Stop the Insanity

I was listening to Willie Randolph's report on WFAN this afternoon. Willie didn't give Joe and Sid the answer they wanted on Trachsel and Zambrano. Sure enough, afterwards we had to endure all of the conspiracy theory crap about how the Mets still have to justify the Scott Kazmir trade, and there is pressure from the top to keep pitching Victor.

I'm so tired of hearing this stated as if it is indisputable fact. Most of us agree that this was a bad trade. I like and respect Steve Trachsel, who has easily been our most consistent pitcher over a couple of dreary seasons. But, unlike some Met fans, I remember a lot of starts by Trax where he didn't have it. The game slows down to a crawl, he starts nibbling with his pitches and gets whacked around pretty good. To me, there's not a huge difference between the two. Trachsel is a more polished pitcher, while Victor has better pure stuff. I'll let Willie and Peterson make the decision which of them to start.

As for the conspiracy theorists out there who believe the Mets as an organization would rather justify the Kazmir trade than go with their best chance of winning, think about it. The Mets have a huge investment in their new cable network next year. What do you think it will be worth to them getting it off the ground if they can make the playoffs this year or at least stay in the race until the end? I think it might be worth a lot more to Fred, Omar and the gang then saving face on a trade that Omar had nothing to do with. The Mets' management understands their best bet to distance themselves from the stench of last year is simply to win now.