And The Big Pussy Pick of the Week Goes To...

This week was a tough one, not just for the Mets, but for the GBU (read: ME) as well. See, deciding who gets the Big Pussy Award is a tough call - we have to take into consideration many different aspects, stories and events during the week to ensure we keep our highest standards of picking the finest candidates.

I'm sure many of you thought I would pick Willie Randolph automatically. And why not, since within a week he managed to: play the race card (in a multicultural environment!), have his team get swept by the Braves and lost two out of three to the worse-than-us Rockies, AND save his shaky job with a meeting about nothing with the management. But no, Willie Randolph would be the obvious choice and we are not obvious here.

This week, after careful consideration, I have decided to give the Big Pussy Award to two people again for the second week in a row, but to two Mets - well one is a Met, the other is a suit -

Carlos Beltran and Omar Minaya!!

Shirley Beltran is almost too easy. But this week he left himself WIDE open for BP consideration with his thoughts on the idea of Willie the Wonker losing his job.

“What happens in the front office, there is nothing we can do about it,” he said. “We just need to continue to come to the ballpark and play hard and try to win ballgames. Whatever happens, happens. We’re employees here.”

Hey Carlos why don't you just come right out and say it? This is a jay-oh-bee to me. Remember that song from the 80s - nothin' going on but the rent...you gotta to have jaay--ohhhh--beeee if you want to beeeee with meeeee. OK you get the point.

Carlos is slowly starting to represent all that is wrong in baseball - yeah, we all know you came to the Mets for money, and it was your second choice of New York teams. Just you know, feel free to waive your no-trade-clause to go play someplace you can't get booed, you fuckin pussy. Say what you want about A-Fraud, at least you can pretty much guarantee he'll hit .300 every year and tons of home runs. All the Shirley guarantees is drama, bitching and phantom injuries that appear when we least expect.

As for Omar Minaya, it was a tough call between him and Randolph. Most Met fans see Minaya's public endorsement of Willie as a veil to save his own hide. You see, he put this mess together, Willie is losing games because of it and getting flak and his name plastered all over the papers...yet, you don't see Omar getting called out on any of it.

Visit ANY blog and you'll find thinly veiled criticism (and not so thin...) of the job Omar has done since basically 2006. He's done horribly. He traded Jeff Keppinger (.324/.373/.446/.819) for Ruben Gotay - because Gotay was considered young and could stay in the minors when buddy Jose Valentin was the starting 2B - THEN Valentin got injured, Gotay looked overmatched, so he got Luis Castillo. THEN he gave FOUR YEARS and outbid himself for his new "buddy" Weezie, and we are guaranteed to not only have a shitty second baseman who can't hit for the next three seasons, we are guaranteed to hear his bitching about how he needs day games off after night games.

THANKS A LOT OMAR. SHEESH. Did I mention Gotay was basically let go for air and is now doing well on the hated Braves? Oh and the Bannister for Burgos trade. Bannister is doing phenomenal and the AmBurglar? Well he makes headlines for losing his jewelry, not for pitching these days.

Now, here's my philosophy on Omar's endorsement of Willie. I think he's actually doing the honorable thing. Omar sees the product on the field, knows he's responsible for it and doesn't feel Willie should take the heat for the team.

That said (a famous Omar interjection), in a kind of backwards logic, it's this stupid fucking loyalty Omar shows that got this team into trouble in the first place. Rumor has it Jesus Flores, catcher of the future, was lost due to the Rule V Draft by protecting Omar buddies like Julio Franco, who you know is 95 years old and in desperate need of work. Shit, the way he performed till the end, he needed a friend to give him a job. Of course, it was Minaya's buddies in Washington, Bowden and Acta, who coveted Flores, so it's all part of the job I guess. RIIIIGHT.

THEN, Moises Alou - isn't Omar really good friends with Felipe Alou? Sure Felipe, I'll give your kid a job, but you know what I'm sayin, you have to buy me dinner at Tavern on the Green.

What about Carlos Delgado? Well, okay, bad example, I don't think any of us could have seen his decline - but why show love to a guy who a.) hates America and 2.) publicly dissed Omar, Tony and all his cronies to the media. Hey Omar, repeat after me: Say "YES" to bomb testing in Vieques.

Oh and we'll trade away Lastings Milledge for two guys I really like from my old team. Cause you know, they got the good ol' Montreal Expos pedigree.

So why wouldn't Omar go to bat for Willie Randolph? He not only hand-picked him to run the team, Willie's not dumb. He knows Omar is loyal, incredibly loyal to a fault.

And you know the old saying - Big Pussies Finish Last, Omar. Stop being so nice.

Pussies.

Be sure to visit The Coop over at My Summer Family and at Section 14 in the Mezzanine!