Since the beginning of May, the Mets’ world has been consumed by whether their manager, Willie Randolph, will be fired–not exactly the kind of press a team needs. On almost a daily basis there is speculation about when/how Willie will get the ax, and every time the Mets blow a lead to lose a game, Willie’s head is the first thing to be discussed.

On May 26, SI reported that the Mets leadership will support Randolph for now at least. (This is the Wilpons AND Omar Minaya lending their support.) On Mike Silva’s NY Baseball digest, Mike and Howard Megdal speculated last week that Willie will still be on a very short leash in the coming weeks and that the Mets players are, at best, indifferent towards the manager’s fate.

There does seem to be consensus about one thing: if there were a decent manager out there to replace Willie, the Mets would have pulled the trigger already. The Mets brass can’t be happy with the Mets lackluster performance so far this year on top of one of the worst late-season collapses in recent memory. Since the second half of last year until June 1, 2008, the Mets are a .500 club. With all that talent and a payroll that is 3rd in the majors ($138 MM), no wonder fans are grumbling.

(Interesting note: As of June 1, the top 3 payrolls in baseball, the Yankees, Tigers and Mets (a combined $486 MM) are each in 4th place in their divisions.)

There are some who strangely believe that the return of Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou and some others will somehow rejuvenate this team and save Willie’s job. I doubt this will happen. There is a pall that has fallen on this team. Like the Yankees, I’m not seeing a team that can consistently play with determination and grit, and this clearly stems from the leadership.

The Mets are a good team that has been underachieving for almost a year now. If you’re still a fan, check out some of this Mets gear available on BizRate. Making a leadership change makes sense; too bad there’s nobody the Mets can slip into the Manager’s role overnight. Until then Willie will be at the helm, and the Mets brass will continue to make glib statements of support so that they don’t undermine their manager too much.