Harper: New York Mets never had shot at Roy Halladay, John Lackey on Black Monday

Or as that hedging hurler of junk, Paul-John Tudor Jones, once said…“It doesn’t make any difference whether it’s pork bellies or Yoo-hoo.”

Let’s face it, the Mets are seen in baseball circles as losers these days, a team full of holes going into next season with a lame-duck manager and a GM already on the hot seat.

Compared to the Red Sox and Phillies, then, what exactly is there to like about them?

...In any case, while it’s not clear how much stock to put in reports that the Jays would have been open to trading Halladay to the Mets had GM Omar Minaya been willing to give up Jose Reyes, a major league GM with knowledge of the situation said it’s irrelevant.

“Halladay wasn’t going to the Mets,” the GM said. “His people were letting everyone know he was only going to a winner - the Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, or maybe the Angels, although he wanted to be in the East because he lives in Florida.

“The problem for the Mets is that after everything that happened to them last year - the injuries, the record, the front office controversies - they’re just not very appealing to star players who have choices.”