The Bonds Debate

Over at Amazin' Avenue Eric Simon gives us an account as to why we should sign Barry Bonds to strengthen our lineup.

I'm here to respectfully disagree. While I agree that he is one heckuva player and should go out on his own terms, I don't think he is the right fit for us right now. Don't worry, I have reasons that are strictly baseball related.

1. He is another aging player who will probably miss significant time. If we bring in Barry and he goes down in the first week of April, we are in the same situation we are in now. While anybody we bring in (or don't, I'm looking at you Angel Pagan) could potentially get injured, it is more likely an older guy like Bonds will get hurt.
2. We haven't had the best success bringing in aging stars. From Willie Mays to Mo Vaughn and Robbie Alomar this just isn't our thing. And we wouldn't want to fall back into that pattern and be the Washington Redskins of the MLB.
3. Bonds doesn't hit well at Shea. Barry's career statistics at Shea are .265 BA with 13 homers and 60 RBI. This is over 115 games there in his career. Also, is OPS is .800, compared to a 1.051 career OPS. I don't think he can change his luck in his 23rd season.
4. He doesn't play first base. The benefit of bringing in a guy like Xaiver Nady (I know its a stretch) is that he can also fill in at first if Delgado misses time (and if you ask some Mets fans, he can fill in in left and at 1st at the same time).
5. Barry is left-handed. So are Ryan Church, Endy Chavez, and Marlon Anderson. We need some right-handed pop to add balance to the lineup. Barry doesn't fit the bill.

When you throw in his baggage and the potential problems he could cause, bringing in Barry could have a devastating effect on our team this year. I'm sure Omar and Willie are well aware of this too.

This is why we're the good guys

If you want the reason we're the good guys in this whole Mets-Phillies rivalry (it's there, don't try to fight it) I have a thousand words for you:

John Maine is our good guy. Looking for a picture I found this article from Miracle Mets. I'm assuming the outrage has subsided. He has been an outstanding pitcher this year, and from all we're hearing about him this spring he's a great guy.

At Church of the Fonz we hear of his lengthy autograph session, sense of humor, and appetite for batting practice jerseys.

A story from a couple weeks ago details what a bright guy he is over at mets.com. And even though he is very intellegent, he's just a little behind the times technologically speaking.

But here are the best stories about John Maine. While Cole Hamels whines about his half a mil "low blow" John Maine accepts it for what it is. "I'm thankful for everything I make in this league" he told the New York Post. "I'm lucky to be doing this for a living."

Isn't this the kind of guy you want on your team. He's smart and humble, and he won 15 games last year.

I'll take him over Cole Hamel$ and Brett "that'll teach 'er" Myers any day.