Fair criticism
I read the Daily News every weekday. I have an iPhone, so I could probably rely entirely on electronic sources at this point, but buying the paper is part of my morning routine.
I have a pretty long train ride, so I usually finish just about the entire thing by the time I get to Grand Central, and the paper is, I think, one of the best ways to get firm handle on the city’s news and the way it is being covered.
But I’ve been a bit disturbed lately by the way the News has covered the Mets. Not just the bizarre Bill Madden incident from last week, either. This, too:
That subhead says: “Time running out for Jolly Ol’ St. Omar to deliver.”
The small black font under the photo says: “Nine days until Christmas and there’s still nothing under Mets’ tree thanks to Omar Minaya’s casual approach to free-agent season.”
Interesting. I had no idea Major League rosters needed to be set by Christmas. Is that a new rule?
There are a lot of fair criticisms of Omar Minaya. I perpetuate most of them in this space.
His inaction this offseason? Not one of them. Sure, it does appear the Mets misread the market a bit and thought there’d be more discounted players available, but would Brad Penny and/or Rich Harden really have made the difference to the Daily News? And other than those two, have there been any deals made that the Mets absolutely missed out on?
John Lackey at five years and $85 million or whatever it was? I’ll pass.
Roy Halladay was never even an option.
I’ve been urging Mets fans to be patient this offseason, but the more Mets fans I talk to, the more I realize it’s mostly not the fans that are impatient. I haven’t heard any Mets fan use the term “dithering.”
If we want to criticize Minaya, we should talk about how he gives too much money to replacement-level players and appears to actually think Bengie Molina is good. Those are fair criticisms.
But Minaya has not done any irreparable damage to the Mets yet this offseason, by action or inaction. Let’s wait until he does before we tee off on him.
