by Mike Massaroli

Created on: May 05, 2010

If I ran the Mets? What a proposition. Things would certainly change, and they would change quite quickly. 

First of all, I don't care if the team is riding on an 18-game winning streak, I would fire manager Jerry Manuel. This guy is simply a dolt. When he had below replacement-level Mike Jacobs on his roster earlier in the year, he not only started him at first, he batted him in the cleanup spot!

In addition to this, he inexplicably went with mediocre veteran Gary Matthews Jr. over the solid Angel Pagan in center field for the first 10 games or so of the season. Can the guy.

Second of all, I would right some of the roster wrongs of this season. Frank "Smithtown's Own" Catalanotto would be designated for assignment, along with the aforementioned Matthews.

Poor reliever Raul Valdes would be sent down (he has minor league options) and Jenrry Mejia would be sent to Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Buffalo to work towards becoming a starting pitcher.

Strong hitters Chris Carter and Mike Hessman would be called up to fill the bench slots. Kiko Calero (he of the sub-2.00 ERA in 2009) and fireballer Bobby Parnell would be slotted into the newly freed bullpen slots.

Next, I would attempt to trade for a solid starter on a non-contending ballclub. Depending on the look of the standings come July, I'm thinking either Jeremy Bonderman of the Tigers or Aaron Harang of the Reds.

Both have high salaries (which a big market team like ours can handle) and shouldn't be particularly difficult to pry from their current clubs. As it is, due to a botched offseason on the part of Omar Minaya, the Mets rotation is paper thin.

If someone went down, the options are few and far between. Pat Misch? Fernando Nieve? Hisanori Takahashi? Dillon Gee? The addition of another solid veteran starter would highly benefit this club and give them much-needed stability in case of a potential playoff run. 

Finally, I would attempt to improve the fan experience. I would go right to the fans, ask them what they think, ask them how they feel about the team. The current Mets management is blind to what the fans of their team are looking for.

They just try to placate the fanbase by signing a Jason Bay, or a K-Rod. They don't address smaller problems, and that's why their teams are left unsuccessful in the end generally.

To summarize, if I ran the New York Mets, I would be pretty damn awesome at it.

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