Missing: Mets Offense

24, 7, 17, 16.

Those are the scoreless innings streaks the Mets offense painfully slumped through during their most recent West coast roadie. They finished up the trip 2-9, scoring a grand total of 23 runs over the 11 games.

After falling to the Dodgers Thursday, New York has matched its low-water mark of 2010, standing 7.5 games behind first-place Atlanta. The loss was quite possibly the final straw for General Manager Omar Minaya, who wasn't at all reassuring of his current coaching staff.

When asked specifically if Mets coaches would be returning with identical roles when the team returns home this Tuesday, Minaya responded, "I don't want to talk about that. I feel everybody here is trying hard. I could tell you the staff is trying hard. If you ask me [about] the overall performance that has happened, of course I'm not happy. Nobody is happy."

When a reporter took another hack at prying a quote from the tight-lipped Minaya, the GM responded, "That's all I'm going to say."

A move that can be heavily anticipated is the firing of batting coach Howard Johnson, who can easily be called out as a scapegoat in this offensive dry-spell. But Minaya should not stop there.

A complete overhaul of the coaching staff is needed for the Mets to contend in 2010.

Along with the lack of hitting, the Mets have been victims of hideous starting lineups and putrid in-game managing.

Let's take a look at his ever-so-carefully-pieced-together batting orders before we pick apart his strategic abilities.

In today's loss in Los Angeles, the lineup card in the Mets dugout appeared like this:

1. Reyes SS
2. Castillo 2B
3. Wright 3B
4. Beltran CF
5. Bay LF
6. Davis 1B
7. Francouer RF
8. Thole C
9. Dickey P

Alright, let's organize the claims that can be made arguing this abominable lineup.

• Luis Castillo is batting second. Luis Castillo and his .242 batting average, 15 runs scored, and five extra base hits, batting anywhere in the order besides eighth is an ignominy. His asset to the Mets is making contact with the baseball, which, 70% of the time, he pounds into the ground, according to Fangraphs. His BABIP (or batting average on balls in play, for the non stat-nerds) is .250, the lowest it has ever been in his career, yet he is the second baseman everyday for the New York Mets.His defensive contribution goes as far as knocking down what's in front of him, and not much else. His range is diminished to virtually nothing after dual knee problems. He'll scoop up and execute nearly all routine plays perfectly, though.
• Next, Jeff Francoeur is in the starting lineup while Angel Pagan is on the bench. That sentence in itself is an absolute humiliation. Pagan has proven to be the team's most reliable player both offensively and defensively in 2010. Francoeur has proved to be the team's least reliable player, at the very least on the offensive end. Sporting an OBP of .299 after Sunday's loss, compare that to starter R.A. Dickey's .300 percentage, and you only begin to realize Francoeur's flaws as a baseball player. He swings at 61.4% of the pitches he sees this year. 43.7% of pitches out of the strike zone thrown to him, he hacks at anyway. Add that with the fact that he's batting as un-clutch as he ever has in his career, and it's obvious that he has no business being on this team.
• Josh Thole is not an eighth-spot hitter. In 17 games this year his BABIP is sitting at .478, with a .429 batting average (12-for-28). His OBP is over .500 and the rookie catcher is OPSing (OBP+SLG) a whopping 1.087. The argument could not only be made that Thole should be the everyday catcher, but the number two hitter in the lineup behind Jose Reyes.

But Jerry's lineup-assembly is only half of his managerial handicap. He's seemingly convinced that an out is not the single most valuable thing to the opponent. At the rate he sacrifice bunts, the Mets might as well start each inning with an out, and Manuel will be sure to give a free one away soon enough.

His use of the bullpen also exemplifies his genius, just ask Fernando Nieve. Who would've guessed that after nearly a half-season of being used everyday that his performance would eventually regress? Not Jerry, apparently. Nieve was designated for assignment last week and none other than Oliver Perez has been the go-to guy deep in the ballgame for Manuel.

Jerry's handling of injuries have been phenomenal as well. Especially in the case of Jose Reyes. Reyes injured his oblique taking BP in Puerto Rico against the Marlins. Manuel sat Reyes for the following few games, then proceeded to place him back in the lineup knowing he was not only less than one hundred percent healthy, but could not bat left-handed. After inevitably struggling, Reyes was dropped to second in the order before re-injuring the side on a throw from deep in the hole. Even then, Manuel was clueless. David Wright had to stop play and call out his manager to alert him of his ailing shortstop.

However, when arguably the most consistent starting pitcher this season, resurging knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, tweaks a leg muscle, Jerry's first instinct was to remove the cruising Dickey, who allowed only two hits and walked none through 70 pitches in today's game. Manuel allowed Dickey to stay in for two more batters, until he realized an odd throwing motion on Dickey's throw to first base to get the out. Dickey said he was fine, and knowingly held back because the opposing pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, was the baserunner. Manuel would hear none of it, and pulled out Dickey much to his dismay. The Mets lost the game as the bullpen allowed a run to cross the plate in the bottom of the eighth.

Mets fans can only hope Minaya acts swiftly in replacing the fool at the helm of the team.

As for the three comedically bad baseball players mentioned above, according to reports by FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, they could be on their way out of New York. Rosenthal reports that Minaya has explored a trade with the Kansas City Royals, bringing up the names of Castillo, Francoeur, and Perez, in a possible swap for starter Gil Meche, reliever Kyle Farnsworth, and outfielder Jose Guillen. The salaries of the three on each side match up almost perfectly. Obviously we will hear more as we draw nearer to the July 31st trade deadline.