Mets Shakeup? Hardly!

Sandy Alderson conducted a lineup “shakeup” this weekend, releasing Rick Ankiel on Saturday and demoting Ike Davis, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson after the Marlins swept the Mets on Sunday for a second straight weekend. Based on their replacements, this can hardly be called a shakeup.

The “new” players are Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Collin Cowgill, Josh Edgin and Josh Satin. Remember them? The first three players made the Mets out of Spring Training, but were so bad they had to be sent to the minors. At 28, Satin is on is way to being a career minor leaguer. He was a September call-up two seasons ago and got exactly one big league at bat last year.

Except for Satin, who is batting .306, none of them has been tearing up the minor leagues to the extent that they deserve a promotion. Unfortunately, there is just no one else to bring up. This speaks volumes to the depth (or shallowness) of the Mets farm system and the poor job that Alderson has done in his failed attempt to improve the organization.

To call this a shakeup would imply that the moves would make the team better. That will not be the case at all.

The Mets have turned into an embarrassment on par with the Marlins and Astros. After four consecutive losing seasons and a fifth virtually guaranteed, somehow the Mets are managing to get worse and worse, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Does anyone really think they can contend next season? Does anyone think Sandy Alderson is capable of acquiring actual new players in the off season? If this is his idea of a shakeup, the answer has to be no.