Tired of railing against this organization, who again screwed over the Mets fans by playing last night’s game in the rain, which made the field conditions so dicey that even Joe Morgan could see it was stupid to play with puddles (which I named Lake Wilpon) in the infield. How about poor ol’ Luis Castillo? He thinks Jerry Manuel put him in the lineup last night to boost the offense, when in reality management forced Manuel to put Gimp in the game hoping he’d break an ankle on that marsh of an infield.

Joe DeMayo put on his investigative fedora and found out that word on the street is the Mets will sign Matt Harvey, Greg Peavey and Drew Martinez. It may take a lot of these to get the deals done though.

Why wouldn’t the Mets pick up Jose Reyes option for 2011? You’re not going to trade him off this season as his trade value is not very strong and you have no one to replace him at short stop. The guy that has me concerned is David Wright, whose roller-coaster season is the ultimate head scratcher.  When Wright is on, there aren’t many better than him in baseball but when he falls into these awful funks at the plate as he is now, (how far outside of home plate can you stand that you’re not out of the batter’s box?) and you fuse that with the general malaise over this team, it makes for a toxic stew that pushes the fan base over the edge. Part of Wright’s problem, in my view, is he tries to hard. It seems he takes it like if he doesn’t do it, no one else will. What he lacks is a mentor, and I’ve mentioned this numerous times, Wright still misses Cliff Floyd terribly. Wright needs a veteran player who has been around the block a time or two who he can talk to and who can be honest with him when he fucks up. HoJo is the favorite uncle who takes Wright to Nathan’s and a ride on the Cyclone and gets him a candy apple for the ride home. Maybe David needs some tough love to straighten himself out. I’d love to get inside his head for a moment to find out how he really feels about the direction of this organization and if he wants to be a long term member of the Mets family.

As a Mets fan and as someone who has watched him beat the Mets ass for years, I should hate Chipper Jones and not give a shit if he comes back from knee surgery. But I can’t. I admire the shit out of him as he took everything the Mets fans threw at him and gave it back. With a smile. He kicked our ass for years, but I still have to tip my Mets cap at him if this is Larry’s Last Stand.

Doesn’t 2006 seem like eon’s ago? Think about it, just four years ago the NY Mets were the NL East Champs and we Mets fans felt this was the beginning of a long prosperous run. Boy, were we wrong. Somehow, someway the organization has lost its focus and in turn has lost the trust of the fan base. As much as I enjoyed watching the Mets Hall of Fame induction ceremonies yesterday and the fact that the HOF and museum at Citi Field is exceptional and no one loves the history of this franchise more than I do, but it’s time to put that energy of bringing back the past, and move it towards building a solid organization for the future.

Quite frankly, I couldn’t care less who the next Mets HOF inductee will be and whose number could or should be retired or what kind of promotional days should be added to the schedule. I want the focus of ownership to be on building a minor league system that is the envy of baseball. I want the ownership to prove to me their not destitute by going over slot on draft picks they believe are worthy of such a contract. I want ownership to bring in the best and brightest executives in baseball to run this team and turn it into a perennial pennant contender. I want ownership to get rid of the deadwood on the roster.

I’ll be back at Citi Field a few more times this summer because I’m an addicted to the Mets and to baseball (Wednesday I went to Mets-Cards, Friday I was at SI Highlanders-Connecticut Tigers, tonight I’m going to Brooklyn Cyclones-Hudson Valley Renegades, Wednesday morning I leave for 10 days on Cape Cod just in time for the Cape Cod League Playoffs. If the Red Sox were home there would be a side trip to Boston for a game at Fenway as well oh yeah this on top of coaching baseball from the end of March to the end of July ) but guys like me are few and far between. It’s time for the Skill Sets to get their house in order and change the culture of this organization fast, this will be the most important off season in Flushing since the Wilpon/Doubleday ownership take over. The Skill Sets have to see a change of philosophy is needed. They can’t be that ignorant can they? Can they?

James Kannengieser at Amazin Avenue has his Five Ways to Improve The Mets and I’m sure we all agree on these each of them. What I can’t understand is this, when it comes to Toxic Ollie and The Late Luis Castillo what is the justification from ownership for not cutting both of them loose? Isn’t there anyone in these organizational meeting with a pair of balls to stand up and tell Jeffey Skill Sets it’s time to put the team ahead of the ledger sheet? Does Jeffey understand how much respect he would gain from the fan base if he came out and did a mass release of Perez, Castillo, Francoeur and Cora? Then tell the fans this is just the beginning of the organizational purge. Ah who am I kidding Jeffey Skill Sets is fucking gutless.

The Mets Police is now The A’s Police. Back in the mid 70’s when the Mets were awful, I was infatuated with the Cincinnati Reds Big Red Machine. I even subscribed the Reds Alert which was a weekly fan mag. So now through the great MLB Extra Innings package, I’ve been watching the Reds as they fight the Cardinals for the top spot in the NL Central. Maybe I’ll change this site into the Ed Armbrister Society. 

God almighty I’m so sick and tired of this and it seems I’m not the only one. Bob Ojeda it seems took an ax and gave Jerry Manuel 40 whacks. The night before when asked about the Toxic Ollie situation, Ojeda gave a great reply by saying he fought through three work stoppages to get guys like Ollie Perez the right to make a decision to either go to the minors or not because of tenure. Ojeda then said that he will keep his opinion on what Ollie is doing to himself which to me says while he defends OP’s deciosn to invoke his refusal to go to Buffalo, he would love to ring his neck for being a selfish prick.

Mike Silva over at NY Baseball Digest has a post about the Mets players not taking losing personally and how they get this from the manager and management, here is my comment that I posted on Mike’s site:

 The players are taking their queue from management as the owner has not countered the claims that the team has money trouble. When players see Ollie Perez come back just as bad as when he left and know the only reason he’s here is the money he’s due. Same with Castillo. Now the team has 3 catchers on the roster as no one will pull the plug on Rod Barajas with either a trade or his release. Same with Jeff Francouer. Then you have Alex Cora who for all his “leadership” qualities produces next to nothing on the field.

Same reason Jerry Manuel still has a job the Wilpons would rather lose and pay a manager than try to win with a new manager while paying his replacement.

 The fans are on to this con set by the Wilpon’s no wonder they were friends with someone like Bernie Maddoff.

 

Even when this team wins, we don’t enjoy it as Mets fans are preoccupied with the awful in game moves by Jerry Manuel. Now it seems he is losing the clubhouse, especially after Grandstand Cora took Mike Pelfrey to task for his jovial behavior in the clubhouse. That should be the managers’ job in fact why not just make Grandstand the bench player/manager since he so full of piss and vinegar? The guy should do something to earn his $2mil a year than to just be a grouch. Oh and speaking of Grandstand Cora, it seems as per Kevin Kernan that Johan Santana and Frankie Rodriguez were sharing a smile as well in the clubhouse but Grandstand Cora must have had his hearing aid off:

After Tuesday’s loss to the Diamondbacks, Rodriguez and Johan Santana were seen laughing in a corner of the clubhouse. A few minutes later Mike Pelfrey was joking with a group of reporters. Alex Cora yelled in the direction of Pelfrey’s locker and reporters to “show some respect.”

 

I just want the Skill Sets to be honest with us about whether or not they have the coin to compete for big ticket items. If they can’t, it’s no disgrace; in fact it may be to the Mets advantage. Just think, how happy was the fan base when we saw the home grown infield this season? How great is it to watch Ike Davis and Jon Niese and Josh Thole?  The franchise is 323 games BELOW .500 since its inception so losing is not a deterrent for Mets fans but indifference; lack of a plan and deceit from ownership will not be tolerated. So com’on Skill Sets free your conscience, the truth shall set you free.      

So now what, well there are reports today that the Mets are looking to move Jeff Francouer. That’s a good start. Next should be sending Rod Barajas somewhere and letting Josh Thole catch when RA Dickey, Jon Niese and who ever the fifth starter is and then give Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey to Henry Blanco. Let Chris Carter be the 4^th outfielder, I know his arm is atrocious but his bat is wasting away on the bench. I love defense but I’m willing to sacrifice some of it for offense. Then it’s time for the obvious move, relieve Jerry Manuel of his position as manager. It doesn’t make sense to bring in a big name manager right now, give the job to Ken Oberkfell or Tim Teufel as interim managers but if Omar Minaya is more than a figurehead he needs to go into the clubhouse along with Jeffey Skill Sets and let the team know it’s time for a change and jobs are on the line no matter what kind of contract you have.      

Awwwww who am I kidding this will never happen, I’m so fucking delusional,   forget that motto of Prevention and Recovery that real motto of the New York Mets is “Same Shit, Different Day”

Not much to talk about today with the off day and most of the “woe is us” post were done yesterday, so lets take a ride around the blogsphere and see what the more fertile minds are saying:

Dillion Gee was a pitcher that Jerry Manuel was fond of last spring in fact Gee was one of those players Manuel picked out of camp to proclaim he could break camp a la Jenry Mejia this year. Gee though suffered from a partially torn labrum that sidelined him for most of last season but now Gee is back and after his first start with the Bisons he’ shown some nice numbers and could just vault himself up North soon. Check out Fonzie Forever’ post on Dillion Gee.

As from chicken wing country, Ike Davis continues to hit at Triple A and for reasons I can’t comprehend, Jerry Manuel is not storming Omar’s office and demanding that Davis be brought up. If my ass were on the line like J-Man’s I’d take no prisoners.

Matthew Cerrone has a post on MetsBlog on the debut of Aroldis Chapman in Double A yesterday and what effect this would have on the Reds trading Aaron Harang ? The thing with Chapman, you wonder what kind of scouting and how hard did the Mets look at Chapman ? As fans we have no knowledge of what this young man from Cuba translates into as a bonifide Major Leaguer but Omar Minaya and his scouts get paid to find the Chapman’s of the baseball world. The question is, did Omar and the scouts do the leg work scouting Chapman and then get shot down on by ownership when the price went high? If the Mets lost out on Chapman, solely for monetary reasons then the Wilpon’s need to get out of the baseball business. If the Omar and his scouts said he wasn’t worth it? Then they need to be fired. In any case as Mats fan we should be given the reason why the Mets did not get involved with Aroldis Chapman. Also forget about Roy Oswalt and Chris Young coming to the Mets, both are damaged goods.

Nick Evans life story will be made into a Lifetime movie some day.

Tonight at 11PM ET join me and Adam Bernacchio of The Ghost of Moonlight Graham as we host the Baseball Bloggers Alliance BBA TALK on BLOGTALK RADIO. 

To tell you the truth, I pretty much sick and tired about reading about Matt Holiday, Roy Halladay , John Lackey and most of all Orlando Hudson. Let me say this if you think O-Hudson is the answer as an up grade at second base on as a so called leader in the words of Mike Francesa “Yer Lawst”

The more reports I read the more pessimistic I get about the 2010 season and it all comes back to the ownership/management of this team.  As Mets fans I feel we must get it through our heads that the Mets will not contend for a post season berth in 2010. You hear people in sports say that teams take on the persona of its manager or head coach, well the Mets have taken on the persona of its ownership, weak, clueless and a lack of guts.

You all know my distain for Jeffey Wilpon and after reading “The Road to Hockeytown” by Jimmy Devellano, my disgust about the ownership of the Mets has increased.

For those of you are not hockey fans, Jimmy D is one of the best scouts/ front office men in NHL history. He started out as an unpaid scout for the then expansion St Louis Blues and worked his way to head scout of the NY Islanders and worked with Bill Torrey to build the Islander dynasty and then went on to become the GM of the Detroit Red Wings and lead them back into NHL Stanley Cup Champions. In his career Jimmy D was responsible for the personnel of 7 Stanley Cup Winners.

The one place where Devellano felt was a lost opportunity to win was in St. Louis. The Blues at the time were managed by Lynn Partick  and Scotty Bowman, two hockey legends  but the reason why in Jimmy D’s view the Blues didn’t win the Cup was due to Sid Solomon III, the son of the Blues owner Sid Solomon. Here is Devellano’ view of life with a son who knows nothing about a sports team he inherited:

{When I first got to St. Louis in 1967 there were two pretty good hockey people already there, by the names of Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman.

That St. Louis Blues team might have one day become a great organization and the Blues might have eventually won Stanley Cups after starting with two fine hockey people like that. Who knows, they could have had a dynasty there after the great start they had in their first three seasons.

But unfortunately, the owners son, Sid Solomon III, while a very nice guy, was awfully involved with the hockey club and was an awful meddler. We couldn’t keep mangers and coaches like Scotty Bowman because of his constant meddling. Sid was a good but he wasn’t a hockey person. He just didn’t know hockey. How could he have? He made his money in the insurance business, not the hockey business. He didn’t have a feel for the game.

His interference caused a lot of turmoil in St. Louis. They couldn’t retain good people they had in place, like Bowman an (Al) Arbour and it cost them dearly. The Solomons eventually lost their team through bankruptcy and that didn’t need to happen}

Is that not the Mets? Is Jeffey not Sid the IV? It’s not just Jeffey, I am totally sick and tired of David Howard, who really needs a heaping plate full of Shut the Fuck Up.

The Skill Sets have been very successful in the real estate world that’s what they are good at but when it comes to running a baseball team they are an out and out disaster. They have no clue on how to build a team and they have absolutely no people skills (I should call them the Non-Skill Sets) in other words they are not the Mets but the Mess.

This Mets team has a ton of holes. Starting pitching is the biggest followed by a strong defensive catcher, a big corner bat and a solid second baseman. The injuries of last season are a smoke screen to what this team needs to get back to being a contender. Even with a healthy Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana and a rejuvenated David Wright, this team still has no grasp of the fundamentals of baseball and a lack of physical and metal toughness. If you were a major league free agent why would you want to play for the Mets?

Maybe the best move the Mets could make this winter is to put up a for sale sign.

To tell you the truth, I pretty much sick and tired about reading about Matt Holiday, Roy Halladay , John Lackey and most of all Orlando Hudson. Let me say this if you think O-Hudson is the answer as an up grade at second base on as a so called leader in the words of Mike Francesa “Yer Lawst”

The more reports I read the more pessimistic I get about the 2010 season and it all comes back to the ownership/management of this team.  As Mets fans I feel we must get it through our heads that the Mets will not contend for a post season berth in 2010. You hear people in sports say that teams take on the persona of its manager or head coach, well the Mets have taken on the persona of its ownership, weak, clueless and a lack of guts.

You all know my distain for Jeffey Wilpon and after reading “The Road to Hockeytown” by Jimmy Devellano, my disgust about the ownership of the Mets has increased.

For those of you are not hockey fans, Jimmy D is one of the best scouts/ front office men in NHL history. He started out as an unpaid scout for the then expansion St Louis Blues and worked his way to head scout of the NY Islanders and worked with Bill Torrey to build the Islander dynasty and then went on to become the GM of the Detroit Red Wings and lead them back into NHL Stanley Cup Champions. In his career Jimmy D was responsible for the personnel of 7 Stanley Cup Winners.

The one place where Devellano felt was a lost opportunity to win was in St. Louis. The Blues at the time were managed by Lynn Partick  and Scotty Bowman, two hockey legends  but the reason why in Jimmy D’s view the Blues didn’t win the Cup was due to Sid Solomon III, the son of the Blues owner Sid Solomon. Here is Devellano’ view of life with a son who knows nothing about a sports team he inherited:

{When I first got to St. Louis in 1967 there were two pretty good hockey people already there, by the names of Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman.

That St. Louis Blues team might have one day become a great organization and the Blues might have eventually won Stanley Cups after starting with two fine hockey people like that. Who knows, they could have had a dynasty there after the great start they had in their first three seasons.

But unfortunately, the owners son, Sid Solomon III, while a very nice guy, was awfully involved with the hockey club and was an awful meddler. We couldn’t keep mangers and coaches like Scotty Bowman because of his constant meddling. Sid was a good but he wasn’t a hockey person. He just didn’t know hockey. How could he have? He made his money in the insurance business, not the hockey business. He didn’t have a feel for the game.

His interference caused a lot of turmoil in St. Louis. They couldn’t retain good people they had in place, like Bowman an (Al) Arbour and it cost them dearly. The Solomons eventually lost their team through bankruptcy and that didn’t need to happen}

Is that not the Mets? Is Jeffey not Sid the IV? It’s not just Jeffey, I am totally sick and tired of David Howard, who really needs a heaping plate full of Shut the Fuck Up.

The Skill Sets have been very successful in the real estate world that’s what they are good at but when it comes to running a baseball team they are an out and out disaster. They have no clue on how to build a team and they have absolutely no people skills (I should call them the Non-Skill Sets) in other words they are not the Mets but the Mess.

This Mets team has a ton of holes. Starting pitching is the biggest followed by a strong defensive catcher, a big corner bat and a solid second baseman. The injuries of last season are a smoke screen to what this team needs to get back to being a contender. Even with a healthy Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana and a rejuvenated David Wright, this team still has no grasp of the fundamentals of baseball and a lack of physical and metal toughness. If you were a major league free agent why would you want to play for the Mets?

Maybe the best move the Mets could make this winter is to put up a for sale sign.

Mike Silva have you been reading my mind again (really Mike that is one place you DON’T want to go) ? Watching Jesus Flores block pitch after pitch last night from Scott Olsen like it was a catching drill then hitting a 2 run bomb off Frankie Rodriguez in the 9th all I could think was how could Omar lose this guy in the Rule V draft? When the shitty deals that Minaya has made during his term here you hear about Heath Bell, Brain Bannister, and Matt Lindstrom but with the dearth of catching on the Mets (and in baseball) losing Flores may be Minaya’s biggest failure.

Sometimes I wonder if I give Mets management too much grief. Then I read something like this, and I think maybe I don’t kill them enough. How can you object to fans posting K’s for your Ace? OK so it was obstructing your precious advertising ribbon (Forget $iti this park should have been named PennySaver Field or YellowBook Field for all the adds around it) but isn’t there anyone with the last name of Wilpon that has an once of common sense and respect for their fans? What will it take for the Skill Sets to stop acting like pompous assholes when it comes to fan relations? A few games with 12 or 13,000 people in attendance? If the Skill Sets don’t think that could happen take at look in Baltimore where the novelty of the new ball Park wore off and now it’s a ghost town. A good burger and fires will only get you so far around here.

So J-Man now says he won’t ask for an eighth reliever to join the pen. I guess he realized that if you need eight arms in the bullpen who might run the words WE SUCK on those precious ad ribbons boards at $iti Field

Nelson Figueroa took a Valium and realized he ain’t as hot as he thinks he is and is shuffling of to Buffalo. Face it all you Figgy groupies, if your boy was any good he’d be wearing an Angels uni right now.

I’m going to the game tomorrow to bask in the near 90 degree temps but I think the Skill Sets Posse is after me so I will go to the game disguised as Hilda Chester this way they will never suspect a thing. Oh and I’ll ask the Hospitality Agents if Don Newcombe is pitching today.