Little will change for the Mets until they change the way they operate — from ownership on down.
The Mets, multiple industry sources say, do not function like most clubs. Their unique style would be fine if they were building championship teams. Instead, they’re coming off a 70-win season and losing out on free agent after free agent -- except for one, left fielder Jason Bay, who seemingly lacked a better option.
I agree with Rosenthal to a point (you should probably read the article, then come back here).
Yes, the Mets look hapless right now. Three bad years in a row. “Bad,” though, is relative.
A win or two more in ‘07, and the Mets are in the playoffs. Same goes for ‘08. Last season, thanks to injuries, they needed about 30 more wins.
Is Omar the problem? Maybe. Is it the Wilpons? Again, maybe.
We’ll see the change in the GM position before the keys to the franchise switch hands, but to me, Omar gets a lot of unnecessary flack.
I’m sure you all have had (or still have) bosses that you hate. They just don’t do things the way you’d like, but you have to deal with them anyway. It makes your life at work a lot harder because you have to wait around for them to approve this or them to check that.
To me, from the complete outside looking in, this what Omar has to deal with. I’m not saying Omar is a saint and the best GM ever, far from it. But it seems to be a perfect storm of ineptitude.
Bad ownership makes a mediocre GM look even worse. A new stadium and TV station magnify the holes. And the fans, three seasons removed from a playoff run and Game 7 of the NLCS, are ready to jump ship.
All this combined, has brewed the perfect storm of cynicism, sarcasm and dislike, all pointed toward Flushing.
Is the state of the Mets bad? Without a doubt. But it has become too easy, and the norm around these parts, to pile on this team.
The fans, if they’ve been here from the start, have seen worse. A lot worse. But the media is feeding into it and it’s blowing holes in an already sinking ship. It’s easy for the media to blast the Wilpons and Omar & Co. for anything and everything, and they have.
So who is the problem with the Mets? How will it ever get turned around? Where will 2010 take them?
Honestly, no one can know.
There is a chance, a small, miniscule one at that, the team jumps out of the gate, things clicking and running smoothly and they surprise everyone in ‘10.
Say they win 80 games. Will that please the fans? Maybe.
Say they make the playoffs. Even as a Wild Card team, I’d be thrilled.
Imagine if they get through the first round? To the NLCS? Maybe even the World Series?
Am I dreaming? Am I too hopeful? Do I actually think this will happen? Yes, yes and no.
But in this off-season, which was weak to start, the Mets have become an easy target and everyone has their Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle out and ready to fire.
There is no quick fix. Ownership changing hands won’t do much. Cleaning house will just set the franchise back by 10 years.
Fred, Jeff and Omar don’t want to lose. They don’t want people canceling ticket plans. They don’t want all this criticism.
But due to their flaws, the flaws in the people they’ve hired, the flaws in the people they’ve dealt with and all of them falling into some mystical alignment to create the super-flaws, this team is where it is now.
No one wants this. But here we are.
Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Baseball, and especially the Mets, is about entertainment. And heck, if this team isn’t entertaining, I don’t know what is.