The State of the Mets

There are few words that could describe how the Mets have played for the past few weeks. The only one that comes to mind is bad. After being swept by the Phillies a few weeks ago, the Mets swept the Braves in Atlanta and went on to win 7 of their next 9 games against the Reds, Astros, and Braves. This is when all Mets fans thought that the team was going to pull off a big run and win the NL East. Then the Phillies came to town. All the Mets had to do was win one out of the three games to squash the Phillies hopes of winning the division. They got swept, and they have been on a free fall losing some brutal games to the Nationals and last night to the Marlins. As a Mets fan, I have lost most of my hope with this team. The only hope I have left is seeing what has happened in the past that 1. the Phillies always find a way to lose, and 2. the Cardinals and Tigers both struggled before the playoffs last year and both teams ended up playing in the World Series. It seems now that the Mets are finding every way to lose and let the Phillies and Braves back in the race (the Braves are only 4.5 out, and with the way the Mets have been playing, and with the Braves playing against the Phillies next week anything is possible).

Everyone on this team is to blame. Jose Reyes has been struggling for the past month and a half both offensively and defensively. David Wright can't make a routine throw to first base. Both John Maine and Oliver Perez have not been as effective in the second half. The bullpen is a mess. All these reasons and then some are why the Mets have struggled. Some blame has to be put on Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya as well. Minaya misjudged the free agent market this past winter, and let Chad Bradford go, and ended up paying Scott Schoeneweis the same amount of money Bradford. Any Mets fan will tell you he would rather have Bradford in the pen then Schoeneweis. Mets fans will also agree that they don't want to see Guillermo Mota on the mound in a Mets uniform any more, but Willie Randolph keeps putting him in big situations. It is just mind boggling to me. This team is a mess right now, and all Mets fans could hope for is a miracle.