The GM is smarter than his players

Although Omar Minaya hasn't shown much smarts in trying to assemble a team of winning players, at least he's bright enough to recognize a winner when one slaps him around. Unlike his players Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran, who have proclaimed the Mets the team to beat despite all the contradicting evidence, Minaya stuck to the facts:

"We're not better than them, no," Minaya said of the Mets' NL East rivals. "Right now, they're world champions.

"The only way you get to be better than them is to beat them. You've got to go out there and get it done. You don't win championships on paper. I've never believed in that. Do I think we've improved our club? Yes. But the bottom line is the Phillies have won the World Series and they won the division twice. They have a good team and the experience of being in playoffs and World Series - that is huge. So we have a lot of work to do."

Omar Minaya: a gracious loser. But still a loser.

In other news: Nothing doing yet with Mark Teixeira, and Chase "f---king" Utley might have local broadcasters in trouble.

***UPDATE***: There may be a deal tonight.