Five Steps to Fix the Mets

The New York Mets have no chance this year but management is so dense that they think their fans don't know that. Here are the five steps I'd take to put the Mets back on the right track.

1. Fire Omar Minaya. He's the worst GM in the game. Assuming that I would be unacceptable - I'd hire Josh Byrnes who was recently let go by Arizona but who would be a great fit here.

2. Fire Jerry Manuel. I would have replaced him with Buck Showalter but the Mets are too late there. Manuel still has to go.

3. Trade Johan Santana and Oliver Perez to the Yankees for catcher Jose Montero, second baseman David Adams, and pitcher Phil Hughes. This would give the Yankees an absolute stud pitcher who would be no stranger to the pressure of pitching in New York while giving the Mets a young stud catcher, a young stud pitcher and the ability to shed about $30 million off the 2011 payroll.

4. Trade outfielder Jason Bay, 25-year old reliever Bobby Parnell and $16 million to the Red Sox for pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, infielder Jed Lowrie and outfielder Josh Reddick. This would require both Bay and Dice-K to approve the deal but I think they would. The $16 million would pay for the 4th year of Bay's contact which was the sticking point with him and the Red Sox in the first place. The Red Sox need an outfielder with punch and bullpen help. Bay also gives the team something to peak the fans interest and keep the ad revenue on NESN from slipping. Dice-K would thrive in the canyon-like expanses of Citi-field and New York has a large Japanese population to help make this deal worth his while.

5. Trade Jose Reyes to Cardinals for OF Jon Jay and RHP Adam Ottavino. As SI's Joe Sheehan points out - shortstop is Saint Louis's real weak point and this deal would address this.

These moves would remove the problems at the top of the organization while giving the team a young core of players plus a new financial flexibility. The moves would drop the payroll down to about $80 million which would let them be major players in the hunt for 2011 free agents Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford. Signing either one of those players would make the Mets players for the 2011 World Series.