I’m close to thinking there is no comeback in this team. It’s a broken record every single night. No hustle, no aggressiveness, and most importantly there is very little smart ball being played. We’ve seen this before, a collection of stars earning ridiculous salaries underachieving all the while. Successful Mets teams of the past were inundated with home grown talent. That is not the case with this Mets team, not any more.

In the every day lineup, the Mets are fourth best in the National League East. If you don’t think so then compare the following –

Notice the difference between the Mets and the other teams in terms of home grown talent. The Braves and Phillies both have excellent farm systems. They have been able to build around these prospects and the results speak for themselves. Even the Marlins have more home grown players than the Mets. They would have had even more if not for the fire sale last winter when they sent Willis and Cabrera to Detroit.

When Omar Minaya took over in 2005, I got the impression he was going to rebuild the Mets by first bringing in some high priced free agents ala Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez then begin to draft well and build the farm system. To some degree he did but what seems to have happened is Omar got seduced by the free agent or big money players through trades involving top prospects. It’s totally unfair to criticize Minaya for trading Mike Jacobs and others to the Marlins for Carlos Delgado. Without Delgado, maybe the Mets don’t make it to the 7th game of the NLCS two years ago. But understand this. That quick fix to get to the playoffs may have cost the Mets in the long term. The deal to bring Santana to the Mets may cost them too. Most of the Mets prospects are gone now. Most critics agree that the Mets prospects were not the stellar type an organization would hope to have anyway. The point is, do not look for any solutions to come from the farm system. Perhaps Nick Evans will prove me wrong but I wouldn’t bet on it. Fernando Martinez is still a baby and rushing him to the big leagues to fix this mess would only hinder his development.

Trading for players is going to be difficult as well. Who do the Mets have to deal? Certainly, nothing from the farm. That’s why I really do not hold much hope of a winning season anymore this year. I really don’t see this collection of players to all of a sudden turn on the drive necessary to prove anyone wrong. Perhaps the reality is the Mets are just not a very good team. The most startling statistic to me is that the Mets are 12-21 against right handed pitching. That’s not very good considering that most pitchers in the National League throw from the right side.

One thing the Mets should do is send Pelfrey down to triple A. He still is not ready for the big stage. Let him pitch in New Orleans for the remainder of the season. He’s still young and if he does well, make him a September call up. The Mets should also finally move Aaron Heilman. He may flourish somewhere else but it has become painfully obvious that he will never do so here. Claudio Vargas can stay in the rotation when Pedro comes back and God help us if there is another injury to the pitching staff.

I don’t know what else the Mets can do. It’s not like there are other clubs trying to help the Mets. My fear is that the Mets may be in trouble for a long time, longer than just this season. It’s the price we will pay for all the short term fixes. 2006 in retrospect was buy now, pay later. The bank is calling.