The Underachieving Mets

The Mets are underachieving. The question is what to do about it.

GM Omar Minaya assembled a team to win right now. The older players, including Billy Wagner, Pedro Martinez, Moises Alou, Luis Castillo and Carlos Delgado are in New York to deliver a pennant. With the Metropolitans at 31-34 the squad is playing below expectations and in jeopardy of not making the playoffs again this year after last season’s meltdown (going 5-12 down the stretch). Since the All-Star break last year the Mets are an average team despite having the third-highest payroll in Baseball (and highest in the National League).

Omar Minaya’s track record as Mets GM is mixed: Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez, and Carlos Delgado are older, injury-plagued players who highlight the Mets’ weakness at corner outfield, pitcher and first base. Signing Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran are positives that set the Mets up for the future, and the off-season Lastings Milledge trade for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider worked out well for the Mets despite Church’s lingering concussion.

Willie Randolph has a roster of older players and average role players to compliment underachieving stars Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright. Johan Santana is the one star playing well and is starting to hit his stride as the ace of the staff. Willie seems to have a fractured locker room, and cannot seem to get Jose Reyes, the team’s spark plug, to play up to his All-Star status. As a member of the NY Yankees “Bronx Zoo” of the late 1970s, Willie should be no stranger to a tumultuous locker room.

The $138 million payroll Mets cannot be satisfied with their performance over the last calendar year. While Minaya and Randolph have to be held accountable, the players are also to blame. A significant personnel shakeup is needed and inevitable, though it won’t happen before the off-season. In the meantime, if there is no meaningful turnaround, the GM and Manager will take even more heat. In this scenario Willie (and some of his staff) will find himself on the short end of the stick but it’s not clear that Jerry Manuel or any other manager can get much more out of the current roster.