Same Old Song And Dance

It really gets old for me sometimes.  How many times am I supposed to sit at the laptop, strike fingers to keyboard, and somehow find new ways to tell you the same thing?  That the Mets are a mediocre team, with mediocre coaching, mediocre management, and mediocre ownership?

I’ll let other people do it for me:

“The Mets were forced to choose and, citing Holliday’s strong swings earlier in the game — a two-run homer and RBI double — Manuel opted to try his luck against a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.” -in the 13th inning with runners on first and third

“We were playing with fire, and we got burnt.” -Snoop

Brilliant, as usual.  You want the definition of “small sample size”?  That’s it.  Give the best player in the free world an opportunity to beat you because Matt Holliday took three good swings.  And people wonder why the Mets have lost 57 extra inning games and 149 walk off games this season alone.  But hey, they battled.

But even better than that:

What I hear is the Mets are trying to locate a pitcher (probably a reliever) who is overpriced and not having a particularly strong season, but who their scouts like and pluck him for little to no prospect in return.  “I think they are going after lightning in the bottle,” an NL personnel man said. –Joel Sherman

I mean, was that a f***ing craigslist ad?  “Hey, do you suck at your job?  Come work for us!  Experience a must, aptitude not necessary. Inquire within.”  Of course!  Lightning in a bottle, as per usual.  Like Chad Cordero, who I seem to remember Met fans clamoring for two or three seasons ago when they needed bullpen help.  Instead, they sign him when his velocity is down to 43 mph and he has an ERA in the six range.  If that isn’t a slap in the face, I don’t know what is.  But while the Mets are shopping at Walmart:

The Houston Astros have a deal in place to trade pitcher Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies if Oswalt agrees to waive his no-trade clause.

The most frustrating part of that is the juxtaposition of the hated rival Phillies making an effort to improve and send a message to their fan base, and the fact the Mets obviously aren’t going to do anything significant at the deadline since there’s nobody left, and in the process send a different message to their fans.  And as much as I’d love for the team to sell parts because let’s face it, at least it’s a direction and a plan as opposed to what’s going on now, there really isn’t anybody significant enough to bring in the prospects needed to replenish the system.  So guess what?  The Mets are stuck in the ditch again.  August first, after nothing happens, we’ll hear Omar Minaya give hundreds of excuses, just as he did last year at this time, as to why the market was so soft and how there “wasn’t a good fit”, and that “we’re going to depend on the pieces we have here and the coaching staff to make those pieces fit.”

Write that last one down, Omar’s stealing that word for word … he’s already rehearsing it.

But it’s not going to make anybody feel any better about anything.  I’d rather that than another “Kazmir” trade, but either way, I see no good end here.  In fact, I see no end in sight.  Same ol’ song.  It’s not even catchy.