METS: No, I Don't Want No Scrubs

Found an interesting article in today's Newsday ("Mets spend on everyone but Willie") in which Wallace Matthews believes the Mets have overspent for almost every player this off-season except, it appears, on Willie. He describes Willie's treatment as "the kind of thing the Yankees do, the kind of thing the Mets were supposed to be better than." The Yankees were supposed to be the "Evil Empire" and the Mets were supposed to be "The Amazings." When a team decides to up their payroll (as the Mets recently have) there will always be questions about why certain players received such generous contracts. But the Mets are now the Yankees in this sense. They spend ridiculous money on big-time players, some succeeding and some failing (look at the Red Sox organization, they coined the phrase "Evil Empire" then go out and spend $50.1 million to negotiate with a Japanese pitcher who has never thrown a pitch in the majors). The Mets also held the biggest payroll in the National League in 2006, behind 5 American League teams. There are reasons why a pitchers ERA is supposed to improve when he moves from the AL to NL.

Here are a bunch of criticism's from Mr. Matthews in which he believes players this off-season were overpaid/undeserving compared to the treatment Willie is getting:

• $10.8 million for three years of Scott Schoeneweis
  
• $1.25 million for Jorge Sosa
• more than doubled the yearly salary of Endy Chavez, from $800,000 to $1.725 million
• bought a plane ticket for 41-year-old Ruben Sierra (joke)
• rewarded Guillermo Mota for his drug suspension with a two-year, $5-million deal, even though he won't start earning his pay until Memorial Day (who gave him the drugs?)
• threw $10 million at Tom Glavine without another serious bidder in the hunt (aside from the Braves)
• $7.5 million for 40-year-old Moises Alou

All of this, and they don't even seem to be willing to give Willie the contract he deserves, as the Manager who brought the injury-ravaged rotation so far in the playoffs. The reason why the Mets were left with no viable options was not because of Willie, it was because of a lack of foresight in the front office.

The Mets clearly had no problem spending on aged and ineffective players this off-season so why is it taking so long for them to give Willie a contract? As Matthews says, "Now, they are treating him as if he should just be thankful to have a job." After all Willie has done, what a disgrace it is on the part of the Mets.

The Yankees have had their share of criticism from Pavano to Johnson to Wright. Now none of them seem to be playing an important role in the Yankees 2007. The Yankees turned that page and have looked to get younger this off-season (but still managed enough veteran presence to compete with the high-spending American League). The Mets seem to be approaching that page (aging Pedro, shaky Wagner, ridiculous contract for Carlos Beltran, not to forget the smaller contracts where the Mets still appear to be overspending). It is the baseball circle of life.

Even after being rejected by 12 teams in his quest for a manager's job, one thing is for sure. Willie definitely deserves better than the jerking around the Mets are giving him.

UPDATE: Just a few moments after the Newsday article was released, new news came out that the Mets and Willie have agreed to a three-year contract ($5.45 million in total) with a $2.5 million club option for 2010. In those three years, Willie will be making a little more than Jorge Sosa. That would have been some really bad publicity if he didn't. I hate to say that the timing is just a coincidence. Nonetheless, Willie deserves this extension. CONGRATS!