It Putz The Lotion In The Basket… Or Else It Misses The Playoffs Again

First off, props to Omar for taking a big step toward improving the bullpen. Coming off 29 blown saves, adding K-Rod and Putz will do wonders for that abortion known as a bullpen, to the point where I think the Mets now have the best 1-2 punch in the 8^th and 9^th innings. As much as I love the bullpen facelift, I still think something’s missing. I’m always of the opinion that you can never have enough offense and there are still question marks in that Met lineup. The core, namely Reyes, Wright, and Beltran, is fine but outside of that, I have no idea what to expect. Can Delgado repeat his 2008 season of 38-115? Sure he’s in a walk year but he’ll be 37 next June and outside of flaxseed oil, I don’t see him getting better. The outfield is even more puzzling. Beltran is far and away the best CF in the game but the corner positions scare me to death. I have no idea which Church is going to show up, the one who had a solid 1^st half or the one who resembled Zombie Benoit from July to September. The Mets got a solid season from Tatis, .291-11-47 and a ton of key hits, but the idea of him platooning with Daniel Murphy doesn’t exactly get me moist, especially with Church as the great unknown in RF. I know the Wilpons lost a huge amount of money recently but there are two corner outfielders still on the market who would make one hell of a difference in that lineup and take the pressure off guys like Wright and Beltran. Both make too much sense for the Mets NOT to sign. One is obviously Manny: imagine him hitting between Wright and Delgado. I don’t care about his aloofness. The guy is the best right-handed hitter of our generation, maybe since WWII. Let him fuck around all he wants, I say he’s worth at least a two-year deal with an option for a third. The other option is Adam Dunn and I might even want him more than Manny just because he’ll be cheaper and he can play 1B next year when Delgado goes.

It seems like both options are out of the question as Omar is just looking to sign another starter but it wouldn’t hurt to at least kick the tires on Manny or Dunn. Pitching is great but you’re never going to win a game 0-1.

Peavy’s Pissed!

So, it’s been forever since any of us has posted anything here at 3 Men and a Blind Guy.  With the recent Jake Peavy to the Cubs debacle, I figured now was as good a time as any.  Jon Heyman at CNNSI.com posted this today.

LAS VEGAS — Padres star pitcher Jake Peavy is “frustrated” by the team’s inability to trade him after threatening to do so for months and “shaken” over the Padres’ latest failure to deal him to the Cubs after weeks of talks, Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod said.

“We tried to cooperate as best we could,” Axelrod told SI.com in a phone interview. “Frankly, Jake is frustrated now more than ever. And I’m more frustrated than ever.”

Trade talks between the Padres and Cubs broke down with Cubs people complaining about the way San Diego was doing business. But if the Cubs are annoyed (and they are, as several Cubs officials expressed annoyance over the Padres continuing push for more players and the media leaks coming from somewhere that were revelatory about which Cubs were being included in potential deals), Peavy is almost as annoyed.

He goes on to write:

After weeks of waiting, Axelrod indicated that Peavy was becoming adjusted to the idea of moving to Chicago to become a Cub, only to have that possibility pulled out from under him in the latest Padre failure.

“It’s tough. Jake was pretty shaken by it,” Axelrod said. “He was starting to think about what life was like to be a Chicago Cub, and now that was taken from him.”

Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to me like Towers really screwed this one up.  It sounded like it was a done deal several times, only to have something else come up.  It’s almost as if Towers got greedier and greedier each time a proposal was made and Jim Hendry finally told him to forget about it.

Personally, I think if Jake really is as upset as this article suggests, there is no way he can go back to the Padres.  There have been too many bridges burned.  In my opinion, if you are Towers, you have to go back to Hendry with your tail between your legs and revisit the talks.  If you don’t, you risk further alienating Peavy and, more importantly, Axelrod.  And if Towers ever wants any of Axelrod’s clients to ever sign with San Diego, he better do something to placate the two of them.