Before you call me names, hear me out.
The Mets are thinking about signing John Smoltz. The guy who will be 43 in May. The guy with the ERA over 6 at age 42.
You know how this goes. He’ll look ok in the first start, maybe the first two. Then the wheels will come off when the Mets aren’t playing the Nationals.
He gets released mid-summer and nobody feels good about the ending. Meanwhile, Jerry has been forced to chew the bullpen every 5th day.
Remember that Mets executive who supposedly said the Mets will get killed no matter what they do? Embrace it!
Sign Dwight Gooden and hand him the ball. Why let Smoltzie waste the bullpen when we would all rather watch Doc go 2 and a third.
Let him pitch at home only. I bet the place would sell out. Fans would love it. It would be the talk of the town for however long the magic lasted, even if for only one ill-fated 7 run inning.
If the Mets think they are going to get killed anyway, might as well sell out the park and have some fun.
Nutty? Sure. Deep down you know you want to see this.
Crazy? The guy I want on the hill will be 45 this season. The guy Omar wants will be 43. Who’s the bigger fool?
Comments are open. Who do you want to see for your money?
The problem with this is that it’s a publicity stunt, not a baseball move, and any team that wants to give the impression of being able to contend can’t do something like this. Most of us realize that These Mets, as they currently stand, don’t have much of a chance to compete, but you can’t be throwing up the white flag as an organization before single-game tickets have gone on sale.
If both Gooden and Smoltz were in good condition and have been throwing well without injury, it is better that all of the Mets starters other than Santana.
It might be fun to watch Gooden try to pitch, but the idea smacks of something that the Newark Bears or Long Island Ducks would do to sell tickets.
The Mets cannot engage in these types of publicity stunts if they have any hope of being taken seriously.
Give the impression of being able to contend? Be taken seriously?
Guys, that ship sailed long ago. The time for doing that was before Omar threw money at Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo and blamed his screw-ups on a reporter’s conspiracy.
The Mets are damned joke and will be for the foreseeable future. It’s time to embrace it. The Mets could invite fans to an open tryout to be the 5th starter at this point and no one would laugh any louder than they already do.