Merely the Painfully Obvious

It's not helpful to be absurdly impatient. Baseball is a long season, and being two games under .500 in May is really meaningless. It's easy to call for the heads of Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya. Met fans, though, aren't so stupid. We merely notice the painfully obvious. Like re-signing Oliver Perez was a major risk. At the time, he looked like a reasonable risk as a fifth starter. Just like Kelvim Escobar was a reasonable risk. Mike Jacobs, a reasonable chance. Gary Matthews, especially as insurance against losing Beltran for any length of time, and for the money the Mets would be paying for him. It is incredibly short-sighted to judge a contract on the first year, or a trade on a half-season. Painfully obvious? Oliver Perez is not now a major league pitcher. When he can, on those rare occasions, throw strikes, he finds a way to lose. In Miami, it was giving meat pitches to Marlins that don't miss easy home runs. Perez doesn't belong in the rotation, and does...