There are a couple of articles in today's papers pointing out that the Mets are not interested in Manny Ramirez. So be it. But that does not stop the lazy media from writing articles about how inept the Mets front office is with player moves. Or how cheap they are compared to the Yankees.
From a baseball standpoint, Manny Ramirez makes any team better when he steps in the batters box. He is one of the greatest hitters who ever donned a major league uniform. Last year, after being traded from Boston to the Dodgers, he knocked in 53 runs in 53 games pushing LA into the playoffs. But as I recall, the Dodgers did not win the World Series. They lost to the Phillies in the NLCS. Still, LA enjoyed a successful run.
So everyone assumes the Mets will get to the playoffs too if they acquire Manny. Apparently, it is the only way they can do so.
There is another side of Ramirez that no one seems interested in. It's the side that forced him out of Boston. A 160 million dollar contract was not good enough for him. So Manny argued, pushed a Red Sox employee to the ground, claimed his knee hurt and couldn't play, begged out of a game against the Yankees, in another game with the Yanks he stood in the batters box against Mariano Rivera and never took the bat off his shoulders as he watched three strikes go right by him. Now I ask you, is that the kind of player you really want on the Mets?
Apparently the Red Sox didn't. A bunch of Boston players marched into Theo Epstein's office and demanded that he get Manny out of the clubhouse. At the trading deadline, Manny was gone.
For those that defend Ramirez and claim the Sox do not win their two world titles without him, here is something to consider. If he had played his heart out for Boston last year, the Sox might have won a third World Series. You saw what he did in LA. Boston had a much better team than the Dodgers and with Manny's ability, he might have helped the Sox win it all three out of the last five years. That had to infuriate Boston management, enough to eat a huge chunk of salary and get him out of town.
But there are some writers who fail to report this. For them it's so much easier to take the cheap shot at the Mets. And their memories are weak if non existent. Let's look at the facts. The Mets ended in second place three games behind the Phillies, one game behind the Brewers in the wild card race. The Mets bullpen collectively were responsible for 29 blow saves. Let me repeat that-29 blown saves. That is a ridiculous amount.
Had the Mets blown 28 saves, they would have tied for the wild card. Had they blown 27 saves, they would have made the playoffs. Had they blown 26 saves, they would have tied with the Phillies giving the Mets the division because their head to head record was better.
Taking it a step further had the Mets blown 20 save opportunities, they would have won the NL East handedly. Do you see a pattern here. Do you understand what the real problem with the Mets was last season. It wasn't David Wright going 0-4 on the last day of the season, regardless of what David himself might say about that. It had nothing to do with Jose Reyes dancing around the field inciting the opposition to hate the Mets. Those reasons are foolish excuses for a media too in love with writing sensational articles instead of reporting the facts.
Omar Minaya and his staff understood the problem. That's why they set out to bolster their bullpen with the likes of Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, and Sean Grean. It's why the Mets have ridden themselves of Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis. The Mets scored the same amount of runs as the Phillies did. And that's with leaving many runners in scoring position. And while some might say Wright needs another bat to take the pressure off of him, it was the bullpen that put pressure on the entire offense. No lead was big enough last year. How does that wear on a lineup that night after night feels they must score six runs for a chance to win?
I do not doubt that Manny's bat would help the Mets score runs. But I do wonder if he became unhappy, what kind of mess we would see in that clubhouse. A fan on WFAN this morning made an excellent point. He asked rhetorically how many World Series have the Yankees won since they signed Alex Rodriguez. The answer is none. Pitching is what wins, especially in the post season. That's what the Mets should and are focusing on. They still need another starter even after signing Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract yesterday. Their pursuit of Oliver Perez and/or Ben Sheets is the number one priority.
Here's another thing. If the Mets are so wrong about Manny Ramirez, how come, at the moment, there is not one offer for him from any major league team?
