Douchebag Journalists

[metirish]

Step right up Harper....this is catnip for the raging Mets fan

New York Mets never had shot at Roy Halladay, John Lackey on Black Monday

The worst part about Black Monday for the Mets is that there wasn't anything they could have done about the Red Sox signing John Lackey or the Phillies trading for Roy Halladay. And that speaks more to the chaotic state of their organization than it does to any questions about spending money. Let's face it, the Mets are seen in baseball circles as losers these days, a team full of holes going into next season with a lame-duck manager and a GM already on the hot seat. Compared to the Red Sox and Phillies, then, what exactly is there to like about them? So it was no surprise that Lackey apparently had zero interest in playing for the Mets, at least as long as the Red Sox wanted him. The Mets sensed as much from the preliminary conversations they had with his agent, which is why they decided to make an offer to Jason Bay instead. Indeed, short of offering him Johan Santana money, the Mets had no shot at Lackey. Same for Halladay. With a no-trade clause and the option of signing or not signing a contract extension, he was in control of any trade the Blue Jays made, and as long as the Phillies were willing partners, he too had zero interest in playing for the Mets. The Phillies were highly attractive to him partly because Halladay makes his home in Florida, near the Phillies' Clearwater spring training camp, and more so because the two-time defending NL champs give him the chance he desperately wants to win a World Series. The Mets knew this too, which made it easy for them to justify shying away from serious trade discussions with the Jays. The feeling among many baseball people is that they weren't willing to consider signing him to a $100 million-plus contract extension when they are already paying Santana at that level. In any case, while it's not clear how much stock to put in reports that the Jays would have been open to trading Halladay to the Mets had GM Omar Minaya been willing to give up Jose Reyes, a major league GM with knowledge of the situation said it's irrelevant. "Halladay wasn't going to the Mets," the GM said. "His people were letting everyone know he was only going to a winner - the Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, or maybe the Angels, although he wanted to be in the East because he lives in Florida. "The problem for the Mets is that after everything that happened to them last year - the injuries, the record, the front office controversies - they're just not very appealing to star players who have choices." So the aftershocks keep coming for Mets fans. A month or so after living through their nightmare World Series, Black Monday forces them to confront the reality that they are almost surely playing only for a wild-card berth in 2010, as Halladay all but assures the Phillies a fourth straight NL East title. Of course, had the Phillies held onto Cliff Lee rather than get Halladay in a trade that is still not final, the Mets would have been looking at the same fate. But there is something about Halladay going to Philly that symbolizes the huge gap between the two teams at the moment. For that matter, the Mets should take a hard look at how the Phillies have built a powerhouse ballclub. Most important, they did it with a farm system that produced the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Cole Hamels, as well as another wave of top prospects that allowed them to deal for Lee and now Halladay. Because the Mets have so few top prospects at the upper levels of their farm system, they couldn't begin to fill the holes created by all their injuries last season, and they are at the mercy of a weak free-agent class this offseason. Maybe they will sign Bay, who should help, and it appears they will get Bengie Molina, an upgrade at catcher. But because the Mets have a starting rotation littered with question marks, Lackey was the free agent they needed most. Never fear, though. Word filtered out of Venezuela yesterday that the Mets are aggressively pursuing Kelvim Escobar, the 33-year-old righthander coming back from nearly two years missed because of shoulder surgery. Halladay, Lackey, Escobar. Black Monday indeed.

[Guest Kong76]

Harp: Compared to the Red Sox and Phillies, then, what exactly is there to like about them? <<<

I ain't reading that whole column, and this says it all anyway.

[metirish]

You'll miss this gem then.....

Indeed, short of offering him Johan Santana money, the Mets had no shot at Lackey.

Seriously , you get paid for this?

[Guest Edgy DC]

The worst part about Black Monday for the Mets is that there wasn't anything they could have done about the Red Sox signing John Lackey or the Phillies trading for Roy Halladay.[/quote:1srgnabo]

The worst part about Black Monday is that some douchebag journalist named it Black Monday even though there was nothing black about it, but they needed a douchey angle.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is just so over the top it's ridiculous:

[HahnSolo]

You'll miss this gem then.....

Indeed, short of offering him Johan Santana money, the Mets had no shot at Lackey.

Seriously , you get paid for this?

[Guest Edgy DC]

That child and her family don't deserve that.

[ashie62]

No one wants to play for the Mets?

Some may not, but the Mets money is just as green as the others

[Guest Edgy DC]

Oh, and Yankees-Phillies is not my nightmare World Series. I'm don't live on fear as much as you want me to, douchebag journo.

If I had a nightmare World Series --- and I don't because my nightmares aren't about baseball --- it would be... Yankees-Yankees, I guess. Or maybe Yankees-Zombies.

[MFS62]

If I had a nightmare World Series --- and I don't because my nightmares aren't about baseball --- it would be... Yankees-Yankees, I guess. Or maybe Yankees-Zombies.[/quote:7vvls6fa]

That wouldn't be a problem for me. I'd be rooting hard for the Zombies.

Later

[Centerfield]

Me too. I'm trying hard to think of a team that I despise so much I would actually root for the Yankees to win. So far I have Al Qaeda.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It would have to be some sort of high stakes nightmare World Series, where the winners would get to take our women and destroy our institutions and act as petty tyrants for the next 12 months.

Pillaging, plundering, parking in handicapped spots, building non-code hockey rinks, that sort of thing. That would be a nightmare.

[MFS62]

It would have to be some sort of high stakes nightmare World Series, where the winners would get to take our women and destroy our institutions and act as petty tyrants for the next 12 months.

Pillaging, plundering, parking in handicapped spots, building non-code hockey rinks, that sort of thing. That would be a nightmare.

[Centerfield]

There you have it. There's our nightmare World Series.

[batmagadanleadoff]

What, me worry? Omir Santos won the Topps Rookie Cup!

[Guest Edgy DC]

There you go. Now focus on that in your mind while you chant Ohmmmm...

[Fman99]

So the aftershocks keep coming for Mets fans. A month or so after living through their nightmare World Series, Black Monday forces them to confront the reality that they are almost surely playing only for a wild-card berth in 2010, as Halladay all but assures the Phillies a fourth straight NL East title.

You want to crown em, you crown em! THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!

What utter ridiculous bullshit this line is. They are assured exactly what everyone else is before the season starts.

Fucking hacks.

[stevejrogers]

At the end of the day, where are they wrong?

This team was full of holes and question marks before the injuries piled up last year and so far the Mets haven't done a darn thing to fix any of them.

Blame Omar for not being a competent GM, or blame the Wilpons (and perhaps Madoff) for tightening the purse strings, but following last season's disaster (whether a bunch of Met fans on an internet forum thought it was prudent or not) big changes were needed to show the fans that this is not 1994-1996 revisited. You know, when the biggest acquisitions were the "other" Pedro Martinez, David Segui, etc.

How are the Phillies now not considered the odds on favorites now to 4-peat the NL East? And how are the Mets as presently constituted not odds on favorites to have a season no better than 2009?

They might be douchebag journalists and headline writers, but they aren't off the mark in terms of what the Mets have been doing this winter.

[MFS62]

Edgy, about that nightmare....

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Then there's the douchebag fans who call up WFAN to lick their wounds and threaten to cancel their seas ... oh, hi Steve J. Didn't see you come in.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Because they're stopped-clock brand right, Steve, and they're simply piling on, not making any sort of fresh or incisive point. It's the print equivalent of troll-baiting, except the writers are paid for this.

[MFS62]

Because they're stopped-clock brand right, Steve, and they're simply piling on, not making any sort of fresh or incisive point. It's the print equivalent of troll-baiting, except the writers are paid for this.[/quote:3spelta6]
Dali gave us the best skewed image of a stopped clock.
By comparison, these guys are like two year olds fingerpainting on a wall.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

And how are the Mets as presently constituted not odds on favorites to have a season no better than 2009?

[stevejrogers]

Because they're stopped-clock brand right, Steve, and they're simply piling on, not making any sort of fresh or incisive point. It's the print equivalent of troll-baiting, except the writers are paid for this.[/quote:318bo92y]

Well, what else do you want them to say? That the Mets are doing a good job staying pat? That the smoke and mirrors coming from the farm or whatever Omar has coming is going to be a magic elixer to what ailed the Mets all year?

Perez is magically going to be what he was in the 2006 postseason again?

Rodriguez is going to go back to his 2008 form?

Reyes is going to stop regressing?

There is nothing positive to say about the Mets outlook for 2010, would you'd rather them be silent on all Met related issues? And then they'll be as obscure as the Nets are right now.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I hope the Mets don't stand pat but even if they do, they're bound to pick up 10-15 Wins just by staying healthy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

At the end of the day, where are they wrong?

[MFS62]

There is nothing positive to say about the Mets outlook for 2010, would you'd rather them be silent on all Met related issues? And then they'll be as obscure as the Nets are right now.

[Guest Number 6]

What's your bet? I'll put my Mr. Met lunchbox up again.[/quote:3dwjjk1o]

To take this bet would normally be insane, but if you're offering odds and I'd be putting up something significantly less awesome than a Mr. Met lunchbox, I'd consider it just to get a shot at the booty. A Mr. Met lunchbox... seriously.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

My problem isn't that it's critical. My problem is that it's hacky.

If this were a story about specific instances where Omar declined to make a move for Halladay or Lee or some similar pitching resource-- based on information to which I was not previously privy-- I would be reading, re-reading and forwarding that information, however damning it might be. If this were a story that looked at the baseball aspect of the trade, irrespective of the "Mets angle," one that gave Met/Yank fans who don't normally follow other teams' prospects a window into a genuinely-intriguing three-way baseball transaction, I'd cheer Harper. Hell, if it skipped the non-Mets part and just looked forward in any meaningful, comprehensive way-- in-depth speculation, even-- to options beyond the much-reported Bay-Molina shit, I'd be pleased... and, sadly, shocked.

He-- as do Madden, Matthews and the overwhelming majority of the beat writers/columnists-- has instead churned out a column that could have been written by keyboard-macro, with cheap shots at moves like the Escobar offer (which actually makes sense, AND HAS NOTHING TO FUCKING DO WITH ANYTHING) to boot.

Additionally, since many of my friends and acquaintances-- as well as a solid handful of the posters here-- have been hit hard by press-industry job-loss, I take it somewhat personally when guys like this do their job with less thought, insight and f*cking CARE. You're paid to do this job, you should do it with at least as much interest and attention-to-detail as guys like Eric Simon, Cerrone, Greg and board members here. Fan or no, Harper hasn't for quite some time.

OE: Edited for tense and s-v agreement; I'm nerdy like that.

Edited December 15, 2009 by Guest

[metirish]

Well said LWFS...or well written....


You just know Harper is getting wood thinking about the column he will write if the MFY's get Bay, imagine all the cheap shots he'll get in if that happened......