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="Anthony Rieber"]
I'm filling in this week for Newsday's Mets beat writer, David Lennon, so my head is full of Mets thoughts. Here they are, in no particular order:
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| ]Mark my words: The Mets' relationship with Citigroup is going to taint the entire first season and ruin a lot of the good feelings around the team and ballpark. The Mets are underestimating how ticked off people are at banks, financial institutions, etc. They would have been better off trying to get out of the naming-rights contract and giving Citigroup back its $400 million (over the next 20 years). Oh, right, after what Bernie Madoff allegedly did to the Wilpons, they don't have the spare cash right now. |
Well, leaving out the part about them being better off without the $$, the Mets are tone-deaf as to what's in the hearts of their fans. I totally agree with the point that they seem to willingly overlook any and all messages that that badly disguised advertising panel on their shirts sends.
| ]-- Which pitcher are they going to sign, Oliver Perez or Ben Sheets? Or someone else? I've always been a big Perez fan and assume the Mets will eventually sign him if only because no one else seems to be interested. Plus, and this is a big plus, he's not afraid to face the Phillies, and has pitched some of his best games against their lefty-laden lineup. And the world champs got more lefty-laden with the signing of Raul Ibanez. Andy Pettitte would be a good fallback position, but he's not particularly effective against lefthanders, and neither he nor the Mets have so far shown any inclination toward teaming up. Sheets just gets hurt too much -- when the Brewers needed him down the stretch last season, he couldn't answer the bell. Pass. Get it done with Ollie. |
I also like Ollie and Sheets does get hurt often. Where's the controversy in that? He needn't bend in an argument about how many lefties the Phillies have to justify that, but I don't strongly disagree with his point either.
| ]-- How in the world could they give Duaner Sanchez a 77 percent raise? I know, it's the arbitration system, but seriously . . . isn't it time to cut bait with him, too, like they did with Heilman and Schoeneweis? They've gotten some of the stink out of that bullpen, but not all of it. Remember, when Billy Wagner went down last season, Sanchez ran under a desk and hid rather than assume the closer role. |
Again, over the top but a worthy point -- Sanchez was nowhere to be found last year in the Mets' hour of need and I'm very surprised they brought him back given his performance, the half-assed rehab, his rapid decline in velocity and so on down the line. It's all upside for 09 I suppose, but I don't know why anyone would expect much of him next year.
| ]-- Is it really the best idea to return the same team other than K-Rod and Putz? I mean, if they sign Perez, it's the same top four in the rotation (Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Perez). If they don't sign or trade for a bat, it's the same lineup as late last season. In fact, it's the same lineup as Opening Day 2008, other than Tatis or Murphy in leftfield. At least the Mets aren't waiting for Moises Alou to return from his 7,893rd DL stint.
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This is kind of a silly point. A team shouldn't make a change just for change sake. However -- we've all seen this O struggle even with 4 guys having fantastic years, and you just can't count on all 4 to do it that well again. The Mets under Omar have a habit of fixing what went wrong last year, not addressing what might happen this year.
| ]-- Thank goodness I never have to write another word about Alou's a) latest injury b) latest rehab stint in the minors c) latest return to the lineup d) next latest injury. Great guy, and a Hall of Fame talent if he could have stayed healthy, and a great hitter when he played, but even he admitted the whole thing was ridiculous. It was sad to listen to him talk about how embarrassed he was about becoming a punchline. |
It was embarrasing -- to everyone.
| ]-- Pedro Martinez is still out there as a free agent and the Mets shouldn't go anywhere near him. Petey is the single most interesting person I've met in my six years of covering baseball for Newsday. We had some chats after his father died last season, and all you had to do was listen to him and look into his eyes to see how much that affected him. His pride is enormous, but his mind and body just did not allow him to compete in 2008. To me, there's only one team that should sign him -- the Marlins. Give him a Clemens deal: Let him live in his house in Miami and pitch on his own schedule. The warm weather will be good for him, the Marlins will get some fans to show up when he pitches, and he will teach their young pitchers more about what it takes to be great than any pitching coach ever could. He's too much of a diva to be a fifth or sixth starter on the Mets and they should resist the urge to bring him back for sentimental reasons. |
I totally agree with the larger point that the Mets don't owe Pedro anything, and that they are better off staying away from guys who require special handling and treatment if they can avoid it.
| ]-- And finally . . . Manny Ramirez. Should the Mets sign Manny? Of course they should. He's exactly what they need to complete their team. Will they? No, so I'm not going to waste my breath screaming about how they need to. I'll leave that to Wally Matthews. (But the Mets really do need to sign Manny if they want to win the World Series in 2009.) |
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Well, this point might be in conflict with the last. But you gotta know "not getting Manny" will be a major arrow in the writer's quiivers if and when something goes wrong in 09.
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