Transition, Part 1

Forget about the whole "two hands" thing for a moment. Very few major leaguers do it anyway, so fundamental lapses of that nature are unsurprising.

The problem is that it's tolerated. On the Mets, everything is tolerated. There are no repercussions for anything.

Luis Castillo drops a pop-up to cost the team an exciting, emotionally-charged game? No repercussions.

Ryan Church runs away from the flight of the ball to begin celebrating instead of backing up Castillo? No repercussions.

Jerry Manuel manages a team that commits endless baserunning blunders and consistently fails to run balls out? No repercussions.

The Mets choke away two September leads and bow out on the final day of the season two years in a row? No repercussions.

Omar Minaya builds a team that chokes away two September leads and bows out on the final day of the season two years in a row? No repercussions.

Everything is tolerated because the Wilpons don't care. As long as Mets fans are posing for pictures in front of a plastic "42" and buying burgers at Shake Shack, everything is just fine with them. Money gets made - and that's all that matters.

In Fred and Jeff's mind, they run a model franchise. The team plays in a beautiful, taxpayer-built stadium that's more of an homage to Fred's favorite team than to the actual tenants. Profits are high, so the payroll is high, which in time makes profits even higher.

The general manager is a corporate lackey who understands two things above all - buying star power is good and getting the kind of players that Fred and Jeff likes are even better. That means no red-asses, nobody too outspoken or flamboyant, no one who might mouth off publicly about the sad state of affairs inside or outside the clubhouse. No more Wally Backmans, no more Keith Hernandezes. The Mets like their players' personalities homogenized, thank you very much.

The manager is a quiet, unassuming man who won't publicly question or contradict the general manager or ownership, and he won't punish his players no matter how many fundamental lapses they have.

It's all a con, and I'm sick of it.