Don’t go to the Deptford Inspection Station on a Monday afternoon

Posted on by metbaseball

Last Monday afternoon I made the mistake of taking my car to the Deptford (NJ) Inspection Station for my car’s biannual inspection. I arrived at the inspection station at 2:45, later than I had hoped. As only about 25 cars were ahead of me, I figured that I’d be done in about an hour.

According to the state website, on weekdays the station’s hours were 7:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. However, for the first 25 minutes, none of the cars in front of me moved. It was as if all the station’s inspectors had gone on break. Once the line began moving, each time it moved, I’d advance several car lengths and then sit and wait another 15 minutes.

When I finally reached the front of the line, I noticed that only two of the four inspection lanes were open, which partially explained why it took so long for me to reach the front position. Another was that the station seemed understaffed. Did the station’s management not anticipate that so many cars would appear on a Monday afternoon?

At five minutes before five o’clock, an inspector placed a new sticker on my car. Unfortunately, it took more than two hours to get it.

From now on, I’ll get to the station early in the morning. When I’ve done that in the past, I’ve never had to wait more than an hour to get my car inspected.

Minaya: Sign Lowe

Posted on by metbaseball

Now that the Mets have signed Tim Redding, are they a better team than they were last season? I doubt it. Career-wise, Redding has a losing record of 34-51. That’s not very good. Of his seven seasons in the Majors, he’s had only one winning season. In his best seasons, he’s won 10 games, something he did twice. In his last four seasons, his ERA was under four once.

In comparison, Oliver Perez won 10 games for the Mets last season. In his last four seasons his ERA was under four once and over six twice. He’ll cost them alot more money to sign, which I hope they don’t do. Too erratic.

Which leaves Derek Lowe. Of the three, he’s the only only with a winning percentage in his career. He’s won at least 12 games for the past seven seasons, though he had a winning record in only five of them. And in each of his last four seasons, his ERA was under four. He’d make a much bigger difference than would either Redding or Perez.

Minaya: Spend the money; sign Lowe.

An over-the-counter supplement costs player $1.25 million

Posted on by metbaseball

In one of the stranger stories I’ve read in awhile, Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher J. C. Romero has been suspended for the first 50 games of the 2009 season, a suspension that will cost him $1.25 million, for taking a supplement that he bought last July in a New Jersey GNC store.

Romero denies doing anything wrong. Before he took the supplement, he discussed it with Phillies strength and conditioning coach Dong Lien and with two nutritionists. Both nutritionists told him it was okay to take it, though Lien didn’t give it his approval.

When asked about the supplement, Romero said “Everyone takes something. Some guys drink coffee, others supplements. We try to make sure they’re all legal.”

Romero said that he tried to follow the rules; however, he did not call baseball’s drug hot line. By making that call he might have saved himself $1.25 million.

3-team trade not in Red Sox’s favor

Posted on by metbaseball

Boston’s trade of Manny Ramirez boggles the mind. Sure, they needed to get rid of Ramirez, but why did they so overpay to do that.

They sent Ramirez to the Dodgers, agreeing to pay the estimated $7 million due to Ramirez for the rest of this season.

In return, the Red Sox received Jason Bay from the Pirates.

Is a Martinez for Bay trade an even deal? No way. Bay can’t compare to Martinez. I’d have thought that the Red Sox could have gotten more for Martinez. But not only were they unable to get more, they gave up more.

As part of the 3-team deal, the Red Sox also sent reliever Craig Hansen and Triple-A outfielder Brandon Moss to the Pirates. Thus the trade boiled down to Manny Ramirez, Craig Hansen, and Brandon Moss for Jason Bay. That’s unbelievable.

The fact that the Red Sox were willing to give up so much to get rid of Martinez indicates DESPERATION.