If there is anyone in the Mets front office who feels Luis Castillo should remain a Met, their opinion had to have changed after last night. I don’t care if you are a relative of Castillo’, his actions after driving in Ike Davis for a come from behind walk off win proves he hates being here as much as Mets fans hate that he’s here. Talk about irreconcilable differences, there is no reason to put Castillo or Mets fans through this loveless marriage anymore. Let’s do it for the kids. By the way check out Greg Prince’ post on last night’s game at FFIF and tell me you don’t feel like crying. Misery in Winning, that’s Mets Baseball.

Is Wayne Hagin kidding with his gushing praise of Jeff Francoeur ? After Francoeur knocked in David Wright with a Sac Fly in the 2^nd inning, Hagin went Radio Ga-Ga over Frenchy. I’d have given Howie Rose $100 bucks if he slapped Hagin in the head after his ridiculous remarks.

A must read for all Mets fans is Adam Rubin’ 3 part expose of the failings of the Mets under the Skill Sets/Minaya regime.  From reading this series I take it that Jerry Manuel will be fired as soon as the team is mathematically eliminated from contention (even though we all know the season is over NOW)  Minaya will either be caned or reassigned and I’m leaning towards reassignment. John Ricco will be the GM and Wally Backman the manager. The organization will find a way to either deal off Oliver Perez and Luis Casitllo or just release them and that money ($18 mil) will the equivalent of a free agent signing. The organization will make Backman the focal point of the team in order to sell tickets. Will it work? We won’t know until this time next year.

In  Rubin’ report he mentions how little money the Mets have spent on draft picks and in the International market for free agents. I had the pleasure of speaking with Wilbur Miller, a Pittsburgh Pirates fan and a fan poster on Bucs Dugout about the recent leaks of the financial statements of the Pittsburgh Pirates on my THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN Radio Show last night and one of the items we talked about was the Pirates under the ownership of Bob Nutting and Frank Coonley have spent $23 mil in 2008 and $21.2 mil in 2007 on player development.  The Mets in turn have spent a mere $14 mil the last three seasons on player development. That’s $4mil less than the money they will pay Perez and Castillo combined next season.  After listening to my interview with Miller you tell me who is more optimistic Miller the Bucs fan or me the Mets fan?

Attention Mets Fans: Today is Primary Day for Howard Megdal’ run for General Manager of the NY Mets. This is an unprecedented run for office but then again no one of with the impeccable credentials of Howard Megdal has ever thrown his blue Mets cap into the ring.

Think of the some of the former GM’s of the Mets, George Weiss and Johnny “Grandma” Murphy have the taint of Highlander blood, Joe McDonald who lacked the guts to stand up to the Plantation owner M. Donald (HOCKKKKKK-TOOOOO) Grant when Tom Seaver was run out of town, Bing Devine who could have made us a contender but ran back to St. Louis like a homesick summer camper, the late Bob Sheffing, who was dead even when he was alive, Frank Cashen who couldn’t handle the Wild Mets of the 80’s as he got all bent out of shape when a little bit of champagne was spilled on a airplane ride back from winning the NL Pennant in Houston, Joe McIlvaine who was and still is a terrific scout but was never around when Freddy Skill Sets whistled (that may be a badge of honor instead of scorn) Al Harazin who I think sold aluminum siding for Bill-Ray before he was given the keys to the Mets castle, Hound Dog Steve Phillips who taste in trollops was as bad as his eye for ballplayers, Jim Duquette who didn’t fight hard enough to sign Vladimr Guerrero when the ex-Expo was laying out on a silver platter for him, and then of course we have the incumbent Omar Minaya who at the end of day, you know what I mean, has been pushed to photo copying and fax duty in the Mets front office as Jeffey Skill Sets and John Ricco run the baseball ops.

None of those men have put in the time, effort and passion into the New York Mets like Howard Megdal has. He has sat through the rain delays at Shea Stadium when it was just us, a few hundred fans (maybe a few homeless folks too) and the soothing sound of Jane Jarvis playing Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head. He has eaten, Schickhaus, Kahn’s, Ball Park and Nathan’s Hot Dogs at Shea and Citi Field. He’s wash those dogs down with an RC Cola and Coke and now that swill that call Pepsi. His parents banked at Manufactures-Hanover and sat around deciding which Plymouth dealer to visit NY, NJ or Fairfield County? Howard wore a Lindsay Nelson style jacket for his Bar-Mitzvah. He went to Banner Day, Old Timers Day, and all the Sunday doubleheaders. He’s vacationed in the Catskills with Mr. Met, Lady Met and Baby Met.

The fact that a man like Howard Megdal has put aside his writing and broadcasting career to run for GM of the Mets to restore what is missing from this organization, which has lost it way. Do not let this recent run of prosperity sway your thinking. Howard will restore everything that has been missing for years in the Met front office, LOGIC, TRANSPARENCY, PASSION.

So vote today in the first primary which will be held at Amazin’ Avenue and NY Baseball Digest. Voting starts today and runs through this Friday.

I figure sooner or later the bill on R.A. Dickey’s career resurgence will come due, so until then let’s just enjoy his knuckler and the fact that he’s been rock solid in his five starts, the anti-Ollie so to speak.

Rod Barajas had a tough night behind the plate trying to catch those floaters by Dickey saying as much after the game as he claimed it was his toughest night as a catcher but as bad as it looks on Barajas’ stat sheet it looks better for Dickey as it means his knuckler was getting’ jiggy with it all night.

One of the story lines of the last month or so has been that this year’s Mets are very easy to root for and no one player personifies that trait like Chris Carter. Finally getting a chance to play a full game The Animal hit his first big league home run and look very pleased about it as were his teammates, the same teammates who respect the hell out him for his work ethic. I’d love to see The Animal get a few more starts.

Bingo (and NY Mets future) 2^nd baseman Reese Havens had a bit of a set back as he was scratched from the Binghamton lineup for soreness. It could be an aggravation of an oblique injury Havens has been nagged with but I sure hope not as Havens is showing signs of being a power bat at 2^nd base that would be a boon to the Mets

Jerry Manuel is nuts if he thinks the Mets will activate Carlos Beltran next week so he can use him as a DH in Highlander Park. De-Facto GM John Ricco said as much when informed by the Daily News of Manuel’ thinking out loud scheme.  The most optimistic view of when we will see Beltran in a big league game, August 1^st is my guess.

Anyone have a 2013 calendar?

 

 

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?

If you’re a FOO (Friend Of Omar’s) it would be a good idea to hide in one of the many  nooks and crannies of $iti Field. The Skill Sets have taken out the chopping block and let’s hope the ax keeps swinging.

The Mets have fired Ramon Pena the guy in charge of Latin American Talent and Luis Aguayo the Minor League on field coordinator and have let Sandy Johnson the VP of Scouting file retirement papers. Finally something productive is coming out of the Skill Sets Ivory Tower with these moves. But the cleansing of the front office and on field staff has to continue before a turnaround can get under way in Flushing for next season.

I get the feeling more of these moves are coming. Next should be an overhaul of the coaching staff it’s time for some fresh faces and a different way of teaching and it would not be a shock that Omar gets reassigned to a new position and John Ricco takes over as the GM/Point man/Face of the Mets.

It’s going to be a very interesting winter around here.

Seriously, can we all just leave Daniel Murphy alone? The kid will be a solid ML’er and decent first baseman. Take all your ‘We need a first baseman” energy and move it toward the starting pitching where the team is really hurting. Remember if you ain’t got pitching, you ain’t got shit”

Just when I thought I was done watching Baseball Tonight on ESPN (MLB Network blows that amateur production out of the water) they go and drag me back in by signing Bobby Valentine to work the panel. Damn you ESPN!!!!

Jon Niese says don’t blame the Mets for his hammy ripping apart that it was his own fault. He made this statement while blindfolded and Jerry Manuel holding a rifle at his head.

I must head to downtown Brooklyn and make friends with Mikhail Prokhorov and see if he’d liked to go to a Mets game. Maybe my dream of becoming the Mets GM could come true More borscht? More Vodka? Comrade!

 

The one ray of sunshine in this period of bad baseball the Mets have played is the emergence of Bobby Ojeda finally telling it like it is.

 

I wrote back in the winter when Ojeda was hired as the pre and post game analyst on SNY that it would be one more strong voice n Mets telecasts. Ojeda was a bit shaky in the beginning and then he went into shill mode for awhile with his candy coating of the the constant losing and bad baseball we’ve seen this summer by chirping the company line “but the injuries it’s all the injuries fault” but the last month or so something happened to Bobby O, something good. He got fed up like the rest of us with the piss poor performance of this team.

 

This reach a point after the game Angel Pagan forgot how many out there were and got his sorry ass picked off base. Ojeda for the first time this season, took off the velvet gloves and tore into the team they way I knew he could. Ojeda’s best line of the night was “If I were the manager I’d tell this team, don’t bother bringing your golf clubs to St Lucie next spring”

 

In order for this team to really show a turnaround there has to be a purge of the coaching staff, even the beloved HoJo needs to go. It’s not all the coach’s fault but this coaching staff has been here for the past years of suckitude and just to change things up they need to go. J-Man it looks like will be back next season for the most part due to he works cheap, but he must instill into the heads of his knucklehead players they better be ready for boot camp next March. What this team needs is a training camp that would make John Torterella’ Rangers camp look like ballet school.     

 

Maybe management lets John Ricco get more of his input into building the roster for next year as he is at least a guy you would take a new approach to adding to the roster and let Omar go and do some scouting. Some folks in the know say the Skill Sets love that Rico is more of a new wave front office type who uses stats and charts to compare players so if you can meld Rico’ way with the old school way of Omar Minaya maybe this train wreck can get back on track.   

 

I agree with most that Kayne West is a first class douchebag but if the Highlanders or Phucking Phillies win the World Series I might pull a “Kayne” when they have the trophy ceremony complete with a bottle of Hennesey in my hand and my jeans pulled down to my knee:

 

“Y’all aint shit my boyz in Queens be hurtin like a muther fucker. When we get healthy we gunna pay back all y’all sorry ass’s PEACE OUT! SHOUT OUT TO THE SKILL SETS!!!!! JEFFY BBBBBBBOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY  J-GANGSTA and OMAR M!!!!!!!!”

 

I feel bad for the younger Mets fans, you kids in your twenties and thirties because you have heard about the losing and the angst and the despair of Metsfandom and I’m sure in all your smart ass way you all thought back in the beginning of the millennium  “that was the past old man, these Mets will be different” Well to that I say,  Welcome to the 70’s. If you make a trip to $iti Field before the end of the season, look around at all the empty seats, the shuttered concession stands, the fans sitting one per section, that’s how I and most of us middle aged Mets fan grew up. The only difference we walked around in stagnant puddles of water and over flowing toilets of Shea Stadium, ahhhhhh those were the days. But through all that we stayed loyal and stuck with our team. Now it’s easy for you youngsters to look to the Northern boro and see Paradise, but I tell you this, the team in the Bronx once went through a stretch in the mid-1960 to the mid-1970’s where they sucked and as bad as you can suck and still have people care about you. They had such hard times times drawing people to there stadium that did not seem very Cathedral like in thelate 60’s- early 70’s in fact it was more of run down tenement. Now you won’t hear these stories on Highlander run television or radio but it’s all true I tell ya, it‘s all true, back then the Mets were all that and a bag of chips. Now I’d like to say the tide will turn once again but I don’t have that much faith in ownership of this team to turn it around but I do hold out hope they will surprise me. I saw this organization win a World Series 40 years ago and at the age of 11 I thought that was the start of something great and as bad as some years have been in Flushing, when things are good here there is nothing better, and that’s what keeps me keeping on rooting for the New York Mets.

 

Don’t forget Amazin’ Tuesday tonight at 7PM at Two Boots Tavern   384 Grand St NYC

 

With all that we get word via Big Daddy Freddy, that Omar is his man and Omar says Jerry is his man and all that makes me embarrassed to be a man.

 

Make no mistake, bringing back Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel is not a baseball decision but a money matter. I bet it will come out sooner than later that the Madoff scandal has hurt the Skill Set fortune much more than was reported.

 

See this year’s $140 mil payroll? Take a good look because it won’t be here nxest year, in fact there is a good chance the payroll will go south of $100 mil. Now that doesn’t bother me that much to tell you the truth, what has me upset is, when you take a dip in payroll and need to revamp at least 75 % of your team, you need someone in charge who is bright, innovative, creative and has a grasp of what the current baseball landscape is, going young and being able to find that diamond in the rough, the undervalued player who will give you the same production as a player for twice or three times the price. When I think of the baseball executive that can compete this way the name Omar Minaya is not even an after thought in my mind. But John Ricco’ does.

 

My guess is Omar will be VP of Baseball Ops but John Ricco will get bumped up as the front man/spokesman maybe even with the title GM and a nice little raise. Omar could be given the assignment to fix the farm system, lead the amateur scouting department, and work in concert with Ricco and the sabermetric folks to form an alliance that could get the Mets back to be relevant a bit faster.

 

As for Manuel, he has one year left and an option so even if the Mets start off like shit in 2010 it would be easier to relieve him of his duties as manger and reassign him in the organization. Maybe then the Skill Sets will have a little more scratch to make organizational improvements.

 

You would think the Skill Sets are not so clueless as to raise ticket prices for 2010. If they were really savvy they would not only announce that ticket prices won’t be raised but the tier pricing that is so ridicules will be scraped. Then they should go about having their marketing department work on making 2010 the most fan friendly season they can.

 

Start by embracing the history of the team. As we saw this weekend, it’s not just the stars that Mets fans cherish but the hard working understudy’s as well. Cleon Jones, Jerry Grote, Ed Kranepool, Gary Gentry and Eddie Yost go some of the biggest reactions from the crowd of Saturday night. Next year have some fun. Bring back so old Mets like Mike Jorgensen, Pete Falcone, Ron Hunt, Craig Swan, Steve Henderson or Jeff Readon, players from the 70’s and 80‘s teams on different weekends and have them sit at a table in the concourse and sign autographs and take pictures with the fans. It would make the players feel as good as the fans to interact with these players from our childhood.

 

At the concession stands on the Promenade level make up some Kids Meals deals. Sell a meal of a hot dog, burger, or chicken fingers, soda, and a bag of chips for like 3 bucks. Throw in a little Mr. Met beanie baby thingy as well. Let Nathan’s sponsor it to off set the cost.

 

Become more New York-centric. Do some TV ad’s with Mets players taking the 7 train to work just like real New Yorkers. If the Mets were interested I have an idea for a commercial that I think would be funny as hell and resonate with working people of the city. How about having David Wright sitting in traffic on the LIE and DOT workers filling a pot hole and Wright leaning on the horn, yelling “Hey, let’s go I gotta get to work” and the DOT worker yelling at Wright, “Do I come to your job and yell at you”? And Wright says “You sure do, 81 times a year” Get some of your players to come around the town in the winter. When your 2010 schedule comes out have players and management out on 6^th Ave by SNY studios and in all 5 boros, NJ and Connecticut giving out schedules and pressing the flesh with the fans. Treat the off season like a political election as you try to win the fans support. You are a big time underdog in this town roll up your sleeves and get to work Skill Sets

 

One thing to remember Mets fans, there are a lot of us. More than the media reports. There are millions and millions of us and tomorrow night the hardcore segment of Mets fandom ( what I like to call the Mets Weather Underground)  will meet again at Two Boots Tavern  Check out the details:

 

No Cure for a Depressin’ Season Like An

AMAZIN’ TUESDAY

 

Mets Fans Unite Again at Their Home

Away From Home for Road Games

 

NEW YORK — When Mets fans look back on 2009, they’ll remember the injuries, they’ll remember the losses, they’ll remember the game-ending unassisted triple plays…but most of all, they’ll remember AMAZIN’ TUESDAYS, the monthly gathering of Mets fans communing for literary readings, game watching, consciousness raising, pizza eating, Rheingold drinking, cocktail shaking, Yankee baiting, memorabilia gawking, and seven steps support as needed.

 

Two Boots’ second AMAZIN’ TUESDAY is comin’ up August 25, 7:00 PM, when the Mets are in Miami, attempting to do to the Marlins’ playoff chances what the Marlins did to theirs the past two years. It’s not much of a rallying cry, but when you’ve got great pizza and great speakers, do you really need one?

 

The co-bloggers who bring you Faith and Fear in Flushing, Greg Prince and Jason Fry, co-host the evening and will share some of their trials and tribulations as Mets fans (many of which are captured in the book of the same name). They welcome two distinguished writers who also bleed blue and orange: Dana Brand, author of the brand new book, The Last Days of Shea; and Caryn Rose, founder of the popular blog Metsgrrl.

 

No setting could be more ideal for such a spiritual gathering than Two Boots Tavern, as proven by the previous editions of this series of reading, rooting and Ray Sadecki contemplation. Two Boots owner Phil Hartman specializes in drinks and pies that pay homage to the great Mets of the past, and if his walls could talk, they’d surely shout “Let’s Go Mets!” Per Phil’s passion, not only is admission free, but so is the first beer, provided you donate a Mets baseball card.

 

The Two Boots restaurants and pizzerias have been a bastion for Mets fans for 22 years. Each of the ten locations features not only unique Cajun-Italian pizza and a convivial atmosphere but the Two Boots talisman — a framed photo of Mookie Wilson, Keith Hernandez and The Count (from Sesame Street). At the new Two Boots Tavern, highlights include a Hubie Brooks subway poster from the early 1980s, and a shrine to Bill Buckner. For AMAZIN’ TUESDAYS, the first beer is free, in exchange for any Mets baseball card (even Bobby Pfeil’s).

 

Phil’s hi-def TVs will, as always, will be tuned to the Mets game. Real Mets fans know the season, no matter how over, is never over until it’s over.

 

AMAZIN TUESDAYS

Date: Tuesday, August 25

Location: Two Boots Tavern, 384 Grand Street (@ Suffolk St.), 212-228-8685

Time: 7:00 PM

Admission: Free; also first drink free in exchange for any Mets baseball card.

Hosts: Greg Prince and Jason Fry, Faith and Fear in Flushing

Featuring: Dana Brand, author, The Last Days of Shea; Caryn Rose, Metsgrrl

Pizza of the Night: The Stork (creole chicken, wild mushrooms, cheddar & mozzarella) for 1973 reserve outfielder George Theodore

Drink of the Night: The Teufel Shuffle (martini shuffled, not stirred) for 1986 platoon second baseman Tim Teufel

 

The Skill Sets spent the least amount of money on this years draft picks. UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

If that doesn’t some up the Skill Sets Era it’s those two sentences. Just when you think their potty trained, they shit their pants.

An excellent post on the state of the Mets minors and the lack of aggressiveness can be found here at Productive Outs and Cracker Jacks.

Our only hope is, from all accounts, John Ricco is a sharp dude, maybe he can get through to Jeffey that the draft and farm system are the life blood of a sports organization. Maybe he could put together a flash card presentation showing how the  Rays or the Angels have built pennant contenders.

Or better yet, if Ricco can pursued Jeffey to do what he does best and cash his pay check from his daddy’s real esate business the better for the world of Blue and Orange

A few years ago, Braves-Mets at Flushing would be a night of passion, now, eh I didn’t even want a cigarette when the inning ended.

Please, please Bobby Ojeda stop I’m begging you TO STOP with the happy horseshit recaps after games. Stop acting like the Mets should be given some Medal of Honor for playing hard and trying to compete. All you are doing is embarrassing yourself by drinking the Skill Sets Kool-Aid. I know you desperately want to be the team pitching coach but don’t lower yourself to be a court jester.

Soon to be GM of the Mets, John Ricco is accompanying Jeffey Skill Sets on his tour of the farm system. The last stop was in Bingo and Matt Cerrone has a link to a storywhere Ricco talks of the big teams injuries effecting the farmers. If I’m Omar I’d take my dry cleaning to a one-hour martinizer.

The Los Angles Angels Who Really Play in Anaheim had NINE .300 or better hitters in their lineup last night. Oh yeah, I’m on that Angels bandwagon baby!!!!!

 

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.