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The Mets have had solid catchers going back to Stearns, Carter, Hundley and Piazza. Schneider is the 21st Century Mets version of Ron Hodges. At least Hodges had a decent defense.
See how Johnny Bench spoiled things? A catcher's job was never to hit; it was to handle the pitching staff and throw baserunners out. (Bench himself said that the best catcher he ever saw was Jerry Grote!)
Given this, the Mets have indeed had a run of solid, dependable catchers, although you can't honestly put Mike Piazza on that list. He could hit, all right, but he was a mediocre catcher at best.
Now, someone will have to confirm this or not, but the Mets are supposed to have some kid in the minors who is the real deal as far as catchers go. Would this be Valentin? If so, and he's legit, then Omir Santos will probably wind up traded too--unless he'd be willing to accept a backup role. Schneider will be out, one way or the other.
Now, someone will have to confirm this or not, but the Mets are supposed to have some kid in the minors who is the real deal as far as catchers go. Would this be Valentin? If so, and he's legit, then Omir Santos will probably wind up traded too--unless he'd be willing to accept a backup role. Schneider will be out, one way or the other.
There are two in the organization that are highly rated. Francisco Pena (son of former major leaguer Tony Pena) and Josh Thole.
Pretty good chance Minaya grabs Wilson Betemit. Not exactly the kind of move that wins you anything, but this is exactly the kind of player he covets. This team is a mess right now, and the Phillies are starting to show you that they're not going to wait around and let them figure out how to fix it. The schedule gets a lot tougher for the Mets next week too. Should be some more news on Reyes very soon too, and it might not be good at all.
Nice to know Minaya covets a player who is absolutely horrendous.
It has been said, occasionally even publicly, that Minaya has a strong (understatement!) bias in favor of Latino ballplayers. I would like to think that it isn't true...but given the pattern of acquisitions, it's getting harder and harder to dispute.
You can tell I'm not qualified to be a major league general manager, because I thought players were brought in to help the team, not because they speak Spanish.
It has been said, occasionally even publicly, that Minaya has a strong (understatement!) bias in favor of Latino ballplayers. I would like to think that it isn't true...but given the pattern of acquisitions, it's getting harder and harder to dispute.
You can tell I'm not qualified to be a major league general manager, because I thought players were brought in to help the team, not because they speak Spanish.
Oh, well...viva los Metropolitanos de Nueva York!
Look to Carlos Delgado, who chose to join the Marlins in 2005 instead of joining the Mets. It took a trade one year later to bring Delgado in, because as a free agent, Delgado stated on the record that he felt he was being patronized by Minaya and Assistant GM Tony Bernazard.
In an interview published in The Toronto Star on Friday, Carlos Delgado -- the slugger who chose the Florida Marlins over the Mets when he was a free agent -- said Mets General Manager Omar Minaya and the assistant general manager, Tony Bernazard, turned him off by overemphasizing their common Latin heritage.
''At the beginning, that was their approach,'' Delgado was quoted as saying. ''It doesn't matter if you're Latin, American or Italian, if we're going to talk business, talk business. I'm not doing you any favors, you're not doing me any favors because we're speaking in Spanish. I'm a man first.''
Quote:
When asked to respond on Friday to Delgado's comments, Minaya said: ''I'm not going to dignify that. I won't answer.''
Since being hired last fall, Minaya, a native of the Dominican Republic, has made it clear he is eager to use his own background as a recruiting tool among Hispanic players.
Now before anyone accuses me of anything, I didn't write the article, and I couldn't care less if the entire 25 man roster came from Minaya's own immediate family - IF those were the best available players to the team and they could come to the best contractual agreements. That hasn't always been the case. This team has suffered from an amazing lack of depth, and it's finally starting to become very noticeable in the mainstream. Maybe that will change the way some of the decisions are made, both the ones the public sees and the ones they don't see. It's not too late, but the rest of the league is letting the Mets know that they're not going to be waiting around for them to get things right again.
The real problem I have these days is that I remember the Mets of the late 70s and early 80s--teams that were not only truly awful, but without any genuine hope of improvement. What we have today is still an order-of-magnitude better that what we had then. This is probably why I'm not nearly as upset as I ought to be.
The problem a lot of longtime fans are having is that this is no longer the blue-collar alternative in New York baseball. The Mets were built on two things year after year: Pitching, and the idea that they were a working-class team for working-class fans. The payroll is now the second highest in the majors; at least I believe that to be true as of this moment. It's certainly the highest in the National League. Add to that a new stadium, higher prices all around, and two straight disappointing finishes, and there are a lot of very unhappy people right now.
When you knew they weren't going to win, it was a loveable team. Gone are the days when you could joke about a player not stepping on third or runners passing each other on the bases. There's no room for that on the modern-day Mets. The Wilpons wanted to turn things around, and in doing that, they have no choice but to accept the fact that there are raised expectations. This team in its current makeup has won exactly one division title, and has done nothing since. But they sell themselves as something more than that, and people are losing their patience waiting for them to deliver.
This year the excuse will be injuries, and a lot of people will just accept that. But many of us knew that this team could win it all IF and ONLY IF nobody got hurt. There was no depth. No room for error. That's not the way to build a championship team these days.
And as much as we'd like to say it's still early, look at the rest of the June schedule after they leave DC tomorrow. The month of June is going to be make or break for the Mets. Don't give up hope, but know that this is going to be a bumpy ride.
And as much as we'd like to say it's still early, look at the rest of the June schedule after they leave DC tomorrow. The month of June is going to be make or break for the Mets. Don't give up hope, but know that this is going to be a bumpy ride.
I'll second that. But as a lifelong Mets fan, if I've learned anything, it's that they do have a propensity for pulling off the unexpected. The stat sheets say they're in trouble. We'll just have to see!
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