So Manny Nice Thoughts

With Oliver Perez now in place as the No. 4 starter at $12 million per year( an expensive No. 4) in the rotation, the Mets seem to have secured their pieces for the upcoming season.

Fans, however, will clamor for more.They will picket outside Citi Field, they will call talk show radio and blast everyone in the Mets organization—from the bat boy to CEO Jeff Wilpon's mother—but, it will not matter because these are your New York Mets in 2009.

Although, fans will be disappointed, Omar Minaya accomplished everything he set out to do this offseason. He wanted to sign Fernando Tatis to platoon with Daniel Murphy. He wanted to vastly remake the bullpen, which he did with success in acquiring JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez. He also signed Tim Redding to keep the No. 5 seat warm for Jonathan Niese.

Now, very few moves may be in the works. A tweak here and there, but the Mets will not land Manny Ramirez. Wilpon will never allow Ramirez to play in Flushing for the Mets.

Is it possible to conceive that Fred Wilpon—who tossed out Chris Benson because Benson's wife once wore a Santa outfit that was too revealing—will take a $25 million-a-year chance on Manny Ramirez?

That is a lot of money for a man who decides when, and how hard, he is going to play.

The truth is, Mets' fans are the ones who have blown this offseason out of proportion. It's part of the inferiority complex that is associated with being a Mets' fan. It stems from constantly being overshadowed by the Yankees—a team that is willing to sell its very soul for a chance at glory. 

So, in all honesty, there will be no Manny, there will be no Bobby Abreu, and there won't even be an Adam Dunn. Ben Sheets fell off the radar before it had time to blip.

The bullpen is set, the lineup is in place, and the rotation will begin tossing in a few short days.

As a Mets fan, I have learned not to sell myself short. I can dream all I want, but I know for a fact that Christmas presents don't come on Easter.