Really Sherm?

This is the curse of the New York Mets.  Now, writers grasping at straws to make a punchline out of the Mets have to go back to a seemingly small decision that got no buzz then and create a stir.

Joel Sherman of the NY Post today wrote a column in which he talked about the rise of Jack Zduriencik in the Mets front office and then his subsequent departure thanks to a game of musical chairs that left the now-Seattle GM with no seats left.  So all Jack did was go to Milwaukee where Sherman credits him with drafting guys like Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.  Don’t get me wrong, its a pretty logical statement considering he was the Brewers scouting director from 1999-2006.

After that, Sherman plays a very dangerous game I like to call “what if.”   We’ve all played that game.  What if, Charles Smith had made just one of those buckets in the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals?  What if John Starks had made just one or two more baskets against Houston in Game 7 in the 94 Finals?  Heck, what if Michael Jordan didn’t exist?  What if Beltran swung at that final pitch against Adam Wainwright?  What if every major Met player hadn’t gotten injured in 2009?  What if the Mets had kept Jack and he was now their GM?

While these are all interesting scenarios that I would love to see play out, its unrealistic.  Things happen for a reason.  They don’t always go as you planned it and honestly its not how it works.  We are all second guessed by people.

Certainly the Mets deserve a majority of the second guessing since recent events and news (don’t even get me started on J.J. Putz), make it impossible for any fan to take their word.  Their bizarre actions have brought upon this industry wide belief that they don’t know what they are doing.  But it appears as if every writer has taken the bait.  They’ve all come down to the level of taking an easy punching bag and going to town on it.

Its easy to make fun of the Mets for mistakes they made today but to reach back 10 years?  Really?  And what exactly has Jack done?  Sure he’s improved the team on paper.  But isn’t that what Omar did the last few years with his trade for Johan and then the next year with his trade for Putz and signing K-Rod?  What has pre-season champ status done for the Mets lately?

Jack Zduriencik might be an amazing GM and the Mariners might actually make some noise but to make this into head line worthy news as if he constructed this already 2 time world champion is not right.  Its almost insulting the public and Met fans who read it and actually think because of Sherman’s reputation as an otherwise excellent baseball voice, as truth.  Yes, the Mets let Jack Zduriencik leave but the truth is this, the Mets made the same mistake plenty of franchises have made.

Don’t just assume that this is a sad Met fan who wants the big bad bully reporters to stop making fun of his team.  No.  The Mets should be criticized but let’s be realistic about it.  To blame the Mets for letting some GM leave 10 years ago is beyond absurd.  There are hundreds of really smart people let go every year and yet since the Mets have had a string of terrible luck and even worse mismanagement, its license for every reporter to dig up some old link between a semi-successful person and the Mets and their separation and make it a story?

I know Sherman has more newsworthy items to report on or maybe he doesn’t have anything until Spring Training but I just hope that he can at least just find some relevant material to bash the Mets on since there’s so many things for him to get to.