As someone who works (and yes, I use that “work” word in the loosest of possible senses) in the Staffing industry I generally find myself reading through the Business section of the pitiful Santa Barbara News-Press looking to see what sad cross-section of the nation’s workforce is the next to be chopped. The poor bastards who have taken it on the chin are generally the next ones to show up at my front door the following day, looking for some sort of employment (invariably always wanting to stay in the same dying industry that they just left) to get them through to the next unemployment check. At this point we’re all acutely aware of the chaos surrounding the financial services sector so it was 0% surprising when Citigroup announced it would be cutting 52,000 jobs over the next year (the second largest announced layoff in the history of layoffs, it should be noted) while they attempt to right-size their slumping operation. And who better than Citigroup to stamp their name onto the Mets’ shiny new ballpark, a synergistic match made in choke-artist heaven? Citi’s therefore unsurprising decision to keep their commitment to paying for the naming rights to The Stadium Formerly Known as Shea at a cost of $400 million should not come as a shock. But it still does. If that $400,000,000 were spread out over the 52,000 downsized employees it would work out to just about $7,700 per employee.

G Slim and I (and probably the majority of sports talk radio) were debating about this the other day and I can’t even pick a side to land on. Yes, I can understand the need for increased marketing efforts (especially during a recession—the impulse is always to cut back spending on advertising but that’s primarily when you actually need it) but if you’re some 35-year-old office schlub with a wife, kid and mortgage making $50k a year and you know you’re on the REDUNDANCY list how do you feel about Citi’s Great Marketing Strategy then? What if you’re that guy AND you’re a Mets fan? Like the pain of two straight September fades isn’t crushing enough, now you’ve got to update your resume and go bang on some doors? It’s not like Wall Street (or any other street for that matter) is exactly awash with extra opportunities right now; wouldn’t an extra 7k lessen the sting of losing a job? Who is making these decisions? According to this page it’s someone named Vikram Pandit but how do we know it isn’t Scrooge McDuck? What the hell is going on around here?

And is it just me or is this Mets team a disappointment? The addition of Johan Santana was expected to right the ship after their stunning collapse last year and he has, for the most part, lived up to his end of the bargain with an ERA under 3.00 and allowing just one base runner per inning. The rest of the staff has been uneven—Maine and Perez have been a shade better than mediocre and they have obviously gotten nothing out of Pedro but where is the offense? Their run differential currently stands at –1 and they are averaging a mere 4.53 runs per game, less than the Florida Marlins, who are basically Hanley Ramirez + 7 League Average Guys. The Mets are near the bottom of the League in Batting Average, OPS and Slugging Percentage but oddly enough their collective OBP currently sits at a respectable sixth overall, which means there are a lot of runners left stranded on the basepaths. Sure we’re only a month into the season but when it is too late to use the “Hey, it’s still early!” excuse? Delgado looks like a shell of his former self at the plate, which is understandable seeing as how he is on the wrong side of 35 but what’s the deal with Beltran and Reyes? It’s possible the 2007 hangover is still lingering around this club but if things don’t change soon we will likely see the vultures reappear over Willie Randolph’s head.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep enjoying the strong play from the Dodgers who currently trail the D-Backs by 3 games after Greg’s man-crush Max Scherzer got blowed up last night.