Late Saturday Night

It's Saturday night and I have a few things on my mind. First up - the Mets.

I have yet to read any blogs, but I have to think that most Mets fans are killing management for not making any deals. I am not of the same opinion. Actually, I am perfectly fine with them staying put. Listen, this team is not going anywhere. I think they will end with a winning record, but they are not going to the playoffs. We have all been down this path before and we know how it has worked. Mike Bordick, Matt Lawton, Kris Benson, Victor Zambrano, Roberto Hernandez, Ollie Perez. If you are going to be a buyer at the deadline, you need to make sure your team is an actual contender and not a pretender. This team simply isn't that.

Of course, if there was a trade out there that could have helped the long term stability of the franchise (like dumping Castillo and Ollie for some prospects), then I would be all for it. However, all the guys the Mets were mildly interested in (Scott Downs, Chad Qualls, Ted Lilly, Brett Myers) would have come at the price of one of their top prospects. I am not ok with the idea of losing Ike Davis, Jonathan Niese, Jennry Mejia or Josh Thole for a backend starter or a late game reliever. It's just not worth it. Not with the building blocks we have in place.

If you take a step back and think about it, you see that we are in a good position long term with Wright, Reyes, Davis, Pelfrey, Pagan, Thole, Tejada, Niese, Mejia. Then we have veterans like Beltran, Bay, Santana. We just need a few extra pieces in the offseason. So let's wait and build around what we have.



Now on to the Sounders-
Great road win tonight in which we saw the debut of our newest DP Alvaro Fernandez. While I still want to see more before making a definitive decision, I did see some very positive things. I'm not sure where he will be in the pecking order, but suddenly we have some really great options on the wing.

I thought their passing looked really really good tonight. Alonso and Sturigs really controlled the middle of the pitch and Nkufo and Montero are really combining well with Nyassi and Zakuani. I'm not sure how many games they can win the rest of the way, but I think they are going to be fun to watch.

Next up is their trip to El salvador for the return leg of the CONCACAF Champions League series on Tuesday night. I assume that Sigi will trot out Scott, Graham, Wahl, Marshall, Montano, Seamon, Jaqua, Levesque on Tuesday night, but don't know who the final 2 guys will be when they face Metapan. None of the above played more than 30 minutes tonight so they should be pretty fresh. There depth is pretty impressive right now, but any injuries will be tough to overcome. They need to come home from San Salvador healthy.

Finally,a few words on Freddie Ljungberg. I would be lying if I said that our relationship wasn't rocky. Some weeks I thought were playing some quality soccer. Other weeks I thought you just weren't fitting in (see: stealing ball from Montero and vice versa). There always seemed to be things I wish you could do better: keeping your cool, taking free kicks, shooting on target, not trying to beat every defender 1on1. Whether that was fair is up for debate, but I think that comes with the territory.

With all the being said, I believe that your time in Seattle was a positive one. Your signing signaled to me that the front office was willing to spend money on quality players and that they were serious in their attempt to be a world class team. You also fit the mold of what Seattlites look for in players - gracious and appreciative of the fans and a positive member of the community. I loved how you applauded the fans before you took your first corner at each end. I appreciate how gracious you were on your way out. It may not have worked out on the field, but you helped fuel the idea that we were a big time soccer city. I wish you well in Chicago and hope you and Nery Castillo don't end up fighting each other (and if you do, please kick his unibrow ass)