X-Man Headed to the Bronx

As a fan, it is easy to get caught up this time of year in the little tidbits and nuggets written by members of the mainstream media. Make no mistake, the reports regarding trade rumors are often contradictory, but in the end the stories usually consist of one struggling organization demanding a king’s ransom for an overrated veteran and another team either desperately willing to meet the price or a stalemate in negotiations all-together. The image left for most fans to carve out of a mess like this is a bunch of grizzled, cigar-chomping, obstinate General Managers unwilling to do what is necessary to rebuild their fledgling franchises.

If only we could tap ourselves on the shoulder every now and than and remind ourselves that we are dealing with a bunch of young statesman/economists armed with pocket protectors and Ivy League educations to their credit who would have made brilliant political operatives or Wall Street executives if they were not as obsessed with baseball as we are. This explains why I have heard my share of horror stories in the past about writers, many of whom had the best of intentions, been the victims of what ultimately turns out to be blatantly false information when in fact the difference between the wheat and the chaf is so varnished it is impossible to distinguish between the two; because the truth is that many writers are either getting their info from bottom level scouts and executives who are hardly more privy than we are to trade rumors, or, more often, from high ranking officials whose chief aim is to beguile for obvious reasons.  (Derek Carty over at The Hardball Times has an excellent piece on this matter, focusing on some of Paul DePodesta’s statements on his personal blog.)

Today’s deal that sent Xavier Nady and Damaso Martepacking to the New York Yankees for four prospects is a perfect example of this. While every ones opinion on this deal is basically contingent upon their thoughts on Jose Tabata,* the point is that the reports in the media suggested that the price for Nady alone would be far higher. Jayson Stark wrote this morning that Nady would cost, ‘one sure thing, one good prospect, and one more iffy prospect.’ Jose Tabta, who has hit .249/.310/310 in 294 at-bats for AA Trenton thus far and has some major makeup concerns, is far from a “sure thing.” (I was thinking more F-Mart if not Mike Pelfrey myself when I heard this.) In addition, when I hear the term “good prospect” thrown around, that usually applies to guys like Nick Evans and or Jon Niese, both of whom I would hesitate to give up in a package for Nady, and not George Kontos, who does have some sleeper potential. I believe labeling Ross Ohlendorf or Phil Coke an “iffy” prospect” is too polite, given the fact clones of these two can be found in just about every AAA rotation.

 I admit I exaggerated when I told a friend following this deal that the Pirates “got quantity but absolutely no quality.” After all, despite all his struggles, Tabata is yet to turn 20 and they were comparing this guy to Fernando Martinez just a year ago, with several insiders telling me they preferred the Yankees stud. Therefore, I am pretty ambivalent about who will end up the winner down the line. When I put together what I thought was a fair equivalent deal for the Mets, however- Ruben Tejada, Dylan Owen, and two of either Salvador Aguilar, Tobi Stoner, or Bobby Parnell, it does not look so bad does it?

More Midsummer Delusions

After about a two weeks writers block, I returned to my little playground over at FU with another conspiracy laden, veteran hatin’, dissident column on the rise of Fernando Tatis and why, given their limited external options, the Mets should roll the dice with either Nick Evans or Mike Carp the rest of the way in left field.

Aside from a quick mention of how it will be difficult for Omar to try and work some magic and acquire the likes of Jason Bay or Xavier Nady without including Fernando Martinez, I did not spend too much time elaborating on how F-Mart is simply not an option to be called up to the big league as this point, barring a truly exceptional August, mostly because I did not want to go off on some abstract rant 700 words through.

in the forums however, a lot of the criticism about my article focuses on, mind you, not Tatis, but on F-Mart. Most fans seem to get the gist that Tony Bernazard and co. are so high on F-Mart that the plan is to call him up as soon as the Tatis dreams dies (I regrettably have my money on about a week), without even a mention of Evans or Carp. Like I said, Evans and Carp are far from perfect solutions and are simply the result of an overpriced trade market right now, but gee, you would think that with Carp, for one, having compiled almost at many at-bats at AA (695), as F-Mart has in his entire minor league career (786), some Mets fans would re-think their opinions a bit.

In all seriousness, however, F-Mart has, without the doubt, the highest ceiling of any prospect in the Mets system right now. He can also swat home runs into the upper deck at that remake-of-a-legendary-stadium in the Bronx like a young Hercules. And he also looks a lot bigger in person than when you watch him on the field. But without merely repeating what Ted Berg wrote a few days back regarding F-Mart, the guy is simply not ready. He still has a propensity to hit a lot of ground balls which can be compensated by his speed in AA, but not without major league infielders without the range of Luis Castillo. In addition, his numbers are very much league average if that even in the Eastern League right now. Anyways, here is what Ted Berg had to say on the matter:

Don’t get me wrong: I like Martinez and I think he’s going to be a good player. Heck, for all I know he’s a Hall of Famer. The sky’s the limit. After all, he’s only 19 years old and he’s the third-best hitter on his Double-A team. On the other hand, he’s only 19 years old and he’s the third-best hitter on his Double-A team. He’s struck out 48 times this year against only 13 walks. If big-league scouts got the book on him, F-Mart would whiff enough to make Adam Dunn look like Tony Gwynn.

I actually do not know if he is the thrid best hitter on the AA team; Daniel Murphy can hit the snot out of the ball and is finally playing some second base, and Evans and Carp have hit pretty well too.

Still Can’t Get it Right

Usually when I try and explain to your average fan that many of the decisions by the Mets brain trust is the result of veteran loyalty, they respond like you probably would to some mass conspiracy theorist, first by reminding them that life is not that interesting and that my ideas are best suited for some future novel than they are in the great game of baseball. Therefore, I am willing to admit that the reality is a lot more nuanced; The truth is that the Mets are perhaps the greatest paradox in the business when it comes to handling young players. On one hand, I stand by my belief that the big leagues have practically become an off-limits sacrosanct province for young players in favor of declining veterans; Lastings Milledge, Philip Humber, Ruben Gotay, and countless others are victims of this nonsensical attitude.

On the other hand, you have your young, talented prospects who are not quite ready for the big leagues. Many of these guys seemingly fail to catch the attention of the upper echelon of the Mets management, and occasionally such ignorant collousness is worthy of a mention in the mainstream media, as in the case of Aaron Hathaway. The Mets more than make up for it, however, with the treatment of some of their top tier talent, such as Fernando Martinez, Jose Coronado, and Ruben Tejada, whose ascension up the minor league ladder and subsequent lack of development is unparalleled compared to other organizations.

 Than you have another group of players- the journeyman, the big league washouts, the 29 year-old AAAA superstar hitting .292/.414/.554 and is just another roster-filler in the eys of many. The guys who had a cup of coffee in the big leagues, but their time spent there was so short it was, as Michael Lewis would put “it almost hadn’t happened at all.”  As if it were not were already a foregone conclusion that the Mets organization would rather reincarnate Sean Henry, who is quietly hitting .326/.398/.498 for the Ready AA affiliate, Chattanooga, and trade him off for another Jeff Conine esque player than call up the raking Pascucci, Jerry Manuel offered his detailed analysis of the young Italian a few days back:

“I’ll be honest with you, who is he?” Manuel asked with a laugh.

Told he was a power hitter with the Zephyrs, Manuel added: “Okay. I apologize. I haven’t the slightest idea. Was he in spring training?”

Alright, it is more funny than depressing. I am also pretty sure Jerry Manuel has other priorities on his mind that familiarizing himself with the club’s AAA outfielders, even as Moises Alou continues to prove he cannot jog from the dugout to the outfield between innings without sustaining some type of ailment. Still, that hardly takes away from how frightening this is- although I admit that Bobby Cox had no idea who Charles Thomas before he was called up in 2004.

Manuel and Mets management did not exactly try and redeem themselves- as if there was that much public outrage over Manuel’s comments anyways- by calling up Nick Evans to replace Ryan Church on the Mets roster. The funny part about this move is that I cannot ascribe it to any bias or hidden agenda or any of that sort of nonsense. Do not get me wrong, I think Evans is a good player with a bright future in front of him, and one short trip to the big leagues may be enough of a motivator this time around. The problem is, in his last trip to the big leagues, Evans looked laughably over matched.

Ok, we get it, Valentino Pascucci hit .177 in 62 at-bats for the Montreal Expos in 2004! But why not give the call to Mike Carp, who is hitting just as well at AA as Evans and has a combined 677 AB’s at the level, compared to Evans 296? It certainly not a left-righty issue, as others have assumed. And while Evans is surely more athletic than Carp, both are playing their first year in the outfield in AA, and the Mets are not exactly throwing out gold glovers in Fernando Tatis and Marlon Anderson lately.

Many people I talk to that follow the minor leagues year around and have ties to the Mets organization seem to get the sense that Carp is lacking that certain type of profile to play in New York, and he is never brought up when discussing the organizations “top prospects”, such ad FMart, Jon Niese, and Eddie Kunz. Except Carp’s performance at just 22 years old is nothing to digress over, and while the difference between him and Evans is fairly negligible, I just cannot help but see the dysfunctional logic behind this move.

It is amazing how my personal sentiment over this team, particularly with Manuel, can change with one players returning to the DL. But once again, this organization proves it just does not get it.

In-Game Rant

Il wish I were a quick enough typer to have written this when the move was made, but I decided to let Willie Randolph’s gratuitous and ridiculously irrational decision in the bottom of the fifth to let Oliver Perez come to the plate with a man on second and two outs in a tied ballgame play itself out. In shocking fashion- though clearly not as startling as the investigation by a google search Senate panel that now proves that George W. Bush* led America into Iraq on bullshit aimed at those who cannot differentiate between the Euphrates and Europe- Perez swung out of his pants and ultimately ended the inning, while managing to retire just one batter in the sixth as Willie trotted out to pull the plug in shame.

What is so frustrating is just how Willie so blatantly disregarded common sense and failed to distinguish between a spring training game and a badly needed win. As Perez stepped into the box, my dad and I just exchanged an incredulous look, the same look that we all know everyone in the Mets dugout probably exchanged with each other as their morale slowly deteriorated, the same look I had the night before knowing that Castillo would almost certainly ground-out-to-the-right-side his way out of a based loaded opportunity the night before. Basically the same WTF luck that has become so laughably commonplace these days.

Look, i know Perez’s job is on the line and that Tony Armas Jr. is showing sings of his former, non-injury-prone self, and we all want to get the best read on O Pea. I also know this is a dire team coming off consecutive 2-1 losses, and keeping Perez in the game after throwing just 0.1 innings in his previous so-called “effort” would be quite a stretch to say the least- to say nothing if the fact that Perez is is an infamous mental patient who could not keep his focus on the game if you put him in a straight jacket in the dugout, and is bound to implode at any slightly tense moment.

Apparently Willie’s innocent curiosity was enough to override that.

Of course, the entire team has been dreadful with runners in scoring position anyways, which make a for an odd first post after some inactivity here. I still fuckin’ hate the move.

*Fortunately, my friends, there is good news on the administration front. For instance, the Bushies no longer insist that the rest of the international community was operating on the exact same intelligence that Uncle Sam was at the time of invasion. You know, the international community- France, Germany, Turkey- ninety percent of whom still fear Halliburton imperialism more than U.S. actions.

To whom it may concern

Congratulations Mr. Johan Santana for compiling your fourth double of the year tonight. I hope you can take solace in the fact that you now have the same amount of doubles and a higher SLG% (.350) than our starting second baseman. Perhaps if we can make you a two-way player we can somehow salvage what is increasingly looking like a misguided trade for your services as your velocity drops and home runs allowed climb upward. Hopefully another crappy outing from Mike Pelfrey will convince your ass of a manager to pitch you more regularly. Sorry, I know you expected more than this garbage and I join the eight million fans in the New York area in sharing our sincere condolences.

 

Sincerely,

Matt F. Himelfarb

Adam Rubin Takes on Omar

I recently had an email exchange with Adam Rubin, the New York Daily News beat writer for the Mets, following an interview on WFAN about two nights ago. Like most beat writers, Rubin was probably verbally abused in his first stint as a reporter with lectures of the myth of objectivity  while trying to sell his hometown’s now defunct local newspaper (just a theory), to the point where his opinion is frustratingly non-existent in a lot of his writing, which is what makes the interview such a novelty in itself; Rubin basically vituperated Omar Minaya’s track record, to the point where it is hard to hide the fact that he probably wants Omar fired.

It was not until an astute reader brought it to my attention, however, that Rubin at one point blasted Omar for depleting the farm system by trading prospects for, as he put it, ‘old people.’ I was somewhat befuddled by Rubin’s comment, to the least, considering that trade wise, Omar really has not traded very young talent for veterans and had it tremendously backfire; Mike Jacobs has only begun to hit the ball well this year, and has an 0.15 BB/K ratio, while Delgado, despite all his struggles, certainly helped deliver the division in 2006; Gaby Hernandez, who was the main piece in the deal for Paul lo Duca, looks like a back-of-the-rotation guy right now; I was strongly against the Lastings Milledge Milldge-Ryan Church deal at the time and I was equally ambivalent about the Johan Santana trade, but thus far, they have worked out in the Mets favor.

Therefore, I figured Rubin probably misspoke and was alluding to the organization’s overall philosophy, but I decided to shoot an email to him concerning the matter. Fortunately for me, it turns out Rubin did mean what he said, and noted something I did not even bother to consider:

Secondary prospects do make it, too, and those have been depleted in trades for players such as Luis Castillo and Jeff Conine.

As a fan/semi pundit, there sometimes seems to be so many things fundamentally wrong with this team principle-wise that it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what approach should be taken, whether it is Willie’s demeanor in the dugout or the makeup of the bullpen. Some writers have taken a more science-like approach, such as the idea of winners curse, which basically states that it is fine for contending large market teams such as the Mets to overpay in most instances. In my opinion, however, there are many ramifications for a team under those circumstances, and by trading even secondary prospects for washed up veterans, the Mets have done their organization more harm than good.

It is certainly not uncommon for teams to hand a death notice to young prospects and brandish team as organizational players, effectively ending another ill-fated dream. It is just that the Mets decide that their fourth round pick in 2004, (Aaron Hathaway), was deserving of that role within a year, that hitting .295/.346/.421 as a 24 year-old second baseman (Ruben Gotay), is not enough to even secure a spot on the bench over Brady Clark, that  being one of the best minor league closers in the organization (Carlos Muniz), for the better part of the last two years is apparently still not enough for a role in what has been and is a very mediocre bullpen.

Right now, Sean Henry is hitting a robust .284/.278/.484 in his first full-season at AA. Many were banking Conine’s worth on the fact that his veteran presence would somehow brave the cold of October and carry the Mets through- BS thinking widely shared by proponents of the deal in big media. Some of us knew better at the time, but Omar and co. thought it was safe to ignore Henry’s potential, and the debate ceased to exist after the Mets did not even make the playoffs.

Dustin Martin is also hitting pretty well right now (.309/.374/.428). I expect this type of success to ware off at one point, but the same can be said for the guy he was traded for in Luis Castillo, who has done a terrific job doing ‘the little things’, but his .259 average .326 SLG% leaves much to be desired. The Mets could have made up for this mistake by allowing Ruben Gotay to take over the everyday job, but since he was not a David Wright caliber youngster, it was an easy decision to side with the aging veteran.

Now, compare this to an organization like the Braves, who have recently been handicapped by a drop in payroll. They, on the other hand, who in the past have been forced to look at some of the mid-tier prospects in their organization, such as the Charles Thomas’s or the Nick Green’s, both of whom were jey cogs in continuing their string of division titles. And instead of easily disposing of their young talent, the Braves have always shown a propensity to trade young prospects for meaningful help at the big league level, as testified by Bill Shanks in Scout’s Honor.

I know what you are thinking; that guys like Henry and Martin having any type of impact on the Mets success this year or lack thereof is nothing short of hogwash. But it just reflects that how the Mets, given their circumstances and poor management, tend to overlook young players that are not exactly the creme of the crop, and that type of thinking is now manifested in the Mets underwhelming performance this year.

 

A True Turning Point

*Just a correction for all two people that have already read this piece in the hour since it was posted. Brady Clark appraently had season-ending knee surgery almost a week ago, so that gave Omar and co. one less option to screw up our magical turning point.

As I am writing this, the Mets are beating the Colorado Rockies a whooping 7-2, a phenomenon largely backed by newbie Nick Evans, who started off his career with a bang today, compiling three doubles in his first four big league at-bats. I am tired of hearing about the need for this team to overcome the troubling menace knows as three-fifths of their starting rotation and provide some valiant come from behind victory. The Mets have shown perhaps the most commanding and meritorious style of play today that I can recall for quite awhile, and for that I applaud them.

On top of that, I think our beloved and consistently mediocre Metropolitans have reached a true turning point this year- and its’ undoubtedly for the better.

No, I am not talking about the time John Maine plunked Felipe Lopez in response to the Nationals bush league display of cheering on a night in early May, that had Joe Janish believing that the Mets had finally found the lost spark to fuel their supposedly lifeless style of play. Turns out that Willie Randolph’s head would never be closer to the guillotine in the weeks following the incident and that it had more to do with a bunch of pissed off Mets and their anger towards grown up delinquent Elijah Dukes, who took on the unofficial role of head cheerleader- and by that I mean the most distinguishable and abhor able man whore- and led the softball-like cheers from the Nats bench.*

Nope, I am talking about the promotion and successful debut of Evans.

Sure, it probably says a thing or two about the Mets confidence in Mike Carp’s defensive ability at both first and in the outfield, and reflects the organization’s discontent when he came to Spring Training this year out of shape. Even people I talk to close with the minor league affiliates seem to get the impression that Carp is not screaming Mr. Met (whatever that is supposed to mean). But for a team that you would reasonably expect to pass up on Evans and instead look to fill a spot on the roster with the likes of Brady Clark or Valentino Pascucci, Evans promotion seems to suggest that the organization did so with some combination of lunacy and desperateness, or one looking for a much needed spark. I am starting to think it has more to do with the latter.

Look, Nick Evans is not Brian Bocock. Drafted as third baseman, he is a fairly athletic corner infielder who can play the outfield, stays back on the ball well, and projects to hit 25-30 home runs. Pinch hitter extraordinaire Marlon Anderson could be absent for awhile, but the same can be said for Moises Alou. The Mets are going to need a right-handed bat to balance out the bottom half of the lineup between Ryan Church, Carlos Delgado, and Brian Schneider. All of which adds up to Evans getting some regular playing time for a good spell. 

But that is just the short-term option, or at least as long as Alou is out, which could be somewhere close to the day I secure front row seats at Citi Field.  What happens if Evans happens to hit .275/350/475, and Delgado continues his lackluster play? On a team that seems a bit devoid of young talent, I do not think anyone, including Mets management or big media, is going to want to stand up and stop the flow of youth.

Whatever the case, Evans might not be Miguel Cabrera in 2003, but I believe he will be the spark that this team is missing. Of course, Delgado just hit his seventh home run of the year, and I will take a rebirth of his 500 SLG% as a turning point too.

*Wow, that has to be the most descriptive and seemingly passionate sentence I have ever written about a subject that I really do not feel passionate about.

Willie and more Willie

Seems to be a popular topic as of late; I have had admittedly had some trouble reconciling my thoughts on a lot of the criticism surrounding Willie as of late, so I figured I would take it one poorly crafted quote and crusty column at a time.

Starting with another quote that caught the attention of those fans looking for some type of intimate relationship with the Metropolitans manager, Randolph was quoted in the New York Post a few days back when responding to the widespread call for his firing on Mike & the Mad Dog:

“It’s unfortunate that people sit back who really don’t know the game or understand what we’re dealing with calling for people’s livelihood.

Of course, I do not expect Randolph to admit of any repentance or remorse over the fact that the Mets are a fundamentally flawed organization that dsiposesof young talent like teenage girls do with their cellphones and are Bud Selig’s pet poodle when it comes to the draft slotting syste. But instead of basically writing off all of those fans as lacking some type of insiders knowledge that we know you are so privy to Willie, would acknowledging the fans dismay over a team that has dramatically underachieved for well over a year be too much to ask of a semi-statesman like yourself?

Some of you may recall that I heavily criticised my colleague John Peterson when he tried to make the case that Randolph, through his infamous bitter and stubborn attitude, had developed or was now utilizing a “blame the fans” mentality. While some of John’s points are undoubtedly valid, he also managed to take a quote from Willie ridiculously out of context and make it into some mini yet riveting scandal. Here is what Willie was quoted in, once again, the NYP a few weeks ago:

“When we start to play well, then you’ll start to see a change in all that. As far as my players, we don’t talk about it. We don’t concern ourselves with it…Obviously the fans are having a tough time moving past (last season). So we just hope that they eventually get behind this team, because we’re going to make them real proud before the year is over…We live in an environment where they want it when they want it. Believe me, our team is really solid. We look at ourselves. I don’t think we define who we are by the reaction we get. We have some veteran guys. We have some young guys. We’re a real close-knit group. We know we’re not going to be good all the time, but we know mentally where we want to go, where we want to be…We’re going to go through ups and downs, go through the scuttlebutt, but we understand that in this town, that’s how it’s going to be.”

Peterson than responded in his column by tying Willie’s statement into a post he wrote a month before on his blog:

How long will the Mets allow this manager to perpetrate this message to his players: “we are here to earn paychecks, nothing more,” a message that finds its way out on the field, into the stadium and the papers, upsetting our very notions of glory as sports fans?

Sit down, Lastings! No celebrations, José! We’re not devastated. We’re fine. You’re the ones who are devastated. You fans, you boors in the seats. Get a job, loser.

My guess is that Peterson’s comparison was partly prompted by the fact he expected a reaction somewhat like this to his piece: “Aha! So all along, Randolph, who is making seven figures this year and is closer to the guillotine than ever before, is now saying that he is trying to not let memories of an historic collapse infiltrate whatever brains he has and affect his decision making? is he somehow insinuating that he is largely indifferent to what I think about my team? Well to hell with you Willie! Tell me  I am not the first to fax this to the Inquirer?

In all seriousness, however, I believe Randolph’s latest disparaging of fans reflects a certain and arrogant sense of entitlement. Growing up as a Brooklyn born Mets fans and working his way to a successful big league career and later as one of Joe Torre’s lieutenants, Willie was seemingly handed a bulletproof vest from the Wilpon’s, and is a condescending idiot in this instance who does not understand- or does not want to understand- fans discontent with him.

 Some other Willie related news; in the most transparent business move today that I wish I could really care about, The Decider will be on the NL All-Star’s coaching staff. The only factor that gives this a flare of importance for myself was when one writer close to the team told me that, “No organization in the world, including those in North Korea, would fire their manager before the all-star game with this news coming out.” If the most pointless festivity in all of baseball that I lost interest in sometime before closing the door on WFAN (sometime before nine or ten), somehow manages to get in the way of friggin anything regarding Willie’s status, God Help Us.

Learning from the Vets- Not!

Before I get to breaking down Tim Marchman’s column from yesterday, the King of the Jews would like to tell you a secret: over the past year or so, I have been lucky enough to talk to some long-time baseball people, many of whom are also members of old and crusty big media. Of course, many of you will tell me that I am lucky to have not been irreversibly brainwashed by these people, but that is not necessarily true. My latest biff is this: When it comes to talking about firing Willie Randolph- or any other manager for that matter- it is probably among the most annoying and vexing baseball conversation I have ever had.

i hate to sound so polarizing, and I really cannot provide much of a reason as to why this is so. Marchman’s piece yesterday ignited a widespread discussion across the blogsphere and forums, and, needless to say, I noticed this disturbing trend last seen right after the collapse.

So, let me start of by saying this; a lot of these guys are really down-to-earth people with a deep, intelligent, passion for the game. Others are condescending jerks with mammoth sized egos. Some even choose to alternate between the two, depending on the conversation you are having with them. To better illustrate my case, here is my version of the prototypical response from these people, after I have pointed out reason #967 as to why the Mets should fire Willie Randolph:

 “You know, (takes a puff from his cigar and wipes the ashes off his 1975 Baseball Encyclopedia) I’m not of those teenage bloggers out there picking his nose and out there looking for his favorite player’s girlfriends that he know he can’t get with anyways. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’m not about to go about insulting a manger like fans do when they start talking about all this corrupt and money-related stuff.

The way I see it I don’t need to go about looking to see if Willie’s gotten the most out of his player’s or if he’s a good ‘tactical’ manager or some other complicated shit like that. All I can do is look at the end result and wow- somehow this time with the third highest payroll is in third place!

Look, I know he ain’t perfect, but I’ve been around-the-block a long time now (shows off his Quasi-War badge) and I can tell ya’ nothings’ perfect. All you can do at the end of the day is pick up the Daily News, read a little about Jamie Lynn Spears, and check out the standings.

I’m an old-school guy, and I think this team just needs a nice little reliever and an extra guy off the bench to make that final push… (10 minutes of flawed reasoning later) and I’ll tell ya’ its not time to start talking about firing Willie.”

There you go: I important, and highly controversial matters like these, are the old baseball folks and the crustiest of big media sweeping through as the purveyors of reason. Their ability to simplify the situation, acquire by their journalism degree after sleeping with three female professors, their infatuation with objectiveness and their lifetime of experience is unmatched b all others.

I say fuck em’ all.

More on Metsblog

Joe Smith? You know that little critter from down under, (well not exactly, he is actually a local product, but that is good enough), in a big, crazy man’s world apparently cussed his way onto the big one. That is right, his less-than-polite exchange with a few Cubs fans landed on Metsblog.com, where I first learned of the infamous event. It was not until today, however, that an astute reader of my column this morning pointed me towards a piece by Bob Raismann a few days back in the Daily News:

Is Matt Cerrone’s entertaining and informative MetsBlog.com(One Team, One Million GM’s) losing some edge – and independence?

Prior to the start of the season, Cerrone joined forces with the Mets and SportsNet New Yorkin a deal to have MetsBlog.com appear on SNY’s Web site. This was followed by a lot of yap-flapping out of Metsville (and MetsBlog) about MetsBlog being able to continue doing its thing.

On Thursday, MetsBlog posted a YouTube video of Joe Smith going mouth-to-mouth (”You ain’t s— … I’m in the big leagues you idiot”) with Cubsfans. Spies say when a Mets official was made aware of the video’s presence, he had it immediately pulled off MetsBlog.

For MetsBlog, and its fans, that’s called livin’ in a corporate world.

Truth is, I really do not what to make of this, other than merely stating the obvious. The obvious being that Cerrone is/was clearly subject to influence by the upper echelon at SNY and you don’t have to be Brad Pitt to get girls an expert in linguistics to read into this stuff. Cerrone also does not sacrifice all of his civil liberties or is under a government surveillance program either.

On one hand, Cerrone, if he chooses to address this, will probably respond somewhere along the lines of, “foreign fan generated videos that use non-baseball related content to elicit intelligent baseball discourse does not reflect the policies of Metsblog” or some other equally boring explanation. Such a boring explanation would be acceptable, however, because Cerrone, despite being a hypocrite on several previous accounts, should not or can at least make the argument that he should be posting abstract fan videos that dare to have an effect on actual fan opinion or Smith’s status with the team.

On the other hand, though, fans are probably interested in it for various reasons, if for no other purpose than to try and read into Smith’s psyche and makeup. Cerrone could- and I believe he actually did before the post was subsequently taken down- point out that it was a rookie mistake and that players, particularly young kid’s like Smith, should learn from these situations. Just ask any Mets fan that’s traveled to Citizens Bank Park and see Mets reliever get ridiculed only slightly less than the hometown’s team when they are playing well.

Did I mention how Cerrone would be a complete nut job to risk any bling over that?

Anyways, in regard to last my column, I still believe that Cerrone claiming that the Willie approval rating was taken down because it tends to swing with the standings is a terribly flawed argument. Asking the fans if they think the Mets will make the playoffs as of right now? [British Accent]  Yes, makes quite a lot of sense to me. Probably has nothing do with the teams overall record or performance. [Queen Elizabeth angry in a Royal Manner] More like every fuckin game.