Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Oh, The Angst!

Sometimes, a picture says 1,000 words. But who needs pictures when words themselves will do the trick?

The Mets signed Tony Armas Jr. today, presumably to fill out the roster in New Orleans. Hooray! Insurance. The following was the headline from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

"Big-Spending Mets Add Another Arm"

What? The Mets traded for Carlos Zambrano? Barry Zito? Warren Spahn? No? Tony Armas Jr.? The Mets spent ten million on Tony Armas Junior? Wait! There's more...
"If added to the 40-man roster, Armas would get a one-year contract paying $1 million while in the majors and $90,000 in the minors. He also could make $350,000 in performance bonuses if used as a reliever and $650,000 based on innings, starting with 130."
So the most that the Mets are going to spend on this cat is $2,000,000? And they're the Big Spending Mets?

Because you know that headline wasn't written ... in Atlanta ... with good connotation. Add a snarky tone to "Big-Spending Mets Add Another Arm" and I think you've got the message that was intended. You see, "Big-Spending Mets Add Another Arm" really means: "Stupid Lousy Mets Go Sign Somebody Else Even Though They Already Have Johan Santana Because They're Big Greedy Donald Trump Loving New York Jackasses!"

Let the angst begin.

But seriously, the Mets did go and sign Tony Armas Jr., he of the 52-65 record and all of the unfortunate injuries. But when you consider that the Orioles went and re-signed our old friend Steve Trachsel to compete for a rotation spot after trading him last August, I ask you: on which side is the grass greener, exactly?

For once, it might not be the on the other side.

5 comments:

MetFanMac said...

All things considered, I'd rather have Trachsel. Heck, I may be the only Met fan left who doesn't hate the guy.

Maybe we could trade Armas for Trachsel?

I think my brain's getting foggy from lack of baseball...
Thank goodness Spring Training is right around the corner!

Anonymous said...

Someday, I'd love to see the AJC do an investigative study into how the very first team with it's own sports network, a National one, not just Regional, got to open it's new state-of-the-art atadium with Olympic fanfare is still too poor to compete?

katherine said...

I almost feel sorry for the Atlantans. Put aside for a moment the awfulness of actually having to live in "Hotlanta". The Braves just signed Texeira to a one year deal to avoid arbitration - but he is up for free agency next year, and his agent is Scott Boras.

Anonymous said...

The biggest unanswered question in the Armas/Trachsel comparison...

Who has the longer average time between pitches?

Keeping in mind, of course, that Armas has surgery approximately every third pitch.

Gonzo said...

Katherine, I didnt feel bad for Atlanta fans when they won 14 straight division titles, so I won't start now. And they knew what they were getting into when they traded Salty for him.