Well, here's my bottom line, as entertaining as all of this is:
1. Just because a player struggles in location A, is traded to location B, and immediately succeeds, does NOT automatically follow they were goldbricking or sandbagging or any other euphemism to indicate a less-than-ideal effort. Statistics prove that employees who are happy where they work are more productive and less prone to absenteeism. So before you criticize a guy who isn't happy where he is, and doesn't seem to be putting out 100%, consider what YOU would do in the same situation. And be honest about it with yourself, even if not with me.
2. Hating a team more than you like your own team (and I've seen a ton of it on here) is an interesting case of self-loathing that I don't believe I've seen outside of Yankees fans and Red Sox fans. (And, admittedly, a distressingly increasing number of my fellow Mets fans.) In short, if your philosophy is "My favorite teams are my team and whoever is playing my team's supposed rival", you are not a true fan. At the very least, you should be able to locate a player on every other team's roster that makes you say, "Man, I wish he played for us." Yes, even your blood-rival. (Myself, I have Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard envy...to say nothing of the man-crush I have on Cole Hamels.)
3. In order to have a rivalry, both sides have to acknowledge it. Trust me when I say that Mets fans are FAR more concerned with the Braves and Phillies than they are with the Marlins and Nats. And no, place in the standings has NOTHING to do with it. If Mets fans considered the Expos/Nats a rival, we'd want to destroy you guys, and I never would have accepted Minty's invitation. No, I want the Nats to win the division. I want them to get really good. I want people to look at the NL East and say, "wow...there just isn't a bad team in that division." It's more fun that way, n'est ce pas?
4. There is no honor in defeating an opponent you do not respect.
But that's just my opinion....
LGT
