Sportsmeat

For me, the Mets have a bigger problem than their inability to sustain momentum or win baseball games. They’re becoming an unlikable club. The players aren’t the major issue here—they are on the field, where Alou and Duque can’t stay healthy, where Delgado has gotten old quickly, where Perez can’t find any consistency and Aaron Heilman is just praying he doesn’t serve up a home run—but not in the likeability factor. By and large, they’re pretty good dudes. I dig Reyes’ energy, Wright’s professionalism and humility, etc. Wagner could use a muzzle sometimes, but at least he entertains.

But the front office is a bona fide mess. They handled the Willie fiasco very poorly—letting him, his coaches and the players twist in the wind for far too long, which is an indication of indecision or disagreement between upper management. On the upside, at least they finally made a decision. On the downside, I think Willie is taking an unfair fall for a flawed team that was exposed at the end of last season and overrated coming into this one.

I already can’t stand the current Jets team—I’d take another bad season to get Mangini and his Gestapo fired. I need to be able to freely root for the Mets. I think that’s why I advocate that they dump all the old salaries after this season (except for maybe Pedro, who’s as sturdy as a straw house in a tornado but still very fun to watch) and get younger in left field, first base, second base (unlikely considering Castillo is signed for a few more years) and the bullpen. The team will still have star power (Santana, Beltran, Reyes, Wright) and it will add energy. Inexperience can be frustrating, but also exciting.

As for the front office, the Wilpons need to make sure they’re not treading on Peter Angelos’ turf and let Minaya run the team. If he stinks—and his early success has been followed by mix results, at best—then can him. But at least let everyone do their job.