Which Mets to Keep, Which to Trash

ESPN-NY is running a poll that is sadly all-to-fitting: Your New York Mets: Take ‘Em or Trash ‘Em.

For some reason, the names and faces on that page resemble a “most wanted” poster you might see at the post office. And certainly, many of those people have committed symbolic crimes as far as Mets fans are concerned — for example, Oliver Perez’s theft of $36M from the Wilpons. Oh, and then there is that one person who did actually commit a REAL crime. Yeesh.

We thought 2009 was bad, but it doesn’t compare. The funny thing is, we kept discussing here the fact that injuries were NOT to blame for a terrible ’09 — that there were fundamental problems with the franchise and glaring unfilled holes IN ADDITION to the injuries sustained. Anyone who bought into the team’s “oh if not for the injuries” excuse (which was perpetuated by the media), saw what nonsense that was by seeing the 2010 season.

The scary thing is, the team will continue to move backward in 2011, no matter who is fired and hired. The highest-paid players on the team are likely to continue to regress due to age and injuries (Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay) or be completely unavailable (Johan Santana). Further, the much-hyped homegrown youngsters may be fun to watch, but few if any are particularly special — and most of the ones that are supposed to be, are injury-prone. Sure, the kids who managed to stay on the field this year may hold their own and be average to slightly above-average big leaguers, but I wouldn’t build a team around any of them. David Wright and Jose Reyes remain the nucleus of the club, and there are some who think that even those two are no better than complementary players.

Bottom line is this team is in dire straits — in much worse shape than they were in 2004. Who they keep and who they jettison during this offseason will have a significant impact on the team’s success or failure over the next 5-10 years. So make your picks — who to keep, and who to trash.