In day old news, Yankees GM Brian Cashman had some interesting comments directed at the Mets in relation to former Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano. "He was abused," Cashman said. "It's a thin market when you're looking for lefties, and he's one of the better ones out there. But you don't typically go after a guy whose been used like that. The pattern was abusive."
Here's my take: 1. Using the word abusive is a little over the top. To me, 'abusive' is used to describe physical, mental or psychological harm directed at another human being with with bad intentions and no regard for consequences. If anything, the Mets overworked him, but for millions of dollars, there was no abuse. 2. It's not the Mets fault that the Yankees didn't catch this before signing him. I mean, don't they have team doctors and scouts who should know this stuff? I read Casman's quote as trying to place the blame on the Mets which clearly it is not. 3. Why are the Yankes piling on the Mets? What do they have to gain by making fun of their crosstown 'rivals?' They have nothing to gain. We are no threat to them. If anything it makes them look petty and vindictive.
Of course, the story doesn't end there. In response, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthem said, "he volunteered for the baseball every day, he was asked if he was able to pitch and he said yes every day and wanted to pitch more than we even pitched him." He also chimed in with what we are all thinking, "They didn't know that when they signed him?"
When asked about Cashman's comments Feliciano back away from the abuse saying, "I think at some points they just left me there with no reason. But I want to pitch. I want to be in there. That's what I like to do. And I think I was fine always. I never felt sore or anything. I always felt good." Clearly though he was bitter about the break-up with the Mets adding, "I feel hurt a little by that. I didn't sign with them because they offered me one year. But me and my agent, we wanted a multiyear. Two or more years and they just gave me one. That's why I'm not a Met right now...They said they didn't sign me because [they knew] I'm going to blow up this year."
While I don't understand what Cashman is trying to achieve, I don't have any problem with Feliciano saying what he did. The guy was always a professional and gave the Mets parts of 8 great years. Since becoming a mainstay on their roster in 2006, he averaged 60 innings a year over 82 games and had a 3.09 ERA. He was really one of the steadiest guys we had. And at 33 I'm sure he was hoping for a sign of appreciation for the work he put in. He was asking for a 2-year deal from the only team he had ever pitched for, a team that he had very important to. At the end of the day, the Mets made a business decision and let him walk. I would have liked to have him back as I'm sure most Mets fans would. However, this isn't about what our heart tells us - we need to make the right decision for the franchise.
Players robotically move from team to team all the time. They decide to take the big money rather than to take a discount to stay in a city where they are loved. It happens and as fans we get numb. So personally I am happy to see that Feliciano was hurt. Not that I wish him an ill will, but I like knowing that he cared. I like knowing that he is human and has feelings. So yeah, good for you Pedro....
Ok, so that is where my appreciation for him ends. A day after he was placed on the 15-day DL, Feliciano further added, "I will come out from this injury and I will be telling him there is still a lot of Feliciano to go...I will show him in the Subway Series when I strike out Ike Davis, and when I jump up and down on the mound I'll be like, 'That's for you.'" My issue is why he had to bring Ike into the conversation. What did Ike ever do to him? If he was looking to make a statement, why not go after the leader of the team, David Wright? That would have carried more weight.
Maybe he mentioned Ike's name because he knows Ike is a young player who is not as media-savvy as Wright. Maybe he was trying to start of a war of words. Well if that is the case, Ike didn't give him any satisfaction, saying that he would try not to strike out, but added that he did strike out 138 times last year so "it's not that tough of a feat." That's all -nothing more than that. (Although it would have been awesome if he furthered the joke by asking, "What about striking out Wright? He does it more than I do...")
Somehow I have to think that the Yankees got the worse of this. The Mets might be a joke, but we don't blame bad signings on other teams for how they used players. If we mess up, we mess up. There is no reason to blame others because fans don't care. We really don't. Just do your job and put a winning team out on the field. If you don't, then you failed...regardless of the reason. Cashman is simply trying to save face for a poor signing. He needs to get over it.
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