Conspiracy Corner: Is Jeff Really an Endangered Squirrel?

Really?

It seems like as soon as you are born there is at least one person out there who does not like you. There is nothing you can do about it. It sucks!

And if you are a Jeff McNeil, One Prone to Getting ‘The Ass’, you will rub more folks than usual the wrong way.

Both Jeff and Francisco Lindor are baseball players who are in their feelings, and this came to a head the night the two violently got into in the clubhouse last May.

McNeil is now reportedly on the trading block because he pissed off the guy with the 1000-year contract, the one who said at the end of the regular season that he will chat with the owner about the future (can’t find the clip). The one who not coincidentally is from the same hometown and has been a fan since childhood of the recently hired third base coach. The one who comfortably lived a life without McNeil as a double play partner the last third of 2021. You get it.

Jeff might not get traded. Remember Isaac Benjamin Davis? The Mets picked Lucas Duda over him as the starting first baseman to start the 2014 season. Since Davis was a lefty like Duda and they couldn’t be platooned, everyone figured he’d be dealt by Opening Day. Instead, the Sandman waited for a good deal. He ended up holding Davis for two weeks before dealing him to the Pirates for…an artisan jar of farts I think.

The point is the current POBO has shown he has a patient philosophy (to a fault at times.) Teams know the Mets want to move McNeil and will make insulting offers for the All-Star’s services. Billy Eppler probably doesn’t need Sandy Alderson in his ear to remind him he can wait a minute before teams start to not insult his intelligence.

I had this naive fantasy I wouldn't have to read Mets-related media reports with my jeweler’s eye after the Wilpons fucked off. But I’ve been thinking about this for a fortnight now so I respectfully ask you join me over here in the conspiracy corner.

Thanks for joining me! I made some changes to the place. The cork board was creeping people out so…

Anyway, the McNeil is on the trading block news elicited a duh doy from yours truly. Then I figured maybe the rumors were to appease a certain shortstop with the initials F.L. F.L. cannot know for sure what the F.O. is really up to. The front office can assure him they’re trying their darnedest to deal the Squirrel away and then just casually hear some offers before letting it drop. Eppler and the Sandman might figure Lindor and McNeil co-existed for almost five months after their dust-up, and McNeil is a really good baseball player who can play several positions and is liked by Pete Alonso and seemingly tolerated by Jacob deGrom, the other two Mets who presumably can influence personnel decisions. Maybe this was all to tell Lindor through the press — they couldn’t directly because of the lockout — that they are going to try. It does not mean they will truly try. They might just try to try.

BWDIK.