We are told not to take the stats from spring training too seriously especially early, but the quotes coming from John Maine after his cameo appearance yesterday left me a bit unsettled.

Because of the rain the last couple of days in Florida, the Mets have tried to rearrange the pitching assignments to make sure every one gets in their work. Maine came into yesterday’s game after Johan Santana pitched four superb innings, starting the fifth inning. He got two quick outs then the roof caved in as he gave up a couple of walks and a couple of doubles and next thing you know he had to be taken out of the game without completing the inning. Now if it were just that, I’d say he was working on different pitchers and looks like those pitches need some fine tuning, but it was Maine’ statements after the game that have me concerned.

 ”I felt good,” Maine said. “It’s just one of those days. My shoulder and arm feel fine. Coming in like that – off my routine – I just wasn’t at all prepared. It was different. I didn’t get the job done. …I just wasn’t kind of that into it and just wasn’t that comfortable.”

So physically Maine claims to be fine but mentally he’s all fucked up for the lack of a better term, if there were ever a poor choice of words, “I just wasn’t kind of into it and just wasn’t comfortable” that quote would be it. If I’m the manager or GM, I would have left a call to Mr. Maine to be at the complex at 7AM this morning to explain that quote.

Maine’ biggest problem he said he’s used to starting a game and getting ready to make the game his, that’s fine but this is an exhibition game, a practice game, the one time during the year where the numbers on the scoreboard mean nothing plus it wasn’t like Maine was coming into the game with the bases loaded and no outs, he was starting the fifth inning. With all that Maine was still not fit for duty:

“I am a creature of habit,” Maine said. “I have a certain routine. I was out of sync, off my routine. I just wasn’t prepared. I didn’t get the job done. It’s the whole aspect of throwing before the game, sitting down and doing this.”

The players and management of this team have more excuses than Eric Massa, in fact I’m wondering if someone in the Mets clubhouse tickled Jose Reyes to the point his Thyroid nearly exploded.

Maine makes his next stat on Saturday and if he’s not into that start, maybe management would be into trading for Andy Sonnerstine who looks to be on the trade market. 

Management can spin their confidence about the starting rotation in public all they want but I’m sure behind closed door the brain trust feels their desperately need another solid starter and are working the phone lines to feel out the offers. Give it a day or two but rumors will be flowing like the weekends  rain off your gutters, that the Mets are looking for pitching, especially if Maine has another performances like yesterday .

Now that we amateur GM’s are ready to get down to business fortifying the Mets roster for 2010, the one item that is marked ESSENTIAL is The Bill James Handbook for 2010 (published by ACTA Sports). The Handbook is loaded with stats and leader boards that you would hope the front office is studying like it was the college boards.

As bad as the Mets season has been there were a few (surprise) Amazin’s who were ranked in the top 10 in some important categories for the 2009 season like Angel Pagan:

Angel Pagan-4^th in the NL for most Triples (11)

                      9^th in NL Leadoff Hitters OBP (.358)

                      4^th in NL OPS by CF’er

If Pagan had some semblance of baseball instinct and the ability to stay healthy the search for the everyday LF’er would be a moot point.

Digits like this and much more are in the Handbook. You can get your copy by going to Acta Sports or at the book store or online vendor of your choice. When you’re curled up by the hot stove this winter, your 2010 Bill James Handbook will leave you with that toasty feeling.

 

I think we are all beyond the point of being shocked when another player is stamped defective but in the case of Johan Santana the question is who in the organization knew his elbow was hurting and when did they know it?

 

Jerry Manuel claims that since the All Star break Santana had an issue with the elbow, if this is true, this makes the organization more inept than we ever imagined. As much as we fans give the team doctors and training staff holy hell for the injuries maybe our wrath is misguide and this is just another case of the front office being clueless once again ?

 

Did Santana go to Dan Werthen or Manuel and tell either one that his elbow was not right? Let’s say he did. Now wouldn’t they then go to Omar and tell him we have a problem and in turn wouldn’t Minaya send Santana straight to the doctor for an examination? At that point wouldn’t an MRI be ordered to see what was causing the discomfort in the elbow? This problem didn‘t happen yesterday or last week it seems the Mets have allowed Santana to pitch with a bum wing. Again who is in charge here?

 

We can all joke and laugh about who’s next to get hurt and sit and lament about us poor little Mets fans suffering through a lousy season but in all seriousness this organization is a total embarrassment from the owner to the GM to the coaches manager and players.

 

My biggest fear is not who will be injured next but it’s that the Mets are becoming the Pittsburgh Pirates.

 

Adding to my confused state is one Billy Wagner. What the fuck does this guy want? He has been praised here and every where on his hard work and perseverance at coming back from surgery to get back to the big leagues. The Mets tired to help him and themselves by placing him on waivers and letting him go to a contending team. Now he’s making all kinds of demands and looking to pitch close to his Virginia home. Well, where does he want to go? DC? Baltimore? Atlanta? Miami? Not one of those teams will pay him the kind of money he wants in the off season. It seems this will work in the Mets favor. As long as the offer him arbitration they either get a very good set up man or two more draft picks. Since Wagner is more worried about getting 400 saves than pitching in a post season it seems he will turn down arbitration sign with the Marlins and the Mets get two draft picks. Advantage Mets.

 

I don’t know what’s sadder that Santana is not starting tonight or that the best the Mets can come up with to take his spot is Nelly Figs?

This has been a hot rumor for awhile but now our man on the inside, Adam Rubin has put it out there that Asst’ GM John Ricco looks to be the next man to run the Mets as it looks like Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel as well as the coaching staff are as good as gone too.

Ricco is the new breed of GM who has a grasp on stats and can speak in public without stumbling. No offense to Omar but it looks like Jeffey was as embarrassed by Omar’ public speaking as much as we was that Tony B was running wild.

Read the article and see if you get the same feeling I get that the Skill Sets are strapped for dough and will use the  $30 mil to pay off players and Omar and Manuel and not on free agents.

I feel bas for Jerry Manuel as he does not deserve to get fired but there needs to be a purge, a cleansing if you will of the organization and unfortunately Manuel has to go as well.

John Ricco GM. Bobby Valentine MGR. I can get aboard that bandwaggon.

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.

Seems that the immature Milledge failed to show up for  a team meeting and new GM Rizzo wanted to optioned him on the spot to the bush league but Acta took Millz back and fought for a fine instead.  But Milledge has not responded at bat and has looked foolish in the outfield so Rizzo pulled rank on Acta and sent Milledge packing.

The question is , is this a disipline puishment for a couple of weeks or was it a just fed up with all the bullshit this talented but babyish behavior that  Milledge is known for and he spends the rest of the season Upstate NY?

I love how people are telling Mets fans to pipe down on the Manny to the Mets talk, it either comes from media types who have no allegiance to the Mets expect that they cover them for a paycheck (that’s you Ed Coleman ) or some “anonymous” GM that most time is a figment of a writers imagination. The bottom line is the Manny makes the Mets a World Series contender and I will write about Manny every god damn day if I have to to get the Mets to sign him and plant in LF.

Joe McDonald has a slide show of pics showing the final days of Shea. It’s just a matter of weeks until Shea becomes a $tit Field parking lot.

Well what do you know, all was not well in Highlander universe during the rein of St Joseph of Torre. Can’t wait to read this book.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people

So the NY Islanders are looking to play an exhibition game next fall in that hockey hotbed of Kansas City MO this way Charles Wang can but the strong arm on Nassau County for his Lighthouse Project and get the arena built.

It has been years since I’ve schlepped to the Mausoleum,  sure it’s no palace but the team has been successful so maybe the problem is not so much the building but ownership. Wang had Neil Smith in place as GM after the Mike Milbury disaster but then decided to undermine Smith by putting in a Gang of Four front office and Smith laughed in Wangs face and said bye-bye.

There is a Mets angle in this story as the Skill Sets pre-Bernie Maddof  put in there bid on that Lighthouse Project and have made no secret that they would like to obtain the Islanders but now it looks like the ship has sailed.