Tears of a Clown

I don’t usually quote myself. I’d quote myself all the time if I had anything worth repeating. But I never say anything smart or salient. I still haven’t, but I wanted to dust off this “gem” from March of 2009:

I’ll say this about Yu Darvish, if the reason that the Mets are saving their money now is that they’re saving it for the posting process for this cat, I’ll apologize on this blog for every bad thing I’ve ever said about the Wilpons. I sincerely doubt that is the reason the Mets are saving their money, so I’ll follow with this:

If you’re going to throw silly money at a guy playing in the Japanese league, this … is … the … guy. He threw nothing but live fastballs and sliders and shut out China for four innings, meanwhile the kid has about fourteen pitches in his arsenal. And in his spare time, he saves kittens from tall trees without ladders. With all the kittens displaced from the Shea Stadium demolition, they’re going to need a friend to help them down. (…)

This is your guy, Omar … this is your guy. Open Bernie Madoff’s vault and let him have what he wants.

Well, Bernie Madoff’s in jail, the Wilpons are $135 million in the hole, and I’m not going to have to apologize for or take back nothing. Because Yu Darvish is going Christopher Columbus on us and discovering America.  Do you know where he’s not going? That’s right, Flushing. The Mets didn’t save any money for the eventual posting of Yu Darvish. Instead, they saved it for the purpose of watching it disappear. The one guy who’s worth an insane posting fee and the Mets are watching him vanish into thin air just like the money they didn’t save for him. It’s all gone. He of the fourteen pitches (all of them filthy), the control, the dominance, all going to a place that can afford an expensive Christmas present. I bet he’ll come with a big bow like in those car commercials.

Would have been nice, especially with the news that Johan Santana might not be ready for the start of the season. But the Mets don’t … can’t do business like that anymore. I know I’ve said in the past and many of you have come to realize that the necessity of the Mets tearing everything down and building from within is the best shot at a healthy long-term baseball future (with the exodus of the Wilpons being the best shot at a healthy long-term financial future), but seeing a talent like Darvish go somewhere else without so much as a bid from the Mets is a lost opportunity. Unless Darvish can’t adjust to the bigger baseball like certain Japanese League pitchers who recently signed with the Pirates weren’t able to do, or if he comes to America, looks up at the skyscrapers and faints (and cracks his head open), I think he’s going to be fine … that is, fine at worst. The last game he pitched for Nippon was a playoff game where he was brilliant for seven innings before his bullpen blew it for him … some of what he could have looked forward to if he had signed with the Mets. (Unrelated: The Mets officially signed Jon Rauch on Wednesday.) And now the Mets have no chance at him. Instead, they’ll be putting sealed bids in on Yu Darvish’s rookie cards on eBay. And as someone who’s had his eye on Darvish for years, I shed a tear tonight.

Okay, a few tears.

***

Thankfully, it’s not all bad news as the Mets have an award winner on the roster: R.A. Dickey will receive a “Thurman” award for his combination of athletic achievements and his charity work at the 32nd annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner on January 31st in New York. By then, he will have scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro. Good practice for the task he’ll have carrying the Mets to a 2012 division title. If anyone can …