Bengie Molina is a Retard

And yes, when I use the word “retard” I understand I risk incurring the wrath of failed Vice Presidential candidate and bailer-outer as Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who has taken it upon herself to take ownership of the word.

Speaking of Palin, it was very interesting that when White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used the word, she called on him to be fired. But when Rush Limbaugh said it, she said he was being “satirical.” And then there was her reaction to the very funny “Family Guy” Down syndrome episode (left) that poked fun at Palin (and clearly not her son Trig, which Palin doesn’t seem to understand). On her Facebook page, she addressed her criticism to “Fox Hollywood,” not Fox, which pays her to appear on Fox News. And instead of criticizing Fox on her own, which she won’t do because they sign her paychecks, she quotes her daughter saying bad things about the show. Sarah Palin is truly a disgusting human being.

Anyway, back to Molina and his retardation. I suspected this in January when he spurned the Mets offer and resigned with the Giants. He said the Mets never really wanted him, despite the fact they offered him more money than the Giants. I’ll say that again — the Mets offered more money than the Giants.

Now he just won’t shut up about it. Here’s what he told the Daily News on Thursday:

“Yesterday, I was talking to my cousin, she’s from New York, and she said, ‘Do you think they just did it for the heck of it, just so people don’t say they didn’t (try to make a big signing)?’ In my opinion, I think they did, because I think if they really wanted me, they would have made a better offer so I could be happy to go to New York. … If they would’ve offered me two years, I would’ve been there already. It didn’t work out, and I’m very happy I stayed on the West Coast.”

I’ll say it again, because sometimes you have to repeat things with retards, and sometimes you have to shout: THE METS OFFERED YOU MORE MONEY. I understand Molina didn’t want to move his family across the country with just a one-year commitment from the Mets. That’s admirable, and very non-retarded behavior. But to keep saying the Mets didn’t want him despite offering the most money is just ridiculous.

The Mets offering him two years when no one else did would have been bidding against themselves, always a stupid move. It’s also a stupid move to sign a 35-year-old slow-footed catcher to a two year deal when there is a promising youngster (Josh Thole) who should be ready in 2011.

The Mets have turned the page on Molina. Why can’t he? Oh yeah, that’s right, he’s retarded.

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In other news, the Cincinnati Reds may or may not be interested in Gary Matthews, Jr., depending on which Tweet you believe. Thursday night ESPN’s Buster Olney went on Twitter to say:

Heard this: The Reds are interested in acquiring Gary Matthews, Jr. from the Mets in the event Angel Pagan wins NY’s CF job (as expected).

But an hour later, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer used the annoying, useless website to write:

source on Gary Matthews Jr.: Zero interest. Listed 5 OFs in camp he’d take over Matthews.

It would be nice if the Mets could flip Matthews for someone useful, considering he’ll start the season as a fourth outfielder if Pagan wins the job, and a fifth outfielder when Carlos Beltran comes back. Maybe then the Mets can pull off my much written-about deal involving Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang and Brandon Phillips. Probably not going to happen, though.

And by the way, I love how writers now use Twitter to report on every little rumor they hear. Then when it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t count because they didn’t write it in their columns. Shouldn’t reporters be held accountable for what they post on Twitter, just like they are accountable for what they write in their newspapers or websites?

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Speaking of newspaper columnists, Jay Greenberg of the New York Post wrote his annual “Best/Worst” column on New York athletes this week. I’ve never been a big fan of Greenberg’s. I just don’t like his writing style or his opinions. But I do like lists, so I read this one. And it reinforced my feelings on him. One of his “Most Overrated” athletes was Jason Bay.

Let’s start with the obvious fact — Bay has not played a single game as a New York athlete. Why not wait until you actually watch him before saying he’s overrated?

Then Greenberg writes the Mets signed Bay after a “career year.” That is just a ridiculous statement. People may have a different definition of “career year.” But what it generally means is that a player puts together a great year that is out of the norm of his usual production, and then is unlikely to match that production again.

To me, the classic “career year” signing was Adrian Beltre. The Dodgers waited six disappointing years for this guy to live up to his potential, and then he finally did in 2004, leading the league with 48 homers, driving in 121 runs, and batting .334 — by far career highs. He turned that one year into a five year, $64 million contract with the Mariners. In those five years, he never topped 26 home runs, never drove in 100 runs, never batted above .276. Somehow the Red Sox gave him $10 million for 2010. But that was a “career year.”

Now let’s look at Jason Bay’s alleged “career year.” He hit 36 home runs and had 119 RBIs — both career highs. But starting with the 2005 season, Bay hit 32, 35, 21 and 31 homers, so 36 is not an outlandish total for him. His RBIs in those seasons were 101, 109, 84 and 101, so again 119 is not out of the ordinary.

Bay hit .267 last season — a career low, and 13 points below his .280 lifetime average. How can a guy have a career year when he hits for the lowest batting average of that career?

Like many columnists, Greenberg is not giving the Mets enough credit for signing Bay. No, he is not the superstar game-changer that Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Howard are. But he is a very good player who can be a key cog on this Mets team, or any other team, for that matter. Let’s give the guy a break and actually watch him before trashing him.

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Oh yeah, and the Mets have shut down Jose Reyes and sent him to New York for tests on a potentially hyperactive thyroid. Happy times.