Everyone goes through changes /
looking to find the truth
don’t look to me for answers/
Don’t ask me
I DON’T KNOW !
                                            I Don’t Know – Ozzy Osbourne
Â
This is the way I feel concerning the whole Knee Gate controversy that’s brewing. But If I had to venture a guess , I would have to believe team Beltran’s side of the story. But I guess that’s not even the point.
The fact of the matter here is that about three months ago on Mike Francesa’s show, Jeff Wilpon claimed that there were going to be changes implemented to avoid the breakdowns in communication between the training staff, medical staff, front office and the player. And people would be held accountable if there was some kind communication breakdown. Well I think that what just happened with Carlos Beltran speaks volumes about how this organization as a whole is run. I mean instead of having a conference call with the media which will only cause more scrutiny of this organization why didn’t the Mets hierarchy just issue a press release stating that they were in agreement with Carlos Beltran’s doctors and that they hoped for him to have a healthy, speedy recovery, while behind closed doors they air their grievances with Carlos and Scott Boras. This just serves as another black eye on this organization and I know I as a Mets fan feel less confident about the inner workings of my team.
Â
                                                                         
                                                 Don’t you wish that was Jeff Wilpon instead of Kermit?!?”
And now on with the INFAMY !!!!!
Happy Birthday wishes go out to pitcher Ron Herbel (1938). Herbel pitched relief in 12 games for the ’70 Mets, and was traded during that off season for Bob Aspromonte.
New York Mets traded first round outfield prospect Billy Beane, pitcher Bill Latham and pitcher Joe Klink to the Minnesota Twins for second baseman Tim Teufel and Pat Crosby on January 16, 1986.
New York Mets traded catcher Ronn Reynolds and pitcher Jeff Bittiger to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitcher Ronnie Gideon and Rodger Cole on January 16, 1986.
Minnesota Twins signed reliever Randy Niemann of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 16, 1987. Randy is currently our bullpen coach.
New York Mets signed free agent pitcher Pedro Astacio of the Houston Astros on January 16, 2002.
New York Mets signed free agent pitcher Jorge Sosa of the St. Louis Cardinals on January 16, 2007. Sosa pitched well for the Mets when he was called up in early in the ’07 season, but as the season went on he became less effective, ultimately he was sent to the bullpen which helped in the great collapse that year.
New York Mets signed free agent Scott Schoeneweis of the Cincinnati Reds on January 16, 2007. We all know what happened next so lets not rehash it !
New York Mets signed free agent middle reliever Casey Fossum of the Detroit Tigers on January 16, 2009.Fossum pitched very well for the Mets this past April but then he was unexpectedly designated for assignment and then released.
And just remember while you are contemplating hari kari, There are just 79 more days until the Mets open the 2010 season against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field!
19 comments
stickguy
1/16/2010-9:15am at 9:15 am (UTC -4)
Just my guess, but I think Omar will be cut loose for this. They are just going to wait until the last off season moves are wrapped up to do it. There likely are a few signings close to being done (pinhead, fat boy – hey, doesn’t that sound like the atomic bombs from WWII?).
More important might be any trade groundwork that Omar has laid. There have to be some trades (mets and otherwise) breaking soon, right? awful lot of contract guys still haven’t been moved.
So, ST go damage control, and once the roster is set, either cut Omar loose (preferable) or more liely, reassign and marginalize him.
THe real move needs to be (IMO agian of course) is to bump Jeffy upstairs. He needs to be made president, or some such grand sounding title with absolutely no involvement with BB operations. Then hire a real baseball ops mastermind to restructure the whole place.
njstuckintx
1/16/2010-9:26am at 9:26 am (UTC -4)
I’m not sure he’ll be cut loose without some sort of slide. My guess would be if they start off something like 8-12 they’ll make a move. I prefer your idea of him being reassigned, but we’ll see. I’m not so sure I’m overly thrilled with anyone they have in the system. Ricco didn’t thrill me at all with that press conference. Krivitsky (sp?) doesn’t have a great track record for me. Hopefully they can bring in someone new, fresh, etc. etc.
stickguy
1/16/2010-12:01pm at 12:01 pm (UTC -4)
word up dude.
Hazmet
1/16/2010-9:27am at 9:27 am (UTC -4)
It’s Mets times like these that I ask myself
“What would Anna Benson Do?”
Oh those golden years just a few years ago where I biggest PR concern was Mrs. Benson.
Cue up the Santa Costume.
dirtysanchez
1/16/2010-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
lmaoo…good times..
metsfan4decades
1/16/2010-10:08am at 10:08 am (UTC -4)
My guess as to why the Mets didn’t publically endorse the surgery, and privately deal with the rest……It’s because they filed a grievance. And there is no way they were going to keep that quiet. So if they publically said they were in support of this surgery, then word got out about the grievance, they would look even dumber than they already do.
IMO, Omar has less t han a 20% change of finishing the year as the Mets GM. I was a bit surprised both he and Jerry made it through last Oct. To me, this is the straw that probably breaks the back. It’s not that Omar is a totally incompetent GM when it comes to filing the roster and such. It’s the needed skills for dealing with the media and the like that he totally lacks. Also, he seems to have no control of anything anymore.
I read last night that Omar came out pubically yesterday and stated he never gave permission for that surgery when he talked to Beltran. First, the quote I read was typical Omar english, in as much as the statement didn’t really make any sense. That’s why you know it was a direct quote. And second, he just about called Carlos a liar. Jeeze, how about you keep your mouth shut on the issue since the damage was already done the day before? Why alienate one of your stars players?
Does anyone have a clue what goes on in Omar’s mind?
metsfan4decades
1/16/2010-10:10am at 10:10 am (UTC -4)
Well, sorry for the amount of typos in this post. Trying to rush since I’ve got somewhere to go very shortly.
tkfj
1/16/2010-10:33am at 10:33 am (UTC -4)
Found this on AA
“At this point, they just need to start over. The current situation isn’t working and it’s getting worse, not better. The team has a new ballpark in a huge metropolitan area and some terrific pieces to build around – they should be contenders. They should be well run. But they aren’t. It’s time for some wholesale changes before things get any worse, if that’s possible.”
-Dave Cameron
Finally some advocation for cleaning house in the baseball world. It isnt an ideal situation to have to bring in new GM’s and other FO positions, but better to do it sooner than later. Let Omar find his free agents( Molina, Piniero, etc.), kick him to the curb, start over.
steveo
1/16/2010-10:46am at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
Here’s the thing without no major signing in the pitching nothing changes in 2010. Bay os a great addition ,Molina does squat and Piniero while he is an improvment, he is nowhere close to being enough of a move there were supposedly trades that were available out there Omar said it himself and there is still 4 weeks before pitchers report, if nothing more is done to this staff, even if Piniero comes aboard this off season is a failure and thus Omar is one too. And if I here that Fmart is going to be on the opening day roster one more time I think we. Should all start a riot at citifield.
stickguy
1/16/2010-12:00pm at 12:00 pm (UTC -4)
well, there really never was any major pitchers to sign. Lackey was pretty much it, and he was (at this point) the “stud” by default.
SO, that leaves the trades, and a number of the previously mentioned candidates haven’t gone anywhere yet, so there is still time.
I disagree though that if they don’t make any more pitching moves beyond Pinero (assuming that happens, or Garland as another option) that the off season (and by extension, I assume you mean all hope for success in 2010) is a failure.
They are getting (and yes, I realize there is risk and uncertainly too) some talented, experienced pitchers back, hopefully helathy (Maine and Perez).
Remember, these 2 gave us nothing last year. Maine has had the winter to rehab (I really hpoe that getting the bone spur removed will get him back on track) and Ollie had his knee fixed, and is in “boot camp”.
So, if they both stay on the field and have normal (for them) years, the pitching will already be vastly better than 2009.
Guaranteed? No, but frankly, no pitcher (including Sheets, Lackey, Arroyo) they could come up with is close to a guarantee.
GravediggerHebner
1/16/2010-2:12pm at 2:12 pm (UTC -4)
As part of my own effort to think about anything but Beltrangate, I have only been reading blog and news reports today that deal with other topics.
One very interesting one was a 2 part series on Bengie Molina over at
http://www.patrickfloodblog.com/
I am not smart enough to say whether Mr. Flood is right or wrong in his science, but if he’s right I want Molina even less than the tiny iota I did before reading the articles. Yuck.
stickguy
1/16/2010-3:14pm at 3:14 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t even have to read it to know that I still don’t want him!
trs86
1/16/2010-3:19pm at 3:19 pm (UTC -4)
I am not a big Molina supporter but I was not impressed by the article. It seemed like someone who had an agenda in mind and cherry picked stats to try and prove it. We all do it but there was nothing I read there that made me feel any differently about Molina. He’s an old catcher that is still more productive than what we had but only worth that to a degree. 1+1 and 5 million or so is about all I could stand.
GravediggerHebner
1/16/2010-5:33pm at 5:33 pm (UTC -4)
As an adult I understand that almost everything written about sports other than game play-by-play summaries is written with an agenda and items and/or stats are chosen to validate that agenda. As Met fans we all read a lot so we see it every day. As you said we do it too. I do it.
But for me, already anti-Molina before I read the articles, the chart with the fly ball and line drive percentages was new and damming. I will say, I am interested to read the “cherry picked stat” article that is pro-Molina, that’s something I haven’t seen yet.
I imagine it would go something like this: “He’s a catcher and his name is Molina.” That’s about the only pro-Molina item I can think of.
Until I read today that Mike Pelfrey and John Maine had positive things to say about Molina. But when they elaborated, it seemed to me (a non-professional baseball player) like the statements they made lacked substance. They said things along the lines of “he must be good because it can’t be easy to catch guys like Lincecum and Cain.” I don’t even know what that means. Neither of them throw a knuckle ball.
They also said things along the lines of “he must be good because Lincecum and Cain are so good.” Maybe, or maybe they make him look good. Ultimately what I took from our pitchers’ statements is this: if Maine & Pelfrey are made to feel better psychologically by the mere presence of Molina behind the plate then what the hell might as well sign him because those guys need all the help they can get. But it’s hard to quantify psychological help, and I am left to hope the other members of the pitching staff who were not quoted feel the same way (except Johan as his personal catcher will seemingly be Blanco).
So despite my misgivings about Molina, if I see some quotes from Oliver Perez praising him I suppose that’ll persuade me to set aside my ill feelings about his signing, at least temporarily.
wannybackstra
1/16/2010-5:49pm at 5:49 pm (UTC -4)
Cherry picking stats in favor of Molina is easy, i.e., HR, RBI, Slg% and low K totals, and is the reason why casual observers might think he is pretty good.
GravediggerHebner
1/16/2010-6:07pm at 6:07 pm (UTC -4)
True enough. If one simply invokes those stats, then closes one’s eyes, covers one’s ears and jumps around aimlessly screaming “I can’t hear you!” like a heavy metal singer in concert, one would indeed have a solid case that Molina is a stud no team should be without.
trs86
1/16/2010-7:07pm at 7:07 pm (UTC -4)
Obviously you have to look at both and then, as you guys harp on for other stats, compare them to other catchers in the league.
I think if you look at both you will see a slightly above average offensive catcher, slightly below average defensive catcher who no matter how you look at it is an upgrade over what we have. What I think we have to determine is how much is that improvement worth.
saltygary
1/16/2010-5:51pm at 5:51 pm (UTC -4)
Non of this crap would be going on if Bobby V were around. complete bush league going on in Mets land.
Btw in Canada right now so I hope the folks running this place appreciate their new international penetration.
trs86
1/16/2010-7:08pm at 7:08 pm (UTC -4)
I feel so violated.