Friday, November 06, 2009

A Step Behind

All right, so we're mere hours into the off-season, so let's kick it off by being impatient. It's so "New York Cliche" to be impatient, but I'm embracing it.

How can I help it? Already we've heard that the Mets are scared off by Aroldis Chapman's asking price, scared off by John Lackey's asking price, and have already missed out on two players widely thought to be potential parts of the Mets renaissance: Mark Teahen (to the White Sox) and Jeremy Hermida (to the Red Sox). With Carlos Delgado filing for free agency, maybe making a move for an upgrade at first base would have helped. Or, maybe Hermida would have been an option in left field, or as a better fourth outfielder option than whatever next season's 35-year-old flavor of the month might be. But I guess that's why Omar Minaya makes the big bucks getting Jeff Wilpon coffee while I just spew crap here in this space.

If the modus operandi of this team is truly going to change, then apparently it has to be done quick. Because even after one day without baseball, teams seem to be proactive in filling holes while the Mets have already stumbled out of the gate. Maybe the Mets do have a plan in mind. Maybe it does involve Lackey and/or Chapman, and everything we've heard from the media is a Mets induced smokescreen to hide a better plan.

I hope there's a better plan. And I hope they're right.

***

For those who wonder why I don't "support the Yankees for my city because I'm a New Yorker" or root for the Yankees because in 1986 Yankee fans "rooted for the Mets against the Red Sox", I bring you Carol Hirsch.
Carol Hirsch, 50, of Fair Lawn bought two sweatshirts, three T-shirts and a pennant for herself and her boyfriend. Part of it, she said, was to show her pride in her favorite team.

"And to stick it to Mets fans," she added. "We have a lot of friends who are Mets fans."
Check, and mate.

10 comments:

JE said...

Screw those Yankee fans. I was 17 years old during the '86 Series. Of maybe 20 high school friends who were Yankee fans, all but ONE rooted for the RED SOX. Yes, the SOX. (I don't want to hear that it wasn't a big rivalry back then, because it was.)

Schneck said...

This morning I had to share a very crowded PATH train with Yankee fans and then I had to figure out how to make it to work through the Yankee fans blocking all of the streets. At one point, I passed a group of fans that were high fiving everyone that passed by. In a moment of raw spontaneity and courage (surrounded by cops and separated by a barricade) I looked at them defiantly and yelled "Let's Go Mets!!" As I heard an entire section of fans cursing me violently behind me I had a smile on my face for the remainder of my walk to work. Absolutely true story.

kjs said...

God Bless You, Schneck.

Even though I'm heading to see the Isles at the Rock tonight, I chose my Mets black-and blue cap to wear to work and the game today.

Thousands of frontrunners heading down my way to their Lispy Giuliani-blessed parade.

Suprisingly, only one snark, and he didn't have the guts to say it to my face.

Doug Sisk said...

Seriously? You wanted Hermidia? Teahan? Come on, you've been around this team long enough to realize that they are what we dont want. They are players with potential that was never realized. And Alay Soler err..Chapman? The risk/reward for him on this team is not good. How many cuban players have succeeded anyway? 3? 4? Id like Lackey but I think we'll be more interested in Ben Sheets.

The Brains said...

Fact of the matter is, the team is cursed. If Sheets or Harden or even Lackey came here, their arms would fall off by July. Or they'd get in some bizarre taxi accident. Something would happen! If they go anywhere else, 15 + wins. Only in Flushing!

JE said...

In all fairness, Omar made a quick move last year, re-signing Tatis for $1M, not exactly a phenomenal transaction. There's still plenty of time for him to screw up, er, work his magic.

cohnstu said...

Carol Hirsch?? F*** her!

Unknown said...

The Mets were slow out of the gate last year too. They should have gotten some outfield help and more pitching. No one could have predicted all of those injuries, but they showed the sore lack of depth that this team had (and has). There are two things that will make the Mets better: Omar's goota go...and a change in ownership.

Hazeleyes said...

Yankee fans never root for the Mets... who are they kidding? Quite a few Yankee fans are fair weather fans who will jump on the Mets bandwagon when the Yanks are tanking and the Mets are doing well. We can do without them.

I have no idea who they should or shouldn't sign. Will anyone want to come to Flushing? THAT is the question!

Trash Man said...

With everyone else in baseball "hitting the ground running" as soon as the WS ended, the Mets are sitting on their hands, saying everyone that can help them is overpriced. Right now Omar isn't negotiating any deals. He's trying to come up with the right excuse for why they won't get the job done and having Jay Horwitz leak some bogus info to the media about players they are considering. Bottom line: There is no plan. They are still pretending to be a small market team. Holiday, Halliday, Lackey Gonzalez? Forget it. They'll all be gone soon. Look for Murton, Tomko, Silva, and Huff instead.