None-the-less it was and the All Star Game is a fun time for the players. So let him have fun. Punishing himself isn’t going to help his game. He needs to get out of his head for a few days — along with the rest of the team. It’s not like the WBC. It’s a few innings of a game that means little (especially to the Mets the way they’ve been playing.)

A quick note on Ollie: Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if he’s lights out. Santana lost giving up 2 runs on Sunday. Unless he learned to hit 300 down in the minors, he’s not going to be much of a help one way or another.

Earned or not, he will make the most of the opportunity, i will never forget the fact that he almost pitched the 16th inning of last year’s game. That shows he will do what it takes to help any team that he is on, and as fans we need to recognize that loyalty.

This year he was injured in the WBC, but did not miss playing time and took great pride in playing for Team USA and said that he would never have played hurt if he thought it would ruin his chances of playing for the Mets on Opening Day.

And I actually do know what this game means to some people, because I know DW’s brother and have met him a couple a times, and he DOES take it as an honor and wants to do whatever it takes to please the fans. Trust me, this is big to him, but like I said, the man needs a break and sometimes you have to swallow your pride and put your commitments to your franchise ahead of your commitments to the fans.

There isn’t a fan on here that wouldn’t want him to come back from the ASB fully rested and crushing the ball again…

What do you people think happens when players not in the AS game “go home and rest?” Do you think they climb into a tub of ice for 3 days? Do you think they induce hibernation?

The All-Star game is an exhibition. It is 2 days for the players in the game to take a break from the day to day grind, hang out with their peers, and be showcased for all of baseball fans. If you think that playing 4 innings of an exhibition and otherwise having fun and getting his mind off the Mets grind is somehow bad for Wright..well I don’t know what to tell you. The way I see it, if he gos home he’s going to sit and agonize over the missed opportunities of the first half.

It’s a distraction. Distractions are good.

But it exists, and netither you nor I have any idea what it means to the players to be there. We do know that it affects things like salary, and in career evaluation.

If you were among the best in the world at your job, despite working for a sub-par company, and you were being honored as such with the opportunity to go to an exclusive gathering of other elites, would you turn that down so you could sit at home instead? Because a bunch of people who have no bearing on your job at all thought it was a good idea? No way.

The man needs a break…give it to him.

What’s more important, Wright playing the ASG and continuing to be tired and slump? Or Wright using those 3 days to relax at his Manhattan apartment and watch it on his giant HDTV?

I say having a rested Wright after the AS break is more important to the team that pays him, the NEW YORK METS. He is not paid by MLB, he is paid by the Wilpons…his obligation is to them, not us.

As for trading Castillo, you make it sound so easy…nobody wanted his contract, so it was impossible. This offseason they can probably just cut him, and yes, they should sign Hudson, which is what I wanted last offseason. Hudson is a producer, and All-Star, a GG-caliber 2B, and a leader. He DOES remind me a lot of Cliff Floyd, HTWZ.

Manny? Eh, I wouldn’t have minded him, but I’m not sad we didn’t get him. I have nothing against him (other than the fact that he is a cheater) as a player, but I think this team can win without his enormous contract.

I say go after Adam Dunn, sign Hudson this offseason (he already wants to be a Met), and keep developing guys like Holt, Mejia, Davis, Thole, Flores, etc. I think Holt, Mejia, and Thole will be in the big leagues at some point in 2010, you watch. There is a HUGE youth movement coming up, and Omar deserves some credit for it. His signings and draft picks are all starting to surface:

Niese, Parnell, Kunz, Murphy, Pelfrey, Niesen, Evans, F-Mart, Mejia, Holt, Davis, Thole, etc…