Things That Could Come Back to Bite Our Asses in 2010:

1. David Wright’s Power Outage – I’m not sure what happened to David this season. I hope his measly 10 home runs stemmed from the lack of talent around him in the lineup, thus allowing pitchers to throw around him. That might help explain why Wright’s strikeout numbers spiked this year as well: he was forced to step up and make big plays at the plate but he wasn’t getting anything to hit in the first place, so he ended up over-extending himself and struggling. The one thing that is not the answer here is Citi Field. While the cavernous park did steal maybe a handful of home runs from Wright, he still only had 5 homers away from New York. If David Wright is going to pan out into the player everyone thought he was going to be he needs to hit at least 25 homers each season. Anything less will not cut it.

2. Starting Pitching – We have our ace in Johan Santana. Beyond that there are too many question marks. I still believe that Mike Pelfrey can succeed as a number two starter in the Majors; he took a monster step backwards this season but he’s still only 25. But for next season I don’t see a quality number 2 starter out of Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Nelson Figueroa, and Jon Niece. I think each one of these players can be a very good and/or serviceable backend pitchers in the Mets rotation. The real bad news is that there isn’t much help for the Mets in the upcoming free agent market. John Lackey and Brandon Webb (if he leaves Arizona) would be great pickups but there are some decent pitchers on the market that will be too much of a risk for the Mets, namely Jason Marquis (pile his name in with those other backend starters), Erik Bedard, and Rich Harden (I think Mets fans have had enough with injured star players).

3. Jose Reyes’ Right Knee – Reyes went from being day-to-day in May to missing the majority of the 2009 season. Management decided until the season ended for Reyes to have surgery on his knee, so now he risks coming into next season with a less-than-100% knee. This is major for a player who relies so much on his speed. The worst thing here is why on Earth the Mets organization didn’t make this decision sooner to give Reyes more time to recover. I just don’t understand it. If you’re counting, that’s two of the Mets core players on the Shit List for 2010 and talking about the Mets management…

4. The Wilpons Are Still in Charge – First, I want to say that I really like Jerry Manuel. I think he makes good in-game decisions and I like his attitude. I think the Mets management woes begin with the owners. And I know that I have defended Omar Minaya in the past, but there have been too many bad decisions made from behavior during a press conference to handling the reporting of players’ injuries to personnel decisions (I’m talking about Bernarizard more than player signings).

There’s probably some more stuff I could add here, but I want to try and stay as positive as possible going into this offseason so lets get to the good stuff. Dare I say …

What to Look Forward to in ‘10:

1. The Bullpen – During the last “real” season for the Mets (2007-08), this was their achilles heal. One of the few feathers in Omar Minaya’s GM hat for the ‘09 season is that this is no longer the case. The Mets bullpen had a stellar 3.89 ERA (8th best in the NL) while compiling the sixth most innings pitched in the league. K-Rod didn’t have his best season as a closer, but was still strong saving 35 games in 42 chances. Pedro Feliciano had a phenomenal year and Brian Stokes wasn’t too far behind. I also like the way Bobby Parnell improved this season, although his numbers were not as impressive as some of his other ‘pen mates. Add to those four, one healthy JJ Putz (not to mention one or two of those backend starters I mentioned before) and the Mets should have a top ranked bullpen next year.

2. Jeff Francoeur – Since the Mets acquired the former Braves outfielder at around the All Star break, Francoeur has led the team in homers and RBI, while hitting an impressive .307 and leading all Mets outfielders in assists. I think he could be a strong 5 or 6 hitter for this Mets lineup next season. And, at just 25 years old, there’s plenty of time for improvement.

3. Angel Pagan – Over the last two seasons, Pagan has shown flashes of promise but has been hampered with injuries his entire career. In some weird twist of irony, he was one of the few Mets to avoid the injury bug – at least for the second half of this season. Playing for Carlos Beltran in center, Pagan put up stellar everyday numbers: .307 average, 45 runs, 10 triples, and led the Mets with an OPS of .847 since the All Star break. He’s a strong candidate to hit at the top of the lineup next year and could provide a dangerous one-two leadoff punch with Jose Reyes, if the shortstop can return 100% healthy.

4. The Karma Effect – The 2009 New York Mets had some of the worst luck in sports history this season – their training staff may have had a little to do with it. I can not think of one team, though, in all of American sports that has ever had their five best players miss a chunck of the same season. Add into the mix the Mets losing the “Endy Chavez catch” game 7 against the Cards three seasons ago and blowing the division lead two years running (alright these have to do with their play, but there’s definitely bad luck involved in here as well), and it all says that the Mets are due for some positive karma in the near future.

That’s about it for my 2009 New York Mets season wrap up. It’s definitely been a year to forget for anyone who has any financial, personal, or emotional stake in this team but we do get one repreive that Mets fans haven’t had in quite some time: low expectations. For the last few years the Mets have consistently come into the season with expectations of the playoffs looming above their heads. If you haven’t noticed yet, this team doesn’t play well under that type of pressure. After this season, everyone should have more reasonable expectations for this team and, if it doesn’t help in any other way, at least we won’t be as dissappointed if this team finishes around .500 next year.

I’ll be back to update on any offseason happenings. Until then check up on your other favorite team’s blogs and gear on GearUpForSports.

Before this start, Misch had started in 16 games during his 4 year career. Over those 4 years in the Majors (as a starter and reliever), Patty Boy has compiled an “‘09-Mets”-esque 2-11 record with a 4.89 ERA. But on Sunday Misch threw a gem of a game against a good Florida Marlins lineup. Facing Hanley & Co., Misch scattered 8 hits and 3 walks over 9 innings for just the second complete game for the Mets this season. Jeff Francoeur and Anderson Hernandez backed up their starter with a two-run and solo home run, respectively.

Unfortunately, this rare enjoyable game for Mets fans went mostly unnoticed. For the first time since the sun rose over Earth’s horizon the Mets, Yankees, Giants, and Jets all played at the same time. And with the Yanks battling the Red Sox to clinch the AL East title and the Jets and Giants battling to remain undefeated early on in the NFL season; there probably were as many people watching the Mets game since the last time this has happened. (And if that analogy was a little tough, basically, there was no one watching the Mets game.) Hopefully the Mets could give us some more reasons to watch as the ‘09 season finally wraps up over the next two weeks.

One thing I’ve learned about a lot of Mets fans is that they can be about as fickle as any fans in sports. As a whole, we have very little patience for developing players and as soon as the Mets hit their first three or four game losing streak of the season, we usually start planning for next year. I have always prided myself on consistently staying positive. I defended Omar Minaya when he resigned Oliver Perez, I still think David Wright will develop into a team leader, and I know Mike Pelfrey still has plenty of time to develop into a front-end of the rotation type of pitcher. When the Mets hit tough skids during the summer, I always remain loyal and watch as many games as I can – no matter how painful it my be.

But this season was different. It’s one thing if your team has a poor offseason or just plays way under expectation; these are seasons that lifetime sports fans will inevitably have to live through. I view these tough times the same way my parents explained to me why I need to do my chores: they build character. The test of a fan is not how loyal they are during winning seasons, but how closely they follow their “favorite” team during losing seasons. Growing up in New York, I’ve gotten to see a lot of this “two-faced fandom” first hand with the Mets’ cross-town AL brothers, the Yankees.

The Yankees’ championship dynasty in the 1990’s started right as kids in my generation began to follow sports. The string of championships spawned an entire pool of fair weather Yankee fans; in my high school, for example, I would say that for every five kids who said they liked the Yankees, only two could name their starting lineup. And over the last decade, when the Yankees haven’t even been losing per say but have failed to win a World Series, I’ve seen the true Yankee fans remain steadfastly loyal while the two-faced fans have mainly lost interest. The point being that it’s not about how you cheer when times are good, a real fan sticks with the team during disappointing and/or rebuilding years.

The 2009 Mets’ season, though, does not really fall into either of these categories. It clearly wasn’t a rebuilding year as the Mets’ opening day roster included more than a handful of potential all stars (and even with all the injuries they still had the highest representation on the all star team). It’s even hard for me to say that I’m disappointed in this season because we have barely had a chance to see what this team could produce. The Mets opening day roster played less than 40 games together. It’s like if you plan a killer cross country road trip with a bunch of your buddies and then your rented RV dies an hour into the drive. You can’t be disappointed in the trip because it never happened and there was nothing you could do to prevent that RV from dying out.

Similarly we, as Mets’ fans, never got to see what the 2009 Mets could do. The Mets’ spiral of injuries began on May 18th when they announced that Carlos Delgado would need hip surgery. By the end of that month, Jose Reyes would join Delgado on the DL but the Mets were able to stay about 5 games above .500, good enough to stay within a game of the division leading Phillies. While the Mets struggled after Reyes went down, they were still only 2.5 games behind the Phils on June 23 when Carlos Beltran was sidelined with his knee bruise. It was at this point, though, that the Metropolitans simply didn’t have enough talent to compete. From that day until September 9 (when Beltran returned) the Mets have had a record of 27-43; and my interest waned with the mounting losses.

Like the foiled cross country trip, it’s like the 2009 Mets’ season never happened. How are we supposed to feel about this year? The immediate reaction to the Mets’ poor play this summer was to point fingers at someone in the organization. I’ve seen blame placed on everything from the Wilpons to the training staff to the World Baseball Classic. But the kicker is (and I think a lot of Mets fans are beginning to grasp this now) that there really is no one to blame for this abysmal season. We never really got a chance to see what this full team could do, Jerry Manuel basically had to manage a major league team with minor league talent for half the season, and there is no way in a billion years that Omar Minaya could have made a move to salvage this season (although he could have handled the PR surrounding the injured stars better, i.e. keeping the fans more informed about their status).

Unlike typical losing seasons, we don’t really know what this team needs to win next season. I mean even if the Mets do not make one move this offseason, we’ll still be getting two of the best players in baseball back in our lineup. That combined with a healthy Johan Santana, a solid bullpen, and some promising young players who were shoved into the spotlight too early this season makes for an exciting 2010 team.

As for 2009, I’m going to chalk this one up to bad luck and just start off fresh next year. We got a nice sneak peak at what the Mets have the potential to do next season during the spring and I think they’ll be right up there competing for a playoff spot. But right now, I’m just going to focus on football. Hopefully my Giants can give me a break from all of the character I have been building this year. I’m going to need a good rest before the Knicks tip off in November.

The thing that bothered me, though, was the broadcast of the game. The commentators were pretty biased but even that was okay with me; it’s Phillies v. Mets after all. But later in the game, the local Philly station that televises the team (MyPhi17) showed a fist-fight in the stands on the air. Now I would be lying if I said that this would not have bothered me as much if the Mets fan wasn’t the one getting the poop beaten out of him but in either case this is not the type of thing a responsible television network should be airing. I’ve posted the video below.

I understand that this is a heated rivalry and fights will break out especially when the consumption of alcohol takes place, which was clearly the case in this instance. But for the network to televise such an altercation is sending a horrible message to kids watching the game. Even worse, the commentators sounded like this was a frequent occurrence, which I’m sure it is in Philadelphia. They don’t condemn the Phillies fan, who seemed entirely at fault, but made him look like a tough guy saying “Don’t mess with that guy.” It’s no wonder that Philly fans have no class. They grow up in an environment that glorifies the worst aspect of sports fans.

When I go to a baseball game, I’m not looking to argue and fight with other fans. I’m going to enjoy a nice day at the ballpark and hopefully watch the Mets win (hence I’ve only been to Citi Field twice this season…) When I drink, I’m aware that there are families attending the game as well and I keep that in mind in regards to my behavior. After getting to know a lot of Philly fans in college, maybe I shouldn’t be this surprised or outraged but the Mets haven’t exactly done anything lately to put me in a good mood.

But over the last few days, I’ve found new found fire. There’s been a sensational amount of criticism over the last week of the Mets organization. Everyone from the Wilpons to the training staff has come under journalist’s and blogger’s critical lens. Any time a professional sports team comes into a season with the second highest payroll in the league and struggles to stay close to .500 deserves criticism. However, what the Mets have had to deal with this season is different. So if fans want to say that they are disappointed with all of the injuries then that’s fine. But some of the critics out there are talking straight out of their asses.

I have read way too many articles lately about how Omar Minaya has done such a terrible job putting together a team for this year and how the ’09 Mets are financially the biggest bust in Major League history. I understand a lot of people want to avoid using the “injury excuse,” but that is exactly why this season has gone so awry; and there’s no other reason why the Mets have played so poorly. No team in baseball would be able to overcome the amount of injuries the Mets have had this season. They have lost three irreplaceable hitters in their lineup, multiple bench players, two starters, two replacement starters, and their setup man.

A lot of these critics are saying that the Mets had a lot of problems coming into this season. While it probably won’t win me any popularity points, I’m going to defend Omar Minaya’s moves last off season. I’m not the biggest Minaya fan but I think he has come under unfair scrutiny this season. Below are some of the criticisms I have read/heard over the last few weeks and my attempt to show their irrelvance in the realm of logic and history:

1) “The Mets should have gotten a #2 starter to back up Santana during last off season.”

Fans saying this seem to have forgotten all about Mike Pelfrey’s great season last year. The Mets were grooming him to take over as a top of the staff starter, and after 2008 it looked like he would develop into a great starter. Last season Pelfrey threw 200 innings and sported a 3.72 ERA with a 110 strikeouts to64  walks. At 24, that was his first full season as a Major League pitcher; how could you argue against the fact that he was clearly on his way to developing into a solid #2 starter, if not a future ace?! Pelfrey has taken a substantial step back this season but he has yet to reach the prime of his career and absolutely has a shot of regaining that fine 2008 form. Hence, to criticize Omar Minaya for not signing a #2 starter during the offseason is ludicrous.  I doubt those same fans thought Pelfrey would struggle so much this year.

2) “We spent too much money on Oliver Perez and Frankie Rodriguez.”

First I’m going to address the K-Rod signing. Number one: we got him for a bargain of what he was originally seeking. Number two: he was by far the best option to fill in the closer role for the Mets, which was the biggest blemish in the entire organization (or perhaps second to Carlos Beltran’s massive mole). Number three: he was by far the best option in the FA pool and the Mets had no one to rely on within their farm system to take on the closer role. Number four: K-Rod’s not even having a bad season; his numbers are down from his career averages but he’s still putting up very good numbers for an MLB closer (3.35 ERA, 25/30 in save opps, 53 K’s in 51 IP).

The Ollie situation is a little bit tougher to defend. Randy Wolf and Derek Lowe were available and both would have made quality second/third SP’s. Here’s why I liked Minaya’s decision to sign Perez: he’s entering the prime of his career, while Lowe has two or three quality years left and Wolf is no spring chicken at 32 years old. Wolf has had a good career and it’s almost a certain that he’ll give you a very mediocre year. Over his 11 year career, he sports a middle of the line 4.18 ERA and has made 30 starts in only four seasons. He’s solid but not the type of pitcher that puts a team over the top.

Lowe has had a strong career but was a tough sign because of the multi-year, $15 million contract that he was asking for. Ollie, on the other hand, is still only 27 and while he’s been as inconsistent as a pitcher can be, has shown brilliance especially in clutch situations. In 2007, his first year with the Mets, Perez pitched his way to 15 wins with a 3.56 ERA and was instrumental in the Mets’ deep playoff run. Last season, he was one of the top performing pitchers after the all star break. Plus, the contract we signed Ollie to was – like K-Rod – substantially less than he was originally asking for (it’s also two million less than what Lowe signed for). In hindsight, Wolf would have been the best pitcher to sign but at the time I liked the risk/reward in signing Ollie.

3) “The Mets have struggled so much this year because Omar Minaya has depleted the farm system.”

First of all, no team has a farm system that can replace Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and Jose Reyes at once. Second, Minaya never had a farm system to deplete. The only trade he has made that anyone could argue “depleted” the farm system was when he traded for Johan Santana. We gave away Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. Gomez was the prize in the deal but he has been largely a bust with the Twins. The other three have yet to make any sort of impact on the Twins organization. The only thing Minaya has failed to do with the farm system is acquire and develop better young talent.

(Side Note: The lack of farm talent is also not entirely Omar’s fault, the Wilpons apparently adhere to a crazy “guideline” in the draft where the commissioner’s office suggests teams not pick players who ask for too much money in the specific slot they are slated to be picked in the draft; i.e. if a player who is supposed to be selected 12th is asking for more money than the player selected 10th, the commish “suggests” that the player be passed over by the team with the 12th pick. I do not entirely understand this scenario and couldn’t find any information about it, so I didn’t want to use it in my argument. If anyone can clarify what exactly goes on with this, please post a comment.)

4) “The injuries exposed the poor supporting cast that the Mets had anyway.”

Seriously? A poor supporting cast? Are there any Mets fans who didn’t have a complete crush on Daniel Murphy last season? He obviously was not meant to play the outfield or hit 4th in the lineup, but I still think he makes a very good 2nd or 6th hitter in a healthy Mets lineup. Ryan Church also played great until he suffered his two concussions last season (perhaps an overlooked foreshadowing of the Mets poor training staff). Then you have Ramon Castro and Brian Schneider catching which isn’t exciting but they have shown that they can get the job done. Luis Castillo was a bit of a question mark at second but he’s shown that he can still play. You have those starters with gritty veterans Alex Cora and Gary Sheffield coming off the bench with talented players like Angel Pagan, Nick Evans, and F-Mart waiting in the wings. You can’t tell me at the beginning of the season that you weren’t excited to see what this lineup would do.

In conclusion, there’s no way anyone could have predicted that the 2009 season could go so awry for the Mets. I don’t completely disagee with the fact that Omar Minaya should be fired but this season should not be weighted as heavily in that decision (other than the Adam Rubin tirade) as his failure to make the right moves during the seasons when the Mets were competing.

There’s my rant, now I’m going on vacation for a week. See you at the end of August.

The Mets’ DL trio of Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado are all due back by mid-August – which I take to mean sometime between the 9th and 22nd. That’s quite a range. Beltran seems like he will be the first player to return as he is already taking batting practice. Reyes had a minor setback last week but looks like he will be back on the field before Delgado.

Ironically, the injured Mets star most likely to return the soonest is the player who has missed the most time: Billy Wagner. Wagner has been perfect working two innings of relief in Single A and his next step is to pitch on back-to-back days. JJ Putz is about a week behind Wagner’s rehab schedule. Both players are expected back by the end of the month. John Maine, on the other hand, has not begun rehabbing his fatigued right shoulder. There’s no timetable for him to return and if the Mets do not climb back into the playoff hunt, I suspect that Maine will remain on the DL for the remainder of the season.

Speaking of climbing back into the playoff race, the Mets have played eons better as of late (I think I’m making up that unit of measurement to describe good play). While it’s refreshing to watch them compete and play with heart again – and also exciting to think that they will be getting back three of their best hitters over the next few weeks – it is insanely unlikely that they will make the playoffs. If there are a lot of Mets’ fans out there like me, we have been collectively gaining hope. The team was playing well and after winning their series against the then Wild Card leading Rockies were surprisingly only 5.5 games out of the wild card.

But when it comes to hope, I always remember the conflicting opinions of Andy and Redd from Shawshank Redemption. At one point in the film, Redd warns Andy that “[h]ope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” Later on in the movie, Andy writes Redd a letter that explained: “… hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” In the case of the Mets’ fan, I’m going to have to side a bit more with Redd’s opinion. I think every fan should keep faith in the team and hope that they have a better season next year. But to hold on to that hope for the playoffs this season will absolutely drive you insane, especially if the Mets keep up their improved play. (It’s like dangling a Yodel in front of a fat kid; he’s never going to reach it but he keeps coming so close.)

And if you need any more reason (aside from being a life long Mets fan) to let go of that playoff hope for 2009, the Mets have less than 2.3% chance to make the playoffs this year. This statistic is from CoolStandings.com which predicts that the NL Wild Card team will have to win 90 games to make the playoffs. The Mets would need to go 40-18 the rest of the season to reach 90 wins.

Hold on to that kind of hope if you want, but I’ll settle for a shrug to a mediocre year mared by injuries and save my hope until next year.

More importantly than that, though, is the way the Mets have been playing. I just wrote about how well they played in Houston but last night’s game was a thrill. Ollie Perez gave the Mets 5 solid innings, giving up 3 earned runs two of which came on solo home runs. The Mets battled to stay in the game through the first seven innings and then Fernando Tatis came up to the plate in the 8th. With the bases juiced and one out, the struggling Tatis hit for outfielder Cory Sullivan. Down 0-2 in the count, Tatis launched a Franklin Morales change-up over the left field wall to put the Mets up 7-3. They would go on to win by that same score.

I don’t think my words, though, can express the excitement of Tatis’ grand slam. I can not remember the last time I heard a Mets crowd cheer so thunderously. I got chills watching it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video I could embed into the post so I’ll link to a replay on SNYTV.com. Seriously, listen to this crowd. It’s the sound of thousands of people lulled into apathy by bad luck (and a poor training staff), suddenly woken up by some excitement. With Pelfrey giving the Mets almost seven very good innings tonight and leaving with a 3-0 lead, hopefully the Mets can keep us awake for a little while longer.

In the three game series against Houston, the Mets’ bats awoke with a vengeance. To put this series in perspective, in the seven previous games the Mets played against the Braves and Nationals, their lineup up combined for only 43 hits and 11 extra bats hits – one of which was a home run. That’s pretty much a microcosm for the way they have hit over the entire season. In their weekend series against the Astros, though, the Mets racked up 38 hits, 11 extra base hits, and clobbered 4 homers in the three game series.

Two key players in the Mets’ wins were Luis Castillo and Jeff Francoeur. As much flak as he got in spring training, Castillo has quietly had a fantastic season. He is now hitting .301 and getting on base just a shade under .400, and has become a very efficient number 2 hitter (he’s also the hardest batter to strike out in the league). Francoeur has also looked great in his short stint as a Met. Over the weekend Castillo and Francoeur combined for 11 hits, 6 runs, and 11 RBI.

For the rest of the season, this is how we should focus: one game and one series at a time. Chances are the Mets aren’t going to make the playoffs and it would be foolish to think otherwise. But if this team can string together some wins – especially against teams positioned ahead of them in their division and wild card race – it may make for an interesting September.

Yes, it has been difficult to watch the Mets this season. But it just got officially embarrassing today. A report was released that the Mets VP of Player Development Tony Bernazard, ripped off his shirt and challenged the entire Binghampton Mets (their AA club) locker room to rumble. The team has played poorly – they’re last in the Eastern League Northern division with a 37-58 record – and there has apparently been some underage drinking problems with the team.

That doesn’t excuse Bernazard’s behavior, though. It’s one thing for 20 year old kids to misbehave and – gasp – drink under age; yeah, them and about every other kid their age in the States. It’s a completely different situation for a 52 year old team executive to lose his mind, tear off his shirt like he’s Hulk Hogan, and challenge all on-comers to a brawl. Kids, whether they’re considered professionals or not, are going to make mistakes. A 50 year old executive is held to a higher standard and is supposed to set an example for the younger players and employees to follow.

But who are we kidding, this story sounds hilarious. Come to think of it, Bernazard’s name lends itself well to a WWE character. I imagine him stomping out of his office to Puff Daddy’s”Come With Me,” standing in the middle of all those players and screaming: Who here is man enough to pin the Bern-ari-zard, brotherrrr. It’s just too bad none of the players had their cell phone cameras ready; that rant sounds like it was tailor-made to go viral online. At least we would have gotten some more fun out of this situation. The Mets just can not win this season.

I fell very efficiently out of my chair – all 28 3/4″ – to the floor. I laid there for a good 10-15 minutes in complete and utter disbelief. The Blue Jays offered their ace to the Mets and didn’t even ask for one of our main pieces…

Now that I have had a few hours to digest this, I still don’t get it. Niese and Parnell are two of the Mets more promising young pitchers but I don’t think their ceilings are that high. I can see Niese filling in a backend spot on a major league rotation and Parnell probably won’t achieve a position higher than an 8th inning relief role. Fernando Martinez would be the real prize for the Jays in this deal but, again, I don’t think he is that untouchable. He’s definitely got the potential to be a four or five tool player but his stock has dropped over the last few seasons because of frequent injuries. Finally there’s Ruben Tejada, who I had never heard of before this Tweet. Tejada is a 19 year old kid from Venezuela who has flown up the minor league ranks. He plays a good shortstop (not spectacular) and has hit decently. The Mets signed Tejada when he was 17 years old and in two years he’s made it AA, and played fairly well. He’s still pretty much all potential, though, which is why I think trading him in a deal for Doc Halladay is a must.

With all that said, there’s a legitimate chance that this isn’t even true. Although Heyman works for a reputable publication, I haven’t heard anything about this potential offer from either team. If Toronto did make this deal and the Mets rejected it, though, I can only think of one reason why. The Mets are in a terrible position this season. If the Mets were within say five games of the Phillies, I think that Omar Minaya makes this move. The Mets, though, are 9 games back of the division lead and 7 games out of the Wild Card. Their chances of making the playoffs – especially with the heart of their lineup out for at least another three weeks – is rapidly fading, and even Roy Halladay wouldn’t be able to turn that around.

As I said, though, I’m really stretching for a reason as to why the Mets would not make this move. Lets say they don’t make the playoffs this season, even with Halladay. That would leave them with a pitching rotation that includes the best righty and lefty starters in the MLB, a top tier closer, and three perennial all-star position players (Reyes, Wright, and Beltran; Delgado’s contract is up after this season). The only negative that would come out of this is that the Mets would have to pick up Halladay’s hefty contract but that’s never stopped Minaya from making moves before. This leaves me to believe that this rumor is not true.

And if it is, I am going to throw my perfectly heightened work chair through the 14th story window of my mid-town Manhatten office and curse Omar Minaya to eternal damnation.

If you want to add to my distraction at work, feel free to follow me @JoeyOC1021