The Other Guy

Funny how things work.

First off, one of the names that we’ve been talking about (not that the Mets are necessarily talking about him) to possibly replace Angel Pagan was a guy who used to be a pitcher and then, for the reasons of self preservation, became an outfielder. Well. we got that guy.

But not Rick Ankiel. In the tradition of Mike Maddux, Gerald Williams, Robby Alomar, and Jeff Francoeur (his brother is a math teacher, and probably has a better eye at the plate), the Mets got “the other guy”. Adam Loewen, who also traded pitching for hitting, is now a New York Met. The other ironic part about Loewen is that this was the guy that Omar Minaya wanted Baltimore to throw into the Kris Benson for Jorge Julio trade. But Baltimore wouldn’t budge … instead parting with habitual liar John Maine. It worked out for the Mets as Loewen the pitcher had to shut it down for good with arm problems, and Maine gave the Mets three good years before he had arm problems. And now the Mets finally get Loewen as a hitter, and somewhere Omar Minaya is bawling his eyes out.

Don’t laugh, kids. Because this might be the big fish that the Mets get this off-season. For a normal baseball team, this would be unacceptable. But for the Mets, who have gone through great lengths to lower the expectations of a whipped fan base to the point where every ten-year minor leaguer brings visions of fifty home runs and clubhouse leadership, this move that would have been a disaster had it been made in 2006 counts as shrewd. On that scale, the only goes from 1-2 in decimal point increments, this is acceptable.

And I’m very … wait for it … thankful for it. Means that when you hold up a mirror to the mouths of the people in the Citi Field offices, the mirror fogs up. Good sign. Now go fly to Venezuela for Thanksgiving and convince Endy Chavez to come back to Flushing and we’ll be in business.

Happy Thanksgiving!