Even More Irrational Omar Bashing

By Metstradamus
Posted Friday, January 4, 2008

With every line of thinking comes backlash.

I noticed it when Lastings Milledge got traded. I put up a poll on my humble blog asking people what they thought of the Milledge trade. The first few hours, admittedly when feelings were most raw, saw a big lead build up for the people against the trade. After that, the pro-trade camp creeped back and the poll was almost even when it was all said and done. So when a trade happens, or in the case of Johan Santana ... when a trade doesn't happen, there's always a lot of Omar Minaya bashing. Then, in response, there's inevitably a backlash of people that make their voice heard. And the voice inevitably says the same thing:

"What's with all the Omar bashing?"

Now I don't want to bash Omar. No, really ... I don't. But you know the saying: "Inactivity is the devil's handiwork." To translate that to the baseball vernacular, Inactivity is an excuse for baseball fans and bloggers to get on their computers and rant.

Which brings us to yesterday's Nick Swisher trade.

While we all knew that Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were going to clean house, Nick Swisher is a name that never came up ... at least to my ears. So his departure to the White Sox for three good prospects comes as a surprise. But it should be a surprise to you and me. Hopefully, it wasn't a surprise to Omar Minaya. Hopefully, Omar knew full well that Swisher was available and just decided that three prospects, say, Mike Pelfrey, Mike Carp, and Deolis Guerra are better served to get a pitcher rather than a hitter. You might think the same thing, and I'd be willing to bet money that a lot of you believe the same thing.

But in this particular off-season where it is basically demanded that Omar Minaya make some sort of move which is not only significant, but one that's widely considered to be a victory for the Mets, what if Omar was in the dark about this? Or, more frighteningly, what if Omar's Lastings Milledge deal precluded him from making a deal for Swisher at this late stage? While Billy Beane may have been asking too much for Dan Haren and Joe Blanton, what if Milledge, Pelfrey, and a lower level minor leaguer would have been enough to bring in a right fielder who walked 100 times last season? Would you rather have, say, Nick Swisher and Miguel Olivo, or Brian Schneider and Ryan Church?

You can go both ways on that. You'd probably vote Schneider and Church if you knew that a guy like Pelfrey can help bring Johan Santana to the mix. But while that's a possibility, it's far from a sure thing. For everybody that thinks that the White Sox gave up too much for Swisher (there are plenty that think just that) and that they're glad that the Mets didn't sink three good prospects for a .262 hitter (Swisher's average in '07), there are probably just as many people that will say "hey, at least the White Sox are doing something to improve." While they probably have to do that to keep up with the likes of the Tigers, Indians, and even the Kansas City Royals who've gone out and signed Jose Guillen (suspended for first 15 games of '08) and Bartolo Colon (injured after first 15 games of '08 ... uh, maybe), at least the White Sox are proactive.

The Mets? They've signed Brian Stokes.

Sure the Phillies and Braves haven't exactly made a Tiger-like Dontrelle Willis move to improve themselves, but Ed Wade did go out and get Brad Lidge for almost nothing. And if the Mets want to fancy themselves one of the top teams in the entire league, then they're lagging behind teams like the Diamondbacks, who have emptied the farm for Dan Haren (although they still need a bat), and the Cubs (who've gone out and acquired Kosuke "Beyond" Fukudome.)

The Mets, meanwhile, have signed Brian Stokes.

So, I guess we should expect another round of Omar bashing ... followed by another round of people wondering what the hell people are complaining about.
 

This is the part where I usually tell people to come visit my blog. Instead, I want to wish Chad Pennington happy times for whoever he plays quarterback for next season. Usually, the Jets will wait to sell player's jerseys at a discount until after they cut that player. But Pennington, who is only one of two quarterbacks to lead the Jets franchise to three playoff seasons (and the other quarterback is not Joe Namath), found his replica jerseys being sold at the Jets' last home game for ten bucks, while still a member of the team. If that's not a slap in the face, I don't know what is.

While New York is famous for embracing its athletes who give it everything they have physically while basically taking a bullet for his fan base, somehow Chad Pennington has missed out on that because he doesn't have a strong arm. Instead, he gets cheered for walking off the field injured. Pennington deserves better. Hopefully, he gets it in 2008 from whatever franchise is lucky enough to have him.

P.S. Thanks for signing my jersey during the '06 training camp.