In a bit of light humor, though not so light as to not have a modicum of truth involved, I find myself wondering who the scapegoat will be this year. We all know last year there were a few different incidents or causes to the Mets failed year. The most pronounced of those being the rash of injuries and failure by the medical staff and trainers to keep a healthy and whole baseball team on the diamond. Although there was also that "incident" involving Tony Bernazard and his special brand of motivation. The year before we saw Willie Randolph get ushered out of town in a somewhat surprising manner by Mets brass after winning 3 out of his last 4 and trailing in the NL East by 6.5 games. Jumping forward the Mets currently sit at 7 games back in the division and are just 1-7 in their last 8 games after coming back from the All-Star break. If I had to hazard a guess as to the scapegoat this year I would probably finger a few different people starting with the obvious choice, Jerry Manuel. His coaching staff could also face the same axe, most notably Howard Johnson. There hasn't been a point this year where the Mets have clicked from top to bottom with the bats consistently(**See Barajas, Francouer, Bay). While I liked Hojo as a player and would hate to see him go I think the Mets could make him one of many scapegoats this year.
In a side note, Omar Minaya has pieced together a team that, at least in the first half of the year, proved they could be competitive. If they don't finish with a decent record he could also find himself looking for a new job.
Scapegoat?
