With the Major League Baseball season once again about to begin, hope springs eternal for fans throughout the land. That is, of course, with the exception of Mets fans.

The last four years in particular have been a holocaust for Mets fans. First, there was the epic, record-breaking total collapse at the end of the 2007 season. That, in turn, was followed by another crushing, if not epoch-making collapse in 2008. Then, there was last season's impressive 70-92 campaign that was chalked up to bad luck (lots of key players had suffered injuries).

The truth about this particular assortment of Metropolitans is that they're a bunch of brittle, underachievers who sport a mediocre offense and defense, abysmal pitching and zero esprit de corps. But, as is the case in business, the fault lies not with the players, but with management. Omar Minaya is a terrible general manager. He's not only built a dysfunctional organization but, as it reels from one crisis to the next, he acts just like a classic CEO in denial (think: Ken Lay, Dennis Kozlowski, Pope Benedict XVI). With Minaya, it's always someone else's fault. Or, he goes with the Bernie Ebbers 'Gee, I didn't know about that at the time' defense.

Spring Training has been a horror show for the Mets. The always-injured Jose Reyes was felled by some sort of mysterious disease. Carlos Beltran elected to have surgery that will keep him out until June. Daniel Murphy just injured a leg that will cost him two to six weeks. And, the pitching staff, which Minaya refused to improve with off-season acquisitions, has had the stuffing beaten out of it in Florida.

Minaya's ever optimistic, though. As is his lackey, Manager Jerry Manuel. They both 'like what they see' whenever reporters ask about the latest Spring Training debacle. Both must be sight impaired.

Yes, Mets fans, this is the spring of our discontent. We have little to look forward to except, perhaps, the ultimate demise of Messrs Minaya and Manuel. Until the front office cleans house, the Mets will continue to be the laughing stock of New York, if not the entire nation.