The fact that Omar rejected a deal for star pitcher Roy Halladay has many people up in arms. (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY DANIEL SIEGEL
STACHE WRITER

Come trade deadline time you start to hear numerous rumors of proposals going back and forth getting rejected and you just hope that if your team is involved its only a rumor. So is this case when I heard the news today reported by Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman.

Heyman reported the Blue Jays called Omar with the proposal of Roy Halladay (yea the 11 win starting pitch up there in Canada the Phillies are trying to get) for Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and Ruben Tejada. Heyman went on to say that Omar responded with a flat out no.

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Jerry is thinking of gretting creative with his lineup due to the Injuries. (Courtesy of the NY Post)

BY DANIEL SIEGEL
STACHE WRITER

We joke many times when a team is going badly that maybe us fans should go try out and step on the field. At the rate injuries are coming to the Mets, with Gary Sheffield and Fernando Nieve going down this past week, maybe some fans actually thought they had a realistic shot of stepping on the field with the injuries piling up. However, the Mets are no ordinary team as history has shown and these circumstances are no different.

Jerry Manuel recently told reporters that if he ran out of options, he would use Livan Hernandez as a pinch hitter OR at a corner infield spot. Livan Hernandez, the starting pitcher tonight, is going to be used at one of the hot corners? I get the whole pinch hitting idea, I mean look at Micah Owings who is used as a pinch hitter on more than a regular basis for Cincinnati, and Livan does have a good career batting average.

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If the Mets can improve their team by dealing Reyes, do you think Omar should pull the trigger? (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY DANIEL SIEGEL
STACHE WRITER

A new season, a new stadium, a renewed sense of optimism. What a difference four months make. With the trade deadline approaching, many people question whether the Mets will be buyers or sellers. Yet, with a DL list that commands most of their starting lineup and star power plus a lack of blue chip prospects, how much can the Mets truly do?

While it has been brought up from time to time and arguments have ensued as far as who would you move, the truth of the matter is its time for Omar to blow this team up. This will be yet another year where the Mets have a high payroll and nothing to show for it. While injuries have been a factor in this outcome, its the personnel that truly lead to this decision.
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Endy Chavez's catch will forever be remembered.

BY DANIEL SIEGEL
STACHE WRITER

With the series against the Cardinals starting tonight, I thought about it and realized that I am not one of the many who looks at this series at a chance of redemption or motivation against the them. This is not 2006 anymore. Our brittle left fielder is Gary Sheffield and not Cliff Floyd. Our big game left-hander is Johan Santana and not Tom Glavine. Adam Wainwright can’t get Beltran looking at his curveball unless its from the dugout thanks to the news of adding his name to the already grocery sized DL list.

Most of all, the one image that we all try to cling to from that series, Endy Chavez now stands as tall as Shea Stadium does thanks to his torn ACL in Seattle.

The Phillies have played so badly over the past two weeks that they’re the only team that can make the Mets look good right now and that’s only because they aren’t playing each other. Nothing can go right for the Mets right now.

When Fernando Nieve is your best starting pitcher, you have series issues. Everything was ok for David Wright when Beltran was in the lineup because if Wright went 0-5 with 3 K’s at least Beltran was 2-5 with a rbi. Now Wright was be under a bigger microscope with all his protection gone. No Delgado, no Reyes, no Beltran, who even knows how much Gary Sheffield can play right now.

Here’s the problem for Omar and the Mets. Forget the fact that Beltran went on the DL today and the seemingly 100 other players on the DL right now, just go 2 for 2 here. The Mets have Delgado and Reyes on the DL with no realistic idea of when they will be back. The Phillies have Brad Lidge (he’s still better than Ryan Madson) coming back within the week and Ryan Howard who can get out of a hospital bed to hit a pinch-hit home run and then lay back down.

That’s the difference between the two teams right now, Phillies go down and work their way back while Mets go down and fade into oblivion.

Reports say John Maine and Oliver Perez (remember him) will be back in the next week or two but it’s not enough. The return of Angel Pagan is only viewed as a break from his next injury. My optimism is fading quicker than the Wilpon’s portfolio. I’m afraid than no matter what Omar may try to do, the cavalry is not coming.

Realistically, the Mets are two games back yet it feels like they are, and probably should be, 20 games back. Omar may have a few chips but he needs a whole lot more to fix this. Everyone knows the situation the Mets are in and even as the clock ticks down on the trade deadline, the insane prices being asked for the likes of a DeRosa or a Dunn will not decrease for the Mets because their desperation will not decrease.

The fear that not only runs through my mind but I believe many Mets fans minds is the idea that maybe it is true that Reyes and Delgado eventually return but how far back will they be? 5 games? 10 games? Even if the Mets stay within striking distance, is it realistic to expect them to come back and be enough?

It pains me to think of the biggest moments for Mets fans since the turn of the century being loses. We think of Mike Piazza lifting up Mike Hampton after Timo Perez catches the final out jumping up and down clinching the National League pennant in 2000. Buried in the back of our minds is Timo Perez’s base running blunder and the fact that we lost a winnable World Series to the hated cross-town rival Yankees. Endy Chavez is enshrined in postseason lore for bringing back Scott Rolen’s home run ball off of Oliver Perez in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

We greatly try to block out the follow ups of Yadier Molina’s home run off of Aaron Heilman and Beltran getting frozen by the curveball of Adam Wainwright.

That’s the concern in the big picture. Its been three years since Beltran got froze at the plate in Game 7 and the Mets haven’t been the same since. They can’t even make the postseason since then. It seems like every season Omar makes those couple of moves that are suppose to get us back to where we were and yet something always goes wrong.

The cavalry isn’t coming, in fact its been missing for a while now.

It hasn't been smiles recently in Detroit for Magglio Ordonez. Would he fit in orange and blue?

BY DANIEL SIEGEL
STACHE WRITER

Remember way back in 2005 when the White Sox let a injured Magglio Ordonez hit free agency. The Tigers, after losing 92 games the previous year, got Mags on a 5-yr deal. The Mets were in the hunt but cautious due to the knee injury he was coming off of. The first year didn’t work out well, playing in just 82 games and only hitting 8 home runs.

But over the next three seasons, (2006-2008) Mags was consistent, hitting at least 20 home runs and driving in 100 runs every year. He also was hitting around or above .300 in each of those seasons. Also, other than his first two years in the league, Mags has been automatic when healthy. In any year after 1998 in which he has played in over 100 games, he’s hit at least 20 home runs and been around 100 rbi’s each season.

Recently, Jim Leyland decided to bench Ordonez who is off to a horrible start. Through 57 games, Mags is hitting .273 with just 2 home runs and 22 rbi’s. When questioned about it, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he had no answers for what troubles Ordonez and that he has no timetable for when he might insert Ordonez back into the lineup.

Now I understand that Ordonez is getting up there in age (35) and that a prolonged slump such as this is more a sign of decreasing skills than a slow start. But if the Tigers are willing to listen and maybe eat some of the salary, can you not be intrigued?

Lets not even worry about the power because frankly no one is hitting home runs for the Mets yet David Wright is hitting .350 and doing everything else other than hitting home runs. If the guy can hit around .300 and drive in some runs is that not worth it? Maybe his days of being a threat in the middle of the order are done, or maybe he needs a change of scenary. These are the same Tigers who wrote off Gary Sheffield and ate his $18 million dollar contract and look what he’s done for the Mets.

Now the idea of getting Ordonez is nice but its also a little more complex than just agreeing on who to send back. Ordonez is making $18 million in 2009. He also has a $15 million option for 2010 with a $3 million buyout and a $15 million option for 2011 with no buyout.

Also, Ordonez’s salary in each of the option years would become guaranteed if he has 135 starts or 540 plate appearances in the previous season or 270 starts or 1,080 plate appearances in the previous two seasons. If his 2010 salary becomes guaranteed under this provision, it would be at $18 million. The 2011 salary would be $15 million.

All that being said, Ordonez is at 216 at-bats thus far. If the Mets got him, he wouldn’t get to the necessary number of at-bats or starts for the matter if he’s not producing. If thats the case, the gamble didn’t pay off and you have a $3 million dollar buyout option. Also, I would assume if Detroit is willing to part with him, they’re also willing to possibly eat some of his salary whether it be his salary or the buyout or both.

Maybe I’m stuck in the past but forgive me if I’m intrigued by the chance of adding a player with all-star and silver slugger potential. Call it a glass half full approach or the other side of the rainbow, but if Omar could work something out with the Tigers where they can agree of how much of the money goes where, I don’t see how they can’t take a stab at it.

Omar knows the beast that lies in New York and he knows the thirst for a big name acquisition. So, while many look to the left and hope to see the likes of an Adam Dunn, Cliff Lee, or Brad Hawpe, maybe Omar can peer over to the right and pull a forgotten gem called Mags.

Would Juan Pierre fit on the Mets?

BY DANIEL SIEGEL
STACHE WRITER

Before the return of Alex Cora, the Mets lineup looked more like the Binghamton Mets than the New York Mets. Follow that up with losing 4 of 6 to the Phillies and Yankees and fans are knocking down Omar’s door with cries of making a deal.

Everyone is in agreement that Omar has to make a deal but many he has many different things staring him in the face. First, everyone in the league knows Omar needs to make a deal so he isn’t likely to find any bargins. Also, only seven teams in the majors are not within six games of the wild card. Rumors are swirling around of who may or may not be on the block but the truth is Omar’s only move is to wait.

The longer Omar holds out, the more things will clear up as far as who will and will not be on the block. There is no coincidence that will Omar waits things out in the trade market, Jerry Manuel is preaching patience with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Martinez as long as the team stays afloat.

The problem that lies ahead for Omar and the Mets is there won’t be enough of the big guys to fill their needs. We’d like to see Omar get another starter to go along with an outfielder or first baseman that can bring power. But really how many people will be out there?

The ideas of a Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt or even Cliff Lee coming here I think are extreme longshots. Adam Dunn might be not be as available as some think and don’t think the Nationals will send him inside the division for cheap just because they’re 20 games back. Matt Holliday has been the big name thrown around for the Mets but his numbers (.275/8/38) are very compatible to a name we heard over the winter that may still be available in Jermaine Dye (.271/15/39).

Omar really has two plays once the trade market clears up. He can go grab one big guy, whoever it may be, and see if that’s enough to get this team through because its probably all he’ll be able to get. Omar could also try and think economically here and try and fill holes with not the most glamorous of names but guys that can fill some holes.

If Cleveland is really has Mark DeRosa on the block as much as its rumored, I think Omar should be all over him. DeRosa was a steal for the Indians when they got him over the winter and all the guy has done is hit for them. DeRosa could come over and play first until Delgado comes back and then shift to the outfield. He may be the most expensive of my suggestions but he won’t command as much as the bigger names rumored around.

Boston is shopping Brad Penny with John Smoltz returning next week. We know Penny’s track record with injuries and postseason let downs but its a shot Omar has to take. The price shouldn’t be overly huge for Penny and will anyone really argue is Penny is a better fit than Tim Redding? An added incentive could be that the Mets getting Penny would prevent the Phillies from getting him who also are looking for pitching help.

Luis Castillo has had a nice year but his days of leading off are far removed and Alex Cora is not a leadoff hitter. With no timetable for Jose Reyes return, the Mets could use a natural leadoff hitter which leads me to Juan Pierre. This might be a longshot but hear me out. Pierre has been on fire over the last month and a half but with Manny coming back in a couple of weeks, Joe Torre has already said Pierre is the odd-man out. Pierre has mentioned on a few occasions his displeasure for part-time play and he’s a guy who can leadoff and get on base with Reyes out and slide in and bat second when he gets back. He doesn’t add any power but he will get on base in front of Beltran and Wright.

The trade deadline is still about a month away and every morning Mets fans wake up and look to see if Omar has acted in the late night hours. Yet, Omar will sit and wait to see how things shape up and decide whether to go big or small in his moves.