N.Y. Mets ~ Hot Stove; Hands Off Niese

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET





NEW YORK METS RANT: The Latest Hot Stove Rumor Has Me All Burned-Up.



Who was it that said you can never have enough pitching?

OF COURSE THE yankees ARE INTERESTED!!  Jon Niese is a good pitcher and possesses the best curve ball on the staff.  Oh.., and he's a lefty!!!  Any lefty with a heart beat is worthy of a try-out.  And we have one who actually pitches well.  Ponderous!

I get it.  Conservatively speaking, if all goes well the Mets have positioned themselves to have a handful of pitchers that will take over the starting rotation within two years.  But c'mon!  Sandy Alderson is entertaining offers for Jon Niese?  And here I thought he was more a part of our future than someone getting rigged-up as trade bait.  If anyone, I'd have guessed Mike Pelfry would have been a traded during the Winter Meetings.  And quite frankly, I'd obviously trade R.A. Dickey before Jon Niese.


If that sounds way too simplistic to you, then I'll ask who or what exactly does Sandy think he can get for Niese?  Will it be a lasting piece to the puzzle or merely spare parts with questionable futures in Flushing?  Role players?  At this point, that's what Dickey and Pelf are for.  What are the odds that whoever we get back for Niese would just get flipped again a short time later?  I think they're pretty high.  So to me, this boils down to a quantity-over-quality deal unless Sandy Alderson can just blatantly rip some team off in a big return package.  Of course, depending on who we'd get back for Niese could always adjust my attitude.  But today, I can't say I'm pleased with that trade-off.  In any trade scenario, the team getting Jon Niese will without a doubt be getting the best player in the deal.  In our position, this isn't a trade I'd make.  Not Jon.  I never included him on my list of players worthy of The Great Purge.


Unless I missed something, or just didn't pay enough attention last season, Jon Niese has a poor attitude regarding his conditioning habits?  That's what they seem to be spinning.  I know he struggled beyond the sixth inning last season...but c'mon!  If the Mets were thinking about trying to bulk-up the lank lefty, in all likelihood, that could be a mistake.  Make him long-toss to strengthen his arm and core or something... 


Come up with a better plan because this is all so ponderous to me.  In the name of the N.L. East, where the hell are the Mets going that Sandy Alderson thinks he needs to trade Niese to shore-up other positions?  He's right in that we have positions that need attention.  But a poor work ethic is certainly news to me.  I know Dan Warthen treated him like a dooosh, but here I thought that was just tough love.  And if that's what Niese needs...then give him some.  Just don't give up on him.


(btw...the incorrect spelling dooosh and the lower case "yankees" are by design.  Don't you know me by now?)


But this is precisely why I named this blog; Head-Butting Mr. Met.  You might as well consider this disagreement number two I've had with Sandy Alderson.  The first was not trading Jose Reyes last season, although that scenario was compromised a bit.  So what the hell...this is my first full fledged disagreement with our General Manager.




Mike.BTB