With 8 weeks left in the regular season, reality is settling in like a haze around Citi Field.  After losing 5 in a row, the Mets appear to have finally run out of magic.

But what does the blogosphere think?:

• Real Dirty Mets has a real dirty look at the problems that face Sandy Alderson
• Faith and Fear wishes Jason Bay were as good at hitting home runs as he is at swatting hope out of the park.
• Amazin’ Avenue has his weekly player performance meter.  Why are there so many red arrows?
• Metstradamus talks about…well, never mind that.  I just LOVE this picture of Mike Pelfrey.
• Mets 360 examines the Minayariffic signing of D.J. Carrasco by new GM, Sandy Alderson.
• Tedquarters says Pelfrey’s recent quotes about the Mets were simply a reflection of reality.

As they say in baseball, hang with ’em.  And keep hangin’ at Mets Today.

MetsReport – Gabe Aguilar looks at the lack of accountability in the Mets organization.

MetsGazette – Matthe Blaszka wants to give Jerry another year as Mets manager. That’s a joke, right?

The Daily Stache – Taking a cue from Joe’s post on the topic, Ed Vazquez looks at what went wrong and who to blame for yet another failed season.

The Mets Police – Shannon Shark wants Wally Backman to be the next Mets manager. Do you?

NorthJersey.com – Bob Klapisch wants Wally Backman to replace Jerry Manuel… immediately.

Mets Gazette – Torre, Melvin or Backman? I’m always amazed how many Mets fans think Joe Torre is a competent manager. The Yankees don’t miss him and his mismanagement of his bullpen and rotation is positively Manuel-esque.

The Daily Stache – Kevin Kearns is unimpressed with the Mets alleged “youth movement” – a “movement” that consists of an overhyped former prospect and a light-hitting middle infielder with a nice glove.

MetsBlog – About that “youth movement”… F-Mart will be platooning with Jeff Francouer, but Francoeur will also play against some righties. In other words, F-Mart is the fourth outfielder, with benefits.

And here is video of OnTheBlack‘s Kerel Cooper answering the age old question, “Should the Mets trade Daniel Murphy?” Trade value? Danny Murphy? Really?

MetsGazette – Congratulations to Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon, as they will be able to destroy the Mets for another season in 2011. Get your tickets now!

MetsBlog – Jon Heyman says the Mets will be crossing their fingers and hoping the season turns out ok. Good luck with THAT.

The Mets Police – The start time of Lunch Box Day on August 15th has been moved to 8pm because the game will be broadcast on ESPN. Will a Mets lunchbox make me less likely to lose my lunch when I watch the Mets? I hope so…

And here is Kerel Cooper from OnTheBlack, giving his thoughts on trading David Wright and Jose Reyes:

Mets Gazette – Tom Greenhalgh thinks the Mets should have named Jeff Wilpon’s treehouse their new ballpark after Bob Murphy. Agreed… Or maybe Gil Hodges?

The Daily Stache – Aaron Yorke says the big picture remains unchanged, despite Jeff Francoeur’s game-winning home run. Agreed… unfortunately.

Mets 360 – Brian Joura thinks the Mets poor record in one-run games is an indictment of the manager, not the team.

MetsMerized – Joe Spector challenges the Wilpons to be more forthcoming with their customers fans. This one is a few days old, but still worth a read. Sorry I missed it when it was posted.

And via ESPN NY, here are Jeff Francoeur’s postgame comments:

The Mets Police – Shannon Shark wonders why Tom Seaver wasn’t on hand for Sunday’s HOF induction.

MetsBlog – Only four current players shook hands with Mets HOF inductees. Not surprisingly, those four players were David Wright, Angel Pagan, Ike Davis and Jeff Francoeur. I’m kind of surprised Alex Cora and Mike Pelfrey weren’t there, oh well… Maybe they were hanging out with Tom Seaver.

Mets Gazette – A Q&A with MetsBlog’s Matt Cerrone.

Read the Apple – The Mets will begin charging admission to their own press conferences. Only $14.95 for the bronze level? What a deal! (Note: It’s satire)

And here is the latest from Kerel Cooper of OnTheBlack:

MetsGazette – Despite yesterday’s drubbing at the hands of Arizona, Tom Greenhalgh is optimistic.

MetsMerizedOnline – Ten reasons why the Mets were right to do nothing at the trade deadline.

The Daily Stache – Aaron Yorke says the Mets HOF induction ceremony was not ruined by the team’s embarrassing loss.

ESPN NY – A preview of the upcoming series against the Braves.

And here is the latest from Playing for Peanuts, featuring another Wally Backman team meeting.

This is NSFW, but mild for Wally Backman:

From the video description:

South Georgia Peanuts manager Wally Backman holds a team meeting to announce that the coaching staff is no longer speaking to local newspaper reporters and he would like his team to do the same. The local newspaper had accused Backman of staging his ejection from a game as a publicity stunt for the South Coast League and the TV show Playing for Peanuts.

MetsBlog – Apparently, Jerry Manuel opted to pitch to Pujols last night because Pujols had no hits in the game. Yeah, except for the two hits he had earlier in the game… but those don’t count, right? Way to go Jerry!

NY Post – The Mets faked interest in Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Dan Haren. And now it looks like they have no intention or shot at acquiring Ted Lilly. To be fair though, they do seem hellbent on bringing quasi-racist female boxer Brett Myers into the fold, proving once again that Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon really know what they’re doing. Unfortunately for Omar and Jeff, the Astros seem to be holding on to Myers.

Fire Wayne Hagin – No news here, but an absolutely fantastic blog dedicated to getting Wayne Hagin fired. Hey, if Wayne is fired can somebody PLEASE allow Howie Rose to call games by himself, a la Vin Scully? Howie might be the only announcer left that can do that. Hell, he practically calls the game himself as it stands now. It’s not like Hagin is adding the perspective of a former player – unless you count Hagin’s high school career.

And here’s the latest from Kerel Cooper, who was on the field yesterday during batting practice, along with several other Mets bloggers:

TODAY’S GAME

The Mets (51-50) take on the Cardinals (56-45) in the rubber game of a three-game series. R.A. Dickey (6-4, 2.55) will face Blake Hawksworth (4-6, 5.23). First pitch is at 12:10pm EST.