I found out yesterday that I’m going to Chicago on Labor Day weekend to watch and write about the Mets, and also probably eat a bunch of sandwiches.

If you’re in or near Chicago, you should come hang out. Matt Cerrone is going to put together some sort of party, so join me there as I make so many Blues Brothers references they grow intolerable then poke fun at whichever of Cerrone’s numerous bizarre traveling whims has come up in the last day or so.

If you’re not in or near Chicago, the Mets are offering a package that includes tickets and accommodations.

Obviously Wrigley is awesome and I love Chicago, plus the trip should mean different and hopefully interesting content for this blog.

I haven’t figured out exactly what that means yet, but I’m certain it will involve eating. I know about the fake-ass “pizza” they serve up there, and I recognize that it’s pretty good even if it’s not what pizza should be like, so I’ll probably have some of that.

And I know it’s a sausage town, plus I’m certain to go back to the Billygoat Tavern, both because they serve good burgers and because it’s on Lower Wacker, which cracks me up.

But what I’m really excited about — and what I didn’t know existed the last time I was in the Second City — is the breaded steak sandwich. Look at that thing.

If you know any other Chicago-area delicacies, please let me know. I’m not sure how much food I’ll be able to cram in my face in three days, but hey, when in Rome.

If any other player acted like this he’d be called out as a prima donna. Not Francoeur!  No, he gets damn nigh delusional profiles written about him in national publications about how sad it is that he’s not getting more playing time. And you should really read that link, by the way. It suggests that David Wright and Carlos Beltran would be benched if only there were people who could take their place, but Francoeur — who, sadly, doesn’t have a media horde following him as he approaches his 100th career home run! — deserves to be playing because he’s “the team’s hottest hitter.” With that designation being based on five games. Never mind that just before that stretch he was 0 for his previous 15. And you won’t be surprised to find his agent being quoted in that piece as well.

The selfish P.R. onslaught comes as the Mets are sinking in the standings and their team offensive numbers have plummeted to Cubs/Nats level. If any other player pulled this garbage they’d be excoriated in the press and on talk radio, but I can bet you good money that won’t happen to Francoeur. His alleged misuse will still be cited by those seeking Jerry Manuel’s head (never mind that trying to bench Francoeur is one of the few smart things he’s done this year). He’ll still have his supporters calling in to WFAN arguing that he just needs to be given a chance, notwithstanding the fact that he’s had 3300+ plate appearances which conclusively prove that he is, regrettably, what he is.

– Craig Calcaterra, HardballTalk.

I was heading into the office planning to write almost exactly this, then got here and realized my efforts were futile since Calcaterra is a damn baseball blogging machine hellbent on beating everyone to witty, sabermetrically inclined takedowns of crappy players with spectacular egos.

All I can add is that it’s thrilling, in some messed-up way, that much-lauded “character guys” Jeff Francoeur and Alex Cora have pretty much exposed themselves as anything but, now that the team smartly reduced their roles. And I’m not saying I really blame either one of them: Baseball players should want to play, and probably should go ahead and think they’re really good at baseball.

Plus Cora is probably right that the Mets are emphasizing a so-called “youth movement.” But Cora’s comments imply that a team committed to winning now should keep Alex Cora on its roster, and that’s one of the more delusional things you’ll ever hear uttered by anyone.

Now Jeff Francoeur’s agent is on a press tour to get him traded to a team that will play him more? Fantastic! Good luck with that, Ms. Fletcher. Francoeur — smiles, arm, groundouts and all — has been one of worst everyday players in baseball for the past several years. He belongs nowhere near an everyday Major League lineup, and it seems like just about every team in the league has figured that out by now.

Oh lord, this picture. Good clubhouse guys! (Note: Fernando Tatis is still cool by me.)

The Internet is abuzz with talk of the Mets’ payroll for 2011 and how it will limit the team’s ability to pursue free agents. And it’s true: The Mets have nearly as much as their entire 2010 payroll committed to players for 2011, plus they’ll have arbitration raises to hand out to players like Mike Pelfrey and Angel Pagan.

I’m not here to tell you it’s a good thing. It’s not a good thing.

Granted, the Mets won’t ever say they have no more money to spend,  so we have no idea if they’ll be able to expand their budget in the offseason. But given the way they’re playing it’s hard to expect them to make a whole lot of money in the remainder of the 2010 season. I’m not entirely clear on how a team builds and sets its budget, but I’m sure that an uncompetitive team and a mostly empty stadium are bad ways to bring in more cash to spend on free agents.

That said, there’s a failure in logic, I think, inherent in a lot of the backlash about the Mets’ spending.

The Mets don’t have a lot of money to spend on free agents because of all the money they’ve dished out to free agents. So we may bristle now that they don’t have enough money to pursue Cliff Lee. But if they did have the cash and they signed Cliff Lee, we’d most likely be bristling four years from now about Lee’s crippling contract.

Too often, fans — myself included — forget all the ramifications of free-agent deals. Contracts that seem reasonable in their first years seldom do in their last.

Carlos Beltran, playing like he is, looks like an albatross at $18.5 million for 2011. No matter that he was well worth his contract for most of the past five seasons. Johan Santana, awesome though he has been, seems real expensive at three years and $77.5 moving forward.

This is what happens when you traffic in long-term deals to top-flight talent.

Which is not to say, of course, that teams should never pursue the top-flight talent. They can shoulder the last couple expensive years of a player’s huge contract if they have enough cost-controlled contributors on their roster. Unless they have an infinite payroll, teams cannot sustain themselves if they rely on free agents everywhere.

And that’s, well, that’s what a lot of people have been railing about for a lot of Omar Minaya’s tenure.

I’m not out to defend the Mets for what they’re doing now because it seems very likely that it happened by accident and it hasn’t exactly been rife with shrewd decisions. But what they’re doing now is (sort of, at least) what they should be doing: They are developing and assessing young players who might become deserving Major Leaguers, the type that will prevent them from having to fill out their entire roster with free agents.

As I’ve said, it’s not clear Ruben Tejada or Fernando Martinez should be on the Major League team, and some have argued — perhaps rightfully — that other, closer-to-ready players could have been added to the 40- and 25-man roster in their stead.

But in that pair, plus Josh Thole, Ike Davis, Jon Niese and even less exciting players like Chris Carter and Bobby Parnell, the Mets have a crop of guys who just might help them fill important roster spots on the cheap for the next several seasons. That’s good.

There are bargains to be found in free agency, plus it’s the easiest way to find a total stud for the middle of your lineup or front of your rotation. But due to the way the Mets have played the market over the past few years, they might not be able to play it this year. More on that as it develops, of course.

But for what it’s worth — and I’m just throwing this out there — the Phillies already have $143 million committed for 2011.

Yesterday, I was driving back from New Jersey and listening to the Yankees-Red Sox game, despite the fact that I’m generally indifferent to both teams. My wife asked, “Why do you like baseball?” Considering we’ve been together for almost ten years, it’s amazing she’d never asked me the question in such a plain way.

However, if I had to pick one thing, I’d say it’s because every year, there’s always a chance to see something wonderful. Even the lamest, most failure-filled seasons have transcendent moments. 

– Matthew Callan, scratchbomb.com.

Awesome, awesome piece from Callan. Go read it.