New York Mets: Failure Yet Again?

It was an October night in 2006 when Yadier Molina jacked a game-winning home run out of Shea Stadium to dash the Mets' hopes. Almost three years later, the Mets have still not recovered, and it does not seem that things are going to change.

The Mets, on paper, look very good. David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, K-Rod, and Johan Santana, among others, have been on All-Star rosters recently, and they are all capable players. The Mets have revamped the bullpen, and appear to have their players healthy, with the exception of Santana. All of these things would bode well for the team from Queens, but there are multiple catches.

The Two Carloses

The Mets season is very much going to be dictated by these two guys. If they are both healthy, and Delgado maintains the form he found at the end of last season, the odds will be changed. However, if Carlos Beltran does not finally blossom into the leader and player he needs to be, there is no chance.

This guy cannot simply continue going about as the silent man. Yes, he put up good numbers last year, and yes, his glove is amazing, but the Mets lack a veteran leader, and Beltran is perfect for this role. Now, I do respect a guy who can go about his business quietly and get the job done, but he's just not getting the job done. Beltran needs to become more vocal in the clubhouse and finally get over that strikeout that all Mets fans never want to see from back in 2006 that ended the season. He is a great player; now it's time to become a great leader.

The Bullpen

Omar Minaya has addressed the eighth and ninth innings, so the Mets should not lose one game in those two innings this year, not one. On the other hand, pitchers are not going more than six inning on average these days, and that leaves the seventh inning up for grabs.

It is wishful thinking to say that Brian Stokes and Sean Green will be able to close out the seventh inning for an entire season. Releasing Duaner Sanchez did not help, seeing as that made no sense since he had until Mar. 18 to prove himself some more. Joe Beimel is still on the market, but other than that the options are few and far between. The Mets need to address the seventh inning. That is where the bullpen problems will stem.

No. 5

The gaping issue the Mets have is their No. 5 starter. A slew of contestants have taken the mound; regrettably, none seem to be emerging as a front runner. In fact, no one seems to be emerging as a capable pitcher.

Tim Redding got bashed by University of Michigan, a team that is not even considered a top 25 team; Freddy Garcia is showing his age; and Livan Hernandez and Jon Niese are not cutting it either. This means that the Mets have no one right now that looks like a Major League starter.

If Pedro Martinez did not bring so much attitude to the situation, he would be a viable option. However, Pedro recently said that he would not settle for Tom Glavine money ($1 million over one year with a ton of incentives). Earth to Pedro, Tom Glavine has 300+ wins and has been more healthy than you over the last three years. On top of that, Pedro's arm is spaghetti. Dan Warthen should rally his troops and tell them that basically whichever one pitches the least worst gets the job.

These are the three main concerns Omar Minaya should have. However, they are not being addressed at all. In all fairness, we won't know about the Carlos situation until the season starts, but there are things that can be done about the bullpen and the No. 5 slot that aren't.

For instance, bring in Beimel. Why not? He has no job right now, will come cheap, and you can release him before the season starts and save some money if he doesn't perform. Also, the Mets have a good pitching coach, and John Franco is in camp. You're telling me those two geniuses can't make one of these guys pitch 170 innings?

Come on, Mets, get it together.