Archie Bunker's Army

Well, the second full offseason of free agent signings and trades is nearly completed and Omar, for better or for worse, has been one busy beaver, adding 15 new players to the roster since the end of the disappointing 2005 season and sending 20 more players off to new horizons. The latest bit of manoeuvring leaves one scratching one’s head even harder than the one before it, scratching hard enough in fact, that tufts of hair might come falling out soon as the starting rotation is bled yet again and another mediocre reliever is brought in to the mix. No one will mistake Kris Benson for Cy Young, not even now that he’ll have Leo Mazzone on his side. And we’ve already visited the puzzling nature of the Seo for two Dodger nobody trades, one we might add who was supposed to have been the set-up man for Wagner already. In Benson we lose an opinionated female (and let’s face it, Anna was always more interesting than Kris) and gain another set-up guy for the bullpen more mediocre than the ...

Ahh, so that's what it means to be a Met supporter in these fading days of the baseball winter: scanning the back pages of the bloody Asahi Shimbum looking for warm bodies. Yes, it's true. Kaz Ishii has finally taken the hint that he's no business pitching in the Major Leagues, especially not when there's so much good home cookin' he can consume to build up his stamina for the World Baseball Gimmick and pitch his way back to Double A ball in some sweaty southwest cowpoke outpost. I'm happy for Mr Ishii and wish the other Kaz Man would join him swimming across the Pacific back home where he can pad his stats in the waning years. Now, in his place we have the inexplicable signing of yet another what the fuck is HE doing here in a Mets uniform miserable sort of non-prospect like Yusaku Iriki . Right. Offseason report: starting catcher who can throw to second base in less than four hops? Check. Dominating fireballing closer signed off our own division rivals...

After an unseasonably quiet holiday season, Omar returned to business and traded Jae Seo and lefty Tim Hamulack to the Dodgers for righty relievers Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll. On the surface, this appears to be a desperate deal where once again, Omar may have gotten rid of value and received Dodger rubbish in return not unlike losing Phillips last season and getting Kaz Ishii in return. Maybe Omar should stop dealing with the Dodgers altogether. Granted, Seo’s solid pitching performance in the second half of last season was in all likelihood given his track record, a fluke. Seo has had flashes of futility in almost equal shares as his argument for being a solid number four for the Mets and it’s a loss that can go either way. If Sanchez proves to be a solid setup guy then this is a good trade. IF, the magical word of the baseball offseason. Schmoll, who split time between the Dodgers and AAA (not unlike Seo last season with the Mets), finished with an unattractive 5.01 ERA. ...