"Lies are essential to humanity. They
are perhaps as important as the pursuit of pleasure
and moreover are dictated by that pursuit."
-Marcel Proust
I suppose I do find pleasure in lying to Mets fans, good-naturedly of course. This morning I started the day with a call to my friend, the Boss, a mid-forties Mets fan who keeps waiting for the Mets to announce they've landed Johan Santana.
According to Bill Ladson's article ""Make do with what you've got," at washington.nationals.mlb.com...
...the Mets are interested in Brian Schneider, I try a different approach this week and instead of actually lying, I quote the actual rumor and see if my Mets fans friends believe me...
"Boss...Did you hear that the Mets are looking to trade for a catcher?"
"Why would they still be? Who?" the Boss responds.
"Brian Schneider from the Nationals."
"Didn't the Nationals already steal a catcher from us(the Mets)?" the Boss asks.
"You mean Rule 5 draft pick Jesus Flores. It was kind of a steal," I say.
"The Mets just got a catcher didn't they?" the Boss asks.
"Yes, Johnny Estrada from Milwaukee for Mota(Guillermo). Are you surprised anyone would take Mota?"
"Wait, if they just got Estrada why would they want Schneider? Is this another one of your, 'Lie to a Mets fan' things?" the Boss guesses incorrectly.
"No it's an actual rumor, from Washington's official website."
"It's a stupid rumor," the Boss says, before hanging up.
...I decide to give my old friend Runner a call.
"What?"
"Is that how a Mets fan says hello?" I ask.
"Hello," Runner says dryly.
"That's better. What do you think about the Mets trading for Brian Schneider from the Nationals?"
"Echt!" Runner spits.
"Uch? Can I quote you directly on that? How do you spell Ucht? U-c-h? U-g-h? Or Y-e-c-h?" I ask Runner.
"Who needs Johan Santana when you have Jose Reyes?" Runner states, and then follows with another non sequitur, "Can I give up Jose Reyes for Santana? I love Reyes," Runner concludes.
"So you're not even going to address the Schneider rumor?" I ask Runner...."Runner?"...
In 1051.1 innings behind the plate in '07, Brian Schneider made six errors, the highest total since his rookie year in Montreal in '00, and the 5 passed balls also matched a career high he'd reached twice before. (Compared to rookie catcher Jesus Flores, who had 4 E and 4 PB in 395.1 innings.)
Schneider allowed 53 steals while he was catching for the Nationals, and threw out 24 runners in 122 games. Schneider did everything that was expected of him in the '07 season as far as guiding the young staff, calling games and keeping pitches in the dirt in front of him, but what Schneider did not do was hit.
A .184 April didn't help Schneider's average. In May, Schneider hit .277 with 5 doubles, 2 HR's and 9 RBI's, and in June, Schneider hit .260 in 77 at bats with 2 doubles, a home run and 10 RBI's. That was followed by a .160 July average, .238 in August and a good end to '07, with a .283 AVG in September, where the 30-year-old catcher collected 12 RBI's, 3 doubles and a triple, finally looking like he'd found his swing...
But all that adds up to a .235 AVG, 6 HR's, and 54 RBI's, with 21 doubles, and 1 triple in 408 at bats. Had Schneider even managed his career average of .252 at the plate, would there be any chance of the Nationals considering trading him? Does anyone actually think Jesus Flores is ready to play everyday? Is Brandon Harper still in the organization? The Nationals aren't planning on having Fick back up Flores? Are they?...