For good or bad, the 2010 Mets season is officially over. There are no more games to be played. They lost more than they won. Again. It's time to do what some have been doing for a few weeks already, and that is to start to evaluate what went right and what went wrong over the past 6 months and the past 6 seasons.
It's also time to start looking at what potential changes need to be made, and included in that, what to do with the manager and general manager jobs. Then beyond that, what to do about the dead weight and the players (and coaches) whose contracts expire at the end of the season or who have options or arbitration coming that need to be decided on for 2011. Then there is the list of needs and the list of free agents and the players that are tradeable and what they could possibly get in return. Then there are the prospects that deserve at least a look in Spring Training, including some of those that may have had that opportunity during September Training.
And hopefully, most of that can be done in parallel and not in a particular order, aside from deciding the futures of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel (which we expect to hear about before Monday night, and if not that soon, within the week).
For me, I don't think it's right for either of them to be back next season. Neither is a bad person, but they've both made mistakes that led to the team's overall record not being as good as it could have been. Omar also made some mistakes in handing certain situations that have to go as black marks against him.
As a fan, I'm tired of inconsistent and losing baseball. It's not just this era (since 2005). In my 24 seasons following Mets baseball, it's been up then down and up then down, and so on, with the downs much longer than the ups. And it's all been without a championship team. If the Mets don't win it all next year, they will have gone exactly half of their existence without winning a World Series. I'm tired of trying to figure out what they need to do (aside from saying they need to make changes). I'm tired of hearing the same shtick (excuses and promises) over and over again from ownership. I'm tired of hearing things get reported about people's fate before those people hear it and before it becomes official. I'm tired of the heartbreak that happens during a season. I'm tired of looking at the hot stove league and seeing game-changing players that the Mets are just watching them go by while the Mets can only focus on one player at a time. I'm tired of seeing high prices for bad-view seats at Citi Field while there isn't wise spending of my money of the product.
For me, I think it's time for an overall change in direction for the Mets. And I've been saying it for some time. I'd like to change ownership, but maybe it's just the need for those in ownership to change how they behave. Get someone smart to run the baseball operations (I really don't know who that is), and leave that person alone and trust him to make the baseball decisions. ALL OF THEM. Get someone who can get the players motivated to play and to learn how to win. Get several of these players to manage at all different levels. I think that needs to be taught to a lot, if not all of the players on the club (both now and future). And leave these guys alone to do what they think best for making decisions for his club. If at any point it's clear that any of these guys aren't doing their jobs well, and that ownership doesn't trust them to do it right, fire them. Don't let them linger making the "wrong" decisions because that only hurts the club, sinking them deeper into a hole that ultimately has to be dug out of. And don't try to sugarcoat it. Be honest with the fans about what the plan is. Ownership may be signing the checks, but we supply part of the money used to back those checks. You don't want to lose us - you actually need to win us back.
I'm tired of not winning, and that needs to be fixed, before I get tired of going to games period. I'm tired of hearing how to fix this team. I'm tired of saying this every year. Just do it (yes, I know they can't actually do that today, and to some extent, they can't do it until the end of the World Series). Ownership should put a plan in place, execute it, and make us trust it. And remember. We're not stupid, so it has to be real. If you say that a few little things will fix it, I won't believe you. It didn't work after 2007. It didn't work after 2008. It didn't work after 2009. And after see how it failed, I see no reason why it should work after 2010. So don't try to sell it like that. To fix things, it will take some time.
If you're not sure of some of what I'm talking about, go back to the video tape of today's game to what Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Kevin Burkhardt, and Ralph Kiner said during the game today (especially the later innings).
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. "Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan"). Become a Networked Blog
