The Mets are stupid

I often wonder if any knowledgeable baseball fan could be a successful general manager. The best current example of this is Omar Minaya and the New York Mets, a team that was expected to compete for the World Series but, with the exception of about once every five games when the best pitcher in baseball is on the mound, have looked flat out awful thus far. Minaya has always been considered one of the more respected GMs since his days in Montreal, but has been garnering increasing criticism lately for his tenure with New York's second team.
Since Omar has been with the Mets he has simply addressed obvious needs, needs that anyone could have recognized. First he spent money to get Pedro Martinez, a move that ultimately failed but immediately returned the Mets to a level of respectability. Last year the obvious need was an ace starting pitcher so he traded for Santana and threw a ton of money at him. It's a move he should be commended for, but still an obvious one to make. He failed to address the team's lack of bullpen depth and lack of clutch hitting, which ultimately burned them down the stretch once again.
This year Minaya once again addressed the obvious, patching up last years awful relief squad by throwing cash at K-Rod and getting J.J. Putz. The necessary move to make, but he stopped there. If they didn't have the money to sign Manny Ramirez fine, but adding him would have made the lineup exponentially better. It would immediately go from a tight, soft, anti-clutch group of talented hitters to the most fearsome lineup in the game. Fine, maybe Bernie Madoff and the economy really hurt the Mets to the point where they couldn't spend for Manny, that better be the reason they ignored him. Instead they are running a kid in Daniel Murphy out into left field who can't catch fly balls, literally. He looks like I did as a 10 year old Little Leaguer in the outfield. He makes Manny look like a young Barry Bonds, and he may be able to handle a bat but he sure doesn't hit like those two aforementioned sluggers. Bobby Abreu was out there for cheap and would have been a nice fit instead, like so many other discount free agents that were out there, Minaya didn't even talk to him.
Another major blunder was ignoring Orlando Hudson, who the Dodgers signed for literally nothing (one year, under $5 million). Hudson is the gritty kind of number-two hitter that the Mets could really use, but to the disgust of Mets fans everywhere, they didn't want to let go of Luis Castillo and the money they owe him (sure he's played well so far, but lets see how long that lasts).
The offense isn't the Mets only defect. After Johan Santana their rotation has three question marks and one certainty in Livan Hernandez who must be approaching 50 years old and is guaranteed to be nothing more than an average fifth starter. It would have been easy for Minaya to bring in other options to start games. They let Pedro walk, who hasn't done much since 2005, but he's still Pedro and has much more potential than Livan. I don't understand why teams are terrified to take a chance and give Pedro $5 million for one year when at the same time the Royals gave Kyle Farnsworth $9 million for two. What the Mets did do is bring back Oliver Perez for $36 million and they acted like they were making a major move for the team in doing so. All they did was overpay a bad pitcher who occasionally gets hot because he has good stuff. Have fun with that for the next three years Mets fans. I understand not giving Derek Lowe $60 million dollars, I wouldn't do that either. However, to sign Perez for that deal instead is typical Mets. Lowe would have cost them only a little more than Oli, and he would have made the team, at least for this season, a lot better than what they are.
The Mets remind me of the Dan Duquette Red Sox of the late 90s and early 2000s that felt that because they showcased Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez they could run out guys like Brian Daughbach and Mike Lansing and boast a rotation with Jeff Fassero, Frank Castillo, and Rolando Arrojo. It doesn't work. Because the Phillies' rotation is awful and the National League is weak, they could squeak into the playoffs and with Santana, anything could happen once there, but don't count on these choke artists winning a ring, it would take a minor miracle.
If this Mets team was the Yankees and not the Mets, after blowing their season two years in a row in hideously embarrassing fashion I can assure you the squad would have now have Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett, and Orlando Huson. Castillo would be gone and they would easily be the favorite in the National League. But they are the Mets and they are second rate. If they miss the playoffs this year, Omar Minaya will look like a moron and will deserve to be fired.

Here are some highlights from Sunday nights Yankee-Red Sox which I happened to be watching as I wrote this post.

-Jacoby Ellsbury stole home, Fenway went wild. Pettitte nor Posada ever saw it coming, most exciting play of the season.
-Steve Phillips said that a young pitcher coming up wants to throw strikes early in the count and get ahead because the hitter will try to figure them out as the at bat goes on. Steve, tell me the pitcher that doesn't want to get ahead early in the count
-Steve Phillips chuckled at a sign that says "Jacoby, marry my daughter." Steve then commented, "he's got good speed, he's going to be tough to catch." Thanks Steve.
-Joe Morgan already gave up on the Yankees in the 8th inning, "they are going to need to get some more players, they don't have enough", eh maybe he's right, maybe its April. But that's ok, Joe probably doesn't know what month it is.
-John Miller talked without even stopping to catch his breath for the entire broadcast, I didn't pay attention to anything he said so I can't comment on it.