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.

SAVE ME

I'm furious with the Mets right now. Furious.

There is no way they are going to win anything this year with the bullpen pitching the way it has been. And it's the most frustrating thing in the world to watch.

Aaron Heilman gets the bulk of the blame for Monday's loss to the Pirates, but the problem right now is that it's not just the 9th inning that Mets pitchers can't close out - it's any lead at any time. The Mets had a 5-1 lead going into the seventh inning, and right away gave back 3 runs, making it a one-run game. There is no way that game should have been a one-run game at any point after David Wright's 3-run homer in the first inning. (The offense can get some of that blame too - the Pirates tried to give the Mets a blowout win every which way on Monday.)

So after the game, Jerry Manuel talked about the fact that he had to make immediate changes to make things right. Here are my thoughts:

1) Eddie Kunz will be the closer. Manuel said he didn't want to have to put Kunz in that role so soon after coming up. You know what, the way the other dopes have been pitching, I don't care - Kunz should have been used in that role right away. It's what he did in the minors, he should have continued in New York. It's second-guessing at this point, but Manuel should have had Kunz in there from the beginning.

1a) I'm at the point where if Kunz can't do the job right away, and option 2 (below) doesn't work out, call up Brad Holt or some other minor league fireballer who can close the door. Just temporarily. The Mets are killing themselves here.

2) When John Maine comes back from his injury (possibly Wednesday), he will probably close until Billy Wagner gets healthy. I think this is an intriguing possibility, and if Maine is successful, I think it should be his permanent spot. He can be spotty as a starter, and ends up throwing too many pitches. I think he'd be ideal as a closer - and could solve the Mets' problems there for a while.

3) Johan Santana needs to go deep into tonight's game. It's the Washington Nationals, theoretically the Mets should win big (theoretically). Santana needs to step up and throw a complete game shutout.

4) I know there isn't a wealth of relievers available in the major leagues...but surely Omar Minaya could do better. The only person he seemed to be interested in at the trade deadline was the Nationals' Luis Ayala. 60 hits in 54 innings. And 21 walks. He's 1-8 (the losses are the only stat you can blame on the fact that he plays for the horrible Nats) with a 5.93 ERA. If Minaya makes that move through waivers (there are no indications he is still pursuing Ayala), it would be rubbing salt in this open wound.

Let's end on a positive note - David Wright is on another doubles tear - 3 in 2 games. I don't know that he'll break the team record, but he's creeping up there, and of course, continuing his assault on the all-time record:

WRIGHT (2008): 32 Doubles
TEAM RECORD: 44
WRIGHT (career): 173
ALL-TIME RECORD: 792

REDEMPTION

I was all set to rip the Mets after Wednesday night's game. Especially David Wright. Because everything that represented what has been wrong about the Mets in 2008 was on display, even as what's right about them was taking place.

Here's the example. In the fifth inning Wednesday night, Daniel Murphy comes up, batting second in the order, after a Jose Reyes single. After Reyes steals second, Murphy tries to move him to third by hitting the ball to the right side. The pitch is inside, and Murphy turns on it and pulls it right over the second baseman's head for an RBI single. That tied the game at 2. David Wright then reached on an error, so it's first and second for Carlos Beltran. Beltran flies out to deep right. Murphy tags at second, and would advance easily, except Wright forgot how many outs there were and got doubled off first.

To make matters worse, possibly because he was still thinking about the bad baserunning move, Wright made the error in the seventh inning that allowed the Padres to take the lead, and ended up giving Pedro Martinez* an unearned loss after a very good outing.

These were exactly the type of blunders (the baserunning more than the error) that cost Willie Randolph his job. And there's one of two things happening - either 1) Randolph so woefully prepared this team in the fundamentals of baseball in the spring that they're still suffering the consequences (obviously, the minor league system is teaching the right things, because Murphy and Nick Evans have been doing the right things all along), or 2) The current coaching staff is still stressing the wrong things with this team.

Either way, these Mets have made unacceptable mistakes all season.
Then along comes Thursday afternoon. Everyone is clamoring for David Wright to get a day off, but the problem isn't Wright - it's the bullpen. For the hundredth time this year, Johan Santana is pulled from a game, possibly prematurely, and the bullpen costs him a win. That's another story for another day.

What happened today was David Wright won a game for the Mets a day after losing one for them - a total turnaround for him. He hit a walk-off two-run homer. So that's a nice little bounceback. And it's good for the Mets that just when everything was seeming to go wrong (another blown save by the Wagner replacements), they're able to pull out a win.

Another big series with Florida begins Friday.

LAST WORD ON PENNINGTON: I'm not going to go through all of the possible destinations for Chad Pennington, because I've already done that. This is from before the draft (actually, before the Super Bowl even), but it's not outdated at all. I still think those are the most likely destinations, although maybe Minnesota moves up to the "very likely" category.

REVIEW: ONLY A GAME

A few months back, I got an iTouch. It got me back into iTunes, and I discovered the world of podcasts. At first, I was downloading everything ("Best of ESPN Radio", "Best of Mike & Mike", interviews from "Mike & The Mad Dog"), but quickly learned that there was not enough time in the day to listen to everything. Especially during the school year.

I did, however, have time for a weekly podcast, and made it a point to listen to NPR's "Only A Game", which I knew of, but knew very little about. So I gave it a listen. And I really liked it. Even though my podcast obsession has died down, I still make a point of listening to "Only A Game" each week. Sometimes I save a bunch for the car rides to New York, sometimes I listen as I mow the lawn, sometimes I pop it on iTunes when I'm on the computer. It depends. But I listen to it solely off the podcasts - I couldn't even tell you when it's on regularly. (Check your local listings.)

I thought it was time to write about this, because it's been long enough that I can now tell I really enjoy the show, and it's not just a fluke. (And I apologize if you've been listening for years and you think I'm a dope for just getting this now.) I also wanted to take a break from the Mets mess.

The host of "Only A Game", Bill Littlefield, can be hokey, I guess, but it's all part of what makes the show enjoyable - he's a good hokey, willing to poke fun at what he does not know as well as what he does know, and able to keep everything in perspective. He laughs a lot, too, which is pretty contagious.

The part about the show that impresses me the most, though, is that it offers a take on sports and sports events that I wouldn't usually pay attention to. And I appreciate it. I wouldn't read about women's basketball in the paper or online, but I'll listen to a 7-minute segment on the sport. (I also should pay more attention to the sport, since I'll have two girls at home in a matter of months.)

I also consider myself someone who knows a lot about sports and sports history. But every other week or so, the show features something that I'd never known about, and I appreciate that. I appreciate that it will find something that, not just me, but hardly anyone has ever heard about. It takes work, and it's well done.

Bottom line - the show makes me feel smarter and more knowledgable 90% of the time I listen to it.

Unlike the current news about the Mets, which makes me feel dumber every time I tune in. Yes, that's Jerry Manuel stabbing Willie Randolph in the back on the back cover of the "New York Post". Funny, I don't remember seeing that live. And how did he get the knife through security? (The article is typical 'Post' stuff - don't bother with it. This Tony Bernazard character is a problem, huh?)

A FORK IN THE ROAD

I find myself thinking of two scenarios, as the Mets hit this point of transition. One has nothing to do with a manager change, though Jerry Manuel is marginally involved. The other is all about how things can turn around after a mid-season manager change.

2003 FLORIDA MARLINS
The Marlins in 2003 are that example - Jeff Torborg was the manager to begin the season, and after a 16-22 start, he was fired and replaced by Jack McKeon. Under McKeon, the Marlins were 75-49 the rest of the way, and the 'rest of the way' resulted in a Marlins world championship.

The big difference between the 2008 Mets and the 2003 Marlins, though, is age. The 2003 Marlins had some veteran leaders, but were mostly a young team. The 2008 Mets are mostly veterans, with a couple of young leaders. Another difference - the 2003 Marlins vanquished Moises Alou's team...the 2008 Mets can't get Moises Alou to stay healthy enough to play two games in a row.

So it's unlikely, but obviously, it's the best-case-scenario to compare the 2008 Mets' managerial change to the change the Marlins made in 2003 - that's what everyone hopes for when they make this type of change during the season.

Unfortunately, I get the feeling the Mets will end up more like the 1997 White Sox:

1997 WHITE SOX
I know this team didn't change managers, but after the season they did, and I'll get back to that.

This was the White Sox team that was 52-53 at the trade deadline, but more importantly, just three games back of division leader Cleveland, when they traded three of their best pitchers, and before that, one of their top hitters, for minor leaguers. (By the way - I can't believe that was 11 years ago - I fully expected that the "White Flag" trade took place while Manuel was managing the White Sox - in actuality, he took over in 1998 and was manager until Ozzie Guillen came aboard in 2004.)

One of those trades netted some decent players, but I'm not here to debate whether or not the White Sox did the right thing in 1997. I'm here to wonder if this is where the Mets are headed.

Right now, the Mets are 6.5 games behind Philadelphia in the division...and 7 behind St. Louis for the wild card. Unless they turn it around fast, they'd be better off as sellers than as buyers come the trading deadline. And as I wrote yesterday, it stinks that I'm already having to think about 2009, but 2008 is looking worse and worse, and if the Mets don't do something in 2008 to prepare for 2009, their first season at Citi Field will look a lot like their last at Shea Stadium.

In other words, the roster as it looks right now is old, and it might be time to blow it up. There are problems, I know - who wants some of these old guys? Well, there's a chance a team will take a chance on a guy like Moises Alou for a stretch run, if he's healthy for the month of July. And maybe Billy Wagner is expendable. Maybe the Mets can get some young replacements/replenishments for the farm system in return. It's unlikely that anyone would take Carlos Delgado, but he's not going to be back next year anyway.

The real shocker here is that I am once again going to advocate a trade of Jose Reyes. Tuesday night was a disgrace. Say what you want about him wanting to stay in the game, but his childish display, showing up his brand-new manager like that, sets the wrong tone. I don't care if he's not happy about coming out (not as a punishment, mind you, but in his best interests), he's got to have a sense of how it looks to an observer - it looks like he's being disrespectful and prima-donna-ish. It's only going to start rumors that the new manager has no control over one of his star players, much like the rumors that the old manager couldn't control him, or at least get through to him. I wouldn't mind seeing Reyes go to another team - provided the Mets get a ton for him in exchange. At the very least, last night's antics once again made me think that there's no way Reyes ends his career in a Mets uniform. (Incidentally, they were also another reason I was surprised the Mets didn't change the entire coaching staff.) I think Reyes will be with a few teams before his time is up, whether or not he gets traded.

The bottom line is that this year is looking like a failure, and the Mets have some options before the trade deadline - keep everything as is, and run the risk that next year turns out the same way, or shake things up in the hopes that some new faces in 2009 bring some better results. If it's the former rather than the latter, I suspect that one of the new faces in 2009 will end up being in the general manager's office.

RIDICULOUS

Why can't I root for a team that just does things the normal way?

We can go back and forth arguing about whether or not Willie Randolph deserved to be fired - but the truth is the Mets were expected to be on top of the division by now, and they're only better than the Nationals; they should have won the division last year, and they collapsed; and your 1A star player isn't responding to the manager - it makes sense that Randolph was on thin ice.

But I think we can all agree that this was the stupidest way to fire someone in the history of professional sports. My belief (and Omar Minaya will talk later today, so maybe there will be more answers then, but I doubt it) is that the Mets were getting dangerously close to getting back to .500 (they're 34-35 right now), and the timing was getting worse. So the Mets had to fire Randolph after a win over the AL West-leading Angels. In the middle of the night. Just ridiculous.

A quick recap of the Randolph years:

2005 - A season of "seeing what we have". It was a bridge season - Mike Piazza's final year in a Mets uniform, the first for Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez*. Record: 83-79

2006 - Everything Randolph did worked out. The Mets got to Game 7 of the NLCS, but lost to a team they were better than. Record: 97-65.

2007 - Expectations were sky-high. The Mets got off to a fast start, but suffered a historic collapse in September to miss the playoffs. Blame can go all around, but that shouldn't make the manager exempt. Record: 88-74.

2008 - The Mets never got off the ground. Again, it's not all Randolph's fault, but someone has to take the fall. The Mets are classy enough to allow Randolph to earn a 34th win on the season before giving him the ax 3,000 miles from home. Record: 34-35

So where do the Mets go from here? I neglected to mention pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto are also gone. Jerry Manuel takes over as interim manager, and Ken Oberkfell and Dan Warthen come up to the Mets from Triple-A New Orleans. Warthen will most likely be pitching coach - I know very little about him. Luis Aguayo also joins the major league team from the minors.

Manuel has shown the fire for Willie throughout their time together. In the situations when Mets fans wanted some emotion from Randolph, it's been Manuel who has provided it. Manuel must have the respect of the players, otherwise it would have been foolish for the Mets to keep him (although, some might say it's foolish to fire a manager at 3:15am...but what do I know). I'm surprised the Mets didn't turn over the entire staff, to be honest.

I can't predict what will happen the rest of the way for the Mets. What I will say is that they make it very hard to root for them to recover from this disaster. Does the Mets turning it around and having a successful end to the season legitimize the managerial move in the middle of the night? I don't know that I want to find out. I like Jerry Manuel, but I also like Willie Randolph. I might feel a bit satisfied by the Mets continuing to play uninspired ball under a different leader, and maybe start fresh next year....though it pains me to think of that - it's a long time away.

This is probably the most significant Mets move in the history of 200 Miles From the Citi. The blog was born in April of 2004, in the midst of the Art Howe era (and by era I mean "two seasons"). Basically, Willie Randolph is all this blog has known. My feelings on Randolph started out as excitement and enthusiasm for a fresh face in the Mets dugout. They quickly turned to expectation, as the Mets showed such promise in 2006, and then disappointment when that feat wasn't repeated, and in fact, everything got much worse. And finally, frustration and a need for change, because it seemed like the Mets were going nowhere fast under Randolph. I think that's an accurate representation of the feelings of most Mets fans.