The Mets have an identity crisis. Right now 29 other teams view them as a dysfunctional joke. A recent report by Murray Chass cited agent frustration with how the club manages their business, and we all know how bad the Carlos Beltran knee fiasco looks to prospective players. The two faces of the franchise, Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel, don’t give anyone reason to exude confidence when pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks. Minaya appears to be “dead GM walking” and Manuel’s “Uncle Jerry” act may just have a short term effect after the dour Willie Randolph era. These guys are salesmen who pitched an empty product, and now have a legacy of lemons. Who can trust them, or better yet, the team which they represent?

Where does the franchise turn? Everyone has been clamoring for Bobby Valentine since the day it was announced he was leaving Japanese baseball. I am not someone who supports the “back to the future” approach to hiring managers, but the Mets are in desperate times. There brand is so damaged they are in danger of turning off long time fans. I believe irrelevance is not out of the possibility. Couldn’t you see the Mets becoming the baseball version of the Islanders? That is why Valentine might be the right man to take this job, again, and turn the franchise around, just as he did in 1997.

The Mets were in a similar scenario when Valentine was hired in August of 1996. They were “the worst team money could buy” that destroyed their meal ticket, “Generation K”, within a calendar year. Some pegged the 97′ Mets to lose 100 games and predicted that Bobby V. would be a memory come the end of that season. The Mets would surprise, winning 88, and nearly taking the Wild Card over the free spending Florida Marlins. The next year, 98′, they would land Mike Piazza and the rest is history. Valentine would take a decent, yet flawed, team to two Wild Cards and a pennant in 2000.

Valentine wasn’t perfect, things did turn sour and eventually he would be fired in 2002. He never embraced himself to many of the veterans and couldn’t keep away from controversy. Whether it was his classic feud with Mike Francesa, Whartongate, or tweaking the opposition, the team became more about him than the players on the field. The fact of the matter is the Mets grew old fast in 2002. Ownerships decision to pass on Alex Rodriguez, and go for aging over the hill veterans led to their demise. The real problem, as Bob Klapisch noted, was probably general manager Steve Phillips, instead of Valentine. It’s no secret that Phillips and Valentine had a love/hate relationship that bordered more on hate.

These Mets are sorely in need of someone to take the heat off the team. I have my concerns about a core of Beltran, Wright, Bay, Reyes, and Santana handling the inevitable scrutiny this season. The Mets have flaws, but still could contend for a Wild Card if they stay healthy. That would require someone at the helm that could maximize their talent, not exactly what Jerry Manuel is known to do. How many skippers can claim they went to the World Series with an outfield of Timo Perez, Jay Payton, and Benny Agbayani? Look at the 98′ club that should have made the playoffs. They had Brian McRae as the number five hitter. The 2010 Mets don’t look so bad in comparison.

These Mets have some very good players, but really need a leader to bring them together. I am afraid no one in that locker room, at least someone that matters, is capable of that task. Just like the Mike Piazza/Edgardo Alfonzo Mets, these guys want to play ball and go home. There is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes more is necessary. That is where Bobby Valentine comes in.

Valentine could be the face of the franchise. Someone who is successful enough to tell Jeff Wilpon to do what he is good at – managing a real estate company. Someone that has something that Omar Minaya doesn’t: a championship. He is also someone that doesn’t need the Mets, unlike his last stint, as his track record speaks for himself. He took a substandard Mets team within 3 games of a title. He took one of the worst franchises in the NPB and made them successful on and off the field. He created his own brand, like it or not, which is more than what I could say for the group that currently runs around Citi Field. The Mets need someone to be a positive face of their franchise. Bobby Valentine was that man a decade ago, and should be it again.

Tags: Bobby Valentine, Jeff Wilpon, Jerry Manuel, New York Mets, Omar Minaya