The Mets

Victor Diaz, Jeff Keppinger, Aaron Heilman, Jae Seo and Kris Benson.

Those are the five players that typify the screwed-up nature of Mets management.

Diaz and Keppinger out-played their competition this spring but never had a chance to win a starting job. Why? Mets management decided from the get-go that Anderson Hernandez and Xavier Nady would win the jobs with anything approaching middling effort.

After expressing his desire to start, Aaron Heilman looked to have that opportunity after the fiasco-esque Benson trade for stinking middle reliever Jorge Julio and AAAA pitcher John Maine, and the unneeded deal for Duaner Sanchez which sent Seo packing for the Left Coast.

Unfortuantely for Heilman, the Mets seemingly never had faith in the abilities of Sanchez and Julio to pitch meaningful innings late in the game on a regular basis. Why did they trade for Sanchez and Julio? Incompetence?

So Heilman was moved to the bullpen in favor of a rookie pitcher whose top attribute is "smarts". This occurred after Heilman was lights out all spring. Now I am not one to rigidly favor veterans players from past seasons, but I do recognize decency in competition that a player with the job does not lose a tie to one who has not done anything for the team or thrown one major league inning! Unfortunately, this type of decency does not seem to exist in the Mets organization.

Now that Heilman is back in the bullpen, what to make of the Jae Seo trade? He was dealt to bolster the bullpen and I suspect Sanhcez has done that. My questioning is whether the Mets got a good deal. I am inclined to say absolutely not. With the consensus congealing around the maxim that more starting pitching the better, I do not see how having Seo in the 5th spot and Bannister in AAA with Heilman in the bullpen would not have made the Mets a much stronger team.

It gets worse. The Mets dealt Kris Benson to the Orioles for bag o' sh** middle reliever Jorge Julio and AAA starter John Maine. Even after Maine's disastrous spring, he is still the best piece the Mets received. Now, Kris Benson and his wife, a major reason why he was dealt, are divorcing, I wonder if the Mets can get him back for the same package? Not a chance! (This rule is also a good way of evaluating Roto trades to see if you got hosed. If the other team won't on their life reverse the deal, you got suckered.)

Wow! Imagine how strong the Mets would be with Benson as the 5th starter, Seo and Heilman in the bullpen and Bannister in AAA.

Instead, the Mets have a betrayed Heilman in the bullpen, two unhappy players in AAA (Diaz and Keppinger) and the Orioles have a #3 starter and the Dodgers have a #5 starter.

They also have a starting second basemen who cannot hit and does not take walks. (I am skeptical of the sabremetric religion, but a player whose AVG, OBP and SLG are all the same does not deserve to be in the majors.) An outfielder who was shipped out of town by his previous team, one which always needs cost-effective players and, in this case, an outfielder. (Try the rule out here, too. Would the Padres deal Cameron back to the Mets for Nady? ROTFLMAO! Nevermind the Red Sox dealt a Top 5 prospect in the game for a CF. Would any team deal Andy marte for Xavier Nady? Thank God I am already ROTFLMAO.) A middle reliever in Jorge Julio who may never pitch in a game that the Mets are losing by fewer than a couple handful of runs, and another middle reliever who should be a decent 6th or 7th inning guy.

Mets management are fools. Omar Minaya reminds me of Isaiah Thomas - charming but lacking in acumen. He should never be allowed near a roster. Again and again, I ask him, "How are Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore doing?"

I know what can be done! The Wilpons (Mets ownership) can appoint a commission headed by Time Warner CEO, Richard Parsons to determine what went wrong! If Parsons is not available, then maybe Comcast Cable CEO Brian Roberts would be available for that hard-hitting assessment.