Emotionally speaking its hard to argue with Adam Rubin of the Daily News. In today’s edition, he rakes Omar Minaya over the coals for moves during his tenure that has destroyed the Mets franchise. With anger a primary emotion these days when discussing the Mets, it’s hard to defend the GM. But a closer look at his deals made show a different picture.

Adam points out that one of the main things Omar has done is raise the payroll to 140 million with a result being a .500 team. That’s true but is the National League’s largest salary the reason why the Mets are a .500 team? What would Mets fans be saying had Omar with the Wilpon’s blessing did not spend this kind of money. All we would be hearing is how ownership is cheap and unwilling to spend on the team. Let’s look at the big money players Omar has brought in.

The first big signing was Pedro Martinez. No question this was a risky deal but acquiring Pedro was more about making the fans as well as other players recognize the Mets desire to win. For the first year and a half of his contract, Pedro did contribute on the field as well as off. Carlos Beltran has not lived up to expectations this season. But when he was signed by the Mets, I don’t recall too many fans or those in the media criticizing the deal. Unlike Pedro, Beltran was a free agent signed in his prime at just 28 years old. They were not able to land Carlos Delgado via free agency but did acquire the slugger in a trade when Florida held a fire sale. As bad as Delgado was last season and up until recently, who complained in 2006 when he helped the Mets win the division and almost get to the World Series?

Rubin points out that the reliance on older players has been the fuel for the demise of the Mets. I can’t at all argue this point. If Minaya has a fault it has been to shell out far too much cash for older players clearly at the end of their career. Case in point is Moises Alou. While Alou still may be able to get out of bed on Christmas Day and hit line drives, it’s the getting out of bed part that has become the issue. Adam is also correct in his analysis of the Mets barren farm system. But in fairness, the reason why the farm has become barren is through trades that have been made for major league talent. As mentioned, no one argued when Delgado was obtained for minor league players. No one this past winter was upset when the Mets parted with Carlos Gomes, Phil Humber and two other prospects for Johan Santana.

Any GM makes bad moves and Omar is no exception. Luis Castillo was a poor signing. A better option would have been to keep Ruben Gotay and give him a shot at playing every day. His offense is superior to Castillo, something the Mets could sorely use right now. Trading pitchers Matt Lindstrom, Royce Ring, and Heath Bell were all bad deals. None of the players returned to the Mets have contributed while Linstrom (Florida), Ring (Atlanta) and Bell (San Diego) have all helped their new clubs.

But let’s not forget that Omar acquired Xavier Nady from San Diego who contributed mightily to the Mets division drive in ’06. How about the deal to obtain Duaner Sanchez from the Dodgers? Sanchez was fantastic until the taxi accident that forced Minaya to trade Nady to Pittsburgh for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez. Perez went on to pitch very well during the ’06 playoffs and last season he won 15 games. It’s easy to bash Minaya now that Nady is flourishing in Pittsburgh while Perez is struggling this season. Lastly, maybe trading Lastings Milledge in the long run will be regretted but Ryan Church has done more for the Mets both offensively and defensively than Milledge ever did. And Brian Schneider is a much better defensive catcher than Paul Lo Duca.

Minaya has also done a good job over the years assembling a strong bench. This year the bench has not provided much offense consistently but no player on the Mets this year has either. So far this season, through 62 games, the Mets have just not played well. Is it really because of bad trades, free agent signings, or a bad farm system or is it that they are simply having a bad year. It happens. Look at the injuries the Mets have suffered this season. Church with his concussions, Alou who is chronically injured, Pedro, Schneider, and Anderson all with pulled hamstrings. It goes on and on. If anyone should get fired, maybe it should be the conditioning coach.

It’s easy to bash Omar right now because emotionally, we as fans are fed up. Our expectations were set so high coming into this season, especially with the acquisition of Johan Santana, it’s difficult not to be disappointed. But the baseball business is a gamble. There is no guarantee of success. There are still 100 games left and the Mets could turn it all around. Will they? Right now it seems impossible but on the other hand witness what happened last season. Last year at this time the Phillies were nowhere and you know what happened. Suffice it to say, it’s not out of the question that the Mets make a run and get back into the playoff picture. The talent is there. I think the will is there too. Luck, if there is such a thing, simply has not gone the Mets way. Carlos Beltran has hit more line drive outs than any hitter I have seen this year. If David Wright’s drive with the bases loaded the other evening in San Diego wasn’t turned into a spectacular high light reel catch, the Mets clear the bases and maybe win that game.

Emotionally yes, I want Omar and Willie out just for the sake of change. But intellectually that is not the right decision. It’s not to say that Omar and company need not make changes, they do. The Mets need to get younger and last weeks draft of mostly college players indicated they recognize the need to bring young, close to major league talent into the organization.

With David Wright and Jose Reyes entering their prime, I do not buy the notion that the Mets will have to totally rebuild. The core of this team is still solid. Some tweaking here and there and cleansing of the older players may be all that’s needed to right this ship even if it does turn out to be just a bad year.