Why I'm so Worried about this Season

Hello everyone. I hope you are all staying away from the bridges and tall buildings so far this season. I know it's still early, and we tend to take things too seriously, but there is reason to worry in the world of the Mets. I was so optimistic before this season started, but they haven't learned a thing from last year.

There seems to be too little outrage and distress coming from the players on the Mets team. We as fans continue to hear the same old lines we heard last year. "We're not worried", "It's a long Season", "We'll just turn the page", etc, etc, etc. Is anyone else out there getting tired of the lack of hustle and heart on this team? In case the players haven't noticed, these games count in the standings too. At a time when no one else in the Division is tearing it up, the Mets should be putting some distance between them and the rest of the teams. Instead they seem content to just go thru the motions again just like last year. I read a lot of NY papers, I watch a lot of baseball discussion programs, and my local Sports Talk Radio program has numerous national baseball writers on all week. So I get to read and hear a lot of opinions on the Mets. And there are some disturbing things being said by players and media people.

Here is an excerpt from a NY Post article by Kevin Kernan.

"After the pathetic 9-7 loss to the Brewers at Shea Stadium yesterday, Carlos Delgado was asked if he was disappointed, disgusted or angry. It was a simple question after the most sloppy of games.
Delgado shot back a quizzical look and asked, "About what?"
About the way the game went, Carlos. About another giveaway: This time the Mets squandered a 6-2 lead. About the fact the Mets are off to a 5-6 start. Remember all the tough off season talk about the Mets learning their lesson from the Great Collapse of 2007.
Forget it. Right now, the Mets as a team haven't learned a thing. Delgado, who flied to right with the bases loaded to end the eighth and made an error, said, "We didn't play good."
The problems run deeper than that. If the manager is angry, shouldn't the players be angry, too."

And from the same article here's something about Witless Willie.

" Of course the next step is for the manager to make it clear to his players that this type of performance is not acceptable. Randolph hasn't gone there yet, but he should.
Asked if he addressed the team as a group before coming to his post game press conference, Randolph said, "There's no reason for that. We're (11) games into the season."
At what point should he make it known to his players that he is disgusted with such a performance? "It's not all about that," Randolph said. "We've got a lot of baseball to play."

Sounds like Willie's answers to last years questions doesn't it? Today on "The Wheel House" [a new SNY program] Omar's sanity was openly questioned. Imagine, the GM of the organization that owns SNY being called out on air. Brandon Tierney said Omar's sanity has to be questioned for signing Castillo to a 4 four year contract. And I agree. I didn't like it this winter, and I like the signing even less now. He can't run, he can't hit, and he can barely field his position anymore. He's hurting the team more than he ever helps it.

On Daily News Live, Joe Benigno and Chris Cotter are constantly calling out the players and Manager of the Mets for their lack of urgency and commitment to improving their play. And Wallace Mathews had a great article on the Mets lack of ranting and raving about their loses on the Newsday.com website. Here is some of the finer points of his article.

"They are defiantly lackadaisical, willfully indifferent, blissfully unconcerned. It's only 11 games into the season, they say. Plenty of baseball left to play. It all comes down to a temporary lack of execution. A momentary loss of focus. Don't worry, the Mets insist. We'll be fine.Sure they will. Their money is guaranteed, their futures are secure, their afternoons and evenings are spent playing baseball, not forced to sit and watch a grotesque approximation of it, like the 50,000-plus who shivered and suffered through yesterday's dreadful 9-7 loss to the Brewers."

"What is needed, however, is a stern talking-to, if not a full-blown tantrum, from someone who gets enough respect in the clubhouse that the 25 individuals who barely interact within it will actually stand still for a moment and listen."
"But there is no one in the Mets' clubhouse - not the manager, not the general manager, not the third baseman who acts as if he really wants to win, not the first baseman who acts as if he really doesn't care - to deliver that talk, to throw that tantrum, to grab 25 fat cats by the lapels and scream some sense into their faces before it is too late to do any good. This is an army without a general, a ship without a captain, a room without a pulse.You can start with Willie Randolph and work your way on down the line. "

I think Wallace has hit the nail squarely on the head. And I agree with him 110%. And I hear more and more of this kind of thinking. Can we all be wrong about what we as fans see?

As I see it, there is a lot that needs to change in the Mets organization. The first thing that's needed is to fire Willie. Mine and Guinness' opinions on Willie are well known. He's clueless and Witless when it comes to managing a team. The second thing needed is to stop signing old worn out players to long term big money contracts. Alou', Hernandez, Castillo, Pedro, Delgado, and Castro are overpaid and under preforming. They can't stay healthy, and don't produce enough when they are healthy. The third thing needed is to build from within the system and with YOUNG free-agents. Sign players like Mark Teixara, not Carlos Delgado and Castillo. But, that won't happen until the Wilpons and Omar admit they have a problem in the clubhouse. And so far I haven't seen Omar admitting he was wrong about anything yet.