We know where we are.

Is it just me, or is this a bit of an issue?

“We’ve got to play better baseball,” Randolph said. “It starts on Tuesday. It could have started three or four days ago. We had an urgency three or four days ago. There’s no certain point you get to where you’ve got to make any speeches. We know where we are. We know where we are.”

I know they are all adults and are aware of the fact that they are playing poorly. However, isn't every team full of adults that are supposed to be self aware? I mean for the most part I think they are somewhat at the very least. That being said, that does not mean things should go unsaid and Willie should assume that everything is known and nothing needs to be said.

I do believe this season has been one big colossal team effort of complete ineptitude. Pinpointing this on one person certainly is not right as I have stated many times, but some people are just better motivators than others and some people are better fits for some teams than others.

As for the Mets, whatever Willie's method of motivation is, it is not working. From the worst regular season collapse to being one of the biggest shocks (in a bad way of course) of the 2008 season, it is getting clearer and clearer that something is just not clicking. Getting swept in two four games series in a matter of two weeks is simply improbable, incomprehensible, and unforgivable.

I have been fooled many, many, many times this season in regards to thinking the Mets have turned a corner. I am a beaten man who now has no idea who the real Mets are. I am in denial at this point that the Mets are a crappy .500 team and I am holding out hope this team shakes out of their funk. However, combine 7.5 games out of first with a Philly run differential closing in on 100 and that spells out a bad things for the Mets. It is no longer early anymore, but I remain slightly hopeful. Perhaps misguidedly, but I still think changes need to be made.

* * *

The Royals were not impressed by Joba.

"Nothing like we haven't faced before," leadoff man David DeJesus said after Chamberlain threw 41/3 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) in the Yankees' 6-3 win.

DeJesus called Chamberlain "all right," saying, "Just a guy throwing hard." DeJesus, who went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk off Chamberlain, said that when he faced the flamethrowing righty, he was missing his location with his off-speed pitches.

Kansas City right fielder Mark Teahen praised Chamberlain's pitches but said that he was "more or less the same as he was as a reliever," adding, "Nothing special."

Of course, the media wanted them to fawn all over him and bow down to his greatness....I mean, these guys are competitors? What were they expected to say?

And it continues...

"I was ready to come here at 1 because I thought the game started at 4," Castro said. "I'm a little embarrassed. It's my fault. It won't happen again."

Randolph, already reeling from the team's fourth consecutive loss, was not amused afterward.

"The explanation is not acceptable, and he'll be fined for it," he said.

The Mets have been an absolute circus this year yet again for all the wrong reasons.

Church is headed to the DL and I know the Mets have been maligned as it relates to the way they handled Church, but concussions are difficult to deal with. I guess they could have played it more safely, but I really cannot say they did anything egregious.

Sugar Pants speaks on the Mets failures.

“There’s a few options,” David Wright said. “We can just continue to go out there and have these ups and down and just play out the rest of the season or we can figure it out and get things turned around, take this to heart, figure it out and rattle off a good month or so. But this is where we need to make a stand. We’re already too far behind the Phillies as far as where we’d like to be.”

BP talks Mike Carp.

Mike Carp, 1B/LF Double-A Binghamton (Mets)
In a system running quite low on prospects, at least Carp continues to enjoy the best rebound in the system. Last year, he was one of the organization’s biggest disappointments, batting just .251/.337/.387 at Binghamton, but in his defense, he was just 20 years old at the start of the season. This year he returned to the B-Mets, smacked a home run on Opening Night, and has never looked back since. On Friday night he had a strange game, going 4-for-4 with a double yet somehow not scoring or driving in a run. He made up for those counting stats on Sunday by slugging two home runs (driving in six), which helped raise his season averages to .351/.404/.553 on the season. The Mets have tried to increase his value even more this year by trying him some in left field, but scouts have characterized that as something of a disaster. Offensively, though, he’s a smash hit who could get a shot at being a cheap replacement for Carlos Delgado in 2009.

He has been great this year and has dropped 24 XBHs in 55 games. Walking some more would be nice, but it is really hard to complain about what he has been doing in 2008.

Most mailbags are bad, but this one was chock full o' good questions and comments.

These guys have it in their noggins that they're really a top-notch team, while they have nothing to prove it except a near-appearance in the Fall Classic a couple of years ago. Hey, the Rockies were there last year, and look at them now.

A little sense of urgency would be nice.

“The Phillies are a good team, they’re on a hot streak and we have be careful about letting them get too far ahead of us,” Minaya said. “Let’s face it, we’re not getting it done the way we should. I know there’s still 100 games left, but you have to be careful with this how-many-games-we’ve-got-left business.”

That 'how-many-games-we've-got-left business was pervasive in the Met clubhouse at the end of last season and everyone tried to play all calm and cool like there was nothing to get worried about. Well, there was and there is now.

Adam Rubin is taking things a bit too far.

Minaya used to espouse the idea of having a young and athletic roster, which proved lip service in reality. Like a college student with a credit card, he just spent and spent and spent without considering any consequences. He offered too many years - to Luis Castillo, Orlando Hernandez, Guillermo Mota and Julio Franco, to name a few - perhaps even more frequently than too many dollars.

The Mets also have Beltran, Church, Reyes, and Wright who are extremely athletic as well as Schneider who is an extremely proficient fielder and Santana who is extremely athletic.

I am not saying that he does not have a few brittle players, but for the most part, they are have some athletes there. The Castillo signing was a bizarre one, but I do not fault him for Alou and Delgado. Delgado was a beast the year prior and pretty damn good in his first year with the Mets. Who knew he would fall off of a cliff.

He also made some stellar pick ups like Oliver Perez and John Maine for nothing. The worst thing he has done is let the farm system go to shit with terrible picks and the misguided notion he needs to fall in line with the commish while other teams blow through that notion.

Griffey Jr. blasted # 600 yesterday and he is in an elite club of 600 or more homers. Only Sosa, Mays, Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds have more and considering how many games he has missed since 2001, it is truly an impressive feat.

It is rare when a #1 overall pick actually succeeds and becomes the player everyone expected them to be, but Griffey did it.