Short Hops: Mets mess is Minaya's

How does this trade strike you? Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips for Jeff Liefer and Rocky Biddle.

That’s essentially the fleecing that Mets GM Omar Minaya took when he was with the Expos in midseason-2002. In reality, he swapped that trio of prospects for a half-season’s worth of Bartolo Colon when he overestimated his team’s ability to contend. After finishing 83-79, he dealt Colon for Liefer, Biddle and Orlando Hernandez (who never threw a pitch in Montreal). Another 83-win season followed. Then Minaya let Vladimir Guerrero walk — and with him, 26 victories. Within three years, Colon had won a Cy Young Award and Guerrero an MVP. And, of course, Sizemore, Lee and Phillips are now among the game’s finest young stars.

The spin at the time was that Minaya didn’t have the money to make the Expos competitive. That certainly hasn’t been the problem in New York, where he took over in 2005, and this year will sign $138 million worth of checks. His four-year Mets legacy has been the worst of both worlds — a blighted farm system and a roster populated with old, overpaid, always-hurt, rarely-motivated former “names” who gagged away a 2007 postseason berth and now play tag with .500. The last game Willie Randolph managed before Minaya axed him he was forced to use an outfield of Trot Nixon, Endy Chavez and Marlon Anderson. And he won with it.

The misconception propagated by the self-absolving Minaya — again overrating his club — is that the Mets are “underachieving.” That’s not even close to the truth. They are nothing more than the mediocre team that Minaya made them when he stripped the organization of depth, then gave long, lucrative contracts to the past-prime likes of Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo, Moises Alou, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner, Pedro Martinez and, yes, Orlando Hernandez, then expected them to stay productive and healthy. And when they didn’t, he issued a 3 a.m. press release firing the manager.

“Getting a call at 3 o’clock in the morning is for sex, not for getting fired,” Jon Stewart said on The Daily Show last night. Mets fans need to hope that the next 3 a.m. call Minaya gets is from Fred Wilpon and not Ashley Dupre.

THE ROOK WUZ ROBBED

Were it not for a bad scorer’s call, Edinson Volquez’s streak would still be alive. As it is, the Reds rookie allowed no more than two earned runs in any of his first 12 starts. No one else has ever opened a season with more than nine, and that’s been done only three times.

On June 9, Florida’s Jorge Cantu tagged a liner that ticked off the glove of Cincy first baseman Joey Votto — a very catchable ball right at him that was ruled a single, driving in the second and third earnies of the game and ending Volquez’s streak. The next time out, Volquez held the Red Sox to a pair, meaning that he should be at 14 such starts and counting.

As impressive as that is, there have been five streaks longer than 14 over the past 50 years, though not to start a season. They were compiled by a who’s who of aces: Roger Clemens (21), Greg Maddux (16), Pedro Martinez (15), John Tudor (15) and Doc Gooden (15). For everything Clemens achieved, this is his greatest feat no one ever mentions. Spanning the 1990 and ’91 seasons, he posted a 1.05 ERA over those 21 starts, going 15-3 with five shutouts while allowing only one home run.

HIT AND RUN

Short Hops’ recurring installment of slapdash observation and imprudent opinion:

The Mets made him rich, but they aren’t doing Johan Santana’s stats any good. On August 26, 2006, the Twins bullpen blew a lead for him, then never did it again during his tenure in Minnesota. New York’s bullpen already has squandered three leads for Santana. And in his five losses, he’s gotten eight runs of support.

It’s only A-ball, but 2007 No. 1 draft pick David Price looks ready to make the Cinderella Rays even stronger. He’s boasting a 1.27 ERA and 6-to-1 SO/BB ratio in six starts for Vero Beach, where he’s rehabbing a minor arm issue.

The teams that have gone to the bullpen most often this year: the Braves (236 times) and Mets (235).

JayBruceMania has subsided a bit. Since starting 21 for 46, he’s 5-for-34

QUOTABLES

“I’m not taller or throwing left-handed. I’m just making good pitches and mixing it up.” — Mike Mussina trying to explain the nine wins in his last 11 starts after more than a year of looking like toast.