Not much in the way of Mets news but I guess we’ve all seen that Don Wakamatsu has been fired as Mariners manager,(but still has his career in Rap to fall back on) and Jerry Manuel lives on as the lamest of lame duck skippers. I see where Manuel now wants to sit Carlos Beltran who is not very happy about it. I guess he can’t tell jokes and juggle like Jeff Francoeur who persuade Manuel to give him more playing time. Maybe learn guitar Carlos and then serenade the ’Gangsta’ .

I agree here with Mathew Cerrone, Beltran needs to play but he needs to bat lower in the order and maybe move over to RF for now and let Angel Pagan play CF.

A fan is suing the Mets, MLB, Luis Castillo and just about anyone else he can fit on a legal brief for Castillo’s bat breaking and entering the stands and hitting this guy in the kisser. Who knew balsa wood could be so dangerous.  I bet this guy was either on his cell phone waving to a camera or just not paying attention. Sorry no litigation money for you!

Yesterday the Y-D Red Sox exploded for 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning against the Orleans Firebirds in the first game of the best of three East Semi-Finals on the way to an un Cape League 23-10 win. Red Sox first baseman Jordan Ribera who has a thick lower torso that generates a big power swing, homered twice in the bottom of the first and just missed a third home run in the eighth inning. I’m trying to finagle my way over to Orleans for game two tonight at 7PM

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Now that the most important road trip of 2010 is over, and really who’s shocked by the results, it’s time for finger pointing and scapegoating to begin.

First up is Carlos Beltran who looked anything like the premier Gold Glove centerfielder and offensive force we’ve seen.  Beltran has been blamed for this mid summer collapse and the inability of the New York State Senate to pass a balanced budget  but lost in all the hyperbole is the fact the organization bungled the medical handleing of his leg injury to where he had to go outside the organization to get the treatment he needed.  This left a bitter Beltran and Omar Minaya once again having to use flash cards to explain the situation to Jeffey Skill Sets. The biggest mistake Beltran made was rushing his rehab to tru to help this mess of a baseball team he should have been selfish and thought of himself and stay out until September. When the organization fucks you over, and the fans and MSM can’t stand you, then it’s time to think of you and your future because no matter what Carlos Beltran does, he can’t win around here.  So the Mets front office needs to do anything it can to move Beltran to another team this offseason. It’s a move that benefits both sides.

The Klapper writes a column today saying what we all have been saying for about a year now that Jerry Manuel needs to be fired. If you need more proof of this, he and Jeff Francoeur had a sit down yesterday where Manuel retracted his stance that Frenchy and F-Mart would form a platoon in right field. The “Me First” Francoeur (funny how Francoeur is portrayed as this rah-rah team guy but in reality is a selfish prick and Beltran who is portrayed as the less than team guy, shows more of a team first attitude by coming back from serious injury to early to help the team) cmae out of the meeting laughing and back slapping with Manuel with the news that I won’t be a strict platoon, that Frenchy will play bulk of the time in RF. If Omar Minaya were a real GM after hearing this, he’d cut Francoeur on the spot.

Hey Mets are back home tomorrow night against the Rockies, I’m guessing there are seats available?

Want to feel old? Lee Mazzilli Jr. is playing for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape League, so is Michael Yazstremski the GRAND SON of Carl Yazstremski

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So  much for the big boost that Frenchy’s home run was supposed to bring to the Mets, that was another smoke screen to hide the suck that is Jeff Francoeur. At least he’s well liked by his teammates. I’ve worked with guys like Frenchy, they are so personable and charismatic that you love being around them but when it comes to getting the actual work done they’re utter failures. I’ve worked with guys like Carlos Beltran as well, guys who have the personality of Elmers Glue, not only can’t you get a word out of them when they do speak, the words are nothing of substance. However when it comes to getting the job done they’re much more productive than the jovial good time Charley guy.  So if your job is on the line and a deadline to get your assignment done who do you want, the dull producer or the happy jack off? In this case dull wins.

A must read for you today is Greg Prince’ piece on his Faith and Fear in Flushing site where he lays it all out about this season and about who we, as Mets fans are.   Remember Mets fans, “we’ve got no place else to go” Classic Greg, Classic!

I’m in the middle of Red Sox Nation here on Cape Cod as many Bostonians are here on vacation. They are all hopped up for the four game series this weekend with the Highlanders which as a Mets fan puts me at a big disadvantage. Just a about every  reastaurant here shows Red Sox games on tv and I mean from big formal places to the fish joints on the side of the road the “Sawx” are a way of life out here. I’ve been wearing my Mr. Cap and I get some looks, some head shakes and some “we’re sorry’s” as well. I’m thinking of sitting outside a store on Main St in Hyannis with a cardboard sign that says METS FAN PLEASE HELP with my Mr. Met cap on the ground and see how much money I can make.

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Adam Rubin on ESPN NY has a fine column today that sums up the State of the  Mets organization and the non-moves at the trade deadline to a tee. Some excerpts that intrigued me are:

The reality is the Mets are not legitimately in a race right now. They entered Saturday trailing the division-leading Atlanta Braves by 7½ games and trailing the wild card-leading San Francisco Giants by 6½ games. Fifty-nine games remain on the schedule. Four teams, including the hard-charging Philadelphia Phillies, who acquired Roy Oswalt this week, are between the Mets and Giants.

Management can’t come out and say it but they know the Mets have no shot at the post season.  The Mets are what they are, a .500 team that plays like the best team in baseball at home but then plays like the Mets of 1962 on the road, hence the .500 record. Their play this season is a big improvement over last year’s crew who mailed in around this time last year at least this Mets team plays hard.

You can clumsily cite principal owner Fred Wilpon and his family supposedly being stingy for such a deal not materializing, but that would be misguided — even if ownership isn’t blameless. The bottom line is the payroll is still hovering around $130 million this season.

The better answer: If GM Omar Minaya had shown restraint in his other salary commitments — say, not giving Luis Castillo four years and $25 million or Oliver Perez three years and $36 million or guaranteeing seven years to Carlos Beltran — he likely would have had the flexibility to pull off an Oswalt-type trade now.

It’s far more about no discipline than no money.

That does not absolve the Wilpons.

Forget the Perez and Castillo contracts, the one deal Mets will be screaming about will be the Francisco Rodriguez deal, look it over if you dare but I must put a disclaimer that if you are pegnant suffer from high blood pressure or have a sleeping disorder, check with your doctor before viewing the details of K-Rod’s deal

Minaya’s stated plan when he took over as GM in September 2004 was to offset the draft picks forfeited for signing free agents by owning the international market. It sounded good, too. After all, how could a Dominican-born GM walk into any household in that country, throw around dollars and fail to persuade the teenager to sign with the Mets?

The problem? Ownership never threw around the money. After signing Martinez for $1.3 million in 2005, Minaya’s first full season as Mets GM, the organization did not have another seven-figure signing bonus for an international teenager until signing 16-year-old pitcher Juan Urbina, Ugueth’s son, last year.

The Mets knew Venezuelan Jesus Montero, who was coveted in trade proposals involving the Yankees in recent days, was a superior catching prospect to Francisco Peña, Tony’s son. Yet the Mets signed Peña in 2006 because he cost $750,000. The Yankees paid $2 million for Montero.

My question here is whose fault is it? Omar’s or the Skill Sets for the inability to not get any thing done in the International market? You would think having a Latino GM would place the Mets way ahead of other teams but as we learned when they were in pursuit of Carlos Delgado as a free agent, Scareface Bernazard was a little to “street” for Delgado so  I wonder how many more families were turnoff by the Mets resident hoodlum?

The Mets have not been blame-free in their draft conduct from an ownership perspective, either. With apologies to Chris Carter, the Mets essentially gave Billy Wagner  to the Red Sox last season for nothing, in essence to save $3.3 million (Wagner’s $2.3 million remaining salary and a $1 million buyout). As a result, when Wagner signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves last offseason, the Red Sox — not the Mets — got two first-round picks as compensation for losing Wagner, which they used on Ball State’s Kolbrin Vitek and Middle Tennessee State’s Bryce Brentz. (Remember those names a few years from now.

This is why Omar needs to be relived of his GM duties and the baseball ops needs a complete overhaul. Unlike any time in baseball, teams a coveting receiving draft picks for aging ball players. The new wave in baseball is to get younger and more athletic as the ban on PED’s is changing the game back to where pitching, defense and youth as the way to go. That’s not Omar’s bag, he’s still into old and ineffective which unfortunately describes Omar himself.

(Fred) Wilpon was sued Friday by the widow of a former employee of Wilpon-owned Sterling Equities. The federal suit alleges Wilpon bears fiduciary responsibility for investing his employees’ 401(k) funds in Bernard Madoff-operated funds. Sterling Equities called the suit baseless, but the potential liability — coupled with the Wilpon family’s own losses in the Ponzi scheme — has to create some hesitance to freely spend.

Yet even if the Madoff ordeal never occurred, it would be perfectly reasonable to expect the Mets to act conservatively from a financial perspective. Attendance is likely to plummet at Citi Field the rest of the season. A further erosion in the season-ticket base is expected heading into 2011.

You knew this was coming and the question is if Freddy Skill Sets loses this suit, which I believe is a class action suit among the Sterling Equities employees, and it cost him hundreds of million’s of dollars to pay, will he have to sell the Mets? I believe Freddy when he says he wants the Mets to be in his family for generations to come, but it may come to a head when he has to either sell or take on a partner. The Mara family owned the NY Football Giants on their own for years and years but when Tim Mara died his estate put his shares up for bid, that’s when the Tisch family got their half, so it’s possible the Skill Sets sell 49% of the team and keep the other 51 % controlling interest for as long as they can.

Yet even if the Madoff ordeal never occurred, it would be perfectly reasonable to expect the Mets to act conservatively from a financial perspective. Attendance is likely to plummet at Citi Field the rest of the season. A further erosion in the season-ticket base is expected heading into 2011.

The one MAJOR move the Skill Sets must make for next season is dropping the ridiculous pricing tiers that are an extreme point of contention with Mets fans. The whole Platinum, Gold, Silver, Value scale would work if the team was a contender every year and seats at Citi Field were in demand but the organization has none of these going for them. They tried going the corporate route and it hasn’t worked. Now they need to try and win back the fan base, the blue collar core who frequented Shea Stadium who stick by you through thick and thin. The Skill Sets have had their fling with the Metro area elite and must now realize it’s time to get the REAL Mets fan back to support the team.  The Mets fan has the upper hand here and now Freddy, Jeffey and Uncle Saul have to come to us with hat in hand, and ask for our hard earned dough. They have never gotten it though their thick skulls that Mets fans are not about the Championships (although we all want to win one or ten of them) but we’re all about playing hard and playing with pride. That’s the one saving grace with the 2010 Mets team they have that quality.

Next year the Skill Sets need to let fans pick their own ticket packages and also set aside seats in the promenade for 5 bucks a piece. They could also sell a “roaming ticket” no seat but you can walk around and stand in centerfield or down each base line sort of a standing room ticket, they need to be creative to win fans back in 2011, time to turn on the Skill Sets charm fella’s

Manager Jerry Manuel, asked if the inaction was a signal the front office was content with the team as presently constituted or if it was an indication the team is not really in the race, wisely did not want to touch the issue.

“That’s a tricky question,” Manuel said. “Trying to catch me, huh?”

Minaya did acknowledge the standings were a factor.

“That played something into it,” the GM said. “When you look at the standings, you just have to be careful.”

I can’t wait until October 4^th for the press conference announcing Wally Backman as the Mets manager for 2011

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Maybe it’s me. I’ve been told that I can be a bit dense at times but for the life of me I can’t understand how some Mets fans feel that the recently completed road trip from hell was because of Carlos Beltran’ return to the lineup ? Now let me set the record straight here, I am not the President nor a member of the Carlos Beltran Fan Club, in fact I have called on the Mets to deal Beltran since 2008 and I would hope he has a great second half as getting out from his contract would a huge plus for the organization, but to say that Beltran has hurt the team chemistry by coming back, is beyond stupid.

This team is only acts as  a cohesive bunch when they win, once adversity hits and that by the way is how you measure this worn out word chemistry, the NY Mets turn into the French Army. After wining games, especially at home, shirts are flying out of pants, hats are tilted to the side, players are jumping up and “high fiving” it’s quite the spectacle. But when they lose, and they do this with regularity on the road, their heads are down, shirts stay neatly in their pants, blank stares into space replace high jumping hand slaps. No team in sports acts in such a bi-polar way than the NY Mets.

Now the fans are starting to get like that. Beltran is a “clubhouse cancer” they say, huh, if anything Beltran is a low flame kind of guy, but he produces both with the bat and the glove. He has looked very rusty with both so far since his return from knee surgery but it’s such a small sampling but who knows, maybe he will never regain his old form. The same fans that hate Beltran, have fallen in love with Jeff Francoeur and seem to think he was a big reason the Mets went on a nice run in June, I guess an OPS of .845 is impressive to some. If Beltran had a month like that he’d be an underachiever.

I really don’t get it. The Mets right now are playing their three best outfielders in Bay, Beltran and Pagan. Unfortunately, Bay and Beltran are struggling but what both have over Francoeur is they have a body of work that is All Star caliber, whereas Frenchy has a strong right arm and a great smile. I’d rather take the proven All Stars myself.

Again it comes down to what has been a problem in Flushing for the past couple or three years, this team is made up of some very fragile folks who turn to over cooked spaghetti when times get tough. See,  a guy like Jason Bay has surprised me as he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t make a lot of noise with his mouth and has proven to be capable of stepping up and performing when the spotlight is blinding as we saw when he went to Boston to replace Manny Ramirez. But then again when you have guys like Big Papi, Mike Lowell, Youk and Dustin Pedrioa it helps. The Mets don’t have anyone close to those guys on their team. Sure you have a  fake tough guy like Leader of Men, Alex Cora but there is no one (sadly David Wright isn’t one either) who says” jump on my back boys and I’ll carry you” the closet guy like that amongst the everyday players right now is Angel Pagan. It’s not the loudest guy or the rah-rah guy who fits the leader mold, it’s the guy who knows when to take pitches to get on base, who gets the big base hit with two out man in scoring position but Mets fans seem to think the louder you shout the more productive you are, that’s a fallacy. The People’s Cherce, Jeff Francoeur with all his personality had never carried a team but the guy Mets fans love to hate, Carlos Beltran has.

I can’t figure you people out sometimes.

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About last night:

So how many folks suffered a sprain or broken leg jumping back on the Johan Santana bandwagon?  I guess he’s back to being the Ace of the staff eh?

Funny I’m hearing any of the Carlos Beltran’ range is shot talk either ?

And how about Angel Pagan playing a mean right field? Let me help you with those bags Mr. Francoeur!

Even though Jerry Manuel was tossed from the game in the second inning, we still were treated to some “Jerry Ball” in the 8^th inning. With the Mets up 2-1, Jose Reyes leads off with a walk off Vicente (Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka look a like) Padillia. Reyes procedes to steal 2^nd base. Luis Castillo then walks as well, so maybe the Mets are getting set for that elusive big inning we al have been waiting for. But hold on there you Earl Waever devotees, J-Man will have none of that big inning stuff, no way. From the bowels of Dodger Stadium, the Gansta’ sends word to Dave Jauss the pretend manager, to have Angel Pagan sacrifice the runners over. Pagan by the way has a .940 OPS with runners on base and an even more impressive 1.072 OPS with runners in scoring position. Some where in a retirement home in Florida, Earl Weaver lit up a Raleigh and muttered, “what a fuckin’ moron”

Not to be outdone, St Joseph of Torre decided to go reliever for batter in the inning helping the Mets and the struggling Jason Bay break the game open via Bay’s three run double. My eyes were bleeding after that inning.

Darryl Strawberry wants this current Mets team to turn back the clock and play like the 86ers. It’s a nice thought but it’ll never happen. This group is too fragile psychologically. When the going is good, they are all smiles and back slaps, but as soon as adversity rears it’s ugly head, they dive under the bed instead of meeting it head on. Part of it is the makeup of the team and part of it is the manager who plays not to lose (as we saw in last nights 8^th inning) Players are too cautious especially the relievers as the slightest slip could cost you a job. The front office takes a big brunt of this as well by telling the world that the team is solvent but still won’t pay off  or trade off non productive players. A big move for this organization is to DFA Fernando Nieve and bring up Manny Acosta. Then when Nieve clears waivers, they will resign him and send him to Buffalo and bring him back up sometime in August. So predictable.  The team mirrors it’s owner, it talks a good fight but lacks the balls to back it up.

Let’s hope Big Pelf fixed whatever was broken and pitches a gem today in LA LA Land

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Jeff Francoeur, “Frenchy” to his fans and teammates has always portrayed  himself as a man of the people, a guy the MSM loves as he fills a notebook with great quotes, and a teammate to die for. But in reality, Francoeur is just another selfish guy whose true colors come out when times are tough.

Francoeur has made it known that if he is not going to play everyday as a Met then it would be best to have his fan mail forwarded to a new address. What a guy. Just as the team is reeling in a horrendous hitting slump and watching the season slip away, “Frenchy” acts like a rat and wants to jump the sinking ship.

What makes this more of a story is the fact that some fans of the Amazin’s have killed Carlos Beltran for having the unmitigated gall to work his way back from a catastrophic knee injury and don a knee brace that reminds one of Joe Namath circa 1970 to make a contribution to the team with his bat an hopefully with his Gold Glove defense. The bat is still there but the range in center field is rusty, no doubt but there are still some fans and a guy who gets paid to be on the radio who think that Beltran is the reason the Mets are losing because the precious team chemistry has been altered. The only one altering the chemistry here is their beloved Francoeur who is living up to his nickname by retreating when times are tough.

I wonder if the other General Patton on the team, Alex Cora yelled at Jerry Manuel after his stand up act yesterday before the Mets-Dodgers game when Omar Minaya made his way into the Mets dugout to speak to the press:

Jerry Manuel sat on the bench in the visitors’ dugout at Dodger Stadium for five hot minutes Thursday afternoon, when Omar Minaya entered from the stands. With cameras, tape recorders and sun in his face, the manager once again faced questions about job security.

Manuel flashed a broad grin and employed his favorite coping strategy, humor.

“O, what’s going on?” he yelled to the GM. “Did you say two-year extension?”

I’m pretty sure Fernando Nieve and Manny Acosta are the same person

My baseball season ended last night as my Babe Ruth team was eliminated from the play offs a win shy of reaching this weekends Championship Game. Last year we made to the Championship Game and came up short so this season not making it back to the final game is a disappointment. I have one more season with this team so hopefully next year we can take the title. So now it’s time to ice my old tired left arm that has thrown a lot of bating practice and put my fungo bat on the shelf for a few months. Now this frees me up for more trips to $iti Field and to clean out my garage. I don’t know which is worse.

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Is there a team in any sport that goes from sugar to shit faster than the NY Mets? Before the All Star break we Mets fans were pumped for the second half, I mean think about the names we were banding about getting, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Ted Lilly. Now fast forward a week later, and the talk is it’s better to dump Rod Barajas and play that cute little Josh Thole, Toxic Ollie is back, the most popular boy in the class, Jeff Francouer and his putrid bat has been replaced by the star some Mets fans hate, Carlos Beltran who at 75% is still superior to Frenchy in every way except in personality and the ability to sell a perp phone (Metro PCS according to my cop buddies is the phone service of choice for NYC criminals)  in radio ads. Oh yeah and the acquisition of Chad Cordero to a minor league deal. Meanwhile the Phuck Phaces are on the verge of landing Roy Oswalt and the Braves just keep padding their NL East lead. With all that should we be surprised by the latest cliff dive by the Mets especially how this team is the most homesick team in baseball?

The mark of a true contending team is how the play in tight situations and the Mets fail terribly in that situation as their 11-17 record in one run games and the shocking 10 walk off losses indicate. The only saving grace with this team is their ability to win at home. For all the bullshit talk about Citi Field hurting the Mets, this season is quite the opposite as the club has wins at a 65 % clip in Flushing. But on the road it’s just a disaster.

So Leader of Men, Alex Cora wasn’t happy that Mike Pelfrey, while talking to reporters last night, was laughing and let him know about it. What’s missing in the story was why Big Pelf was laughing and what kind of laugh it was. Was is a smirk/chuckle (a Big Pelf trademark) explaining why he went with a ‘buzz cut” to try and change his luck? Or was a laugh over a joking about Jeff Francoeur commiserating at his locker on why Jerry Manuel has fallen out of love with him? Or was a piss your pants gut buster over seeing Oliver Perez’ pay stub? Until I find out which one of these Big Pelf is guilty of, I will reserve judgment on him. As for Cora, as much as there is sometimes ‘false hustle” on the field there is also “false leadership” off it and maybe Alex Cora is guilty of the latter.

As I said before, Chad Cordero is now a Met. No shock there except we all figured this would have happened a lot sooner as all former Expos have a home in Queens.

One of the positives from last nights game was the fact that R.A. Dickey remained on the bench after being removed and he and Josh Thole sat together in deep conversation. The more I see Thole the more impressed I am with him not just with the bat but also the way he handles himself on the field and how involved he is in discussions on the mound whenever Manuel or Old School Warthen come out to talk to the pitcher. I’m sure all the chemistry majors in Mets fandom love that fact.

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SO far so good up in the woods.  I took a portable radio with me and and being such a clear night I was able to listen to WFAN before going to sleep. It’s good to see Johan Santana stepping up and Ike  Davis as well (the 20/20 updork said the Ike HR went 440 ft. WOW!) and as bad as the last homestand was, the MEts are still in the thick of things as far as far as gaining a post season berth.

With Carlos Beltran coming back Thursday and Frency moving to the bench as Angel Pagan (who by the way is just as charming as Francouer but he can hit too) the stagnant offense should get a good jolt of energy.

The internet connection up here blows. Plus the computers are relics so posting will sporatic most of the week.

There is a guy in the next camp over from us who thought is was a good idea to being a vuvuleza to the woods and blow into it during the night.  A few of the leaders from our camp paid him a vist this morning to let him know if he keeps up his vuvuzela playing he’ll have to pass gas to make it work and the horn will be shoved up his ass.

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Some observations from last night:

The first couple of innings were rough to watch as Big Pelf was throwing and throwing and the Twins were fouling off and fouling off pitch after pitch. Pelf said after the game that it was a tough game from him as he threw 77 of his 117 pitches for strikes but the twins must have fouled off 50 of them as he has done all season, the Season of Big Pelf.

Uhh anyone still want to deal off Daivd Wright and Jose Reyes?  Anyone? Com’on you haters show your faces.

Let’s also end the hate for Carlos Beltran. If he is ready and can play center field then that’s where he’ll play. It is much easier for Angel Pagan to shift over to right field and he and Frenchy can form a nice little twosome there, plus Beltran, when he does make it back, will need maybe two days off a week to help with that knee so don’t worry all you Pagan fans, Angel will get playing time. Don’t over think this folks just enjoy the fresh bat in the lineup.

I can’t figure out Jerry Manuel. When the Mets lose his post game presser is like a night at the Laugh Factory, when they win it’s like he’s planning a wake. Strange.

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