life's not fair

The Mets are not being fair to Paul Lo Duca. In a Sunday article for the New York Daily News this week, Mets beat writer Adam Rubin reports that the Mets front office "never fully embraced" the trade that brought Lo Duca to New York and has been "paving the way" to replace Lo Duca when the Met catcher's contract expires at the end of this season. Rubin's article reports that the Mets right now may be "laying the groundwork" for a trade this winter to pick up Pittsburgh catcher Ronny Paulino. Who?

Granted, Lo Duca is 35 years old. One could make the case that the Mets need to get rid of Paulie anyway and grab a younger catching replacement. Ronny Paulino looks like a good choice - the Pirates' backstop is hitting .231 this season with 24 RBIs and a gargantuan .346 slugging percentage. Seems like a no-brainer.

Not

Really though. Why Paul Lo Duca? This guy has been the heart and soul the last two years of a Mets team that has quickly become the class of the National League. The kind of team that other teams gun for. A team that Lo Duca has been right at the center of.

Remember Opening Day 2006? Our self-described "magician" of a catcher played a magic trick on Alfonso Soriano and the Washington Nationals, dropping the ball on a key play at the plate in the 8th inning but picking it up in time to hide the drop from the Home Plate Umpire and help seal a one-run victory for the Mets that kicked off and in many ways set the tone for last year's amazin' season.

This play demonstrated why it's good to have a guy like Lo Duca on your team

It's just frustrating to see a Mets team that has for the most part said and done all the right things the past couple of years throw such an integral part of the current ball club under the bus and in doing so, frankly, diminish what he brings to the team. While his teammates have supported him, the Mets' brass have largely let Lo Duca get crucified by the media for his equipment-throwing tirade a couple weeks back - an equipment throwing tirade that no one seems to credit for lighting a bit of a fire under what was then a very flat and slumping Mets team - and for remarks of Lo Duca's last week that were grossly misconstrued to infer that he is a racist. So much for the fact that Julio Franco, Jose Valentin, and Carlos Delgado all spoke out in defense of Lo Duca and the positive veteran leadership he brings to the team.

The Mets gave twin 40 year-olds Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez new contracts at the end of last season because both were important components of last year's team and were considered to be critical to the Mets' immediate future. In other words, if the team valued Lo Duca enough, his age wouldn't get in the way of giving him a one or two year contract extension to have him stay on and continue to be a solid catcher and fiery clubhouse presence until a prospect such as Francisco Pena or somebody else in the Mets' minor league system is ready to take over behind the dish at Citi Field.

The Mets should really reconsider the manner in which they're treating Paul Lo Duca. Paulie's a Brooklyn-born native son who seemed to fit in perfectly with the team until all of this recent nonsense, and the Mets will be making a big mistake if they continue to overlook and undervalue his contributions.

(Photos courtesy of gettyimages)