Kevin Kernan of the NY Post joined me on last night’s edition of NYBD Radio. The topic of fear and anxiety was a main theme when we were diagnosing what is wrong with the team to date. The takeaway I had was that perhaps management should take as much blame as the players for the environment they have created in the locker room.

Kernan, who also mentioned this in a column earlier this week, reported that management has made the decision to eliminate all newspapers from the clubhouse. Unless you write for USA Today or the National Enquirer those who play for the Mets will never read any reporter’s fine work. The manager is also being “controlled” to an extent since all dialogue with the media must go through the large press conference set up by SNY. There is no interaction in the manager’s office like most professional sports teams. It almost sounds like they want the sports equivalent of a White House briefing. They must have forgotten the memo that informed them Jerry Manuel doesn’t usually comply. You can see in this situation how they are trying to eliminate the possibility that Jerry says something that could be misconstrued as controversial.

The Mets have a reputation for trying to control the news around their club. It never works and often makes things even worse in the long run. How can you expect your players to toughen up when management has an equally, if not worse, thin skin? What’s next? You’re going to throw the fans out and play in an empty stadium so you don’t hear any boos? Keep playing like this and you might not need to worry about that.

The old saying goes that you “reap what you sow” and this organization is trying to create a utopian environment free of the harsh realities of the real world. Newsflash: you can’t create a sterile clubhouse. Regardless of what you do for a living criticism, pressure, and negativity is part of your daily workplace diet. I don’t care if your name is David Wright or John Doe. If the organization put as much time into player development as they do with corporate spin perhaps we would have Jesus Flores, Scott Kazmir, and Jason Bay on the roster.

Listen to Ted Berg of SNY and Kevin Kernan of the NY Post talk about Mets issues. To hear some of what Kernan had to say about the above fast forward to the 30 minute mark.

Tags: David Wright, Jason Bay, Jerry Manuel, Jesus Flores, Kevin Kernan, New York Mets, NY Post, Scott Kazmir