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.

I pray this is untrue. If I was Omar, I would have had the paperwork filled out once the Blue Jays spit out the last name. What am I losing in this deal? Martinez can’t stay healthy, Parnell doesn’t have a defined role, Niese is an unknown and Tejada is years away from making an impact. Since when have the Mets been afraid of dealing prospects? Remember the Johan deal or better yet why is Scott Kazmir in Tampa Bay?

Forget this season, next year you would have had Johan and Halladay with Krod as your closer. You’re still keeping Brad Holt and Wilmer Flores, two prospects that are close to making an impact on the roster. Just the fact that a team is still interested in Fernando Martinez for a big-time player is surprising to me, let alone the fact that Omar would turn this away.

Yes, I understand the price is steep but did you expect it not to be? The guy is a horse, he throws more complete games in a year than the Mets pitching staff does in a decade. Not to mention, the guy has 11 wins already, that’s second in all of baseball.

I’m not so much upset that Omar said no because I understand teams and general managers rarely take the initial proposal and then go back and forth to try and keep some players or get someone else put in. My problem is I don’t hear anything about Omar doing that. Where is the news about Omar making a counter offer?

Before this I gave Omar no shot to get Halladay and now I give myself no shot of sleeping without thinking about Halladay in a Mets uniform. Omar, your team is sinking faster than the Titanic and the only person who has assured you that your job is safe is your boss. That doesn’t mean the fans will like you or cut you a break because of injuries. They will still want your head and though you don’t care, show us something, give us some love and go get this deal done.

With all the injuries that have fallen on this team this year, the Mets are in need of a doctor. What a coincidence Roy “Doc” Halladay has come calling.

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.

But, a corner infielder, really? Livan was quoted as saying he will play anywhere and that its always been a dream of his to play in the infield. Terrific, I’m so happy that a team that is almost double-digits back in the division race is now looking to make dreams come true. Maybe K-Rod can play center field while David Wright pitches and Mr. Met catches.

This is getting ridiculous. I understand that Jerry Manuel has no options left and that Omar Minaya is deciding whether or not to sell than to get in on a possible Roy Halladay trade, but where do we draw the line? The Mets are a laughing stock both on and off the field and their payroll could feed third world countries.

Whether or not this absurd idea ever plays out doesn’t matter anymore. Just the fact that Jerry stated it as an idea has poured more fuel onto the fire that is this three ring circus called the New York Mets.

To make matters worse, Mets public relations recently spoke on the idea of an old-timers day such as the Yankees recently did, as too much work to pull off with not enough of a response from fans to feel a need to try it.

Terrific, maybe they’ll let the elephants race around the warning track during the next time a senior stroll around the bases comes up.

Stay tuned Mets fans, you never know what may happen next.

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.

Jose Reyes is a spark plug, there is no questioning that. But with a injury plagued past and his constant brain freezes, one has to wonder if we have seen the best of what Reyes has to offer. Now I know, the numbers with and without him in the lineup are very much in favor of keeping him, but is he really a winner?

Think of our two most bitter rivals, would you really keep Reyes over Jeter or Rollins? They both have rings and the intangibles that come with winning baseball that Jose at times seems to have forgotten or just lack. Not to mention, does anyone really believe that Jose has been hurt this badly for this long? I mean, the guy was in the dugout a week after going on the DL jumping up and down with a smile on his face.

He may not be 100% but there comes a time where you have to get back on the field and help your team and that time has long passed.

Carlos Beltran is another one of the core guys I would consider dealing although I’d be more cautious with him than I would be with Reyes. While there is no arguing what Beltran brings to the table and that he is arguably the best center-fielder is baseball, I wonder about his passion as well. While the true state of his injury may not be known to any of us, I’m under the impression that he has a deep bruise.

If that truly is the case, how is he not even throwing a baseball let alone back on the field by now? Carlos Delgado had hip surgery and he’s looking as if he will be back on the field before both these guys.

Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not talking about giving these guys away but I think now is the time to really look toward the future and shaking things up. The offense may need a major overhaul but the pitching isn’t set in stone either.

Whose to know if the Blue Jays will really deal Roy Halladay in the next couple of weeks. Maybe they will ride him out until the offseason. But, we do know that even with Pedro Martinez in the fold (he will come back to haunt us), the Phillies are pursuing Halladay which if they get him, has the Phillies set for 2010 and beyond if they can resign him.

I don’t know what the Blue Jays would ask from Omar but I find it hard to believe that a conversation started with Reyes, Bobby Parnell and Fernando Martinez wouldn’t at least get the ball rolling. Listen, I understand that Halladay is a long shot that probably isn’t going to happen and even if it did it doesn’t solve all the Mets problems. But, when one of the best pitchers in baseball is on the market you have to give it a shot.

Plus, going into next year, the Mets right now have a starting rotation of Johan, Oliver Perez, and Mike Pelfrey. Roy Halladay wouldn’t be so bad to throw in that fold.

Omar can’t sit on his hands anymore and use all the excuses he can muster up as his answers. Reyes and Beltran are big time players that can bring back big rewards if stubborn enough and their injuries shouldn’t scare away potential suitors. Other guys Omar could deal, such as Delgado and Wagner, will come back after the deadline and trying to pull off a significant deal with a big return though waivers is highly unlikely.

The inaugural season of Citi Field will end much like the final year of Shea Stadium, no playoffs, a lot of disappointment. The difference this time is the heartbreak isn’t so bad this time because we’ve had nothing to cling to for the past month or so. The fans need something to grab hold to, something to renew their optimism.

The fact that players will return from the DL doesn’t do that anymore thanks to the sense of a lost season and the memories of those players in the field for heartbreaking defeats. We need new blood, new life, something to give us hope for a better tomorrow.

Maybe we could all just use a Halladay.

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.