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Jeff Wilpon Takes the Hit

MFS62 Jul 25 2006 09:38 AM

]BEST BAD TRADE THEY EVER MADE KAZMIR RIPOFF SPURRED AMAZIN' TRANSFORMATION By MIKE VACCARO July 23, 2006 -- HERE is a warning to Mets fans: You aren't going to like this column. Your anger will not be enabled here. Your frustrations will find no friend in the coming 900 words. The fantasy that you have developed over the past two years will not be fed any further. You have been forewarned. Because from this point on, you will be entering a Kazmir-Free Zone. As in: the Mets are better off for having traded Scott Kazmir exactly one year, 11 months and 23 days ago. That, in fact, is the date - July 31, 2004 - that can be circled in red, permanently highlighted in the brightest yellow ink you can find, as the precise moment when the Mets started to build what became a 12-game lead at the start of the weekend. There. I said it. Truth is, I had to say it. Truth is, Mets fans have become something else this season, a summer that should have been custom-made for their dreams. They've had a double-digit lead in the NL East for nearly a full month. They've thus far avoided any self-sabotaging losing streaks. They've won five of nine from the Braves and six of nine from the Phillies, back when the race was still competitive. Out of the dregs of Art Howe and Steve Phillips, a legitimate contender has risen out of the dust. And what do Mets fans spend this summer of dreams talking about? They fret about the Braves, of course. They get the bends whenever they lose two games in a row. And in what has become a required sacrifice of self-flagellation, they force themselves to memorize every one of Scott Kazmir's updated statistics, like clockwork, every five days. "If only we had Kazmir," they moan. OK. Let's play it your way. Let's re-invent that Xanadu of your dreams, and create a universe where Scott Kazmir was never dealt to the Devil Rays for He Who Shall Never Again Be Named. If we can erase that from the books, here is a look at what your optimum Mets lineup could possibly look like: 1B Mike Jacobs; 2B Kaz Matsui; SS Jose Reyes; 3B David Wright; LF Cliff Floyd; CF Mike Cameron; RF Victor Diaz; C Jason Phillips; SP Tom Glavine; RP Braden Looper. That's an OK lineup. Maybe it could spend the summer and the fall battling for a wild card, after already submitting a concession speech to the Braves. Maybe it would draw a million and a half disgusted Mets fans. Maybe a little more. Maybe a lot less. Would you rather have that lineup? Would you rather have that summer? Because if Kazmir isn't traded one year, 11 months and 23 days ago, it's possible that the resulting outcry would have been a tad more muted than it was. It could mean that the chaotic front-office set-up that got the Mets in such a morass in the first place might have been allowed to stay in place a little while longer. Which means ... That Omar Minaya doesn't get hired when he did ... ... meaning that Willie Randolph never gets hired when he did ... ... meaning that Pedro Martinez never even talks to the Mets ... ... meaning that Carlos Beltran never returns the Mets' calls ... ... meaning that Billy Wagner lands somewhere else, probably Toronto ... ... meaning there's no reason to add Carlos Delgado and Paul LoDuca to a team destined to go 80-82 for the rest of time ... ... meaning the Mets are nowhere near the place they occupy right now. Not even close. You don't want to think about that when you're busy salivating at Kazmir's live left arm, you're allowed. Fans are supposed to be fanatical. Logic isn't a requirement. But once in a while, it can save you from ulcerating your innards. "Did we make a mistake?" Jeff Wilpon, the Mets' chief operating officer, said over the telephone earlier this week. "It's obvious we made a mistake. I mean, no reasonable person can look at what Scott has done with Tampa and not think that way. But the reality is, we can't go back and re-trade the players involved. It doesn't work that way." He paused. "I know I've learned from it," Wilpon said. "Ultimately, the fact that Scott isn't with us now is my responsibility, and I accept that. But you can do one of two things when you make a mistake like that. You can let it destroy you. Or you can try to make the best of an unfortunate situation and push ahead. Most of the last two years, I think that's what we've been doing, pushing ahead. Trying to turn a negative into a positive." Another pause. "Honestly," he said, "I think we've done that." In their heart of hearts, of course, Mets fans have to believe that, too. Twelve ahead with holes to fill beats the hell out of 12 behind with question marks littering the roster. But in their soul of souls, Mets fans still beat themselves up for Nolan Ryan. So it may take a while for them to get over Scott Kazmir. Even if the Mets themselves already have. The standings sure say so. Mike Vaccaro's e-mail is michael.vaccaro@nypost.com. His Yankees-Red Sox book, "Emperors and Idiots," is available in paperback in bookstores everywhere. This is, to my knowledge, the first time anyone in the Mets' organization has said something like this. Later

Johnny Dickshot Jul 25 2006 09:43 AM

Hardly matters now. Let's hope the lesson they learned is NOT "Never have the balls to make a daring trade" but "Let the man in charge be the man in charge." It was obvious in retrospect that Duquette never had the full faith and credit of the organization, and the lieutenants and advisors knew it too.

Edgy DC Jul 25 2006 09:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 25 2006 10:05 AM

He's more or less correct. You can't assume everything that's gone right since the Kazmir deal would've gone right if the deal hadn't been made, Minaya hadn't been hired, yadda. But you similarly cannot assume all that wouldn't have happened anyhow. That's where he comes up short. The good news here, as Dickshot says, is for Jim Duquette, who can get on with his career without having to answer for that trade seven days a week.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 25 2006 09:55 AM

Yes, it's more than a little odd to assume that if the Mets hadn't made that deal, that they wouldn't have made ANY moves in the following 24 months.

Rotblatt Jul 25 2006 11:08 AM

So basically, our management was hooked on Bad Idea crack and had to hit "rock bottom" before they could start the recovery process. Fine. But that doesn't mean we should celebrate the moment we hit rock bottom. I mean, if our drug-addled front office had sought help sooner, maybe 2003 could have represented "rock bottom" and our lineup right now would feature Vladdy & Beltran. And frankly, a dirt-cheap Mike Jacobs (.870 OPS) under our thumbs for the next 4 years looks pretty attractive to me (Delgado: .874 OPS). And a rotation of Pedro, Kazmir, Glavine, Trachsel & Heilman (with Wheels, Sanchez & Wagner, we wouldn't need him in the pen), with Petit, Pelfrey & Humber sitting in the wings--I mean, come on! And Jesus, we haven't turned around a goddamn thing yet. When we've actually won something, maybe we can start try pinpointing the date that the franchise turned around Anyway, while I'm glad we're on the road to recovery, that doesn't mean I'm happy about the time we spent rolling around in the gutter, puking and pissing ourselves.

Vic Sage Jul 25 2006 11:21 AM

ditto.

Elster88 Jul 25 2006 11:23 AM

Rotblatt wrote: (Delgado: .874 OPS). And rising. Rotblatt wrote: rolling around in the gutter, puking and pissing ourselves. LOL

smg58 Jul 25 2006 11:43 AM

The column just seems like rationalizing, though. The Mets were right even when they were obviously wrong. I get the sense that the people who are making this kind of argument now are the ones who defended the deal two years ago. As far as lamenting not having Kazmir goes, well, we really could use another starting pitcher, and the fact is there aren't any available that are as good as he is.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 25 2006 11:47 AM

I may be forgetting something or somebody, but I don't recall anybody (outside the Mets organization) defending that deal when it happened. I know that Bret, if he was here, would deride me for saying that it's in the past and we should move on, but I think there's been too much wallowing in angst over Kazmir-Zambrano. It seems to be true, as in SteveRogers' apocalyptic pronouncements, some people just seem to enjoy misery. I wish they'd spare the rest of us.

Edgy DC Jul 25 2006 11:53 AM

What's interesting to me is 1) At what point did they have the epiphany? and 2) Did they actually have it, or have things just more or less worked out? I think the turning point may or may not have been non-trade for Sammy Sosa. From what I could glean, Minaya wanted him, but allowed his luitenants to dissuade him. Did their opinions come directly to him or where they filtered through Wilpon? If you believe reports, they would've given up Cliffy and not any big-shot prospect, and maybe got some fo the salary difference back. But I imagine it was only about four six weeks into the 2005 season that Jeff Wilpon took a breath and said "Man, we dodged a bullet there. Whatever we did then, we did right." But the club still would likely be sitting a hair prettier with Piazza and Jacobs rather than Delgado and Lo Duca, to say nothing of Petit, Psomas, Brinkley, and the vast salary differences. Anad a team's inability to trust what's in hand --- what the scouting and devlopmen t staff they hired has produced --- is always frustrating to me, even when it's not Kazmir. The Lo Duca trade, by the way, isn't int the UMDB.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 25 2006 11:56 AM

Edgy DC wrote: The Lo Duca trade, by the way, isn't int the UMDB. Huh! I'll have to have my staff look into that. I promise you that heads will roll.

Edgy DC Jul 25 2006 12:01 PM

It's a pain, isn't it? Nobody on my staff prepared a "Memories of Jeff Keppinger" thread.

Elster88 Jul 25 2006 12:09 PM

]But the club still would likely be sitting a hair prettier with Piazza and Jacobs rather than Delgado and Lo Duca, to say nothing of Petit, Psomas, Brinkley, and the vast salary differences. I disagree. I don't see Delgado's OPS remaining where it is.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 28 2006 09:50 AM

Lo Duca trade now in the UMDB Thanks for pointing it out.