Stop This Man Before He Kills Again

The Mets GM Omar Minaya made a trade this week. He picked up Gary Mathews Jr. from the Angels. The Angels were so determined to get rid of Mathews, they sent the Mets $21 million to cover his salary over the next two years. Think about how desperate the Angels had to be to get rid of Matthews that they are paying him $21 million to not play for them.

Now who do you think has a better handle on Mathew's value, the Angels, or Minaya?

Buster Olney @ ESPN obtained an MLB scouting report on Mathews. Apparently, he is some triple threat. Check it out:

Matthews is a player to be avoided. Slow bat. Declining range. And above all else, a player who wants to be a regular and will be an unhappy distraction in your clubhouse when he's not in the lineup every day.

Remember Moneyball, the great book by Michael Lewis on Oakland A's GM Billy Beane's unorthodox methods on building a baseball team? Whenever Beane wanted to dump a worthless player, he always knew that if every other GM wanted no part of the washed up player, he could always trade the guy to the Mets, because Met GM Steve Phillips was always willing to overpay for worthless goods.

I'm sure Beane has replaced Phillips with Minaya on his speed dial. Even Lenny Dykstra has picked more winners over the last two years than Minaya.

When will the Wilpon's learn?