Paul Lo Duca doesn’t think much of the Mets and even less of their former GM.
Lo Duca slammed Mets catchers Travis d’Arnaud and Anthony Recker in a WFAN interview on Friday.
“I could hit better left-handed than the schmucks they’ve got there now,” said the righty-swinging Lo Duca, who is also a horse racing analyst and was booked on the show to preview the Belmont Stakes.
D’Arnaud, a top prospect acquired in the R.A. Dickey deal, is hitting .184 and Recker is right on the Mendoza Line at .200. That does make Lo Duca’s two years at Shea — he hit .318 in 2006 and .272 in 2007 — look Ruth-ian.
But Lo Duca, who was named in the Mitchell Report in 2007, saved most of his frustration for Omar Minaya. The former Mets GM acquired the veteran catcher from the Marlins for two minor leaguers before the 2006 season.
“The issue that the Mets have is that after 2006 and 2007, when we all were there … they stuck their hopes in a guy that, let’s be honest, had no clue what was going on,” said Lo Duca, who signed with the Nationals before the 2008 season.
“None. The guy was an idiot. And he ended up making the franchise go backwards. Where the Mets have always made the mistake is they’ve always settled for mediocrity. As a Mets fan, I’m done with it. Besides ’06 and ’07, give me some other years besides 2000 … And then they go build this ballpark that’s mammoth, and your franchise player [David Wright] is a hitting star who has four home runs!”