How Much More Patience Does The New York Mets' Front Office Have?

Under the Omar Minaya era has come a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs.

When he replaced previous General Manager Steve Phillips after the 2004 season, he knew there was a lot of work to be done. The Mets went 71-91 in 2004, their attendance at Shea Stadium was awful, and the Mets were considered the laughing stock of Major League Baseball. It seemed as if they had no hope, with many unknown players at important positions.

In 2005, Minaya made some huge splashes bringing in Carlos Beltran to play center and Pedro Martinez to be the ace. It formed the "New Mets," as Carlos Beltran phrased it. The Mets hired Wille Randolph to manage the team and they went a respectable 83-79 in year one.

In 2006, after signing Carlos Delgado, Billy Wagner, Paul Lo Duca, and some utility players like Jose Valentin and Endy Chavez, the Mets came within a game of the World Series. It seemed as if that year was going to propel them to an eventual championship in the years to come.

There weren't really any major roster changes for 2007. Moises Alou was brought in to replace Cliff Floyd in left field. Of course everyone knows what happened that season, with the Mets blowing a 7 game lead with 17 to play en-route to the worst collapse in Major League Baseball history.

Even after that awful debacle, the Wilpons decided to stick with Omar Minaya. The biggest splash of the Minaya era was made when Johan Santana was acquired from the Minnesota Twins to be the new ace and franchise player after the 2007 season. Give Omar a lot of credit for that move, Santana came over with the reputation as a lefty that threw a 94+ mph fastball and was the pitcher with the nastiest change-up in the game. He gave up players like Carlos Gomez and Phillip Humber who haven't really panned out in the big leagues, although Gomez is playing a little for the Brewers.

Santana hasn't really shown his "A" stuff as a Met, with the exception of the second-to-last game in 2008 against the Marlins. The next day, the Mets would lose to complete another collapse, having had a 3 1/2 game lead with 17 to play.

Still, Minaya along with Randolph returned hoping the presence of a new stadium would give the Mets a boost. Minaya went out an bolstered up the bullpen with the additions of J.J. Putz and closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Just like Santana in some ways, Rodriguez had the reputation of a top flight player at his position and he hasn't really shown anything after Luis Castillo's dropped pop up last season at Yankee Stadium.

The Mets drew fans in year one at Citi Field, but only because it was year one at Citi Field. The Wilpons raised the prices of tickets at the start of 2009 and although they vowed to lower them before the start of 2010, they didn't do it.

Minaya didn't add a single starting pitcher in the 2009-2010 offseason and claimed all of the current Mets starters were better than the one's out there. It was probably the Wilpons handcuffing Minaya but at the same time, he said he had full autonomy of the team.

Now in 2010, the Mets are a .500 team again. 18-17 with a lineup that is probably the worst the Mets have had since 2004. That means the Mets are only regressing as a team.

If you watch or attend Mets games, you'll notice a daily theme. No fans in the ballpark in only it's second season. Don't pay attention to those phony 25,000+ attendance numbers in the newspaper. That's paid attendance. Just look around and see for yourself, people aren't showing up. People can buy all the tickets they want, but unfortunately, no one is coming through the turn-styles. Tickets are being thrown away.

How can the Mets correct that? It's about time, with the team regressing, to make some major changes. Perhaps let the GM and manager go in-season. At the end of this season, think about changing the "core" of this team. Perhaps, hold out on contract extensions of Jose Reyes, who is in an unexplainable funk, and David Wright, who will never hit at Citi Field.

If the Wilpons and the rest of the Mets' front office continue to keep things as is year after year, they will never see a championship or return of fans at Citi Field.