Do the Mets have heart?

As written in a number of articles today, this seems to be the topic for the upcoming weekend. Do the Mets have enough heart to be winners of the division (let alone a championship)? Do they care, do they have passion? I think up to this point, it's fair to say they do not. Of course I believe the players care about being competitive and winning. You don't get to this level without having major drive to be the best. But once you get here, there is a distinct difference that separates teams each year. The champions from the underachievers. Hence, the Rays and Red Sox compared to the Yankees last year. The Phillies compared to the Mets. The Twins almost ever year. Playing together for a common goal. Team chemistry matters. When I say team chemistry, I mean attitude. It's obvious this team is in sore need of some. A team doesn't just go on talent alone. They have to be a unit with the same agenda. This team is all over the place right now. They have plenty of talent obviously, but they seem to lack the same goals.

We've went through different managers, different pitching coaches, and we're getting the same results with this unit. They have been a .500 team or a tad over for the better part of two years now. It seems that it's time to accept that this team is what it is. Their bullpen was terrible last year, they fix that (we think) and now their starting pitching is a mess and hitting continues to lack coming through in big situations. It just always seems to be something that keeps this team down.

The time has come where some major changes need to take place. There is a solid core of young talent to build around. Wright, Reyes, Santana, Pelf, K-Rod, Murphy, Beltran are all guys to build around. The team needs to add scrappy, tough players around these guys. They need to add some reliable, proven starting pitching (at least one number 2?). Hopefully Omar gets this and will start working on it to have some things shaken up by the All-Star break.

Unfortunately, sounds like Delgado is headed to the DL which is not the way to get his season started and increase his trade value by the deadline. Hopefully Castillo continues to have a good year, then trade him by the deadline. It's time to deconstruct and start over with the core.

That all being said, let's hope for a tough, fought out series in Philly this weekend. I'm so tired of hearing Philly fans and media yapping it up. Would be fantastic to shut their pie-holes at least for a weekend. Stranger things have happened. This team could wake up and does have the capability to light someone up...even if it is just temporarily. It's been no fun yet this season. Would be nice to get a bit of joy from your team. No?