Good swap

Let's get this out of the way before I get to the good stuff. The Knicks suck. Not stink. They suck. Seven losses in a row. First game back at home tonight after four losses on the road. And they lose to the not-so-powerful Golden State Warriors 108-82. And they committed 29 turnovers and got booed right off the court. Isiah Thomas cannot get his sexually harrassing carcass out of here fast enough.

Well, the Mets have their catcher. They traded Guillermo Mota to Milwaukee today for Johnny Estrada. I'm feeling good about this move. First of all, Mota was a tremendous headache. It bothered all of us that Mr. Full Autonomy gave this guy, a caught steroid user, a 2 year guaranteed contract. And he rewarded us with a 5.76 ERA and plenty of ageda. I'm amazed anyone took this guy.

As for Estrada, this could work well. In 120 games with the Brewers last season, he hit .278 with 10 homers and 54 RBI. And he's hit .300 three different seasons and he's 31 years old. That's the good. Two bad points. He threw out just 7.6 percent of runners attempting to steal, the worst among NL catchers. He also underwent arthroscopic surgery on October 4 to repair a torn medical meniscus in his left knee. He also had a bone spur removed from his right elbow.

I have a rather personal memory of the man. I went to the Mets-Brewers game in August. In that game, a 12-4 Mets laugher, Estrada got into a huge fight with Brewers manager Ned Yost in the dugout. And to think he's joining his fifth team in eight years. Not a great sign. But if he's healthy and splitting time with Ramon Castro, I think this will be a solid trade.

But I'm going to jump on the Mets fans who continue to complain that getting Johnny Estrada was about Omar Minaya wanting more Latin players. The bottom line is winning. Omar knows his reputation depends on winning, not making himself comfortable by acquiring more people of his race. And more than half of all major league players are Latin. I understand a lot of people are disappointed about losing Paul LoDuca. But to say this change was a race move is utterly stupid.

And here's a song pick. This is for Mr. Tom Glavine, now officially on his way back to Atlanta after his pathetic finish as a Met. "Midnight Train To Georgia" Gladys Knight and the Pips...

"He's leaving! Leaving!" The only difference is we as Met fans were the ones who found out the hard way that dreams don't always come true. Uh uh. No. Uh uh.