The Mets currently sit in fourth in the NL East division with a 31-45 recordGETTY IMAGES
The Mets are in the middle of their second 7-game losing streak of the season after an 11-1 start, and while fans could "pin the blame" on GM Sandy Alderson, they might "look to the owner's suite" and the Wilpon family, according to Steve Popper of the Bergen RECORD. It is "easy to point a finger and find someone to blame" for the team's performance. The Wilpons "don’t need to set unrealistic expectations ... but tell the truth." If that truth is that the franchise "has to do things on the cheap, then say it." The Mets' payroll has "lingered below the league average since the Madoff scandal set the team into a financial spiral downward." They have "jumped the payroll this season -- although part of the problem is just how they chose to spend the money." The Mets have "shuffled the deck chairs for a decade and it has all looked very much the same." They have "spent on free-agent failures, stayed out of the running for the real talent, and perhaps most alarming, crafted a farm system that has little hope of providing help" (Bergen RECORD, 6/26).
WHEN IT RAINS: In N.Y., John Harper writes with everything going "wrong on the big-league level and very little help coming from the farm system, you can’t help but look at the player-development system as a problem." It is one more reason to "question the job that Alderson has done, as he is now in his eighth season on the job." While he is "not actually making the draft picks or overseeing bunt drills, obviously the GM is responsible for hiring the people who make those decisions and execute the on-the-field philosophy." Alderson is "coming under more and more scrutiny for the Mets’ failures" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/26). On Long Island, Anthony Rieber writes it is getting "easier to imagine" Mets COO Jeff Wilpon "stepping up to a Citi Field podium before the end of this disappointing season and announcing the end" of the Alderson regime (NEWSDAY, 6/26). MLB Network’s Chris Russo: “The Mets are just a mess. They never bring in a useful, young player” (“High Heat,” MLBN, 6/25).
POSSIBLE ROSTER MOVES? MLB.com’s Richard Justice said the Mets are in a "frantic position," it has been a "disappointing year and everyone wants the dramatic move." But there is "no way" they should trade Ps Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, who are "two guys you can build a franchise on" (“The Rundown,” MLBN, 6/25). But SNY’s Jon Hein said at this point, the team has "got to shake things up" with the roster. WFAN’s Maggie Gray: “A lot of the Mets’ issues are, in some ways, organizational. There’s not a lot of depth, not a lot of development. ... A new philosophy might not be the worst thing" ("Loud Mouths," SNY, 6/25). The N.Y. Daily News' Bob Raissman said, "Do you want the management that’s making the decisions now to do this dealing for you?” SNY’s Maria Marino said of whether changes need to be made in the front office, “They have made some changes already, but every single aspect is failing. Drafting and scouting need to be improved, free agent signings have not panned out, the farm system depleted, so where do you turn next? … Sandy Alderson." When looking at the roster, it "doesn’t seem there’s anything positive to look forward to" (“Daily News Live,” SNY, 6/25).
