Angel Pagan is a liability in the field and on the basepaths....... Photo by Al Bello - Getty Images	........while Mike Pelfrey brings John Maine to mind  Photo-Sarah Glenn - Getty Images

I just got my call from JCP&L asking me to conserve electricity so, being a good citizen (or a not so bad one), I turned off everything but the fridge and Francesa (necessities are after all necessities) and have my PC running on the battery. 

There’s a lot happening in the sports world on which to comment, even if not much of it can be positive.  The Mets, fuggedaboudit, they’re getting worse, but at least the NFL lockout looks to be ending and we won’t have to contemplate the angry visage of DeMaurice Smith anymore.

I had thought they’d miss the first four games of the regular season.  My thinking had been based upon the knowledge that the owners were insured for the first four weeks.  But, what I didn’t realize (and neither did the owners apparently) was that the players were insured too, to about 200 thousand bucks per player. 

That latter fact certainly accelerated the pace of negotiations.  And this marks the first time in my life ‘ve ever been thankful for the insurance industry.

Now we can all get back to perusing our fantasy football magazines while sprawled on the beach listening to some baseball game.  And that’s not all.  The delay and shortening of the signing period means that our next few weeks will be chock full of surprises, who’s being signed, let go or just asked to take one for the team…..heh-heh.

Meanwhile, as the July 31^st trading deadline approaches, Mets fans can wonder how bad things can really get without K-Rod and now probably Beltran.  From the looks of things thus far, they can get pretty bad in a hurry, just from the thought of losing Carlos.

I know I’ve become inured already to the poor play and lack of talent on my favorite team.  Looking at the bright side, maybe the Mets will finally do something about these pieces of dead wood that litter the roster. 

It’s not even so much the really raw players that exasperate me.  It’s the players that have been with the team for a long while now, the Pagans of the world and the Bay’s and the Pelfrey’s that just seem to keep stinking it up.

I had thought that Jason Bay might be coming out of his funk finally after almost two years of playing worse than anyone could ever have imagined.  Alas, it was not to be.  His big day a couple of weeks ago was just a cruel aberration, just another reminder of how much we’re truly missing while he flounders.  I mean, it’s not just the poor performance per se, but the opportunity loss of what the man could be.

The entire Mets season kinda reminds me of the Wizard of Oz.  The Wizard would have to be the GM Alderson or Manager Terry Collins.  The lion looking for courage could be Jason Bay.  The scarecrow looking for a brain would definitely be Angel Pagan.  The tin man seeking a heart could be Carlos Beltran, that is, seeking another team to love him.

But the Mets have too many scarecrows.  Angel Pagan heads the list of stupid players but there is also Mike Pelfrey and especially Lucas Duda.  And that sometime closer Bobby Parnell isn’t the brightest light in the heavens either.  Willie Harris and Scott Hairston have all the brains they need to play but just lack any discernible talent.

That being said, any professional baseball team needs at least a bit of production from all 25 players.  On the Mets, it’s easier to identify the keepers for next year.  It’s a much shorter list.  In the outfield there are no keepers unless you count Beltran.  I suppose he could return after a brief sojourn with the Phils or Giants or Brewers but I wouldn’t count on it.

The infield could be good though.  Ike Davis at first base, Justin Turner at second, Tejada at shortstop (if Jose should go elsewhere) and David Wright at third would certainly be representative of a real live major league team.  The starters except for Pelfrey are all pretty good too.  The catcher, Josh Thole, has a lot of potential and is good enough to be a regular.

As dealing Jason Bay would be next to impossible without a deep discount of some kind, I look for him to continue playing, at the very least, a very steady left field.  Maybe he could be viewed as one of those defensive specialists, who are usually found at shortstop or second base.  If Reyes could be retained, a weak-hitting left fielder could be tolerated.

So the Mets need to get rid of the dead men walking.  That means Duda and Pelfrey and Pagan have to go.  They are symbols of losing baseball.  At least Bay is a smart player, good outfielder and good on the basepaths and, presumably, in the clubhouse.

So we need two outfielders.  Surely there are two outfielders that can be had on the cheap if necessary, players who would make us forget Angel Pagan, Lucas Duda and the horror of Daniel Murphy out there.  Murphy has value though, for sure, as a utility infielder who can spell Wright at third, Davis at first and Turner at second.

A couple of relief pitchers are also needed.  Izzy and Beato and even Parnell could be keepers but that’s about all.  Of the rest of them, only Tim Byrdak has performed pretty creditably.  Surely something could be had in return for Beltran and K-Rod, and maybe even a big guy with some power.

Those are just the obvious moves.  If one gets imaginative, it’s conceivable that David Wright could be traded as both Turner and Murphy are capable of playing there, if not providing as much power.  But at this point anyway, I’d rather see a couple of good outfielders.  Wright is the only player on the roster that could provide any appreciable value in return.

Get rid of all the scarecrows.  A wizard could certainly do it.