Join in the new debate: “Should the Mets claim Manny Ramirez?”

No. Thanks for joining us on another edition of Simple Answers to Stupid Questions.

– Billy Pilgrim, comments section here.

First of all: So it goes.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’ll point out that it’s not a stupid answer. Or really even that stupid of a question, just kind of an irritating one. If the Mets were really anywhere close to contention and shouldering Jeff Francoeur’s “offense” in a corner outfield spot, with Jason Bay looking more and more like he won’t be back this seaosn, then yeah, it’d be worth at least considering picking up Manny, his outstanding bat, and all the significantly less outstanding things that go along with them.

But it’s not going to happen, so it’s not really even a conversation worth having. No way the Mets are going to take on the salary or the headache. Would I rather see Manny man a corner outfield spot for the Mets the rest of the way than Francoeur? Yes. But I’d also rather see Lucas Duda, Nick Evans, Chris Carter or our summer intern Adam, and all those guys might actually offer the club something in the future.

During the Bob Ojeda chat last night, some guy kept asking if the Mets should or would get Manny. I was moderating and I didn’t put the question through. I could have, I guess, but there were many more interesting questions — I try to avoid the transaction questions — and I didn’t want to open up the whole can of Manny nonsense.

The guy kept going, though, and kept getting progressively angrier, eventually naming Jeff Wilpon as the man responsible for his question not being put through to Ojeda.

If he could have seen the real-life chat environs, he would have witnessed me and Bob Ojeda sitting in the SNY Newsroom, in the bowels below the SNY studio, chatting with Gary Apple and a couple of show producers and watching the game. Bob ate nachos as I fired questions at him and transcribed. It’s about the least conspiratorial process imaginable.