UNINSPIRED

You might have noticed I haven't been writing very much about the Mets recently.

It's not that I haven't been watching - I have.

It's not that I don't care anymore - I do.

It's more that I have this feeling of deja vu going on right now.

I feel like there's no fire in the belly. I feel like the Mets are just going through the motions. It makes it hard for me to care when, once again, the Mets look like they don't.

This was a problem last year, and the solution was get rid of Willie Randolph, because he wasn't the fiery type. Jerry Manuel was.

And that's my problem. This shouldn't be happening under Manuel. His presence was supposed to prevent the same kind of lackadaisacal start as last year. (Don't get me started on the fact that major league baseball players even need to be motivated by someone...as though millions of dollars wasn't enough motivation.)

Manuel is trying to shake things up - he adjusted the lineup for Thursday afternoon's game.

The result - an uninspired 3-game sweep in St. Louis. It's going to take more than a lineup change - it looks like this team needs an attitude adjustment.

So I hope Manuel has another move up his sleeve. Because that's supposedly why he's here instead of Randolph.