Mets MalaiseThere is a feeling of pessimism surrounding the New York Mets these days. This admittedly provides, in a sense, a bit of comfort for me, as I am no longer the lonely Met fan skeptical about his team and its direction.
For too long, Willie Randolph's ineptitude was excused and ignored. The Mets were in first place throughout most of 2006 and 2007, and even after he was completely outmanaged by Tony Larussa in the 2006 NLCS, the nonsensical idea that Randolph must be doing something right took hold, aided, as usual, by a media whose priorities have nothing to do with whether the Mets are winning.
Omar Minaya had a stunningly horrible offseason last year, yet for similar reasons, his own failures were swept under the rug.
Minaya even got credit for trading Guillermo Mota, as though it wasn't Omar who signed Mota last offseason.
Someone must have told Minaya the story about the poor man in a small house whose rabbi tells him to bring a donkey into his house.
More than two months after the Mets' collapse, there is still little reason to look forward to spring training. The Braves and Phillies are getting better, while the Mets have added Brian Schneider's .235 batting average and are thinking about signing Livan Hernandez and his 4.93 ERA.
Even if the Mets do add a front-line starter, they will do so at the cost of most of their meager group of prospects, along with Aaron Heilman. Heilman, apparently, is no longer essential in the Mets' bullpen, but nor will the Mets give him a chance to start.
Most galling of all is watching ex-Mets GMs Jim Duquette and Steve Phillips offer commentary about the state of the team. Watching these guys who were given the Wilpons' keys to the franchise, it is obvious that neither had any clue how to run a team. There is little evidence that Minaya does either.
posted on 12/06/2007
