12 Responses to Mets Must Rid Themselves of High Maintenance Acts

1. RonOK
   May 21st, 2010 at 10:13 am

   The fact that John Maine was even in the starting rotation demonstrates the dysfunction in the way the Mets are run. I commend Manuel for pulling Maine …. Warthen should be fired for calling Maine a “habitual liar” …. simply uncalled for …. what good could possibly come from this?

   The root of all this mess can be traced squarely back to Omar Minaya — he built this roster of misfits and we are expected to support this mess.

   I never thought Manuel should manage this team — but I must admit that I have become somewhat sympathetic to his plight here …. I do beleive he does the best he can and hope that he is removed with some dignity rather then a public execution. But this is the Mets …. does anyone have any confidence that Omar Minaya will handle the removal of Jerry Manuel in a dignified way …. he can’t … if he did, he would need to accept the blame for much of Mauel’s failures and there is n way that would happen. Jerry will become the scapegoat for this Minaya debacle while Omar will continue to revieve his salary and drive this team further into the ground.

   But when you really dissect this roster — especially the pitching staff — this team is a disaster.

   For the Wilpons to allow this is disgraceful.

   Citi Field withh be Yankee Stadium East this weekend — the Mets could not sell out the stadium and were actually trying to give away tickets to former season ticket holders to (1) put more Mets fans in their own stadium and (2) try to create some good will.

   Think about that. The fan base has become wise to this mess … there is declining interest. The GM, manager and at least five players on this roster need to go …. what the heck are they waiting for?

2. oktoday
   May 21st, 2010 at 10:31 am

   OK then “The GM, manager and at least five players on this roster need to go “…. what the heck are they waiting for?

   But he also did some good things. As many other GM do. But the manager was not good enough to go. So get rid of him, but keep the GM.

3. RonOK
   May 21st, 2010 at 10:45 am

   Huh?

   Yes, Minaya did some good things …. but obviously not enough if this train wreck of a team is what we have. Any suggestion that Minaya be allowed to remain as GM is mind boggling to me.

   Minaya is the architect of this team …. he builds the roster …. he determines who should be here …. he built a tram with Mike Jacobs, Frank Catalonotto, Matthews, etc.

   Thanks goodness that Jacobs & FCat are gone …. Castillo, Perez, Maine, Matthews and Meija (to the minors) should never have been on this team and need to go.

   Minaya is responsible for that …. apologize for him all you want but the results speak for themselves.

4. royhobbs7
   May 21st, 2010 at 10:50 am

   Yes, the fanbase is frustrated and the talent on the field is woeful. This is a severely marred team. However, as much of the blame that is placed on Minaya should be placed (and more) on Jeff Wilpon. He promised the fans an improved product and did not deliver. First and foremost, he needs to apologize to the fans for misleading them given his diatribe last October. Next, JW needs to eat some lousy contracts for 2010-2011 (i.e., Castillo and OP). Thirdly, JW needs to get an entirely new feel on the diamond at Citifield to attract the fans. If that means getting rid of the GM and manager, so be it. Moreover, JW needs to put a young and passionate product on the field that will excite the fanbase and compete. Even if they are overmatched for 2010, the players on the field need to look like they want to go out and play everyday; not go through the motions half-assed (like some of the present overpaid and underperforming lot of players).

   E.g., Ollie P, doesn’t want to go down to the minors for the betterment of the team, cut his butt; just release him and eat 12 Mil for this and next year. Let someone else pick him up and deal with him.

   This organization needs to take a stance and have conviction in its plan. It never does……………. E.g. ,when was the last time the front office won out in negotiatiing for a FA when another team was involved.
   NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Chris Silva
   May 21st, 2010 at 10:53 am

   Ron

   Glad to see that your back! This is becoming even more of a disaster than anyone could have imagined. It’s time for a house cleaning top to bottom. Anything of value on the roster needs to be put onto to the market. I would start with K-Rod and go from there. Also, Bay isn’t the feature hitter he was sold to be. He’s very good in a great lineup but not the focal point of an offense. Quite simply, K-Rod, Perez, Maine, Castillo, Franceour, Pagan, Bay, Tatis, Matthews, and anybody else you think needs a boot should be put up on the market. At this point. I’d put Reyes or Wright out there as well to see what it would yield. Time to get the T.N.T. and blow it up!

6. RonOK
   May 21st, 2010 at 11:24 am

   Chris, I have been on an incredibly heavy travel schedule for work and it has made posting very difficult …

   ” …. K-Rod, Perez, Maine, Castillo, Franceour, Pagan, Bay, Tatis, Matthews, and anybody else you think needs a boot should be put up on the market. At this point. I’d put Reyes or Wright out there as well to see what it would yield … ”

   I am with you on all except Pagan, Bay and Reyes …. if you did gut the team, then quite frankly, the first to go would be Santana since his high salary & diminishing performance would not be necessary on a team that is rebuilding — which is what we woould be doing.

   You mentioned KROD — I agree … he should be sent packing but who would take him with his salary and the 2012 option for $17.5M that is looming? Imagine that, an option that pays him $17.5M for the 2010 season if he achieves reasy targets …. Minaya should have been fired over that alone …. the Perez and Castillo contracts pale in comparison to that one.

   I have been angry at the Mets from the very beginning of spring training over the poor approach Minaya and ownership handled the construction of this roster …. I sent an angry letter to the Wilpons cancelling my season tickets and never heard a word back.

   As this season has played out, my anger has only worsened — I wanted to be wrong, but as the team broke camp, I never thought this team could be a .500 team let alone a competitior for the division. I predicted 73 wins max and that is looking optimistic to me right now.

   I expect a massacre in Queens this weekend and Jerry Manauel to be fired on Monday …. the only thing preventing that will be the fact that the Yankees are somewaht beaten up themselves and that may help …. Manuel may get a stay of execution for a bit but it’ inevitable.

   Moving Manuel won’t necessarilyu be a bad thing, but unless you get rid of the root cause of all this — Minaya, nothing will really change with a new field manager.

7. MetsKnicksRutgers
   May 21st, 2010 at 11:41 am

   Chris — I second the Frankie trade, but NOBODY is going to pick that up without us eating a large portion of the contract. I suggested over the winter that we seek an Alex Rios type trade where we just give Krod away without eating any money, and if that didn’t work see if the Cubs would have taken him for Bradley and they eat 8-10 million considering they are getting some production back and needed BP help badly. Bradley obviously hasn’t done much and may never do much, but at least he doesn’t have 18 million for 2012 like Frankies horrendous vesting option does. Pagan, I don’t really understand why you would wanna trade him considering he is still under team control and pretty cheap for his production. Change for the sake of change doesn’t really make any sense if it doesn’t improve the team in the long term. Now if we could package Angel for some decent prospects in the low to mid minors I would definitely do it. Trading Reyes right now would be a really really bad move. He has struggled to start the season and after last year his value is at an all time low. No reason to trade him now. Finally, trading Wright would be disastrous right now also. Unless we get a BIG package for him it isn’t worth it.

8. Chris Silva
   May 21st, 2010 at 3:02 pm

   MKR

   I would have to agree with you on K-Rod as its not going to be easy to move him. However, being the fact somebody was crazy enough to take Milton Bradley certainly anything is possible. The reality is that you very well may get little to nothing for Maine, Perez, & Castillo. Pagan might be a neccessary move to get some value back to offset those other moves. I love Pagan and have been watching him since he played in Brooklyn in 2001. I think he could be a very adequate CF, but needs to be in a big time producing lineup to maximize his benefit. At this point, simply making players available to gage the interest would be smart on management’s part. You don’t really know what the market will yield unless you test it a bit. Doesn’t mean you have to make any of the moves. Bay hasn’t impressed me much as I feel his numbers are propped up due to a very good lineup. Plus, I was never sold he actually wanted to come here but rather was left with no other option but to sign with the Mets. IMO Bay would be with a small market team if they had the financial capability. I’m not an advocate of trading Wright or Reyes as these are the best players the Mets have ever developed and I think the bulk of their issues are mental. Which can be fixable but will take time. Wright has serious mechanical flaws in his swing that he must overcome to return to the hitter we know and love. Reyes was unfairly put in the 3 hole by Jerry which I believe could have stimulated his slump. He’s not the type of hitter Hanley Ramirez is and you can’t turn him into that. This team is riddled with fear and stress which is not a combination of success.

   The biggest issue I see with the organization is that it lacks a specific identity of how they play the game. With the way the ballpark was built it should be a foundation of defense, speed, & pitching. The successful teams like the Cardinals, Yankees, Red Sox stick to a core philosphy for winning. The Mets have never done that and in times where it appeared they have it was a product of the team (i.e. 86,69).

9. Chris Silva
   May 21st, 2010 at 3:08 pm

   Ron & MKR,

   Not sure if you have an iPhone, Blackberry, or Droid. But curious to see if you had the chance to download our app and what your thoughts are on it. Thanks

10. RonOK
    May 21st, 2010 at 3:14 pm

    I have a BBerry but have had an issue getting my email to load …. right now, it’s a basic cellphone until I get my work IT guys to figure out what’s wrong.

11. MetsKnicksRutgers
    May 21st, 2010 at 9:34 pm

    got an Ipad but don’t really mess with it too often.

    I am surprised we are actually agreeing on some things here Chris. We ahve really gone at it in the past, but i would be PERFECTLY fine with a tabula rasa when it comes to the NYM. Omar/Jerry and his entire staff gone. I’d bring in Acta (personal fave) because of his anti-jerryism and focus on advanced stats when making moves rather than his “gut”. I know you aren’t a big fan of sabermetrics, but you have seen what Jerry’s instinct brings. It’d be nice to go with a guy that at least used evidence and prior occurences to direct his thinking. For GM I’d look into the Tampa FO first and try to get a Friedman assistant. If it were possible to get a Billy Beane i’d be all over it. Or the guy that hired him out in Oakland, I can’t rememvber if it was Sandy Alderson or not. But an old school guy who thinks for the future is the best of both worlds. He can appeal to both the Ben Baumer’s of the world (Mets advanced metric analyst) and the Terry Collins of the world.

    I agree on Pagan. I don’t wanna trade him but if we get a decent prospect who we have control over for the next 6-7 years I am all for it. Reyes I don’t think will fetch us much so I’d wait until the off-season. If this TRULY is a rebuilding process then we can’t go halfway in. Wright and Reyes have to be dealt for MASSIVE returns. Santana would have to be dealt and we’d have to eat a LARGE portion of his contract. Pelfrey also who would fetch us a ton back too considering he still hasn’t even reached arbitration. Some of the guys i’d keep that are currently on the ML roster:

    Ollie – there is no way anybody takes him, it just wont happen.
    Mejia — duh, but he does to the minors
    Ike — He may be gone son also, considering how much he would bring back ad we may not compete seriously for 2-3 years. Nevertheless, most likely he stays
    Jose/David — Unless the return isn’t huge they’d stay
    Cris Carter — I think he could end up being a very good bench/Tatis type player.

    I’d be fine with taking the Donnie Walsh sledgehammer to this team. But it can’t be glossed over Wilpon style. We are in a position now where if we want to compete now the Wilpon’s MUST go out and spend like the Yankees. We’d have to sign Holliday over Bay, Lowe over Ollie, Tiexera over Delgado etc. And then we’d have to start paying over slot in the draft to get the Jobas and Hughes’ in the world in the early 2nd/3rd round because we are using our 1st rounders on type A’s.

    Or

    We slash payroll a shit-ton and build with high draft picks and IFA’s. The Wilpons tell people that it may be bad for a few years but they will see young players, and guys trying to revamp their careers. I think the fanbase as a whole wouold buy it honestly, they would just have to take a hit for a year or two.

12. Chris Silva
    May 22nd, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    MKR,

    I’m not at all against a front office combination stat guys and traditional baseball personal. I think a healthy balance of both brings a different dimension to the organization. My biggest problem with this front office and managerial regime is that it lacks leadership. It’s not clear whos in charge and the decision making comes across as reactive instead of proactive. This team needs an out of the boxer thinker that will develop a diverse roster designed around a philosphy of play. The stats and baseball guys are only going to get you so far. There needs to be heart & soul in the players that make up the roster. We need guys who are hungry, want to win, & will sacrifice their body to do so. Jerry and Omar have lost these guy which is leading to more & more disention. Don’t think it needs to be blown up to the rebuilding point. They have the capibility of making impactful moves that can change the dynamic. Let’s not forget this is a streaky .500 team. Not far off very a contending team with the right pieces added and leadership.

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