Players' Union Files Grievance For Frankie Knuckles

The Associated Press is reporting that the Players Association has filed a grievance against the New York Mets and the office of the commissioner. In their complaint, they are questioning how the situation with the closer/Lucha Libre aficionado has been handled by the Mets.

For those of you who have not heard or are simply choosing to ignore the story because you're too upset that the Mets would lose a game last night in which Johan Santana was matched up against Mets' castoff Nelson Figueroa, Francisco Rodriguez went Met-ieval on his girlfriend's father's @$$ (and by @$$, I mean his face). In doing so, he tore a ligament in his right thumb (that's on his pitching hand, boys and girls), requiring season-ending surgery.

Let's review this together, for all the members of the jury in attendance:

Exhibit A:
Francisco Rodriguez assaults the grandfather of his children.

Exhibit 2:
He does so at Citi Field, his place of employment.

Exhibit Tres:
The "alleged" assault takes place in full view of teammates, their young children, members of the media...or as you and I might call them, EYEWITNESSES.

Exhibit IV:
He causes a season-ending injury to himself during said "alleged" incident.

Responding to the incident, the Mets decided to place Francisco Rodriguez on the disqualified list. As a result, K-Rod will not be paid for as long as he is out with his injury and his contract will become non-guaranteed, meaning his salary for 2011 might go right back into the Wilpon's pockets if they choose to do so.

Sounds fine and dandy, right? After all, the Volatile Venezuelan was arraigned for a crime he admitted doing. So it's buh-bye for K-Rod, right?

NOT SO FAST!!

The union says that wouldn't be fair to Frankie Knuckles if the Mets converted his contract to a non-guaranteed deal. No, their player should be paid millions of dollars while recovering from an injury he suffered while in the act of committing a crime (Oops! I mean an "alleged" crime) against a family member at his place of employment in front of the media who could then report firsthand on the public relations nightmare he just created.

Assuming the case isn't settled and has to go before an arbitrator, I fully expect the Mets to win this case. But in the event that the MLBPA wins the case for K-Rod, I have a bit of advice for the Mets' soon-to-be former closer.

Buy yourself a wheelbarrow with your pocket change. Why? Because you're going to need it to transport the millions of dollars you'll have to cough up for your "father-in-law" once he sues your save-blowing, high-pitch-throwing @$$ for "allegedly" assaulting him.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, K-Rod. And if it does, don't hit it back. You've caused enough trouble with your "greatest hits" as it is!

The "K" In K-Rod Stands For Kick-Ass

After today's 5-2 loss to the Washington Nationals, I was going to write a blog about Johan Santana temporarily giving up his lead role in Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts to become an honorary Rainout.

Then my thoughts turned to writing about Josh Willingham one-upping Willy Taveras by driving in all five Washington runs one day after Taveras drove in all four runs scored by the Nationals in yesterday's 4-3 loss.

Instead, this is going to be a positive blog. I know it's hard to say anything positive about the Mets after completing a 2-4 homestand against the Marlins and Nationals, especially when they needed as many victories as possible heading into a tough road trip in Colorado and St. Louis against two of last season's National League playoff teams.

But something interesting happened in the ninth inning when Francisco Rodriguez faced Willie Harris. Harris came into the game in the eighth inning as part of a double switch for starting leftfielder Josh Willingham. With one out and no one on base in the ninth inning, Harris came up to bat. After a called first strike, the next pitch hit Willie Harris. Both benches emptied when K-Rod and Harris exchanged words near first base.

To this, I say... IT'S ABOUT ROOTIN' TOOTIN' TIME!

Willie Harris has been a defensive thorn in the Mets side. On Saturday, for the third time in four seasons, a spectacular defensive play by Harris cost the Mets a potential victory when he robbed Rod Barajas of a potential game-winning hit with the bases loaded and two outs.

Although K-Rod will never admit it for fear of a suspension, today's incident was more than likely a message sent to Harris that the Mets were not too pleased with his continued game-changing catches.

I'm glad Frankie didn't watch the Shawn Estes Instructional Video on how to hit batters (available on Betamax only). By giving Willie Harris a figurative kick in the @$$, perhaps the Nationals' outfielder will be a tad slower the next a Met hits a ball that he has to race for to catch. At the very least, Rodriguez showed that the Mets were fed up with the bad karma surrounding them and took it upon himself to take action.

Maybe this will fire up the Mets on their upcoming road trip. Maybe it'll make Willie Harris remember that his last name isn't Mays when he takes the field against the Mets. Whatever the case, it's about time that someone took the initiative to send a message to the Nationals that they were done with being beat up by a team that's supposedly inferior to them.

K-Rod, I tip my blue Mets cap to you. You have just become one of my favorite Mets. Let's hope other players take your lead and get fired up so that the team can kick the @$$e$ of the rest of the National League.