Some People Never Learn

Ok, so let's recap. Lee Mazzilli was laid off before he completed his second season as the Orioles coach because many people felt he was in over his head and did not possess the ability to coach a Major League team at this point. Enter in Willie Randolph. Though people are more than willing to chalk it up to Willie's growing pains, Randolph proved to be more in the mold of Lee Mazzilli than Joe Torre, which the Mets were hoping for, but not many of us since Joe is a bit overrated himself and more known for getting egos to mesh than his game calling abilities.

Enter in the latest protégé of the great swammi Joe Torre in Joe Giradi. Have the Marlins not been keeping an eye on these things? The brilliant strategist Joe Torre was exposed in the playoffs against the Red Sox in '04 and made some questionable calls earlier in the playoffs against the Twins leading me to believe he is not exactly on same level as a Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, or even Mike Soscia. Coincidence that his long time bench mate Don Zimmer was gone to bounce ideas off of? Not sure, but I think this is good for the Mets that Girardi will be making the calls for a team in their division being that I do not think there is a good track record for Torre's disciples and that includes Willie. Yeah, yeah, he got the team to 83 wins and improved them by 12 wins, blah, blah, blah. He single handedly cost the Mets game and I am hoping that he learns from his egregious mistakes to become at least a league average to slightly above average manager. A lot of Willie's mistakes were more stupidity than inexperience.

What I cannot understand for the life of me, is why people keep hiring these jokers? Call me crazy, but I think Ken Oberkfell can out manage that bunch in his sleep for the simple reason (and this is a truly novel idea) that he actually managed before and proved he could do it. The Marlins were better off raiding the Mets coaches in the minors, and that includes Gary Carter, than hiring yet another guy who learned oh so much from Joe Torre. There is something to be said for at least one year of coaching experience. Learning on the job gets you fired midway into the your second year of coaching, and with the young staff that the Marlins will have and the possible departure of Carlos Delgado, I'm not seeing Giradi's job as an easy one.

While on the topic of ex-Yankee coaches, I have no idea what Rick Down contributed to the horrifying offensive production that helped prevent the Mets from making the playoffs, but he needed to go. Willie had his chance to hand pick his guy and his goon (along with himself actually) failed to do a semblance of a good job. Sure he worked with the young guys, but I'm not sure I saw a big difference in their two most raw and young hitters in Victor Diaz and Jose Reyes. Both remained a bit too streaky and really seemed to under perform most of the time. While they are still really, really young, we all just did not see their approach improve as much as it should have. Maybe Mr. Down was giving tremendous advice that they were having trouble implementing, but whatever the reason, a healthy dose of Howard Johnson might help the kids become what we hope they can become. It might not help and another year of maturity and experience could help more, but I have not seen ex-Yankee coaches excel after leaving Joe Torre's crew. Can Omar and everyone else just do us all a favor and keep people from the Bronx in the Bronx? When will people learn? Being an ex Yankee in some form does not mean you are smarter than everyone else and it does not mean that 'mystique' will rub off.

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You cannot make this stuff up.

Sessions, who turned 18 on Sept. 22, ran as a write-in candidate because he was too young to get on the ballot in the spring. The young politician used $700 from a summer job to fund his door-to-door campaign in Hillsdale, Mich., a town of about 9,000.

Unofficial results show that Sessions got 732 votes, compared with 668 for Mayor Doug Ingles, 51.

John Mayers, who provides the winter stats for Metsgeek.com, had this to say about the other day’s AFL game.

Mike Jacobs committed his 4th error of the season in last nights Pastora/Cardenales game. It was the third game in a row in which he committed an error. He has 1 hit in 4 AB's. his Avg now sits at .261.

Cause for concern? Maybe not, but it is something to chew on. I still say he looked passable at first last season.

The SI MLB Scorecard has been looking like the Mets scorecard every time it comes out. Is Omar earning his keep or what?

"I don't know what's going to happen there, but I can't wait for that," Minaya said of Ramirez. "I've got to move now. I've got a gigantic fishing net in the water. At the end of the day, I'm going to pull it up and see if there's anything in it. I want to move quickly on all the things we want to do. I can't afford to sit around and wait for people to come to me."

What's not to like about this guy? He is the perfect big market GM. He is not afraid to make a move. Take note Dan O'Brien you stand still punk.

Javier Vazquez wants to come back East, but I don't see him making too much sense for the Mets. He is only costing about eight million since the Yankees are footing some of the bill, but the only guy I'd like to see a Met in terms of starting pitching is AJ Burnett if Omar could make room for him. Below .500 record be damned, the guy has some of the nastiest stuff around. Other than that, Omar needs to stand still.

Just an aside, with the Yankees peddling Pavano after one year after they traded Vazquez after one year, who would actually go there?

The Yankees are looking at Brian Giles for center and according to his agent, he does not mind coming East. Note to Omar: Trade Cammy for prospects, sign Giles. Period end.

What true baseball fan does NOT like the rumor mill?

One AL executive told the Post on Wednesday that he heard the Mets' offer to Wagner could exceed $10 million annually for three years.

Nice. I have a very, very good feeling about this.

The Mets remain interested in Tampa 2B Julio Lugo and closer Danys Baez, another AL executive said, and the teams talked on Wednesday night. The Mets also like C Toby Hall and 1B Aubrey Huff, and had talks about a potential three-team deal with the Rangers and Devil Rays in which the Mets would get Adrian Gonzalez and Gerald Laird from Texas and send them to Tampa, though nothing is believed to be imminent.

Huh? What? Baez setting up for Wagner, Huff in right, A-Gone at first, Lugo at second...

Omar likes the newest Japanese import and is interested in Molina. But we all knew that.

Let's all laugh again....

The team has told other clubs it is willing to listen to offers for at least half its everyday lineup and has had conversations with at least two organizations that centered on first baseman Carlos Delgado, center fielder Juan Pierre and catcher Paul Lo Duca.,

Suck it Delgado...suck it. I honestly hope you stay in Florida and finish below the Mets for the rest of your contract.

The Mets are close to finalizing a minor-league deal for left-handed reliever Matt Perisho that would include an invitation to spring training. The 30-year-old has been with five teams since 1997.

I like it.

Bob likes Gary.