Monday, December 3, 2007

The Relentless Pursuit of Nobody in Particular

I'm still stewing over the Lastings deal. I suppose I've softened my stance since Friday, where I said to the former El Guapo, "I don't think I want to be a Mets fan anymore. I am switching to the Pirates. It's easy to not be disappointed when you have no expectations for success in the first place." But still I ask myself, "Why?"

There really was no good purpose for dealing Milledge for the National Pu-Pu Platter. If that was the best deal to be made for him, why do it at all? Because Schneider will be the galvanizing force that Estrada will never be? Because Church is going to surprise us all and become a big time hitter? This deal can at best be a wash for the Mets, and at its worst, a catastrophic blunder.

Even Joel Sherman, two-faced ass that he is, is ripping this trade. And this man never said a kind word about Lastings Milledge in his life.

But I digress. Names and players and deals are sure to be flying around this week as the Winter Meetings have commenced in Nashville (despite the fact that it's not even Winter yet). And so far, the only rumor I've heard concerning the Mets is that they're talking to Baltimore about Erik Bedard. Who's being offered, though? Who's left? It's beginning to sound an awful lot like Pelfrey and Humber have no real value, at least not to the teams the Mets are likely to deal with. My personal preference would be Haren from Oakland (who I'm convinced could be Santana-Lite, kind of like how Rick Reed was Maddux-Lite), but who knows what exactly Billy Beane is using to rate prospects these days. I seem to remember him having a massive orgasm for Milledge a few years back, but if that were still the case, I'd have to imagine Lastings would be packing his bags for Oakland right now.

All this talk, or lack thereof, makes me nervous. Is there a plan? Does Omar really have anything up his sleeve? These articles from the Daily News seem to indicate that he's grasping at straws. It's a little scary to read that your GM is ready to cash in with authority for...Bartolo Colon. Right. I can see it now. I'll be walking down 14th Street drunk, after seeing another Mets debacle, and I'll see Bartolo Colon in the KFC at 2nd Avenue, face down in a bucket of Extra Crispy. That's a deal that doesn't inspire much confidence in anyone.

Right now, I'm inclined to agree with Billy Wagner's comments last week, because this is shaping up to be something in the neighborhood of a 3rd place team, unless a front-line starter finds himself under my Chanukah Bush sometime soon.

Omar Minaya brings mixed record to table for the Mets [Daily News]
Omar Minaya may throw Bartolo Colon into Met Mix [Daily News]

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