RA
"We're not very good, guys. Pound it."

The Amazin' Mets are 5-13. They have lost 12 of 14 games. And they just lost a series the Astros, who are arguably just as bad.

Icing on the cake? Sure! They have given up more runs than any team in Major League Baseball… except for the Mariners, who have given up just as many. What great company to be in…

What I'm getting at is… this team sucks. There is no real rivalry between the Phillies and the Mets. At this point, we just have a contingent of our fans feeling sorry for the morons in New York that still think that the current state of their franchise equates to any relevancy.

While their fans drown in their own denial, I must say that it was somewhat refreshing to come across comments made by starting pitcher R.A. Dickey last night, who is willing to embrace the reality that is currently the New York Mets.

Dickey wants his teammates to be honest with themselves: [Hardball Talk]

"We can’t just keep telling ourselves, ‘Oh, we’re a better team than this.’ We may not be. And we’ve got to be honest about that, and identify what we’re doing wrong, and do it better. That’s the only way you have any real growth."

 

It really is an astute and brutally honest observation by a guy who isn't afraid to tell the truth in a pretty vicious media market. Respect. This isn't something you're going to hear often unless you're religiously listening to New York sports radio.

All kidding aside, the Mets have had their woes over the past three or four years, and the bad luck that came with the Bernie Madoff scandal only made things worse. It is unfortunate that the Phillies-Mets rivalry is really nothing more than a thing of the past. It was good for the fans, especially in Philadelphia.

Now this Mets squad looks like a bunch of guys who, despite some of the individual talent on the roster, can't put it together. Bad luck, low morale, and a bit of choking from time to time (heh) doesn't exactly add up to a lethal combination.

Dickey seems to see the situation for what it is and wants to get better, but when is the last time you got that vibe from the Mets team as a whole? In recent memory, they've always come off as a "this is who we are and it's good enough" kind of team, as opposed to having a"this is what we want to become" attitude.

I guess that's fine with us here in Philadelphia. It's always nice to have to worry about one less team in the division.