The Embarrassment In Queens Gets Worse

The total embarrassment that is the New York Mets took another turn this week. I'm not talking so much them dropping a series to the Washington Nationals (as if that wasn't bad enough). The news came to light that Tony Bernazard (pictured on the left), who is in charge of player development, REALLY embarrassed the club, and not just on one front, but three.

Seems as though Bernazard, tough guy he is, wasn't pleased with what he saw of the Mets' AA team at Binghamton, and tore off his shirt in the middle of their locker room and challenged anyone to fight him. He considered them as a group a bunch of wimps, and took it upon himself to show off his manhood (no, not THAT manhood) and put some "fight" into the team. Jeez.

And if that's not bad enough, Bernazard threw a raging fit at an Arizona Diamondbacks scout at Citi Field recently who was in the wrong seat at a game behind home plate. And now it's come to light that Bernazard got into a profanity-laced argument with Francisco Rodriguez on the team bus in Atlanta last Friday.

What in the world are the Wilpons waiting for in order to fire this guy? He totally undermined Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson last year and got them fired, and now Clueless Omar Minaya is now "investigating" Bernarzard's recent actions. What does he have to investigate? Doesn't he have any idea what's going on, or is he just lying through his teeth?

The Mets organization has been totally embarrassed lately, and not just on the field. The team has had some major injuries, but they can't hide behind that. It exposed the fact they have almost nothing of any quality in their farm system, and those rumors of a Roy Halladay trade were probably planted by someone in the Mets organization and probably by Bernazard. Nobody in the right mind really believe the Blue Jays offered the Mets a deal for Fernando Martinez (who is currently hurt and on the DL), Bobby Parnell and two minor leaguers. Strike four?

Minaya and Bernazard have simply run the Mets into the ground (Minaya doing to the Mets what he did earlier this decade in Montreal). The Mets are at a point the Red Sox were in 2001. They need a total housecleaning at the top, and need to bring in a GM with a winning pedigree and with a plan (like the Mets did in 1980 with Frank Cashen). It pains me to see the Mets being simply embarrassed like this, having so many family and friends as devoted followers. The Wilpons seem to sit there and do nothing, and let the lunatics run the asylum. The fortunes of the Red Sox turned after John Henry and company bought the Sox in 2001, and immediately fired the GM and manager. The Mets won't be sold now, as they just built a new stadium and the economy is not in good shape to make a sale worthwhile.

I fear that the changes that need to be made with the Mets won't be made. Ownership won't see the Mets are in truly awful shape, and will use the injury excuse for the reason that this season was a wreck.

They will continue to be the "other team in New York" if they don't make some radical changes, and now. And that will be a terrible shame indeed.