Yikes. That’s all Omar needs.

Baseball Crank :

Not a terrible move, but symptomatic of Omar Minaya’s defective thought process and lack of imagination.

Buster Olney quotes one team:

Matthews is a player to be avoided. Slow bat. Declining range. And above all else, a player who wants to be a regular and will be an unhappy distraction in your clubhouse when he’s not in the lineup every day.

On, that’s just perfect. All the Mets need is another malcontent that they can’t get rid of.

With apologies to LBJ referencing Walter Cronkite. But when the Mets have lost the Blogfather, they’ve lost significant fan base.

The thing is, that isn’t what concerns me; because, who knows, maybe Matthews is ‘in the best shape of his life,’ which I am sure someone will write this Spring, and maybe he becomes an outstanding fourth outfielder. The move is weird, but I understand how the team justifies it. Nevertheless, he’s not the issue.

The issue, to me, is: how does acquiring Matthews fit in to the overall plan to be better? Actually, come to think of it, what is the overall plan to be better?

I can’t say that I blame any of them and naysayers will turn out to be correct if Matthews cannot contribute in a significant way or becomes a problem.

Justification exists when considering the potential power that Matthews -unlike Cory Sullivan or Jeremy Reed – represents if he is on the roster. Furthermore we must remember that extras Chris Carter and Nick Evan cannot play center field . Mathews can. The oft-injured Fernando Martinez needs to play in Buffalo and should not be looked upon as a back-up to Angel Pagan.

This is the sort of move a club makes if they are planning on contending.

Now go out and get another starter. Or maybe even two.

Posted under Uncategorized

Bay Watch may be officially over, and it’s the worse case scenario for the Mets.

Adam Rubin’s report this morning that the Red Sox are considering getting back to Jason Bay is immeasurable in its potential to embarrass and further weaken Omar Minaya.

With the Wilpons staying in the background this off-season, and in perception they are making Minaya own the club’s future. This is potential political suicide on their part. If not corrected in some manner it will get worse before it gets better. And if Bay is lost, Minaya will have to move quickly to improve his 25 man roster. It’s the only way now.

They’ve set themselves up for this by giving the public face of trying to improve the club. If an unknown Plan B emerges because of an off-season of failure, it will not sit well with the fan base. A rebuilding plan that emerges suddenly in December will lose the Mets even more credibility in a town that doesn’t tolerate a lack of candor well. A decison to rebuild from the beginning would have been an easy sell after the last three seasons.

For an organization that’s always been obsessed with what’s on the back page of it’s city’s tabloids, they’ve never realized that they cannot have it both ways. On one hand, you cannot seek to spin the bad news while not doing enough to create good news on your own. Since the 2007 slide, this has been the Mets operational model.

Neither Minaya nor Jerry Manual have enough personal capital to protect the club from the negatives that will come from a disasterous off-season once spring training starts. There are just too many holes in the roster to overcome a juggernaut of unfavorable attention that will come with inconsistent play.

Much will be learned about the future of the Mets during the next few days.

Posted under Uncategorized

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The Post’s Bart Hubbach reports that the Met’s will be “taking advantage” of the list that became available this weekend when they were cut loose by their clubs.

Good. Some much needed depth and power can be had from the group that includes Jonny Gomes, Jack Cust, Ryan Garko and Garrett Atkins. Amongst pitchers, Hubbach reports that relievers Clay Condrey, Mike MacDougal and Matt Capps could interest the Mets.

I’d look for the Cubs to go after of of these to compete for the closer role. They need someone to close games badly. Getting one of the other two would benefit the Mets’ bullpen.

I’d take any of the others whom can play first and the outfield.

Overall it will be much easier for Minaya to bring in two from this group than it will be to get one of the big three – Holliday, Bay or Lackey. Some reports have the Mariners have entered the bidding and Bay has been quoted as saying he would love to play near his Canadian home.

At the very least, the thought that the Mets were going to take advantage of the heft that was removed from their payrol last year. The Wilpons have told the basball people to they can improve the club via free agency.

But to really put themselves back into the conversation – which in New York is crucial – they will have to sign one of the big three. Getting a couple of non-tendered won’t get it done for a critical media and a wounded fan base.

Posted under Uncategorized

In ESPNs trade deadline blog, Buster Olney says:

Baseball executives love the mental challenge of piecing together the trade deadline puzzle, and I heard this interesting speculation — and that’s all it is, speculation — from an executive with a team that is not involved in the Jarrod Washburn conversation: With the Mets now perhaps in need of a starting pitcher (in the aftermath of the MRI planned for John Maine), wouldn’t Washburn be a great fit for the Mets?

Washburn is a gritty pitcher, he usually gives six tough innings and he’d be pitching in a big ballpark. And because he’s under contract for 2009, he would give the Mets some depth protection; Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez are eligible for free agency after this season.

The Mariners had indicated to the Yankees, in those corroded talks between the teams, that they were willing to eat a lot of Washburn’s 2008 salary but that the Yankees would have to pay the lefty’s 2009 salary. If the Mariners made a similar arrangement with the Mets and got a prospect in return, there could be a fit. And, as the executive noted, dealing Washburn to the Mets instead of the crosstown Yankees might be viewed as a victory of some sort in the Seattle front office and would allow Mets general manager Omar Minaya to let his fan base know: We got this guy the Yankees wanted.

“It’s a natural fit for those two teams,” the executive mused.

This speculation makes sense. But something else to consider as well is that the Mets have expressed interest in two other Mariners – Raul Ibanez and Arthur Rhodes. Could this be why the Yankees were not able to get Washburn as easily as had been expected? Has Omar Minaya been working on the Mariners for three players? Stay tuned.

Posted under Uncategorized