While the Mets are free falling and Wilie Randolph is unfairly twisting in the wind, the man behind the aging unproductive roster, Omar Minaya, has failed his manager in putting pieces in place for a successful roster in the short and long term.  It's not on Willie that his penciled in starting left fielder on opening day just needs to sneeze to land of the DL (Moises Alou).  It's not Willie that signed an aging Luis Castillo, or pulled the trigger on boneheaded moves that I mention in my last post.  So, Omar, it's time to take a page from the Boston Red Sox, and the best GM in baseball, Theo Epstein.  Look at the Red Sox roster. 

Farm System.  A key to success.  Developing players on the farm allows you to either deal blue chip talent (as the Red Sox traded Hanley Ramirez, the best SS in the NL,  to Florida for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell), or keep the talent and let them be a big part of the team's success (Jonathan Papelbon, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, among many others).  To say the Mets farm system is a disaster is too high of a compliment.  It's a disgrace.  All you have to do is look at the Mets roster to see 3 catchers on the roster (Casanova, Castro & Schneider) because there isn't any talent in New Orleans Zephyrs' outfield that would make any difference. 

Free agent signings.  It's important to spend your money wisely.  Just because there is a lot of money in the coffers doesn't guarantee success.  The Red Sox spent money wisely on Dice-K and Okajima.  The Mets spent cash on Moises Alou and Matt Wise, each spent more time on the DL than on the active roster...enough said. 

Ultimately, the key to success is a smart guy pulling the trigger.  Theo Epstein has done a remarkable job in shaping that roster with a great mix of bringing guys along in the farm system and good free agent signings.  His Mets counterpart, on the other hand, found great value in bringing in old guys like Moises Alou and Luis Castillo.  It's time for Minaya to follow the Bo Sox blueprint of building a major league roster, and history tells us Minaya is incapable of doing so.  He's just not as smart as Theo.