The worst part of the Reyes Thyroid melodrama is not the illness as it appears with rest and proper diet, Reyes can get his overactive Thyroid under control, it’s the fact that the front office now has to make some very important personnel moves and that alone should set all our Thyroids into overdrive.

As a fan I’m petrified about Jerry Manuel getting his way, having Jenry Mejia thrust into the set up role, and of Alex Cora becoming the everyday shortstop, and Cora can crow with all his bravado about grabbing the shortstop job until Reyes comes back but in the words of Harry Callahan, “A man’s got to know his limitations” you are what you are an overpaid backup. Now Manuel has another problem, trying to put together a lineup without two major pieces, a leadoff hitter and three- hole hitter.

The way it looks now the lineup for opening day would be this:

Pagan

Castillo

Wright

Bay

Murphy

Francouer

Barajas

Tejada

However, with the current situation the Mets find themselves in now and the way Ike Davis is hitting, the Mets may be forced into brining Davis up and letting him be the everyday first baseman. Now you may be saying, “Aren’t you the big time Murphy Fanboy” yes, yes I am, the problem is though, Murphy is not a 5 hole hitter, he is more a 2 or a 7 but with Wright and Bay both hitting from the right side, to have Frenchy got to 5, I would not be comfortable with three consecutive right handed batters plus Davis is showing that he could be ready and having that lefty power bat early on not only would boost the lineup but it would re-invigorate the fan base.

Murphy early on would be a lefty bat off the bench and by the time Beltran comes back (talk about a guy who has fallen off the radar screen, is Beltran working out in camp? at home?, at the mall ? where’s Carlos B ?)   along with Cora and either GMJ (switch-hitter) or Frank Catalanotto or Chris Carter with Fernando Tatis and Henry Blanco ready from the right side.  Then when Beltran and Reyes do come back, reassess the situation and move accordingly.

The biggest gripe I have and most Mets fans have is the lack of a strong leader in management. There is no one in the Mets organization that can stepped to a podium that makes me feel like they are in control of any situation. It’s sad. Every time a situation arises with this team it turns into embarrassment, we want to believe, we want to look at the ownership with confidence that there is a plan, we want to see the manager and players hold their heads high and play tough physically and mentally but all we get is a bunch of guys with high water pants and eye glasses held together with scotch tape. Not very inspiring is it?

I’d go into the pitching situation but my Morphine drip is almost empty.

 First of all the game is at 1PM, so why not see the doc either at 9AM or in the afternoon ? It’s not like Reyes is going to go a full 9 today. Why can’t the sawbones come to Mets camp to see Reyes or even co-ordinate with the Mets training  and medical staff to handle this in camp?   Besides it’s Thursday, everyone knows that doctors take off on Wednesday to play golf. 

Reyes says this had absolutely nothing to do with his legs that his hammy is dandy so that makes this trip to the doctor even more curious.

You would think with the teams track record on medical issues and the fragile psyche of  it’s fan base the front office would handle this a bit differently.  

So now let’s add Beltran’s knee, Escobar sore arm, Frankie Rodz pink eye to this mystery doctors appointment of Reye’s to the legend of the Mets front office reign of error

Because I just bought ticks for Opening Day, Mets-Marlins April 5th at $iti Field.

Now as ecstatic as I am to have gotten tickets via the Mets.com early ticket sale offer, I’m surprised how fast I got the tix.

The pre-sale tickets started at 10AM but I had to go out and do my off day errands and did not get home until 12PM. I figured no way any opening day ticket would be available but I was very happy to see that date still available.

After I made my purchase, I started thinking about past seasons when you could never just log in and buy opening day tickets, those tickets were always held back as part of ticket packages or not released until the very last minute.

Now is that a good thing or a bad thing?  Does it say how much the fan base has soured on the team and the organization that OPENING DAY is not the hot ticket it’s been the past few years ?

Maybe it’s the cold slap in the face the Skill Sets need that guys like me and the other hardcore Mets fans are few and far between. Maybe this will send the message that you just can’t open the gates to $it Field and the congregation will come a runnin’

They got me and they will always have me no matter how bad a team they put on the field and no matter how much they treat me like a leper at the ball park.  Maybe that makes me a big Jack Ass, I won’t argue but instead of calling me a Jack Ass just call me METLE!

Yesterday I hopped over to Mid-Town Manhattan (where miraculously  there was no snow on the ground when I left about four inches of the white stuff on my walkway in Staten Island) to attend a meeting of the Casey Stengel Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR). It was there that I met up with Dana Brand who was one of the guest speakers at the event.

As I greeted Dana I asked him “So are you ready for pitchers and catchers” ? He gave me that look you give the dentist when he says “would you like Novocain or gas”?  Dana was not the only Mets fan in attendance that had that same queasy feeling bout the 2010 Mets season.

I never thought it could happen but the Wilpon’s have now displaced the Dolan’s of MSG as the worst owners of a NYC franchise.  I thought I despised Jeffey Skill Sets more than most but after talking to the Mets fans yesterday, I see I have competition.

By this time in the winter, as a baseball fan ,Super Bowl Sunday signals the home stretch of winter and knowing that spring training is around the corner. Usually for Mets fans we start to think of April and opening day, and opening day is usually cold. But we never cared about the cold. We wore Mets sweatshirts under our Mets jackets and figured our Mets gloves and the knit Mets hat we got last season on Fan Apprecitaion Day would shied us from the elements. We were just happy to have a ticket and a seat to root for our favorite baseball team. But from what I’ve read and heard from Mets fans this winter,  I have a feeling opening day at $iti Field will not be a hot ticket, in fact I figure the longer you hold out the better your chance to get a prime seat for below cost.

Where and when did this all go wrong? I’m starting to think the demolition of Shea Stadium will become our Curse of the Bambino, or Billy Goat.

When a team opens a new ballpark, the fan base is usually fired up about the new home and the great amenities so you’d think as Mets fans we’d be happy about all there is at $iti Field. But the more I talk to Mets fans and the more I think about it, maybe we should have stayed at Shea. Shea was a pitchers park and no one screamed to pull in it’s fences. But after one season at $tit, the cry is, “the outfield fence is too high” “the ball doesn’t carry” “the fences need to come in” what we’re really saying is “this place sucks, we want our Shea Stadium back”. Face it Mets fans we hate change and we hate $iti Field.

Now I ‘d say it’s mostly us old timey Mets fans that hate change and I know I’m of that crowd, it surprises me that I’m like that with the Mets as I embrace progress with everything else in my world. I guess I need one small part of the old world to stay with me. I still want pinstripe unis with no name on the back and blue caps with and orange NY. I want organ music instead of ear splitting pop shit, and this from a guy who still listens to Black Sabbath albums with the volume on 10 but at a baseball game I want to here the Mexican Hat dance played on a Thomas organ. I don’t want to be told to “Clap my hands” I’m not a idiot I know when to clap and when to cheer and when to say “AH SHIT!!”. I want my teams National League heritage to be displayed and educate fans of where we came from how our lineage evolved from the days of John McGraw and Mel Ott and Carl Hubble to Bobby Thomson and Willie Mays along with Zack Wheat and Joe Medwick and Dolph Camli and Jackie Ribinson and Duke Synder. NYC was always an NL town until now that the Wilpon’s let that distinction slip away and for that they should be ashamed of themselves.

Jeff Wilpon has not only surpassed Jim Dolan as the most spoil son of a rich man in NY sports but he is close to reaching M. Donald Grant status as a franchise killer. But we shouldn’t put the blame all on young Jeffey, I put  90% of the fiasco that is now the NY Mets on Fred Wilpon. Freddy has the power to tell sonny boy, “I’m sorry but you are in way over your head here my boy, it’s time for me to find a real baseball man to run this franchise and bring it back to respectability and to being a championship baseball team”. If Fred Wilpon does not step up and do what is right for the NY Mets franchise, he will become as hated here as much as Walter O’Malley. The only difference is Mets fans might be wishing he move himself and team someplace else.

  21 days until pitchers and catchers

It looks like Fernando Tatis is retuning for a third season with the Mets. Please hold your applause until the end, thank you. If you look at the offensive numbers on Tatis’ Baseball-Reference page you might be inclined to say this is a good deal for the Mets.  I’ll go as far as say I’m happier with Tatis coming back just for the fact that it means that Carlos Delgado’ career as a Met is done.  Last night on Twitter I was angry about the Tatis return but by this morning I’m more, “eh, whatever”. I’m tired of ranting about the off season and the mish-mosh ways of the organization, that has both the fan base and media baffled, I guess it’s time we just let it play out, we’ll have all summer to scream and yell.   

Look at this from John Smoltz point of view, what was good for Pedro Martinez could be good for him as well. Why sign with a team this early when you can workout on your own, play golf, even do some TV if you like and then wait to see the pitching landscape during the season and make the best deal you can.

As much as I can’t stand the way ownership and the front office fuck up and the on field personnel play like amateurs, there is no way I could ever, ever root against the Mets. I don’t care if a loss meant that the Jeffey, Omar, and J-Man all get the boot, I would never and have never rooted against the Mets. If I didn’t root for the Cincinnati Reds when Tom Seaver was traded and pitched against the Mets, I’m sure as hell not going to root against them now. Root against the Mets? Never in a million fucking years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t understand J-Man saying that Fernando Nieve is the front runner for the 5^th spot in the pitching rotation? Not to get to worked up over the 5^th spot (when spots 2-4 are not exactly the Rocks of Gibraltar) but where does Jon Niese or Nelly Figs fit with this team? How about Bradley Holt or Dillon Gee? Why is J-Man so against competition? Why am I full of questions?

No matter what happens this season, I’m rooting hard for my boy Daniel Murphy to put up big time numbers. No one on this team works as hard as Murphy and I just hope his hard work pays off and he just hangs in there until Wally Backman gets the job with the big club. Am I a Daniel Murphy fanboy? Yes. He is everything we Mets fans want in a player. Shows up for mini-camp when he’s not required to (Jose? Jose Reyes? Are you here? Come out, come out ,wherever you are!) will be the first guy at St Lonesome waiting for the gates to open for spring training (it will be neck and neck with him and D-Wright) and is working hard to improve at the fourth positions the Mets have assigned him to. How can you as a Mets fan not root for this kid?    

No Pro Baseball Central tonight but I will be on the with Kenrick Thomas and his Real Sports Talk Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio tonight at 10PM ET.

There is a group NYRNation that is planning a FIRE GLEN SATHER rally outside of Madison Square Garden on Sunday March 7^th  at 5PM before the Rangers-Sabres game. It is getting very ugly at MSG as the Rangers find themselves in the middle of 10 teams look at the 7 and 8 spot in the NHL playoffs. In fact the Rangers are a mirror of the Mets. Underachivers, Bad Management, Clueless Owner!

Andrew Vazzano of The Ropolitans has a posting that asks “What three Mets past or present would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner”? My three are Ed Kranepool (of course) Tom Seaver and Jerry Grote. After we got through discussing hitting and the art of pitching I’d unveil my plan to over throw the Skill Sets regime and save our Mets.

We’re so sorry but we haven’t heard a thing all day,
We’re so sorry, uncle albert, Elmer
But if anything should happen
We’ll be sure to give a ring.

There used to be a homeless guy who hung out in front of Shea Stadium who had a sign that read “No need to lie, I need a beer”. I loved the honesty of that guy so much that I always threw a buck in his cardboard box. I bring this up because like my man who can’t lie about wanting a brewski, I feel the same way about the Mets.

I could have my own sign “No need to lie, I love the Mets and will buy tickets next year”. The Mets have announced they will cut the price of ticket to season ticket holders by 10-20 % it’s a nice gesture but they could do more. Of course they could out and bring back Roy Halladay and Adrian Gonzalez in a trade and make us all forget the stink of this season. Now I know that’s a tall order and if either one came back in a trade  I’d be more than happy, but the one thing that management can do that doesn’t cost a dime and would go a long way towards making being a Mets fan more enjoyable would be to be honest with it’s fan base.

Sure cutting ticket prices is a start but I’ve gone over a litany of requests I’ve made to make going to a Mets game (more polite stadium workers, more accessibility to players, bringing back former Mets for autograph sessions not just the stars, letting the Triple A and Double A team play a weekend at $iti while the Mets are on the road to name a few) a more pleasurable experience but being honest with the fan base cold go a long way to cull the anger that Mets fans have toward the team and the organization.

In John Harper’s column in this morning Daily News, he rehashes all the blunders from this season. At the end of the column he called on the Skill Sets to go into the clubhouse and rip his paid employees a new asshole. From your mouth to Freddy Skill Sets ears John.

Last night on PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL, Joe McDonald and I had the pleasure of talking to former Met, Art Shamsky. We spoke about Shamsky coming over to the Mets via trade from the Reds and about the 69 Champions and we discussed Shamsky’s book “The Magnificent Seasons” which is about NY sports in 1969 when the Mets, Jets and Knicks all were champs. Also on the podcast is my rant about not trusting the Skill Sets and a spirted discussion between Joe and I over Daniel Murphy (what you’ve had enough Daniel Murphy talk?) so check out the podcast here on the upper right of this page or go to PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL and download the show on iTunes.

I’m going to $iti tomorrow for my last game of the season. It’s not just the game before the last game of the year for the Mets but it’s also Gary, Keith and Ron Event Day as well. This should be the best day in the history of $iti Field.

I must admit, I didn’t watch much of the Mets-Giants game last night and from the looks of things I didn’t miss much. One thing I did notice and I kind of noticed this on Saturday, $iti Field is not exactly packed and jammed.

Remember back when the plans for $iti came out and it was announced that the seating capacity would be about 15,000 less than Shea and the outcry that fans would be shut out of games? Now there are tickets a plenty even in the beginning of the season the secondary markets were awash in Mets tickets. I’ve been to 10 games so far this season and I plan on going to at least 5 more. Sure it bothers me that the team is awful but what bothers me even more is winter. As bad as the Mets are right now, just think what it’s like in the middle of January with the snow, wind and cold and you have to wear three layers of clothes and a coat, hat and gloves. I can’t get enough days at the ball park to suit me. Besides the way the team is constructed right now, it has a nostalgic feel to going to a Mets game, very 1975-ish.

Is there a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel? First, the team started to listen to the fan base and has made improvements to $iti Field. The video screen in the RF corner came in handy on Saturday and the montage of Gooden, Straw and Hernandez looked great along with the banners on the outfield wall and even the cow in the promenade was cute. The place had a Mets feel to it, finally.

Then there were the Throwback uni’s paying tribute to the our NL heritage that the Skill Sets are finally embracing and maybe, just maybe the organization is realizing that blue and orange are our colors and the uniform we all grew up with is what we want. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that after this season the dreaded black uniforms will be no more.

But last night was the topper in this starting to feel better about my team. The Skill Sets actually went over slot money to sign their top draft pick RHP Steven Matz, by close to 400K. Now we’re talking here, let me give Jeffey and Freddy an ‘Atta Boy for that. See it’s not hard fellas.

Let me send out my hopes for a speedy recovery to Alex Cora who is having both thumbs operated on and is down for the season. The Mets should have let Cora take one more at bat so the fans could give him the ovation he deserves. Cora should have had his thumb surgery back in June but put it off due to the dearth of infielders to step up and play. Alex Cora is a gamer.

To fill Cora’s spot on the roster the Mets have resigned Teddy Martinez

At this point in the season, it isn’t really worth getting worked up over, but enough of Livan Hernandez already.

The Mets fan version of the Weather Underground will meet again a week from tonight at Two Boots Tavern 384 Grand St on the glorious Lower East Side. Come one come all we all need the therapy.

Highlander fans are starting to bloom in all their glorious doucheness over their teams recent run of good fortune. As I stated to my colleague who sits next to me at work, you can break balls all you want right now Highlander fans, but keep this in the back of your small minds, if you want to belittle the Mets and Mets fans and stick out your chests and walk around like it’s a foregone conclusion that World Series title 27 will come this late October you better hope it does, because if your Bronx Bastards fall short this post season. I WILL MAKE YOUR LIVES A LIVING HELL!!!!! Believe me it is very tough for me to hold my tongue when I wear my Mets shirts, shorts, cap, watch, and sling bag and get a bunch of shit from Highlander fans so you know I’m just waiting to attack and when I do it won’t be pretty. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Memo to Adam “The Bull”

You can kill the Mets all you want but remember your place at WFAN, you’re a benchwarmer . Come September you’ll be back in your proper place taking phone calls from Jerome in Manhattan at 2 AM.

As a fan base we Mets fans need to come to grips that the only place we will see post season baseball is on our televisions. I hate to break this news to Freddie Skill Sets that the only meaningful games being played in Flushing in September will be the Bingo games at St Andrew Avelino Church and until Freddie and Jeffie come to grips with this the organization can move forward and re-organize the goal of building a contending team.

The upper reaches of the farm system is bankrupt of immediate talent as we have seen this season but when you look at the lower end that’s where the future lays and the word we hate to hear “patience” will have to be practiced.

I’ve heard calls for the team going out on a spending spree in the off season and that is the exact wrong approach to take. As much as I kill the Skill Sets, it’s hard to call them cheap when they have a $140 mil payroll. It’s not cheapness it’s cluelessness. The Skill Sets have absolutely no baseball acumen, they are real estate men, and would serve the team best if they did what they do best, collect rent.

Is Omar Minaya a great GM? NO! Is he an awful GM? NO! Is he a good GM? Ahhhhh here is where the debate begins. There is a ground swell in the fan base to FIRE OMAR and I admit that even though I’m an Omar fan, the thought has run through my head would the team be better served with a new GM? Most of this thinking is out of frustration that the team keeps crying about injuries which have nothing to do with lack of hustle and overall retarded baseball the team has played of late. The biggest indictment of Omar regime as the head of the baseball ops is when F-Mart did not run out a ball in his first game as a Met. The excuse that he is “only 20” holds no water as he has been in the Mets farm system since he was 16 years old so to me it shows that the farm system is broke. Now does it just need some repair or does Omar need to clean house and bring in some new blood with new ideas? Tony Bernanzard seems to be a polarizing force in the organization as he has Jeffy’s ear (maybe he tells him that Shemp Howard hair cut is becoming) and that goes back to the problem of Jeffy being way to close to the baseball operation and until he stays out of personnel moves, the better for the organization.

I guess the whole Mets organization is like the Home Run Apple yesterday it’s not ready to go when we want it but after a little bit of  patience it could function nicely.

To make matters worse my son and four other boys from our troop spent the night in the woods about 5 miles from our camp to fullfill thier wilderness survival reqs for a merit badge. The boys go into the woods for a night with just a sleeping bag, knife, water, mat, and two hot dogs and an apple. When they returned to camp this moring around 6 AM my son informed me that he saw a bear near their shelter but he was scared off by the noise.

With all that I’m ready to go home and get some concrete under my feet by the way Jerry Manuel needs to play Daniel Murphy every day and Omar needs to give Livan Hernandez his release, and Jeffey and Freddie Skill Sets need to come out hiding and speak to the fan base on how they are going to get this franchise back on track not for this season but for 2010 and beyond.

Time for everyone in the Mets organization to man up and realize this season is done and work on dealing off guys like Ryan Church, Garry Sheffield, Brian Schineder  and Fernando Tatis to name four.

It would be nice if someone in the Mets organization had the guts of a 13 year old Boy Scout