There's blood in the water, and even the dolphins are starting to get hungry. That's the feeling around Shea Stadium these days. From ownership to
the fan base, there is a general disgust about the lack of consistency
the New York Mets have exhibited since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers
in the 2006 NLDS.
The Mets' bats went cold against the Cardinals, the whole team took a
collective nap in the second half of last year, and despite a cacophony
of rhetoric to the contrary, the collapse of 2007 is alive and well in
the minds of those who witnessed it.
Yeah, I'm bringing up last year again. Just like the guys that
(rightfully) bring up Kazmir every so often. Or others that still
are in mourning that Seaver won his 300th game in Yankee Stadium
wearing South Side pajamas.
Know what? That's why I never criticize Mets fans for booing. For
apathy, sure. But booing? Hell, the Met fan has every right to boo
their damn heads off. Know why? Because if this team had Mike
Jacobs, Carlos Gomez, Brian Bannister and Matt Lindstrom on it and were
struggling around the .500 mark, they wouldn't be. Why? Because the
expectations wouldn't be “World Series or Bust”. Because the Mets fan
base WILL endure rebuilding, if it's done with youth and scrappiness.
There is no one culprit for this debacle that is unfolding this summer.
The Wilpons, GM Omar Minaya, skipper Willie Randolph, pitching coach
Rick Peterson and hitting coach Howard Johnson, and the folks that are
supposed to be running the Mets farm system are all at fault in one
way, shape or form.
That's why everyone should keep their job. What was is that Kevin
Costner's Eliot Ness said? “Keep fighting until the fighting is done”.
Yep, that right. Send a real message to this underachieving group,
that according to Metsblog's Matt Cerrone is not happy, either:
…i have talked with a few agents who keep in touch with players, who
knows players, i have talked with people connected to the team, people
connected to its players, etc., and the sense i get is that there are
several people on this team – key players – who are sick of the
pressure, sick of the booing, sick of the media, sick of New York, and,
if the team is winning it is tolerable, but, if the team is losing,
they just can’t take it…
Yeah, it's the media and the fans' fault that Carlos Delgado is a shell
of his former self (so was Jason Giambi a few weeks ago), and that
Carlos Beltran's stats look more like Melky Cabrera's. It's the
media's fault that Moises Alou's legs keep betraying him. Oh, and
let's not forget the demands from the fans to sign Luis Castillo to a
four-year contract.
We're all to blame for a new stadium that will sit 10,000 less people
and a 30% percent price increase. Look in the mirror, people. It's
your boos that have done this! Look in the mirror, fellow scribes,
your lack of support for a sub-.500 team with a $100 million-plus
payroll is the source for its sluggish performance to date!
One f the things I like best about Fred and Jeff Wilpon is that they
are passionate baseball fans. They are good guys that believe in
trying to build a inner “the right way”, and their commitment to Minaya
and Randolph through last year's demise and this year's bumbling start
are commendable.
However, the execution of the “right way” often falls short of its
intended goal, and whether it's a lack of patience, true comprehension
or a complete disconnect from he fan base they once counted themselves
as members of, things are a mess. And unless something dramatic
happens, this could be the 1992 Mets all over again. Ironically,
Randolph was a member of the that team, who by season's end, were one
of the most despised Mets teams ever.
Only the presence of Pedro Martinez (barring another injury), David
Wright, Jose Reyes and Johan Santana prevents that, but the Wilpons
cannot afford to wait much longer for things turn around.
I echo another voice from “The Untouchables”, when I ask “What are you prepared to do?”
In 2003, the Mets finally fired Steve Phillips. They replaced him with
interim GM Jim Duquette, who is wrongfully tagged with being the guy
that traded Scott Kazmir in his only full season as GM in 2004. His
replacement was Minaya.
I really like Omar Minaya. I can't think of many baseball execs I feel
comfortable enough to chit-chat about with, but he's one of them.
Only lately, when the Mets' spin cycle requires its employees to speak
in suit-speak, does he ever sound disingenuous.
However, as I have stated many times before, if the Mets do not make
the postseason in 2008, it's time to clean house. Completely and
utterly. You simply cannot justify keeping anyone in place that
supervised this debacle. Keep Santana, Wright, Reyes (and no, Mike and
The Mad Dog, you do not have to trade Reyes to “change the face of the
team”) and a couple of the other guys like Church, and move on.
There's blood in the water, and even the dolphins are starting to get hungry. That's the feeling around Shea Stadium these days. From ownership to
the fan base, there is a general disgust about the lack of consistency
the New York Mets have exhibited since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers
in the 2006 NLDS.