I’ve often read that Omar is very loyal, so I am sure that some of the reason he stands up for Willie is for that reason. And I believe he *does* realize he is partly to blame. At that infamous Memorial Day press conference, he was asked if it was possible that this was simply not a playoff-caliber team, and he answered “yes,” adding that they definitely have playoff-caliber talent, but maybe they just don’t fit well as a team–and that would be his doing, since it is *his* job to match the right 25 players together.

That being said, the act of self-preservation is only natural. Once Willie is gone, if the team doesn’t improve, that will make it two managers that couldn’t succeed with this group of players, which places the blame squarely at Omar’s feet. As long as Willie is around, there is still a question of who is more to blame, with Willie likely to get more fingers pointed in his direction, as his errors are more obvious. Omar is far from the only person who would take advantage of that.

Also, if Beltran’s struggles are due to his lack of protection from Delgado, why doesn’t Willie change the lineup? Maybe Wright can handle that situation better–he can hit 4th and Beltran 3rd. Willie just leaves things as is as is, and says “I believe in my guys” (I swear, that’ll be on his tombstone). It’s not easy to get new players in the organization–you have to have chips to trade, which the Mets no longer do, after getting Johan–so you can hardly fault Omar for not making that kind of a change at this point. But Willie can make changes to his lineup, and he doesn’t. He marches the same people out there, day in and day out, and can’t seem to figure out that this is not the way to get different results. He made his own bed, and now he’ll have to lay in it.

Good lord. I don’t care how much D Wright loves HoJo. This team is not hitting. Move him to first base, where he can’t do any harm, but this team needs a hitting coach with some ideas.

And I’ll add to the chorus that this is tiresome, and they need to fish or cut bait, already. It’s ridiculous. I really wish the Wilpons didn’t own this team.

Willie sucked two weeks ago when everyone wanted him fired.

He still sucks.

I’m just bummed about the Jerry Manuel half-measure.

If we are really trying to shake up the team, there’s only one answer.

And the answer is Bobby Valentine.

Also, just for fun they should bring Piazza out of retirement for a bat off the bench, to see if they can bring some of the old magic back, plus get the fans to believe.