(I swear, I have not resolved to blog more in 2009!!!!)
If you haven't seen Bill Price's "
The Bitter Bill" blog on the New York Daily News Web site, it's really good, you should check it out.
Lately, Bill, who's a huge Mets fan and is not only a regular contributor to this blog as his Blogger alter-ego, but produces a high-quality personal blog of his own that many of you are fond of, has been blogging on The Bitter Bill about how the Mets need to sign Manny Ramirez.
Bill and I normally agree on most things -- at least those pertaining to the orange and blue -- but I think he's way off on the Manny issue, on several counts.
(note: I posted a version of this blog on the comments page on the Bitter Bill site under his post from Jan. 8, so if you come across it, no, you're not suffereing from extreme deja vu)
The talent and ability of Manny Ramirez is unquestioned. He is among the top 5 hitters in baseball over the past decade and change, and a force to be reckoned with in any lineup -- at least when he feels like it.
He is also a perfect fit for the Mets the way they're currently constituted: A right-handed hitting corner outfielder who hits for average and power. Plus, as a Latino, he would fit right into the culture Omar has built with this team.
But Manny's baggage and personality would be disastrous. He's proven it time and time again. The ONLY reason he performed so well for the Dodgers last season was that he wanted to both stick it to the Red Sox for them unceremoniously shipping his ass out of town, as well as trying to earn a big contract (we see how well that's worked out).
I for one have never booed a Mets player, unless I felt they weren't trying. I think it's counter-productive. Unfortunately, the majority of my fellow Mets fans don't agree.
You know what would happen in Flushing when Manny hits his first mini-slump and starts hearing the boos: He's going to shut down.
You think the reactions of Manny's fellow proud Latinos senors Delgado y senor Beltran were bad when they were booed? Wait till you see how baseball's biggest prima donna deals with New York's quick-triggered boo-birds.
And another thing, do you really want Manny's attitude affecting Jose Reyes? That kids already proven to be immature and impressionable. Remember how nervous everyone got when those rumors of Reyes' off-the-field activities were impacted so dramatically by the arrival of Luis Castillo and the departure of Jose Valentine?
Manny's a way more impressive role-model for a young man.
As for this need Mets fans seem to have of signing Manny just to compete with the Yankees' big signings this offseason, well, that's just insanity.
Nobody hates the Fourth Reich more than I do, but that is as a baseball fan, not as a Mets fan. The Yankees fortunes have zero effect on the Mets, save for a pair of three-game head-to-head series each summer.
Signing Manny just to get some of the attention back from their signing Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira is simply ludicrous. Eff them. Let them sign every other free agent out there. They've already ruined baseball. Why stop now?
The bottom line is that the only way I would be comfortable with the Mets inking Manny is if they were to give him only one year guaranteed. This way, perhaps he'll remain motivated for an entire season, and if not, they can cut his whiney butt with minimal financial loss.
And you know there's no way he or his d-bag of an agent is going to go for that.
As for this comment on the Bitter Bill:
"Remember what happened to the Mets in the late 80s’? Kevin Mitchell - not exactly a solid citizen, but a future league MVP - was shipped out. Backman and Dykstra followed. Guys like Kevin McReynolds and Gregg Jefferies were brought it. It took the Mets almost 10 years to recover from moves like that."Let's remember, the Mets won 100 games in 1988 with Jefferies and McReynolds, losing a 7-game series to the Dodgers in the NLCS, a team we beat 11-of-12 times during the regular season, and would have beaten again had David Cone not run his mouth in that newspaper column after Game 6. The Mets also were contenders in 1989 and 1990, missing out on playoff berths in the final week of each of those seasons.
Kevin Mitchel might have been a hood, a criminal and a cat murderer, but his attitude was never a problem, and his chemistry in the clubhouse was top-notch. Dykstra and Backman, sure, they were misanthropes who led lives of questionable morality. But they were not cancers in the clubhouse. They were team players who always played hard and always wanted to win.
The demise of the would-be dynasty wasn't really complete until '91-92 when the likes of Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonilla and Brett Saberhagen were brought in. All player with immense talent and crappy attitudes.
Just like Manny.
