The Mets Stink

One thing that became very obvious over the recent weeks was showcased tonight on Sunday Night Baseball—the Mets are a mess. Their 7-1 loss to Atlanta was only one game, but if you've seen them in the past month then you know they stink. Despite the second-highest payroll in baseball (just under $150 million), the Mets are 43-48, just lost three-out-of-four to the Braves and are 15-29 since June 1.

Of course fans and baseball people will point to the amount of injuries that continue to pile up for the Mets. Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz and John Maine have all missed a significant amount of time already this season. Injuries are a part of the game and sometimes they dictate the fortunes of a season. But doesn't it seem like it's always something for the Mets in recent years? Last year, it was their bullpen falling apart, blowing games. So they go out and spend a ridiculous sum of money on the pen, only to see injuries derail the team in 2009. And there's always the late-season collapse the past two years, which is difficult to explain other than they simply buckled until the pressure.

If you looked at the Mets lineup lately, you wouldn't recognize half of them. And then there's the Mets pitching. They've had to rely on some of these names: Elmer Dessens, Tim Redding, Casey Fossum and Jon Niese. Ouch. Then there's Livan Hernandez who sucks, Oliver Perez who still sucks and Mike Pelfrey who's been awful this year.

Overall, it's added up to a bunch of nothing for the Mets. It's actually a surprise they have hung around as long as they have. But that's changing fast thanks to the Phillies kicking it up a notch along with the Mets continued struggles. I'm writing this team off once again. At least we won't have to watch or hear about their epic collapse in the last month of the season because come September, the Mets won't be anywhere near the playoff chase.