Art Howe, Strategic Genius or Raving Idiot?

Art Howe once again, took Piazza out of a tie game for no apparent reason. I do realize he was trying to get speed on the paths in hopes of stringing together two hits and taking the lead. Problem is, it didn't happen. You cannot take your best hitter out of the lineup when he leads off the 7th with a walk and would be due of for his turn at bat in the 9th inning. There is no way to rationalize that thought. If it was done in the 8th or 9th inning I could at least see a bit more logic (but not much more). The Mets might not have won, but their best foot would have been put forward. The conclusion is that Howe is a raving idiot.

Trachsel is becoming the ace of the staff. His ERA is down to 3.15 and if you take his one bad start out, he's in the top 10 in the league. That is pretty impressive and he is pitching some of the best ball in his career.

Joes Sherman seems to think trading for Randy Johnson is the answer. That is exactly what the Mets need. A 40 year old pitching to go along with their 2 other 38 year old guys and their 33 year old. In the process of doing that, losing a top pitching prospect in our own organization. While I do have my own concerns about Kazmir's health, he should only be traded for someone on the right side of 30 and that is not a 1/2 year rental. For example, Barry Zito is signed through 2006. That would be an acceptable casualty for me. Regardless, this is not our year. Trading away key minor leaguers for a guy over 40, no matter how effective he is, does not make sense in my book. Especially a pitcher who would then become the highest paid player on the team. We need to have as much financial flexibility possible to make a serious run at Ordonez or Beltran, though we most likely will not get either. The Mets right now are 2 games under .500. Duquette needs to not be delusional on what his team is capable of. They are playing good ball right now, despite a lot of injuries on the team. What this team needs more than a trade is for Cameron, Reyes, and Leiter to all be healthy for the 2nd half. They are not playing for this year, they should be playing towards 2005 and beyond. The Mets need to get out of that mentality to tade their prospects for veterans. They have stuggled in a lot of close a games to get to 2 under .500. I do not believe they are close to being one of the top 10 teams in the league. I do not believe trading the future away for a playoff run this year should even be up for discussion. What they have done thus far is nice, but they still have a long way to go. The temptation is there to think that one or two players might do it for you, but I liken this team to the Expos of 2002. So close, so they traded for Floyd and Colon, and in turn traded away Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Milton Bradely, and more. How bad do you think they want Sizemore, Lee, and Bradley? There are some times that you have to go for it, and sometimes you have to bite the bullet. This is one of those times where you bite the bullet.