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The Kris Benson trade has been a mystery to baseball people in that Mets general manager Omar Minaya had already traded starting pitcher Jae Seo for a reliever and had to know he was leaving himself thin in the rotation by surrendering a second starter in short order.
It was a mystery, until now.
Although the Mets aren't going to get into it publicly, Minaya ultimately believed Anna Benson left him little choice. It wasn't necessarily because of her R-rated portrayal of Mrs. Claus at the kids Christmas party (though that didn't help), but actually a few comments she made, especially one about the makeup of the team.
Benson's ticket out of town was written when Ms. Benson, while protesting the Mets' preference she not pose for Playboy, was quoted criticizing Carlos Delgado for his previous political stand not to stand for "God Bless America" and particularly for grousing that Minaya was putting together an "all-Latin team."
Although that "all-Latin" quote went under the radar at the time, it is patently rude, potentially divisive and borderline racist, and it upset Mets people who were tiring of such charges. Minaya made the right call, even if it left him a starter short for now.
Minaya made the right call even if the trade looks slightly worse today, with Benson working hard with new Orioles pitching coach Leo Mazzone on perfecting Tom Glavine's changeup in Orioles camp, and Jorge Julio still not in Mets camp because of visa troubles (he's due in today).
Glavine credits Leo
Incidentally, Glavine gives Mazzone better reviews than we've heard from John Smoltz, who opined there will be no dropoff without Mazzone. "Internally, some people probably felt it was time for a change. I'd venture to say some people felt he got too much credit," said Glavine, who isn't one of those people. "He was a big help in me becoming the successful pitcher I was."
Glavine said he'd like to play at least two more years, and can't see himself pitching for anyone but the Mets or Braves. He has 275 wins and looks like a Hall of Famer from here. But as he said, "I'd like to take the guesswork out of it."
X marks the spot
While the Mets are portraying rightfield as an open competition, club insiders see Xavier Nady as having the edge. They did trade Mike Cameron for him, after all.
Baseball America grades outfielder Lastings Milledge as baseball's ninth best prospect and righthander Mike Pelfrey 36th best. Righthander Philip Hughes is the top Yankees prospect at No. 39, while reliever Craig Hansen, a Red Sox prospect from Glen Cove who pitched at St. John's, ranks 54th on the list.
Cliff Floyd is the one who's wowing them in Mets camp so far with big drives.
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