Confused by Wilpon's comments? Watch Major League

I really hope that Fred Wilpon is a big fan of the classic movie Major League.

In that movie, the Cleveland Indians new owner attempts to put together the worst team she can find and then constantly mistreats and disses her players. Her goal is to lose as many games as possible and minimize fan attendance, which in turn will allow her to move the team to her ideal destination. But the plan backfires when the Indian's players find out that their owner hates them and rally to win the pennant.

The only explanation I can think of for Wilpon's strange decision to belittle his own team is that he recently watched Major League and thinks the plot can happen in real life.

Think about it: Wilpon, by his own admission, puts together a "sh*tty team" with the likes of Jason Bay, Willie Harris, Chin-lung Hu, Scott Hairston, and several other outcasts. This results in a losing baseball team and a major drop in attendance at Citi Field. Then Wilpon publicly disses his three best players despite the fact that two of them (Reyes and Beltran) are carrying the team and the other (Wright) has been it's most consistently good player. And although Wilpon has not threatened to move the Mets, he does seem intent on turning them into the Dodgers.

So now Wilpon has his team right where he wants them. His players hate their employer, the fans their favorite team's owner, and the team stinks in general. And if Major League is accurate (and Fred must think it is), this is the perfect recipe for success.

Now the Mets players have a cause to rally around. They will do everything they can to win baseball games, simply to prove their non-believing owner wrong. They will band together a segregated clubhouse. They will shock the world and make the playoffs. They may even construct a cardboard cutout of Fred and remove an article of clothing after each win.

Yes, it all makes sense now. Fred watched Major League and a light bulb went off in his head. Such a great movie can't have it wrong, can it?

A Yankee Hater's Dream

Watching the Yankees lose almost as much as the Mets this year has been great. Watching the Yankees go through even more in-season drama than the Mets this week has been even better.

As everyone knows by now, Jorge Posada refused to play against the Red Sox after being dropped to the ninth spot of the batting order. I enjoy any bad Yankees press, so I was giddy watching the whole drama unfold. Posada wasn't cut, or even benched - he was simply moved a couple spots downi n the lineup, making his little league style freak-out hilarious. Throw in the fact that he is making making $52 million and hitting .179, and it's downright ridiculous.

While the Posada story was great in itself, even better was the fact that it showed us just how fun the next few years could be for Yankee haters.

Posada is already at the edge of the cliff, but his teammate, the icon Derek Jeter, is not too far behind. Just imagine the fallout when Jeter, already in the second year of his downfall, is demoted in the lineup and/or removed from his position. And with the Yankees "stuck" with Jeter for 3 more years, there is plenty of time for tensions to stew between Yankee management and their beloved captain.

Then there's Alex Rodriguez, who is 35 years old and signed for 7 more years. Arod may still be a great hitter, but in a couple years will be an old man (in baseball years) in a post-steroids era where old baseball players rarely succeed. Just imagine how the potential all time home run leader will react when he is batting 8th and is a full-time DH.

I know, I know, the Yankees will undoubtedly end up with a whole new batch of new stars to make the decline of their former greats a moot point. And Yankee fans will of course point to their 27 banners and remind us that the Mets only have 2. But with the Mets possibly in the midst of a few more down seasons, it's fun to think of the likes of Jeter and Arod pulling a Posada down the road and smashing another hole into the Yankees sinking ship.

I personally can't wait.

Keep Reyes, Trade Wright

With talk of a potential Jose Reyes trade trending just below Osama and the royal wedding these days, it seems like a good time for Mets Kool-Aid to address the trade issue.

Let me first say this: the Mets should NOT trade Jose Reyes if they think they can re-sign him.

Then, let me say this: if the Mets think they can re-sign Reyes, they SHOULD trade David Wright this season.

In an ideal world, Reyes and Wright, both in their primes, would obviously remain together and lead the Mets' resurgence. But the Mets world is miles away from ideal. In their world massive debt and a billion dollar lawsuit rule the day, which is why trading one of their homegrown stars seems inevitable. Reyes is the name that comes up most often, but if either of them has to go it should be Wright.

Look, I like David Wright. He is the favorite of most Mets fans, from older die-hards to teenage girls. He is a very good baseball player who is rarely injured and always does and says the right thing. He will probably be an all-star and gold glove candidate for many years ahead, and will be even better if he has a great hitter behind him to take some of the pressure off him.

Finding another David Wright will be very tough, but finding another Jose Reyes might be downright impossible. Reyes can do it all - he has hit for as many as 19 home runs, stolen as many as 78 bases, and plays excellent defense. His speed and pension for hitting the ball in the gaps makes Reyes the perfect player for Citi Field, whereas Wright is a pseudo-power hitter who seems somewhat affected by the cavernous stadium and high fences.

And almost as important as Reyes' immense talent is the excitement and energy he brings. The chance to watch Reyes leg out a triple is right up there with Ike's towering homers as reasons to buy an overpriced ticket. While Wright's stoic personality is to be admired, Reyes' fiery attitude is exactly what the Mets need in these tough times.

Here's something else to consider: with Reyes' free agency looming this offseason and reputation for being injury-prone, he might actually bring in LESS of a prospect haul than Wright, who is under a reasonable contract for another year. Yes, Reyes will likely demand $18M or more per season, but with several huge contracts coming off the books even the cash strapped Mets should be able to afford him, especially if they know they won't have to pay Wright the same going forward.

Again, I would love to see Wright and Reyes play together in Flushing for the next decade if it was possible. But if the choice is between re-building the franchise around Reyes or Wright, then Wright has to be the one to go.

Mets Kool-Aid Month in Review: April

We could dwell on yet another Mets loss, but that's just not our style. So instead, let's take a look at some of the positives from the first month of the season.

The team showed some fight. Whether in a game or the season in general, this Mets squad has shown that it will not go down easily. Their comeback win against the Nats evoked memories of Game 6 of the '86 World Series. And when the Mets were 4-11 and tempting us to start watching hockey, they kept their heads up and rolled off enough wins to keep us from searching for the Versus channel.

The stars finally aligned. No, not in the astrological sense, but in the sense that the Mets heavy hitters are FINALLY all healthy in the same time. We have been waiting seemingly forever to see what Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Bay can do together. The early returns were good, at least until Bay screwed it up again by having a baby. But with these four, plus Ike Davis, in the lineup at the same time, the Mets offense has a chance to be pretty good. At least until half of them are traded. Which brings us to...

Jose Reyes. The Mets shortstop had a great April, which I guess could be considered a negative since it might expedite his departure to another team. But after all the injuries and frustrating moments, it's been fun to watch Reyes living up to the hype again. I can't decide if I want him to keep it up so that Sandy Alderson feels the need to re-sign him, or to play worse so that his trade value declines. I'm going to move on now because writing this paragraph is depressing me.

Pleasant surprises. We all like Ike, but nobody expected him to be THIS good so soon. And several of Sandy's dollar store pickups have also exceeded expectations. Chris Young has been the staff ace, Beato and Isringhausen have been great in relief, and Chris Capuano has not been awful.

We got to watch professional caliber players play professional baseball. If nothing else, April was good because we didn't have to watch the usual collection of scrubs. Last season we saw way too much of the likes of Perez, Castillo, Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews, etc. This season all of them are gone, and some of the players who reminded us of them (Emaus, Boyer, etc.) were shown the door as well.

So don't lose hope yet Mets fans, it's a long way until October. April was not a great month for out team, but warmer and brighter days are ahead. Hopefully in our June review we will be talking about Johan being back on the mound, Reyes and Beltran still being on the team, and the Mets being in the thick of a playoff race.

Until then, drink it up!