Craig Mitchell -- The Mets, "How to lose on a Budget"

Well, it’s come to this. Terry Collins said he doesn't know what else to do. While, I admire his candor, that’s not what you want to hear from your leader. What if George Washington said that? Abraham Lincoln? FDR? JFK? Captain Kirk?  You get the picture. Joking aside, the current situation with the Mets and the published responses from the front office has me wondering if all those Met “extremists” as I call them might be right.

The extremists are the fans who troll message boards and Met sites claiming that the Wilpons truly don’t want a winning team. Or possibly, they do want that but will accept what their money will buy. Speaking of money, the Mets are limping along with a team that is operating on a payroll that is best suited to say Houston or Miami, both of which have more wins than the Mets.  We were led to believe this was all a part of the plan. After all, the Mets have a wealth of very talented arms coming up from the minors. That is true. Young arms are a good thing. They are also very cost effective. So that much is understandable, but what was done with the money left over has fans confused and damn frustrated.

Look at the Astros, they are thriving. They are playing exciting ball. They lost 111 games last year. That’s only 9 games less than the legendary 62 Mets.  Here it is less than a year later and they are a much different

team.  They stand at 32-39 (The Mets are 31-38). They added a veteran, Dexter Fowler. Blue chips like George Springer and Jon Singleton are up and are already making an impact. The Astros didn't have much, but what they have they have managed well.  GM Jeff Luhnow and manager Bo Porter have done a great job. The Astros are an exciting team already. The Mets………………well….

So, what’s the difference?  The Mets payroll for 2014 is 89,000,000. That ranks them 22^nd out of 30 teams. The Astros? Their payroll is $44,000,000 half of the Mets payroll. That makes them 30^th out of 30. How can that be? That’s the 45 million dollar question. Wait a minute, the Marlins payroll is $47,000,000 They rank 29^th. They lost 100 games in 2013, this year they are 35-33 and they are maintaining that after losing Jose Fernandez to Tommy John surgery.

It’s not about the money. If it was, theoretically the Mets would be twice as better off as those teams. You can build or rebuild a team with much less than the Mets are currently spending. The Astros and Marlins are proving it. It’s how you spend the money and it’s how you utilize the talent that makes the difference. Now recently, the Mets shook up things a bit by firing hitting instructor Dave Hudgens and replaced him with Lamar Johnson. What happened? The Mets immediately won 4 of 5 from the Phillies. Boom, there was the answer right? Wrong. The Mets then went on to lose 9 of their next 12. Clearly, the Mets issues weren't solved. They aren't  just in the wallet. They trickle from the top down.

Sandy Alderson’s plan to rebuild the Mets is several years old. He’s made some good moves.  Engineering 

the acquisitions of Zach Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Vic Black, Travis d’Arnaud , Curtis Granderson and Bartolo Colon and signed David Wright to a long term deal.  While the jury is still out on some of those moves for the most part, the needle is leaning in the Mets favor ….for now.  However, he’s also been the man who signed Chris Young this winter as “insurance” while Nelson Cruz and Kendry Morales and Stephen Drew were available. He allowed the situation between Ike Davis and Lucas Duda to fester for years till both lost any substantial trade value. He traded Angel Pagan for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez and allowed Jose Reyes to leave as a free agent. He also hired Terry Collins.  Collins has not distinguished himself as a winner with the Mets. Since taking over the helm he is 256-299 and was given a 2 year extension after the 2013 season, his 3^rd consecutive losing campaign. He’s also lost the faith of his players in other managerial positions as well.

Alderson has been constantly preaching patience. As this year was beginning, he claimed 90 wins was his goal. At this point in time, that goal is laughable.  Currently, in their worst slide of the season Alderson has

been quick to declare that Collin’s job is secure.  With that declaration firmly in pocket, Collins admission that he’s “Out of ideas” after Saturday’s shutout to the Padres is just another way to prove the tremendous gulf that separates the Mets, from other teams that have come so far while the Mets slowly slip away.

Some of those “extremist” fans I mentioned before who troll the web are in favor of change.  Some want more money spent. Some want trades. Some want Alderson gone, more and more want Collins gone.  Some say firing a manager does nothing. The manager is usually a scapegoat when a team is floundering.  Sometimes that is true, but in my opinion, that’s not true in this case.

The Mets, while not stocked with tremendous hitters have more talent than they are showing. They lack a leader who recognizes the talent that is present and uses it to its greatest advantage.  Friday night the Mets

played the Padres. They came to town with the lowest batting average in baseball at .216 and in the first inning they tried a hit and run. When was the last time the Mets tried that? They haven’t. The Mets have recalled 3 players from Las Vegas who were wearing the ball out, Wilmer Flores, Andrew Brown and Eric Campbell. They have all spot started. Flores was actually named the starting short stop, but that lasted all of 3 or 4 games (a trait Collins has become famous for, just ask Collin Cowgill). While those three sit, players batting .229 (Tejada)  and .196 (Young) continue to struggle along and the Mets continue to lose.  Right now Flores, Campbell and Brown are dying on the vine. What do losers of 9 of 12 have to lose? Tejada and Young aren't the future. Playing them isn't going to whet anyone's appetite for a trade.

Look what Gil Hodges did with the 1969 Mets. Look what Yogi Berra did with the 73 Mets. Tom Kelly with the 87 Twins, Tommy Lasorda and the 88 Dodgers, Tony LaRussa with the 2006 Cardinals. All those teams turned out to be greater than the sum of their parts. Why? They all followed talented managers who utilized what each team had to the max. All those teams had strong pitching, a terrific leader and a motivated team.  The Mets have strong pitching, and with Syndergaard and Dillon Gee on the way may even be stronger still. Give the Mets a strong leader and a motivated team may follow. It’s that easy. But to have a Manager who throws up his hands and says ”I’m out of ideas” on June 14^th? That just speaks volumes.