The Mack Attack: Vol. I, Issue II

Stay back… I bite!

The sports world continues to be run by the “old guard”, thus certain stories just don’t hit the airwaves. There is a certain amount of respect among decent sportswriters that certain stories aren’t written until current players fade and go away. Oh, there are hints and the intelligent fans can usually fill in the cracks and figure out what you’re talking about when you dance around a certain medical condition or another seedy sidebar by one of the sport’s retards out there.

Most of the sports world has figured out what the heck is wrong with “Big George” and why his dumb-ass son is issuing statements in the name of his father. Bob Costas almost got Joe Torre to talk about it about a month ago, but Torre successfully dodged a question or two about George’s “diminished” role in the Yankees. And then there is the case of the ex-Met that likes to grab one of the clubhouse guys, drive on out to a teen club in Long Island, and wait outside while his pimp goes inside and recruits young girls to “come outside and spend some time with a Met superstar”. Or, should we now say “ex-Mets never star? And, boy doesn’t the sports world want to write about the soon-to-be HOFer that has a habit of dressing down and putting his naked arm around a rookie in the shower and urinating on them while striking up a conversation. I can’t wait until the day after that induction.

The last ‘top secret’ thing I know concerns a certain current Mets superstar that basically told his manager last August that, unless said manager played his fellow countryman in the starting lineup, that he was going to shut down for the remainder of the season. Said manager told said superstar to do something to himself that is physically impossible and September came and went, with said player playing like shit and the team missing the playoffs.

It is not a coincidence that said player is Hispanic and said (enough with these ‘saids”) manager is African-American. There was a big disconnect in the 2007 Mets locker between Hispanic players and Willie, which really wasn’t limited to the young Latinos. Everyone knows that Willie doesn’t like to play youngsters and, trust me, it’s not his fault that most of the youngsters on the parent squad are Latin. Willie’s mentor is Joe Torre and he’s still a Yankee at heart; trained and brainwashed that old guys play this game much better for big market teams under constant pressure from the ownership, the fans, and the press.

I’m sure Omar has spent minutes on this “hiccup” and the trading of Lasting Milledge for 2 seasoned vets (who weren’t Latin) may be closely related to this problem. The Mets are quickly running out of young guys, and some of them that are left (Mike Pelfrey, Phillip Humber, Joe Smith, Ruben Gotay) don’t look like they are going to find anyone in the clubhouse that will demand that they play.

Minaya said earlier this week that the “position player” portion of the 2008 roster is set, which I translate as Carlos Gomez being returned to AAA for the 2008 season (or still being traded). He only was called up due to massive OF injuries late in the 2007 season, and like his fellow OF prospect F-Mart, needs more time to develop his young body.

Then, and only then, can he be called up… and ignored by Willie.
 

I was posting the projected New Orleans (AAA) roster last week, which made me take another look at all the names still on the organizational payroll. It made me start to wonder just who down there are now considered sure fired prospects that will someday play at CitiField. By the way, this isn’t going to be a long paragraph:

1. Let’s first assume that you have to play either for New Orleans or the B-Mets in 2008 for any chance of making the 2009 squad. Some, like Deolis Guerra and Fernando Martinz will probably need another year to mature, so they will be pushed back a year, and one glance at St. Lucie begins the process of realizing that anyone at that level, or below, is simply close to impossible to predict at this time. However, we will speculate on a few. In looking down the names, I come up with:

2009: SP Kevin Mulvey ( will replace the departed Oliver Perez, lost to free agency)

OF Carlos Gomez ( will replace the finally retired Moises Alou)

2010: SP Deolis Guerra (will replace Pedro)

OF Fernando Martinez (will replace Carlos Beltran in CF, moving him to either RF, 1B or LF)

2011: RP Brant Rustich (will replace anyone in the bullpen… pick one)

C Francesco Pena (will begin as a backup and will start a long Mets career as starting C)

That’s about it, guys. And please, don’t start with the Mike Carp and Nick Evans posts. They’re both backup 1Bmen and the only possible Mets prospect at this position (Lucas Duda) is too young to project. Yes, others may get a cup of coffee… Humber, Pelfrey, Carlos Muniz, Eddie Camacho, and Juan Padilla in particular… and Jake Ruckle could make it as a nasty reliever… but the guys like, Jon Niese, Hector Pellot, and Bobby Parnell will be long gone in a 2008 mid-season trade for an aging utility player to fill in somewhere when the arteries start to harden again.

Jason Jacobs, Dylan Owens, Dillon Gee, Michael Parker, Dan Murphy, Tobi Stoner and Eric Niesen haven’t even been potty trained yet.

The only exception to this list might be relief pitchers. Like many other teams, the Mets rush these kids. Nick Abel shows promise, and the Brooklyn kiddies (Daniel MacDonald, William Morgan, Eddie Kunz, Stephen Clyne, and Rhiner Cruz) are off to a good start. Oh yeah, 2 more. Emery Frederick has the stuff if he can put together a complete game, and Michael Antonini comes with all the bells and whistles.

Save the list and castrate me when I’m incoherent.
 

Roger Clemens was asked Wednesday about if there was any chance to return to the Yanks in 2008, and Yankees VP brat-boy Hank Steinbrenner said “I’m not signing Clemens.”Remember, this is the same a-hole who said “I’m not signing A-Rod”, and continually over the past year and a half dealt up his father with statements he never said, no less even understood what was being said, in his name. Hate the Wilpons? Hey, ‘Brenner Brat’ makes the Wilpons look like Rev. Billy Graham.