MySports Today

Talk about a train wreck.  The 2009 New York Mets could be one of the most disappointing stories in the history of major league baseball.  No joke…

The New York Mets were all excited to open a new stadium – CITI Field – in 2009, and had high hopes of playing a World Series in CITI Field in its 1st year hosting MLB baseball.  But after a decent start to the season, the Mets were still within striking distance of the NL East race.  But once the injury bug hit – Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Johann Santana, David Wright – it was like a runaway train headed straight for “Disaster Town.”  Jayson Stark has a great article on ESPN, pointing out that the Mets Train Wreck could continue for years to come…

Gary Sheffield is upset with the New York Mets for putting him on waivers earlier this month.  Now he is demanding a contract extension, which the Mets declined to discuss.  Now he is asking to be released or traded so that he can play for a playoff contender for the rest of the 2009 MLB schedule.  If not, he is going to sit – what a great team player, huh?  What is it with these professional athletes?

It is customary for most MLB teams to put a vast majority of their rosters on waivers after the July trading deadline, just to see if there is any interest from other teams.  Even star athletes are put on waivers – look at Alex Rios who was in the 2nd year of a 6-year deal getting traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Chicago White Sox last week just so the Jays could clear some salary. When the San Francisco Giants claimed Sheffield off of waivers, the Mets pulled him right back because they want him to play the rest of the season on New York.

You see the Mets do need Gary Sheffield right now – the Mets are 57-65 and trail the Philadelphia Phillies by 13.5 games in the NL East race.  The Mets trail the Rockies by 11 games in the NL Wild Card race, so chances of post-season play are slim to none.  Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and John Maine have been on the DL for most of the season, and David Wright is still recovering from getting hit in the head by a pitch last weekend against Matt Cain of the Giants.  Besides Johan Santana, Gary Sheffield is the next best thing to come to CITI Field for these days.

It’s not a good situation for GM OMar Minaya and the Mets in their new CITI Field in 2009.  This Sheffield issue has just made things worst.  At this point, the best thing going for the Mets is for the season to end…

Forget about the bad play – a 16-29 stretch since June 1st has left the Mets with a 44-50 record trailing the Phillies by 10.5 games in the NL East race – what is going on with Mets’ management?

Tony Bernazard, the Mets vice president of player development, has had a rough season and recently challenged the Double-A Binghamton team to a fight in the clubhouse following another loss.  Bernazard allegedly took off his shirt, thretening the players in a fiery tirade.  Pretty funny.  Guess everyone is starting to lose their cool in the Mets orgnanization.

Mets GM Omar Minaya had this to say about the incident:  “We do take these matters seriously and we are going to investigate these reports.  We need to follow up and we plan on doing that.”

The Mets have had several key players on the disabled list in 2009, and Bernazard has taken a lot of heat for not having the right minor league players to step up a level to compete while waiting for the return of the likes of Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, John Maine, Jose Reyes and J.J. Putz.  While that is a tough order to fill, the Mets replacements have been atrocious this season as the Mets Triple-A Buffalo affiliate has a 34-58 record and the Double-A Binghamton affiliate has a 37-58 record.  For the latest on the Bernazard debacle click here.

At this point, Omar Minaya and the Mets will just be glad when this mess of a 2009 MLB schedule ends in October.  These next 60+ games are going to brutal – plain and simple.