weighing patience as a virtue...

Omar Minaya is imploring Met fans to have patience. He's got some set on him. Its difficult not to be impatient given the franchise's recent run amok. Forget the current ownership and management regime, Met fans have been served a yearly sack of fresh heartbreak since Dwight Gooden sniffed 1987 away. Listen folks, i was born into this. I have autograph pictures of John Sterns, Joel Youngblood AND Steve Henderson—what you got? At least i had Frank Cashen and Nelson Doubleday to temper the Wilpons or should i say Wilpon—back then, Jeff Wilpon was about as relevant in the organization as Jeffy from the Family Circle. So after the last few days with the sky falling and all, as well as a press conference with the sphinx himself, Omar would have us believe he and the organization have a plan and you know what? i think i believe him...

Did the Mets miss out on Roy Halladay or was Halladay calling the shots? Was Reyes actually in any trade conversation? Doesn't matter. The Mets don't have Cliff Lee or Kyle Drabeck, so they never had a chance. The Phillies have him, along with the rest of their core and a brand new sure handed third baseman with it for at least the next two years. The Phillies have made every move they could possibly make to assure themselves a stake in the big game until at least 2011, when the team's entire core does a free agent walk leaving Halladay all by his lonesome. They can't sign em' all...

Did we drop the ball by not signing Lackey? Eh, $80-85 million should be enough to get Cliff Lee next year, what's the rush? There is none, the Phillies are a better team regardless, the Phils will still take the division no matter who the Mets bring in. The team does have a chance at a wild card if they are healthy and fill some holes with quality baseball players. The Mets should be thinking about 2011 and beyond...

so how about this plan of Omar's?

i have no issue with signing Jason Bay. He is a very good bat. Especially when you put him in the mix with Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran. Matt Holliday is younger and might have be a better offensive player but i have an issue with a guy who pulls the old Ahmad Abdul Rahim in the playoffs. Bay may not be Joe Rudi or Barry Bonds in their defensive primes, but he didn't drop any easy fly balls...

Nobody wants to sign Bengie Molina for more than two years. So don't. Molina has one place that will give him a three year deal and that's Columbia House. He'll sweat it and us and then sign for two, start in 2010 and be the grandpa playing once a week in 2011, or after Thole is deemed ready for everyday consumption...

Pitching?, keep it cheap and exciting. Jason Marquis wants to pitch for the Mets. OK, son, enjoy your one-year deal. Kelvim Escobar, you want in?, the price of a minor league deal is yours. Ben Sheets? Erik Bedard, Chien Meng Wang? Remember, we're not going to beat the Phillies to the top of the division, why spend too much when you can hit a goldmine instead. Jenrry Mieja and Johnathan Niese will be ready in 2011 and i still believe in Mike Pelfrey, especially at only 26 years old and he will eventually be this team's horse. John Maine is a question, i'd rather not wait around for the answer, but if you can't get value for him, you hope for a good year that eats away at his rep and trade him for some real value in July...

You don't like Daniel Murphy at first? Maybe you didn't watch any games after July. i did, and i saw a 24 year old get thrown into the fire, handle that, a slump and a benching only to finish strong and turn himself into a pull hitter, who started to find that Pepsi Porch routinely. Double in the corner. Murphy, if nothing else will be chip for use in July to make this team better. If you want first base to be any better you grab a guy like Mark Derosa. He gives you a right handed platoon at first and a break at 5 other positions. The guy can hit, and if we're devoid of good pitching performances, we'll need all the bats we can get...

There is fruit on the vine. Thole, Mejia, Niese, Ruben Tejada, and Ike Davis—all probably ready for 2011. If Fernando Martinez can finally put together a full season in Triple A count him in for '11. Wilmer Flores won't be too far behind 2012 or so. There are reasons for optimism. And patience. Maybe this is Minaya's grand master plan. Why try to go for it all, when it just isn't there yet. The clock is running on Beltran and Johan Santana, sure, but Wright and Reyes are kids, and there is still time to decide if they are right for this franchise in the future. Spending wisely and giving the little we have in the minors time develop might just be a good idea. If that's, in fact, what Minaya has in mind, then i like how he's thinking. They brought in Wally Backman to breath down necks. Backman had a job as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks a few years back before this countries ass-backward value system jumped up to bite him the ass. i have to believe the only reason he was hired was to take over the major league job, so fear not Met fans, if things get shaky for Jerry Manuel, there is help about...

So give a little patience Met fans, its not like you've been waiting as long for a championship as us Knick fans...