam job that is being perpetrated on Mets fans buying tickets to Mets games in advance. The Skill Sets look like they picked up some tips from Bernie Madoff with this scheme.

Wilson Valdez gets to wear #4? Are you fucking kidding me?

Sure we all know that Carlos Beltran is having a career offensive season so far but did you know that when it comes to facing a pitcher for the second time in a game he is the best hitter in all the land?

On this day in 1957 the NL owners voted unanimously in favor of the Dodgers and Giants move to Cali.

Don’t forget tonight there is no Mets game but there is another edition of PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL at 9PM EDST. Tune in and call in at (646) 595-4462. If you can listen live then catch the show on our podcast here.

Of all the baseball web sites out there Mike Silva’s New York Baseball Digest is one of the best and Mike is a great great guy as well. Most time Mike and I see eye to eye on most things about the Mets but this time I have to take issue with his post of yesterday calling out Mets fans and their conduct and complaining about $iti Field.

Mike took issue with the way Mets fans treated Daniel Murphy by booing his defense (I agree with Mike here as you fans need to understand that Murphy in the outfield is a work in progress) and the complaining by some about the amenities and obstructed views  at  $iti  Field. Those I can not comment on until I make my way to the new house which I will do on Saturday and for sure I will have a full report for you. 

What I would tell Mike and anyone else you wants to take Mets fans to task for behaving badly is when you’re treated like shit, shit happens. From the ownership to the ushers to the concessionaires we Mets fans are treated more as an annoyance than a valued customer. If the Skill Sets ran any other business that relied on customer service like they do the Mets they’d be more broke than how Bernie Madoff left them.

Is some of the fan complaints picayune and off base ? Sure. Fans need to cut management some slack as $iti is brand new and the kinks need to be worked out. If long lines and crowds annoy you then stay away until August or even next season otherwise just shut the fuck up and wait for your Box Frites like the rest of us.

However, when the true Mets fan, the fan that is true Orange and Blue, the fan who buys all the merchandise, the fan who sits through the 2 hour rain delay to then be told “sorry folks game’s cancelled oh and you don’t get 15 bucks for parking back” is treated like a red headed step child, while the stuffed shirts who care more about Chablis and Chardonnay rather than Delgado and Castillo have Skill Sets lip marks all over their privilege ass. All you here about is the Acela Club, The Ebbits Club, the Caesars Club, and the Metropolitan Club and the rest of us in steerage should be grateful there is indoor plumbing in the cheap seats.  

Maybe with this new ball park and new era in Mets history (maybe if the ownership plashed some blue and orange around the place it would common the savage beast in the stands) The Skill Sets will have an Epiphany when they see the Promenade packed like the 7 Train at rush hour and the Club Seats as empty as Amagansett in January and treat the REAL METS fan with the respect that they deserve. Remember Skill Sets to earn respect you must give respect.  

Well, first you try and bribe the fan base by offering a ticket to game 1 of the $iti Field era for the purchase of 5 more games. This is head spinning because the Mets wanted to be rid of us Seven-Pack ticket buyers as we were a nussience as it wasn’t worth the time and trouble to keep us on because the ticket demand at $iti would be off the charts. Well for the cheaper seats they were but the high rollers who wouldn’t know a curve ball from a High Ball are now hurtin’ for certain in this weak economy.

So becasue of that the Mets are now auctioning off opening day tickets in the exclusive Stuff Shirt section of the ball park so if you have an extra $525 laying around the couch cushions log on and put your bid in or better yet keep that cushion cash, order a pizza and watch the game on TV.

Mets Geek has a fascinating column on lineups, with different scenarios from different sabermetric sources. The only one missing was the one used by that great mixoligist Billy Martin, where he puts 9 names in a hat and pulls them out 1-9.

If Gimp Castillo was trying win over Mets fans he’s not exactly going about it the right way. He is due in camp this evening and he is within all his rights as laid out in the Basic Agreement as it pertains to reporting date but you would think he would be a man on a mission and be one of the first guys in camp to prove Mets fans wrong that he doesn’t suck and is a thief just below Bernie Madoff stealing the Skill Sets money. J-Man says he will “work with” Gimp this spring sort of like a pet project. Can’t wait to see this.

I’ve been trying to get this post up for an hour with no luck due to my real work. Later y’all

The Skill Sets worship at the altar of Selig and do what ever he commands them to do. It’s the baseball version of Jonestown. The Mets are not going over budget because Selig doesn’t want them going over the salary cap. What salary cap? The best salary cap in all of sports that’s what. The NFL, NBA, and NHL all have hard caps but the difference between those three and baseball‘ is they have a minimum payroll you have to adhere to, in baseball that is not an issue you can havea $20 mil payroll like the Marlins and never get a new stadium but they still make money playing on a football field in front of a lot of folded up chairs because once the get their cut from MLB (all inclusive with  national TV/radio, MLB.com etc. they’ve made payroll before they even sell a ticket) or a $190 mil payroll like the Highlanders and throw some coin in the pot for the oppressed small market kids that it seems the Skill Sets aspire to become if not for the fact that so many damn people keep showing up at the ballpark and watch and listen on TV and radio even they would feel shamed in acting in that manner.

As bizarre as this may sound I actually like Freddy Skill Sets (his kid is another story) because we are both from around the same neighborhood in Brooklyn and he is a very charitable guy and really my only beef with him and the rest of the Skill Sets in command of the organization is the way they allow themselves to walk lock step with Emperor Selig.

It’s like a game of Simon Says with the Mets when it comes to commissioner’s office more like a Selig Says. “Selig says, do not go over the luxury tax”.  “Selig says, make sure you use the slotting system in the free agent draft”. “Selig says, build a new ball park but figure out a way to get some tax payer dough to do it” 

If the Skill Sets would just come out say they have had enough of the oppression put on them by Selig and Co. and acted like they should, the flagship team of the National League, playing in the biggest and greatest city in the world before some of the most passionate fans in sports, I would never utter the name Skill Set in vain again in fact I would reach out to some of my “Brooklyn friends” to see what could be done about this Madoff guy. Anything for you Freddy, I’d even sit down and have a Dr. Browns with Jeffey to burrythe hatchet if that’s what it would take to get you to regain focus.

My only hope is that some way some how Monserrate and Bernie Madoff share a cell in prison and stab each other over who fucked over the Skill Sets more. 

A big tip of the blue and orange Mets cap to Jimmy Prell for the link