Via Rob Neyer, the Mets trade Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur! WHAT THE F#$$%#@%$K?
The Mets just announced minutes ago that they have traded Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur.
Like Church in New York, Francoeur was no longer in favor in Atlanta, hitting .250 with five home runs and 35 RBI in 82 games.
Minaya said Francoeur, 25, makes sense as another righthanded bat and, as a former Gold Glove winner, to help with the outfield defense in right.
The Mets now have no chance to finish ahead of the Braves. This is a challenge trade, and the Mets are losing it big time. Omar needs to be run out of town for this one. Neyer:
Defense? According to UZR, there’s little difference between them and Church might actually be better.
Handedness? With Fernando Tatis and Gary Sheffield, the Mets already had two righty-hitting corner outfielders; now they’ve got three.
So, let’s review: The Braves got a decent hitter and fielder who bats left-handed, and thus can platoon (or semi-platoon) with Matt Diaz in right field. The Mets got … what, exactly? If you figure it out, drop a line to Jerry Manuel. He’s going to need all the help he can get with this one.
I guess the Mets needed an out machine to balance David Wright.
manuel did not like ryan church. they should fire manaya and manuel.
Above all, there is no method to this madness. No master plan, no process. Just arbitrary moves that sometimes work out, and sometimes leave you with Jeff F**king Francoeur in right field.
I expect more (every fan should). If you’re declining, you’re rebuilding, whether you admit it or not. If ownership isn’t gracious enough to start by replacing themselves, the least they can to do is start with the GM, assistant GM, and Manager.
Omar is the architect of the team that is as bad as they look right now- they are this weak. Their expectations out of certain players seemed highly dubious before the season even began, and yet there is no attempt to make the team stronger in the ways that they can be.
Let start with the starters: The contract to Oliver Perez is the worst contract for starting pitching. It’s worse than Zito’s was- I shit you not. They can’t even break even in 3 years.
I know this might rub some people the wrong way, but Pelfrey is not a number 2 starter- or he is about as viable there as Livan is at any point in the rotation really. He had a great year, but unfortunately this year the league has adjusted to him. He’ll probably be great in the future, and worthy of that spot, but he’s fresh off of his coming out year. He’s experiencing a sophomore jinx that can be remedied, but shouldn’t have to be when he has to start the day after Johan. When Johan can be a skid stopper, should they really rely on the young Pelfrey to keep the torch burning. They could have gone out and got Lowe, or the more affordable Marquis or Garland. Nope. They didn’t. They bought the journeyman Redding (wtf? seriously), and they relied on Livan, knowing that their serviceability wouldn’t go beyond this year. Perhaps Omar thought this were possible, but he couldn’t manage the Dodgers right now.
Jerry had an immature affiliation for the bat of Murphy. Once again, the Mets put the young one out there who was off to a start last year, and when the word got out he can’t turn on an inside pitch anymore, well he sank to .240. And he’s still in the line up. Not to mention the experiment in left field costing our ace a game, helping the team establish a trend of ripping defeat from the jaws of victory.
And then there were injuries.
So they had to rely more on younger fielders who weren’t prepared.
And these young hitters couldn’t hit.
Omar was brandished as a genius for getting Francisco at an extreme bargain. Then he got Putz. I thought this weird, why should there be two closers- at best one to spell the other when one loses their way, but, there needs to be more than that. And Putz was hurt too, which was of course a great job of doing one’s homework before a deal was made. A deal that makes you look so great that they don’t know that you’re making other deals that were just plain idiotic. And then, Jerry, who really isn’t as bright as he seems, just really quirky…. can’t really manage his way out of a paper bag…. is only around because the idiot Wilpons don’t know what to do on their own, so Jerry and Omar plotted against Willie in a Survivor style take out (not defending Willie, just sayin nobody knows anything and it’s so clear right now, but it’s mostly Omar’s fault) Jerry and Omar are deluded so into believing that it’s okay to have defensive platoons, which is just utter nonsense. So they don’t get a full-time left fielder, they let Murphy have a crack at it, but the now dearly departed has to take a back seat because they committed to Murphy’s weak defense for his now defunct offense, and they picked up Sheffield so there are a glut of outfielders. Now the acquisition of Sheffield wasn’t a bad idea- a bit mysterious again but not bad, it’s the power threat that they need especially since Jerry does 80 pitch Curveball drills that have them intentionally the other way (not bad in and of itself) not thinking about hitting for power… because Citifield is ‘cavernous’. I hope someone sent the memo that other teams are hitting homeruns, even opposite field homeruns on a fairly regular basis. The Mets don’t have a single opposite field homerun in Citifield. Looking back, Jerry and Hojo screwed the pooch big time. Either that or Warthen is screwing the pooch like nothing else, but really homeruns happen. All said, they could have had Dunn in reserves- at least he hits for power. But in Citifield homeruns don’t happen… unless you play for the road team. It’s not sarcasm- I have to think this was what Jerry Manuel was thinking.
In the end, the injuries don’t matter when your offense strategy is wrong. Delgado goes down, with a power back-up (Murph doesn’t cut it with 5 dingers) and a gear switch to stringing hits, sacrificing hitters, and stealing bases, the offense can float. And they did- in San Francisco. Then, they just stopped. The team was without the prominent base-stealer as well but, where was Omar when the Pirates had the fire sales of McClouth or Morgan, or the Indians sale of DeRosa for a legitimate utility bat. Oh, not to mention Wright’s probably pressing right now, and Beltran might be pressing too when he comes back.
Omar’s been as absent as the teams offensive strategy is, and the dearth of offense reflects his high ineptitude in making the right time deals- he’s simply a derelict.
So, Jerry and Omar sent an awful rotation to the mound (outside of Johan, terrible because Pelfrey was misplaced, Livan is Livan, Ollie is Ollie, and well John Maine is just hurt all the time) they had a bad offensive philosophy and strategy, and didn’t have any real reserves that were equipped to finally get this team over the hump, and 1 game better than they finished the last two years. And he got a contract extension? For what? He should have been long gone like a pitch from Redding. It’s time to pack it in for him definitely, and see if they can’t do something about the season.
Acquiring a free swinging RF with no plate discipline, no approach and no game plan to come play in a cavernous Citi Field could be Minaya’s worst move yet, and this is the guy who signed Luis Castillo to a 4 year 25 mil deal. I don’t know what makes me more angry as a Met fan, the fact that we’re adding a terrible hitter to our lineup, the fact that we traded in the division, or the fact that some Mets fans like the guys on Metsblog aren’t furious about this. How some of them think this could be good because francouer had a clue for a short while in ’06/’07 is beyond me. It’s been over 1000 AB’s since then, and I don’t see him returning to that level ever. Not the way I was hoping to enter the all star break, as at this point, I’m just glad I don’t have to watch this team for a few days next week.
I have to agree, its time for Omar to be NO-OMAR
http://thefairball.com/2009/07/no-omar-minaya/