Rumbling And Grumbling About Jayson Stark

My interview with Nate got postponed. The bastard was more interested in watching Shawshank Redemption and playing Mario Kart than he was in answering my questions about Gail Simmons. With any luck we’ll chat tonight and I’ll post the interview tomorrow. It depends on if our schedules align. See, I’m on the far west-side right now, at Ken and KT’s joint, waiting to attend a film and Q&A session tonight. I’ll have to blog about that tomorrow, too! Shit’s so busy, and yet it’s raining in LA. I always thought it was impossible for Angelinos to get anything accomplished when it rains…

Hey, Happy Pitchers And Catchers Report To Spring Training Week, everyone! Isn’t it just the most amazing feeling when you realize baseball season is just around the corner? According to ESPN, we’re 42 days and 15 hours from opening day. The Mets open this season in Florida, by the way. Oh, also according to ESPN, Jayson Stark wrote an idiotic column! Maybe my inherent hatred of the Phillies is to blame (Stark is a not-so-subtle fan of the Philadelphia franchise ), but I have to take him to task for what he wrote for ESPN this past weekend.

I’m sorry in advance for excluding non-baseball fans from this story, but if you don’t care about sports you’re probably not going to care whether I provide all the pertinent background information or not. That said, everybody knows it’s been an unusual offseason for the Mets. They cleaned house, ownership appears to be in deep shit, and the new general manager has been handicapped by a horrifying payroll situation. No one expected big roster moves. Jayson Stark and all the writers at ESPN included. In fact, early this offseason ownership and management both indicated that they were going to start 2011 with a product pretty much identical to that of 2010. So to call the Mets the “Most unimproved team” this year makes sense, but it’s also really lazy journalism. Stark compounds this by blathering like a fool as he tries to take a couple quick jabs at Mets fans.

“Before he took the Mets job, Sandy Alderson probably thought a Ponzi scheme was something that went down in a Happy Days episode he once saw on Nick At Nite. But this is one GM who has been getting an education this winter in all kinds of stuff that doesn’t involve trolling for somebody who might hit more than six home runs a year at Citi Field.

Okay, first of all, Sandy Alderson received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and attended Harvard Law School. I’m pretty sure he knows what a Ponzi scheme is. Hell, I went to the University of Vermont and Muhlenberg College and even I know what a Ponzi scheme was before Bernie Madoff became a household name. Just because you didn’t know the term doesn’t mean you can apply that logic to others. And about your “trolling” comment — just because a guy employs advanced statistics to measure a player’s abilities doesn’t mean he’s turning over rocks in search of treasure. But that’s a nice presupposition you use to give your readers that impression. Oh, and by the way, the Mets hit just two home runs more on the road than they did at home last season. Your precious Phillies hit over 20 more home runs at home than they did on the road. Care to talk about ballpark adjustments or field measurements? Did you remember to mention that Cliff Lee’s numbers might increase this season as he has to pitch half his games in that bandbox in Philly?

It sure isn’t the new GM’s fault that he had no money to spend and no hope of moving the Oliver Perezes and Luis Castillos who are cluttering up his roster.

So…if it’s not his fault, why are you taking him to task and pretty much calling him an uneducated, Nick At Nite watching dolt? If it’s not his fault, isn’t it best to just give the guy a break and focus on one of the other two teams you listed as “Most Unimproved” this offseason?

But the bottom line is that the Mets had a laugh track of an offseason. A two-year contract to D.J. Carrasco, after he got non-tendered? A major league deal for Ronny Paulino while he was still serving a PED suspension? A bargain bin full of Boof Bonsers and Willie Harrises and Taylor Tankersleys? A hunt for inning-eating starters that led to the signings of Chris Capuano and Chris Young, two guys who have spent a combined 720 days on the disabled list over the past two seasons?

Okay, so it’s not the guy’s fault that he has no money to spend, but it’s his fault that he spent what little money he did on singing those players? You’re shocked that they signed a guy who’s serving a PED suspension, yet your Hall Of Fame votes for Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro hint at your position on the PED issue. Is it that he’s Ronny Paulino — a righty catcher with a career .338 average against lefty pitchers who might compliment young lefty catcher Josh Thole — or is it that he was offered a contract during his suspension? And what’s wrong with Young and Capuano? They were signed to one-year contracts at minimal dollars, so if they’re injured again how does it affect the team? You said yourself Sandy Alderson was handicapped by lack of money, how else would you have filled out two starting pitcher spots on a roster, Mr. Stark?

Someday, when the Madoff Mess gets sorted out and the bloated contracts disappear off the payroll, the sharp minds the Mets brought in to salvage this operation will be able to make an impact. But they had no shot this winter.

And if they had no shot this winter, why are you taking them to task for what moves they were able to make! This is a total logic fail. You either need to take the position that, money woes aside, the front office did a shitty job this winter, or you need to pick another team to focus on because you understand how hard it is to build a team when your’e financially handcuffed. Instead, you want it both ways.

Again, I have to ask, what would GM Jayson Stark have done to improve the ballclub this year? Surely if you’re going to call them a “Mess,” make fun of what roster additions they did make, poke fun at Sandy Alderson and the lack of home run power in the everyday lineup, you are also capable of describing a number moves the team should have made during the offseason. Right? Isn’t that part of your job as a sportswriter? But you don’t do that. You choose to stand at a distance and point and laugh. And, as I stated earlier, this is just lazy journalism. I usually enjoy your obscure factoids and the majority of your columns, but this mess of an article is simply indefensible.

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[Image courtesy of the Associated Press]