Talk Me In Off The Ledge!

It was reported last night by Jon Heyman - Sports Illustrated that Jeff Wilpon has assured both General Manager Omar Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel their jobs are safe this year.


Minaya, who has a new three year contract that begins in 2010, and Manuel who is signed through 2010 are said to be "safe".

Not to go on a rant, but the Mets, once again, are at the airport when their train comes in. I'm not saying either man should be fired...nor be retained. What I am saying is this team is in dire need of a change.

Since the waning days of Bobby Valentine, the Mets have been a fundamentally poor baseball team, despite a competitive year in 2006. In that time, the Mets have had Steve Phillips, Jim Douquette, and Omar Minaya as General Manager. They have had Bobby Valentine, Art Howe, Willie Randolph, and Jerry Manuel as Manager. They have had countless player changes, but the results are the same.

Now, being somewhat of a statistics buff, and pretty good at "simple" math, when factoring this equation, the only common denominator is...THE WILPON's.

I don't want legions of our loyal readers to perceive I hate the Wilpon's, or that they are terrible people. I don't think that. I do believe that they run a poor business. I believe they spend too much time living in the Brooklyn Dodger past, and thus pay more tribute and attention to the National League club that formerly resided in Brooklyn. They don't respect the past of the franchise they own, and I for one as a fan am sick and tired of it.

I truly believe that Fred Wilpon is a good man. I believe he looks at his players as his surrogate children. That being said, I believe he doesn't have a clue as to what will make this team not only successful, but popular. Before this latest Manager/General Manager regime, Tom Glavine, Al Leiter and John Franco were allowed to be in Fred's ear too much, and I believe that is what promulgated the Scott Kazmir trade.

They spent a small fortune building Gil Hodges Memorial Park, but there is little tribute to our NL franchise that resides in Flushing. I have no problem with the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. I have a problem that there is more tribute paid to a man who never wore the Orange and Blue than there is to Tom Seaver, Tommie Agee, Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, and even Marv Throneberry.

Then there was the now famous incident with Dwight Gooden (24 Hours...April 20, 2009) signing a blank wall in the Ebbets Club (don't get me started!). It wasn't until a complete uproar that the ownership decided it was a good idea, and should be something the fans can embrace.

What about the Mets Hall Of Fame? Why is there no place for it in the new digs?

This brings me back to Fred and Jeff and the running of the team. The point is, neither has a clue. After all these years, they still don't understand not only how to run the team, but have no clue as to what it is like to be a Mets fan. They don't understand the people they are charging a kings ransom to watch a team play below .500 ball.

Now, the Wilpon's finances are their business, and their business only. They claim that the Bernard Madoff has not factored into the business of the Mets, but there isn't a person out there with a pulse that believes this. I believe that this is the reason why they didn't upgrade their offense more, and were able to pick up Gary Sheffield off the scrap heap for the $400,000 minimum, and why they are seriously looking at Julio Lugo. It is not our business to know their finances, but they should simply not answer the question than to distort the truth. This is going on the assumption that they have been fiscally hurt by the Ponzi scheme.

I also have a difficult time believing the Mets medical staff is as embarrassingly incompetent as what is being displayed. Could it possibly be that ownership is not heeding the advice of their doctors? After years of ineptness and after having changed medical institutions to tend to their players, again, the only common denominator...

It appears this season is a bust. Hey, it happens every few years...unfortunately much more frequently for us, the Mets, than many other teams. It's time for Jeff and Fred to seriously consider selling the team. I would love to see Nelson Doubleday back owning this team, but that ship has sailed.

The Mets need a change, and it might not necessarily be in player personnel or in management. They need a change in ownership!

Talk me in folks, I'm on the ledge!