Remove the garland from the Christmas tree, and get Lazy Mary to pull the sheets from her bed.

A little late on this, but reporting it so you can post your comments — Ben Sheets agreed to a one-year, $10M deal with the Oakland Athletics, and Jon Garland signed a one-year, $4.7M deal with the San Diego Padres.

As mentioned in the previous post, Sheets + Oakland makes a lot of sense for both parties.

Garland, I imagine, preferred to be on the Left Coast, so it’s possible the Mets were never a possibility considering their Right Coast locale. Additionally, he has a nice opportunity to hurl a stress-free year in a huge pitcher’s park — a good formula for boosting his value when he becomes a free agent again next winter.

Additionally, former Cub prospect Rich Hill signed a minor-league deal with the Cardinals. The lefthander had a breakout season in 2007, then forgot how to throw strikes. This is a very under-the-radar move that could very well turn out wonderful for St. Louis. Can’t you just see Hill suddenly finding himself under the tutelage of Dave Duncan?

In other belated reporting, you may or may not have heard that the Phillies signed Jose Contreras to a cheap one-year deal. I don’t think the Mets were ever a player for his services, and I don’t believe he would’ve been a good idea. Most reports speculate that Contreras will begin 2010 in the Philly bullpen.

Finally, the latest buzz is that Jarrod Washburn is leaning toward the Twins and Mariners.

So, who’s left on the open market for the rotation? Looks to me like Braden Looper, John Smoltz, and Pedro Martinez are the best of the best. Ouch. In other words, Omar Minaya best be burning the phone lines talking trade with other GMs to find another arm or two.

Brewers 10 Mets 6

What’s that about self-fulfilling prophecy?

The Mets continue to play down to their manager’s (lackluster) expectations, this time getting pummeled by a Brewers team that on paper isn’t really THAT dominating.

The Brew Crew — or was it the ghosts of Harvey’s Wallbangers? — pounded out 19 hits and 10 runs in completely demolishing the Mets. The scary thing is, the Brewers were only a single or two away from another 3-4 runs, but the Mets wiggled their way out of a few tight situations.

Fernandomania is over — for the moment at least — as Mr. Nieve was pulled from the game with one out in the fourth inning after surrendering 11 hits and 3 runs. But at least the Mets were still in the game at the time of his exit. The bullpen went on to allow seven scores over the next five and two-thirds.

Notes

J.J. Hardy’s batting average coming into this contest: .220. Against the Mets on this night: 1.000. Feeling among Mets fans: priceless.

The Mets mounted a mini-rally in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs against Carlos Villanueva, who was throwing 89-MPH meatballs over the middle of the plate. Trevor Hoffman came in and threw one pitch to induce a double play from Brian Schneider to end the game.

Bright spots: Ryan Church was 4-for-5. Gary Sheffield had three hits, including his tenth homer of the year, which was a monstrous mash to dead center in the top of the ninth.

Father-in-law’s quote of the night:

I can’t even watch this … this is like … TORTURE. It’s painful, it’s really painful. This is the last Mets game I’m watching with you, I’m sorry.

In the sixth inning, Fernando Martinez hit a two-out, mile-high infield popup that was dropped by third baseman Casey McGehee. Ryan Church, who had been on first base, raced all the way to third, but F-Mart only made it to first base. Now, we don’t know for sure whether Martinez busted it out of the box, or watched his popup initially, because Bill “Wizard” Webb didn’t have any camera angles that showed Martinez on the play. The one somewhat telling camera shot showed an overview of the middle of the diamond, with Church about 25 feet from third and no one within 50 feet of second base. Considering how high the ball was hit, and how fast Martinez is, it’s hard to believe F-Mart couldn’t make it to second. Now, please don’t misconstrue — I don’t “have it out” for the youngster. Rather, I condemn the organization’s philosophy in regard to effort and their refusal to properly discipline young players for not hustling. Also, not hearing a peep out of the SNY booth in regard to F-Mart’s effort (or non-effort?) on that play was glaring.

As it was, Brian Schneider hit a booming double to score both runners moments later, so the situation was buried immediately. But it doesn’t erase what may or may not have occurred. And for all the people who continue to say “he already learned his lesson”, I don’t doubt it — I only wonder if what F-Mart “learned” has actually been applied.

And again, I’m not looking to taint F-Mart’s character. The kid DOES hustle — most of the time. Unfortunately, no one has taught him that hustling is not something you make a decision to do depending on the situation (which by the way is something Jose Reyes was never taught, either) — it’s simply something you ALWAYS do. Ask Mark Teixeira.

Next Mets Game

Mets and Brewers do it again on Tuesday night at 8:05 PM. Johan Santana faces Mike Burns.