Ignorance can be bliss for the Mets brass

The New York Mets are a team that is in transition. The only problem is that everyone knows it except them. Off the field, they added a financial consultant this week, but claim this is not an indication of a pending bankruptcy or sale.

On the field, they are just as oblivious. While teams around them in the division continue to get better, they make small, under-the-radar type moves to "tweak" their roster slightly. It's almost as if they feel their team is just a set up pitcher or two away from glory.

They added depth in the bench this past week by re-signing Scott Hairston and adding Ronny Cedeno. They made a big trade last month when they dealt Angel Pagan for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez. In addition to this, they added free agents Jon Rauch and Frankie Francisco all in an attempt to secure that bullpen.

Depending on the report you believe, Johan Santana may or may not be ready anywhere between Spring Training and  the All-Star game. Ike Davis is returning healthy. along with Daniel Murphy and David Wright. This trio could be potent. In fact, the offense with them, Lucas Duda and an improved Jason Bay could score some more runs this year since the Mets brought the fences in a little more over this off-season.

With all of this, the Mets must be banking on a resurgence of health and improved play from their embattled roster and, therefore, must feel they don't need to make a big splash to improve things. With Sandy Alderson rebuilding the farm system and working with such limited funds, it falls on the executive administration to recognize that this team is in rebuilding mode.

If that is the case, they need to be doing more than trading a disgruntled outfielder like Pagan or refuse to re-sign a spark plug player like Jose Reyes. They need to admit they are rebuilding and trade other key pieces to their roster.

Players like Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Daniel Murphy and David Wright are all players they have to dangle to other teams. They all have trade value and can get some good talent back for the club right now. The fact that they are not interested in dealing any of these players says that they want this team to be competitive this year. There's a very fine line there.

If they want a competitive team this year, they need to spend on more than a Scott Hairston or a Jeremy Hefner. They need to go after a Ryan Madsen or a Coco Crisp. They have to spend money on talent. Otherwise, they are publicly admitting they think they are "good enough". If that's the case, this Mets brass is delusional.

A team that finished 25 games behind the Phillies needs more than Ronny Cedeno. They need more than a healthy Ike Davis too. They need to be deep and talented at every position. That's not the case here. This roster still has holes on the depth chart.

If the Mets brass truly believes they are a healthy Johan Santana away from contention, then a baseball I.Q. test may be required. That and a senility test. Either way, they have to know they are not close to a pennant. If that is the truth, why not just admit they are rebuilding and go full force into that plan?

If they do that, the fans would respect them a little more for their honesty. Also, they would be in a better position to build their system up for the future based on the players they would be giving up. It would force them to use younger players that may be ready for the Majors as well.

Their main fear for not doing this would have to be that they think it will lose fans and cause seats to be even more empty. Last time I checked, an average Mets game last year had a few thousand empty seats. That really will not be as much of a factor as they think.

In the end, the Mets seem deliriously blissful to be digging in the bargain basement bin for their next bench or bullpen option. After all, they must be a lot closer to the playoffs than the rest of us think.