Go Time, Omar

By Mike McGann
Posted Wednesday, June 27, 2007

A wise man, missed by many of us, once said, “You Gotta Believe.” But do Mets’ fans believe in this team?

In a word, no.

For a team coming off a 97-win season, a team currently in first place, there isn’t anything like the sense of security and serenity clearly evident among Mets’ fans last summer. But surely, you say, this team is still in first place.

Ah, true, but let’s be honest, this team is sputtering like a 1965 Rambler American on the LIE. And stop calling me Shirley. (Trust me, it’s funny if you go back and read it to yourself in a Leslie Neilsen voice. And apparently, funnier still if you read to yourself while wearing only underwear, although probably not for your office mates.)

Carlos Delgado hasn’t had a two-out hit with runners in scoring position since before the last time Beatles were on the charts. (A literal truth, here, as the Beatles reached the charts last fall with Love, and Delgado hasn’t had a two-out, runners in scoring position hit since the 2006 season.) Jose Valentin has the range of William Shatner at second base. Scott Schoeneweis practically needs a walker to get to the mound, and yet he seems to pitch in every close game, with frequently painful results. Aaron Heilman looks like his dog was run over by Mr. Met on yet another bender.

And Mets’ fans aren’t alone. It came out that Willie Randolph did some minor redecorating of the visiting manager’s office at Chavez Ravine, converting a chair into a nice collection of splinters. Randolph knows this team is messed up, knows that somehow the chemistry got messed up, the pieces don’t fit right and he can’t fix it. No manager could, in fact.

In fact, only one guy can fix it.

Omar Minaya.

On Sunday, I ran through the likely scenarios for deals, none of which have really changed, so I won’t bore you with further permutations of why Pedro Feliciano is about to turn into the pitching equivalent of napalm.

The issue now, is time. To paraphrase the Mets’ own marketing (which can cause brain injury and hand cramps): The Team, The Trade, The Time. Now. As in yesterday.

As we all know from our Mets’ history lessons, there are good trades and bad trades. And times when any trade is a bad one. Conversely, there are rare times when any trade, beyond the painfully stupid, is a good one.

I submit this is one of those rare times when the Mets need to make a move for the sake of making a move.

Arguably, this should be a very, very good team. But it’s not playing like one, rather it is a team playing like it’s a little distracted. Okay, that’s a bit like saying Paris Hilton is a bit irrelevant, but you get the idea.

In short, the 25-man roster needs to be shaken up, with a one or two of the 25 really shaken up by finding themselves suddenly wearing other uniforms. In other cities. And it almost doesn’t matter whom goes, as long it isn’t David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran or a starting pitcher or Billy Wagner.

Minaya likes to say that there’s no one on the roster who can’t be dealt — and maybe the players need to start believing that again, and play with bit a more urgency. A veteran or two needs to go poof! And find themselves in Pittsburgh or Kansas City, or some other small, desolate outpost of baseball. That sort of thing gets the message across very quickly.

And shipping fringe veterans to New Orleans isn’t going to get it done (David Newhan’s departure to the Zephyrs changed nothing).

Over the last couple of years, Minaya has gotten the reputation as one of the brightest GM’s in baseball — deservedly so. But he needs to act, and act soon, or this mildly vexing situation is going to bloom into a full-blown mess.

It’s time, Omar. They’re veterans. Startle them out of complacency.

It’s time to shake things up, baby.